The Sweet Hereafter Page #11

your life was before the accident.

But listen, even I feel sorry for

you.

NICOLE:

You can only feel lucky that you

didn't die for so long. Then you

start to feel...unlucky.

MITCHELL:

That you didn't die? Like the other

children?

NICOLE:

Yes. Like Bear and the Ansel twins

and Sean and...

MARY:

Nicole!

NICOLE:

It's the truth.

MITCHELL regards MARY with calm authority, as though he's

telling her the time.

MITCHELL:

It is the truth.

Pause. MITCHELL looks back at NICOLE.

MITCHELL (CONT'D)

It would be strange if you didn't

feel that way.

NICOLE:

(after a slight

pause)

What do you want me to do for you,

Mr. Stephens?

CUT TO:

INT. BURNELL HOME. LIVINGROOM. -- DAY

TIME CUT fifteen minutes forward. The scene shifts to the

livingroom.

MITCHELL and NICOLE are alone in the room. SAM comes back

from another room, as MARY appears from the kitchen with a

plate of cookies.

NICOLE:

(voice over)

That got you talking about

depositions and lawyers. By the

time Daddy came back from the

washroom and Mom came in with her

tea and cookies, you were going on

about how tough it would be for me

to answer some of the questions

those other lawyers would ask .

MITCHELL:

They work for the people we're

trying to sue. Their job is to try

to minimize damages. Our job,

Nicole, is to try to maximize them.

You have to think of it that way.

As people doing their jobs. No good

guys or bad guys. Just our side and

their side.

NICOLE:

I won't lie.

MITCHELL:

I don't want you to lie.

NICOLE:

The truth is that it was an

accident, and no one's to blame.

MITCHELL:

There's no such thing as an

accident, Nicole. Not in a

situation like this.

NICOLE:

You seem very sure about that.

MITCHELL:

I'm absolutely positive.

NICOLE turns to face SAM. She stares at him.

NICOLE:

No matter what I'm asked, I'll tell

the truth.

SAM looks back, expressionless.

MITCHELL:

That's fine. I want you to be

absolutely truthful. And I'll be

right there to advise and help you.

And there'll be a court stenographer

there to make a record of it, and

that's what'll go to the judge,

before the trial is set. It'll be

the same for everybody. They'll be

deposing the Ottos and the Walkers,

the bus driver...

NICOLE:

Dolores.

MITCHELL:

Yes. Dolores...and even your mom

and dad. But I'll make sure you go

last.

NICOLE:

Why?

MITCHELL:

So you can keep on getting well

before you have to go and do this.

It's not going to be easy, Nicole.

Do you understand that?

NICOLE nods.

SAM:

When do they award damages?

MITCHELL:

Depends. This could drag on for

quite a while. But we'll be there

at the end, Sam. Don't you worry.

NICOLE:

(voice over)

At that moment, I hated my parents -

Daddy for what he knew and had done,

NICOLE:

and even Mom for what she didn't

know and hadn't done. You told me

it wasn't going to be easy. But as

I sat there, staring at Daddy, I

knew it was going to be the easiest

thing in my life.

CUT TO:

EXT. BIDE-A-WILE MOTEL -- MORNING

REPLAY of the scene of SEAN WALKER entering the bus. He

turns around to face his mother.

SEAN:

I want to stay with you.

RISA:

Go on now. Go on.

SEAN hesitantly turns to face the inside of the bus. He

sees NICOLE BURNELL, who pats the seat beside her.

MASON leaves his place beside NICOLE to make way for SEAN.

NICOLE:

C'mon, Sean, sit next to me.

ANGLE ON:

DOLORES as she watches SEAN move towards NICOLE.

CUT TO:

INT. COMMUNITY CENTRE. -- DAY

DOLORES gives her deposition. A stenographer takes notes.

MITCHELL listens, along with SCHWARTZ, the opposing lawyer.

DOLORES:

He never took his eyes off his

mother, even as he moved to sit

beside Nicole. He looked

frightened.

MITCHELL:

Why would he be frightened?

DOLORES:

I don't know. But it was weird in

terms of what happened next. Sean

was still watching his mother.

DOLORES:

I shut the door with one hand, and

released the brake with the other,

and waited for a second for Risa to

cross in front of the bus. There

was a sixteen wheeler behind me, and

I heard his air brakes hiss as the

driver chunked into gear. I looked

into the side view mirror, and saw

him move into line behind me. Then

suddenly Sean shrieked...

CUT TO:

INT. SCHOOL BUS -- MORNING

SEAN leaps to the front of the bus.

SEAN:

Mommy!

MITCHELL:

(voice over, from

the court chamber)

What happened then?

DOLORES:

(voice over)

Sean was all over me, scrambling

across my lap to the window. I

glimpsed Risa off to my left,

leaping out of the way of a red Saab

that seemed to have bolted out of

nowhere.

The scene is horrifying, as SEAN watches his mother just

missing a terrible accident with the speeding vehicle.

DOLORES (CONT'D)

Sean! Sit down! Your Mom's okay!

Now sit down!

SEAN sits back down beside NICOLE. DOLORES slides open her

window, and speaks to RISA.

DOLORES (CONT'D)

You get his number?

RISA is stunned.

DOLORES (CONT'D)

(voice over)

She was shaken, standing there with

her arms wrapped around herself.

DOLORES:

She shook her head, turned away, and

walked slowly back to the office. I

drew a couple of breaths and checked

Sean, who was seated now but still

craning and looking after his

mother.

CUT TO:

INT. COMMUNITY CENTRE. -- DAY

The deposition continues.

DOLORES:

I smiled at him, but he only glared

back at me, as if I was to blame.

CUT TO:

EXT. SCHOOL BUS -- MORNING

AERIAL VIEW of the bus as it makes its way through the

mountains. NICOLE'S voice is heard reading The Pied Piper

from the scene with the ANSEL children.

NICOLE:

(voice over)

For he led us, he said, to a joyous

land,

Joining the town and just at hand,

Where waters gushed and fruit-trees

grew,

And flowers put forth a fairer hue,

And everything was strange and

new...

CUT TO:

INT. SCHOOL BUS -- DAY

A montage showing the faces of the various children in the

bus. These images are intercut with DOLORES'S deposition.

CUT TO:

INT. COMMUNITY CENTRE. -- DAY

The deposition. DOLORES is trying to control her emotions.

DOLORES:

I remember wrenching the steering

wheel to the right and slapping my

foot against the brake petal. I

wasn't the driver anymore.

DOLORES:

The bus was like this huge wave

about to break over us. Bear Otto,

the Lambston kids, the Hamiltons,

the Prescotts, the teenaged boys and

girls from Bartlett Hill, Sean,

Nicole Burnell, Billy Ansel's twins,

Jessica and Mason...all the children

of my town.

CUT TO:

INT. BURNELL HOME -- NIGHT

SAM and JENNY are watching television. Lumberjack log-

rolling.

NICOLE, in her wheelchair, is reading a book off to one

corner. MARY comes into the room.

MARY:

That was Billy Ansel on the phone.

He wants to come over to talk to us.

SAM:

Did he say what about?

MARY:

No.

SAM:

Was he drinking? Could you tell?

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