Thelma and Louise Page #2

EXT. THELMA'S HOUSE - DAY

Louise's green '66 T-Bird convertible pulls into the driveway

of Thelma's house. The garage door goes up and Thelma is

standing in the garage with all her gear. A suitcase that

looks like it might explode, fishing gear, a cooler, a

lantern. Thelma's car, a beat-up gray Honda, is parked in

there, too. Louise gets out of the driver's seat.

LOUISE:

We don't need the lantern. The place

has electricity.

THELMA:

I wanna take it anyway. Just in

case.

LOUISE:

In case of what?

THELMA:

In case there's some escaped psycho

killer on the loose, who cuts the

electricity off and tries to come in

and kill us.

LOUISE:

(going along with her)

Oh yeah, sure, Thelma, that lantern

will come in real handy. Maybe we

could tow your car behind, in case

he steals the spark plugs.

THELMA:

We'd have to. That thing barely

makes it down the driveway.

They load everything into the car. The trunk barely closes.

Thelma heaves all her weight against it. They get into the

car and pull out of the driveway. As they drive down the

street, we hear Thelma let out a long howl.

She is laughing and she sticks her arms straight up in the

air.

EXT. CAR - DAY

They are driving down the interstate. Thelma reaches for

her purse and finds the gun.

THELMA:

Louise, will you take care of the

gun?

Louise shrieks at the sight of it.

LOUISE:

Why in hell did you bring that?

Thelma wonders if Louise is really that naive.

THELMA:

Oh, come on, Louise... psycho killers,

bears... snakes! I just don't know

how to use it. So will you take

care of it?

Louise reaches over and takes the gun out of Thelma's purse

and holds it in her hand. She tests the weight of it, and

then puts it under the seat. Thelma puts the bullets under

the seat.

They are speeding off down the highway with the RADIO blaring.

Louise puts in a TAPE of wild R&B MUSIC.

THELMA:

Whose place is this again?

LOUISE:

It's Bob's, the day manager's. He's

gettin' a divorce, so his wife's

gettin' this place, so he's just

lettin' all his friends use it till

he has to turn over the keys.

THELMA:

I've never had the chance to go out

of town without Darryl.

LOUISE:

How come he let you go?

THELMA:

'Cause I didn't ask him.

LOUISE:

Aw, sh*t, Thelma, he's gonna kill

you.

THELMA:

Well, he has never let me go. He

never lets me do one goddamn thing

that's any fun. All he wants me to

do is hang around the house the whole

time while he's out doing God only

knows what.

They are both silent for a minute.

THELMA:

(looking straight

ahead)

I left him a note. I left him stuff

to microwave.

After a pause.

THELMA:

I guess you haven't heard anything

from Jimmy... yet?

Louise's jaw tightens. The car speeds up.

THELMA:

...never mind.

A huge semi-tanker carrying gas passes them on the highway

and HONKS. The mud flaps are the shiny silhouettes of naked

women. There is a bumper sticker on the back that says:

"Lick you all over -- ten cents."

LOUISE:

One of your friends?

Thelma is watching herself in the side mirror, pretending to

smoke a cigarette.

THELMA'S POV OF A SIGN alongside the road that reads "See

you in church on Sunday!"

Thelma pushes in the lighter and waits for it to pop out.

Louise gives her a sidelong glance, but does not say anything.

INT. CAR - COUNTRY ROAD - DAY

THELMA:

How much longer is it gonna be? I'm

hungry.

LOUISE:

Another hour of so. We've got enough

food for a month.

THELMA:

I'll never make it... Can't we stop

just for a few minutes...

LOUISE:

We've not gonna get to the cabin

till after dark as it is, Thelma.

THELMA:

Then what difference does it make if

we stop? Come on. I never get to

do stuff like this.

Louise realizes that Thelma is going to revert to a teenager

and continue whining unless she gives in.

LOUISE:

Alright, but it's gonna be a quick

stop.

EXT. SILVER BULLET - NIGHT

They pull off at a place down on the right all lit up with

neon. It's called the SILVER BULLET. The sign flashes

COCKTAILS -- BEER -- DANCING -- FOOD. There is a huge gravel

parking lot with lots of pickup trucks and older cars. Even

though it's early, you can tell this place is a real night

spot. It's already pretty crowded.

INT. SILVER BULLET - NIGHT

This place is jumpin'. There are ten pool tables with crowds

all around. The long bar is filled with customers.

There are tables and booths. The room is dense with smoke.

There is a dance floor, but no one is dancing yet because

the band is still setting up. There are a lot of single

men. Many heads turn and follow Thelma and Louise to an

empty table.

LOUISE:

I haven't seen a place like this

since I left Texas.

THELMA:

Isn't this fun?

A WAITRESS comes over and drops two menus on the table.

WAITRESS:

Y'all wanna drink?

LOUISE:

No thanks.

THELMA:

I'll have Wild Turkey straight up

and a Coke back, please.

As the Waitress leaves:

LOUISE:

Thelma!

THELMA:

Tell me somethin'. Is this my

vacation or isn't it? I mean, God,

you're as bad as Darryl.

LOUISE:

I just haven't seen you like this in

a while. I'm used to seeing you

more sedate.

THELMA:

Well, I've had it up to my ass with

sedate! You said you and me was

gonna get outta town and, for once,

just really let our hair down. Well,

darlin,' look out 'cause my hair is

comin' down!

As the Waitress returns:

LOUISE:

(laughing)

Alright...

(to Waitress)

I changed my mind. I'll have a

margarita with and a shot of Cuervo

on the side, please.

THELMA:

Yeah!

As the Waitress leaves, a MAN comes over with a chair which

he pulls up to the table and straddles backwards.

He is in his late-40's, heavyset, his face is shiny in the

neon light.

MAN:

Now what are a couple of Kewpie dolls

like you doin' in a place like this?

LOUISE:

Mindin' our own

business, why don't

you try it.

THELMA:

Well, we left town for the

weekend 'cause we wanted

to try and have a good

time. And because Louise

here is mad because her

boyfriend won't call her

while he's out on the

road...

Louise kicks Thelma under the table.

THELMA:

(quieter)

We just wanted to get somethin' to

eat.

MAN:

Well, you come to the right place.

You like chili? They got good chili.

The Waitress returns with Louise's drink.

WAITRESS:

Harlan, are you botherin' these poor

girls?

HARLAN (MAN)

Hell, no. I was just bein' friendly.

WAITRESS:

(making eye contact

with Louise)

It's a good thing they're not all as

friendly as you.

Louise understands.

THELMA:

Your name's Harlan? I got an uncle

named Harlan!

HARLAN:

You do? Is he a funny uncle? 'Cause

if he is, then he and I got somethin'

in common.

Harlan laughs. Thelma laughs, too, but doesn't really get

the joke. Louise does not laugh.

LOUISE:

(to Harlan)

I don't mean to be rude, but I've

got something I need to talk to my

friend about. In private.

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