The Sweet Hereafter Page #5

MITCHELL:

Who is responsible for this tragedy.

Then, in your name and the Walkers'

name and the name of whoever decides

to join us, I shall sue. I shall

sue for negligence until they bleed.

Pause.

WANDA:

I want that person to go to jail.

For the rest of his life. I want

him to die there. I don't want his

money.

MITCHELL nods sympathetically.

MITCHELL:

It's unlikely that anyone will go to

prison, Mrs. Otto. But he or his

company will pay in other ways. And

we must make them pay. Not for the

money or to compensate you for the

loss of your son. That can't be

done. But to protect other innocent

children. You see, I'm not just

here to speak for your anger, but

for the future as well.

(beat)

What we're talking about is an

ongoing relationship to time.

Pause. HARTLEY looks at MITCHELL'S teacup.

HARTLEY:

I didn't ask if you wanted milk.

MITCHELL:

No. A little sugar though.

HARTLEY:

We've only got honey.

MITCHELL:

I'll...take it straight.

MITCHELL maintains his eye contact with WANDA.

WANDA:

Are you expensive?

MITCHELL:

No.

MITCHELL:

If you agree to have me represent

you in this suit, I will require no

payment until after the case is won,

when I will require one third of the

awarded amount. If there is no

award made, then my services will

cost you nothing. It's a standard

agreement.

WANDA:

Do you have this agreement with you?

MITCHELL:

It's in my car.

MITCHELL gets up.

MITCHELL (CONT'D)

I'll just be a minute. Anyhow, you

should discuss this all without me

before you make any decision.

MITCHELL moves to the door.

CUT TO:

EXT. THE OTTOS HOUSE. -- DAY

MITCHELL leaves the house and moves to his car. He gets

inside and closes the door.

Once inside, MITCHELL opens his briefcase and takes out an

agreement for the OTTOS. Something inside the briefcase

catches his attention.

ANGLE ON:

A photograph of ZOE.

MITCHELL stares at this photograph.

MITCHELL:

(voice over)

I've done everything the loving

father of a drug addict is supposed

to do...

CUT TO:

INT. AIRPLANE. FIRST CLASS CABIN -- EVENING

MITCHELL and ALISON have finished dinner. MITCHELL is

drinking a triple scotch.

MITCHELL:

(continuing from

voice over)

...I've sent her to the best

hospitals, she's seen all the best

doctors. It doesn't matter. Two

weeks later she's on the street.

New York, Vancouver, Pittsburgh,

Toronto, L.A. The next time I hear

from her, it's a phone call scamming

for money. Money for school, or

money for a new kind of therapist,

or money for a plane ticket home.

'Oh Daddy, just let me come

home...Please, Daddy, I have to see

you...' But she never comes home.

I'm always at the airport, but she's

never there. Ten years of this, ten

years of these lies, of imagining

what happens if I don't send the

money, of kicking down doors and

dragging her out of rat-infested

apartments, of explaining why that

couldn't be my daughter in a porn

flick someone saw...well, enough

rage and helplessness, and your love

turns to something else.

ALISON:

(soft)

What...does it turn to?

MITCHELL:

It turns to steaming piss.

Pause. ALISON is shocked by MITCHELL'S intensity. He

collects himself.

MITCHELL (CONT'D)

I'm...so sorry.

ALISON:

That's okay.

CUT TO:

EXT. BILLY'S HOUSE. -- LATE DAY

BILLY is chasing his kids around the yard of their house.

NICOLE appears, and watching BILLY play with JESSICA and

MASON. BILLY notices her, and runs up breathlessly,

BILLY:

Hi, Nicole.

NICOLE:

Hi, Mr. Ansel. Hi, Jessica,

Mason...

BILLY:

They just finished supper.

NICOLE:

(to the kids)

Was it good?

The children shake their heads. NICOLE and BILLY laugh.

BILLY:

I'll be back around nine.

NICOLE:

Okay.

CUT TO:

INT. GAS STATION -- DUSK

BILLY is playing his electric guitar in the same garage that

MITCHELL walked into at the beginning of the film.

This is the gas station/repair shop/car wash that BILLY

runs.

BILLY checks his watch, and takes his guitar off. He leaves

the garage.

CUT TO:

EXT. BIDE-A-WILE MOTEL -- DUSK

BILLY is walking along a path behind the hotel, making sure

that he is not seen. He sneaks into Room 11.

CUT TO:

INT. BIDE-A-WILE MOTEL -- EVENING

BILLY is sitting in a chair in Room 11, smoking a cigarette.

The room is dark. After a while, RISA enters through the

door and slips inside.

RISA:

Have you been waiting long?

BILLY:

A while.

RISA:

Billy, do you have to smoke?

Wendell can smell if someone's been

smoking.

BILLY gets up to put out his cigarette in the toilet. He

notices some work tools in the washroom.

BILLY:

What's all this?

RISA:

Wendell put some fresh enamel on

that break in the tub.

BILLY:

Does this mean I can't take a

shower?

RISA:

No. It should be dry by now.

BILLY nods. He turns around, looks at RISA, and begins to

unbutton her shirt. RISA stops him, smiles, and kisses

BILLY. After a moment, she pulls away, unbuckles her belt,

and slips off her jeans. She moves to the bed.

BILLY:

What time's he coming home?

RISA:

When the game's over, I guess.

BILLY moves to the radio and turns it on, tuning into a

hockey game. RISA laughs. He lowers the volume. RISA

takes off her shirt, and moves behind BILLY, kissing his

neck. BILLY closes his eyes.

CUT TO:

INT. BILLY'S HOUSE. -- EVENING

JESSICA and MASON, BILLY'S children, are being read to sleep

by NICOLE. She reads from Robert Browning's THE PIED PIPER

OF HAMELIN.

NICOLE:

The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

By famous Hanover city;

The river Weser, deep and wide,

Washes its wall on the southern

side;

A pleasanter spot you never spied;

But, when begins my ditty...

MASON:

What's a ditty again?

NICOLE:

It's like a song.

MASON:

Oh.

NICOLE:

When begins my ditty,

Almost five hundred years ago,

To see the townsfolk suffer so

From vermin, was a pity...

MASON:

What's vermin again?

NICOLE:

Rats!

They fought the dogs and killed the

cats,

And bit the babies in the cradles,

And ate the cheeses out of vats.

And licked the soup from the cook's

own ladles,

Split open the kegs of salted

sprats,

Made nests inside men's Sunday hats,

And even spoiled the women's chats,

By drowning their speaking

With shrieking and squeaking

In fifty different sharps and

flats...

MASON:

Nicole?

NICOLE:

Yes.

MASON:

Can I sit beside you on the bus

tomorrow?

NICOLE:

Don't you usually like to sit at the

back? To wave at your Dad?

MASON:

I want to sit beside you tomorrow.

NICOLE:

Okay.

NICOLE covers JESSICA, and gets up to leave.

MASON:

Nicole?

NICOLE:

What, Mason?

MASON:

Did the Pied Piper take the children

away because he was mad that the

town didn't pay him?

NICOLE:

That's right.

MASON:

Well, if he knew magic - if he could

get the kids into the mountain - why

couldn't he use his pipe to make the

people pay him for getting rid of

the rats?

NICOLE:

Because...he wanted to them to be

punished.

MASON:

The people in the town?

NICOLE:

Yes.

MASON:

So he was mean?

NICOLE:

No. Not mean. Just...very angry.

MASON:

Oh.

NICOLE:

Should I keep reading?

MASON:

Okay.

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