Six Feet Under Page #5

A beat. A couple of other students LAUGH, as if this were a

joke. Claire stares at them, then she LAUGHS too.

CLAIRE (CONT'D)

I'm not kidding. This is really

happening.

The other kids STOP LAUGHING.

CLAIRE (CONT'D)

(a little hysterical)

And now I'm high on crack!

JORDAN:

Crystal.

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13.

CLAIRE:

Whatever! So I guess this whole hellish

experience I'm about to go through is

going to burn just a little bit brighter

now, right? Oh, good! Thank you!

She grabs her coat and exits angrily. A beat.

JORDAN:

(re:
pipe)

Hey, if she freaks out, nobody knows

where she got this, right?

27 EXT. FREEWAY - A SHORT TIME LATER (NIGHT ONE) 27

A JEEP CHEROKEE drives across an overpass. Underneath it,

traffic moves on a busy Los Angeles freeway.

28 INT. JEEP CHEROKEE - CONTINUOUS (NIGHT ONE) 28

Brenda is driving. Nate's in the passenger seat, staring

blankly in front of him.

NATE:

You really didn't have to do this... I

could have just rented a car.

BRENDA:

It's okay. You're in no shape to drive.

And frankly, I'm in no hurry to get home

to my family's annual Christmas Eve

massacre.

Nate LAUGHS.

BRENDA (CONT'D)

(off his look, rattles off)

Yeah. Parents who stayed together for

"the children," but really because they

get off on tormenting each other so much.

Manic-depressive brother who always

chooses the holidays to go off his

medication. Oh, and an ancient springer

spaniel who's completely blind and deaf

and incontinent. So much fun.

(cheerful)

What about you?

NATE:

Actually, we're pretty normal. My mom's

a control freak. My brother, well, he's

a control freak, too. My sister... well,

I left home right after she was born, I

never really knew her that well. She's

kind of wild. Like I was.

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14.

BRENDA:

(teasing)

Was?

Nate smiles faintly.

NATE:

My dad really rode my ass when I was a

kid. I couldn't go rafting because he'd

just buried some girl that drowned. He

buries this dipshit loser who OD'd at a

Flock of Seagulls concert, suddenly I'm

not allowed to go to concerts for a year.

BRENDA:

Your dad worked in a cemetery?

NATE:

(suddenly angry)

How could a man who was so f***ing scared

of everything--who never had an accident

or even a speeding ticket in his entire

f***ing life--how could he have a car

wreck? Stupid son of a b*tch!

BRENDA:

Are you mad at him, or the fact that

we're all going to die?

NATE:

(stares at her, with

distaste)

Are you a shrink?

BRENDA:

(laughs)

No God, no.

(then, weary)

Both my parents are.

They drive along in silence for a while.

BRENDA (CONT'D)

Well, what else do you want to talk about?

The weather? The fact we both just f***ed

a total stranger? And that we both lied

when we said we never did that?

A beat. Nate turns THE RADIO ON.

** SC. 29 AND 30 OMITTED **

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15.

31 INT. SLUMBER ROOM - CONTINUOUS (NIGHT ONE) 31

Mourners pack the room. We HEAR snippets of conversations:

"...such a shame she didn't have one last Christmas with her

grandchildren""...certainly has ruined the holidays for her

family..." We MOVE through the mourners to DISCOVER DAVID.

PUSH IN ON HIM slowly, as he chats sympathetically, fighting

to keep his feelings inside. Suddenly he SCREAMS as loud as

he can. People stare at him, shocked, but he just keeps

SCREAMING...

SMASH CUT TO:

32 EXT. STREETS - CONTINUOUS (NIGHT ONE) 32

Claire's bright green CADILLAC HEARSE speeds down the street.

33 INT. GREEN HEARSE - CONTINUOUS (NIGHT ONE) 33

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