Summer and Smoke Page #4

---

I've got a date.

You can't go home now!

Come on,

give us a chance to win.

We're moving the game.

To the Moon Lake Casino.

"Never, cried the

weaver to the landlord.

I will leave this place

where I was born..."

[Telephone rings]

"Ere I'll submit

to your scheme."

[Ring]

[Ring]

[Ring]

Hello?

Yes.

Oh, yes, I see.

You are visiting a patient.

I understand.

Oh, no, it really

doesn't matter.

It really doesn't matter at all.

[Crowd yelling]

[Crowd cheers]

Me debes cien, Pepe.

That's 100 you owe me.

Cien? Estas loco. Cincuenta.

You're lying. The bet was $100.

Deselo a mi Johnny!

Quitate de aqui!

Ohh! Shh!

No!

Johnny!

Johnny!

Yay! Yay!

Johnny!

Hey! Get him out of there!

He cut you bad, Johnny?

I get a doctor.

No, I can take

care of it myself.

Come on, Rosa.

[Vehicle approaching]

Why is it, Rosa,

Whenever we're together,

I wind up with

a belt or a bruise?

You gamble too much.

Is that why?

Why is it that

whenever we make love,

You never make love without

biting or scratching.

Or leaving a little blood on me?

Because I know I can't hold you,

And maybe I'm angry.

You're doing

a better job of holding me.

Than anyone else has.

For how long, Johnny?

One summer?

Unless maybe I trap you.

[Knock on door]

I better answer that.

Before they wake up my old man.

You're hurt!

Shh. It's nothing.

What do you want?

I want to see your father.

He's...

Come into the office.

One minute.

Go home, Rosa. I have a patient.

I will wait.

I'll see you tomorrow.

The patient that you

had to call on?

I want to see your father.

It's late. He's asleep.

I'm afraid that I

will have to see him.

What's the trouble?

I can't...

[Crash]

That you, John?

What's going on down there?

Nothing much, Dad.

Somebody got cut in a fight.

I better come down.

Don't bother, dad.

I patched him up.

Just seeing him out.

Oh.

All right, please, what is it?

Do you think that

I would come here.

At 2:
00 in the morning.

If I were not seriously ill?

There's no telling what you'd do.

In a state of hysteria.

[Turns on faucet]

Here. Take this, Miss Alma.

What is it?

Just a couple of

little white tablets.

Dissolved in water.

What kind of tablets?

You don't trust me?

I trusted you

earlier this evening.

Oh, I...

Well, there was a mix-up, and...

I seem to be all to pieces.

I don't know why.

Drink this down, Miss Alma.

It will make you sleep.

[Cough]

Bitter?

I... I wasn't able to sleep.

And you felt panicky?

Yes, I... I felt walled in.

You started hearing your heart?

Yes, like a drum.

And it scared you?

Yes, it always does.

I don't think

I'm going to be able.

To get through the summer.

You'll get through

it, Miss Alma.

How?

One day will come after another.

And one night will

come after another.

Until sooner or later,

The summer will be

all over with.

Then it will be fall,

And you'll be saying,

"I don't see how I'm going

to get through the fall."

A deep breath.

[Exhaling]

Another.

Better?

A little.

Soon you'll be much better.

Miss Alma...

Did you know that time.

Is one side of the four-dimensional

continuum we're caught in?

What?

Did you know that the

Magellanic clouds.

Are 100,000 light years

away from the earth?

No?

Well, that's something

to think about.

When you start worrying.

About your heart, Miss Alma...

That little red fist

that keeps knocking.

Against that big black door.

Stop worrying about

your heart, Miss Alma.

But sometimes I...

I don't know.

All right, let's check it.

Unbutton your blouse.

Unbutton?

Your blouse.

Here. Let me.

Little pearl buttons.

Breathe.

Out.

Breathe.

Out.

Hold your breath.

Mm-hmm.

What did you hear?

Just a little voice saying,

"Miss Alma's lonesome."

Insult upon insult.

If your idea

of helping a patient.

Is to ridicule

and insult them...

It's the last time.

Miss Alma.

What?

I humiliated you tonight.

It really didn't matter.

No, I did.

And it was stupid and cruel.

And you know,

So many times over the years

I've looked across

through that window.

And wondered if it would

be worth trying...

You and me.

And you...

You decided it wasn't?

I didn't decide

anything, Miss Alma.

Tablets working now?

Yes, I feel drowsy.

I'm beginning to feel like...

Like a water lily...

On a Chinese lagoon.

I'll walk you out.

This way, Miss Alma.

Oh, they do work.

[Clock chiming]

I must go now.

I'll call for you

Saturday night at 8:00.

What?

Keep this box of

tablets, Miss Alma,

But watch how you take them.

Never more than one

or two at a time.

Didn't you say something

else a moment ago?

I said I'd call for you.

At the rectory Saturday night.

Oh.

This time I'll be there.

[Playing flamenco music]

She's punishing me, Miss Alma.

She's jealous of you.

Well, she has no reason to be.

Johnny.

How's the arm, Johnny?

Just fine, Papa.

Miss Alma,

I'd like you to meet

Papa Zacharias.

How do you do?

Okay, hello.

Very nice.

Rosa, she's...

Whew! Boy, is she mad with you.

[Crowd yelling]

You watch the

fights, eh, Johnny?

Miss Alma, come.

Watch the birdie.

Aah!

Take me out of here!

Take me out!

What have you got there?

Nothing.

Those sleeping tablets

I gave you?

Yes. I need one.

Why?

I nearly died back there.

I...

I wish you'd let me.

You want to turn into a dope

fiend taking this stuff?

They're only for emergencies.

[Cheering]

I didn't think such

exhibitions were legal.

This is Moon Lake, Miss Alma,

Where anything goes.

And you are a frequent patron?

I'd say constant.

I'm hunting an elusive

bird, Miss Alma.

The bluebird of satisfaction.

Self-satisfaction?

Well, what other kind is there?

Well, I will answer that

question by asking you one.

Have you ever seen

a gothic cathedral?

What about it?

How everything reaches up.

How everything

seems to be straining.

For something out of the reach.

Of stone or human fingers.

Have you ever

thought to look up, John?

Look up.

Who was it who said

that beautiful thing,

All of us are in the gutter,

But some of us are

looking at the stars?

Mr. Oscar Wilde.

Well, regardless of who

said it, it's still true.

It's no fun.

Holding hands with

gloves on, Miss Alma.

Are you in tune

with the stars tonight?

I feel in contact with them.

What about people?

You know... man.

Are you ever

in contact with man?

I've made an effort with some.

Roger Doremus,

one or two others.

What went wrong?

My heart wasn't in it.

A silence would fall between us.

We'd try to talk. Neither

of us made a go of it.

Silence would fall?

Yes. He'd look at his watch.

We'd know the undertaking

had come to a close.

You'd call it quits?

Quits is what we

would call it, yes.

One or two times I was

rather sorry about it.

You do have serious

feelings of that kind?

Doesn't everybody... sometimes?

Some women are cold.

Some women are

what is called frigid.

Do I give that impression?

Yes.

But under the surface,

You have a lot of excitement,

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes