White Squall Page #4

John approaches the full table, glaring down at Terry who

doesn't notice him. Finally he looks up, startled.

TERRY:

I'm done. I'm finished...

He scrambles to get up and clear his plate. John sits

down without a word. The others notice the two plates of

food.

RICK:

Hungry, Goodall?

He just grunts and starts eating. Robin watches him.

JOHN:

What's your problem?

ROBIN:

Why'd you jump?

JOHN:

Because I felt like it.

(sharp)

What do you care?

ROBIN:

(aside)

I couldn't do it.

JOHN:

Well, as soon as you grow some

balls, let me know.

Robin bristles.

ROBIN:

Screw you!

CHARLIE:

He's right. It was a stupid stunt.

JOHN:

Excuse me?

CHARLIE:

You heard me.

John grabs Charlie by his private parts and hoists him

into the air. Charlie gasps, the air sucked from his

lungs.

JOHN:

Don't ever call me stupid.

ROBIN:

Come on, he didn't mean anything.

John shoves Robin to the floor with his free arm.

JOHN:

Let me tell you girls something. I

do what I wanna do. When I wanna do

it. And I don't give a sh*t what

old Ahab up there thinks either.

Any questions?

John releases Charlie who crumples to the floor. John

resumes eating.

Bill enters and reads the duty roster.

BILL:

Okay, here's the duty. Gieg,

Weathers, Lapchick, Schucart:

scrape and paint. Corry and

Stricklin have the brass. Robinson,

you're the Galley slave. March

you're on chain gang with Barnes.

Johnston, solo on bilge detail.

TOD:

Butler, what'd I ever do to you?

BILL:

You came back, Tod. You came back.

John continues to eat. When he realizes his name hasn't

been called, he looks up to meet Bill's eyes.

INT. HEAD

Pissed, John tries to figure out the head. Pumps going

in, pumps going out.

OLDER CHUCK (V.O.)

We were all thirteen individuals.

We'd arrived the sum total of our

limited experiences and the result

of our parents' best, if not narrow,

expectations...

John pulls back on the lever, belching "water de le

toilet" all over him.

EXT. SHIP - DAY

Chuck sits in a bowswain's chair over the side, with a

paint roller in his hand. The rust-streaked hull is being

transformed.

OLDER CHUCK (V.O.)

... Some of us were there for

discipline, some for escape. But I

could see a small piece of myself in

all of them and though I fought the

notion, for me, I knew now, this

would be home.

A RADIO crackles in the b.g.

ANNOUNCER:

"President Eisenhower today

acknowledged that a secret American

spy plane was in fact shot down over

the Soviet Union. The pilot has

been confirmed as Francis Gary

Powers..."

Robin, Terry and Mike, are on the deck within earshot of

Chuck with chisels and wire brushes chipping away at the

rust.

TERRY:

Why couldn't it have been a wooden

boat?

MIKE:

Steel boats don't leak.

Mike lights up a cigarette. Robin notices. Marlboro's.

ROBIN:

Hey, can I have one?

Mike sizes up Robin for a moment then tosses him the pack.

ROBIN:

Thanks daddy-o.

Robin lights up, grimacing with the first drag.

TERRY:

Well, don't brush too hard. Looks

to me like the only thing holding

this bucket together is the rust.

A voice booms up from the dock.

FRANCIS (O.S.)

Ahoy there.

They turn. Standing on the dock is FRANCIS BOUTILLIER,

self important and overbearing, with his son, PHILIP, who

looks as if this whole ordeal is some kind of punishment.

Skipper appears.

SKIPPER:

Good afternoon.

Francis boards without being invited. Philip follows in

his shadow. He scrutinizes the condition of the boat.

FRANCIS:

Albatross? Doesn't inspire a lot of

confidence.

SKIPPER:

Oh, on the contrary, the Albatross

is considered a very good omen. It

is said they embody the spirits of

sailors passed on. It's very bad

luck if you kill one. And dolphins

too.

The boys chuckle.

FRANCIS:

I'm Francis Boutillier. This is my

son, Philip.

SKIPPER:

I know.

Francis looks the Skipper over, reading him, smiling.

SKIPPER:

You're a day late. We keep a

schedule aboard ship. Lives depend

on it.

(to Philip)

Hello, Philip.

PHIL:

Sir.

Skipper's directness bugs Francis.

FRANCIS:

Your cable said you wouldn't be

putting out until mid-October.

SKIPPER:

As you can see, there's a lot to do.

FRANCIS:

Indentured servitude is not what my

son had in mind.

SKIPPER:

This is a working ship. Promptness

is not a luxury, it's a necessity,

as is the work to maintain her. Had

we been ready, I can assure you we

would have sailed.

Something in this exchange turns the tone of conversation.

FRANCIS:

And I would have expected

compensation for my time and expense

coming all the way down here.

SKIPPER:

Happily, it all worked out... This

time.

(to Bill)

Bill, take Philip below and help him

find a bunk.

Phil follows Bill down the companionway.

FRANCIS:

I'll be frank with you. This was

his mother's idea. A romp through

the Caribbean on a sailboat sounds

more like a vacation than an

education if you ask me.

SKIPPER:

It will be more than that, I can

promise you.

FRANCIS:

(cool)

Take good care of my son.

There is threat in his tone.

SKIPPER:

We'll do our best. You're welcome

to say goodbye.

FRANCIS:

He's a big boy.

Francis leaves the boat. Skipper and the crew watch as he

climbs into his waiting embassy limousine and drives off.

LAWFORD:

Well, that was neighborly.

SKIPPER:

He didn't get to be Under Secretary

of the Air Force by being

neighborly.

Lawford shakes his head. Bill comes up through the

companionway.

SKIPPER:

Everyone aboard young Bill?

BILL:

Yes, Sir.

SKIPPER:

Good.

(beat)

Let's go sailing.

EXT. ALBATROSS - OPEN WATER - DAY

The Albatross is under full power. There is a sense of

excitement and anticipation. Charlie, Rick, Robin, and

Lawford are on the halyard for the mainsail. Skipper is

at the helm with Alice and Bill nearby. Skipper calls

over to Chuck who stands alone at the rail.

SKIPPER:

Come over here and take the wheel.

Chuck's eyes light up as he walks over and takes the

wheel.

SKIPPER:

Hold her steady into the wind.

Southwest by west.

CHUCK:

Yes sir.

SKIPPER:

(to all)

Gentleman, when you hear an order,

sing out. I want to know that

you've heard and understand.

(quietly to Bill)

Raise the mainsail.

BILL:

(calling out)

Raise the main!

Lawford and his group bellow out.

TOGETHER:

Raise the main!!

Lawford coaches the boys, sending two scurrying on top the

chart house to loosen the stops which hold the heavy

furled canvas to the main boom. He guides another to the

midships pinrail where the main halyard, which raises the

huge sail, is made fast to a belaying pin. He loosens the

halyard and hands it to Robin.

SKIPPER:

Take a turn under the pin and lead

it out to the others. You guys in

the rear take up the slack. Heave

together now...

In a beautiful tenor voice, Bill begins to croon a sea

chanty, an old whaling song with an Irish lilt.

BILL:

(singing)

"When the sun came up there was

whisky in the cup..."

The more experienced boys echo the line and pull to the

beat.

BOYS:

"When the sun came up there was

whisky in the cup..."

LAWFORD:

Come on the rest of you, sing! Belt

it out like men!!

The newer guys like Chuck, John, Robin and Terry look at

each other like this is the queerest thing they have ever

heard of.

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