The Green Mile Page #5

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PAUL:

Little Percy called his aunt and

squealed like a schoolroom sissy.

(Hal nods)

He also mention he assaulted a

prisoner this morning out of sheer

petulance? Broke three fingers on

Eduard Delacroix's left hand.

HAL:

I didn't hear that part. I'm sure

she didn't either.

PAUL:

The man is mean, careless, and

stupid. Bad combination in a place

like this. Sooner or later, he's

gonna get somebody hurt. Or worse.

HAL:

You and Brutus Howell will make

sure that doesn't happen.

PAUL:

Easy enough to say. We can't watch

him every minute, Hal.

HAL:

Stick with it. May not be much

longer. I have it on good

authority that Percy has an

application in at Briar Ridge.

PAUL:

The mental hospital?

HAL:

(nods)

Administration job. Better pay.

PAUL:

Then why's he still here? He could

get that application pushed

through...hell, with his

connections, he could have any

state job he wants.

Hal has no answer. Paul look off toward Bitterbuck.

PAUL:

Tell you what I think. I think he

just wants to see one cook up

close.

Hal follows Paul's gaze, takes his meaning.

HAL:

Well, he'll get his chance then,

won't he? Maybe then he'll be

satisfied and move on. In the

meantime, you'll keep the peace.

PAUL:

Of course.

HAL:

Thank you, Paul.

Hal rises, slapping yard dust off his trousers.

PAUL:

You give Melinda my love, okay? I

bet that X-ray turns out to be

nothing at all.

Hal walks off looking like he's got the weight of the world

on his shoulders. Paul looks at the letter again...

TIGHT ON LETTER:

...which is head: Date Of Execution."

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. PAUL'S HOUSE - NIGHT

Paul is at the kitchen table in the wee hours of the morning,

drinking buttermilk and listening to SOFT MUSIC on the radio.

JANICE EDGECOMB appears, shuffling sleepily downstairs.

JAN:

Paul?

PAUL:

Hey, you. Music too loud?

JAN:

No. There's just this big empty

spot in the bed where my husband

usually sleeps.

PAUL:

He said to tell you he's having a

little trouble with that tonight.

She comes into the kitchen, strokes his hair. There's an easy

familiarity and a deep love between these two.

JAN:

Worried about Melinda and Hal? Is

that what's got you up?

PAUL:

Yeah, that. Things.

JAN:

Things.

She sits on his lap and gives him a crooked smile--you're not

getting off that easily.

PAUL:

Got a new inmate today. Big,

simple-minded fella.

JAN:

Do I want to hear what he did?

PAUL:

No. One sleepless member of this

family's enough.

(softly)

The things that happen in this

world. It's a wonder God allows it.

She gives him a tiny kiss above his left eyebrow, in that

special spot that makes him prickle.

JAN:

Why don't you come to bed? I've

got something to help you sleep,

and you can have all you want.

PAUL:

Don't I wish. I've still got

something wrong with my

waterworks, I don't want to pass

it on.

JAN:

You see Doc Sadler yet?

PAUL:

No, because he'll want me to take

sulfa tablets and I'll spend the

rest of the week puking in every

corner of my office. It'll run its

course all by itself, thank you

very much for your concern.

She kisses that spot above his eyebrow again. He smiles.

JAN:

Poor old guy...

DISSOLVE TO:

IN TIGHT ANGLES:
Copper plugs are cleaned, switches are

oiled, circuits are tested...

INT. EXECUTION CHAMBER - NIGHT

...as maintenance is performed on Old Sparky by JACK VAN HAY

and a small crew. Paul is carefully sanding a connector plug.

Dean is waxing Old Sparky's wooden arms to a gleam.

Paul and Dean pause, thinking they hear a LAUGH drifting in

from E Block...and then Brutal calls softly to them:

BRUTAL (O.S.)

Paul? Dean?

INT. E BLOCK - NIGHT

Paul and Dean enter to find Brutal trying not to wake the

cons in their cells by laughing too loudly. They follows his

gaze down the Mile, see nothing, turn to him like he's crazy.

BRUTAL:

I guess the legislature loosened

those purse-strings enough to hire

on a new guard.

(off their looks)

Look again. He's right there.

Paul and Dean look again and this time they see it:

A tiny brown mouse is coming up the Mile. It trots a short

distance, peers right and left as if checking the snoring

inmates in their cells, then makes another forward spurt.

PAUL:

He's doing a cell check.

This gets them all trying not to laugh. The mouse draws ever

closer. Dean starts to look worried.

DEAN:

It ain't normal for a mouse to

come up on people that way. Maybe

it's rabid.

BRUTAL:

Oh, my Christ. The big mouse

expert. The Mouse Man. You see it

foaming at the mouth, Mouse Man?

DEAN:

(dubious)

I don't see its mouth at all.

That does it--Paul and Brutal burst out laughing. The mouse

stops before them and peers up, curling its tail primly

around its paws as if to wait. The guards fall silent,

fascinated. Bitterbuck stirs in his cell, sits up to watch.

Brutal tears off a piece of his half-eaten corned beef

sandwich, holds it delicately out with two fingers. The mouse

rises up, appraising the morsel with shiny black eyes.

DEAN:

Aw, Brutal, no! We'll be hip-deep

in mice around here...

BRUTAL:

(to Paul)

I just wanna see what he'll do. In

the interests of science, like.

Paul shrugs. Brutal drops the scrap. The mouse grabs it and

eats, sitting up like a dog doing a trick.

The mouse turns and scurries back down the Mile, vanishing

under the restraint room door at the far end. Dean throws

Paul an "I told you so" look.

DEAN:

He's in the damn restraint room.

You know he's gonna be chewing the

padding out of walls and making

himself a nice little nest.

Brutal give Paul a sheepish look--well? Paul sighs.

PAUL:

All right. Let's get the damn

mouse.

They stride grimly down the Mile to the restraint room door,

men on a mission. Coffey's awake now, peering from his cot.

COFFEY:

Saw me a mouse go by.

PAUL:

It was a dream. Go back to sleep.

COFFEY:

Weren't no dream. It was a mouse

all right.

PAUL:

Can't put anything over on you.

Paul unlocks the door, revealing a padded room filled with

storage:
cleaning supplies, buckets of paint, mops and

ladders, you name it. Brutal shrugs off his jacket. Paul

grabs a mop from a steel bucket, hands it to Dean.

PAUL:

Dean, watch the door. He tries to

get past you, whack him.

DEAN:

Brutal or the mouse?

BRUTAL:

Har har, Mouse Man.

Brutal and Paul start doing the heavy lifting, muscling an

unused filing cabinet out the door...

DISSOLVE:

...and they finally relay the last few heavy buckets of paint

onto the Mile. Paul and Brutal catch their breath, scanning

the empty restraint room. Their eyes go glaringly to Dean.

PAUL:

You let him get past you.

DEAN:

No I didn't, I was here all the

time!

BRUTAL:

Then where the hell is he?

They move slowly into the room, peering into every nook and

cranny, utterly mystified. Brutal shakes his head.

BRUTAL:

Three grown men. Outsmarted by a

mouse.

DEAN:

Well, bright side is, all this

commotion probably scared him off

for good.

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