The Vanishing of Sidney Hall Page #3

---

You'll shove his dick

up his ass or whatever.

He's not gonna start with you.

We have a deal?

I'll pick you up Saturday.

You live over in Cedar, right?

Yeah.

Across the tracks,

as my dad would say.

Dad?

Yeah.

Never mind.

No! No, no, wait!

Jameson.

Jameson.

Hello.

Hi. Hi, is this, uh, Melody?

Sh*t.

This guy is good.

This guy's really f***ing good.

You, sir,

have been drinking

since I met you.

It's a very bad habit.

And incidentally, I'm getting

kinda tired of pretending like

we don't know each other

every time we go out in public.

I'm sorta married.

Are you sorta divorced?

Sorta separated?

You're Harold's daughter.

I think he can handle it.

You're his meal ticket, so

Maybe today.

Okay.

I think you should take one

of these and some of this.

Gonna get some sleep, and then

tomorrow's going to happen

I'm tired of sleeping.

My entire life,

I can't think of one

positive dreaming experience,

only nightmares.

Is there any

particular nightmare

that I can help you with?

Well there's this one,

recurring one.

- Yeah?

- Yeah.

Where I'm being followed.

Everywhere I go.

He's with me.

And I get claustrophobic.

Like he's

strangling me.

Like he knows all the bad

things that I've ever done.

And he's coming to judge me.

And when I wake up

from this nightmare,

he's still there.

I don't know what he wants.

But he knows

everything about me.

That's what scares me the most.

Good morning.

Mr. Tidemand.

I wonder if you

by chance know

This man.

Have you seen him recently,

Mr. Tidemand?

I'd like you to take a good

long look at this mug shot

because it was taken

very recently.

Okay, so?

No one has claimed to see

or hear from Sidney Hall

in over five years.

And yet here he is, posing.

For New York City

Police Department.

Now how is that possible?

He was booked

under another name.

What do you want from me?

What I want to know,

Mr. Tidemand,

is if there are things

that you make,

other than these beautiful

wood trolls.

It's a trick.

What is?

I think you know

what I'm talking about.

I'm not after you,

Mr. Tidemand.

I'd like to offer you a trade.

You give me the information

about the documents you forged

for Sidney Hall.

And I give you my word,

you will never see me again.

All right,

but just so we're clear,

this conversation

is being recorded

on both sides of the table.

Fair enough.

was here

a few months ago.

And?

I made him a couple ID's,

a passport

and a drivers license.

What else?

He didn't look good.

He said he had some

loose ends to tie up.

Did he say where he was going?

No, that's all I know.

Hey! Hey!

No crossing the street.

Okay.

Okay.

I just

Is your name Melody?

Have we met before?

Yes.

We met.

When?

In the first grade.

You gave me a Valentines Day

card on the wrong day.

And then

on the actual Valentines Day,

you kissed me.

And I told on you.

And I would have kissed

you back, the next day

But we moved. We went south

for a little bit.

Now you've moved back?

Why do you keep

running away from me?

I don't know.

Because it's fun.

Maybe I'm afraid.

- Afraid of what?

- Uh! No crossing the street.

All right. All right, I won't.

I just

When can I cross the street?

What the f*** you doing, Hall?

I was having a moment.

Until you showed up.

Well, come on, let's go.

You wanna smoke?

No.

What's that, a journal?

Yup.

How long you kept one of those?

Since I was five.

You know, I wasn't

lying to you before.

About the essay.

I loved that sh*t, man.

All that stuff you rant about

in the school paper,

sh*t makes me laugh.

You should write about me.

Oh, yeah? What would

that be about?

My father.

Your father? What about him?

You know who my father is?

Yeah, he's a He's a judge.

So what, doesn't mean I should

write a book about him.

Doesn't make you any

more interesting either.

Whatever, man.

You'll be singing

a different tune tomorrow.

What happens tomorrow?

May I come in?

Yeah.

Your elevator's stuck again.

Oh, Duane,

it's 6:
00 in the morning.

Not in Oklahoma.

Great.

"The night served

as a tragic setting

"in the town of Oklahoma City

"where an aspiring writer,

Henry Crowe,

"committed suicide

in front of his parents.

"After a failed attempt

to kill his step-father

"with a 9mm handgun,

"he turned the gun on himself

- and shot himself in the head."

- I don't understand.

"The only thing found

on his person

"was a paperback copy

of Suburban Tragedy

"by renowned author,

Sidney Hall.

"He owned no less than

eight copies of the novel

"and according to friends,

"often quoted passages

from the book.

"Henry Crowe is one of

many in a growing allegiance

"of Suburban Tragedy followers

"who take the book so literally

"that they will attempt

to mimic its message

"and expose the underbelly

of Suburban America

"no matter what the cost.

"The book has already been

banned in school libraries

"and teaching curriculums

in Montana.

"And this incident

will undoubtedly

"spiral its resistance upwards,

"Possibly at

a national level."

How young was he?

- It doesn't make a difference.

- How young was he?

Twenty-two.

This book

has inspired more people

than you can possibly

Inspired people to do what?

Kill themselves?

Whatever happens over

the next few weeks,

this is not your fault.

They'll make it my fault.

Maybe.

For a news cycle, but

You don't read

the Internet anyway, okay,

so just Just continue that.

Continue that, all right?

Now, this book

is essentially feeding our youth

a dangerously blind idealism.

Promoting disrespect

for our elders.

A generation

bred on entitlement.

And the fact

that it's being included

in our school curriculum

is a dangerous sign

of the times.

How do you feel about

the book burnings in Oklahoma?

Well, you have to buy 'em

in order to burn'em.

So, maybe sales will go up.

Next?

Any validity in the comparisons

between Henry Crowe

and the lead character

in Mr. Hall's book?

No. No. No.

The character in question

kills himself with a knife.

Not a gun.

And any comparison

between the two

is ridiculous horseshit.

- Next.

- Do you think this book

will become federally censored?

And might it have an effect

on the Pulitzer nomination?

I highly doubt that it

will be taken seriously.

And I couldn't care less about

Senator Dale's

campaign for fascism.

If he doesn't like the book,

don't read it.

Do you think he's read it?

I really don't give a sh*t.

But don't quote me on that.

But enough about me,

at this time, Sidney would

like to make a statement.

Please hold

all of your questions

until after he's finished.

It saddens me

that a life has been lost.

My heart goes out

to Henry Crowe's

family and friends.

I empathize with them,

and hope that brighter days

will appear sooner

rather than later.

That said

I apologize for nothing.

I cannot predict

what reaction

any particular individual

may or may not have

to something I have written.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes