Venus Page #4

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Pass me that towel.

Come in.

-You asked for cash?

-Thank you.

I wonder if the shops are open.

JESSIE:
Do you think they'II suit me?

MAURICE:
I don't know.

Let me Iook at your ears.

Perfect.

-Don't touch.

-I know, I know.

Come on.

Have you got the bloody money

this time?

Oh, yes. Tons of it. I've got a pocketful.

I think I'm gonna wear these tonight.

Venus,

you Iook Iike a movie star.

Is there an old man odor?

Not so much this evening.

I wonder why.

You can kiss my shoulders.

Can I?

Three kisses.

Three, I said!

And no Iicking and burping,

you dirty, filthy, Iittle shithead.

(CHUCKLING)

-Oh, you please me.

-And you me.

(GROANING)

Steady, steady.

I'm just out of intensive care.

You ask for it, Maurice.

You know you do,

with your forwardness.

Don't you believe in anything,

Maurice?

PIeasure, I Iike.

I've tried to give pleasure.

That's all I'd recommend to anyone.

You've made me sticky

with your slug tongue.

I think I'II have a bath.

Well, well.

I'II run it for you.

This other man,

the other man who Ioved you,

was he not kind to you?

JESSIE:
He was kind, for a time.

He promised me things.

He bought me stuff.

We had champagne

and there were roses.

Then you got pregnant.

-Does everyone know?

-It's happened to girls before.

Then...

Then he stopped being kind.

He went the other way.

A Iong way that way.

He were engaged.

I didn't know.

It wasn't a miscarriage.

My mum called it that.

It were an abortion.

And she made me.

Terrible.

Yeah.

Yeah.

"Shall I compare thee

to a summer's day?

"Thou art more Iovely

and more temperate:

"Rough winds do shake

the darling buds of May,

"And summer's Iease

hath all too short a date:

"Sometime too hot the eye

of heaven shines,

"And often

is his gold completion dimm'd,

"And every fair from fair

sometime declines,

"By chance, or nature's

changing course untrimm'd,

"But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

"Nor Iose possession

of that fair thou ow'st,

"Nor shall death brag

thou wander'st in his shade,

"When in eternal Iines to time

thou grow'st,

"So Iong as men can breathe,

and eyes can see,

"So Iong Iives this,

and this gives Iife to thee."

Venus?

Thank you.

You Iook wonderful.

Luminous.

Bright.

-Startling.

-Do I?

-That story I told you.

-Yes.

-You don't think I'm Iow, do you?

-No.

MAURICE:
Let's have dinner.

JESSIE:
No, Maurice, I'm going out.

What a shame.

-Anywhere nice?

-A party.

-AIone?

-With a boy.

Jolly good.

-Which boy?

-Keep your nose out.

Of course.

You can go to the party for an hour

and we can meet Iater.

-It's an all-night party.

-Right.

-How will you stay up all night?

-I'II manage.

-Uncle Ian will worry.

-It's all right. I've already asked him.

I think he'II be pleased to get rid of me.

I don't think he Iikes me very much.

-He thinks I'm horrible.

-He does.

But I Iike you, Venus. I Iike you.

I Iove you.

Bye.

Can we meet tomorrow?

Yeah, okay.

I'II meet you after Iunch, by the canal.

Thanks for the earrings.

(BANGING ON DOOR)

-Hello.

-MAURICE:
Hello.

Have I forgotten? Did I invite you?

No, I invited you

and I wanted to see you.

Did you?

Good God.

VALERIE:
Maurice.

Maurice, quickly!

Why do you keep shouting

when I am cooking?

You're on TV. Look, Iook.

(PEOPLE SPEAKING ON TV)

Oh, Christ!

Oh, how handsome you were.

-And there's that woman...

-Yeah, yeah.

...who took you away from us.

It's burning.

-You will burn, Maurice.

-Yes, dear.

MAURICE ON TV:

...get my grouch thoughts in order.

It's very good.

You were a good mother.

I rather Ieft you holding the baby,

didn't I?

You did do that.

Three children under six, to be exact.

I can see

it must have been inconvenient.

That you put your own pleasure first?

I did Iove you.

For a time.

And for the rest of the time,

I was fond of you.

-PIease, no. No, don't.

-More than fond of you.

You don't have to. I don't want it.

It's my goodbye to you.

Why, where are you going?

-We won't Iive forever.

-No.

IAN:
You Iooked rather forlorn.

MAURICE:

This is a rare treat, my friend.

There are no pockets in a shroud.

IAN:
Oh, God, it's a Iong way up, eh?

MAURICE:
'57, I first saw you.

IAN:
It was?

MAURICE:

You were a strapping Laertes.

Strapping? Yeah, sounds Iike me.

The Ophelia

was something of a minger.

You wore a kilt, if I'm not mistaken.

BIoody Peter Hall.

(CHUCKLING)

I Iove this horrible place.

It reminds me

of what I wanted to become.

Another Iarge one?

Hmm.

Yes.

-Come on.

-What?

-I've got a good idea.

-What?

-What?

-You'II see.

-What?

-You'II see.

IAN:
Sh*t.

Oh, God.

You must protect the old man.

MAURICE:
Boris Karloff.

IAN:
Yeah, I know.

He was a sweetie, apparently.

MAURICE:
Mr. Pratt.

Robert Shaw. Richard Beckinsale.

IAN:
They're running out of room here.

Luckily Ian isn't a Iong name.

(CLASSICAL MUSIC PLAYING)

-Shall we?

-Oh, yes.

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

I'm sorry I didn't come to meet you.

You can smell my neck.

-I can?

-You can.

No kissing.

That would make me never come back.

I understand.

-You Iike to do this, don't you?

-There really isn't anything else.

-Maurice?

-Yes.

-I want something.

-You do?

I'm sure it's something

I'II have to think about.

-For how Iong?

-I don't know.

-Why don't we move things on a Iittle?

-How could we do that?

-I want to give you a treat.

-You do?

-I want to cheer you up.

-Yes? How?

-How?

-Watch.

Thanks, Maurice.

Sit, please. Sit.

Thank you.

You insult me.

On the contrary,

the insult is on the other side.

-How so?

-Do I Iook Iike a fool? Do I?

Answer me.

Don't tempt me,

I haven't had my tranquillizer yet.

Yes, you're easily tempted,

as we know.

I've been questioning

my niece's daughter very closely,

in search of the facts.

-You begged me to find her work.

-You have degraded that girl.

Jessie is a shy, provincial girl.

To take advantage

of such a vulnerable, young person,

to take her to drinking establishments,

ply her with alcohol.

-She plied me.

-Oh, really?

Yes, well, did you buy these?

These?

IAN:
Hmm?

This is ridiculous.

She said you paid for her

to be tattooed!

-Did you?

-Oh, Christ.

It was a small snake.

Well, well, well.

You never welcomed her.

You called her vile.

That is a Iie!

Now, hang on, Ian, old man.

You have to admit,

you did have one or two Iittle

reservations about her character.

How dare you?

What the hell do you mean?

You handed her that halibut

and expected her to...

To what? To cook it?

That's all.

That's perverted exploitation?

But to be so desperate,

to behave without respect for me...

Now you strike me!

Maurice, please.

We come here every day.

They bring us croissants

with our coffee.

Did you see? I have been struck!

Get some sense into your thick skull

before you die, Ian!

You venomous rat! A dying man.

-A bloody fool, too!

-Right, Iet's have you!

-Oh, come on.

-I'II take you on.

Come on,

where are we going with this?

-He hit me again! Did you see that?

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