White Squall Page #11

The guys turn their gaze to the ocean. The Albatross...

is gone!

TERRY:

Holy sh*t! Where'd she go?

The crew is suddenly stone sober. Stunned.

CHARLIE:

What the hell is going on?

MIKE:

She's gone! The boat's gone!!

Phil breaks into sort of a blind panic.

PHIL:

Oh Jesus, oh Jesus. Man I knew we

shouldn't have gone. I tried to

tell you. I tried to tell you. You

guys made me come! You made me

come!!

JOHN:

Will you shut up? You sound like my

f***ing sister.

CHUCK:

Alright. Everybody just stay cool.

We'll figure this out.

MIKE:

Who the hell checked the mooring?

ROBIN:

I did. Why?

CHARLIE:

Maybe she pulled free...

MIKE:

What if they don't know. If she's

adrift, if they're asleep, she could

run aground. She could break up on

the reef.

PHIL:

(to Robin)

Maybe you didn't check it good

enough.

ROBIN:

(defensive,

frightened)

I did. I swear.

Oddly, it's Phil who stands up for Robin.

PHIL:

Yeah, well you're really gonna have

some bad dreams if we find out you

didn't.

JOHN:

That's enough.

PHIL:

How the hell are we gonna get outta

here?

JOHN:

We'll think of something.

PHIL:

Oh, praise the lord.

(announcing)

Relax everybody. Everything is

under control. The jug head's going

to think of something.

Without warning. John lunges at Phil. Phil screams,

trying to defend himself. The guys all dive in. Suddenly

it's an all out brawl.

John out of control pounding Phil's head against the seat

of the boat.

Suddenly, from behind, comes a blistering "THWACK!!" as

Chuck breaks an oar over the back of John's head.

Stunned, John lets go of Phil and turns, blood dripping

from the back of his head.

JOHN:

Nobody calls me an idiot.

He weaves, then passes out, falling face down in the sand.

The guys stagger to their feet, trying to recover.

PHIL:

God damn it man. I think he broke

my nose!

CHUCK:

Shut up, Phil.

Chuck tosses the broken oar handle, kneels over and

vomits.

TERRY:

Well that's just great. Now what

are we supposed to do?

Chuck and Robin hoist John up and drag him under a palm

tree, propping him up. The others huddle to stay warm.

EXT. BEACH - MORNING

The crew's asleep in the tropical heat of day. Bloodied

and sun burned. A fly buzzes around Rick's face, waking

him. He sits up sunburned and sore trying to focus. He

gazes across the water, stupefied.

RICK:

Oh-my-god...

The others stir and follow his gaze. The Albatross sits

in exactly the spot where they left her.

ROBIN:

I'm not sure if this is really good

or really bad.

EXT. ALBATROSS - DAY

The sound of a rod and reel spinning wildly. George tries

to maintain control as the rod nearly jumps out of his

hands.

GEORGE:

I got a live one!

Skipper, Alice and Bill watch the shoreline as the boys

launch the long boat into the surf. George is struggling.

A beautiful tarpon leaps out of the water, but Skipper

never takes his eyes off of his boys.

SKIPPER:

The thing about fishing George, is

you need to let 'em run some. Give

'em just enough slack so they don't

break the line. But at the same

time you've gotta keep enough

tension to wear 'em down, bring 'em

in slowly so they don't really know

they're hooked.

Suddenly George's line goes slack. He nearly falls over

backwards.

GEORGE:

I'll try and remember that.

EXT. DECK - DAY

Hound dog and hung over, bloodied and burned, the boys

stand before Skipper and the others. Skipper looks dark

and angry.

SKIPPER:

You know what a loose cannon is?

'Bout the worst thing that could

happen to a wooden ship. All it

took was one, crashing around the

deck in a storm... It'd smash

everything in its way, maybe take

out a mast or punch a hole right

through the hull. Think about it,

just one cannon not tied down, not

anchored, could take a whole 'Man of

War' straight to the bottom.

MIKE:

(aside)

But we don't have any cannons?

Chris jabs him in the ribs.

CHRIS:

(hushed)

Shut up!

Skipper turns and faces them.

SKIPPER:

Now, if the Skipper were smart, if

he could see a storm building, why

he'd cut loose every gun on his

boat. Even though it would leave

him at a disadvantage in battle,

he'd push 'em into the sea. Better

chance running for port than risk

the entire ship, his crew.

He takes a pause making sure he has their attention for

this part.

SKIPPER:

People are like that sometimes.

They cut loose and before you know

it, they're knocking holes in

everything. So you gotta ask

yourself if it might not be better

to just put 'em off before they sink

the whole thing. I mean after all,

you can always get new cannons.

He walks back to his place at the rail.

SKIPPER:

(beat)

I want a tight ship, everybody

shaved and in clean clothes when we

make Curacao. If it goes well, if

your mid terms are acceptable, I may

reconsider my decision about the

rest of the trip. That's all.

Dejected, the crew goes below.

EXT. DECK - DAY

Under sail. Skipper stands at the wheel overseeing the

crew taking exams. Each writes furiously as Alice

scribbles problems on the blackboard which hangs from the

chart house door.

As the boys scratch out the problems, John seems

paralyzed. He looks over at Phil and copies down his

answer. He checks crib notes hidden in his shorts. Chuck

and Robin both see this and exchange looks.

INT. AFT CABIN - DAY

John makes his way down the narrow corridor towards the

head. Robin follows. Chuck drops down the aft

companionway, intercepting John.

CHUCK:

Where you going?

JOHN:

To take a piss.

ROBIN:

Really?

John turns around, surprised, sandwiched.

JOHN:

Yeah, that's right. You wanna come

in and shake it for me?

CHUCK:

If you're gonna cheat, you might as

well copy off somebody who's gonna

get the answer right.

JOHN:

You've gotta be kidding. Get the

f*** outta my way!

Chuck throws open the Engine Room door and they shove John

inside.

JOHN:

What the hell!!!

Chuck manages to pin John. Robin checks his pockets and

comes up with the crib notes. Chuck lets go. John

snatches them, ashamed.

CHUCK:

Takin' a piss?

John turns away.

ROBIN:

Why, man?

JOHN:

I don't have to listen to this.

CHUCK:

Yes you do, stupid. Because if you

don't, I'm gonna go right up there

and have a heart to heart with

Skipper and you'll be on the first

plane back to idiotville.

John lunges at Chuck, sending them both sprawling. Robin

leaps on top of John.

ROBIN:

Cut it out man!! Stop it!!! What's

the matter with you? If Phil had

caught you he'd have ratted you out

in a second. You get caught

cheating, you'll get kicked off the

boat.

John explodes, tears flowing.

JOHN:

I cheated to get on the boat!!! All

right?!

CHUCK:

What?

He lets go of Chuck and stands up trying to hide his

emotions.

JOHN:

I doctored my grades so I'd make the

cut. I'm a moron, okay? You

satisfied?!

CHUCK:

You're not a moron.

JOHN:

Wanna bet? Takes me half a day to

get through one chapter of Lawford

and I still don't have any idea what

the hell he's talkin' about. You

know why it takes me so long to

write papers? because I can't

spell. While everybody else is

sleeping, I'm in the rack with a

flashlight and a dictionary.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes