Slow West Page #6

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SILAS (CONT’D)

Like so.. We gotta make you

presentable for her

JAY smiles at this

JAY:

I know why you need my help

SILAS pauses..

SILAS:

Oh yeah?

JAY:

Yeah - You’re lonely. You’re alonely man

The truth throws SILAS for a beat

SILAS:

Sure kid

JAY:

Sure kid. Lets drift. The silent,

lonely drifter

SILAS continues to shave JAY

JAY (CONT’D)

You’re a lonely, lonely man

SILAS:

No need to concern over me

SILAS places the blade on JAY

JAY flinches

SILAS (CONT’D)

Hold still

JAY:

All I’m saying is.. There's more tolife than just surviving

SILAS:

Yeah - there's dyin’. Survival

ain't jus’ how to skin a jackrabbit.

(MORE)

34.

SILAS (CONT'D)

It's knowing when to bluster andwhen to hush. When to take a

beatin’ and when to strike

JAY:

Where's your folks?

SILAS:

Father's in the ground in Ireland,

Mother's in the ground in Canada

JAY:

So what keeps you from joining

them?

SILAS snaps

SILAS:

I dunno kid, quit askin’ me sh*t

JAY smiles

SILAS (CONT’D)

I was fine ‘til you showed up

JAY:

I showed up? You showed up

SILAS:

Yeah well maybe I’m tired of

showin’ up

A distant noise like tinkling of glasses..

SILAS stops shaving JAY, half finished, and looks to thetrees, brings out his gun and c*cks it

SILAS (CONT’D)

You’re done

SILAS slowly walks across camp towards the noise, gun pointed

A man wanders into view - PAYNE - we remember him as the

leader of the posse watching JAY and SILAS ride days back

We especially remember because PAYNE wears an enormous fur

coat

PAYNE is a generation older than SILAS and a generationwilder

PAYNE chomps on a cigar, (bigger than SILAS’s cigar) carriesa couple of glasses in one hand (source of the clinking) anda bottle of absinthe in the other

PAYNE pauses for dramatic effect, unbothered by Silas and his

gun

35.

PAYNE holds his hands out wide as he does a balletic turn

walking into the middle of the camp

Another dramatic pause, removes cigar

PAYNE:

May I enter?

SILAS:

It's a free country

PAYNE:

Try telling the natives that

PAYNE playful, SILAS wary, JAY entertained

PAYNE (CONT’D)

I propose a trade. A mug of coffeefor the finest imported absintheand a cigar of unrivaled quality..

JAY:

We drink tea

PAYNE ignores JAY

PAYNE pulls out a couple of cigars from his belt, hands oneto SILAS and one to JAY

PAYNE:

One for you, young man

PAYNE, SILAS, JAY, all move to the logs by the fie and sit ina triangle

PAYNE pours three glasses of absinthe as he checks SILAS out

PAYNE (CONT’D)

Still not a mark on you

JAY confused

JAY:

You know him ?

SILAS smiles

SILAS:

F*** yourself Payne

PAYNE smiles

PAYNE:

I’ve tried.. Believe me I have

tried

PAYNE takes a swig of the tea JAY has poured him

36.

PAYNE (CONT’D)

Oh.. That's damn fine coffee

JAY:

It's tea

PAYNE passes an absinthe to SILAS, and to JAY, stands and

toasts

PAYNE:

To bad times in the green hour

SILAS downs, JAY sips

PAYNE (CONT’D)

Down it boy, it's liquid joy

PAYNE casually to JAY

PAYNE (CONT’D)

So you headed West ?

SILAS interrupts quick before JAY can answer

SILAS:

North

They are all lying to each other and they all know it

PAYNE:

Yeah, I’m headed .. South! The

chill. I can’t stand it - Makes myjoints ache

PAYNE moves his finger like he's pulling an invisible triggerand makes a threatening squeaky sound, moving in close toJAY, and re-fills his glass

PAYNE (CONT’D)

So why north kid ? Someone special?

You’re sweetheart maybe ?

Now SILAS moves in close and gives JAY the ‘don’t answer’

stare

PAYNE breaks the tension

PAYNE (CONT’D)

Hey.. I’m teasing, I’m teasing. Youmust be born on a Sunday, eh? You

born on a Sunday?

JAY just shakes his head

PAYNE (CONT’D)

You born on a Sunday?

37.

JAY:

I don’t know

SILAS now very alert to PAYNE's line of questioning

PAYNE:

So it's fortunate that you’reheaded North because West, it's

bad, big trouble, big storm coming

SILAS decides to cut this quick

SILAS:

Easy Payne. He's just a kid

PAYNE:

No, he's not. He's an outlaw, justlike us

This saddens SILAS but pleases JAY

PAYNE (CONT’D)

Any-hoo! Let's drink. To friends,

old.. And new

They all down another absinthe, but SILAS and JAY have drunkway more than PAYNE

PAYNE made sure of that

CUT TO:

41

EXT - CAMP BY RIVER - NIGHT 41

An empty bottle of Absinthe on its side - lit by the moon

PAYNE sits on a log watching SILAS and JAY

SILAS is showing JAY how to draw and cock his gun quickly,

and SILAS, half-cut, is still pretty handy

SILAS shows JAY how to spin his gun round his finger

SILAS:

Spin it!

JAY tries to copy but drops the gun

The nozzle lands and sticks in the dirt

SILAS (CONT’D)

That's pretty good

A swaying JAY leans down and picks up the gun, the nozzle nowpacked with mud

38.

SILAS (CONT’D)

Get that dirt out of it.. Clean it

JAY tries to clean it with his cuff then looks directly downthe barrel of the gun

JAY stumbles over to a tree and taps the gun against the

trunk

The gun goes of with a loud bang and JAY drops it and falls

over

This amuses SILAS greatly and he celebrates by firing his own

gun into the air

PAYNE is sitting back against a tree, his face in shadow,

watching JAY and SILAS unravel

PAYNE shakes his head

The plan to get SILAS and JAY drunk and talking is failing,

now they are too drunk

JAY:

I need to piss

SILAS flaps his gun in the direction of the forest (same pathas PAYNE came from top of scene)

SILAS:

Away from camp!

JAY wanders into the dark

PAYNE waits a beat until JAY has gone

Stares at SILAS

PAYNE:

Easy see how you two crossed paths.

One's a falling angel, the other'sa rising devil

PAYNE walks towards SILAS

SILAS staggers towards PAYNE

SILAS:

I’m no angel

As SILAS tries to step over a log, catches his foot and fallshard to the ground with a thump

PAYNE:

True

PAYNE helps SILAS to his feet

39.

The men embrace

SILAS using PAYNE to balance, PAYNE holding SILAS close

PAYNE (CONT’D)

You think that's a smart play -

teaming up with him - quicker thantrackin’ him - simpler

SILAS:

Ain’t no play about it

PAYNE:

Yeah, I guess if you knew whereRose and daddy was, you’d be donebabysittin’

SILAS stays quiet

PAYNE (CONT’D)

Never was a bean-spiller was ya?

Not sober, nor liquored up, never

was

SILAS stays quiet, the men still holding each other close

PAYNE (CONT’D)

What you gonna do with two thousand

dollars?

PAYNE places both hands on SILAS’ shoulders

PAYNE (CONT’D)

Come back to us

SILAS loses patience, pulls out his gun, c*cks it and pushesthe nozzle into PAYNE's belly

SILAS:

I’m not like you Payne

PAYNE get's it, takes a step back, and another, and anotherand keeps walking backwards into the darkness

CUT TO:

42 EXT - NIGHT - FOREST 42

JAY is deep in the forest taking a piss, lit by the light of

the moon

Turns and heads through the trees, seeing the flames from acamp fire

JAY:

Silas!

40.

43 EXT - FOREST - ANOTHER CAMP - NIGHT 43

He trips and stumbles into the camp then freezes and looksabout

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