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BOBBY:

Is that why you're with him?

GRACE:

I let him think he was courtin' me, but I

reeled him in like a fish on a line. I

wanted him. I wanted what he could give me,

and I would've done anything to get him. Is

that love?

BOBBY:

I'm guessing no.

GRACE:

Yeah, I guess you're right.

BOBBY:

I take it things didn't much work out the

way you planned.

GRACE:

I'm still here, aren't I? See this?

Grace sweeps her hand before her across the expanse of the

desert. The vultures are very much a part of this landscape.

GRACE(CONT)

All this nothing? It doesn't get to Jake

like it gets to me. He says he don't mind

being nothing but a big fish in a small

pond. More like a little fish in a dried

up watering hole.

BOBBY:

You could leave him.

GRACE:

I don't know how.

BOBBY:

Walk away.

GRACE:

It's not that easy. Maybe you can take

chances; maybe you can wander around like

some stray wherever you please. I can't.

I don't want to be alone. I need to know

I'm going to be taken care of.

BOBBY:

You need a meal ticket is what you mean.

Some guy you can latch onto just long

enough for him to get you out of here.

GRACE:

Is that so bad? It's not like I wouldn't

try to make him happy. For awhile, anyway.

I mean, I would ... do things for him. I

guess I'm no good that way. I guess I

tried to sucker you along like that. Do

you hate me for it? I wouldn't blame you

if you did. But maybe it's like you said:

You just got to do whatever it takes to get

out.

BOBBY (soft echo)

Whatever it takes.

Grace steps to the edge of the plateau.

GRACE:

I wish I was a bird. I know it's stupid.

Every child says that. When I was growing

up some of the old ones on the reservation

believed people could actually change into

animals. I wish I could.

We see Bobby behind Grace. He stares at her standing on the

edge of the plateau. He rises and walks towards her slowly, but

with deliberation.

GRACE(CONT)

If I was a bird I would fly to Florida; to

Disney World. I always wanted to go there.

I'd fly to New York. Maybe. I guess New

York isn't the best place to be a bird.

I'd fly to St. Louis, then New Orleans, all

over Texas. Then I'd fly to California. I

guess by then I'd have seen it all and I

could die.

Bobby now stands a few feet behind Grace. She kicks a rock and

watches it sail over the lip of the cliff into the nothingness

below.

GRACE(CONT)

They say you don't feel anything. The

shock kills you before you hit the ground.

I don't know how they would know that. But

I heard it's just like flying; straight

down into the ground. I guess if it

doesn't hurt it's a beautiful thing.

Bobby tenses himself. Sweat forms on his brow as he stands

directly behind Grace with his hands extended before him. They

hover just below her shoulder blades ready to push forward.

Suddenly Grace wheels. Startled by Bobby she almost falls over

the edge. Bobby grabs her, her weight still going back.

Grace's life is literally in his hands. She looks down at the

ground far below, then up into Bobby's eyes. She shows no fear,

but instead wears a curious smirk.

GRACE:

Hate's a funny thing. Right now I bet you

don't know if you want to kill me, or f***

me.

Bobby hesitates, then pulls Grace close and kisses her with

great ardor on the lips.

EXT. APACHE LEAP - DAY

On a blanket on the ground, BOBBY and GRACE make love quickly,

hotly, her dress pulled up, his pants down. But Grace is

troubled and pulls out, further frustrating Bobby.

GRACE:

No...Stop! I can't!

Her eyes withdraw into another dimension, as she hikes her dress

back up. Bobby comes out of his own head, feels the distance

between them.

BOBBY:

What's the matter?...Grace?

GRACE:

Nothing.

BOBBY:

Don't feel like nothing.

He finishes relieving himself behind a tree, puts his pants back

on.

GRACE:

Get out of town, Bobby, as quick as you

can.

BOBBY:

Grace, I've been f***ed over too many

times, by too many women. You're becoming

the queen of hot and cold.

GRACE:

You'd never understand.

BOBBY:

Try me.

GRACE:

It's just such a mess. With Jake I mean...

BOBBY:

Nothing I understand better than a mess.

GRACE (in great tension)

Jake was with my Mom after my real Dad

died.

BOBBY:

You mean the Shaman?

GRACE:

He was a Shaman...in the mine. We had

nothin' after he died. Jake took us in,

gave us a little money. He used to call me

his "little halfbreed"... He kept Mom on

the side y'know, cause he was married

someplace else. He had kids in Phoenix I

think, no one knew him around here...but

the thing was...you see...

(pause)

...he was raping me the whole time...for

years. He loved to do things to me. Believe

it or not, he used to say he was in love

with my ass. Y'ever been in love with a

woman's ass?

The dominoes are tumbling for Bobby.

BOBBY:

Yeah.

GRACE:

You're sick too...he loved to do things to

me. Control me. My Mom...it tore her up

cause she couldn't do nothing about it. She

become alcoholic...and the funny thing is--

I liked it. I liked being controlled by

Jake. The truth was as far out and crazy as

he got, I wanted more. I wanted to go all

the way. Women say they don't want to be

taken like, really taken -- that's bullshit

-- they do. The first time he finished with

me, he said I was a woman now. I was 14.

Then he started crying like a baby...wanted

me to hold him. It's a strange feeling to

hate someone so much for so many years, but

still want to hold him, comfort him... They

found my Mom right down there (points) at

the bottom of Apache Leap. She had cactus

needles stuck all over her body and

Virgil...Sheriff Potter said she was drunk

and went insane. But I'll never believe she

ran off that cliff by accident. She was

born on this earth and she loved it. She

was like me. She just wanted to fly away.

Bobby is quietly stunned. A whole world has opened up to him;

and he isn't sure yet where the story ends. There is some force

at work here, beyond his control.

GRACE:

After he got his divorce, he forced me to

marry him...but when I saw her body, I

swore to her on my soul that some day I'd

get Jake for what he did to her...

BOBBY:

I'm sorry...

GRACE:

Yeah. What do you want. Life, right?

(shrugs, stoic) Have you ever been to

California?

BOBBY:

Yeah.

GRACE (as if in a dream)

Is it far from here?

BOBBY:

Oh yeah. It's far, it's another world.

GRACE:

Is it pretty?

BOBBY:

Oh yeah. It's beautiful, beautiful beaches.

Blue water and clear skies as far as you

can see.

GRACE (like a little girl)

Would you take me with you?

BOBBY (pause)

I wish I could.

GRACE:

Please. I won't hang on you. As soon as we

get there you can dump me. I don't care. I

just want to get out of here.

BOBBY:

Honey, baby, I can't. I can't even get out

of here myself. Believe it or not, I need a

lousy hundred and fifty bucks to get my car

back from that crazy mechanic...

GRACE:

Darrell? You know he and Jake are...

BOBBY:

You don't have any money put away, do you?

GRACE:

Jake never gives me more'n twenty bucks at

a time, like a bird in a cage, he don't

want me goin' anywhere...

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