Stepmom Page #16

ANNABELLE:

I killed my math quiz, A-minus.

They slap FIVE. Go through the ritual of a three-step black guy

handshake.

RACHEL:

And...other things? At school?

Annabelle cuts a look in Luke and Ben's direction. Please not in

front of the menfolk.

RACHEL:

We'll talk. I'll go check

on Mom.

Annabelle frowns at Mom's name. Rachel strokes her. Heads down

the hall...

Knocks at the open door to Jackie's bedroom, where Jackie is

calmly, meticulously, laying out things beside her large open

suitcase. She waves Rachel in, and keeps working.

RACHEL:

(checking out the

stuff)

It's gonna be cool, huh?

Bulky sweaters. Wool things.

JACKIE:

I can never figure weather. Last

trip, I made all the wrong choices.

Rachel and we have a better angle now. Jackie looks awful. Drawn,

weak, masking pain with obvious courage.

RACHEL:

Bad day?

Rachel sits on the edge of the bed. Jackie turns away, goes to her

open chest of drawers.

JACKIE:

Can't complain.

Even her voice is carefully under control. Awkward, Rachel looks

around the room. A stack of photo albums, scrapbooks, open. Works

in progress.

RACHEL:

Can I look at the pictures?

JACKIE:

It's a mess, right now. That's

my project when I get back.

So quiet, we can hear a clock TICKING nearby. Rachel's gaze

returns to the bulky sweaters. Holds there.

JACKIE:

See, I'm not going to Houston,

after all.

Like you obviously figured out.

JACKIE:

There's this clinic in Montreal.

We've studied their process, we

like their success rate...

Two women nodding, in a calm, matter-of-fact way. As if discussing

recipes.

JACKIE:

They combine some compounds that

have been getting results in France,

with vitamin injections. Seems to

activate the chemo...

Silence.

RACHEL:

So. Hopeful.

JACKIE:

It's promising, this one. We're

upbeat.

Rachel swallows. She's out of words.

JACKIE:

I really look like sh*t.

RACHEL:

You look sick. But you look...

together. Mentally tough.

JACKIE:

Yeh, that's bull. I'm going for

serene, they say some actually get

there.

A shrug. The first bitterness to seep through.

JACKIE:

Prob'ly low percentage on mothers.

She sits, unceremoniously, right on the floor. Pantomimes a smoke.

Rachel goes into her bag.

JACKIE:

You try to center on the big issues,

y'know. What it's all about. What

this whole trip has meant. But then,

the really big issues keep swamping y...

RACHEL:

Brad Kovitsky.

Tosses Jackie a pack. Matches next.

JACKIE:

You don't have any pot, I s'pose?

Rachel's eyebrows head north.

JACKIE:

The primo stuff is great for pain.

RACHEL:

I think my 'primo sh*t' got left

in my 'bellbottoms.'

Jackie lighting up. Deep soulful drag.

JACKIE:

So. She ignores this little Kovitsky

punk, takes the high moral ground...

Reading Rachel's face. Who is already wincing.

JACKIE:

(yeh)

He's relentless. A major a**hole.

RACHEL:

(nodding)

And you said...

JACKIE:

What else? Keep on keepin' on.

Oh. Rachel tries to hide her disappointment.

JACKIE:

She has to stick with it. Have

the patience, the guts, to ignore

the pain. You disagree?

Half a beat. Rachel shakes her head, nope.

RACHEL:

(softly)

Hey. You oughta know.

INT. LUKE AND RACHEL'S DEN - NIGHT

Luke sits with Ben, building a gigantic magic castle from a million

Leggos. I's architecturally interesting. Through the window

behind them, a cold winter rain.

RACHEL (O.S.)

God, sorry I'm so late...

She is entering, peeling off her jacket. Tired as hell.

RACHEL:

Duncan is doing his Himmler

imitation on this gig. I got

yelled at for quitting at eight.

Under Luke's patient exterior, the stress is showing. As Ben

watches, he replaces a key piece of the turret...

LUKE:

Yeh, well, I'll be up all night

on this brief. And then...

He shoots her a really sorry look...

LUKE:

I've got a morning plane to Boston

for the depo. Back Sunday night.

Wow. They lock eyes in the bond of 'what are we gonna do?'

RACHEL:

No problem.

LUKE:

I made that paella you liked.

It's on the stove.

She kisses Ben's head, Luke's mouth, that one lingering a little.

Then, down the hall to...

...the kitchen. Annabelle sits with her homework stacked,

untouched. Staring out the dark window. Clearly, this is worse

than death.

RACHEL:

Lemme guess. A bad hair day.

Annabelle TURNS like a hunted animal...

ANNABELLE:

She told me to keep ignoring him!

So I did it!

Not a good result, huh?

ANNABELLE:

You know what that creep and his

frogfaced footmen are calling me

now? In front of the whole world?

Frosty, the Snow B*tch!!

RACHEL:

That's so weak.

ANNABELLE:

Here's weak...Mom said she was

gonna talk to the teacher and

Brad's parents!! Can you believe

the humiliation???

RACHEL:

Honey, she won't d...

RACHEL:

I told her if she pulled that,

I'd kill myself, and she could

go to my funeral for a change!

For a change. That's where this is coming from. Rachel reaches

her arms around her...

RACHEL:

(murmurs)

Hey. Hey. I've personally never

gone to a funeral. And I'm not

starting anytime soon.

The phone begins to RING...

RACHEL:

(a whisper)

Specially not in this family.

Keep RINGING. Rachel checks her watch. Sh*t.

RACHEL:

Nine o'clock. That could be your

mom from Montreal. Now you need t...

But Annabelle BREAKS LOOSE from Rachel's arms and BOLTS out of the

room. Rachel watching in despair. Lifts the phone on the sixth

ring...

JACKIE:

(bright and soft)

Hi. How's the vitamins up there?

Having big fun?

INTERCUT throughout: Jackie in a hospital gown. At the window of

her room, rain pouring down on Montreal.

JACKIE:

Eat your heart out. Is Annabelle

there?

RACHEL:

Yeh, she's...I'll get you Ben

first, it's past his bedti...

JACKIE:

How's she doing with Brad?

A beat.

RACHEL:

Can I say one thing? I mean, the

last thing I want to do is inter-

fere on the Brad thing, b...

JACKIE:

Thanks, but it's under control.

A shorter beat.

RACHEL:

Yah? Well, even the best mom in

the world, the smartest, the wisest,

whatever. Needs to know when to

find a Plan B. Cos Plan A is not

and will n...

JACKIE:

(tired, short)

It's covered, okay? I appreciate

your concern. Can I talk to her?

And real quiet...

RACHEL:

I'll get Ben.

INT. ANNABELLE'S ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Annabelle lies on her bed in darkness. Clutching her pillow.

Lights streams in as Rachel enters. Sits on the bed, next to this

furious child. Puts the cordless phone by the pillow.

RACHEL:

Annabelle, I know you miss your

mother. So why don't you say hello.

ANNABELLE:

Why don't you say hello?

RACHEL:

Annabelle pick up the phone.

ANNABELLE:

Annabelle pick up the phone.

RACHEL:

That doesn't bother me.

ANNABELLE:

That doesn't bother me.

RACHEL:

You think this is funny?

ANNABELLE:

You think this is funny?

RACHEL:

No. I think it's ugly.

ANNABELLE:

You're just a stepmother. So stop

bossing, cos nobody's listening!

RACHEL:

(even, in control)

June 3rd, God willing, I'll marry your

Dad. And then I will be your stepmom.

And right now, I'm not looking forward

to th...

ANNABELLE:

Suits me fine!

Rachel cooks her head to one side, like she's seen Jackie do.

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