STAY Page #8

BETH:

No, I'm too old for you. I'm too

fat. You like them young and

skinny, don't you? Like that little

slut you live with.

SAM:

Stop.

Beth's face seems on the verge of collapse.

BETH:

Don't hate me, Sam. Please don't

hate me.

SAM:

How could I hate you?

BETH:

Not that it matters. Not that any

of it matters.

SAM:

This has something to do with Henry

Letham.

Beth laughs very hard. It is not a pleasant sound.

.

BETH:

Oh, yes, yes, it does! Hurrah, you

win! It does have something to do

with Henry Letham. You win the

grand prize. Very good, very good,

ten points. Thank you for playing,

Henry.

Sam c*cks his head and looks at her more closely.

SAM:

It's Sam.

BETH:

I remember you. Sad, sad Sam.

Henry's got quite an imagination,

doesn't he? I remember you.

(MORE)

47.

BETH(cont'd)

I remember cleaning your bathroom

floor, on my hands and knees,

between the tiles, behind the sink,

everywhere.

Sam is speechless for a moment.

SAM:

That was twenty years ago. What

does that have to do with Henry?

BETH:

Everything has to do with Henry.

SAM:

You know he's planning to kill

himself this weekend?

BETH:

No more Mondays, anyway. That's the

good news. I never liked Mondays.

We played make-believe. Didn't we?

We played make-believe for so many

years. Except it wasn't us playing.

SAM:

Do you know where I can find him?

Beth?

BETH:

Ask his mother.

SAM:

His mother? His mother's dead.

BETH:

Ask her anyway.

INT. BETH'S BEDROOM -- LATER

Sam has managed to get Beth into bed. She sleeps now while

Sam sits at the foot of the bed, looking through papers from

Henry's folder.

He dials a number on his CELL PHONE.

SAM:

Hello? Yes,. I'm sorry to bother

you at this hour. My name is Dr.

Sam Foster, I'm a psychiatrist at

Columbia University. Yes. I'm

calling about a student named Henry

Letham.

48.

Sam listens.

SAM (CONT'D)

He's your son? He... I'm sorry,

this is very strange. He told me

you had died... Hello? Hello?

Sam stares at the cell phone. He dials the number again and

listens. Nobody answers.

BETH (O.S.)

You have no idea what's going on,

do you?

Sam turns and sees Beth sitting up in bed, watching him. She

is calmer now, but her eyes are still bloodshot and wild.

SAM:

He lied to me.

BETH:

Trust me, Sam-- the truth is worse

than the lie.

EXT. GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE -- NIGHT

We watch the battered old Volvo glide over the Hudson,

beneath the lighted suspension cables.

EXT. SUBURBAN ROAD -- NIGHT

Sam drives down dark New Jersey back roads.

He pull into the driveway of a small, rundown house. No

lights are on inside.

INT. SAM'S VOLVO -- CONTINUOUS

Sam checks the address on the form in Henry's folder. He

looks up, sees 9625 on the mailbox. He parks the car.

EXT. LETHAM HOUSE -- CONTINUOUS

Sam gets out of the car and walks to the doorstep. The house

is dark. Sam rings the doorbell. No answer. He rings again.

MRS. LETHAM (O.S.)

I've been waiting for you.

49.

Sam spins around. MRS. LETHAM sits in the darkness on a porch

swing. She wears a silk kerchief around her head, the kind

that chemotherapy patients sometimes wear.

SAM:

Mrs. Letham? I'm Dr. Sam Foster. I

called before?

(beat)

Sorry to bother you at this hour,

but it's an emergency.

MRS. LETHAM

I thought you'd never come visit.

She stands and approaches Sam. She has a limp. She's a kind-

looking woman, but weary, with dark circles below her blue

eyes and wisps of gray hair straying out from under the

kerchief.

SAM:

I would have called earlier,

except... to be honest, I didn't

even know you were alive.

MRS. LETHAM

I guess it's easy to forget me, all

alone out here in the country.

.

SAM:

Your son's not well.. That's what

I'm here about. I'm trying to find

him. He's... he's threatened

suicide.

Mrs. Letham laughs but the laugh turns into a cough. She

limps to the front door.

MRS. LETHAM

I know why you came. Not because of

me. You came to see Olive, didn't

you?

Sam frowns.

SAM:

Olive?

MRS. LETHAM

I know you did.

She opens the door, flicks on a light and leads him inside.

In the light we can see that Mrs. Letham has a wine-stain

birthmark on her left cheek.

50.

INT. LETHAM FOYER -- CONTINUOUS

The house is immaculate. The windows are spotless; the

chandelier by the staircase glitters; the hardwood floor is

polished and gleaming.

But there is no furniture to be seen anywhere. Sam and Mrs.

Letham's footsteps echo in the empty house.

A black Neapolitan MASTIFF pads into the room and stares at

the newcomer. The dog is massive, at least 160 pounds,

slobber-jawed, its black eyes tiny in its huge head.

SAM:

(under his breath)

Jesus.

MRS. LETHAM

Here she is. She's been lonely. Me

and Olive keep each other company.

It feels like we've been alone in

this house for a thousand years.

SAM:

Hey, Olive. How you doing, girl?

The mastiff stares at him impassively.

MRS. LETHAM

She doesn't remember you anymore,

you've been away so long.

(beat)

Let me fix you something to eat. I

have some leftovers in the fridge.

SAM:

No thank you, I ate. Do you know

how to contact your son? Any

friends or relatives he might have

gone to see?

But Mrs. Letham limps into the kitchen anyway and Sam is

forced to follow her. Olive pads in after them.

.

INT. LETHAM KITCHEN -- CONTINUOUS

The kitchen shines like the rest of the house. Someone has

spent hours scrubbing every surface until it gleams.

Mrs. Letham opens the refrigerator and looks through it.

51.

The refrigerator is empty.

MRS. LETHAM

Most days I don't say a single

word. I'm silent so long sometimes

I forget how to speak. It's so

quiet here.

SAM:

Mrs. Letham, we have an emergency.

Henry's in danger.

Suddenly, Mrs. Letham seems close to tears. She closes the

refrigerator and looks at Sam.

MRS. LETHAM

Do you hate me? You must hate me.

Is that why you did it? Because you

hate me?

SAM:

I don't hate you at all. Your son

needs help. That's why I'm here.

Mrs. Letham smiles and takes Sam's hand.

MRS. LETHAM

I knew you'd come back, eventually.

It was so quiet without you, so

lonely. But now you've come back

and you're never going to leave.

Sam is quiet for a moment, searching Mrs. Letham's smiling

face.

SAM:

Who do you think I am, Mrs. Letham?

MRS. LETHAM

Don't play these games anymore. Not

anymore.

SAM:

Who am I?

MRS. LETHAM

You think I don't know you, Henry?

You think I don't recognize my only

son?

Mrs. Letham wraps her arms around Sam and squeezes him to

her.

52.

MRS. LETHAM (CONT'D)

Oh Lord, I missed you. I missed you

so much. I could never stay angry

at you. I know you didn't mean to

hurt me.

Sam nods. He speaks very quietly, very carefully. They are

still locked in an embrace.

SAM:

Mom?

MRS. LETHAM

Yes, baby?

SAM:

How did I hurt you?

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