Wild At Heart Page #12

LULA:

Come on.

They step up to the bar and order two Lone Star beers. The BARTENDER, a

tall, heavyset man slowly forms his hand into “the bird.” He holds his

hand that way while he speaks...

BARTENDER ZANZIBAR

This is a friendly place, son. You

folks just relax and have a nice time.

LULA:

(bound and determined not

to be intimidated)

You got yourself a deal.

BARTENDER:

(to Sailor)

That’s a real jacket... By that,

I mean a real stupid jacket.

SAILOR:

This is a snakeskin jacket, and for

me it represents a symbol of my

individuality and my belief in

personal freedom.

BARTENDER:

F***in’ honky cracker mumbo jumbo.

The bartender moves on down the bar. Lula and Sailor take a small table

near the door.

LULA:

I’ll be damned if I’m leavin’. That

band is too good?

SAILOR:

Uh huh.

LULA:

You notice that woman when we come

in? The white woman sittin’ by

herself?

SAILOR:

Yeah.

LULA:

Well, she ain’t talked to nobody

and ain’t nobody spoke to her that

I could tell. What you make of that?

SAILOR:

Honey, we bein’ strangers here and

all, this is the kinda place we don’t

want to make nothin’ of nothin’.

LULA:

You think she’s pretty?

Sailor looks at the woman. She lights a new cigarette off a butt, then

squashes the butt in the ashtray. She is thirty years old, maybe more.

Shoulder-length, bleached blonde hair, black at the roots. Clear skin,

green eyes. Long, straight nose with a small bump on it. She is

wearing a low-cut lavender dress that would have emphasized her breasts

had she not been so flat-chested. Slender.

SAILOR:

I tend to like ’em with a little

more meat on the bones. Face ain’t

bad, though.

Lula gets quiet and sucks on her beer bottle.

SAILOR:

What’s wrong, sweetheart? Somethin’

botherin’ you?

LULA:

Mama. I been thinkin’ about her.

She’s prob’ly worried to death by now.

SAILOR:

More’n likely.

LULA:

I want to call her and tell her

I’m okay. That we’re okay.

SAILOR:

I ain’t so sure it’s a great idea,

but that’s up to you. Just don’t tell

her where we are.

LULA:

(to Bartender)

Pardon me? Y’all got a phone here

I can use?

BARTENDER ZANZIBAR

Can’t you read?

LULA:

(sees the sign -

then to Sailor)

Back in a bit.

She kisses him on the nose and walks back through a dark little door to

the payphone.

CUT TO:

100. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT/

101. INT. CLUB ZANZIBAR - PAYPHONE - NIGHT

Marietta answers the telephone on the second ring.

OPERATOR:

I have a collect call from Lula

Fortune. Will you accept?

MARIETTA:

Of course! Lula? Where are you?

You all right?

LULA:

I’m fine, mama. I just wanted to

tell you not to worry.

MARIETTA:

Why, how could I not worry? Not

knowin’ what’s happenin’ to you

or where you are? Are you with

that boy?

LULA:

If you mean Sailor, mama, yes I am.

MARIETTA:

Are you comin’ back here soon, Lula?

I need you here.

LULA:

Need me for what, mama? I’m

perfectly fine, and safe, too.

MARIETTA:

You in a dance hall or somethin’?

I can hear music behind you.

LULA:

Just a place.

MARIETTA:

Really, Lula, this ain’t right!

LULA:

Right?! Mama, was it right for you

to sic Johnnie Farragut on us? How

could you do that?

MARIETTA:

Did you run into Johnnie in New

Orleans? Lula, are you in New Orleans?

LULA:

No, mama, I’m in Mexico, and we’re

about to get on an airplane to Argentina!

MARIETTA:

Argentina! Lula, you’re outta your

mind. Now you just tell me where you

are and I’ll come for you. I won’t

say nothin’ to the police about Sailor,

I promise. He can do what he wants,

I don’t care.

LULA:

Mama, I’m hangin’ up this phone now.

MARIETTA:

No, baby, don’t! Can I send you

somethin’? You runnin’ low on money?

I’ll wire you some money if you tell

me where you are.

LULA:

I ain’t that dumb, mama. Sailor and

I been on a crime spree? Knockin’

off convenience stores all across

the south? Ain’t you read about it?

Marietta is crying.

MARIETTA:

Lula? I love you, baby. I just

want you to be all right.

LULA:

I am all right, mama. That’s why

I called, to let you know. I

gotta go.

MARIETTA:

Call me again soon? I’ll be waitin’

by the phone.

LULA:

Don’t be crazy, mama. Take care of

yourself.

Lula hangs up.

Marietta hangs up and begins pacing the livingroom floor.

CUT TO:

102. INT. CLUB ZANZIBAR - NIGHT

Sailor and the bleached blonde in the lavender dress are together on the

dance floor. Lula sees them, goes over to the bar, picks up a beer

bottle and throws it at Sailor. The bottle bounces hard off his back

and clangs to the floor, bouncing but not breaking. Sailor turns around

fast and looks at Lula. Everybody else in the place is still.

103. EXT. CLUB ZANZIBAR - NIGHT

Lula runs out. Sailor follows.

Sailor finds her sitting on the ground, leaning against the passenger

side of the Thunderbird. Lula’s eyes are red and wet but she isn’t

crying. Sailor kneels down next to her.

SAILOR:

I was just wastin’ time, peanut,

till you come back.

LULA:

It’s me who’s wastin’ time, Sailor,

bein’ with you.

SAILOR:

Honey, I’m sorry. It wasn’t nothin’.

Come on and get up and we’ll take

off.

LULA:

Leave me be for a minute? Mama gets

all insane and then I see you

practicin’ your individuality and

personal freedom with some oil-town

tramp. How you figure I’m gonna feel?

SAILOR:

Told you not to call your mama.

Sailor stands and leans against the hood of the car until Lula gets up

and climbs inside. He wraps his snakeskin jacket around her and starts

the car. Lula kisses Sailor on the cheek, puts her head down sideways

on his lap and goes to sleep. Sailor drives.

CUT TO:

104. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - MARIETTA’S BEDROOM - NIGHT

Marietta paces, but then goes back to the phone. She dials a number and

gets an answering machine.

MARIETTA:

Santos... If you get this message,

call me right away. It’s Marietta...

I don’t know, Santos... Maybe this

is all not... Call me.

She hangs up. She dials another number. It answers.

MARIETTA:

Johnnie! At last! I thought you

was never gonna come back to your room.

CUT TO:

105. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - MARIETTA’S BEDROOM - NIGHT?

106. INT. JOHNNIE’S HOTEL ROOM - MAISON VIOLETTE - NEW ORLEANS

JOHNNIE:

I got some news, Marietta. Lula

and Sailor been here. They checked

out of the Hotel Brazil on Frechman

Street yesterday.

MARIETTA:

Listen, Johnnie, Lula just called

me. She knew you were in N.O., so

they left the city.

JOHNNIE:

Did she tell you where she was

callin’ from?

MARIETTA:

No, but my guess is they’re headed

west, so prob’ly Texas. Their money

must be runnin’ low. I don’t think

Sailor had much to begin with, if

any, and Lula took the six hundred

she had saved in the Cherokee Thrift.

JOHNNIE:

How’d she sound? Was she doin’ okay?

MARIETTA:

Could she be doin’ okay, Johnnie?

She’s tryin’ to prove somethin’ to

me, that’s all. Lula ain’t doin’

no more’n showin’ off, defyin’ me...

(stifles a sob)

Johnnie, I’ve done somethin’ bad...

JOHNNIE:

What?

MARIETTA:

I won’t tell you over the phone.

I’m comin’ to N.O. and I’ll tell you

then.

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