The Ice Storm Page #12

BEN:

I just can't believe you could be

so --

Stalling, he watches her take another sip of her drink and

wander off.

The air is filled with talk of Watergate, Billie Jean King,

the Oil Crisis, the Mets.

Benjamin goes over to the couch, where Dave Gorman is

chatting up an attractive younger woman.

GORMAN:

(lighting up a joint)

Welcome to the Monkey House has

been a seminal influence on me --

hey Benjamin -- give it a try? This

stuff will make some sense out of

those larger questions.

BEN:

(waving it away)

Thanks for the advice Dave.

But then, Benjamin changes his mind.

BEN (CONT'D)

Uh, well, what the hey...

Taking the joint, he tugs on it, holding the smoke in his

lungs.

BEN (CONT'D)

(coughing)

Good sh*t.

GORMAN:

Sure is good sh*t. It's opiated. I

had it in my chamber for a while. I

was smoking this other --

BEN:

It's what?

GORMAN:

Don't fret, Benjie, it's --

BEN:

Darn it, Dave.

He rises unsteadily, weaving through the room's

conversations.

JACK MOELLERING:

Take California. They've got their

own airline in-state that's not

subject to the fare controls.

Compare Sacramento to L.A. on the

controlled airlines and you'll see

what Friedman is saying -- supply

and demand, less restriction.

Benjamin walks over to a window. The outdoor lamps illuminate

a new and heavy downpour of frozen sleet.

INT. CONRAIL TRAIN. NIGHT

Paul is seated, reading the latest number of The Fantastic

Four comic book. The cover displays a lurid, atomically

glowing baby.

The conductor walks through the cabin.

CONDUCTOR:

Approaching our final stop, Grand

Central Station.

Paul looks out the window at the tenements of Harlem, barely

visible through the walls of sleet. Soon the train enters the

tunnel toward the station.

EXT. PARK AVENUE APARTMENT BUILDING. NIGHT

Paul gets out of a cab and heads inside. He's met by the

doorman.

PAUL:

Libbets Casey, please.

DOORMAN:

Your name?

PAUL:

Paul Hood.

DOORMAN:

(a smirk)

Elevator on the right. Eighth floor

-- she's waiting for you.

INT. HALL IN FRONT OF LIBBETS' APARTMENT DOOR. NIGHT

Paul rings the bell.

LIBBETS (O.S.)

(from the other side of

the door)

Open it Paul!

Paul opens the door, and enters the apartment.

INT. LIBBETS' APARTMENT. NIGHT

It's half dark, has an air of old wealth.

Libbets skids across the parquet floor to him.

LIBBETS:

Excellent. We were waiting!

She turns and runs into the den.

PAUL:

(under his breath)

We?

And there, in the den, cleaning an ounce of dope on an open

copy of Nixon's Six Crises, is -- Francis.

FRANCIS:

(lifting the book up)

You oughtta read this Hood, Nixon,

our leader, all ye need know about

the travails of life. Check out the

Checkers speech stuff.

PAUL:

(all hope drained from

him)

Francis. You gonna leave the seeds

in there? In the binding like that?

FRANCIS:

All will be revealed, baby.

The television is turned on to a weather report about the

coming ice storm.

FRANCIS (CONT'D)

Awesome sleet and rain.

LIBBETS:

Major.

FRANCIS:

Howdy there. You, young knight. Can

you check on the mead? Can you

sally forth and secure us some more

mead?

PAUL:

Huh?

FRANCIS:

(nasal voice,

impersonating a TV

character)

Moisture! Moisture!

LIBBETS:

(pointing)

Beer. In the pantry.

Paul trudges disconsolately out of the room.

INT. LIBBETS KITCHEN. NIGHT

Paul, after wandering a maze of halls, enters the kitchen,

where he takes a six-pack out of the fridge and returns to

the living room.

INT. LIBBETS LIVING ROOM. NIGHT

He enters the room with the beer.

LIBBETS:

Frankie opens them with his teeth.

PAUL:

(handing him a beer)

Hey, it's a sellable skill.

Francis licks closed a second joint, then takes the beer and

opens it with his rear molars.

FRANCIS:

Hell on the fillings.

Paul opens the other two beers and hands one to Libbets. They

light up a joint.

FRANCIS:

Everything's gonna freeze, the big

freeze.

LIBBETS:

Yeah, Paul, are you gonna get home

okay?

Paul and Francis exchange a look.

She puts an Allman Brothers tape on the 8-track and turns the

TV down.

INT. HOOD BATHROOM. DAY

Wendy enters the bathroom.

She fills the sink with water, then turns off the tap. She

takes a razor blade from the counter, and slowly,

determinedly, holds it to her wrist.

She presses it into her skin, drawing a small drop of blood.

WENDY:

Ouch!

She drops the blade and splashes water on her wrist, grabbing

some toilet paper and holding it against the tiny wound.

WENDY:

Stupid.

She hears the phone ring and walks downstairs.

INT. HOOD DEN. NIGHT

Wendy picks up the phone.

WENDY:

Hood residence.

INT. WILLIAMS KITCHEN. NIGHT

Mikey is on the other end of the line.

MIKEY:

You're parents at that party?

INTERCUT:

WENDY:

Yeah. Yours?

MIKEY:

You get in trouble?

WENDY:

Maybe. Can't really tell yet.

MIKEY:

I'm sorry if I got you into

trouble. Maybe we don't have to,

you know... unless you really want

to.

WENDY:

Yeah.

MIKE:

I'm going to Silver Meadow, check

out the ice storm... You wanna

come.

WENDY:

Maybe.

MIKE:

Yeah. OK.

INT. WILLIAMS HOUSE. NIGHT

Mikey, bundled up in a huge orange ski parka and cap, heads

for the door.

SANDY:

Where you going?

MIKEY:

Out.

SANDY:

It's freezing.

MIKEY:

(pausing)

Yeah. When it freezes, I guess that

means the molecules are not moving.

So when you breathe, there's

nothing in the air, you know, to

breathe in to your body. The

molecules have stopped. So it's

clean.

Sandy just looks at him. He walks out into the night.

INT. HALFORD'S. NIGHT

Elena sits on a couch, talking to no one, barely looking up,

when someone stands in front of her.

ELENA:

Reverend Edwards.

PHILIP:

Perhaps you might find it in your

heart to call me Philip?

He sits beside her.

ELENA:

You're here... I'm a bit surprised.

PHILIP:

Sometimes the shepherd needs the

company of the sheep.

ELENA:

I'm going to try hard not to

understand the implications of that

simile.

Philip's about to reply, but thinks better of it.

They sit glumly next to each other for a minute. Then Philip

rises.

PHILIP:

Forgive me.

He walks swiftly to the hall and hurriedly fishes his keys

out of the bowl, then heads for the door.

TED FRANKLIN:

(passing by)

I hope those weren't my keys.

He laughs at his own joke as Philip rushes out the front

door.

Back to Elena, even more forlorn than before.

INT. LIBBETS APARTMENT BATHROOM. NIGHT

Paul enters the bathroom. We hear Francis' and Libbets'

voices from the other room, laughing.

He pees.

At the sink, he pauses in front of the medicine cabinet, then

opens it.

PAUL:

Eureka.

He pulls out some bottles.

PAUL:

Valium. Seconal. Uh,

(can't quite pronounce

this one)

Par-er-goric?

(a beat, looking into the

mirror for effect)

Francis Chamberlain Davenport the

Fourth -- tonight you sleep the

sleep of the just.

He pockets the Seconal and turns out the light.

INT. LIBBETS APARTMENT DEN. NIGHT

Paul re-enters the den to find Francis alone.

PAUL:

And whence has yon virginal maiden

absconded?

FRANCIS:

Like into one of the other 20 or so

bathrooms they've got in this

place.

Paul takes out the bottle and opens it.

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