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GRIFTERS - by Donald E. Westlake

					GRIFTERS
				by Donald E. Westlake

			   Based on the novel by Jim Thompson. 

							Second Draft. 	
							March 1989
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

	FADE IN:
	
	EXT. RUIDOSO DOWNS - DAY
	
	AN ANGLE establishing the race track, Ruidoso Downs
	(pronounced Ree-oh-do-so), set among the beautiful mountains
	of New Mexico's Lincoln National Forest, as a white Chrysler
	turns in with a stream of cars moving toward the parking
	area.
	
	AN ANGLE through the open driver-side window of the Chrysler
	at LILLY DILLON, 39 but looking younger, beautiful but cold
	and watchful.
	
	WIDE SHOT, track in b.g. as Lilly parks the Chrysler, gets
	out, locks the car. As she walks toward the track, WIPE
	RIGHT, as SCENE TWO WIPES IN from the left. SCENE ONE CAMERA
	FOLLOWS Lilly as she walks across the large parking area.
	SPLIT SCREEN.
	
	SCENE TWO:
	
	EXT. SIDE STREET - DAY
	
	Downtown Los Angeles, near the courts and the business
	section. ROY DILLON, 25, handsome and charming but self
	indulgent, parks his orange Honda convertible, gets out,
	picks up a large ledger book from the back seat, goes around
	to open the trunk.
	
	AN ANGLE on the trunk, establishing the tools of the
	salesman's trade: catalogs, samples, ledgers full of manuals
	and product sheets. Roy adds the ledger from the back seat,
	shuts the trunk, walks away.
	
	EXT. 6TH STREET - DAY
	
	Roy walks around the corner near a bar/restaurant. As he
	approaches it, WIPE LEFT, the two half-width scenes
	contracting to one-third each as SCENE THREE WIPES IN from
	the right.
	
	SCENE ONE: Lilly approaches the track's entrance doors.
	
	SCENE TWO: Roy approaches the bar.
	
	SCENE THREE:
	
	EXT. SANTA MONICA BOULEVARD - DAY
	
	A baby blue Cadillac parks in front of a jeweler.
	
	AN ANGLE on the driver's door as MYRA LANGTRY, 36, beautiful
	in an impersonal calculating way, gets out, carrying a small
	jewelry care, and locks the car. At first glance, Myra looks
	rather like Lilly. (Myra always wears large dangly earrings,
	and usually wears big-lensed dark sunglasses.)
	
	SIMULTANEOUSLY:
	
	SCENE ONE: Lilly enters the track.
	
	SCENE TWO: Roy enters the bar.
	
	SCENE THREE: Myra enters the jeweler's.
	
	WIPE RIGHT AND LEFT, as SCENE TWO takes FULL SCREEN.
	
	INT. BAR - DAY
	
	AN ANGLE on a hurried bartender in a full bar, crowded with a
	NOISY lunchtime crowd. In b.g., Roy slithers his way to the
	bar, waving a bill in the air to attract the bartender's
	attention.
	
	AN ANGLE on Roy as the bartender comes to him. Roy puts the
	bill on the bar, holding it down with one finger, as he
	SHOUTS his order. The bartender looks down.
	
	BARTENDER'S POV: Roy's finger holds down a twenty dollar
	bill.
	
	AN ANGLE steep over Roy's shoulder, the twenty visible, as
	the bartender hurries away to get the drink. Roy's hand makes
	a fist, swallowing the twenty, opens, pushing a ten out onto
	the bar, holding it there with one finger.
	
	AN ANGLE on the bartender returning with a draft beer,
	nodding to other ORDERS shouted to him along the way, putting
	the beer down, grabbing the bill without looking at it,
	hurrying away.
	
	AN ANGLE on Roy, content, smiling, sipping his beer.
	
	AN ANGLE on the bartender, hurrying by, slapping Roy's change
	down, moving on, Roy nodding acknowledgement, reaching out.
	
	CU, the change, a ten dollar bill on top. Roy's hand closes
	over it.
	
	EXT. TOTE BOARD - DAY
	
	WIDE SHOT, the tote board at the track, showing the shifting
	odds on the horses for the next race, the amounts bet.
	
	CLOSE SHOT, number 3. Not much bet, odds 70-1.
	
	EXT. RUIDOSO DOWNS - DAY
	
	AN ANGLE on Lilly, frowning at the tote board. She carries a
	large heavy shoulder-bag, which she opens, looking in it as
	though it were a file drawer.
	
	AN ANGLE on Lilly studying the contents of her bag, the track
	beyond her, the mountains visible out beyond the track wall.
	Lilly moves.
	
	AN ANGLE on a high-dollar betting window, as Lilly
	approaches, taking bank-banded wads of bills from her bag.
	
	EXT. TOTE BOARD - DAY
	
	A change of numbers sweeps across the board.
	
	EXT. RUIDOSO DOWNS - DAY
	
	Lilly moves away from the betting window, tucking betting
	tickets into her bag.
	
	ECU, Lilly's bag, compartmented, with stacks of money, small
	envelopes and notes on notepaper in each compartment. Lilly
	carefully files the betting slips.
	
	AN ANGLE on Lilly looking out at the tote board.
	
	EXT. TOTE BOARD - DAY
	
	CU, number 3. Odds 32-1.
	
	EXT. RUIDOSO DOWNS - DAY
	
	AN ANGLE on Lilly, not satisfied. She turns and goes back.
	
	AN ANGLE at the betting window as Lilly arrives and makes
	more bets.
	
	EXT. TOTE BOARD - DAY
	
	CU, number 3. Odds 32-1. CROWD NOISE INCREASES. The numbers
	shift: odds 26-1.
	
	                    CALLER (O.S.)
	          And they're off!
	
	INT. JEWELER'S OFFICE - DAY
	
	Very quiet, stately; abrupt contrast with the track. A slow
	ticking clock.
	Myra sits in the client's chair, while at the desk sits the
	JEWELER, a pleasant but overweight man of 40, who studies a
	jeweled bracelet through a loupe. He sighs, drops the loupe,
	shakes his head regretfully.
	
	                    JEWELER
	          Mrs. Langtry, I'm sorry.
	
	                    MYRA
	          Why? What's wrong?
	
	                    JEWELER
	              (personal emotion mixed
	               in)
	          You are a valued customer, as you
	          know.
	
	                    MYRA
	          But what's wrong?
	
	                    JEWELER
	          I can't understand a thing like
	          this. It's something you almost
	          never see.
	
	                    MYRA
	          What is?
	
	                    JEWELER
	              (holding up bracelet)
	          This is some of the finest
	          filigreed platinum I've ever seen.
	          But the stones, no. They're not
	          diamonds, Mrs. Langtry.
	
	                    MYRA
	          But they must be! They cut glass!
	
	                    JEWELER
	              (wry)
	          Glass will cut glass, Mrs. Langtry.
	          Do you know where it was purchased?
	
	INT. HOTEL ROOM - DAY
	
	An expensive hotel room, with a sunstruck day beyond the
	windows. Myra, naked, a few years younger, sits cross-legged
	on the bed and laughs at COLE "FARMER" LANGLEY, 55, stringy
	bodied, who stands naked, his back to us, hands on hips,
	presenting himself to Myra. She reaches forward, hand hidden
	by his body as she lifts something that was hanging on
	something at the front of him. She brings back the bracelet,
	looks at it, is delighted, puts it on, and then leans forward
	again toward the unmoving Cole, her head hidden by his body.
	
	INT. JEWELER'S OFFICE - DAY
	
	                    MYRA
	          It was a gift. It isn't worth
	          anything at all?
	
	                    JEWELER
	              (warm, encouraging)
	          Why, of course it is. I can offer
	          you -- well, five hundred dollars.
	
	Myra expected -- and needed -- a lot more. She's worried,
	tense, but stuck. She nods.
	
	                    MYRA
	          All right.
	
	                    JEWELER
	              (rising)
	          I'll get you a check.
	
	He leaves the room. Myra grimaces, in almost physical pain.
	
	INT. SECOND BAR - DAY
	
	Another crowded lunchtime bar. A big beefy BARTENDER moves
	quickly, carrying a draft beer.
	
	AN ANGLE on Roy, in position, finger holding bill down, as
	the bartender arrives, puts down the beer, reaches for the
	bill, stops, stares at the bill.
	
	TWO SHOT, the bartender and Roy, as the bartender gives Roy a
	very cold look. He knows, and Roy knows he knows. Roy tries
	an innocent smile, which doesn't work. Roy moves.
	
	CU, the ten dollar bill, as Roy grabs it, but the bartender
	simultaneously grabs Roy's wrist.
	
	AN ANGLE on Roy and the bartender as Roy tries to pull away
	and the bartender holds him with his left hand while reaching
	under the bar with his right. He comes up with a sawed-off
	baseball bat. Roy, seeing it, throws his free arm up to
	protect his head, but the bartender pushes the blunt end of
	the bat straight across the bar at a downward angle and hard
	into Roy's solar plexus, driving the air out of him and
	propelling him back away from the bar, leaving the ten. The
	nearest CUSTOMERS on both sides become aware that something
	happened, but nothing follows and they're already involved in
	conversations. The bartender scoops up the ten as he puts the
	bat away under the bar.
	
	AN ANGLE on Roy, arms folded across his torso, staring in
	shock toward the bar, where the space he filled has already
	been closed in by other bodies. Nearly retching, he stumbles
	toward the door.
	
	EXT. RUIDOSO DOWNS - DAY
	
	AN ANGLE on four PEOPLE at a table, CHEERING a race,
	switching to disgust and despair when they lose, moving away
	from the table, leaving their betting tickets behind. Lilly
	passes by, smoothly and casually scoops up the tickets, moves
	on along a row of tables, and there finding more tickets.
	
	INT. JEWELER'S OFFICE - DAY
	
	Myra sits as before. The jeweler enters with a check, which
	he hands her. She looks up at him, making no move to leave.
	
	                    JEWELER
	          I hope you're not too badly
	          disappointed with us, Mrs. Langtry.
	
	                    MYRA
	          It's not your fault.
	
	                    JEWELER
	          You'll give us an opportunity to
	          serve you again, I hope. If there's
	          anything you think we might be
	          interested in...
	
	                    MYRA
	          I have only one thing now. Are you
	          interested?
	
	                    JEWELER
	          Well, I'd have to see it, of
	          course.
	
	                    MYRA
	          You are seeing it. You're looking
	          right at it.
	
	The jeweler is puzzled, then startled.
	
	                    JEWELER
	          I see.
	
	He turns away, goes behind his desk, sits down, looks at
	Myra.
	
	                    JEWELER
	          You know something, Mrs. Langtry? A
	          bracelet like that very rarely
	          happens. A fine setting and
	          workmanship usually mean precious
	          stones. It always hurts me when I
	          find they're not. I always hope -- 
	              (faint sad friendly smile)
	          -- I'm mistaken.
	
	Myra likes him better now, even though he hasn't solved her
	problem. She rises.
	
	                    MYRA
	          Thank you. For everything you felt
	          you could do.
	
	EXT. STREET - DAY
	
	Roy has been throwing up but is finished now. He's sprawled
	like a shot deer across the hood of his Honda, still
	clutching his stomach. A police car stops, the passenger COP
	gets out. He's suspicious at first.
	
	                    COP
	          Sir? Everything all right?
	
	The sight of the uniform forces Roy into gear. He
	straightens, smiling through his pain.
	
	                    ROY
	          Getting better. A bad shrimp, I
	          think.
	
	The con's suspicion changes to concern.
	
	                    COP
	          Want us to take you to a doctor?
	
	                    ROY
	          No no, I'm fine now, thanks,
	          anyway. Still got a lot of clients
	          to see.
	
	                    COP
	          Take it easy, now.
	
	                    ROY
	          Oh, I will.
	
	EXT. RUIDOSO DOWNS - DAY
	
	Late afternoon. AN ANGLE on the parking area, where almost
	all the cars are gone and the few remaining are widely
	separated. The white Chrysler is one of these. Lilly walks to
	it from the track entrance.
	
	AN ANGLE on the Chrysler as Lilly opens the trunk, puts her
	bag inside.
	
	CLOSE UP, Lilly and the trunk. She takes betting tickets from
	her bag, sorts them, files them in envelopes in different
	compartments, puts some to one side, then sorts through these
	separated tickets, throwing some away, keeping some. She
	takes money from the bag, puts tickets in, closes the bag
	with the money on the trunk floor. Reaching farther in, she
	lifts the pad deep inside the trunk, lifts the metal floor
	panel, and reveals a cache mostly filled with money. She adds
	today's skim, puts everything away, puts the bag back on her
	shoulder, closes the trunk.
	
	EXT. MADERO APARTMENTS - DAY
	
	A shabby apartment hotel on Wilshire. An exterior hall
	balcony on each floor has the entrance doors to the front
	apartments. Roy's Honda makes the turn and enters the
	basement garage.
	
	INT. MADERO LOBBY - DAY
	
	Modest but clean. The owner, SIMMS, a sloppy garrulous old
	bore, talks with a potential RENTER.
	
	                    SIMMS
	          Put it this way, now. Say I rent to
	          a woman, well, she has to have a
	          room with a bath. I insist on it,
	          because otherwise she's got the
	          hall bath tied up all the time,
	          washing her goddamn hair and her
	          clothes and everything she can
	          think of.
	
	In b.g., Roy, still in pain, comes out of the elevator, waves
	to Simms, who waves back without pausing in his monologue,
	and crosses to the mailboxes.
	
	                    SIMMS
	          Now, your minimum for a room with
	          bath is three hundred a month, just
	          for a place to sleep and no cooking
	          allowed.
	          And just how many of these tootsies
	          make that kind of money and have to
	          eat in restaurants and buy clothes
	          and --
	
	Roy, carrying his junk mail and pretending not to be in pain,
	crosses to Simms.
	
	                    ROY
	          Mr. Simms.
	
	                    SIMMS
	              (fawning)
	          Why yes, Mr. Dillon. Here's a
	          potential new neighbor, looking at--
	
	                    ROY
	              (uninterested)
	          Uh-huh. Mrs. Langtry may drop by.
	
	Simms doesn't like Mrs. Langtry, but can't say so.
	
	                    SIMMS
	          I'll send her right up.
	
	Roy goes back to the elevator. Simms continues his monologue.
	
	                    SIMMS
	          I had my first hotel thirty-seven
	          years ago in Wichita Falls, Texas,
	          and that's where I began to learn
	          about women. They just don't make
	          the money, you see, not regular
	          they don't, and there's only one
	          way they can get it.
	
	Roy enters the elevator.
	
	                    SIMMS
	          Now, that Mr. Dillon there, that's
	          the fine type of person I have in
	          mind for here. Like yourself, I
	          have no doubt. He's a salesman,
	          regular as clockwork, has a suite
	          here. Fine man. Now, about these
	          women. At first, you know, they
	          just go out and do it now and then,
	          just enough to make ends meet. But
	          pretty soon they got that bank open
	          twenty-four hours a day, and then
	          you've got trouble. Hookers and
	          hotellin' just don't mix.
	          You'd think the cops'd be too busy
	          catching real criminals, not
	          snooping around after working
	          girls, but that's the way the gravy
	          stains, as the saying is, and I
	          don't fight it. An ounce of
	          prevention is my motto.
	
	Myra enters from the front, looks across at Simms, points
	upward. Simms calls to her.
	
	                    SIMMS
	          Oh, yes, Mrs. Langtry, he's up
	          there, he's expecting you.
	
	Myra crosses to the elevator. Simms speaks more softly.
	
	                    SIMMS
	          If you keep out the women in the
	          first place, see, you keep out the
	          hookers, and then you keep out the
	          cops, and that's how you have a
	          clean place.
	
	EXT. ROY'S APARTMENT - DAY
	
	AN ANGLE along the balcony, with Roy's apartment door in f.g.
	and Los Angeles in b.g. Myra crosses to the door, opens it
	with her key, enters.
	
	INT. BATHROOM - DAY
	
	A small crowded old-fashioned bathroom. Roy, shirt open and
	trousers pushed down almost to his crotch, looks in the
	mirror at purplish greenish bruises on his stomach. He
	touches his stomach, winces.
	
	                    MYRA (O.S.)
	          Roy?
	
	He looks at the door, then grins at his reflection.
	
	                    ROY
	          Your medicine is here.
	
	He leaves the bathroom.
	
	INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY
	
	Hotel furniture, shabby and anonymous. On the walls,
	contrasting with everything else, are two crying-clown
	pictures on black velvet, mounted in big boxy frames. Myra
	stands in the middle of the room, and Roy enters, shirt and
	trousers still disarranged.
	
	                    MYRA
	              (amused by clothing)
	          Well, well. In a real hurry, are
	          we?
	
	                    ROY
	          Always, for you, baby.
	
	He reaches for her, but she playfully holds him off.
	
	                    MYRA
	          You aren't taking me for granted,
	          are you?
	
	                    ROY
	          Taking you for granite?
	
	He grins, as his fingertip prods her breast.
	
	                    ROY
	          That isn't granite. If that fell on
	          me, it wouldn't hurt at all.
	
	                    MYRA
	              (playing along)
	          Are you sure?
	
	                    ROY
	              (pulling her close)
	          Let's find out.
	
	EXT. HIGHWAY PHONE BOOTH - DAY
	
	Lilly's white Chrysler is parked next to an open-air phone.
	Traffic whizzes by. Lilly talks on the phone, with pen and
	notebook at the ready. The racetrack is visible in the b.g.
	
	                    LILLY
	          I'm done here. Do I come back to
	          Baltimore?
	
	INT. OFFICE - DAY
	
	It could be an expensive, if gaudy, lawyer's office.
	Baltimore harbor is visible past the windows. IRV, the
	accountant, sits at a desk covered -- but neatly covered --
	with ledgers, computer printouts, etc. He speaks on the
	phone.
	
	                    IRV
	          Bobo wants you to go on to Delmar.
	
	INTERCUT PHONE BOOTH AND OFFICE
	
	                    LILLY
	          Delmar? I never go out to
	          California. That's a thousand miles
	          from here.
	
	                    IRV
	          Nine hundred. Bobo needs somebody
	          to handle playback this time. Come
	          on, Lilly, you don't argue with
	          Bobo.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (fatalistic)
	          I know.
	
	                    IRV
	          Take two, three days. Call when you
	          get there.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Maybe I'll swing around Los Ang
	          gleez on the way.
	
	This is Lilly making the best of the situation. She listens a
	bit more, GRUNTS a farewell, hangs up, moves to her car.
	
	INT. BEDROOM - DAY
	
	Again, anonymous hotel furniture. Roy and Myra naked in bed,
	he on his back, she straddling him, both moving gently. He's
	half feeling pleasure, half unconscious.
	
	                    MYRA
	          Roy?
	
	                    ROY
	          Mm?
	
	                    MYRA
	          Look at me.
	
	                    ROY
	          Oh, I am, baby, believe me.
	
	                    MYRA
	          Roy? It this all we have?
	
	                    ROY
	          All? It ain't bad.
	
	                    MYRA
	          No more than this? 
	
	He tries to concentrate on her.
	
	                    ROY
	          What are you talking abut, Myra?
	          Marriage?
	
	                    MYRA
	          I didn't say that. You aren't
	          marriage material.
	
	He keeps watching her, ironic, hips moving. Looking for a
	distraction, she notices the bruise on his stomach.
	
	                    MYRA
	          What's that?
	
	She touches it; he flinches back, in real pain.
	
	                    ROY
	          Ow! Hey, what are you trying to do,
	          throw me off my game?
	
	                    MYRA
	              (laughing)
	          No, baby. Come to Mama.
	
	She folds forward onto him. He puts his arms around her. They
	rock together slowly.
	
	EXT. MOTEL - DAY
	
	The same mountains in b.g. as at the track. Lilly carries two
	small bags from her motel room, puts them on the back seat of
	the Cadillac, gets behind the wheel, drives away.
	
	INT. BATHROOM - DAY
	
	Myra, dressed, primps at the mirror, surveys herself
	critically, is reasonably satisfied, leaves.
	
	INT. BEDROOM - DAY
	
	Roy lies supine on the bed, semi-conscious, half-covered by a
	sheet. Myra, casual, not noticing his condition, leans her
	head in through the doorway.
	
	                    MYRA
	          Wore you out, did I? It's a good
	          woman you can't keep down, baby.
	
	He moves fitfully, CROAKS an attempt at speech.
	
	                    MYRA
	          Have a good sleep, baby. Call you
	          tomorrow. 
	
	He sits up, trying to grin and be easy.
	
	                    ROY
	          Wait'll next year.
	
	AN ANGLE across Roy's profile, with open bedroom door beyond
	him. Through it, the living room and outer door can be seen.
	Myra crosses the living room, opens the door. Bright sunlight
	pours in, emphasizing the sweat on his face. She closes the
	door, and he gives up trying to smile. Gingerly, he touches
	his bruised stomach, winces.
	
	                    ROY
	          Damn that guy.
	
	He's going to get out of bed, but movement creates pain. He
	sits back against the headboard, looks around, reaches
	painfully to the bedside table drawer, takes a quarter from
	it, studies the quarter, feels it with fingertips, places it
	on the back of his left hand, slowly moves the soft pads of
	his right palm over it, then turns the quarter over and
	repeats. Then he takes the quarter in his right hand, flips
	it, slaps it down onto the back of his left hand, SPEAKS
	simultaneously with the hands coming together.
	
	                    ROY
	          Smack.
	
	He looks away, right hand moving minimally on left hand.
	
	                    ROY
	          Heads.
	
	He lifts the right hand, nods, then flips the coin again,
	looks away, moves the right hand slightly.
	
	                    ROY
	          Heads.
	
	Again he's right. Again he repeats.
	
	                    ROY
	          Tails.
	
	He's about to repeat when a wave of weakness comes over him.
	He sits back, gasping, but won't acknowledge the problem.
	He forces himself to flip the coin, misses catching it, finds
	it on the blanket, flips it again, slaps it onto the back of
	the other hand, looks away.
	
	                    ROY
	          Tails.
	
	Right again. He prepares to flip the coin, but then his hand
	sags onto the covers, his chin drops, his eyes glaze.
	
	                    ROY
	              (whispered)
	          How much can I bet?
	
	INT. PASSENGER TRAIN - DAY
	
	The train runs through a forest, tree shadows making a light
	and-dark pattern. Roy, four or five years younger, sits with
	a three-core-monte gang, consisting of a DEALER, a spectacled
	SHILL beside him, Roy facing the dealer, a ROPER next to Roy.
	On a briefcase on the dealer's lap are three cards, face up:
	An ace and two deuces. Across the aisle, alone in the seats,
	sits MINTZ, a conman in his fifties, pretending not to watch,
	but watching with amusement.
	
	                    DEALER
	          That's between you two. I got
	          nothing at stake here, I'm just
	          dealing.
	
	                    SHILL
	          What if we both guess wrong? You
	          aren't gonna take...
	
	The dealer turns aside, allowing himself to be distracted. He
	and the shill ARGUE nonsensically. The roper nudges Roy, then
	reaches out and crimps the ace. Roy's doing a wide-eyed
	bumpkin kid; he stares at the roper in delight and amazement.
	
	AN ANGLE on the shill, arguing with the dealer but looking
	toward Roy and the roper, then increasing the force of his
	argument.
	
	AN ANGLE across the amused Mintz at the roper whispering to
	Roy.
	
	TWO SHOT, Roy and the roper.
	
	                    ROPER
	          We got him now! Put down that big
	          bill you got.
	
	                    ROY
	              (whispered)
	          The fifty or the hundred?
	
	                    ROPER
	          The hundred! Hurry!
	
	                    ROY
	              (doubtful)
	          The ace is what I want?
	
	The roper's having trouble keeping his patience.
	
	                    ROPER
	          Sure it is!
	
	TWO SHOT, the dealer and the shill, fake-squabbling, Roy and
	the roper seen in b.g. between their faces, Roy finally
	bringing out his wallet, withdrawing a bill. Relieved, the
	dealer and the shill cut the crap.
	
	AN ANGLE on the group as Roy puts his hundred dollar bill on
	the briefcase.
	
	                    ROY
	          Is that okay?
	
	The shill pulls a messy wad of bills from his inner pocket,
	uses most of it to cover the bet.
	
	                    SHILL
	          You're damn right that's okay.
	
	                    DEALER
	              (picks up the cards)
	          Whoever finds the ace, wins.
	
	ECU, the dealer's hands, shuffling the cards at lightning
	speed. He deals the cards out face down.
	
	INT. BEDROOM - DAY
	
	CU, Roy's sweat-covered face, eyelids fluttering.
	
	                    ROY
	              (whispered)
	          Dark in here.
	
	INT. PASSENGER TRAIN - DAY
	
	AN ANGLE on the group. Roy squints at the cards, light and
	dark playing on his face.
	
	                    ROY
	          Too dark. I just can't see.
	
	Casually, but too quickly to be stopped, he reaches across
	and plucks the shill's glasses off.
	
	                    ROY
	          Let me borrow these, will you?
	
	AN ANGLE across Mintz, surprised and amused, at the group in
	b.g., in consternation as Roy puts on the glasses and looks
	down at the cards.
	
	                    ROY
	          Now, that's better.
	
	ROY'S POV: The glasses are 'readers.' Through them, a large
	gray 'A' can be seen on the back of one of the non-crimped
	cards. Roy's hand reaches out and flips it over. It's the ace
	of spades.
	
	INT. BEDROOM - DAY
	
	AN ANGLE across Roy toward the doorway. Roy, eyes closed,
	smiles in triumph, then winces in pain. Mintz partially
	appears, hovering beside the bed, grinning at Roy.
	
	                    MINTZ
	          I didn't teach you that.
	
	                    ROY
	              (whispered)
	          You taught me a lot. Then I
	          invented.
	
	INT. AIRPORT DEPARTURE LOUNGE - DAY
	
	Weary bored people sit around waiting. Roy, 17, lugging a big
	suitcase, walks through, takes a seat near Mintz, who's doing
	card tricks for his own pleasure. Roy watches, then moves
	closer.
	
	                    ROY
	          Let me see how you did that one.
	
	                    MINTZ
	          Scram. Go home.
	
	                    ROY
	          I can't. I just left home.
	
	                    MINTZ
	          You're too young. You should be in
	          school.
	
	                    ROY
	          I am in school.
	
	Mintz peers at him, taking an interest. Then he holds up the
	five of spades, shows it to Roy, puts it back in the deck,
	shuffles, shows Roy the deck.
	
	                    MINTZ
	          Where's the five?
	
	                    ROY
	          In your other hand.
	
	Mintz grins slowly, turns his hand over with the palmed card
	showing.
	
	INT. BEDROOM NIGHT
	
	Roy slumps, eyes closed, half-smiling, with the fever Mintz
	hovering. Roy's smile fades, his fluttering eyelids grow
	still, his face slack. The fever Mintz fades and disappears.
	
	EXT. HIGHWAY - DAY
	
	AN ANGLE on a large sign indicating "Los Angeles" straight
	ahead. CAMERA PANS DOWN and around 180 degrees to face the
	several lanes of heavy Los Angeles-bound traffic. LONG BEAT.
	Hundreds of cars rush by. CAMERA PANS with Lilly's white
	Chrysler as it comes along in the stream.
	
	AN ANGLE through the Chrysler's left side window at Lilly,
	driving, concentrating, biting her left thumbnail. She
	becomes aware that's what she's doing, shakes her head in
	irritation: She's trying to break herself of this habit.
	Ostentatiously she tucks the thumb into her fist, rests the
	fist on top of the steering wheel, where she can keep an eye
	on it.
	
	HIGH ANGLE on the westbound lanes. The Chrysler passes. Soon
	it's out of sight among all the other cars. LONG BEAT.
	
	INT. BEDROOM - DAY
	
	AN ANGLE across the unmoving unconscious Roy toward the
	doorway. The apartment door beyond the living room opens,
	throwing light on Roy, who doesn't react. Lilly enters, in
	silhouette, closes the door, crosses toward the bedroom.
	(Until she speaks, we can't be quite sure who this is. With
	the similarity between herself and Myra, this could be Myra.)
	
	                    LILLY
	              (hesitant)
	          Roy?
	
	No reaction. Lilly, getting worried, moves closer, through
	the bedroom doorway.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Roy? You asleep?
	
	His head moves slightly. He barely has strength to speak.
	
	                    ROY
	          Myra?
	
	She moves forward to the side of the bed, only her torso IN
	FRAME. She touches a hand to his forehead.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (startled)
	          My God!
	
	She turns, hurries back to the living room, looks around for
	the phone, crosses to it, dials, SPEAKS. Roy's eyes open, he
	frowns.
	
	                    ROY
	          Lilly?
	
	INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY
	
	Lilly, hard and fast and urgent, on the phone.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Tell the doctor I work for Bobo
	          Justus, and this is an emergency.
	          Don't worry, he knows who Bobo is.
	
	INT. BEDROOM - DAY
	
	AN ANGLE down toward Roy, from above, he's weak but troubled.
	Eyes closed, frowning, whispering.
	
	                    ROY
	          Go away, Lilly. Go away.
	
	Roy's eyes close. He looks dead. SLOW FADE.
	
	INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY
	
	The DOCTOR, a nervous heavyset man in his fifties, a drinker
	from the look of him, is on the phone in b.g., while Lilly
	prowls the room, looking at everything with distaste, then
	stopping to frown at the box-framed clown pictures. She
	doesn't get it. She touches one of the pictures, trying to
	understand. The doctor hangs up, turns to Lilly.
	
	                    DOCTOR
	              (lugubrious)
	          The ambulance is on the way, for
	          what good it will do.
	
	                    LILLY
	          What? He's going to be all right!
	
	                    DOCTOR
	          Mrs. Dillon, your son was in some
	          sort of accident. He's had an
	          internal hemorrhage, he's bleeding
	          to death inside.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Well, make it stop!
	
	                    DOCTOR
	          His blood pressure is under a
	          hundred. I don't think he'll live
	          to get to the hospital.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (icy, stern)
	          You know who I work for.
	
	He's uncomfortable, wants to dismiss that part of his life.
	
	                    DOCTOR
	          Yes, yes, but that's --
	
	                    LILLY
	          My son will be all right. If he
	          isn't, I'll have you killed.
	
	The doctor stares at her in astonishment, then in belief.
	SOUND of ambulance siren. To break the moment, he crosses to
	the door, opens it. Light bathes Lilly. The doctor steps back
	across the threshold, waiting for the ambulance. He looks
	back at Lilly, who stares at him.
	
	INT. AMBULANCE - DAY
	
	ECU, Roy, skin pallid, eyes closed and sunken, lips white.
	SOUND of siren LOUDER. SOUND SEGUES to CHILD CRYING. CRYING
	FADES.
	
	INT. HOTEL LOBBY - DAY
	
	A clumsy slum hotel fifteen years ago, with a tiny lobby, the
	DESK CLERK at a half-door in one wall. Lilly, at 24, enters
	from the street. This is a definite hooker, with bright
	maroon hair and a black-and-white miniskirt. She stops
	wordlessly at the desk for her key.
	
	                    CLERK
	              (handing key)
	          Your kid's in the back here. He's
	          crying.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Roy? He's always crying.
	
	                    CLERK
	              (sympathetic to Roy)
	          The kids beat him up, because his
	          home life is, uh, different.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (ironic)
	          I like you, too.
	
	The clerk shrugs. He doesn't like this tough broad. He turns
	and calls back into his office.
	
	                    CLERK
	          Roy, your mother's here.
	
	Roy, 10, comes reluctantly out to Lilly, sniffling and
	rubbing his arm.
	
	                    LILLY
	          So what's your story today?
	
	                    ROY
	          They twisted my arm.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (laughing lightly)
	          Only one arm?
	
	He tries not to cry, and shows her a space between his teeth.
	
	                    ROY
	          They knocked out my tooth!
	
	                    LILLY
	          Only one tooth?
	
	Roy's frustrated, unhappy, having nowhere else to turn.
	
	                    ROY
	          You always say that!
	
	Lilly won't take him seriously, but she relents enough to
	stop teasing him, and to pat his head, ignoring how he
	flinches away.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Come on, kid, let's see if there's
	          any food in the house.
	
	                    CLERK
	              (there's no food)
	          Hah.
	
	Lilly gives him a jaundiced look, walks Roy to the stairs and
	up. The clerk, scornful but sexually interested, watches her
	go.
	
	INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
	
	ECU, Roy in a hospital bed, with more color in his face,
	breathing more normally. He begins to react to the sound of
	people speaking.
	
	                    MYRA (O.S.)
	          No, really, you're Roy's mother?
	          That's impossible!
	
	                    LILLY (O.S.)
	          Not quite. But I'm not sure who you
	          are, Mrs... Langtry, was it?
	
	Roy's eyes open, he looks toward the voices.
	
	                    MYRA (O.S.)
	          I'm Roy's friend.
	
	WIDE SHOT, Lilly and Myra facing one another across the foot
	of Roy's bed, in a two-bed hospital room. (The OLD MAN in the
	other bed sleeps through the scene.) Neither woman is yet
	aware that Roy's awake. Lilly looks Myra up and down, with
	obvious contempt.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Yes. I imagine you're lots of
	          people's friend.
	
	Myra moves one pace to the side, studying Lilly's face.
	
	                    MYRA
	          Oh, of course, now that I see you
	          in the light, you're plenty old
	          enough to be Roy's mother.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (sweet smile)
	          Aren't we all?
	
	                    ROY
	              (very weak, but amused)
	          Play nice. Don't fight.
	
	The women, startled, both move toward Roy, one on each side
	of the bed.
	
	THREE SHOT, Myra and Lilly both leaning over to look down at
	Roy's sleepy face.
	
	                    MYRA
	          Darling!
	
	                    LILLY
	          Roy. You're going to be all right.
	
	                    ROY
	          Sure I am. What made you turn up,
	          after all these years?
	
	                    LILLY
	          I'm working down in San Diego. Just
	          for a few weeks.
	              (awkward laugh)
	          Thought I'd drop in on my long-lost
	          son.
	
	                    ROY
	              (cold)
	          Nice to see you.
	              (turns to Myra)
	          What am I doing in here?
	
	                    MYRA
	          You were bleeding inside, honey.
	          Remember that bruise you had?
	
	                    ROY
	          You called the doctor, huh?
	
	                    MYRA
	              (reluctant)
	          Well, no, Roy. Your mother found
	          you.
	
	                    ROY
	              (tossing It away)
	          Oh, yeah?
	              (very casual, to Lilly)
	          Thanks.
	              (back to Myra)
	          How long do they say I'm in here?
	
	Myra's willing to fight with Lilly, but Roy's attitude toward
	his mother makes her uncomfortable.
	
	                    MYRA
	          Roy... Your mom saved your life.
	
	Roy turns his head, gives Lilly an ironic smile. Lilly waits,
	holding herself in.
	
	                    ROY
	          Yeah? Only one life?
	
	She nods, accepting that, but then responds.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Second time I gave it to you.
	
	Roy gives her a cold smile, then turns to Myra for the ironic
	explanation.
	
	                    ROY
	          I was kind of... inconvenient...
	          for Lilly.
	
	Lilly has nothing but contempt for Myra. To be humiliated in
	front of Myra -- and by her son -- is the worst thing that
	could happen to her. She makes as dignified an exit as she
	can.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Well... You're all right now, I
	          guess. I have to get down to the
	          track.
	
	                    ROY
	              (reluctant, but it's
	               necessary)
	          Thanks, uh, Lilly.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (awkward laugh)
	          Don't mention it.
	
	                    ROY
	          I guess I owe you my life.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (faint smile)
	          You always did.
	
	Lilly exits. Myra looks after her, curious.
	
	                    MYRA
	          "Down to the track?"
	
	Roy will not talk about this, with anyone. His response is
	cold, closing the subject.
	
	                    ROY
	          Her job.
	
	                    MYRA
	              (bright smile)
	          I want to know everything about
	          you.
	
	                    ROY
	              (easy grin)
	          You do. And once I'm out of here,
	          I'll remind you of the best parts.
	
	They smile flirtatiously at one another, both with their
	minds on other things.
	
	INT. BATHROOM - DAY
	
	Very messy, small. Myra showers. She finishes, emerges, wraps
	herself in a towel, opens the crowded messy medicine cabinet,
	removes cosmetics and other items, starts to tweeze her
	eyebrows. Doorbell RINGS. She looks irritated, ignores it.
	Long doorbell RING. Exasperated, she slaps the tweezers down,
	exits.
	
	INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY
	
	Another furnished apartment, this one with Myra's clothing
	and dishes and glasses and other junk all over it.
	She crosses to the door, pulls it open. The APARTMENT MANAGER
	enters; a sullen, nervous, heavyset man.
	
	                    MYRA
	              (angry, but defensive)
	          You heard the shower, didn't you?
	
	                    MANAGER
	          I don't care about that. This time,
	          I gotta have the rent.
	
	Myra forces herself to be more pleasant.
	
	                    MYRA
	          Joe, I thought I was gonna be all 
	          right by now, I just need a little
	          more --
	
	                    MANAGER
	          It isn't the owner, Myra, it's my
	          wife. She knows what's going on.
	          This time, I gotta have the money.
	
	                    MYRA
	          Joe, you know you'll --
	
	In gesturing, Myra "accidentally" loses the towel, then wraps
	it around herself again as the manager stares nervously away.
	She smiles, knowing she's got him.
	
	                    MYRA
	          Joe, could we talk it over? Do you
	          want a drink?
	
	                    MANAGER
	          My wife sent me here, Myra. For the
	          money. She's waiting.
	
	                    MYRA
	          I'll have it tonight. Nine o'clock?
	          Ten?
	
	                    MANAGER
	              (trying to be determined)
	          This time...
	
	                    MYRA
	          We'll work something out, Joe.
	
	She strokes his arm, smiling. He flees. She smiles till he's
	gone, then looks worried, leans her head against the door.
	
	INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
	
	Roy, very comfortable in pajamas and robe, sits in a
	wheelchair beside the bed, with magazines lying handy on the
	bed. Myra, irritable, paces beside him.
	
	                    MYRA
	          I don't see why you're still here.
	          You look healthy to me.
	
	                    ROY
	          I just do what the doctor says,
	          babe.
	
	                    MYRA
	          You're just comfortable, that's
	          all. You don't even ask to go home.
	          You just lie around, let your mama
	          take care of you.
	
	                    ROY
	              (truly astonished)
	          Mama!
	
	                    MYRA
	          Who else is paying for all this?
	          You badmouth the woman all the
	          time, but you sure do take the
	          payoffs she gives you.
	
	                    ROY
	              (insulted)
	          I'll pay Lilly back, don't you
	          worry about that.
	
	                    MYRA
	          I don't like to come here, Roy.
	          Every time I do, your mother comes
	          in and makes remarks.
	
	                    ROY
	          That's just Lilly's way.
	
	                    MYRA
	          And you never defend me. You're
	          afraid of her.
	
	                    ROY
	          Oh, don't be stupid.
	
	                    MYRA
	          You're a mama's boy, if you want
	          the truth. 
	
	This is so absurd, Roy doesn't know how to respond.
	
	                    ROY
	          Are you kid --? I hadn't even seen
	          her in seven years!
	
	Lilly enters, smiling in self-confidence. A large ugly burn
	is on the back of her right hand.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Should my ears be burning?
	
	                    MYRA
	              (surly)
	          They might as well.
	
	Lilly gives her a mock-admiring look.
	
	                    LILLY
	          I heard those skirts were coming
	          back.
	
	Myra's not quite up to direct confrontation with Lilly. She
	glowers at Roy instead.
	
	                    MYRA
	          Get well soon.
	
	                    ROY
	              (easy)
	          Every day in every way.
	
	                    MYRA
	          I'll see you when you get home.
	
	Myra stalks out. Acting as though Myra hadn't existed, Lilly
	puts her bag on the bed, takes mail from it.
	
	                    ROY
	          What happened to your hand?
	
	                    LILLY
	              (casually dismissive)
	          Just a little accident. I went by
	          your place, picked up your mall.
	          Just bills, I'll take care of them.
	
	                    ROY
	          I can take care of my own bills,
	          Lilly.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (indifferent shrug)
	          Whatever you say. The manager says
	          your boss called.
	              (crooked grin)
	          Really pulled the wool over
	          everybody's eyes, huh?
	
	                    ROY
	          What are you talking about? So I've
	          got a job. So what?
	
	                    LILLY
	          Stop kidding me! Four years in a
	          town like Los Ang-gleez, and a
	          peanut selling job is the best you
	          can do? You expect me to believe
	          that?
	
	                    ROY
	              (spreads hands; it's
	               obvious)
	          It's there. The boss called, you
	          said so yourself.
	
	                    LILLY
	          And that dump you live in! Those
	          clown pictures on the walls!
	
	This reference alerts and worries Roy, which he tries to
	hide.
	
	                    ROY
	          I like those.
	
	                    LILLY
	          You do not! Roy Dillon? Cornball
	          clown pictures? Commission
	          salesman? It's all a front, isn't
	          it? You're on the grift, I know you
	          are. You're working some angle, and
	          don't tell me you're not because I
	          wrote the book!
	
	                    ROY
	              (defensive)
	          You're one to talk. Still running
	          playback money for the mob.
	
	                    LILLY
	          That's me. That's who I am. You
	          were never cut out for the rackets,
	          Roy, and if you --
	
	                    ROY
	          How come?
	
	She considers him. His expression is jaunty, daring her. She
	gives him a somber answer.
	
	                    LILLY
	          You aren't tough enough.
	
	He's afraid she's right. He covers the doubt with a display
	of self-assurance.
	
	                    ROY
	          Not as tough as you, huh?
	
	                    LILLY
	              (dead serious)
	          No. And you have to be.
	
	She holds up her burned hand, showing it to him.
	
	                    LILLY
	          You asked me about this. You really
	          want to know what happened?
	
	He isn't sure he does; but what choice does he have?
	
	                    ROY
	          Up to you.
	
	                    LILLY
	          My boss is a guy named Bobo Justus,
	          back in Baltimore. When a long shot
	          gets too much action, I have to put
	          money on that horse at the track,
	          because it's the only way to get
	          the odds down.
	
	                    ROY
	          Sure.
	
	                    LILLY
	          The first day of the Delmar meet,
	          there was a nag called Bluebell. I
	          should have been on it. But that
	          was the day after you came in here,
	          so I stuck around to see how you
	          were gonna be.
	
	He would speak protest, deny, explain, but she cuts him off.
	
	                    LILLY
	          That was my choice, nothing to do
	          with you. I took a chance, and it
	          didn't work out.
	
	                    ROY
	          Bluebell came in?
	
	                    LILLY
	          I sent Bobo ten grand of my own
	          money, like it was the winnings
	          from my bets. I hoped that would
	          cover me.
	              (shrug)
	          It didn't.
	
	EXT. DELMAR DAY
	
	AN ANGLE on the exit doors toward the parking lot. Lilly
	comes out, self-absorbed, then sees something ahead of her,
	falters briefly, keeps walking, tries a very shaky smile.
	
	REVERSE ANGLE, as Lilly approaches her car. BOBO JUSTUS, 50,
	a blunt hoodlum in a good suit and a civilized veneer, stands
	leaning against the car, arms folded, squinting behind
	sunglasses.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Hi, Bobo.
	
	                    BOBO
	          Did I buy you that dress, you piece
	          of shit?
	
	Lilly's scared, startled, but trying to figure out how to
	play this.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Well, I guess so. You're the guy I
	          work for.
	
	                    BOBO
	          You work for me, huh? Then I just
	          may flush you down the toilet.
	          Drive me to the Durando.
	
	Bobo gets into the passenger seat, while Lilly nods
	convulsive agreement and hurries around to get behind the
	wheel. The car jolts forward, then smooths, and heads for the
	gate.
	
	INT. CHRYSLER - DAY
	
	Driving along the highway. Lilly concentrates on traffic.
	Bobo heavily watches her profile, finally speaks.
	
	                    BOBO
	          Bluebell.
	
	Lilly's eyes briefly close, her shoulders sag. Then she goes
	back to the silent alert person she'd been. Bobo nods.
	
	                    BOBO
	          How'd you figure you were gonna get
	          away with that?
	
	                    LILLY
	          I'm not getting away with anything,
	          Bobo.
	
	                    BOBO
	          You're fuckin right you're not. How
	          much did your pals cut you in for
	          on that nag, huh? Or did they give
	          you the same kind of screwing you
	          gave me?
	
	                    LILLY
	          I was down on that horse, Bobo. Not
	          as much as I should have been, but
	          there was a lot of action on those--
	
	Bobo taps a fingertip against the side of her head to shut
	her up. She shuts up.
	
	                    BOBO
	          One question. Do you want to stick
	          to that story, or do you want to
	          keep your teeth?
	
	                    LILLY
	          I want to keep my teeth.
	
	                    BOBO
	          Now I'll ask you another. You think
	          I got no contacts out here? That
	          nag paid off at just the opening
	          price. There wasn't hardly a
	          flutter on the tote board from the
	          time the odds were posted. There
	          ain't enough action to tickle the
	          tote, but you claim a ten grand
	          win!
	          You send me ten thousand dollars,
	          like I'm some mark you can blow
	          off!
	
	                    LILLY
	              (terrified, broken)
	          Bobo, no, I --
	
	                    BOBO
	          You wanna talk to me straight up?
	
	                    LILLY
	          My son --
	
	                    BOBO
	          Your what?
	
	                    LILLY
	          My son was in the hospital --
	
	                    BOBO
	          What the fuck are you doin with a
	          son?
	
	                    LILLY
	          He left home a long time ago. He
	          was in the hospital, up in Los Ang
	          gleez, real sick.
	
	                    BOBO
	              (utter scorn)
	          Motherhood.
	
	                    LILLY
	          I never fucked up before, Bobo.
	
	                    BOBO
	          You expect me to buy this?
	
	It's time for Lilly to show tough, and she knows it.
	
	                    LILLY
	          You do buy it, Bobo. I cost you,
	          and I'm sorry.
	
	Bobo thinks this over.
	
	                    BOBO
	          I got a lot of people work for me,
	          Lilly. I can't have shit like this.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (begging)
	          It'll never happen again. I swear.
	
	                    BOBO
	          It happened once. With me, that's
	          making a habit of it.
	
	Lilly drops back to her final position; fatalism.
	
	                    LILLY
	          You're calling the shots.
	
	                    BOBO
	          You got any kind of long coat in
	          the car? Anything you can wear home
	          over your clothes?
	
	                    LILLY
	              (deadened with fear)
	          No.
	
	                    BOBO
	              (doesn't matter)
	          I'll loan you a raincoat.
	
	Lilly drives, holding herself together.
	
	EXT. HOTEL DURANDO - DAY
	
	A tall expensive hotel on the coast north of San Diego.
	CAMERA PANS with the Chrysler pulling in and stopping at the
	entrance, then PANS UP the balconied facade.
	
	INT. HOTEL SUITE - DAY
	
	Living room of a high-floor suite. CAMERA FACES across the
	room to the balcony and the view of the ocean. Entrance door
	to one side. A supermarket shopping bag is on the coffee
	table. Two THUGS sit on the sofa, watching TV.
	
	The door opens and Lilly enters, followed by Bobo. The thugs
	immediately rise and switch off the TV.
	
	                    BOBO
	              (to the thugs)
	          Take a walk.
	
	The thugs leave the room as Lilly crosses to stand between US
	and the view, followed by Bobo, neither looking out. Lilly
	turns to Bobo, who abruptly punches her hard in the stomach.
	She falls to the floor.
	
	ANOTHER ANGLE as Bobo steps across her and goes over to close
	the drapes over the view. Lilly sits up, watching him,
	waiting obediently. Bobo looks at her.
	
	                    BOBO (CONT'D)
	          Get me a bath towel.
	
	She gets up, hurting, and hurries to the bathroom. Bobo sits
	on the sofa, crosses his ankles on the coffee table next to
	the supermarket bag. He takes out and lights a cigar. Lilly
	comes back with a large white bath towel.
	
	                    BOBO (CONT'D)
	          You ever hear about the oranges?
	
	                    LILLY
	          You mean, the insurance frammis?
	
	                    BOBO
	          Tell me about the oranges, Lilly.
	
	He kicks over the supermarket bag. Oranges roll on the floor.
	
	                    BOBO (CONT'D)
	          While you put those in the towel.
	
	Lilly's very scared. She drops to her knees, spreads the
	towel, crawls around gathering oranges while she talks.
	
	                    LILLY
	          You hit a person with the oranges
	          in the towel, they get big, awful
	          looking bruises, but they don't
	          really get hurt, not if you do it
	          right. It's for working scams
	          against insurance companies.
	
	                    BOBO 
	          And if you do it wrong?
	
	                    LILLY
	          It can louse up your insides. You
	          can get puh, puh, puh...
	
	                    BOBO
	              (impatient)
	          What's that, Lilly?
	
	Lilly pauses, bent over, tightly holding an orange.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Permanent damage.
	
	                    BOBO 
	          You'll never shit right again.
	
	He gets to his feet, leaving his cigar in an ashtray.
	
	                    BOBO (CONT'D)
	              (hard, impatient)
	          Bring me the towel.
	
	Fumbling slightly, she folds the towel edges together to make
	a bag, then stands, brings the towel to Bobo. He makes a
	production out of getting his grip on the edges just right.
	She stands as limp as she can, just wanting to get through
	this. He looks at her without expression, rears back with the
	towel, swings it forward, lets it drop open. Oranges roll on
	the floor. Lilly stares, wide-eyed, recognizing reprieve.
	Bobo tosses the towel behind him onto the sofa, then gestures
	contemptuously for her to pick up the oranges again.
	
	TWO SHOT, closer, as Lilly turns, bending toward the oranges,
	and Bobo picks up his cigar, then lifts a foot and kicks her
	flatfooted, hard, in the back. She sprawls on the floor. He
	follows and drops to his knees on her back.
	
	AN ANGLE close on Lilly on the floor, Bobo's knees grinding
	back and forth into her back.
	
	AN ANGLE on Bobo, grimacing as he bears down, pressing his
	weight onto her back. He leans forward, left hand bracing
	himself on the floor beside her head as he reaches down with
	the cigar held in his right hand and presses the ember
	against the back of her splayed-out right hand.
	
	ECU, Lilly, clenching her teeth, tears squeezing from her
	eyes, simply bearing it.
	
	AN ANGLE on Bobo, catching a bad smell, looking back down
	behind himself at Lilly's body. This is the result he wanted,
	but it disgusts him. He straightens up, still kneeling on
	her, puts the cigar in his mouth, doesn't like its taste,
	removes it, braces his left hand against her back while he
	lifts off her, getting back up onto his feet.
	
	WIDE SHOT, Bobo stepping over her, expression repulsed.
	
	                    BOBO (CONT'D)
	          Go clean yourself up.
	
	He puts the cigar back in the ashtray as she rises, cradling
	her burnt hand. Not looking toward Bobo, hobbling with knees
	together, she starts from the room.
	
	                    BOBO (CONT'D)
	          The raincoat's on the bed.
	
	She leaves. He opens the drapes, then picks up an orange from
	the floor and steps out onto the balcony.
	
	EXT. BALCONY - DAY
	
	Bobo stands looking out at the ocean. He enjoys breathing the
	sea air. He slowly peels the orange, dropping pieces of peel
	over the side.
	
	Lilly appears in the doorway, wearing a too-large man's
	raincoat. Bobo doesn't seem to notice her at first, then nods
	to her.
	
	                    BOBO
	          Almost forgot. That ten grand of
	          yours. It's in the envelope by the
	          door.
	
	                    LILLY 
	              (tries for animation)
	          Oh, thanks, Bobo.
	
	                    BOBO
	          You want a drink?
	
	                    LILLY 
	          Gee, I better not, if it's okay. I
	          still gotta drive back up to Los
	          Ang-gleez.
	
	                    BOBO 
	          See your son, huh? Well, that's
	          nice. A side of you I didn't know,
	          Lilly.
	
	Lilly chances taking a step out onto the balcony. It's vital
	that she encourage this forgive-and-forget dialogue.
	
	                    LILLY
	          He's a good kid. A salesman.
	
	                    BOBO 
	          On the square, huh? And how are you
	          making out these days? Stealing
	          much?
	
	Bobo's being jolly now. Lilly's scared, but has to be jolly,
	too.
	
	                    LILLY
	          From you? My folks didn't raise any
	          stupid kids.
	
	Bobo's joshing now. He raises a humorous eyebrow.
	
	                    BOBO 
	          Not skimming a thing, Lilly?
	
	                    LILLY
	          Oh, well, you know. I just clip a
	          buck here and a buck there. Not
	          enough to notice.
	
	                    BOBO
	              (honest approval)
	          That's right. Take a little, leave
	          a little.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          A person that don't look out for
	          himself is too dumb to look out for
	          anybody else. He's a liability,
	          right, Bobo?
	
	                    BOBO
	              (this is his creed)
	          You're a thousand percent right!
	
	                    LILLY 
	          Or else he's working an angle. If
	          he doesn't steal a little, he's
	          steeling big.
	
	                    BOBO 
	          You know it, Lilly.
	
	                    LILLY
	          You know, I like that suit, Bobo. I
	          don't know what there is about it,
	          but it somehow makes you look
	          taller.
	
	                    BOBO
	              (delighted)
	          Yeah? You really think so? A lot of
	          people been telling me the same
	          thing.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          Well, you can tell them I said
	          they're right.
	              (looks at sky)
	          I better get going. Roy'll wonder
	          where I am.
	
	                    BOBO 
	          Worries about his mother, eh? Give
	          him a hug for me.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          I will. So long, Bobo.
	
	Lilly leaves the balcony. Bobo eats more orange, looking out
	at the ocean. His expression is stern but calm.
	
	INT. CHRYSLER - DAY
	
	Lilly drives along the highway, weeping, shaking, teeth
	chattering. Her hands are both high on the wheel, the back of
	the right hand developing a large red burn.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Lucky! Lucky! Oh, am I lucky.! Am I
	          lucky!
	
	INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
	
	Roy's appalled and embarrassed and ashamed by this story; the
	surface result is, he's mad at Lilly.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Lucky? You call that lucky?
	
	                    LILLY
	              (simply)
	          He let me live. He let me be his
	          friend.
	
	Roy in his agitation wheels himself back and forth in the
	wheelchair, bumping into things.
	
	                    ROY 
	          You don't put up with that! Nobody
	          has to put up with that!
	
	                    LILLY
	          You do if you're where I am. Where
	          you want to be. How'd you get that
	          punch in the stomach, Roy?
	
	He closes down, sullen, not caring if she believes him or
	not.
	
	                    ROY 
	          I tripped over a chair.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (calm maternal advice)
	          Get off the grift, Roy.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Why?
	
	                    LILLY (CONT'D)
	              (faint smile)
	          You don't have the stomach for it.
	
	He stares at her, hurt and angry. She stares back,
	unflinching. Angrily, he spins the wheelchair around, his
	back to her.
	
	Now she's hurt. She shrugs, speaks indifferently to his back.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          I just give you your life. What you
	          do with it is up to you.
	
	                    ROY
	              (his back turned)
	          That's right.
	
	She hesitates, then stalks out, shutting the door.
	
	Hearing the door close, Roy spins around in the wheelchair to
	face where she'd been. He starts to get up, pauses midway.
	
	INT. HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - DAY
	
	Angry, Lilly takes a step away from the closed door, then
	stops, looks uncertainly back.
	
	INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
	
	Roy, on his feet now, stands still, indecisive.
	
	INT. HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - DAY
	
	Lilly shakes her head, turns firmly away, marches down the
	corridor.
	
	INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
	
	Roy makes an angry gesture, drops back into the wheelchair,
	spins it around and wheels over to the phone. Quick and
	angry, he makes a call. SOUND of ring; SOUND of click.
	
	                    MYRA  (V.O.)
	              (filtered; little-girl
	               flirtatious)
	          Myra here. Sorry you missed me.
	          Tell me how to reach you and I
	          will, just as soon as I can.
	
	SOUND of answering machine beep.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Babe, I'm gettin out of here, and
	          that's it. Let's take some time out
	          this weekend, go down to LaJolla,
	          hit the beach, have some fun.
	          Forget all this other stuff, huh?
	
	Roy hangs up, sits in the wheelchair looking determined.
	
	INT. MADERO LOBBY - DAY
	
	Simms talks with a MAID.
	
	                    SIMMS
	          Your difference between your folded
	          towel and your clean towel is a
	          trip to the laundry. When you're
	          cleaning those bathrooms, what you
	          do, you pick up the towel, you give
	          it a good shake and a good look,
	          and you say to yourself, 'Would I
	          dry myself on this towel?' If the
	          answer's yes, fold it.
	
	Roy comes out of the elevator, crossing toward Simms.
	
	                    MAID 
	          What if it's wet?
	
	                    SIMMS
	          Mr. Dillon! Welcome back! You look
	          fine, just fine.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Thanks, Mr. Simms, I'm feeling
	          fine.
	
	                    MAID 
	              (shy)
	          I'm glad you're better.
	
	Simms hands Roy a stack of mail.
	
	                    SIMMS
	          You're well liked around here, Mr.
	          Dillon. The entire staff will be
	          pleased to see you're back.
	
	Roy's touched and embarrassed by this reaction.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Well, thank you. And thank them.
	
	                    SIMMS 
	          Sickness comes to us all, Mister
	          Dillon.
	
	                    ROY 
	          That's true, Mr. Simms.
	
	                    SIMMS
	          We never know when and we never
	          know why. We never know how. The
	          only blessed thing we know is,
	          it'll be at the most inconvenient
	          and unexpected time. Just when
	          you've got tickets to the World
	          Series. And that's the way the
	          permanent waves.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Well, I'm back now. I just wanted
	          you to know. Gotta rush.
	
	                    SIMMS
	          Happy to see you looking so good.
	
	Roy crosses back to the elevator, enters it. Elevator door
	closes. Simms looks after him, avuncular.
	
	                    SIMMS (CONT'D)
	          That fellow could be a congressman.
	              (turns to maid)
	          If it's wet, you don't fold it. You
	          shake it, and hang it neatly on the
	          rod provided.
	
	                    MAID 
	          Yes, sir.
	
	EXT. SARBER & WEBB - DAY
	
	A long low stucco building in an industrial section of Los
	Angeles. The company name is on the glass of the main door.
	KAGGS, a humorless hotshot of 28, dressed in short-sleeved
	white shirt and narrow dark tie, prowls the cracked sidewalk
	in front of the place, MAKING REMARKS into a small cassette
	recorder. Roy's Honda arrives and drives into the company lot
	at the end of the building. Kaggs watches, then goes on
	patrolling and TALKING into the recorder. Roy comes out to
	the sidewalk and heads for the entrance. Kaggs stops and
	watches him approach.
	
	                    ROY
	              (cheerful, confident)
	          Whadaya say?
	
	                    KAGGS
	              (uptight, minimal)
	          Hello.
	
	Roy continues on and enters the building.
	
	INT. SARBER & WEBB - DAY
	
	A low rail separates the visitors from an area of desks with
	CLERKS typing or adding up figures or TALKING on the phone.
	Beyond them are floor-to-ceiling bins and shelves with narrow
	aisles between, in which more CLERKS move busily, filling
	orders or doing inventory. A great sense of activity and
	hubbub. Roy enters, looks around in surprise. A clerk at a
	front desk sees him, stands happily.
	
	                    CLERK 
	          Roy! Welcome back.
	
	                    ROY
	              (approaching him)
	          What's going on? This is usually
	          coffee break time.
	
	                    CLERK 
	          Not since Kaggs showed up.
	
	Other clerks, aware of Roy, come over with AD LIB GREETINGS.
	
	                    ROY
	              (happily basking)
	          Hey, yeah, I'm fine, everything's
	          great. What's this Kaggs? Sounds
	          like a disease.
	
	                    2ND CLERK 
	          It is.
	
	                    CLERK 
	          Troubleshooter from the main
	          office. Came out here right after
	          you went into the hospital, and he
	          ain't had a kind word for anybody
	          yet.
	
	                    3RD CLERK 
	          Nobody knows anything but him.
	
	                    CLERK 
	          He chopped off half a dozen
	          salesmen; won't wholesale to them
	          any more.
	
	                    2ND CLERK 
	          What kind of sense does that make?
	          They're all on commission.
	
	                    ROY
	              (unworried)
	          You think he'll chop me?
	
	                    CLERK
	          If he does, he's crazy.
	
	                    2ND CLERK 
	          Here he comes!
	
	The clerks all hurry back to their desks as Kaggs enters. He
	crosses to Roy, hand stuck out.
	
	                    KAGGS
	          Kaggs. Home office.
	
	                    ROY
	              (taking his hand)
	          Roy Dillon.
	
	                    KAGGS
	              (keeping Roy's hand)
	          I know that. Knew it when I saw you
	          out there. The best salesman here,
	          which isn't saying much. Want to
	          talk to you, Dillon.
	
	Kaggs moves toward the gate in the rail, still holding Roy's
	hand, to move him along. Roy stands still, which yanks Kaggs
	back. Kaggs frowns at him, releases his hand.
	
	                    KAGGS (CONT'D)
	          What's up?
	
	                    ROY 
	          That was a pretty backhanded
	          compliment. If I let people get
	          away with things like that, I
	          wouldn't be a good salesman.
	
	                    KAGGS
	              (brisk)
	          You're right. I apologize. But I
	          still want to talk to you.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Lead on.
	
	Kaggs leads the way through the rail.
	
	INT. KAGGS' OFFICE - DAY
	
	Small, crowded, efficient, with interior windows showing the
	aisles of bins. Kaggs leads Roy in, shuts the door, gestures
	at the second chair as he goes behind the desk.
	
	                    KAGGS 
	          Take a seat.
	
	They both sit, Roy amused and observant.
	
	                    KAGGS 
	          When I said you being the best
	          salesman here didn't say much, I
	          meant for us. I know your record
	          with Sarber and Webb, and I'd say
	          you're a top-flight man, but you've
	          had no incentive. No one walking on
	          your heels. Just a lot of half
	          asses, so the tendency's been not
	          to stretch yourself. I'm bouncing
	          the slobs, incidentally.
	
	                    ROY 
	              (dry)
	          So I heard.
	
	                    KAGGS 
	          Makes no difference to me if
	          they're only on commission. If they
	          don't make good money, they're not
	          giving us good representation, and
	          we can't afford to have them
	          around. Ever supervise salesmen?
	
	                    ROY 
	          Just myself.
	
	                    KAGGS 
	          That's right, you've had to
	          supervise yourself. This place
	          needs a sales manager. Somebody
	          who's proved he's a salesman and
	          can handle other salesmen. He'd
	          have a lot of deadwood to clear
	          out, new men to hire. What do you
	          think?
	
	Roy doesn't yet know he's being offered the job.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Sounds like a good Idea.
	
	                    KAGGS
	          I don't know offhand what your best
	          year's been, we can look it up. The
	          idea is, we'll top it by fifteen
	          percent.
	
	Now Roy gets it. He's startled, almost scared, thinks
	automatically of escape.
	
	                    ROY 
	          What? Me?
	
	                    KAGGS 
	          That's just the first year. If you
	          aren't worth a lot more than that
	          the second year, I'll kick you out.
	          What do you say?
	
	                    ROY 
	          Well, uh... No.
	
	                    KAGGS
	              (astonished)
	          No?
	
	                    ROY 
	          I can't take that job! I mean, I
	          mean, I can't take it right away.
	          I'm still recuperating, I just
	          dropped in to say hello, see
	          everybody --
	
	                    KAGGS 
	          I didn't realize. Yeah, you do look
	          a little pale. How soon will you be
	          ready? A week?
	
	                    ROY 
	          But you need a man right now. It
	          wouldn't be fair to you to --
	
	                    KAGGS 
	          I take care of the being-fair-to-me
	          department. Things've gone to hell
	          this long, they can go a little
	          longer.
	
	                    ROY
	              (trapped)
	          Well...
	
	Kaggs gets to his feet, terminating the meeting.
	
	                    KAGGS 
	          See you in a week, Roy. I can call
	          you Roy?
	
	                    ROY
	              (rising)
	          Oh, sure. Fine.
	
	Kaggs sticks his hand out for another shake. Roy obliges.
	
	                    KAGGS 
	          And I'm Perk. Short for Percy, I'm
	          afraid.
	
	                    ROY
	              (distracted)
	          Perk.
	
	INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY
	
	Roy's place. Roy enters from the bedroom, carrying a
	suitcase, which he drops on the sofa. He goes to one of the
	box-framed clown pictures, takes it off the wall, puts it
	face down on the coffee table, removes two wing nuts holding
	the back, lifts off the back, and reveals stacks of money
	hidden inside. He takes two wads of money out, counting them,
	putting them on the coffee table, then fits the back in
	place, reattaches the wing nuts, and hangs the picture on the
	wall. Stuffing the wads of money into the suitcase, he
	leaves.
	
	EXT. UNION STATION - DAY
	
	A cab pulls up to discharge passengers. Roy and the DRIVER
	get out. Roy pays the driver, who opens the trunk to take out
	several pieces of luggage. Myra leans hesitantly out, as
	though afraid it's raining out there.
	
	                    ROY 
	          This really is it. Union Station.
	
	Myra comes out of the cab. She's feeling testy. Roy's in a
	good mood and ignores her bad temper.
	
	                    MYRA
	          I don't see why we have to take the
	          train.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Because it's comfortable.
	
	Myra and Roy burden themselves with the luggage.
	
	                    MYRA
	          What if we want to drive somewhere
	          while we're there?
	
	                    ROY
	          We'll rent a car.
	
	They start for the station.
	
	                    MYRA
	          Big spender.
	
	                    ROY
	          You ain't seen nothin.
	
	INT. TRAIN DAY
	
	AN ANGLE from outside the passenger car through the window at
	Myra, mulish, watching the scenery go by. Beyond her Roy's
	easy, content. He moves to get up.
	
	TWO SHOT, within the train. Myra looks questioningly at Roy
	as he stands.
	
	                    ROY
	          Stretch my legs. Come along?
	
	She's not ready to relent and enjoy herself.
	
	                    MYRA
	          No.
	
	                    ROY
	              (unruffled)
	          See you soon.
	
	He walks down the aisle behind Myra, who sighs and looks out
	the window again.
	
	INT. BAR CAR - DAY
	
	Four young SOLDIERS sit at a table in a rudimentary bar car.
	They're drinking bloody Marys out of plastic glasses and
	having a good time together. In b.g., several customers are
	clustered at the small service bar, waiting for drinks.
	
	AN ANGLE on Roy, at the service bar, looking back past other
	people at the soldiers. He gets his mixed drink, in a plastic
	glass, and turns away.
	
	AN ANGLE on the soldiers as Roy starts by. The train lurches,
	and Roy falls heavily against their table, slopping their
	drinks and spilling some of his own on the table.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Oh! Ow, I'm sorry! Oh, look, I
	          spilled your drinks!
	
	                    SOLDIER
	          That's okay, don't worry about it.
	
	                    SOLDIER 2
	          You okay, pal?
	
	                    ROY
	          Let me buy you a new round.
	
	                    SOLDIER
	          Hey, no, no problem.
	
	                    SOLDIER 3
	          You didn't like spill much at all.
	
	Roy firmly places his own glass on their table.
	
	                    ROY 
	          What are those, bloody Marys? Watch
	          this, I'll be back.
	
	He leaves, while the soldiers are still PROTESTING.
	
	INT. TRAIN - DAY
	
	Myra applies makeup, watching herself in her compact mirror.
	She becomes aware of eyes, and looks around.
	
	TWO SHOT, Myra and a BUSINESSMAN, sitting across the way,
	grinning at her. Myra registers him.
	
	CU, Myra, considering the possibilities. Then she shrugs,
	shakes her head at the businessman almost reluctantly, and
	goes back to applying makeup.
	
	INT. BAR CAR - DAY
	
	Roy now sits with the soldiers, eagerly listening to them
	talk. There are plastic glasses enough on the table for three
	rounds of drinks.
	
	                    SOLDIER 3
	              (to Soldier 2)
	          Yeah, but it was you like told the
	          sergeant your grandmother was dead.
	
	                    SOLDIER
	              (laughing)
	          Again!
	
	                    SOLDIER 2
	              (to Soldier 3)
	          And you jumped right in.
	              (broad imitation)
	          I'll drive him, Sarge, he's too
	          distraught.
	
	                    SOLDIER 4
	              (astonished)
	          Distraught? You said distraught?
	
	They all laugh, Roy laughing with them.
	
	                    ROY
	          Boy! You guys could've got in a lot
	          of trouble.
	
	                    SOLDIER 3
	          Nah. Old Sarge, he's slowing down.
	
	                    ROY
	          I don't know. I wouldn't take a
	          chance like that.
	              (looks at floor)
	          What's that?
	
	They watch as he bends, picks up one die from the floor,
	holds it where they can all see it, his manner open,
	guileless.
	
	                    ROY (CONT'D)
	          One of you fellows drop this?
	
	INT. TRAIN - DAY
	
	Myra walks down the aisle, demurely looking at no one.
	
	INT. BAR CAR - DAY
	
	Roy's getting to his feet, the soldiers protesting.
	
	                    SOLDIER 2
	          You can't buy every round!
	
	                    SOLDIER 3 
	          Like our turn!
	
	                    ROY 
	          Tell you what. We'll roll for it.
	          Low number buys.
	
	He hands the die to Soldier 2.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Go ahead. You roll for the four of
	          you.
	
	The soldiers are confused but agreeable, seeing this as some
	kind of fun.
	
	                    SOLDIER 2 
	          Here goes.
	
	He tosses the die on the table.
	
	                    SOLDIER 3 
	          That's a four!
	
	Roy picks up the die.
	
	AN ANGLE close on Roy, his eyes glittering, his fist with the
	die shaking beside his head.
	
	WIDE SHOT. Roy throws. They all look at the die. Roy spreads
	his hands; the good sport.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Told you I'd buy.
	
	                    SOLDIER 
	          It just doesn't seem fair, Tom.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Tell you what. Give me a chance to
	          get even when I come back.
	
	INT. TRAIN - DAY
	
	Myra reaches the end of one car, starts through.
	
	INT. BAR CAR - DAY
	
	AN ANGLE on Myra about to enter. She stops, looking through
	the glass in the door.
	
	Myra's POV: Roy and the soldiers rolling the die for money.
	
	ECU, Myra, absorbed, watching.
	
	Myra's POV: MOS through the glass. ECU, Roy's hand with the
	die. ECU, Roy's profile, his smile, his innocent distress
	when he wins. ECU, Roy's hand scoops money.
	
	ECU, Myra, smiling, pleased.
	
	INT. DINER - NIGHT
	
	A brightly lit Hopperish place. Lilly sits alone in a booth
	eating a bowl of chili and reading a newspaper folded beside
	the bowl. A DRUNK with a great deal of faith in his own charm
	sits with a male FRIEND at the counter, drinking coffee. The
	drunk keeps looking toward Lilly, grinning, COMMENTING
	playfully to his friend, who's bored by it all. Lilly doesn't
	seem to be aware of him.
	
	The drunk rises from his stool, turning toward Lilly,
	staggering slightly. His friend makes a small move to stop
	him, then shrugs and lets him go. The drunk makes his way to
	Lilly's table, leans on it.
	
	                    DRUNK 
	          Pretty woman like you shouldn't eat
	          alone. Whadaya wanna eat alone for?
	
	Lilly gives him a flat look.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Go away.
	
	She looks past him toward the WAITRESS behind the counter.
	
	                    LILLY (CONT'D)
	              (calling)
	          Could I have some coffee, please?
	
	                    WAITRESS 
	          Right away.
	
	                    DRUNK 
	          We could have coffee together. My
	          name's Kenny.
	
	Lilly looks over at the drunk's friend, who pointedly ignores
	the situation.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Your pal wants you.
	
	The drunk could turn mean; his gesture brushing away the idea
	of his friend is stronger than necessary.
	
	                    DRUNK
	          Let him find his own pretty woman.
	
	The waitress arrives, with the coffee pot and a mug. She puts
	the mug on the table, pours coffee.
	
	                    WAITRESS
	          This fellow bothering you, Ma'am?
	
	                    LILLY
	          Yes.
	
	                    WAITRESS
	              (to the drunk)
	          Why don't you go sit down?
	
	                    DRUNK
	          I'll sit here. Move over.
	
	The drunk wants to sit beside Lilly, who looks to the
	waitress to solve the problem, but the waitress stands there
	with the coffee pot, looking helpless. The drunk bends to
	slide onto the seat. Lilly, exasperated, rabbit punches him
	in the throat.
	
	The drunk, astounded and in pain (and not breathing),
	staggers back, flailing, hitting the waitress's arm so that
	she slops coffee on him as his feet tangle and he falls
	heavily onto the floor.
	
	Lilly, suddenly concerned, slides out of the booth.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Oh! Are you all right?
	
	She goes to one knee beside the drunk, who clutches his own
	throat with both hands, retching as he tries to inhale. Lilly
	looks up at the astonished waitress.
	
	                    LILLY (CONT'D)
	          I shouldn't have hit him that hard.
	          I guess I don't know my own
	          strength.
	
	The drunk's friend arrives and helps Lilly get the drunk to
	his feet. The drunk is breathing now, but shaken. He looks at
	Lilly with reproachful eyes. His friend transfers his
	annoyance at the drunk to Lilly.
	
	                    FRIEND 
	          You didn't have to do that.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (matter of fact)
	          I thought I did. You should take
	          better care of your friend.
	
	                    DRUNK
	              (mumbled)
	          Outta here.
	
	The drunk and his friend head for the exit, as Lilly turns to
	the waitress.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          I'm sorry a lady can't eat in here
	          without being bothered.
	
	The waitress is apologetic, and also in awe of Lilly.
	
	                    WAITRESS 
	          It won't happen again, Ma'am, I
	          promise. Dinner's on the house.
	          More chili? Dessert? We have lovely
	          pecan pie, my husband makes it
	          himself.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          That sounds nice. Pecan pie. Thank
	          you.
	
	Lilly sits down as the waitress goes back behind the counter.
	
	AN ANGLE on the waitress, as she puts down the coffee pot,
	brings out the pecan pie, prepares to slice it, pauses, looks
	with wonder toward Lilly.
	
	EXT. RESTAURANT - NIGHT
	
	The setting is a wide porch or lanai pretending to be a 19th
	century locale; a mix of western and antebellum south; the
	usual tourist confusion of histories. The effect is both
	romantic and false. Roy and Myra linger over wine, near the
	end of their meal. Roy's relaxed, happy, expansive. Myra's
	pleased but watchful, the bird watching the worm.
	
	                    ROY 
	          You were right, I had to get out of
	          that hospital. Nothing wrong with
	          me any more.
	
	                    MYRA
	              (purring)
	          I'll sign that affidavit.
	
	                    ROY
	          Great to get away, take it easy.
	          Next week, I'll get back to work.
	
	                    MYRA
	          You already went back to work.
	
	                    ROY
	              (confused)
	          What?
	
	                    MYRA
	              (indulgent smile)
	          I watched you. Working the tap on
	          those soldier boys.
	
	                    ROY
	              (elaborate innocence)
	          Working the what?
	
	                    MYRA
	          Oh, come on, Roy.
	
	She mimes rolling the die, slowly, showing how it will roll
	out of her hand just so, then speaks to him as though to a
	bright child.
	
	                    MYRA
	          The tap. What you do for a living.
	
	                    ROY
	          I'm a salesman.
	
	                    MYRA
	          You're on the grift. Same as me.
	
	                    ROY
	              (demonstrating patience)
	          Myra, I'm not following this.
	
	                    MYRA
	              (demonstrating
	               exasperation)
	          Roy, you're a short-con operator.
	          And a good one, I think. Don't talk
	          to me like I'm another square.
	
	Roy leans back, studying her, thinking it over, makes up his
	mind.
	
	                    ROY 
	          You talk the lingo. What's your
	          pitch?
	
	                    MYRA 
	          The long end. Big con.
	
	                    ROY
	              (shaking his head)
	          Nobody does that single-o.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          I was teamed ten years with the
	          best in the business. Cole Langley.
	
	                    ROY 
	          I've heard the name.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          It was beautiful. And getting
	          better all the time.
	
	                    ROY
	              (skeptical)
	          Is that right?
	
	                    MYRA
	              (enthusiasm building)
	          It is, Roy! And now, right now,
	          it's the perfect time, the best
	          time since I've been in the game.
	
	EXT. DESERTED DOWNTOWN - DAY
	
	New skyscrapers are separated by blank fields or small older
	buildings. Almost no traffic. A white limo drives alone down
	the street.
	
	                    MYRA (V.O.) 
	          All over the southwest, you've got
	          these businessmen, they were making
	          money when everybody was making
	          money, they think that means
	          they're smart.
	
	INT. LIMO - DAY
	
	Myra, dressed expensively and fashionably, sits with
	GLOUCESTER HEBBING, a stocky businessman, sixtyish. Their
	manner suggests intimacy.
	
	                    MYRA (V.O.)
	          And now they're hurting. Everything
	          they had was because of oil.
	
	EXT. NEW BUILDING - DAY
	
	Glossy, but no people around. The limo stops, the mustached
	CHAUFFEUR hops out and holds the door as Myra and Hebbing
	emerge and cross to enter the building, Myra carrying an
	attache case.
	
	                    MYRA (V.O.)
	          They still got money, but they need
	          more money, and that's just the
	          kind of guy Cole and me like.
	
	INT. LIMO - DAY
	
	The chauffeur gets back behind the wheel, adjusts the
	interior mirror so he can see himself, peels off his
	moustache, scratches his upper lip, refits the moustache more
	to his liking.
	
	INT. ATRIUM - DAY
	
	This building has a central atrium with corridors circling
	it, waist-high walls on the atrium side, glass-walled
	elevators rising up through the atrium. Myra and Hebbing are
	visible in an elevator coming up to a high floor. It stops
	and they exit, moving down the corridor.
	
	                    MYRA (V.O.)
	          When the oil money was good, they
	          put up all these office buildings,
	          and now they're half empty.
	
	INT. OFFICE - DAY
	
	ECU, translucent glass in door with company name: COE, STARK,
	FELLOWES & ASSOCIATES, STOCK BROKERAGE - London - New York -
	Dallas - Los Angeles - Tokyo. CAMERA PANS to follow Myra and
	Hebbing as they enter the office.
	
	AN ANGLE showing the well-furnished outer office, the
	attractive and competent RECEPTIONIST welcoming Myra as
	someone she knows, gesturing her through, Myra graciously
	accepting, moving on. Hebbing's impressed by everything,
	trying not to show it.
	
	                    MYRA  (V.O.)
	          They'll give you anything to move
	          in; first two months free,
	          redecoration, whatever you want.
	
	AN ANGLE in a clerical office, four CLERKS at well-equipped
	desks with computer terminals, hard at work.
	Maps and clocks on the walls indicate the world. Myra and
	Hebbing pass through.
	
	                    MYRA (V.O.)
	          They help you set up the store!
	
	AN ANGLE in the PRIVATE SECRETARY'S office, she on the phone,
	nodding and smiling at Myra and waving her through. Myra
	leads the way, opening a door marked HENRY FELLOWES, Partner.
	
	                    MYRA (V.O.)
	          I'm the roper, I go out and find
	          them and bring them in. Cole ran
	          the store, and he was the best.
	
	INT. COLE'S OFFICE - DAY
	
	Myra and Hebbing enter an office decorated with sleekly
	understated opulence; the view through large windows is of
	apparently-prosperous skyscrapers. Cole, a plausible rich
	businessman, happily greets Myra.
	
	                    COLE 
	          Mary Beth! As beautiful as ever.
	
	He lifts a dubious eyebrow toward Hebbing.
	
	                    COLE
	              (gentle disapproval)
	          I see you brought a friend.
	
	As Mary Beth, Myra has a faint southern-belle accent and a
	clinging flirtatiousness.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Mister Hebbing is my bodyguard, my
	          strong right arm. Gloucester
	          Hebbing, may I present my fine
	          stockbroker, Henry Fellowes.
	
	The men shake hands, Hebbing open and pleased and dignified,
	Cole clearly holding something back.
	
	                    COLE 
	              (to Myra; gentle warning) 
	          Mary Beth, what we have here, uh...
	
	                    MYRA
	              (gaily innocent)
	          Oh, I told Mister Hebbing all about
	          it, how brilliant you are at making
	          money for your special clients!
	
	                    COLE
	              (alarmed)
	          Mary Beth, I hope you aren't
	          spreading this good news too
	          widely.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Well, of course not! I know how
	          dangerous this is. But I would
	          trust Mister Hebbing with anything.
	              (to Hebbing; suggestive)
	          Wouldn't I, darling?
	
	While Hebbing looks manly and flustered and pleased, Cole
	brings from under his desk a partially full gray canvas sack
	marked Federal Reserve Bank.
	
	                    COLE 
	          Well, I'll have to take your word
	          for it, Mary Beth. Here's your
	          money.
	
	                    MYRA
	              (innocent avarice)
	          Goody!
	
	Myra opens her attache case on the desk. Cole takes banded
	stacks of bills from the sack, packs them neatly in the case.
	Hebbing tries not to look envious and impressed.
	
	HEBBING'S POV: The top bill in each stack is a hundred.
	
	PREVIOUS SHOT. Myra takes a stack, riffles it for Hebbing's
	benefit.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Isn't that just beautiful?
	
	                    HEBBING 
	          Yes, it is.
	
	Myra returns the stack to the case, talks to Cole.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Henry, next time, couldn't Mister
	          Hebbing --
	
	                    COLE
	              (shocked)
	          Mary Beth! This has never been
	          anything but --
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Oh, I know, I know, and you've been
	          wonderful since I was widowed. But
	          Mister Hebbing has--
	              (to Hebbing)
	          -- you don't mind my telling him,
	          darling --
	              (to Cole)
	          -- suffered reverses. If he
	          could...
	
	She gestures vaguely, unable to describe the situation
	accurately. Hebbing fills in, bluff and hearty.
	
	                    HEBBING 
	          Top up the tanks, as It were. Until
	          this little glitch in the oil
	          economy comes to an end.
	              (man to man laugh)
	          Not that I understand exactly what
	          you do, not from Mary Beth's
	          explanation.
	
	Cole broods, studying Hebbing, deciding at last to trust him.
	
	                    COLE
	          Well. If Mary Beth vouches for you,
	          and if she told you the story
	          already...
	
	                    MYRA
	              (girlish laugh)
	          So here we are!
	
	                    COLE
	              (solemn)
	          Mister Hebbing, we are talking
	          about breaking the law here, I want
	          to be sure you understand that. No
	          one gets hurt, but the law does get
	          broken.
	
	                    HEBBING
	              (a real sport; laughing)
	          Well, that's what the law's for,
	          isn't it?
	
	                    COLE
	              (still serious)
	          And I don't just mean the SEC. We
	          could have the FBI breathing down
	          our necks.
	
	                    HEBBING
	              (suddenly serious)
	          I certainly hope not.
	
	                    COLE 
	          Loose talk is the one thing I worry
	          about.
	
	                    HEBBING
	          I can keep my mouth shut, Mister
	          Fellowes.
	
	Describing the scheme, Cole becomes increasingly
	enthusiastic.
	
	                    COLE 
	          Okay, then. Sit down, sit down.
	
	Hebbing sits on the sofa, Myra beside him, holding his arm in
	both of hers. Cole paces, describing.
	
	                    COLE 
	          The Tokyo Exchange is nine hours
	          ahead of us, New York one hour
	          behind. There isn't one hour of the
	          day when both are open. Information
	          moves, but it has to wait. Now, we
	          have a young fellow working here --
	          Do you know what a hacker is,
	          Mister Hebbing?
	
	                    HEBBING
	          One of those computer geniuses,
	          isn't it?
	
	                    COLE
	          You're right! And this boy tapped
	          into that main link between Tokyo
	          and the New York Stock Exchange. He
	          can give us, when it's really
	          useful, a seven second delay in
	          that movement of information. Do
	          you know what that means?
	
	Hebbing doesn't want to admit ignorance.
	
	                    HEBBING 
	          Well, you've got your information
	          ahead of New York, I see that.
	
	                    COLE 
	          Every once in a while, a major
	          change comes through.
	          We have seven seconds to take
	          advantage, put our buy order, our
	          sell order, into the computer in
	          New York before the Tokyo data
	          comes in.
	
	                    HEBBING 
	          Not much time.
	
	                    COLE 
	          We have to be ready. We have to
	          have the money, and we have to know
	          what the information means, and we
	          have to move immediately.
	
	                    HEBBING 
	              (impressed)
	          Seven seconds. I don't see how you
	          do it.
	
	                    COLE 
	          These machines -- They're in here.
	
	Cole crosses to an inner door, pushes it partway open, looks
	back grinning with his hand on the knob.
	
	                    COLE 
	          Want a look?
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Oh, Henry, no, that's just boring.
	
	INT. BARE ROOM - DAY
	
	A bare dusty room. A ladder leans against a wall, a paint can
	on the floor beside it. Only Cole is visible in the open
	doorway. He speaks back into the main office.
	
	                    COLE 
	          Come take a look. An entire-suite
	          of main-frame computer.
	
	                    MYRA (O.S.)
	          We're not really interested, Henry.
	
	INT. COLE'S OFFICE - DAY
	
	Cole remains in the doorway, luring Hebbing with a smile.
	
	                    COLE 
	          It's quite a sight. You sure?
	
	Cole's pushing this too far. Hebbing's thinking politeness
	requires him to look. Myra's nervous, her smile with an edge
	to it.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Henry, don't try Mister Hebbing's
	          patience. He knows what machines
	          look like.
	
	INT. BARE ROOM - DAY
	
	Cole smiles at the empty room again, looks back.
	
	                    COLE 
	          Well, if you're sure.
	
	He shuts the door.
	
	                    ROY (V.O.) 
	          Cole liked to take risks, huh?
	
	EXT. RESTAURANT - NIGHT
	
	Roy and Myra at the table.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          He didn't think they were risks. He
	          was so good, Roy, he could just
	          play with the mark.
	
	                    ROY 
	          And when he got serious?
	
	                    MYRA 
	          He'd explain he had to have cash,
	          so there wouldn't be any paper
	          trail for the SEC. And a lot of
	          cash, or it wasn't worth while. The
	          least we ever took was forty
	          thousand, and the most was one
	          hundred eighty-five thousand
	          dollars! From one sucker!
	
	                    ROY 
	          I thought these people were broke.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          No, no, Roy, just cash poor. They
	          had savings accounts, stocks to
	          sell, houses to mortgage. Sell
	          their wife's jewelry. Oh, they had
	          a lot of money, when they put their
	          minds to it.
	          Or when I put their minds to it. I
	          stayed with them, that's the
	          roper's job, made them get up every
	          penny they could raise, turn it all
	          over to Cole.
	
	                    ROY 
	          And a month later, the sucker calls
	          the cops and you're on the run.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          No no! He never calls the cops, not
	          after we give him the blow-off.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Yeah? How?
	
	INT. HOTEL ROOM - DAY
	
	Myra puts a blood-filled four-inch-square plastic package
	into her bra on the left side, then puts on a white blouse.
	
	                    MYRA  (V.O.)
	          Three or four days after Cole got
	          the money, he'd phone the sucker,
	          tell him he'd made the move.
	
	EXT. NEW BUILDING - DAY
	
	Myra and Hebbing hurry across the sidewalk from the limo,
	each carrying an attache case.
	
	                    MYRA (V.O.)
	          Our buy was in the computer, we
	          were rich, he should come collect.
	
	INT. COLE'S OFFICE - DAY
	
	Myra and Hebbing enter, Cole meets them, all happy.
	
	                    COLE 
	          Here you are! Two rich people!
	
	                    HEBBING
	          I must admit, Mister Fellowes, I
	          had moments I was worried.
	
	                    COLE
	          You brought a case? Good.
	
	Cole brings out the canvas sack from under the desk, reaches
	in, brings out a stack of bills. The door opens and two men
	in suits and topcoats and hats enter, one of them flashing a
	badge. (These are, altered, two of the clerks from before.)
	
	                    MAN
	          Hold it right there!
	
	                    COLE
	              (cool outrage)
	          What? This is a private office!
	
	                    MAN
	          FBI! Stock fraud, tampering with
	          Exchange communications --
	
	Cole suddenly loses all control, becomes a gibbering wreck.
	
	                    COLE
	          Oh, my God! No! The scandal!
	
	The second man approaches Hebbing, pencil and notebook at the
	ready, manner cold and tough.
	
	                    SECOND MAN
	          Your name?
	
	                    HEBBING
	          My --? I don't I only --
	
	                    COLE
	              (screams at Myra)
	          You! You and your goddamn big
	          mouth!
	
	                    KYRA
	              (terrified)
	          Henry, no, I --
	
	                    COLE
	          Who did you tell? Who?
	
	                    MYRA
	          Just one or two of the girls, just,
	          they wouldn't --
	
	Cole pulls a pistol from his desk drawer.
	
	                    COLE 
	          Don't move!
	
	                    MAN
	          Mister Fellowes, that isn't going
	          to do you any good. Put that down,
	          and --
	
	Cole ignores him, staring in frantic hatred at Myra.
	
	                    COLE 
	          You ruined me! You destroyed me!
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Henry, no!
	
	Cole shoots her, the SOUND very loud, the men flinching away.
	Myra slaps her hand to her breast; blood spurts between her
	fingers. In terror, she turns toward Hebbing, who stares at
	the blood seeping down her white blouse. She tries to speak,
	can't. She reaches out, her bloody hand sliding down
	Hebbing's front without getting any purchase, leaving a swath
	of blood diagonally across his jacket, shirt and tie. She
	topples forward. Hebbing tries to hold her, but she slips to
	the floor.
	
	Cole runs around the desk toward the door, waving the gun.
	
	                    COLE 
	          Get back! Get back!
	
	The men warily move away from the door.
	
	                    COLE 
	          I'll kill the first one that
	          follows me!
	
	Cole runs from the room. The two men pull guns from hip
	holsters under their coat-tails. Hebbing, kneeling beside
	Myra, watches them approach the door, crouch, run through.
	Hebbing rises, looks around, runs to the inner door, finds it
	locked. He crosses to the main door, looks out, cautiously
	creeps from the room.
	
	Myra sits up.
	
	INT. OFFICE - DAY
	
	Hebbing hurries through the empty secretary's office and out
	the other door. The two men enter from a different door and
	cross to re-enter Cole's office.
	
	INT. ATRIUM - DAY
	
	Cole stands behind a pillar, watching. Across the way,
	Hebbing comes out of the office, staring around, trying to
	wipe the blood from his clothes. In obvious panic, he runs to
	the elevator, presses the button.
	
	AN ANGLE through the glass wall into the elevator as it
	stops. The doors open, Hebbing hurries in, frantically jabs
	the button. The elevator descends. CAMERA PANS to Cole coming
	around the corridor, entering the office.
	
	INT. COLE'S OFFICE - DAY
	
	General hilarity. The secretary, two men, other two clerks,
	chauffeur and receptionist are all present, opening
	champagne, Hebbing's money now out of the sack and spread on
	the desk. Myra, stripped to the waist (unconcerned about the
	others present) cleans blood from her breasts with damp
	towels. He and Myra look at one another across the room,
	broadly smile.
	
	EXT. RESTAURANT - NIGHT
	
	Myra's very up, from reliving this story.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Oh, Roy, it was great! We were
	          rolling in dough, lived wherever we
	          wanted, only pulled two or three
	          scams a year.
	
	                    ROY 
	          What happened to Cole?
	
	                    MYRA
	              (suddenly evasive)
	          He retired.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Where?
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Upstate.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Upstate where?
	
	                    MYRA
	          Atascadero.
	
	                    ROY 
	          That's where they keep the
	          criminally insane, isn't it?
	
	Myra turns her face away.
	
	INT. HOTEL ROOM - DAY
	
	Expensive room. Cole, naked, expression haunted and crazed,
	sits cross-legged on the bed. Myra enters, happy, carrying
	dress shop boxes. She stops, shocked, when she sees Cole.
	
	                    MYRA
	          No, baby. Not again.
	
	He stares at the floor over the edge of the bed, like a
	shipwreck victim in a raft looking at the sea.
	
	                    COLE
	          It's hollow. You'll fall through.
	
	Myra drops the packages on a chair.
	
	                    MYRA
	          Cole, it'll be all right. Honey?
	
	                    COLE 
	              (frightened but
	               determined)
	          Can't move.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          It's just the strain again, the
	          stress. We'll take a vacation.
	
	                    COLE
	          It's all hollow. Nothing behind it.
	
	She approaches him, scared but needing him.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Cole, you scare me when this
	          happens. One of these times...
	
	She touches him. He suddenly lashes out, knocking her
	backward, glaring at her.
	
	                    COLE 
	          Demon! Demon! That's why you can
	          walk on it! Demon!
	
	                    MYRA
	              (heartbroken)
	          Oh, Cole, please. Please come out
	          of it. What would I do without you?
	
	Distracted, gone, unaware of her existence, he gazes around,
	hugs himself, sits staring at demons. She watches him,
	mournful, knowing he's gone.
	
	EXT. RESTAURANT - NIGHT
	
	Myra looks back at Roy. Her expression makes it clear she
	isn't going to tell him any more than she already has.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          He retired, and that's it. But I
	          didn't. I'm still the best long-con
	          roper you'll ever see.
	
	Roy laughs, genuinely pleased by her and also tacitly letting
	his questions drop.
	
	                    ROY 
	          I just bet you are, too. And now
	          you're trying to rope me.
	
	                    MYRA
	              (pushing enthusiasm)
	          Join up with you! I watched you,
	          Roy, I've been watching you,
	          wondering if I should talk about
	          this at all, or maybe just...
	              (shrug)
	
	                    ROY 
	          Take a hike, you mean?
	
	                    MYRA 
	          I need a partner, Roy. I need an
	          inside man, and you're it. You
	          could be as wonderful as Cole.
	
	                    ROY 
	              (dubious)
	          I don't know, Myra, I never had
	          partners. I never needed them.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Not to take soldiers for a hundred
	          bucks. But how about taking a bank
	          president for a hundred grand?
	
	Roy doesn't like this; he's feeling pressured. Myra sees it,
	but believes she's got him anyway, so she can let up. She
	pats his hand.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Think about it. Okay?
	
	                    ROY
	              (easy to promise)
	          Sure.
	
	INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR - NIGHT
	
	A little drunk and happy, Roy and Myra come down the corridor
	together, then make it obvious they're going into separate
	rooms, across the corridor from one another.
	
	                    MYRA
	              (coy, sexy)
	          See you later.
	
	Roy complains, but half-heartedly, half humorously; this
	argument has already taken place.
	
	                    ROY 
	          I still don't see why we have to
	          have separate rooms. You expect
	          your father to come through?
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Separate bathrooms, darling. I will
	          not lay out all my cosmetics for
	          you to knock over.
	
	                    ROY
	              (nevertheless grumpy)
	          Things a man isn't supposed to
	          know.
	
	                    MYRA
	              (soothing)
	          You don't mind, really, do you,
	          Roy? It's been such a wonderful
	          evening, I guess I just wore myself
	          out.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Sure. I'm pretty tired myself.
	
	They unlock the opposing doors, look back at one another.
	Myra's smile and good-night wave are consciously cute. Roy's
	response is a little forced. They go into their rooms.
	
	INT. HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT
	
	Once he's alone, Roy stops trying to look like a good sport.
	Disgusted, he tosses the room key onto the dresser, then
	crosses to sliding glass doors closed in front of a balcony.
	He's about to close the drapes when he looks out, changes his
	mind, unlocks and opens the door. He steps outside.
	
	EXT. BALCONY - NIGHT
	
	A high floor, with a wide view of ocean and starry sky. Roy
	leans on the rail, looking out, thinking. He mutters to
	himself.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Long con. I'm the one's been
	          conned. Who needs this?
	
	He continues to stand there, taking some solace from the
	night. BEAT. Phone RINGS. Confused, irritated, he turns to
	look into the room. Phone RINGS. At last, he goes back into
	the room.
	
	INT. HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT
	
	Roy crosses to pick up the phone, grumpy and suspicious.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Yeah?
	
	                    MYRA (V.O.)
	              (filtered)
	          Open your door.
	
	                    ROY 
	          What?
	              (grins; gets it)
	          What for?
	
	                    MYRA (V.O.) 
	              (filtered)
	          Open it and find out.
	
	Roy hangs up and crosses to the door.
	
	AN ANGLE directly at the door as Roy opens it, showing Myra's
	door open across the way, Myra standing in her doorway naked.
	She waves at him to move over.
	
	                    MYRA (CONT'D)
	          Gangway!
	
	Roy steps back, holding his door open.
	
	INT. HOTEL CORRIDOR - NIGHT
	
	AN ANGLE down the hall as Myra skips across from her room to
	Roy's, her door slamming behind her.
	
	INT. HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT
	
	Myra runs in, giggling. Roy shuts the door, laughing at her.
	
	                    MYRA
	              (coquettish)
	          I hope you don't mind, sir. I just
	          washed my clothes, and I couldn't
	          do a thing with them.
	
	Roy's pleased, but at a loss.
	
	                    ROY 
	          You -- I don't know.
	
	                    MYRA
	              (sudden burst of laughter)
	               )
	          If you could have seen your face
	          when I told you good night! You
	          looked so, so... Ah!
	
	                    ROY 
	          Oh, come here.
	
	They embrace.
	
	INT. MOTEL ROOM - DAY
	
	A clean anonymous Holiday Inn. Lilly, dressed for the track,
	sits at the round table under the swag light, sorting through
	her business purse. There's a folded newspaper on the table.
	KNOCK on the door. She's startled. For just a second, she's
	like a trapped animal. Then she's calm again. She turns the
	purse around, opens another zipper section, removes a pistol
	and a silencer, quickly screws the silencer onto the pistol,
	lays the pistol on the table and covers it with the
	newspaper. Then she crosses to open the door.
	
	AN ANGLE to include Roy in the doorway, grinning, easy.
	Lilly's surprised, pleased, but wary.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          Roy! What are you doing in San
	          Diego?
	
	                    ROY
	              (entering)
	          Myra and me come down to LaJolla
	          for the weekend.
	
	Lilly makes a face, but no comment, at Myra's name, as she
	closes the door.
	
	                    LILLY
	          If you come out to the track, don't
	          know me.
	
	                    ROY
	          We won't hit the track. The beach.
	          Couple a nice restaurants.
	
	He takes from his pockets the wads of money held removed from
	the clown pictures, extends them toward her.
	
	                    LILLY
	          What's that?
	
	                    ROY
	          Four grand. For the hospital. Is
	          that enough?
	
	                    LILLY
	              (distressed)
	          Roy, I don't want money from you.
	
	                    ROY
	          I pay my debts.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (level skeptical look)
	          You do?
	
	Since she won't take the money, he turns to put it on the
	table beside her purse, pushing the newspaper out of the way,
	revealing the gun. He gives it a surprised smile.
	
	                    ROY
	          Expecting visitors?
	
	                    LILLY
	          No. That was the point.
	
	She crosses to unscrew the silencer and put both pieces back
	in her purse. Roy, watching, points at the still angry burn
	on her hand.
	
	                    ROY 
	          You ought to put a bandage on that.
	
	                    LILLY
	          No can do. Have to dip in and out
	          of my bag too much. Besides, it'll
	          heal in the air.
	
	Disdainful and hurt, she pushes at the wads of money.
	
	                    LILLY (CONT'D)
	          Roy, take that back.
	
	His own hostility shows through.
	
	                    ROY 
	          No.
	
	She's not used to being vulnerable, can neither hide it nor
	really express it; can't use it as a tactic.
	
	                    LILLY
	          I thought... I was hoping we could
	          play it straight with one another.
	
	                    ROY 
	          I guess not. You'll be heading east
	          from here, huh?
	
	                    LILLY 
	              (dull)
	          After the meet. Back to Baltimore.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Well... nice to see you again,
	          Lilly.
	
	                    LILLY
	          You, too, Roy.
	
	Roy finds this parting unsatisfactory, but has nothing to
	add. With a shrug, he leaves. Lilly looks after him, her
	expression becoming resentful, dully angry.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          Prick.
	
	EXT. HOLIDAY INN - DAY
	
	Myra sits in the back seat of a taxi parked across the street
	from the motel. The door to Lilly's room is visible in b.g.
	Roy walks toward the street from Lilly's room.
	
	                    DRIVER
	          Here he comes.
	
	                    MYRA
	          I see him.
	
	Reaching the sidewalk, Roy turns to an empty cab parked on
	that side of the street, in front of the motel. Myra's driver
	shifts into gear.
	
	                    MYRA (CONT'D)
	          Wait. Hold it.
	
	                    DRIVER
	          That's the guy we're following.
	
	                    MYRA
	          Just wait.
	
	Roy enters the other cab, which drives away, as Lilly comes
	out of her room in b.g.
	
	                    MYRA (CONT'D)
	          Ah.
	
	Lilly gets into her Chrysler, backs away from the slot,
	drives to the street.
	
	                    MYRA (CONT'D)
	          Now we follow her.
	
	                    DRIVER
	          You're the boss.
	
	AN ANGLE on the two vehicles, as they leave the motel.
	
	EXT. DELMAR - DAY
	
	Where the surf meets the turf. Over the punters' heads, out
	beyond the track, spreads the Pacific Ocean, unnoticed,
	ignored. In every shot in this sequence, the ocean is visible
	but not looked at.
	
	AN ANGLE on Lilly, with her heavy shoulderbag, moving along
	empty tables, here and there picking up used tickets.
	
	AN ANGLE on Myra, on a different level, watching Lilly.
	
	AN ANGLE on Lilly at the betting windows.
	
	AN ANGLE on Myra, on a high vantage point in the stands. A
	MAN near her watches the field through binoculars. Myra ASKS
	if she can borrow them for a minute. Men are always happy to
	do Myra favors; the man gives her the binoculars. She looks
	at the field briefly, then turns and looks through the
	binoculars the other way, outside the track. The man,
	surprised, looks the same way.
	
	MAN'S POV: The parking area.
	
	PREVIOUS SHOT. The man looks in curiosity at Myra, who
	concentrates, adjusting the focus.
	
	MYRA'S POV: Foreshortened through the binoculars, Lilly opens
	the Chrysler's trunk, stashes money.
	
	PREVIOUS SHOT. Myra smiles, turns it into a sweet thank-you
	smile as she returns the binoculars to their owner.
	
	EXT. HOTEL POOL - DAY
	
	Roy dives into the pool, swims underwater to the ladder,
	climbs out near a YOUNG BLONDE on a chaise longue, who's been
	admiring him.
	
	                    BLONDE
	          You stay down real good.
	
	                    ROY
	          One of my talents.
	
	                    BLONDE 
	              (pointing upward)
	          Your mother's calling.
	
	Roy looks up.
	
	AN ANGLE to show Myra waving from her balcony, four flights
	up.
	
	PREVIOUS SHOT. Roy's at first surprised, then amused by the
	blonde.
	
	                    ROY
	          Naughty.
	
	He gathers up his towel and heads for the building.
	
	INT. BATHROOM - DAY
	
	Roy stands in heavy spray in the shower, half asleep, gently
	touching his stomach where the bruise used to be. KNOCK on
	door. He ignores it.
	
	                    MYRA (O.S.)
	          Roy! You drown in there?
	
	He rouses himself.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Be right out!
	
	INT. HOTEL ROOM - DAY
	
	Myra moves away from the bathroom door. She's in a bad mood.
	She paces back and forth, out onto the balcony, then back
	into the room as Roy comes out of the bathroom wearing a
	towel.
	
	                    ROY
	          You were gone for a while.
	
	                    MYRA
	              (casual)
	          I went out to Delmar.
	
	                    ROY
	              (suddenly wary) )
	          The track? Did you run into Lilly?
	
	                    MYRA 
	          I saw her.
	
	                    ROY
	          She didn't see you, in other words.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          I'm not trying to make trouble,
	          Roy. It's just, she's always so
	          nasty to me, I thought, who is she
	          to be so high and mighty. I saw her
	          out there, and I called a friend of
	          mine in Baltimore, so now I know
	          who she is.
	
	                    ROY
	              (dry)
	          You must have some very
	          knowledgeable friends.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          I'm well connected, Roy, Cole
	          introduced me to a lot of people.
	          Very valuable. Valuable for us.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Running your broker scam, you mean.
	
	                    MYRA
	              (enthusiastic)
	          You and me, Roy. What a team we'll
	          make. We think alike; we get along
	          together.
	          Once or twice a year we take some
	          slob, the rest of the time we live
	          like this. You won't regret this,
	          Roy.
	
	                    ROY
	          Regret what? I didn't say I was
	          coming aboard.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          But why not? I thought it was
	          settled. What's holding you back?
	
	                    ROY 
	          Come on, Myra, don't talk business
	          here. This is time out.
	
	She considers him.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          You mean, it would be too tough to
	          give me a turndown here. Easier on
	          home grounds.
	
	                    ROY
	              (shrug)
	          Yes or no. They're both easier at
	          home. Okay?
	
	Myra makes a visible effort to be accommodating.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Whatever you say, darling.
	
	INT. KAGGS' OFFICE - DAY
	
	Kaggs sits at his computer terminal, bringing up data, not
	pleased by what he sees. Buzzer SOUNDS. He swivels to the
	desk, presses the intercom button.
	
	                    KAGGS 
	          Yeah?
	
	                    RECEPTIONIST (V.O.)
	          Roy Dillon, Mr. Kaggs.
	
	                    KAGGS 
	          Good! Send him in.
	
	With a now-we're-getting-somewhere manner, Kaggs turns back
	to the VDT, punches up a different set of data, sits looking
	at it in gloomy satisfaction. Roy enters, and Kaggs rises,
	extending his hand across the desk. They shake hands.
	
	                    KAGGS 
	          Good to have you back, Roy. I was
	          just looking at --
	
	                    ROY 
	          Mr. Kaggs, I'm sorry.
	
	                    KAGGS 
	              (keen)
	          You're turning me down? Makes no
	          sense, Roy.
	
	                    ROY 
	          I guess I'm just not a leader of
	          men.
	
	                    KAGGS 
	          Oh, come on, Roy.
	
	                    ROY 
	          The truth is, Mr. Kaggs --
	
	                    KAGGS 
	          Perk, remember?
	
	                    ROY 
	          Okay, fine. Perk, the truth is, I
	          like things the way they are now.
	          Pick my own hours, have time for,
	          uh, other activities...
	
	                    KAGGS 
	          A well-rounded life. I respect
	          that. But it has to have a center,
	          Roy, something you care about,
	          something you can think about.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Maybe I'm just not ready for that
	          yet.
	
	                    KAGGS
	              (deep sigh)
	          Well, Roy, if that's the way you
	          feel, I won't badger you.
	              (forced laugh)
	          Don't want to lose you as a
	          salesman, too.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Oh, I'd like to stay on. Just keep
	          everything the way it was.
	
	                    KAGGS 
	          That's what we'll do, then. But I
	          tell you what, Roy. Before I hire
	          anybody else, I'll ask you one last
	          time. Fair enough?
	
	                    ROY 
	          Fair enough.
	
	They shake hands.
	
	INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY
	
	Roy's room. He has one of the clown pictures face down on the
	coffee table. He takes money from his jacket pockets, crams
	it into the space, which is now just about full. As he's
	tightening the wing nuts closing the back, doorbell RINGS. He
	hurries, finishing the job, hanging the picture on the wall,
	then crossing to open the door. Myra enters, ebullient.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Darling, guess what? I had to tell
	          you right away.
	
	She gives him an enthusiastic kiss, then marches into the
	living room.
	
	                    ROY 
	              (grinning)
	          And hello to you, too.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          I called a fellow I know in Tulsa,
	          the one who plays my chauffeur.
	          There's a sucker there he says is
	          made for us. And a boroker that
	          just shut down, we can use their
	          office, not change a thing! Now, I
	          can scrape up ten grand without
	          much trouble. That leaves fifteen
	          or twenty for your end. We could
	          start this weekend, get the sucker
	          into position --
	
	                    ROY 
	          Wait a minute! When did this
	          happen, that we're partners?
	
	                    MYRA 
	              (bewildered)
	          What?
	
	                    ROY 
	          The last I looked, we were just
	          talking things over.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          But the setup's there. It's there
	          now.
	
	                    ROY 
	          I don't think I need it.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          You're too good for the small-time,
	          Roy. Move up to where there's big
	          dough to be made, and you don't
	          have to stick your neck out every
	          day.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Maybe I like it where I am.
	
	Myra's need breaks through her good sense.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Well, maybe I don't! I had ten good
	          years with Cole, and I want them
	          back! I gotta have a partner! I
	          looked and I looked and believe me,
	          brother, I kissed a lot of fucking
	          frogs, and you're my prince!
	
	Roy tries to treat this lightly.
	
	                    ROY
	          Don't I get any say in this?
	
	                    MYRA 
	          No! Because I --
	
	                    ROY
	              (pointing at her)
	          That's what I say.
	
	                    MYRA
	              (thrown off course)
	          What?
	
	                    ROY 
	          What I say is, no. We don't do
	          partners.
	
	                    MYRA (CONT'D)
	              (raging)
	          For Christ's sake, why not?
	
	                    ROY 
	          Mostly, because you scare the shit
	          out of me. I've seen people like
	          you before, baby. Double-tough and
	          sharp as they come, and you get
	          what you want or else. But you
	          don't make it work forever.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Bullshit!
	
	                    ROY 
	          No; history. Sooner or later, the
	          lightning hits. I don't want to be
	          around when it hits you.
	
	She stares at him, trying to find a chink in the armor,
	trying to find a reason, trying to find something.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          What is it? What's going on?
	
	                    ROY 
	          I'm happy the way I am.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          By God, it's your mother. It's
	          Lilly.
	
	                    ROY
	              (doesn't get it) )
	          What?
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Sure it is. That's why you act so
	          funny around each other.
	
	He frowns at her, not believing he understands her right.
	
	                    ROY 
	          What's that?
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Don't act so goddamned innocent!
	          You and your own mother, gah! You
	          like to go back where you been,
	          huh?
	
	He takes a step toward her, rising toward fury.
	
	                    ROY 
	          You watch that mouth.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          I'm wise to you, I should have seen
	          it before, you rotten son of a
	          bitch. How is it, huh? How do you
	          like --
	
	He slaps her openhanded but hard, and she staggers back. He
	pursues her.
	
	                    ROY 
	          How do you like this?
	
	He slaps her as hard with the other hand. Astonished,
	frightened, befuddled, she backpedals, bringing her forearms
	up to protect her face. He grabs her two wrists in one hand,
	holds them out of the way, slaps her forehand and backhand,
	forehand and backhand.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          STOP!!
	
	He suddenly gets control of himself, releases her, steps back
	into the middle of the room. He's angry, but also remorseful,
	sorry he lost control but still enraged at the enormity of
	her suggestion.
	
	                    ROY 
	          That's not like me. I don't do
	          violence.
	
	She cowers against the wall, peering in terror at him through
	her raised arms. He settles down, becomes heavily calm.
	
	                    ROY 
	          That's why we wouldn't work
	          together. You're disgusting. Your
	          mind's so filthy, it's hard even to
	          look at you.
	
	He crosses to the apartment door, pulls it open. Sunlight
	pours in.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Goodbye, Myra.
	
	She lowers her arms slowly, as though her whole body aches.
	She's still scared, but angry now, too. She'd like to tell
	him off, but discretion tells her not to. She moves across
	the room toward the open door, but stops, not wanting to be
	that close to him.
	Understanding, he backs away from the doorway, gestures with
	cold irony for her to proceed. She moves to the threshold,
	looks back at him.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          And you don't even know it.
	
	Angry again, Roy steps forward. She hastily steps outside,
	and he slams the door.
	
	EXT. ROY'S APARTMENT - DAY
	
	Myra moves slowly along the balcony, muttering to herself.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Mama. It's Mama. She's the one.
	
	She stops, holding the balcony rail, looking out at the city.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          You'll get yours, Mama. Oh, yes.
	
	INT. MOTEL ROOM - DAY
	
	Lilly's room; empty. Phone RINGS. Lilly enters, tired, with
	her shoulderbag; the end of her work day. Phone RINGS. She
	frowns at it, expecting nothing good, then drops the
	shoulderbag on the bed, crosses, answers.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          Yes?
	
	A sudden smile doesn't entirely hide the wariness.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          Roy! An unexpected pleasure.
	
	INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY
	
	Roy, troubled, paces while talking on the phone.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Lilly, I've got a couple things to
	          think about. Well, kind of job
	          offers, kind of. Different ways to
	          go. I'd kind of like to talk them
	          out, you know? Maybe just hear
	          myself talk.
	
	INT. MOTEL ROOM - DAY
	
	Lilly's delighted, but can't trust this moment more than any
	other.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          Well, sure, Roy. You want me to
	          drive up --? Okay, fine, come on
	          down.
	              (kidding)
	          It won't be a home-cooked meal, you
	          know.
	
	TNT. LIVING ROOM DAY
	
	                    ROY
	              (kidding)
	          Well, that's good news.
	
	He hangs up, but he's nervous, still uncertain, pacing.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Well? Who's a boy gonna talk to, if
	          not his mother?
	
	The sound of the question makes him laugh.
	
	EXT. MOTEL - DAY
	
	Myra's Cadillac eases to a stop across the street, where she
	earlier waited in the cab.
	
	AN ANGLE through the windshield at Myra, settling down to
	wait, looking at the motel.
	
	INT. MOTEL ROOM - NIGHT
	
	Lilly comes out of the bathroom, putting her lipstick away in
	a small purse. She's dressed carefully for tonight; upscale
	and respectable, without being stodgy. She crosses to the
	window -- night view outside -- and as she pulls the drapes
	shut the phone RINGS. She looks at it in disappointment,
	crosses to answer.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (expecting rejection)
	          Roy?
	
	INT. OFFICE - NIGHT
	
	Irv the accountant's office in Baltimore. He looks secretive
	and scared, talks in a hush.
	
	                    IRV 
	          Lilly, listen, it's Irv. You were
	          always decent with me, I'm taking a
	          hell of a chance here.
	          Somebody blew you out with Bobo.
	          The car full of money. He's --
	          Lilly?
	
	INT. MOTEL ROOM - NIGHT
	
	Empty. The phone receiver dangles off the table on its cord.
	The door finishes closing.
	
	EXT. MOTEL - NIGHT
	
	Lilly's Chrysler jounces out to the street, moving too fast,
	making the turn, racing away. CAMERA PANS to Myra's Cadillac,
	pulling away from the curb, following. CAMERA HOLDS with the
	two cars receding in b.g.
	
	INT. HONDA - NIGHT 
	
	Roy drives down a San Diego street, is stopped by a red
	light, looks at his watch. He's late.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Damn.
	
	INT. MOTEL ROOM - NIGHT
	
	Empty; as before. The door opens and the two thugs we saw
	earlier with Bobo enter, one putting a thick ring of keys
	away in his jacket pocket. They close the door, look around
	the room. One goes to the closet, opens it, looks at the
	clothing inside, while the other goes into the bathroom. The
	first crosses to the dresser, pulls open a drawer full of
	clothing. The second comes out of the bathroom. They look at
	one another. The guy from the bathroom shakes his head. The
	other one points at the dangling phone, speaks.
	
	                    THUG
	          Somebody spooked her.
	
	                    SECOND THUG
	          White Chrysler.
	
	                    THUG
	          Full of cash.
	
	They leave the room.
	
	EXT. MOTEL - NIGHT
	
	Roy walks toward Lilly's room as the two thugs pass him, on
	their way out. Roy knocks on Lilly's door, waits, knocks
	again.
	He tries to look through a crack in the drapes into the room,
	then turns to look at the empty place where Lilly's Chrysler
	had been. He shakes his head, knocks once more, looks at his
	watch, turns away.
	
	                    ROY
	              (disgusted)
	          Thanks a lot, Lilly.
	
	He walks off.
	
	EXT. ARIZONA MOTEL - NIGHT
	
	Lilly's white Chrysler pulls off the road into the front
	parking area of a new small motel. The car brakes to a stop.
	
	AN ANGLE from the road as Myra's blue Cadillac drives slowly
	by, while, in b.g., Lilly gets out of the Chrysler, moving as
	though she's stiff and tired. Lilly enters the motel office.
	
	INT. MOTEL OFFICE - NIGHT
	
	The CLERK, an elderly woman, turns away from a small TV set
	when Lilly enters.
	
	                    CLERK
	          Evening. Welcome to Phoenix.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          Good evening. I'd like a single for
	          tonight.
	
	                    CLERK 
	          Oh, everything's the same size,
	          same price.
	
	The clerk extends a registration card and pen to Lilly, who
	takes them but doesn't yet start to write.
	
	                    LILLY
	          I'm a very light sleeper, traffic
	          noise keeps me wide awake all
	          night.
	
	                    CLERK
	              (sympathetic)
	          Those trucks. I know exactly what
	          you mean.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Do you have something around back,
	          facing away from the road?
	
	The clerk turns to consider the key rack.
	
	                    CLERK
	          I'll put you in one thirty-one.
	          Very quiet. Faces the desert.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Sounds perfect. I can park my car
	          back there?
	
	                    CLERK 
	          Right in front of the room.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          Fine.
	
	She starts to fill in the registration card.
	
	                    LILLY
	          And I'll want to leave an early
	          wake-up call.
	
	                    CLERK 
	          No problem. My husband gets up the
	          crack of dawn.
	              (confidential)
	          It's his kidneys.
	
	EXT. ROAD - NIGHT
	
	Motel in b.g. The blue Cadillac, having turned around and
	come back, pulls off onto the shoulder of the road about
	fifty yards short of the motel.
	
	INT. CADILLAC - NIGHT
	
	Over Myra's shoulder as she watches, through the windshield,
	the Chrysler parked in front of the motel. Lilly comes out of
	the office over there, gets into the Chrysler, backs it up,
	drives it out of sight past the motel. Myra puts the Cadillac
	in gear.
	
	INT. ROOM 131 - NIGHT
	
	A clean anonymous motel room, with two beds. Lilly enters,
	very weary, puts her shoulderbag on one of the beds, goes
	back outside and leaves the door open. She has backed the
	Chrysler into its spot just outside her room, so its trunk is
	visible through the open doorway.
	
	EXT. ARIZONA MOTEL - NIGHT
	
	AN ANGLE on Lilly as she opens the rear door of the Chrysler
	and leans in.
	
	INT. CHRYSLER - MIGHT
	
	Lilly wrestles the rear seat out of position, reaches down
	into the space under and behind it, and brings out a soft
	cloth overnight bag. It seems not too full but fairly heavy.
	She puts the bag on the ground outside the car and then
	pushes and prods the seat back into position.
	
	EXT. ARIZONA MOTEL - NIGHT
	
	Lilly shuts the car door, picks up the bag, and enters her
	room, shutting the door behind her.
	
	INT. MOTEL OFFICE - NIGHT
	
	Myra enters. The clerk looks at her in surprise.
	
	                    CLERK 
	          Something wrong?
	              (embarrassed)
	          I'm sorry. I thought you were the
	          other lady.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          No. I'm me.
	
	INT. ROOM 231 - NIGHT
	
	Lilly puts the bag on the bed with her shoulderbag. She opens
	the overnight bag, takes from it a blond wig, a pair of horn
	rim glasses and a passport. From her shoulderbag she takes
	the pistol and silencer. She attaches the silencer to the
	pistol and puts the pistol under the pillow of the other bed.
	
	INT. MOTEL OFFICE - NIGHT
	
	Myra's checking in. She fills in the registration card while
	the clerk considers her key rack.
	
	                    CLERK 
	          I'll give you one oh seven. That's
	          a very nice room, very handy, in
	          the front, right by the pool.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          Oh, don't you have something around
	          back, where it's quieter?
	
	The clerk sighs, looks at the key she'd taken from the rack,
	reluctantly goes back to consider the situation again.
	
	                    CLERK 
	          Everybody wants the back tonight.
	
	                    MYRA 
	          I guess everybody wants privacy.
	
	INT. ROOM 131 - NIGHT
	
	Lilly, in nightgown, yawning, comes out of the bathroom,
	switching off its light. The shoulderbag and overnight bag
	and overnight bag's contents are still on one bed. Lilly gets
	into the other, switches off the light.
	
	INT. ROOM 119 - NIGHT
	
	Virtually identical to Room 131. Myra enters, lugging a
	suitcase, and shuts the door behind herself. She puts the
	suitcase on one of the beds, opens it, paws through it, and
	brings out slippers, nightgown and robe. Briskly, she strips
	and puts on the nightgown, the slippers and the robe.
	
	Back into the suitcase, she brings out a small snubnose
	pistol which she puts in the pocket of her robe. Next out of
	the suitcase is a large ring of keys.
	
	Sitting on the other bed, she compares her room key with keys
	on the ring, takes three keys from the ring, and puts them in
	her robe pocket along with the room key.
	
	Getting to her feet, she crosses to the dresser, picks up the
	ice bucket, and leaves the room, closing the door behind
	herself.
	
	EXT. ROOM 131 - NIGHT
	
	CU, the door, with its number. CAMERA PANS to pick up Myra,
	approaching. She stops at room 132, looks at the Chrysler,
	smiles at it in proprietary fashion, and pats the Chrysler on
	the trunk.
	
	Then she turns to the room. She takes the keys from her
	pocket, looks around to be sure she's alone, and bends over
	the lock.
	
	INT. ROOM 131 - NIGHT
	
	In very dim light, Myra enters the room, closes the door,
	moves toward the beds. CAMERA PANS with her. Keeping her eyes
	on the sleeping form of Lilly, she puts the empty ice bucket
	on the empty bed, then moves closer to Lilly. CAMERA PANS in,
	moving forward as Myra's arms move forward, moving to CU on
	Lilly as Myra's hands (remaining IN FRAME) move forward and
	down. Her hands abruptly clamp on Lilly's throat. QUICK CUT.
	
	EXT. PHOENIX AIRPORT - DAY
	
	ESTABLISHING SHOT. A plane lands.
	
	INT. PHOENIX AIRPORT - DAY
	
	Roy, looking stunned, is among the deplaning passengers
	spreading out across the terminal. He's met by PIERSON, a
	plainclothes detective, and a uniformed COP.
	
	                    PIERSON 
	          Roy Dillon?
	
	                    ROY 
	          Yes?
	
	                    PIERSON 
	          Lieutenant Pierson, Phoenix police.
	          I have a car here.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Thank you.
	
	INT. POLICE CAR - DAY
	
	The uniformed cop drives. Pierson and Roy sit in back.
	
	                    PIERSON 
	          I realize this is a shock.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Well, mostly, I don't believe it.
	
	                    PIERSON 
	          That's natural.
	
	                    ROY 
	          No. I mean, I don't believe it.
	          Lilly is not a suicide. I know my
	          mother, nothing would make her
	          check out.
	
	                    PIERSON 
	          I'm sorry, it was her all right.
	          Her gun, even.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Gun?
	
	                    PIERSON 
	          I grant you, it's a little odd,
	          shoot yourself with a gun with a
	          silencer on it, but it was hers,
	          all right. It really is your
	          mother, Mister Dillon.
	
	                    ROY 
	          It may be Lilly, but it isn't
	          suicide.
	
	                    PIERSON 
	              (interested)
	          Do you have any particular reason
	          to say that?
	
	                    ROY 
	          My mother... Well, I guess it
	          doesn't matter now. She worked for
	          gamblers. She always knew they
	          might turn on her some day.
	
	                    PIERSON
	              (thoughtful)
	          A hit, you mean. Honestly, it
	          doesn't have that feel to it, but
	          I'll certainly consider the
	          possibility. Thank you for telling
	          me.
	
	The car stops.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Not that it matters.
	              (looks out)
	          This is the morgue?
	
	                    PIERSON 
	          You up to it now?
	
	                    ROY 
	          Sure. Let's get it over.
	
	                    PIERSON 
	          One thing I have to caution you
	          about. A gunshot wound...
	
	                    ROY
	              (impatient)
	          Yes, I know, I know.
	
	                    PIERSON
	              (reluctant)
	          Well, uh, you know, she ate the
	          gun.
	
	                    ROY
	              (not understanding)
	          What?
	
	                    PIERSON 
	          I'm sorry, that's an unfortunate
	          phrase, it slipped out, I'm, to
	          tell you the truth, Mr. Dillon,
	          this isn't an everyday occurrence
	          around here.
	
	                    ROY
	              (low; getting it)
	          Ate the gun. Oh.
	
	                    PIERSON 
	          Someone who knows her well could
	          still identify her, that's not the
	          problem. It's just there's, uh,
	          it's likely to be a shock.
	
	                    ROY
	              (opening the door)
	          Well, let's get the shock over
	          with.
	
	INT. MORGUE VIEWING ROOM - DAY
	
	A bare bright room with tiled walls, a few plastic chairs, an
	ordinary office door on one side and wide hospital swinging
	doors on the other. Pierson and Roy stand watching.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Not many laughs in this room, eh?
	
	                    PIERSON 
	          Not many.
	
	The swinging doors open and an ATTENDANT wheels in a gurney
	containing a body covered by a sheet. Roy braces himself. The
	attendant pulls the sheet away from the face.
	
	                    PIERSON (CONT'D)
	              (to the attendant)
	          Remove that. We'll want a full, uh,
	          identification.
	
	The attendant removes the sheet. The body wears a nightgown.
	
	AN ANGLE on Roy, swallowing bile, as he forces himself to
	move forward and look down at the face. He immediately looks
	away again.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Oh, Jesus.
	
	                    PIERSON 
	          No question, huh?
	
	                    ROY 
	          No, its -- Why did she--?
	
	He forces himself to look at the body again, his own face
	full of the unanswerable question. He looks her up and down,
	then his eyes stop. He focuses on something, a look of
	surprise coming into his eyes.
	
	Roy's POV: CU, the body's hands, crossed over the stomach,
	the wrists crossed, the palms down, the clear backs of both
	hands visible.
	
	CU, Roy. He knows. Sharpness comes back into his expression.
	
	                    PIERSON  (O.S.)
	          That's that, then.
	
	                    ROY
	              (starting to grin)
	          Oh, yeah. That's that.
	
	TWO SHOT, Roy and Pierson. Pierson wants to leave, but Roy
	stands over the gurney. He chuckles. Pierson looks at him,
	surprised and appalled. Roy ignores him.
	
	                    ROY (CONT'D)
	              (laughing quietly)
	          Mom.
	
	QUICK CUT.
	
	EXT. DESERT HIGHWAY - DAY
	
	MONTAGE. Myra's baby blue Cadillac drives, at extreme high
	speed, alone on the highway.
	
	EXT. MADERO APARTMENTS - NIGHT
	
	Myra's Cadillac drives slowly past, comes to a stop at the
	curb half a block away.
	
	INT. CADILLAC - NIGHT
	
	AN ANGLE through the windshield at the driver, a woman,
	deeply weary. Her forearms are crossed on top of the steering
	wheel, her brow resting on the forearms. The burn on the back
	of her right hand is visible in illumination from a nearby
	streetlight. Traffic goes by. BEAT. Lilly lifts her head,
	looking out at the night. She's very tired, but determined.
	
	AN ANGLE beside Lilly, inside the car. From the seat beside
	her she picks up Myra's large dangly earrings and fixes them
	in place. Then she puts on Myra's big-lensed dark sunglasses.
	(She's wearing the clothes Myra wore when checking into the
	motel.) Lilly checks her appearance in the rearview mirror,
	then gets out of the car.
	
	INT. MADERO LOBBY - NIGHT
	
	AN ANGLE on Simms at the desk, talking to a TELEPHONE
	REPAIRMAN steadily at work fixing the switchboard.
	
	                    SIMMS
	          The last modern thing I liked was
	          the miniskirt. Your technology,
	          now, nobody understands it, and
	          that's the simple fact of the
	          situation.
	
	Lilly enters in b.g., crosses to the elevator, presses the
	button. Simms waves to her.
	
	                    SIMMS
	              (calling) )
	          Evening, Mizz Langley!
	
	The elevator door opens, Lilly boards and presses the button.
	The elevator door closes.
	
	                    SIMMS
	          New things come in here all the
	          time, how do they work? You can ask
	          your Ph.Ds, your highly educated,
	          intelligent, professional people,
	          you can say to them, how does that
	          work, and you know what they'll
	          tell you? You plug it in. And
	          that's the way the donut dunks.
	
	EXT. MADERO APARTMENTS BALCONY - NIGHT
	
	The balcony leading to Roy's apartment. It's illuminated by a
	light next to the public door from the interior hall.
	AN ANGLE on that door as Lilly cautiously opens it, looks out
	and around while remaining mostly behind the door, then
	focuses on the light. She reaches out and unscrews the bulb.
	GO TO BLACK.
	
	INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
	
	Roy's place. Dark. SOUNDS of lock being picked. The door
	opens, showing only blackness outside, Lilly enters and shuts
	the door, then switches on the main light.
	
	Ah ANGLE on Lilly, in the middle of the room, distractedly
	biting her thumbnail as she looks around, calculating. She
	looks directly at something.
	
	Lilly's POV: One of the box-framed pictures hanging on the
	wall.
	
	PREVIOUS SHOT. Lilly, making up her mind, crosses to the
	picture and takes it off the wall. She finds it surprisingly
	heavy. She carries it to the coffee table, puts it down there
	on its back, sits on the sofa.
	
	AN ANGLE on Lilly studying the picture. She raps her knuckle
	against the sides, looks to see if the front or sides open
	someway, and finally turns the picture over, laying it face
	down on the coffee table. She sees how to remove the back,
	lifts it off, and looks at the stacks of money lying in
	there.
	
	CU, Lilly, almost fainting with relief.
	
	WIDE SHOT. Lilly looks at the other picture, looks again at
	the money, comes to a conclusion. She rises and leaves the
	room, deeper into the apartment.
	
	INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT
	
	Lilly switches on the light as she enters the room. She looks
	around, crosses to the closet, goes through the stuff in
	there, finds an old attache case on the shelf. She brings it
	out, puts it on the bed, opens it. Inside are a few decks of
	cards and a paperback book. She tosses them onto the bed,
	checks the case, finds that one of the clasps works but the
	other doesn't. One is good enough. She carries the attache
	case out of the room, leaving the light on.
	
	INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
	
	Lilly enters, puts the case on the coffee table beside the
	picture, scoops the money out of the picture and puts it in
	the case. Then she unceremoniously dumps the picture on the
	floor.
	
	Lilly takes the second picture from the wall, puts it face
	down on the coffee table, opens the back, transfers the money
	to the case. She closes the case, attaches the one clasp that
	works, picks up the case.
	
	                    ROY (O.S.)
	          Hello, Lilly.
	
	TWO SHOT, as Lilly whirls around, terrified and then
	relieved. Roy stands in the open apartment doorway, blackness
	behind him.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Oh! Roy! You scared me.
	
	Roy enters the room and shuts the door.
	
	                    ROY
	          Going somewhere?
	
	                    LILLY
	          Somewhere else, that's for sure.
	
	                    ROY
	          I just came back from Phoenix.
	
	                    LILLY 
	              (anxious)
	          Oh, yeah? Is the frame holding?
	
	                    ROY
	          Looks very solid, Lilly. Sit down.
	          Take a minute, tell me about it.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          I've really got to --
	
	                    ROY
	          You're dead, Lilly, it worked.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          Not for long. Not when they do a
	          fingerprint check.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Why should they? The cops are
	          satisfied.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          Bobo won't be. He'll spend the
	          money to make sure.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Even so. You still got time. Relax
	          a minute, tell me what happened.
	          Sit down.
	
	He gestures at the sofa. Lilly's holding the attache case.
	The gutted pictures are lying around, one on the coffee table
	and one on the floor. She looks around at everything, awkward
	and embarrassed. But Roy hasn't said anything. And he's
	between her and the door.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Just for a minute.
	
	She backs up, sits on the sofa, puts the case on her lap. Roy
	pulls a chair over so it's directly between Lilly and the
	door. He sits, looking at her with polite interest.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Myra followed you, huh?
	
	                    LILLY
	          She must have been the one that
	          blew me off with Bobo. I guess to
	          get me running. Did you tell her
	          about my stash?
	
	                    ROY
	              (isn't worth discussing)
	          No.
	
	                    LILLY
	          No, you wouldn't. That's what she
	          was after, though. But why hit on
	          me?
	
	                    ROY 
	          I wouldn't go in on a deal with
	          her. She blamed you for it.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (a shaky laugh)
	          As though you do what I say.
	
	                    ROY
	              (cold grin)
	          That's pretty funny, all right.
	          What happened in Phoenix?
	
	Remembered emotion makes Lilly talk in little fast clusters
	of words.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Roy, it was terrible. You read
	          about people killing people and all
	          that, but when it happens, my God.
	
	EXT. ARIZONA MOTEL - NIGHT
	
	Myra, in nightgown, carrying the ice bucket, approaches Room
	131.
	
	                    LILLY
	          She was in her nightgown, you know,
	          the old grifter's dodge, nightgown
	          and the Ice bucket and she just got
	          into the wrong room by mistake.
	
	INT. ROOM 131 - NIGHT
	
	CU, Lilly asleep. Very dim light. The shadows shift on her
	face as Myra OUT OF FRAME approaches. Myra's hands ENTER
	FRAME, abruptly clamp on Lilly's throat. Lilly's eyes pop
	open wide, staring, her mouth stretches open. Myra's arms are
	locked straight, pressing her weight down onto her hands
	squeezing Lilly's throat. Lilly clutches at Myra's fingers,
	tries to reach Myra's face, twists and squirms, then suddenly
	lifts her arm up and behind her head, hand dipping under the
	pillow, coming out with the silenced gun, pushing the gun
	upward, straight-arm, the gun moving up OUT OF FRAME. SOUND
	of shot. Blood sprays Lilly's face. Myra's body drops down
	onto her, at an angle, so we can still see Lilly's horrified
	face over Myra's shoulder as Lilly gasps for breath.
	
	INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
	
	Lilly stares across the room, breathing hard, reliving the
	experience.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          I sat in there with her, I thought,
	          what do I do now? Run and I've got
	          Bobo and the law after me. Stay,
	          and how do I explain?
	
	                    ROY 
	          This way's perfect.
	
	Lilly sits back, showing that relief again.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          It is, isn't it? And maybe it's a
	          break for me after all.
	          I've been wanting out of the racket
	          for years, and now I'm out. I can
	          make a clean start, and --
	
	                    ROY 
	          You've already made a start.
	          Doesn't look that clean, though.
	
	Here's the awkwardness. Lilly looks guilty and embarrassed.
	
	                    LILLY
	          I'm sorry. I hated to take your
	          money, but --
	
	                    ROY
	          Don't be sorry. You're not taking
	          it.
	
	Lilly reacts as though he's slapped her. But then she gets
	her determination back. She splays out both hands, palm down,
	on the attache case on her lap.
	
	                    LILLY
	          I need this, Roy. I can't run
	          without money, and if I can't run
	          I'm dead.
	
	                    ROY 
	          You must have some money.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Just a few bucks.
	
	                    ROY 
	          And Myra's stuff?
	
	                    LILLY
	              (scornful)
	          Her credit cards. How far am I
	          gonna get with that?
	
	                    ROY 
	          Far enough. Maybe up to San
	          Francisco. Or St. Louis, someplace
	          new. Start over.
	
	                    LILLY
	          At what?
	
	                    ROY 
	          You're smart, Lilly, and you're
	          good-looking. You won't have any
	          trouble finding a job.
	
	                    LILLY 
	              (appalled)
	          A job? I've never had a legit job
	          in my life!
	
	                    ROY 
	          Well, you're gonna start, if you
	          hope to live through this. A square
	          job and a quiet life. You start
	          showing up at the track or the hot
	          spots and Bobo's boys will be all
	          over you.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (exasperated)
	          Roy, I know what to do with myself!
	          It's a big world out there.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Not any more. Lilly, listen, I'm
	          giving you good advice. I'm
	          following it myself.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (doesn't get it)
	          What?
	
	                    ROY 
	          I thought it over, and you were
	          right. You wanted me out of the
	          rackets, and now --
	
	                    LILLY
	              (bedeviled, aggravated)
	          Roy, that's fine, but I don't have
	          time for this. Bobo --
	
	                    ROY
	          I thought you'd be happy for me.
	          After all, you --
	
	                    LILLY 
	          Bobo isn't after you! Bobo's after
	          me, and he's goddamn good! But so
	          am I. I'm a survivor, Roy. I
	          survive.
	
	                    ROY 
	          I know you do, so that's why --
	
	                    LILLY 
	          And to survive, my way, I need
	          money.
	          Bobo knows about the stash in the
	          car, so I didn't dare touch it, not
	          if Lilly Dillon's dead. So that
	          leaves this.
	
	                    ROY
	          No.
	
	Lilly sits back again, brooding at Roy, trying to think how
	to get to him, how to get through him or around him. She
	sighs, licks her lips.
	
	                    LILLY
	          You want a drink?
	
	                    ROY 
	          I don't think so. You probably
	          shouldn't either.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          No, but I'm goddamn thirsty. Ice
	          water?
	
	                    ROY
	          Yeah, sure, that sounds nice.
	
	                    LILLY
	          I'll get it.
	
	She stands, putting the attache case on the sofa next to
	where she was sitting. Roy, with a faint smile, watches her
	leave the room.
	
	INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT
	
	Very small, little used. Dark. Lilly switches on the light
	when she enters, then leans against the counter, fists
	clenched and trembling on the counter in front of her. She
	grits her teeth, hyperventilates, stares around the room in
	search of escape, an answer, something.
	
	CU, Lilly's face, desperate, grim, but not giving up.
	
	WIDE SHOT. Lilly opens cabinets, finds two glasses, opens the
	nearly-empty refrigerator, gets ice cubes from a tray, puts
	them in the glasses, puts the partial tray back in the
	freezer compartment, fills the glasses from the cold water
	tap, puts the glasses on the counter, stares at them briefly.
	She then shakes her head, searches the kitchen some more, and
	finds a cookie sheet she can use as a tray. She puts the
	glasses on the tray, carries the tray from the room, leaving
	the light on.
	
	INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
	
	Lilly enters with the tray, crosses to Roy, presents the
	glasses, speaks as he reaches for one.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          Take whichever one you want.
	
	He hesitates. It hadn't occurred to him Lilly might try to
	poison him or knock him out. He grins at her and takes a
	glass.
	
	                    ROY 
	          You wouldn't do that.
	
	Lilly takes the other glass, puts the cookie sheet on a
	table, looks down at Roy.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          You don't know what I'd do, Roy.
	          You have no idea. To live.
	
	                    ROY
	              (easy)
	          Oh, you'll live, Lilly.
	
	Lilly crosses back to the sofa, sits beside the attache case,
	pats it absently as though it is a pet and she's glad it
	didn't move, waited for her. She sips water, puts the glass
	on the end table.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          I know what's bugging you, of
	          course.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Oh? I didn't know anything was.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (twisted grin)
	          Oh, really? You've got a legitimate
	          complaint, Roy, I don't deny that.
	          I wasn't a very good mother when
	          you were a kid.
	
	                    ROY
	              (full laugh)
	          Not very good!
	
	She nods, accepting the correction.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          A bad mother. By any standards.
	          I've thought about it, you know,
	          from your side, since then. I know
	          just how bad I was.
	
	                    ROY
	              (closed against her)
	          Uh-huh.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          I wonder did you ever think about
	          it from my side.
	
	                    ROY
	              (not worth discussing)
	          Never.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          No, I guess not. It was pretty
	          lousy of me, I guess, to be a child
	          at the same time you were. Not to
	          stop being a child just because I
	          had a child. I guess I was a real
	          stinker not to be a grown-up when
	          you needed a grown-up.
	
	Roy didn't expect to be made uncomfortable and defensive, and
	he resents it.
	
	                    ROY 
	          What do you want me to do? Pin a
	          halo on you? You're doing a pretty
	          good job of that yourself.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          And making you feel bad at the same
	          time, huh? But that's the way I am,
	          you know, the way I've always been.
	          Always picking on poor little Roy.
	
	                    ROY 
	          For God's sake, Lilly!
	
	                    LILLY
	              (intense)
	          I gave you your life twice. I'm
	          asking you to give me mine once. I
	          need the money.
	
	                    ROY
	              (not worth discussing)
	          No.
	
	Lilly subsides back onto the sofa. One hand rests on the
	attache case. With the other, she sips water, puts the glass
	back down. Roy watches her, unmoving, expressionless. Lilly
	frowns, not quite looking at him.
	
	                    LILLY
	          You're getting off the grift?
	
	                    ROY 
	          That's right.
	
	                    LILLY
	          That's good. You don't really
	          belong on this side of the fence,
	          you know.
	
	                    ROY 
	              (amused)
	          I don't?
	
	                    LILLY
	          If you stayed a crook, do you think
	          you'd live to be my ripe age?
	
	                    ROY 
	          I don't see why not.
	
	                    LILLY
	          Well, I guess I got it wrong, then.
	          Seems to me I heard about a guy
	          just your age that got hit so hard
	          in the guts it almost killed him.
	
	Roy's again unexpectedly uncomfortable. He shifts uneasily in
	his chair, trying to think of a response.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Well, uh...
	
	                    LILLY
	          Sure, sure, that doesn't count.
	          That's different.
	
	                    ROY
	          Well, it doesn't matter, does it?
	          I'm getting out.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (intense)
	          And that's why you've got to get
	          rid of this money. If you keep it
	          around, it'll just make you think
	          how clever you are.
	          It'll be a temptation to get back
	          into the game.
	
	                    ROY
	              (full laugh)
	          Oh, that's it! You're stealing my
	          money for my own good! How very
	          motherly of you, Lilly.
	
	Once again, Lilly drops back against the sofa back. Another
	round in the fight is over. Roy watches her, patient, waiting
	for her to give up, seeing no other outcome.
	
	AN ANGLE on Lilly, frustrated, feeling the need to move, the
	pressure of pursuit. Her head turns back and forth, her body
	starts false gestures. Finally, abruptly, she gets to her
	feet, looks at Roy, looks away, picks up the attache case.
	
	CU, Roy, alert. He won't let her reach the door.
	
	AN ANGLE PANNING with Lilly as she prowls the room, pacing
	back and forth, the attache case swinging at her side.
	Finally, she stops, standing the attache case on the coffee
	table, her hand still on its handle.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Lilly.
	
	She looks at him, attentive without hope.
	
	                    ROY 
	          If I should get out of the racket,
	          that goes double for you. That's
	          why you've got to change your life
	          completely, go to some town, get a
	          square job, live like a john
	          yourself. If you try to do it your
	          way, what future is in it?
	
	                    LILLY 
	          A future. The only future I've got.
	
	                    ROY 
	          That money wouldn't last forever.
	          And then what? You'd be back in
	          some other part of the rackets.
	          Another Bobo Justus to slap you
	          around and burn holes in your
	          hands. This way, you've got to go
	          the square route. You could send me
	          a card when you're settled, I could
	          maybe help out sometimes...
	
	                    LILLY
	              (bitter laugh) )
	          That's what it is, isn't it? Keep
	          me down. Your turn to be in charge,
	          have the power.
	
	                    ROY
	              (stonewalling)
	          Just trying to help, Lilly.
	
	She sits on the sofa again, this time leaving the attache
	case to stand on the coffee table. She studies Roy,
	calculating.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          Roy... What if I told you I wasn't
	          really your mother? That we weren't
	          related?
	
	                    ROY
	              (bewildered)
	          What?
	
	Lilly leans back again, but this time her manner is
	different; languorous, sexy. She crosses her legs, the upper
	leg swinging gently. She smiles gently, encouragingly, at
	Roy.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          You'd like that, wouldn't you? Sure
	          you would. You don't need to tell
	          me. Now, why would you like it,
	          Roy?
	
	AN ANGLE on Roy, understanding and not wanting to understand.
	
	                    ROY
	              (hoarse)
	          What's that all about? Of course
	          you're my mother. Of course you
	          are.
	
	TWO SHOT. Lilly leans forward toward Roy, inviting him.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (very soft)
	          Roy... Roy
	
	Roy will not let anything complicated come to the surface.
	
	                    ROY 
	          There's nothing more to talk about.
	
	                    LILLY
	              (very soft)
	          I have to have that money, Roy.
	          What do I have to do to get it?
	
	AN ANGLE on Roy, his face bruised-looking, eyes scared. He
	will not know what's going on. He shakes his head, not
	trusting himself to speak.
	
	AN ANGLE on Lilly, leaning forward, tension showing through
	the seductive manner.
	
	                    LILLY 
	          No? Won't you give me the money,
	          Roy? Can't I change your mind? What
	          can I do to change your mind?
	
	TWO SHOT, as Lilly gets to her feet and takes a step toward
	him. Roy's pressed back into his chair, trying to maintain a
	cold facade.
	
	                    ROY 
	          Lilly, Jesus, what are you doing?
	
	                    LILLY
	          Is there nothing I can do, Roy,
	          nothing at --
	
	                    ROY 
	          NO!
	
	They both turn away at the same instant. Roy turns to the
	side to pick up the glass of water, to break the spell and
	the tension. Lilly turns back toward the coffee table and
	picks up the attache case. Roy, lifting the glass to drink,
	turns forward again as Lilly spins forward, swinging the
	attache case at his head with all her might. The case crashes
	into the glass and into his face. Roy SCREAMS and topples off
	the chair, as the one remaining clasp on the case lets go and
	money goes flying, filling the air.
	
	AN ANGLE DOWN at Roy, face up, expression horrified, hands to
	his throat. A large triangle of glass is in his throat. Blood
	pumps thickly, fountaining up.
	
	CU, Lilly, staring down in horror. She lurches forward, but
	there's nothing to do. She stares around.
	
	ECU, wads of bills on the floor, getting bloody.
	
	CU, Lilly, in agony, but looking down, kicking.
	
	ECU, Lilly's feet kicking the bills away from the blood. 
	
	TWO SHOT, as Lilly drops to her knees beside Roy, who's
	already dying. Blood spurts less forcefully. His hands fall
	to his sides, eyes stare upward, mouth still moves slightly.
	Lilly, shoving money away with her hands now, stares at him,
	willing it not to happen. He stops moving. His eyes dull.
	Lilly clasps her arms around herself. She knows she doesn't
	dare scream. Lips drawn back in a snarl, teeth clenched, she
	HISSES her agony through her teeth. She HISSES; she HISSES;
	she HISSES. Then, slowly, she regains control.
	
	WIDE SHOT as Lilly gets to her feet. She seems dazed now,
	like someone who's just been in a traffic accident. She
	blunders around the room, kicks the attache case, bends to
	pick it up. She studies the clasp, sees it still works, goes
	back to her knees.
	
	LOW ANGLE, Lilly in f.g., Roy in b.g., as Lilly repacks the
	money into the case, wiping the blood from some wads onto the
	carpet. Finishing, she closes the case, then remains on her
	knees, bending over the case. She WEEPS grindingly.
	
	WIDE SHOT, entrance door in b.g. Lilly's weeping subsides.
	She gets wearily to her feet, and leaves the room. CAMERA
	HOLDS. SOUND of water running in sink. SOUND STOPS. Lilly
	reappears. She does not again look toward Roy. She picks up
	the attache case, crosses to the door, opens it, steps across
	the threshold, reaches back to switch off the light. GO TO
	BLACK.
	
	                          THE END


Grifters, The



Writers :   Donald E. Westlake
Genres :   Crime  Drama


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