The Vanishing of Sidney Hall Page #6

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was so scattered.

And I was

I was thinking about you and

all the trouble you get me in.

I hope you appreciate it.

Why didn't you tell me

you started writing a book?

Oh, I don't know.

It's just something

I was working on.

I thought I'd ask you

I was curious about your

Your thoughts on it.

Well, I've read

what you have this far.

And I thought it was

Manipulative.

It manipulated me

through the first chapter.

It forced me through the second.

It dared me to reach the third.

It was honest.

Personal. Valid.

I loved it.

I wanna know what happens next.

- You do?

- Yeah.

Of course, your choice

of subject matter

is It's a bit

controversial.

And as brilliant

as the pages are right now,

you're gonna get

some heavy criticism

for it down the road.

Down the road?

What do you mean?

Uh

I took it upon myself

to send your pages out

to some friends of mine

who are in

the publishing business.

Um, but did anyone respond?

Yes.

Uh, who?

Porter House.

Porter House?

Mmm-hmm.

What did they say?

They said it was strong.

They want to meet with you

as soon as possible.

There could be money involved.

- Really?

- Yeah,

now, uh, any situation

a professional writer would

call upon someone to, uh,

hold meetings, negotiate

and things like that.

And seeing as how you're

inexperienced in those

Those sorta things, um

I was just wondering if

Just wondering if

You wanna be my agent?

Yes.

Uh

- If you'd have me

- Please, please, yes.

- Of course.

- That's great.

This is great.

Blowing my mind. I don't even

know what to say right now.

We'll meet with them

tomorrow at 1:
00.

1:
00? What about class?

F*** it.

Brett Newport.

Newport.

You posted bail.

Mr. Hall?

You bailed me out?

Well, what do you want?

I'd like to

ask you some questions

Are you hungry?

There's a diner

just down the road and if

If you're hungry,

I'd like to buy you a meal.

Look, man.

You wanna take me

out on a date or something?

That's cool. I'm easy.

You're just gonna have to

get my dog out too,

otherwise I'm not

going anywhere.

I've already taken care of that.

Okay, let's eat.

Hmm.

Mr. Hall, I've been

searching for you

for the better half of a year.

I'm a big fan.

I've studied

both of your novels.

Suburban Tragedy

and Stay of Execution.

I:

I find them to be

extraordinary forms of map work.

Map work, huh?

You're a psycho fan, aren't you?

No. No.

Well, I mean, maybe a little.

Life isn't very interesting if

we're not a bit psychotic.

Look

I'm, uh

I'm not a writer anymore.

You understand what I'm saying?

I don't have any money.

I, uh There's nothing

I can give you.

That's not what interests me.

I've come here

with the intention of

presenting you with a deal.

In return for me

posting your bail,

I would like to ask you a favor.

However, I need you

to say yes to this favor

before I actually tell you

exactly what it is.

No. No way. You have to

tell me what it is first.

You're not really in a

position to bargain, Mr. Hall.

Your propensity for starting

fires in public places.

Has you at a disadvantage.

But don't worry, what I ask you,

it will not take long.

Oh, great, now why'd

you have to go and say that

First it was a favor, and now

it's a time-consuming favor.

Well, there's nothing

to be afraid of,

it may even be therapeutic.

Therapeutic?

Do you have any idea

what kind of f***ed up things

I'm imagining right now?

- Then I suggest you say yes.

- Yes!

Sure! Jesus Christ,

just tell me what it is before

I have a heart attack already.

I want to write a book

about you.

Say again?

I want to write

your biography. Your life.

You want to write a book

about me?

I would like to write a book

about you.

Absolutely not.

No. No, no, no.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Have you ever written

anything before?

I know what you've written.

You're one of the best writers

of our time.

Don't get ahead of yourself,

I'm not

That would be Francis Bishop.

Have you ever read

Francis Bishop?

Won the Pulitzer

the year I was nominated.

Maybe he didn't deserve it.

No, he, uh,

he deserved it all right.

His follow-up book was

proof enough of that.

My follow-up was

self-indulgent and pretentious

so if you want to write about

the greatest writer of our time

I suggest you write about

Francis Bishop.

No, I'm no good at

autobiographies

Look, I don't know what

to tell you then.

You're Francis Bishop?

Nah. The badge you flashed me.

The badge.

To tell you the truth,

I got this at a dollar store

and it must be

a very good replica

because I've never had

a single person

ask me a question about it.

A dollar store?

You mean like "Just-a-Buck"?

"Just-a-Buck."

Hold on Do you mind

if I see this?

No, please.

Oh, my God. This is not real.

This is fake. You're not

f***ing lying.

No.

How many people have

you shown that to?

Just about everyone from here

to New York City.

Wait. Wait, you impersonated

an officer of the law.

You know that's illegal, right?

I showed that to real police,

they didn't even flinch.

You're crazy, man.

I thought I was f***in' nuts.

You're f***in' crazy.

You know, I always wanted to

get into

investigative journalism,

I never really did,

but I went full out on this.

And/or it could have something

to do with a mid-life crisis,

I'm not sure which. However,

nonetheless, here I am.

Wow.

- You have a family?

- A son.

Very handsome son.

What are you doing here?

Visiting my wife.

Well, she's busy.

What is that?

You found it?

I bought it.

For you.

And we can go there

whenever you want.

We can go there right now.

It's yours.

You wanna go there right now?

- I can't do that.

- Why?

Because we're not kids

anymore, Sidney.

What about

I can't just get in a car

and go off forever.

What about being

spontaneous. Going west?

Remember we used to

talk about that?

New beginnings.

You're a photographer.

You can shoot from anywhere.

- I can write from anywhere.

- Sidney

Don't do that, please,

just if you don't want to

go west,

we don't need to go west,

we can go north, south, east,

Europe, Asia.

Wherever you want.

I just want to be with you.

I'm pregnant.

It's yours.

So no.

I can't just go west.

I don't get to be

spontaneous anymore.

Do you even care?

Of course I care. Don't

Don't do that. Please. Please.

Because if you care,

things need to change.

I will change everything.

I'll change anything you want.

Are you cheating on me?

No.

- This is your only chance

- I'm not cheating on you.

This is the only

time to tell me.

I get it,

we haven't been together.

I'm not

This is your one

get-out-of-jail-free card.

I'm not Listen, I'm done.

I'm done with that. I promise.

You're my best friend.

I miss you so much.

Please. Just give us a chance.

I want to bring up this child

with you.

Oh.

If we want this to work,

we need to get back

to this moment.

The rest of our lives have to

be as true as this moment was.

Here.

Look, Francis, you know,

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