Stepmom Page #6

INT. POLICE STATION - DAY

Jackie RUNS through the police station moving down corridors past

desks until she sees BEN sitting with TWO POLICEMEN on a bench.

She holds him to her chest, shaking.

JACKIE:

Ben! Oh my Ben! Are you alright?

BEN:

I knew where I was all the time.

INT. AUDITORIUM - THAT EVENING

Ben sits between Jackie and Luke holding each of their hands.

Rachel sits on the other side of Luke; all waiting for the Harvest

Pageant to begin. It's horribly tense.

RACHEL:

(sincerely)

Jackie? I am so sorry about today I

really f***ed up royalty. When you

called Luke I was so goddamn relieved --

Luke elbows her with an "We're in an Elementary School" elbow.

RACHEL:

No I did -- I know I did -- I screwed

up. I feel like such an a**hole...

Jackie lifts Ben onto her lap, holding him tightly. She turns and

faces Rachel, claws bared.

JACKIE:

Shhhhhh!

The lights go down. They sit pretending the other is not there.

On stage -- The class is dressed as the harvest PRODUCE. Annabelle

is the CORN. Each FOOD DISH steps forward and introduces itself.

Annabelle rehearing her line over and over.

ANNABELLE:

"Hello! I am Maze. But you can call

me Corn. Hello! I am..."

Inside her costume, her breathing is sharp. She stands very

straight, very bold. A brazen ear of corn. She steps forward.

ANNABELLE:

"Hello! I am...

Rachel POPS UP next to the stage with her huge PROFESSIONAL CAMERA

and giant flash. Her camera FLASHES three times, quickly. After

each flash, we see the picture for a split second, Annabelle. A

TERRIFIED ear of corn. A LOST ear of corn.

ANNABELLE:

(blinks, disoriented)

Um...I'm...I'm...Oh...

In the audience, Jackie is willing her daughter a recovery. Sees

instead, a completely DEVASTATED ear of corn.

ANNABELLE:

(exploding in tears)

Oh forget it!

She runs offstage amidst laughter and applause. Luke looks over at

Jackie but she and Ben have already left their seats.

EXT. AUDITORIUM FOYER - NIGHT

Jackie comforts Annabelle. Ben watches closely, getting caught up

in his sister's sadness. Luke and Rachel approach.

ANNABELLE:

I hate her. I really hate her.

LUKE:

There you are!

ANNABELLE:

(covering her face)

Don't take my picture!

She starts to cry. Ben's lip quivers, his eyes well up.

JACKIE:

Annabelle doesn't really want to talk

to you right now.

RACHEL:

I'm sorry I didn't mean to break your

concentration. I thought it would be

a nice moment to rememb...

ANNABELLE:

I don't ever want to remember this!

A TURKEY approaches.

TURKEY:

They're taking a picture of the

Produce, we need the Corn. C'mon

Annabelle.

JACKIE:

See? No one's laughing at you. Your

friends want you to join them, Anna-

belle. Corn is a very important part

of the Harvest Produce. Now Ben, walk

your sister over to the Yams.

Ben takes Annabelle's hand. When they are gone...

RACHEL:

Jackie, if I thought for one moment...

JACKIE:

(lighting into Luke)

You listen carefully because I am only

going to say this once. That woman has

nothing more to do with my children.

LUKE:

Our children.

JACKIE:

Do you realize what could have hap-

pened to your son today? How lucky we

are the police found him before some

lunatic did? He could have been...

LUKE:

But he hasn't. He wandered off. I

know it's terrifying. I can imagine

how you felt when that call came -- But

it happens.

JACKIE:

Not to me.

LUKE:

(soft, reasonable)

Jackie, you've made mistakes -- We all

make mistakes --

JACKIE:

I'm not gonna wait around to see the

next one. I'm not gonna watch my kids

fall through the cracks of this

arrangement. I'm seeing a lawyer.

LUKE:

Jackie stop. We promised we never go

there.

JACKIE:

We've broken a lot of promises,

haven't we Luke?

RACHEL:

Why are you taking this out on him?

LUKE:

Rache, get out of th...

RACHEL:

(still to Jackie)

You haven't done one goddam thing to

make any of this easier...

JACKIE:

I am not here to make it easier for

you. These are my children. They

don't want to be with you.

RACHEL:

Well, maybe they would if they thought

it was okay, with y...

JACKIE:

(poking Luke's chest)

A court order is gonna say that woman

is never alone with my children! Ever

again! Do you HEAR that?

All of New Jersey heard that. On the silence that follows, she

stalks off. The mother lion. Doing what she has to do.

EXT. NORTH VALE STABLES - DAY

Jackie and her children ride HORSES side by side through a perfect

Fall afternoon. Our riders look about alertly, as if patrolling

enemy territory.

ANNABELLE:

Guinevere, Godiva, I sense enemy

sol...

BEN:

I don't want to be Lady Godiva

anymore, no matter how much I like

chocolate. I want to be a stud.

In distance, a gaggle of GROUNDSKEEPERS. Jackie points these out

to Ben, without missing a beat...

JACKIE:

Lord Nelson, Napoleon's troops. I

fear for the women and the property

values.

ANNABELLE:

I'll ride ahead. Nelson, protect the

Queen...

And she canters off, blood in her eye. Alone now with his mom, Ben

has something serious on his mind.

BEN:

Mommy? It's not Rachel's fault I ran

away.

JACKIE:

(doesn't turn)

No, that's your fault. It's her fault

for not watching over my precious son,

as if it were her priority. Which

means, the most important job.

BEN:

(thinks about this)

Rachel's job is she works.

JACKIE:

Ben, mommies work too. They work very

hard. Mommy works harder as a mom

than she did when she was working. I

just don't get paid.

BEN:

Does Rachel make a lot of money?

JACKIE:

People like Rachel who only think about

themselves often do make a lot of money.

BEN:

I think she's pretty, Mommy.

JACKIE:

Yes...if you like big hair...

BEN:

Mommy?

JACKIE:

What honey?

BEN:

If you want me to hate her I will.

On Jackie. Stunned. Her lips part for an answer. But she hasn't

got one.

EXT. JACKIE'S HOUSE - NIGHT

Luke pacing around on the path through Jackie's front lawn. Jackie

exits the house, alone. Stands on the porch. And they stare at

each other.

JACKIE:

You know, you can come inside the

house.

He looks at the end of his rope. She walks down to him.

LUKE:

(quietly)

Did you see the lawyer?

Oh. Well...

JACKIE:

Called him. We set an ap...

LUKE:

(almost a whisper)

Don't do this.

So vulnerable. The air comes out of her. We see how much she

still cares for this man.

JACKIE:

You're saying, don't make the kids

a football, don't put them through a

war. But I'm doing this for their

well-being.

LUKE:

Partly. But partly, you're mad.

Staring. At each other.

LUKE:

You know the kids aren't really in

danger. This is about Rachel, and

you're right, I'm disappointed in her

learning curve, and...

JACKIE:

Slugs. Have faster learning curves.

Trees, even.

He takes a breath.

LUKE:

(here it is)

I'm afraid she's going to walk.

JACKIE:

And I'm supposed to care.

He reaches out. Takes her hands.

LUKE:

(softly)

About me, yeh. Like I care about you.

She looks in his eyes.

JACKIE:

Like you cared about me three

years ago?

He shrugs. Looks saddened by that.

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