WILD AT HEART
W I L D A T H E A R T
a love story
written by
David Lynch
based on the book by
Barry Gifford
And now the story of Sailor and Lula.....
1. EXT. CITY STREET - DAY
A MAN rides a screaming massive Japanese motorcycle - wound out to
maximum R.P.M. up the street.
CUT TO:
2. SIGN BY ROADSIDE
The sign reads “KIDS PLAYING - SPEED BUMPS”.
CUT TO:
3. EXT. CITY STREET - DAY
With a whine from hell, the front tire of the motorcycle hits a speed
bump.
The motorcycle becomes airborne and on the way up slices itself in half
as it scrapes along the full length of a Datsun Kingcab.
In the air, the rider and motorcycle twist violently as they fly by.
The motorcycle bounces off a black ’66 Chevrolet and makes a sound like
the end of the world.
The rider hits the same Chevy a moment later. Like a broken ragdoll
shot from a canon, the man punches through the back window blowing glass
for a block. He stops somewhere under the front seat and a bubble of
blood forms out his nose.
The motorcycle continues on sliding and spinning with an ear-piercing
howl for one entire city block.
CUT TO:
4. EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD STREETS - VACANT LOT - DAY
Two rabid dogs fight ferociously in a vacant lot - ripping each other’s
flesh. An OLD COUPLE, both with walkers, inch painfully along nearby.
OLD WOMAN
Oh my God! ... Why they doin’ that?
OLD MAN
Who the hell knows. What you have
in your mouth?
The old woman begins to turn away, covering her mouth with her hand.
OLD MAN
Spit it out!!! ... Pull your teeth
out ... doctor said. What you
tryin’ to do? SPIT IT OUT!!!
The Old Man grabs the Old Woman by the neck and squeezes. Out comes a
tangled and sticky ball of hard fruit candies.
CUT TO:
5. WASP NEST
A thousand wasps hover threateningly in the air around the nest. A
SMALL GROUP OF HARDENED CRIMINAL NINE-YEAR OLDS sporting hideous grins,
bat the nest violently to and fro with sticks. One kid busies himself
shooting a large can of Black Flag garden spray into a crack in the
nest. Another stomps half-dead wasps up and down the sidewalk. All the
kids are making animal noises of one sort or the other.
CUT TO:
6. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - DAY
The telephone rings. MARIETTA PACE FORTUNE, a rich Southern woman
around fifty, carries her Martini and Rossi sweet vermouth drink across
the livingroom and answers the phone.
MARIETTA
Hello... Who is this?...
CUT TO:
7. INT. PEE DEE COUNTY WORK FARM - DAY
A GUARD stands by as SAILOR RIPLEY, twenty-three years old - lost
somewhere between the cool long-gone generation and a used-car salesman
- speaks on a prisoner phone in a green cement cubicle with one bench.
SAILOR
(into phone)
...Sailor Ripley... Can I talk
to Lula?
CUT TO:
6A. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - DAY
MARIETTA
There’s no way in hell you can speak
to her and...
CUT TO:
7A. INT. PEE DEE COUNTY WORK FARM - DAY
SAILOR
(feeling a smile coming on)
What?...
CUT TO:
6B. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - DAY
MARIETTA
...Yes you heard me... Don’t ever
call back here again.
Marietta hangs up the phone as LULA PACE FORTUNE, Marietta’s twenty-year
old daughter, comes quickly down the stairs.
LULA
Mama???
MARIETTA
You know who it was and you know
you aren’t, and I mean ARE NOT
gonna see him EVER... End of story.
LULA
(quietly)
Like hell.
Marietta, her hand still on the telephone, grips the receiver so hard
her knuckles turn white.
CUT TO:
8. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - LULA’S ROOM UPSTAIRS - DAY
Lula enters her room and cranks up her stereo. Speed metal music jumps
up to around one hundred twenty decibels.
CUT TO:
9. INT. PEE DEE COUNTY WORK FARM - DAY
The guard escorts Sailor away from the telephone and back to his cell.
The iron bars of the door slide across Sailor’s face and close with a
bang.
CUT TO:
10. EXT. THE MUSIC BAR - NIGHT
A beat-up, red ’64 Ford Falcon station wagon filled with insane
TEENAGERS on speed and PCP race out of control down the street past the
club - leaning out the car in every direction. They scream out to the
desolate-looking passerby.
TEENAGERS
EAT SHIT MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!!
The camera cranes up to the neon club sign and gets lost among the hot
pink neon, the frantic moths and the intense electric buzz.
CUT TO:
11. INT. THE MUSIC BAR - NIGHT
Lula and her friend, BEANY THORN, sit at a table drinking rum Coca-Colas
while watching and listening to a white blues band called THE BLEACH
BOYS. The group segues smoothly from Elmore James’s “Dust my Broom”
into Robert Johnson’s “Me and the Devil” and Beany lets out a snort.
BEANY
I can dig this music... But not
that singer.
LULA
Why?... He’s right in the groove.
BEANY
He’s so ugly. Guys with beards and
beer guts ain’t quite my type.
LULA
(giggles)
Seein’s how you’re about as thick as
a used string of unwaxed dental floss,
don’t know how you can criticize.
BEANY
Yeah, well, if he says that all that
flab turns into dick at midnight,
he’s a liar.
Lula and Beany laugh and swallow some of their drinks.
BEANY
So, Sailor’s gettin’ out soon, and
you’re gonna see him?
Lula nods and crushes an ice cube with her back teeth and chews it.
LULA
Meetin’ him at the gate. That phone
call this afternoon was the signal.
My deranged mama’s hid the keys to
my car. But of course, I know
exactly where they are.
BEANY
I didn’t hate me so much, I’d feel
better wishin’ you luck.
LULA
Can’t all husbands be perfect, and
your Elmo prob’ly wouldn’ta ever
got that second one pregnant, you
hadn’t kicked his ass out.
BEANY
So you’re gonna be needin’ the
“blue-bird” pretty soon?
LULA
Real soon ... I’ll be makin’ the swap
tomorrow, and thanks again, Beany.
The Bleach Boys kick into some kind of Professor Longhair swamp mambo.
CUT TO:
12. EXT. BAY ST. CLEMENT - DAY
Plumes of smoke from fires rise in the distance.
DISSOLVE TO:
13. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - DAY
An empty livingroom. The smoke from the city fire appears during the
course of the DISSOLVE to be in the livingroom - then it disappears.
An empty hallway.
An empty stairway.
13A. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - MARIETTA’S BEDROOM - DAY
Feet (Lula’s) was across carpet.
A closet door opens.
A hand (Lula’s) reaches into the pocket of a coat in her mother’s
closet. The hand comes out clutching car keys.
13B. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - STAIRWAY - DAY
Lula races down the stairs and through a door into the garage.
CUT TO:
14. EXT. FORTUNE HOUSE - DAY
The electronic garage door opens and Lula drives her ’80 Black Camaro
out and away. The garage door closes automatically.
CUT TO:
15. EXT. CITY STREETS - DAY
Lula drives fast up a neighborhood street. She turns a corner and
disappears.
CUT TO:
16. INT. BEANY THORN’S GARAGE - DAY
Lula throws her car keys under the front seat and goes around to Beany’s
’67 dark blue Thunderbird convertible - fishes around under the T-Bird’s
front seat for the keys - finds them - jumps in and takes off.
DISSOLVE TO:
17. EXT. FORTUNE HOUSE - DAY
Marietta leaves her Cadillac Seville in her driveway and enters the
house. We can hear her calling out for Lula in the distance. The
calling changes - it becomes angry. The garage door opens and Marietta
comes storming out. She leaps in her Caddy and peels out.
CUT TO:
18. INT. “SOUTHERN TIME” BAR - DAY
Marietta enters the bar on the run. She calls out to the BARTENDER...
MARIETTA
Where’s Johnnie? He’s not in his office.
BARTENDER
Haven’t seen ’im yet today, Marietta.
MARIETTA
(slightly hysterical)
Well I gotta find him - right this
minute!
CUT TO:
19. EXT. PEE DEE COUNTY WORK FARM - DAY
Sailor is waiting out front as Lula pulls up in her T-Bird - throwing
out a cloud of dust. They’re both smiling.
LULA
Hey baby...
SAILOR
Peanut...
They kiss tenderly and then Sailor walks around the car to get in while
Lula opens up a suitcase and gets out his snakeskin jacket.
SAILOR
Hey, my snakeskin jacket... Thanks,
baby... Did I ever tell you that
this here jacket for me is a symbol
of my individuality and my belief
in personal freedom?
LULA
’Bout fifty thousand times. I got
us a room at the Cape Fear, and
guess what?... I hear Powermad’s
at “The Hurricane.”
SAILOR
(smiling)
Stab it and steer.
Lula tromps it and throws out an even larger cloud of dust.
CUT TO:
20. INT. CAPE FEAR HOTEL - DAY
Sailor and Lula lay on the bed in the Cape Fear Hotel listening to the
fan creak.
LULA
Did you ever think somethin’ like
about the wicked witch of the east
comin’ flyin’ in?... Did you ever
think somethin’ and then later think
you’ve said it out loud to someone?
SAILOR
I really did miss your mind while I
was out at Pee Dee, honey. The
rest of you, too, of course. But
the way your head works is God’s own
private mystery. What was it you
was thinkin’?
LULA
Well, I was thinkin’ about smokin’
actually... My mama smokes Marlboros
now, used to be she smoked Kools?
I stole ’em from her beginnin’ in
about sixth grade. When I got old
enough to buy my own, I bought those.
Now I’ve just about settled on Mores,
as you probably noticed? They’re longer.
SAILOR
I guess I started smokin’ when I was
about six... My mama was already
dead from lung cancer...
LULA
What brand’d she smoke?
SAILOR
Camels, same as me... Guess both
my mama and my daddy died of smoke
or alcohol related illness.
LULA
Gee, Sailor. I’m sorry, honey. I
never would have guessed it.
SAILOR
It’s okay. I hardly used to see
them anyway. I didn’t have much
parental guiding. The public defender
kept sayin’ that at my parole hearin’.
He was a good ol’ boy, stood by me...
Even brought me some cartons of
cigarettes from time to time.
LULA
I’d stand by you, Sailor ... through
anything.
SAILOR
Hell, peanut, you stuck with me after
I planted Bob Ray Lemon. A man can’t
ask for more than that.
Lula pulls Sailor over to her and kisses him soft on the mouth.
LULA
You move me, Sailor, you really do.
You mark me the deepest.
Sailor pulls down the sheet, exposing Lula’s breasts.
SAILOR
You’re perfect for me, too.
LULA
You remind me of my daddy, you know?
Mama told me he liked skinny women
whose breasts were just a bit too
big for their bodies. He had a long
nose, too, like theirs. Did I ever
tell you how he died?
SAILOR
In a fire, as I recall.
LULA
Started he couldn’t remember things?
Got real violent? Mama kept tellin’
me it was on account of lead poisoning
from cleanin’ the old paint off our
house without usin’ a mask... But
I don’t know. Seems like his brain
just fell apart in pieces.
CUT TO:
21. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - KITCHEN - NIGHT
CLYDE FORTUNE tears a door off the kitchen cabinets and strews the
cabinet contents all across the counter and floor. He puts his fist
through the kitchen window. He leaps on the counter and bats the
kitchen ceiling light - smashing it. He kicks over the refrigerator.
CLYDE
FUCKIN’ BITCH!!!!
CUT TO:
22. INT. CAPE FEAR HOTEL - DAY
Lula’s eyes look off, remembering.
LULA
Finally in the middle of the one
night, with me and mama asleep
upstairs ... he poured kerosene over
himself and lit a match.
CUT TO:
23. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - LIVINGROOM - NIGHT
Clyde Fortune, completely engulfed in fire, races across and back the
livingroom until he collapses in a fifties modern armchair. The drapes
behind him burst in flames.
LULA
(voice-over)
Near burned down the house. We
got out just in time.
The whole livingroom goes up in flames.
CUT TO:
24. INT. CAPE FEAR HOTEL - DAY
CU the red hot ash of Lula’s cigarette as she inhales deeply. As she
exhales a cloud of smoke she turns to Sailor.
LULA
It was a year before I met you.
Sailor takes the cigarette out of Lula’s hand and puts it into the
ashtray by her bed. He pulls her to him and kisses her throat.
SAILOR
You have such a pretty, long neck,
like a swan.
LULA
Grandmama Pace had a long, smooth
white neck. It was like on a
statue it was so white?
Sailor drifts his thumb over Lula’s left nipple then cups her breast in
his hand. They kiss.
CUT TO:
25. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - DAY
Marietta pours JOHNNIE FARRAGUT another shot of scotch.
MARIETTA
I knew this would happen. Soon as
that piece of filth got out of
Pee Dee, I knew there’d be trouble.
He’s just got some kind of influence
over her I can’t decipher. There’s
somethin’ wild in Lula I don’t know
where it comes from. You gotta find
’em, Johnnie.
JOHNNIE
He served his time for what he did.
Another thing... If Lula went with
him of her own volition - willingly,
that is - there ain’t much can be
done about it.
MARIETTA
Don’t talk down to me, Johnnie
Farragut. I know what volition means,
and that’s why I want Sailor Ripley
off the planet! He’s pure slime and
it’s leakin’ all over my baby.
Maybe you could push him into makin’
some kinda move and then kill him
dead. You’d only be defendin’
yourself, and with his record,
nobody’d fuss.
Johnnie pours himself another tumblerful of Walker Black Label.
JOHNNIE
I’ll locate Lula, Marietta, and if
she’s with the Ripley boy, I’ll
give him a talkin’ to and try to
convince her to come back with me.
That’s about all I can do.
He takes a long swallow from the tumbler. Marietta begins to cry. She
blubbers for a few seconds, and then stops as abruptly as she’d started.
Her grey eyes glaze over.
MARIETTA
I’ll hire a hit man if you don’t want
to help me stop this thing. I’ll
call Marcello Santos.
JOHNNIE
Now, Marietta, I am goin’ to help you.
And don’t be gettin’ carried away.
You don’t want to be bringin’ Santos
and his people into it.
MARIETTA
You’re just jealous of Santos cause
he’s sweet on me.
JOHNNIE
Darlin’, you ain’t seein’ Santos
again, are ya?
MARIETTA
Oh, Johnnie Farragut... Don’t you
trust your very own Marietta?
JOHNNIE
Sorry, sweetheart. Bein’ in love
with you like I am brings out that
ugly jealous side.
MARIETTA
Well stop worryin’ about me and
start worryin’ about how you’re
gonna get that Lula back here and
away from that murderer.
JOHNNIE
Sailor ain’t a murderer. You got to
get off that kick. And far’s I can
tell, Sailor was entire clean prior
to that involvin’ Lula. Even there
he was protectin’ her. You oughta
be thankin’ him for that. That Bob
Ray Lemon they say was comin’ after
the both of ’em. Why am I tellin’
you this, you was around that night.
You ought to know just exactly what
happened. Sailor just got a little
too forceful is all... You remember
that night...
CU of Marietta’ eyes as she thinks back.
CUT TO:
26. INT. BAY ST. CLEMENT HOTEL - BALLROOM - NIGHT
We see Marietta standing in a carpeted hallway above the ballroom.
Dance band music can be heard in the distance. Sailor appears coming up
the hallway - slightly drunk - he carefully sets his drink on the carpet
outside the MEN’S ROOM.
Marietta’s POV of Sailor entering the MEN’S ROOM.
CU of Marietta’s glazed eyes and smiling face.
Marietta’s POV of walking toward MEN’S ROOM.
CUT TO:
27. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - DAY
MARIETTA
Maybe I was there, but I didn’t see
anythin’. All I know’s that trash
killed a man with his bare hands.
Hands which are now prob’ly all
over my baby!
JOHNNIE
Marietta, settle down now darlin’...
I want what’s best for her, too -
Like I said, I’ll do what I can to
bring her home.
CUT TO:
28. INT. CAPE FEAR HOTEL - DAY
Lula is standing in the bathroom of their room at the Hotel fooling with
her hair in front of the mirror. Sailor can see her through the doorway
from where he lays on the bed.
LULA
Sailor, you are somethin’ else,
honey... When I was fifteen, Mama
told me that pretty soon I’d be
startin’ to think about sex, and
I should talk to her before I did
anything about it.
SAILOR
But honey, I thought you told me
your Uncle Pooch raped you when
you was thirteen.
LULA
That’s true. Uncle Pooch wasn’t
really an uncle. He was a business
partner of my daddy’s? And my mama
never knew nothin’ about me and
him - that’s for damn sure. His real
name was somethin’ kind of European,
like Pucinski. But everyone just
called him Pooch. He came around the
house sometimes when Daddy was away.
I always figured he was sweet on
mama, so when he cornered me one
afternoon, I was surprised more’n
a little.
SAILOR
How’d it happen, peanut? He just
pull out the old toad and let it
croak?
Lula brushes away her bangs and frowns. She takes a cigarette from the
pack on the sink and lights it, then lets it dangle from her lips while
she teases her hair.
LULA
You’re terrible crude sometimes,
Sailor, you know?
SAILOR
I can’t hardly understand you when
you talk with one of them Mores in
your mouth.
Lula takes a long, slow drag on her More and sets it down on the edge of
the sink.
LULA
I said you can be too crude sometimes?
I don’t think I care for it.
SAILOR
Sorry, sugar. Go on and tell me how
old Pooch done the deed.
LULA
Well, mama was at the Busy Bee havin’
her hair dyed? And I was alone in
the house.
CUT TO:
29. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY
We see what she talks about.
LULA
(voice-over)
Uncle Pooch came in the side door
through the porch, you know? Where
I was makin’ a jelly and banana
sandwich? I remember I had my hair
in curlers cause I was goin’ that
night with Vicki and Cherry Ann, the
DeSoto sisters. Uncle Pooch must have
known nobody but me was home, cause
he came right in and put both his
hands on my butt and sorta shoved me
up against the counter.
CUT TO:
30. INT. CAPE FEAR HOTEL - DAY
SAILOR
Didn’t he say somethin’?
Lula shakes her head. She picks up her cigarette, takes a puff and
throws it into the toilet.
ECU of cigarette in toilet.
LULA
Not really. Least not so I recall now.
Lula flushes the toilet and watches the More come apart as it swirls
down the hole.
ECU of cigarette coming apart as it swirls.
SAILOR
So how’d he finally nail you? Right
there in the kitchen?
LULA
No, he picked me up.
CUT TO:
31. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - KITCHEN/MAID’S ROOM - DAY
We see what she talks about.
LULA
(voice-over)
He was short but powerful. With
hairy arms? Anyway, he carried me
into the maid’s dayroom which nobody
used. We did it there on an old bed.
CUT TO:
32. INT. CAPE FEAR HOTEL - DAY
SAILOR
‘We’ did it? Whattaya mean? Didn’t
he force you?
LULA
Well, sure. But he was super-gentle,
you know? I mean, he raped me and
all, but I guess there’s all
different kinds of rapes. I didn’t
exactly want him to do it but I
suppose once it started, it didn’t
seem all that terrible. It was over
pretty quick, and after Uncle Pooch
just stood there and pulled up his
trousers and left me there. I
stayed in bed till I heard him drive
off. Then I just went back into
the kitchen and finished makin’ my
sandwich.
SAILOR
And you never told nobody about it?
LULA
Just you. Uncle Pooch never acted
strange or different after. And he
never did anything else to me. I
always got a nice present from him
at Christmas, like a coat or jewelry?
(pause)
CUT TO:
33. TWO LANE HIGHWAY - DAY
One hundred twenty decibels - head on collision of a ’54 Ford Pick-Up
and a ’64 Chevy Station Wagon. No survivors. Balls of flame and
grinding metal.
CUT TO:
34. INT. CAPE FEAR HOTEL - DAY
LULA
Uncle Pooch died in a car crash three
years later while he was holidayin’
in Myrtle Beach. They still got way
too much traffic there for my taste...
And another thing, baby... That
government of ours should be keepin’
us separated from outer space...
SAILOR
Here she goes again...
LULA
Sailor, that ozone layer is
disappearin’. Seems to me the
government could do somethin’ about
it. One of these mornings the
sun’ll come up and burn a hole clean
through the planet like an X-Ray.
Lula strikes a match and lights another cigarette.
SAILOR
(laughs)
That ain’t never will happen, honey.
Least not in our lifetime.
Somewhere in the hotel a woman laughs. It is a kind of wild, crazy
laugh, and for the few seconds it lasts, Lula’s face goes pale.
SAILOR
You okay, honey?
LULA
That woman’s laugh creeps me out.
I heard somethin’ like that...
somewhere before... Sound’d like
the wicked witch...
SAILOR
Just sounded like an old gal havin’
a good time to me... You ready to
dance?
LULA
I’m always ready to dance. But I
need me a kiss first, honey. Just one?
Lula and Sailor kiss. In the middle of the kiss, the woman’s
creepy/crazy laugh is heard again in the distance and Lula’s eyes snap
open with a kind of fear.
CUT TO:
35. EXT. FORTUNE HOUSE - BACKYARD - LATE AFTERNOON/EVENING
Marietta is escorting MARCELLO SANTOS and two stiff drinks to a table in
her backyard.
SANTOS
I knew you’d want it again...
MARIETTA
That’s not why I called.
SANTOS
Oh yeah - sure ... okay.
MARIETTA
Santos... It isn’t.
SANTOS
Have it your way... But you want it.
MARIETTA
Lula’s gone off with Sailor.
SANTOS
What do you want me to do about it?
MARIETTA
I want you to take care of Sailor, so
he won’t ever be able to bother my
baby again.
SANTOS
Take care of him?
MARIETTA
Yes.
SANTOS
What does take care of him mean?...
Do you want me to give him food or
some clothing?
MARIETTA
What’s with you?... You know what
take care of him means. I don’t
call Santos except for one big reason.
SANTOS
Big is the key word, and I’m telling
you I want it bad.
MARIETTA
I want you to get rid of Sailor.
SANTOS
Get rid of him?
MARIETTA
Yes... Get rid of him.
SANTOS
How would I do that? Send him on a
trip - like maybe to Hawaii?
MARIETTA
Santos, why in hell do you insist on
playin’ this stupid game?
SANTOS
Just tell me what you want.
MARIETTA
I don’t need to explain anymore’n I
have... You know damn well.
SANTOS
You need to explain it.
MARIETTA
All right... I want you ... to ...
kill ... Sailor... As simple as that.
SANTOS
Simple? Kill him?... How?
MARIETTA
That’s your business... I don’t care
how.
SANTOS
Like an accident where maybe Lula
might also get hurt?
MARIETTA
NO... For God’s sakes, Santos!
SANTOS
Well, like kill him with the atomic
bomb?
MARIETTA
Santos...
SANTOS
Explain it... I told you.
MARIETTA
Shoot him.
SANTOS
Shoot him? Like with a gun?
MARIETTA
Yes.
SANTOS
Where?... In the leg?
MARIETTA
No.
SANTOS
Where?
MARIETTA
In the head.
SANTOS
Shoot Sailor in the head with a
gun... Now I’m beginning to get
it... You want me to shoot Sailor
in the head with a gun.
MARIETTA
Yes.
SANTOS
But where in the head?... Not the
chin, I hope.
MARIETTA
No... In the brains... What little
I’m sure he has.
SANTOS
You want me to shoot Sailor in the
brains with a gun.
MARIETTA
Yes.
SANTOS
Through the forehead?
MARIETTA
Yes.
SANTOS
Wrong! It’s much better to blow a
hole in the back of the head ...
right toward the bridge of the nose
... Lots and lots of irreparable
damage.
MARIETTA
See! I knew you had it all under
control.
SANTOS
Why didn’t you send Johnnie Farragut?
MARIETTA
Maybe I did... Try New Orleans first...
Lula can’t ever stop talkin’ ’bout that
town.
SANTOS
On one condition...
He pauses and smiles strangely.
SANTOS
You give me your permission to kill
Johnnie Farragut.
MARIETTA
(whisper)
Santos... No... Please, Santos...
SANTOS
You’re not tellin’ me that you’re
sweet on him?
MARIETTA
No... But...
SANTOS
One day he’s gonna find out what
we’re up to with Mr. Reindeer, and
he could cause us a lot of trouble.
They stare at each other for a moment.
SANTOS
I’m gonna take your silence as a
“yes”...
MARIETTA
Santos... I can’t...
SANTOS
Shhhh... It’s all right... Also, I
either take you or that pretty
daughter of yours to bed.
MARIETTA
You fucker, don’t you ever touch
Lula - You fucker, I’ll kill you.
SANTOS
(laughing)
Put your shoulders back.
MARIETTA
What?
SANTOS
Put your shoulders back, I said.
Marietta puts her shoulders back and Santos comes and stands in front of
her.
SANTOS
You got nice tits.
MARIETTA
Someone’s gonna see us.
SANTOS
(smiling as he starts
to feel her breasts)
That’s just another part of the price
to pay.
MARIETTA
Santos... You kill that Sailor,
otherwise he’s gonna turn my baby
against me.
Santos lifts one hand up to Marietta’s chin and raises her face up
towards his.
SANTOS
Look at me... There’s no turning back
on this... I’m gonna kill Sailor...
That’s for sure.
CUT TO:
36. INT. “THE HURRICANE” - A SPEED METAL CLUB - NIGHT
We see the sign which has all the letters tipped way over to the right -
as if in a hurricane. Two leaning palm trees border the sign.
One hundred decibels of speed metal. We see the name “Powermad” on the
bass drum.
The BAND segues into “Slaughter House” and it’s a hot one. Sailor grabs
Lula and they start dancing like two jacked-up spastics in an electrical
storm. a few PUNKS actually stop dancing to watch Sailor and Lula.
They thought they’d seen everything.
CU of Lula and Sailor - they’re in love and dancing hot. An IDIOT PUNK
moves close to Lula and rubs up against her as he dances by. Sailor
turns to the lead guitar player and signals him to stop the music
immediately. Suddenly everything is deathly quiet. Sailor gives the
man a fully extended “Reno point”...
SAILOR
Are you going to provide me with an
opportunity to prove my love to my
girl? Or are you gonna save
youself some trouble and step up
like a gentleman and apologize to her?
IDIOT PUNK
Don’t fuck with me, man. You look
like a clown in that stupid jacket.
SAILOR
This is a snakeskin jacket, and for
me it’s a symbol of my individuality
and my belief in personal freedom.
IDIOT PUNK
...Asshole.
SAILOR
(as he moves toward the Idiot Punk)
Come here.
LULA
Sailor, honey...
The Idiot Punk tries to hit Sailor, but Sailor slaps him so hard his
knees almost bend backwards. The Idiot Punk goes down - fighting back
tears and holding his cheek.
SAILOR
(helping him up)
I’m sorry to do this to ya here
in front of a crowd, but I want ya
to stand up and make a nice apology
to my girl.
IDIOT PUNK
(to Lula)
I’m sorry.
LULA
Hell, you just rubbed up against
the wrong girl is all.
SAILOR
That’s good... Now go get yourself
a beer.
(turning to the band)
You fellas have alotta the same power
Elvis had... Y’all know this one?...
Sailor starts to sing an Elvis Presley song, “Love Me.” As the band
joins in with a perfect back-up - Sailor sings to Lula. The Speed Metal
crowd is mesmerized.
DISSOLVE TO:
37. INT. CAPE FEAR HOTEL - NIGHT
CU of pink - the whole screen is filled with pink nylon. Panning down,
we see Lula’s breasts, which stand up and say “hello.” Lula puts on her
favorite pink shortie nightgown.
LULA
Why didn’t ya sing “Love Me Tender”?
... You told me that was your
favorite love song.
Sailor turns around from his sprawled on the bed position watching The
Dating Game show.
SAILOR
’Cause I’m only gonna sing that song
to my wife.
Lula makes a face. She lies down on the bed next to Sailor.
LULA
What you want to watch this trash for?
Ain’t one of those people have a real
thought in their brain.
SAILOR
That so?
(keeping his gaze on the TV)
You want to tell me what, if any,
real thoughts you had lately?
LULA
What you have to get personal about
so quick? All I mean is you could
possibly read a book.
Sailor grunts.
LULA
What’s that honey?
SAILOR
We didn’t have no TV up at Pee Dee,
baby, you know?
Lula slides her head up and kisses Sailor on the cheek.
LULA
I’m sorry, sweetie. I forget some
moments where all you been the last
two years.
SAILOR
Twenty-three months, eighteen days is
all. Don’t need to make more’n it
was.
(referring to Dating Game show)
This couple’s goin’ on a date to
Hawaii. The girl chose him over the
other two guys.
LULA
Don’t the reject guys get anythin’?
SAILOR
Gift certificates to Kentucky Fried
Chicken.
LULA
That don’t seem fair.
SAILOR
Hell, why should the Datin’ Game be
different from real life? At least
them boys is gonna get somethin’ to
eat.
LATER - IN THE DARK
Sailor and Lula are in bed. Lula lays in Sailor’s arms.
LULA
Sailor?
SAILOR
Yeah?
LULA
Wouldn’t it be fabulous if we somehow
stayed in love for the rest of our
lives?
SAILOR
(laughing)
You think of the weirdest damn things
to say sometimes, peanut. Ain’t we
been doin’ a pretty fair job this far?
LULA
Oh, you know exactly what I mean,
honey? It’d make the future so simple
and nice.
SAILOR
At Pee Dee, all you think about is
the future, you know? Gettin’ out?
And what you’ll do and what you’ll
think about when you’re on the
outside again.
LULA
I just think about things as they
come up. I never been much of a planner.
SAILOR
It ain’t altogether terrible just to
let things go along sometimes.
Lula, I done a few things in my life
I ain’t too proud of, but I’ll tell
ya from now on I ain’t gonna do
nothin’ for no good reason. All I
know for sure is there’s more’n a
few bad ideas runnin’ around loose
out there.
ECU of match girding along the strike pad and bursting into flame.
Lula lights her cigarette.
LULA
You know there’s somethin’ I ain’t
never told you about, Sailor, and
this here’s a story with the lesson
that there’s a right time and a
wrong time for things to happen...
When I was almost sixteen I got pregnant.
Sailor looks her in the eyes.
SAILOR
Musta been a lesson tellin’ ya it
was the wrong time... What did you
do, your mama find out?
LULA
(nods)
She got me an abortion...
CUT TO:
38. INT. ABORTION CLINIC - MIAMI - DAY
ECU of dying fetus with one hundred twenty decibels Lula’s scream over.
The fetus twitches in its little pod of blood.
ECU of pulsing vein in Lula’s neck - LOUD VIOLENT HEARTBEAT SOUND - LIKE
A DOUBLE-PEDALED KICK BASS DRUM.
ECU of Lula’s forehead covered in sweat running down to her eyes - open
wide and WILD.
ECU of fetus into medical trash can.
ECU of bloodied abortion instruments.
The DOCTOR leans across the abortion table.
LULA
(voice-over)
...from some old doctor with the
hairiest nostrils and ears I ever seen.
ECU of doctor’s nose and ears ... HAIR!
LULA
(voice-over)
Afterwards... Momma says...
We see Marietta standing next to the doctor.
LULA
(voice-over)
...I hope you appreciate my spendin’
six hundred dollars, not countin’
what it cost us to get here and
back... This man’s the best damn
abortionist in the South.
CUT TO:
39. INT. CAPE FEAR MOTEL - NIGHT
SAILOR
You tell the boy who knocked you up?
LULA
It was my cousin, Dell, done it? His
folks used to visit with us summers.
SAILOR
What happened to him?
LULA
Oh, nothin’. I never let on to mama
about Dell bein’ the one. I just
flat refused to tell her who the
daddy was? I didn’t tell Dell, neither.
He was back home in Chattanooga by then,
anyhow, and I didn’t see the point.
Somethin’ terrible happened to him,
though. Six months ago.
SAILOR
What’s that, peanut?
LULA
Dell disappeared. Dell was learnin’
a hard lesson. What I learned from
observin’ Dell is I think people who
are frightened want to disappear.
He’d startin’ behavin’ weird? Like
comin’ up to people every fifteen
minutes and askin’ how they were
doin’?
CUT TO:
40. EXT. CITY STREET - CHATTANOOGA - DAY
DELL, wearing a soiled double-knit suit stops a LADY in the street, and
smiling about the fact that earlier that morning he’s placed a cockroach
on his anus, he speaks to the woman.
DELL
How’re ya doin’?
CUT TO:
41. INT. CAPE FEAR HOTEL - NIGHT
LULA
And just seemin’ real spacey and
actin’ funny.
SAILOR
Actin’ funny how?
LULA
Well, like mama told me, Aunt Rootie,
Dell’s mama? She found cockroaches
in Dell’s underwear.
CUT TO:
42. INT. AUNT ROOTIE’S HOUSE
CU of Aunt Rootie - unfolds a pair of dirty jockey shorts and several
cockroaches fall out.
CUT TO:
43. INT. CAPE FEAR HOTEL - NIGHT
LULA
One time, Aunt Rootie caught Dell
puttin’ one big cockroach on his anus?
SAILOR
Hell, peanut...
LULA
One time - real late - like about two
thirty a.m.? She found Dell up in
the black of night all dressed and
makin’ sandwiches in the kitchen.
CUT TO:
44. AUNT ROOTIE’S HOUSE - KITCHEN - NIGHT
In the dark kitchen, AUNT ROOTIE finds Dell making sandwiches - slicing
them on the diagonal.
AUNT ROOTIE
What’re ya doin’?
DELL
Makin’ my lunch!!!
LULA
(voice-over)
Dell told her he was makin’ his
lunch and goin’ to work. He’s a
welder? And she made him go back
to bed.
We see Aunt Rootie cross the kitchen - take the knife away from Dell and
lead him out of the kitchen.
CUT TO:
45. INT. CAPE FEAR HOTEL - NIGHT
LULA
Then he’d carry on about the weather?
Talk about how rainfall’s controlled by
aliens livin’ on earth. Also how men
wearin’ black leather gloves...
CUT TO:
46. INT. AUNT ROOTIE’S HOUSE - DELL’S ROOM - NIGHT
Dell, crying uncontrollably, is in the center of the room squatting like
an indian in his jockey shorts. He has a long ruler stretched out in
front of him which he’s using to press down on the top of a lone black
glove on the floor.
LULA
(voice-over)
...are followin’ him around.
SAILOR
Prob’ly the rain boys from Outer Space.
CUT TO:
47. INT. CAPE FEAR HOTEL - NIGHT
LULA
It ain’t so funny now, though. December
before Christmas? Dell disappeared
again and Aunt Rootie hired a private
eye to find him. He was missin’ for
almost a month before he wandered back
in the house on mornin’ dressed in some
filthy Santa Claus suit.
48A. EXT. AUNT ROOTIE’S HOUSE - DAY
Dell walking to house.
CUT TO:
48. INT. AUNT ROOTIE’S HOUSE - DAY
Dell enters the front door in a Santa Claus suit so filthy you can
hardly see the red through the black. He walks right past Aunt Rootie
and goes back into the kitchen. There he immediately does a spread-
eagle on the floor and violently scratches his left ankle.
LULA
(voice-over)
The private eye cost Aunt Rootie over
a thousand dollars? Then a little
while later Dell ran off a third
time to some place he said would
“give him peace of mind.” Nobody’s
seen him since.
CUT TO:
49. INT. CAPE FEAR HOTEL - NIGHT
SAILOR
Sound like ol’ Dell’s more’n just a
little confused, peanut... Too
bad he couldn’t visit that ol’
Wizard of Oz and get some good advice.
LULA
Too bad we all can’t, baby... One
thing about Dell?
SAILOR
What’s that?
LULA
When he was about seventeen, he
startin’ losin’ his hair.
SAILOR
So?
LULA
He’s twenty-four now? A year older
than you? And must be ’bout bald.
SAILOR
There’s worse things that can happen
to a man, honey.
LULA
Yeah, I suppose. But you know somethin’
baby, hair does make a difference.
Lula turns to study Sailor.
LULA
I sure am glad they didn’t give you
no prison haircut...
(sexual whisper)
Gives me somethin’ to grab hold of
while we’re makin’ love?
They kiss passionately.
DISSOLVE TO:
50. INT. CAPE FEAR HOTEL - NIGHT
Sailor gets up from the bed and begins putting on his clothes. Lula is
painting her toenails red.
SAILOR
Let’s go dancin’, peanut. I’m
ready.
LULA
We gotta be careful, honey, my mama’s
gonna have Johnnie Farragut on us
like a duck on a june bug, and he’s
one clever detective? You know how
clever? He once told me that he
could find an honest man in Washington.
My toenails gotta dry first anyways,
Sailor.
SAILOR
One thing puzzles my mind, sugar...
You’re twenty years old - aren’t
you ever curious why your mama has
this fixation on keepin’ us apart?
Puttin’ a detective on us. I’ll tell
ya Lula... Well... It’s more’n me
killin’ Bob Ray Lemon...
LULA
Maybe my mama cares for me just a
little too much...
SAILOR
Yeah, maybe...
Sailor’s eyes seem to be thinking back...
CUT TO:
51. INT. BAY ST. CLEMENT HOTEL - HALLWAY ABOVE BALLROOM - NIGHT
We see an empty carpeted hallway and can hear a ballroom dance band
playing in the distance. Sailor obviously slightly drunk, comes down
the hall. He carefully, almost losing his balance, places his drink
outside the MEN’S ROOM and enters. Marietta standing down at the other
end of the hall - also drunk - smiles and stares at the MEN’S ROOM door
through her glazed eyes. Sailor enters the MEN’S ROOM.
CUT TO:
52. INT. MEN’S ROOM - BAY ST. CLEMENT HOTEL - NIGHT
Sailor steps up to a urinal and starts doing his business. Marietta
suddenly appears - drunk and laughing. She grabs him and pulls him into
a stall - closing and locking the door behind them.
MARIETTA
Hey, Sailor boy, you wanna fuck Lula’s
mama?...
SAILOR
No.
MARIETTA
Well, she wants to fuck you.
She starts trying to French kiss Sailor when an OLD MAN comes in to
urinate and Sailor and Marietta freeze - in a kiss. Sailor is going
crazy in one way (wishing this wasn’t happening.) Marietta is going
crazy in another. The man finishes and as he leaves...
OLD MAN
(covering his eyes from
seeing them)
Lousy fuckin’ homosexuals...
SAILOR
(instantly pulling away
from Marietta)
What are you, sick?... I’m with Lula.
MARIETTA
No... I just wanted to kiss you
good-bye... You know too much ’bout
little Lula’s mom...
SAILOR
Whattya mean?
MARIETTA
Well, Johnnie told me you used to
drive for Clyde and Santos...
SAILOR
So?
MARIETTA
So maybe one night you got a little
too close to the fire... And you’re
gonna get burned, baby... And
besides that, you’re shit... D’you
think I’d let my little girl go with
shit like you?... Why, you belong
right here in one of these toilets.
SAILOR
You’re gonna have to kill me to keep
me away from Lula.
MARIETTA
Oh, don’t worry ’bout that...
CUT TO:
INT. CAPE FEAR HOTEL - NIGHT
SAILOR
It’s a prob’lm I don’t think’s gonna
go away too soon though... Peanut,
I’m thinkin’ of breakin’ parole and
takin’ you out to sunny California.
LULA
Sailor!
SAILOR
You up for that?
LULA
I’d got to the far end of the world
for you, baby... You know I would.
SAILOR
Those toenails dry yet? We got some
dancin’ to do.
We drift down Lula’s long white legs to her blood red toenails.
CUT TO:
54. INT. “THE HURRICANE BAR” - NIGHT
CU of Lula’s dancing feet in black spiked-heel sandals exposing blurred
blood red toenails. Lula and Sailor are at it again - dancing as if
plugged in to the main power plant.
DISSOLVE TO:
55. INT. BAR - BACK OF “THE HURRICANE” - NIGHT
Drenched in sweat, Sailor and Lula sit at a corner table chug-a-lugging
“Rolling Rock” during the band’s break. Lula notices a girl in the
corner eye-balling Sailor. She splits her attention between the girl
and Sailor.
LULA
...That’s an awful long way to go,
just to get some pussy.
SAILOR
Yeah, I had my first taste on that
trip to Juarez. At that age you
still got a lot of energy.
LULA
You still got plenty energy for
me, baby.
Lula has had enough of the girl staring at Sailor.
LULA
Take a picture, bitch... It’ll
last longer.
GIRL
Oh yeah?
LULA
I’ll slap those eyes right outta
your head.
The girl gets up in a huff and leaves.
LULA
Sorry, baby... When’s the first
time you done it with a girl who
wasn’t hookin’?
SAILOR
Maybe two, three months after Juarez.
I was visitin’ my cousin, Junior
Train, in Savannah, and we were at
some kid’s house whose parents were
out of town. A girl comes up to me
that was real tall, taller than me.
CUT TO:
56. INT. JUNIOR TRAIN’S FRIEND’S HOUSE - KITCHEN - SAVANNAH
We see what he talks about.
SAILOR
(voice-over)
She looked right at me and run her
tongue over her lips and put her
hand on my arm - told me her name
was Irma.
CUT TO:
57. INT. BAR - BACK OF “THE HURRICANE” - NIGHT
LULA
What’d you say to her?
SAILOR
Told her my name. Then she said
somethin’ like, ‘It’s so noisy
down here. Why don’t we go
upstairs so we can hear ourselves?’
She turned around and led the way.
I knew I had an important lesson
to learn that day.
CUT TO:
58. INT. JUNIOR TRAIN’S FRIEND’S HOUSE - STAIRWAY - NIGHT
We see what he talks about.
SAILOR
(voice-over)
When she got almost to the top step
I stuck my hand between her legs
from behind.
CUT TO:
59. INT. BAR - BACK OF “THE HURRICANE” - NIGHT
LULA
Oh, baby. What a bad boy you are!
SAILOR
(laughing)
That’s just what she said. I had
a boner with a capital “O.” I
went to kiss her but she broke off
laughin’ and ran down the hallway.
I found her lyin’ on a bed in a room
filled with assault weapons and
Penthouse magazines. She was a wild
chick. She was wearin’ bright orange
pants with kind of Spanish lookin’ lacy
black stripes down the sides. You
know, them kind that doesn’t go all
the way down your leg?
LULA
You mean like pedal pushers?
SAILOR
I guess.
CUT TO:
60. INT. JUNIOR TRAIN’S FRIEND’S HOUSE - BEDROOM NIGHT
We see what he talks about.
SAILOR
(voice-over)
She just rolled over onto her stomach
and stuck her ass up in the air. I
slid my hand between her legs and
she closed her thighs on it.
CUT TO:
61. INT. BAR - BACK OF “THE HURRICANE” - NIGHT
LULA
You’re excitin’ me, honey. What’d
she do?
SAILOR
Her face was half-pushed into the
pillow, and she looked back over
her shoulder at me and said, ‘I
won’t suck you. Don’t ask me to
suck you.’
LULA
Poor baby. She don’t know what she
missed. What color hair she have?
SAILOR
Sorta brown, blonde, I guess. But
dig this, sweetie. Then she turns
over, peels off them orange pants,
and spreads her legs real wide and
says to me...
CUT TO:
62. INT. JUNIOR TRAIN’S FRIEND’S HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT
IRMA
(her smiling face)
Take a bite of peach.
CUT TO:
63. INT. BAR - BACK OF “THE HURRICANE” - NIGHT
LULA
(howls)
Jesus, honey! You more’n sorta
got what you come for... You
better rum me back to the hotel,
baby... You got me hotter’n
Georgia asphalt.
SAILOR
Say no more... But go easy on me,
sweetheart... Tomorrow we got alotta
drivin’ to do.
(he takes out a cigarette and laughs)
Hotter’n Georgia asphalt?
ECU of match striking and bursting into flames.
WHITE OUT:
CUT TO:
64. INT. THUNDERBIRD CONVERTIBLE - DAY
Sailor is at the wheel of the dark blue ’67 Thunderbird convertible.
They are flying down a two-lane Southern highway.
LULA
I’ll drop mama a postcard from
somewhere. I mean, I don’t want her
to worry no more’n necessary.
SAILOR
What do you mean by necessary? She’s
prob’ly already called the cops, my
parole officer, her p.i. boyfriend
Johnnie Farragut.
LULA
I suppose so. She knew I was bound
to see you soon as you was sprung,
but I don’t figure she counted on
us takin’ off together like this...
I guess this means you’re breakin’
parole, then?
SAILOR
You guess? My parole was broke two
hundred miles back when we burnt
Portagee County.
LULA
What’ll it be like in California,
Sailor, do you think? I hear it
don’t rain much there.
SAILOR
You got about six more big states
to go before we find out.
LULA
We got through two states already.
Lula lights up a cigarette.
SAILOR
That don’t smell like a More.
LULA
It ain’t. It’s part of the lessons
of life. I picked me up a pack of
Vantages before we left the Cape?
SAILOR
They sure do stink.
LULA
Yeah, I guess, but - and here’s the
lesson part - they ain’t supposed
to be so bad for you.
SAILOR
You ain’t gonna begin worryin’ about
what’s bad for you at this hour, are
you, sugar? I mean, here you are
crossin’ state lines with a A-
Number One certified murderer.
LULA
Manslaughterer, honey, not murderer.
Don’t exaggerate.
SAILOR
Okay, manslaughterer who’s broke his
parole and got in mind nothin’ but
immoral purposes far’s you’re
concerned.
LULA
Thank the Lord. Well, you ain’t let
me down yet, Sailor. That’s more’n
I can say for the rest of the world?
Sailor laughs and shoots the T-Bird up to seventy.
SAILOR
You please me, too, peanut.
CUT TO:
65. INT. JOHNNIE FARRAGUT’S ’69 MAROON BUICK - DAY
Johnnie Farragut drives down a Southern highway on his mission.
DISSOLVE TO:
66. INT. THUNDERBIRD - DAY
SAILOR
Life is a bitch and then you marry one.
LULA
What kinda trash talk is that?
SAILOR
(laughs)
What it says on the bumper sticker
up front. On that pickup.
LULA
That’s disgustin’. Those kinda
sentiments shouldn’t be allowed out
in public. Is this Biloxi yet?
SAILOR
Almost. I figure we should find us
a place to stay and then go eat.
LULA
Got anyplace special in mind?
SAILOR
We oughta stay somewhere outta the
way. Not in no Holidays or Ramadas
or Motel Six. If Johnnie Farragut’s
on our trail he’ll check those first.
66A. EXT. THUNDERBIRD/EXT. THE HOST OF THE OLD SOUTH HOTEL - DAY
They pass the Biloxi City Limit sign.
LULA
How about that one? The Host of
the Old South Hotel.
SAILOR
Looks more like the Ghost of the
Old South, but we’ll try her.
CUT TO:
67. INT. THE HOST OF THE OLD SOUTH HOTEL - EVENING
The room is large but cheap. Lula strips off the dishwater grey
bedspread and tosses it over by the bureau. Sailor looks out the broken
window.
LULA
I H-A-T-E hotel bedspreads. They
don’t hardly never get washed, and
I don’t like the idea of lyin’ on
other people’s dirt.
SAILOR
Come look at this.
LULA
(going to the window)
What’s that, honey?
SAILOR
(thinking about death)
There ain’t no water in the swimmin’
pool. Just a dead tree fell in,
prob’ly from bein’ struck by lightnin’.
LULA
(thinking about granddad)
It’s huge. This musta been a grand
old place at one time.
SAILOR
Let’s get fed, sweetheart. The
light’s fadin’ fast.
CUT TO:
68. EXT. ROADSIDE PAYPHONE - NIGHT
Marcello Santos is making a phone call.
SANTOS
Hello there, Mr. Reindeer...
Marcello Santos speaking.
CUT TO:
69. INT. MR. REINDEER’S POSH NEW ORLEANS RESIDENCE - NIGHT
An old man, MR. REINDEER, wearing a tuxedo is sitting on the toilet -
his pants down - talking on the bathroom phone. He laughs a long deep
smoker’s laugh.
MR. REINDEER
(laughing)
Mr. Marcello Santos... Hey there...
That was great shit you sent in last
month...
CUT TO:
68A. EXT. ROADSIDE PAYPHONE - NIGHT
SANTOS
I gotta problem... In fact, I gotta
coupl’a problems...
CUT TO:
69A. INT. MR. REINDEER’S POSH NEW ORLEANS RESIDENCE - NIGHT
MR. REINDEER
(laughs again)
Gotta coupl’a problems, huh?... For
each problem drop a silver dollar
through my mail slot... With all
particulars... We’ll work out
“il conto” later...
CUT TO:
70. INT. JOHNNIE FARRAGUT’S MAROON ’69 BUICK - NIGHT
Johnnie Farragut steers the Buick down the dark highway past a sign
which reads, “NEW ORLEANS - 26 MILES”.
CUT TO:
71. EXT. BEACH - NIGHT
Sailor and Lula are walking along the beach. Lula takes off her shoes.
LULA
(sing-song spells)
M-i-ss-i-ss-i-pp-i... You can almost
hear that jazz blowin’ up from the
big N.O.
SAILOR
Lula... I learned somethin’ interestin’
today on a science show I heard on the
radio... How leeches is comin’ back
into style.
LULA
Say what? Honestly, sugar, you can
talk more shit sometimes?
She takes out a cigarette the length and width of a Dixon Ticonderoga
No. 2 pencil and lights it.
SAILOR
Got you a pack of Mores again, huh?
LULA
Yeah, it’s a real problem for me,
Sailor, you know? When I went in
that drugstore by the restaurant in
Biloxi? I saw ’em by the register
and the girl throw ’em in. I’m
not big on resistin’. So what about
a leech?
SAILOR
Heard on the radio how doctors is
usin’ leeches again, just in old
times. You know, when even barbers
used ’em?
LULA
(shuddering)
I got one on me at Lake Lanier.
Lifeguard poured salt on it and it
dropped off. Felt awful. He was a
cute boy, though, so it was almost
worth it.
Sailor laughs.
SAILOR
Yeah, well listen to this... Radio
said back in the 1920s a I-talian
doctor figured out that if, say, a
fella got his nose cut off or bit
off in, say, a barfight or somethin’,
they’d sew one of his forearms to his
nose for a few weeks... Then put
leeches on it.
CUT TO:
71A. CU of MAN with forearm sewed to nose.
CUT TO:
72. EXT. BEACH - NIGHT
LULA
Sailor? You expect me to believe
a man’d be goin’ around with a
arm sewed to his nose?
SAILOR
(nodding)
How they used to do it. Course they
got more sophisticated ways now.
Radio said the Chinese, I think it
is, figured a better idea is by
insertin’ a balloon in the forehead
and lettin’ it hand down on the nose.
Lula shrieks.
LULA
Sailor Ripley! You stop! You’re
makin’ this shit up and I ain’t
gonna sit for it!
SAILOR
Honest, Lula. I prob’ly ain’t
precisely got all the facts straight,
but it’s about what they said.
LULA
Honey, we’re goin’ to bed now and
it’s time to change the subject.
She’s so cute Sailor just has to kiss her.
DISSOLVE TO:
73. INT. THUNDERBIRD - SOUTHERN HIGHWAY - DAY
Sailor and Lula pass a sign that reads “NEW ORLEANS - 26 MILES”. Sailor
pulls off the road into a Gulf gas station mini-mart and stops the car
next to a self-serve pump. A sign on the top of it says “PLEASE PAY
INSIDE BEFORE FUELING.”
SAILOR
We’re about dry bones, sweetheart.
We don’t wanna have to push this
“bird” into New Orleans.
LULA
We sure don’t, honey...
(shouting to Sailor as
he goes into the store)
Get me a Mounds?
74. INT. MINI-MART - DAY
A tall OLD BLACK MAN about seventy years old, wearing a torn green
Tulane tee-shirt and a dirty orange Saints baseball cap, is filing items
on the counter by the cash register. In the pile are four ready-made,
plastic-wrapped sandwiches, two tuna salad and two cotto salami; six
Twinkies; a package of Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies; four Slice
colas; two Barq’s root beers; and a large package of fried pork rinds,
extra salted.
BLACK MAN
(to Sailor and another guy
also waiting to pay for gas)
Sorry, gentlemen. I’m ’most finished
on my shoppin’ here.
ERV
This be it?
BLACK MAN
Y’all take American Express?
ERV
Yessir.
BLACK MAN
Then lemme throw in a couple more
things.
Sailor and the man in line behind him watch as the black man gathers up
several more packages of Twinkies along with a few cupcakes and half a
dozen cans of Pretty Kitty cat food, three liver and three chicken
dinner portions, and tosses them on his pile.
BLACK MAN
(to Sailor, smiling - showing
no visible upper teeth)
Pussycats gotta eat, too.
He hands an American Express card to the clerk, ERV, who runs it through
the verifier. The card checks out okay and the old guy prepares a
charge slip, has the man sign it, and bags the purchases.
BLACK MAN
(to Erv)
I’d just soon have a paper bag
rather than a plastic one, if it’s
same to you.
ERV
(shoving the plastic bag he
filled towards the black man)
We don’t have no paper bags.
A telephone begins to ring and everyone looks around. The Black Man
reaches in his jacket pocket and pulls out a portable phone and punches
“send.”
BLACK MAN
(into phone)
Hello... Yeah, mama, I’m on my
way...
(to Sailor and other guy
as he picks up his bag
and heads out)
Thanks for waitin’, gentlemen.
Everyone is silent as they watch the old Black Man hobble out.
SAILOR
(to Erv)
All I want’s ten bucks regular.
Oh yeah, and a Mounds bar.
Erv takes one off the candy and gum rack next to the register and lays
it on the counter. Sailor gives him a twenty dollar bill.
SAILOR
I ain’t got my American Express card
with me, so I gotta use cash. Hope
that’s okay.
Sailor smiles, but the clerk keeps a poker face and just gives him his
change. The guy in line behind Sailor shakes his head and grins.
75. EXT. MINI MART/THUNDERBIRD - DAY
Sailor goes back to the car.
LULA
That took long enough. You forget
my Mounds?
Sailor tosses her the candy bar.
SAILOR
I really do think the country done
changed just a little while I was
away, peanut.
Lula sinks her small white teeth into the chocolate-covered coconut.
LULA
(as she chews)
You got to keep an eye on it. That’s
sure.
Sailor starts pumping gas.
CUT TO:
76. INT. MR. REINDEER’S POSH NEW ORLEANS RESIDENCE - DAY
CU of mail slot. Two silver dollars comes through it and one falls head
up and the other tails on the rug below.
CUT TO:
77. INT. MR. REINDEER’S POSH NEW ORLEANS RESIDENCE - DAY
Mr. Reindeer is just finishing dialing a number on the telephone.
MR. REINDEER
A coupl’a silver dollars came my way
today... I’m sending one of them
to you with a paper on the beneficiary
... As usual, you are completely
free to fulfill the obligation in any
manner you so desire.
He hangs up the phone and starts dialing another number.
DISSOLVE TO:
78. INT. THE ROUND ROOM RESTAURANT - NEW ORLEANS - DAY
At a table near the window, Johnnie takes a man-sized pull off his Dixie
beer in between bites of an oyster sandwich. A large, chocolate-colored
man in his early thirties, REGINALD SAN PEDRO SULA, and a smaller white
man, DROP SHADOW approach with their trays of food.
REGGIE
Do you mind if we share this table?
... The others, they are occupied.
Johnnie looks around - sees that there are quite a few empty tables - he
looks the men over quickly.
JOHNNIE
(cautiously)
Alright... By all means. Make
yourselves at home.
DROP SHADOW
(as he sits down)
Muchas gracias.
REGGIE
My name is Reginald San Pedro Sula.
But please do call me Reggie. This
is my friend, who we call Drop
Shadow. He is always with me.
Johnnie wipes off his right hand on his napkin and shakes.
JOHNNIE
Johnnie Farragut. Pleased to meet ya.
Reggie and Drop Shadow begin eating ferociously, finishing half of their
meal before saying anything more.
REGGIE
You are from New Orleans, Senor
Farragut?
JOHNNIE
Johnnie, please. Nope. Charlotte,
North Carolina. Here on business.
Reggie smiles broadly, revealing numerous tall, gold teeth.
DROP SHADOW
Mr. San Pedro Sula is from Honduras.
REGGIE
Do you know Honduras, Johnny?
JOHNNIE
Only that it’s supposed to be a
pretty poor sight since the hurricane
came through last year.
REGGIE
Yes, that’s so. But there is not
much to destroy.
DROP SHADOW
No big buildings like in New Orleans.
JOHNNIE
Whattaya do there?
REGGIE
(laughs)
Oh, many things...
DROP SHADOW
Mr. San Pedro Sula’s got an appliance
shop.
REGGIE
But I am also with the government.
Johnnie takes a bite of his oyster sandwich.
JOHNNIE
In what capacity?
REGGIE
In many capacities.
DROP SHADOW
Mr. San Pedro Sula is with the
Secret Service.
Reggie reaches into his back pocket and takes out his wallet. He hands
a card to Johnnie.
JOHNNIE
(reading aloud)
General Osvaldo Tamarindo y Ramirez.
Telefono 666.
REGGIE
He is my sponsor. The General is
the head of the secret police of
Honduras.
DROP SHADOW
Mr. San Pedro Sula is one of his
operatives.
Johnnie hands the card back to Reggie and Reggie gives him a small piece
of paper, folded once. Johnnie unfolds it. The printing is in Spanish.
REGGIE
That is my permiso.
DROP SHADOW
Mr. San Pedro Sula’s permit to kill.
REGGIE
Only if necessary, of course, and
only in my own country.
(laughs)
JOHNNIE
Of course.
Johnnie refolds the piece of paper and hands it over to Reggie.
DROP SHADOW
Mr. San Pedro Sula’s authorized to
carry a .45.
REGGIE
United States Marine issue, before
they made the unfortunate switch to
the less dependable nine millimeters.
I have it here, in my briefcase.
Reggie holds up his stainless steel briefcase and then replaces it on
the floor beneath his chair.
JOHNNIE
Why are you in New Orleans? If you
don’t mind my askin’.
REGGIE
Certainly not. We are here only
briefly, in fact, until this evening,
when we fly to Austin, Texas to visit
a friend of mine who is an agent for
the CIA.
DROP SHADOW
He wants to take Mr. San Pedro Sula
and me bass fishing.
REGGIE
We are in the same businesses and
also we are fishermen.
Johnnie swallows the last of his beer and stands up to leave.
JOHNNIE
(extending his hand)
It’s been a real pleasure. I wish
you both buena suerte wherever you go.
Reggie and Drop Shadow stand up. They shake Johnnie’s hand.
REGGIE
The same to you. If you are in
Honduras, come to the Bay Islands and
visit us. The Hondurans are great
friends of the American people. But
I have a joke for you before I go.
If a liberal, a socialist, and a
communist all jumped off the roof of
the Empire State Building at the
same time, which one of them would
hit the ground first?
JOHNNIE
I couldn’t say, which one?
Reggie turns to Drop Shadow and lets him have the punch line.
DROP SHADOW
(grinning)
Who cares?
CUT TO:
79. INT. HOTEL BRAZIL - NEW ORLEANS - EVENING
Sailor and Lula are just finishing making love in their room. As Lula
climaxes, her left hand opens and spreads wide. The lay quietly for a
moment.
LULA
I love it when your eyes get wild,
honey. They light up all blue almost
and little white parachutes pop out
of ’em. Oh, Sailor you’re so aware
of what goes on with me? I mean, you
pay attention. And I swear, you got
the sweetest cock. Sometimes it’s
like it’s talkin’ to me when you’re
inside? Like it’s got a voice all
it’s own. You get right on me.
SAILOR
You really are dangerously cute,
honey. I gotta admit it.
Lula lights a cigarette.
SAILOR
Let’s head out into the crazy world
of New Orleans... I gotta get
somethin’ to eat.
CUT TO:
80. INT. RONNIE’S NOTHIN’ FANCY CAFE - NEW ORLEANS - LATE EVENING
Sailor and Lula sit at the counter drinking double-sized cups of
community coffee. A MAN on the stool next to Sailor lights up a rum-
soaked crook.
GEORGE
My name’s George Kovich. Bet you’ve
heard of me.
SAILOR
Don’t know that I have... Should I
know about you for anythin’ in
particular?
GEORGE
Was in all the papers three years ago.
I’m seventy-six, was only seventy-
three then. Had a business in
Buffalo, New York, called Rats With
Wings. Killed pigeons for anyone
who wanted ’em killed.
LULA
Why were you killin’ pigeons, Mr.
Kovich? Were you in the extermination
business?
GEORGE
No, ma’am. I was a housepainter,
in the union forty-one years. I’m
retired now, livin’ with my sister,
Ida. Ida moved down here twenty-five
years ago, married an oil man named
Smoltz, Ed Smoltz. He’s dead now,
so it’s just me and Ida. I sold my
house and moved down after the city
of Buffalo put me out of business.
Hell, RWW was doin’ them a service,
and they charged me with endangerin’
the public.
LULA
What’s wrong with pigeons, Mr. Kovich?
GEORGE
They’re useless pests. I’ve shot
hundreds of ’em...
CUT TO:
81. EXT. CITY STREET - ROOFTOP IN GEORGE KOVICH’S NEIGHBORHOOD - DAY
George is shooting pigeons as fast as he can.
GEORGE
(voice-over)
...My neighbors hired me to get rid
of the pigeons that gathered on
their roofs and porches...
CUT TO:
82. INT. RONNIE’S NOTHIN’ FANCY CAFE - NEW ORLEANS - LATE EVENING
GEORGE
...Neighbors asked me how come the
spotted bastards didn’t light on my
house or my brother Earl’s anymore,
and I told ’em the truth. I shot
’em... Earl’s gone now...
CUT TO:
83. INT. EARL KOVICH’S HOUSE - DAY
Earl pitches forward out of his easy chair and hits the carpet hard -
screaming in pain.
GEORGE
(voice-over)
...Heart attack six months ago -
had that cholesterol thick as shit...
His widow, Mildred, she still lives
in the house next to mine.
CUT TO:
84. INT. RONNIE’S NOTHIN’ FANCY CAFE - NEW ORLEANS - LATE EVENING
GEORGE
She’s stone deaf but the racket the
pigeons made drove Earl crazy. He
could hear ’em even with the TV on.
He owned a bar thirty years, The
Boilermaker, on Wyoming Street.
Earl’s roof was a favorite spot for
pigeons. They lit there day and night.
I wanted to toss a grenade up there.
SAILOR
If your neighbors didn’t mind,
how’d you get put out of business?
GEORGE
Woman drivin’ down the street spotted
me with on a roof with my rifle. She
called the police and they came over
and arrested me. Thought I was a
sniper! Boys at the VFW loved that
one. Cops didn’t understand about
the pigeons, the damage they do to
personal property. I used to complain
to the city but they never lifted
a finger. I was gonna put out poison,
but I was afraid somebody’s cat
would eat it. Hell, I had six cats
myself. So I used the .22 because
it didn’t make much noise and the
ammo was cheap.
SAILOR
What happened on the charges?
GEORGE
Guilty on a reduced charge. Hundred
dollar fine and ordered to desist.
Pigeons carry diseases and muss up
the place. You seen it. Plain filth.
Kovich stands up and puts some money on the counter.
GEORGE
It’s a serious situation. Not like
the Turks and the Armenians, maybe,
or the Arabs and the Jews, but I
want people to remember me and what
I’ve done and pick up where I left
off. Somebody had to make a move.
It was nice meetin’ you folks.
George Kovich nods and leaves.
SAILOR
What lesson do get outta that story,
Lula?
LULA
It’s just another case, Sailor.
SAILOR
What’s that, peanut?
LULA
One person thinks he’s doin’ somethin’
good and ever’body else gets upset
about it.
Sailor looks up at Lula.
SAILOR
Ain’t it the way...
CUT TO:
85. INT. HOTEL BRAZIL - NEW ORLEANS - NIGHT
It’s very quiet in the hotel room and the clock says four a.m. Lula and
Sailor are lying in bed arm in arm. Sailor is fast asleep - snoring.
Lula is wide awake.
LULA
Sailor?... Sailor, honey?
Sailor snaps awake with a snort.
SAILOR
Huh?
LULA
Ever imagine what it’d be like to
get eaten alive by a wild beast?...
Sometimes I think it would be the
biggest thrill?
SAILOR
My God,
(looks around)
it better be, darlin’, cause it’d be
the last... What time is it?
LULA
Shhhhh... It’s four o’clock...
That woman’s laugh the other day had
somethin’ to do with this feelin’?
... Like bein’ ripped apart by a
gorilla, maybe... Grabbed sudden
and pulled apart real quick by a
real powerful one.
Lula’s left hand opens and spreads wide.
SAILOR
Lula, sometimes I gotta admit, you
come up with some weird thoughts...
LULA
Anythin’ interestin’ in the world
come out of somebody’s weird thoughts,
Sailor. You tell me Sailor, who
could come up with shit like we’re
seein’ these days?
SAILOR
You got me, peanut.
LULA
(smiles - turns to him)
You certain?
SAILOR
I ain’t never met anyone come close
to you, sugar.
LULA
Recall the time we was sittin’ one
night behind the Confederate soldier?
Leanin’ against it. And you took
your hand and put it on your heart
and you said, ‘You feel it beatin’
in there, Lula?... Get used to it,
cause it belongs to you now.’ D’you
recall that?
SAILOR
I do.
LULA
I was hopin’ you would. I know that
night by heart. Sometimes, honey?
I think it’s the best night of
my life.
CUT TO:
86. BEHIND THE CONFEDERATE SOLDIER
Tight Two-Shot Lula and Sailor with their arms around each other - cheek
to cheek - talking softly.
A strange presence begins to build and a piece of sad nostalgic music
plays.
CUT TO:
87. INT. HOTEL BRAZIL - NEW ORLEANS - NIGHT
LULA
(lost in the memory)
I really do think it’s the best
night of my life.
SAILOR
We didn’t do nothin’ special I can
remember. Just talked, is all.
LULA
Talkin’s good. Long as you got the
other? I’m a big believer in talkin’,
case you ain’t noticed.
SAILOR
Too bad they don’t give an award for
talkin’... You’d win first prize.
Especially with those tits.
LULA
You think so, baby? Does my talkin’
bother you, honey?
SAILOR
No, I like gettin’ up around four
a.m. and talkin’ bout wild animals
... Though you woke me up this time
in the middle of a dream. I kinda
wish I didn’t remember it. Up at
Pee Dee, I couldn’t remember any of
my dreams.
LULA
What was this one?
SAILOR
It wasn’t no fun, Lula. The wind
was blowin’ super-hard and I wasn’t
dressed warm. Only instead of
freezin’, I was sweatin’ strong.
CUT TO:
87. CU of eyes. Black sweat is rolling down the forehead and over the
eyes.
SAILOR
(voice-over)
The water was rollin’ off me. And I
was dirty, too, like I hadn’t had no
bath in a long time, so the sweat
was black almost.
CUT TO:
88. INT. HOTEL BRAZIL - NEW ORLEANS - NIGHT
LULA
Boy, sweetie, this is weird, okay.
SAILOR
I know. I kept walkin’, I headed for
your house, only it wasn’t your
house, really. You let me in only
you weren’t real pleased to see me.
You kept askin’, ‘Why’d you come to
see me now? Why now?’ Like it’d been
a long time since we’d seen each ohter.
LULA
Oh, baby, what an idea. I’d always
be happy to see you, no matter what.
SAILOR
I know, peanut. But it wasn’t all
like you were so unhappy I was there,
just you were upset. My bein’ there
was upsettin’ to you. You had some
kids there, little kids, and I guess
you’d got married and your husband
was comin’ home any minute.
CUT TO:
87A. CU of eyes. Black sweat is rolling down the forehead and over the
eyes.
SAILOR
(voice-over)
I tell you, Lula. I was shakin’ wet.
All this black sweat was pourin’
off me, and I knew I was scarin’ you,
so I took off.
CUT TO:
89. INT. HOTEL BRAZIL - NEW ORLEANS - NIGHT
Lula puts her arms around him.
LULA
Sometimes dreams just don’t mean
nothin’... Stuff comes into your
mind and you don’t have no control
over, you know? Anyways, dreams
ain’t no odder than real life.
Sometimes not by half.
SAILOR
Well, I ain’t upset about it, darlin’.
Just give me an odd feelin’ there a
minute, is all.
Lula lifts her head and kisses Sailor under his left ear. She rolls
over on top of Sailor.
LULA
Take a bite of Lula.
CUT TO:
90. INT. SNUG HARBOR BAR - NEW ORLEANS - NIGHT
Johnnie Farragut sits down on a stool at the bar. CHET, the bartender,
approaches.
CHET
Hey!!!... Johnnie Farragut. How
are you, my man.
JOHNNIE
Real good, Chet... It’s been awhile.
CHET
Everythin’s relative. Where’s that
Marietta Pace Fortune? You two
didn’t split up, I hope.
JOHNNIE
No... She’s fine. Back home.
CHET
What’ll it be? The regular? Black
Label?
JOHNNIE
Set one up.
Chet brings him a double.
CHET
So who you out sleuthin’ for now?...
Can I help ya?
JOHNNIE
Actually, I’m lookin’ for Marietta’s
daughter, Lula. Her and ’er beau
took off the other day. Marietta’s
real upset about it.
CHET
Hell, that rings a bell. Someone
told me somebody lookin’ like her
was at the Nothin’ Fancy yesterday.
JOHNNIE
Sounds right... I’ll check it out.
CHET
(checking for a gold ring
on Johnnie’s hand)
You hitched yet?
JOHNNIE
No sir...
CHET
It’s none of my business, but when
are you and Marietta gonna tie the
knot? I always wondered why you
never did.
JOHNNIE
Not for lack of love, I can tell
ya that.
CHET
That’s what I mean... Always looked
like you was just knocked out in
love... Was real nice to see.
JOHNNIE
I’ll tell ya though, it’s comin’ up
to the time when Marietta and me
might just set up house together and
settle down... I think that time’s
comin’ up right soon. But like you
said, everythin’s realtive.
FADE OUT:
CUT TO:
91. EXT. HOTEL BRAZIL - NEW ORLEANS - DAY
Lula waits just by the lobby door of the hotel. In the back of the
lobby in the shadows is an ancient, old BLACK MAN who stares at her.
Sailor pulls the T-Bird up in front of the hotel and Lula hurries out to
him and tosses their suitcase in the backseat.
LULA
Let’s get outta here... I suddenly
got a funny feelin’ about this
place. Feelin’ all that voodoo...
SAILOR
(winks at her)
Gotta hex from a voodoo?
LULA
(smiles)
Who do?
SAILOR
You do.
They laugh and take off around the corner and up past the Cafe Du Monde.
LULA
Oh my God... It’s Johnnie... Duck
down!... Get goin’!
SAILOR
(looking around frantically)
Where?
LULA
Never mind where... Get outta here...
I mean it, Sailor.
SAILOR
I’m goin’.
Sailor pulls the car up fast and hangs a right turn.
CUT TO:
92. INT. CAFE DU MONDE - DAY
Johnnie smiles as he watches Sailor and Lula turn the corner.
JOHNNIE
(to himself)
Ain’t love wonderful?...
WAITRESS
What’s that?
JOHNNIE
I said, ain’t love wonderful?
Johnnie raises his cup of coffee to Sailor and Lula - who have long
since disappeared.
JOHNNIE
Good luck to you kids.
CUT TO:
93. EXT. CITY STREET - NEW ORLEANS - DAY
Sailor and Lula drive.
LULA
You think he saw us?
SAILOR
Who knows, baby?
LULA
He was sittin’ there havin’ a beignet
at the Cafe Du Monde. Do you think
he saw us?
SAILOR
Lula, darlin’... Makes no difference
anyway... We’re outta here.
We watch the car disappear up the street. Slowly the camera pans and
Reggie and Drop Shadow come walking happily along the sidewalk -
whistling.
CUT TO:
94. INT. THUNDERBIRD
Lula and Sailor are motoring along.
SAILOR
Sweetheart, keep your panties up.
We’re in Jimmy Swaggart country.
Sailor and Lula both laugh. Up ahead, Sailor spots a hitchhiker. He
slows to pick him up.
LULA
Sure you wanna do this? Might be
a way they could track us.
SAILOR
He’s just a regular guy’t needs help,
honey. Look at him.
The HITCHHIKER is a man about thirty with a pack on his back, and he is
carrying a large, covered cardboard box. He is filthy, with an uneven
smile that exposes his jagged yellow teeth. Lula opens the door for
him, and after he loads his stuff, Sailor takes off down the highway.
ROACH
Thanks a lot. I been standin’ out
there off and on for two hours, ha-ha!
Since noon about, ha-ha! Cops catch
ya hitchin’ on a Interstate around here
they throw ya on a county road crew
for a week, less you can pay the
ticket, ha-ha! Which I ain’t got, ha-ha!
SAILOR
My name’s Sailor, and this here’s
Lula. What’s yours?
ROACH
Marvin DeLoach. But ever’body calls
me Roach, ha-ha! Roach DeLoach, ha-ha!
LULA
You always make that strange little
funny laugh when you talk?
ROACH
Ain’t laughin’, ha-ha!
SAILOR
What you got in the box?
ROACH
My dogs, ha-ha!
Roach slides the top off and tilts the box slightly toward the front.
Inside are six small husky pups that are not more than two weeks old.
ROACH
I’m headed to Alaska, ha-ha! These
dogs is gonna be my sled team, ha-ha!
LULA
(to Sailor)
This guy’s crazy.
SAILOR
Where you from, Roach?
ROACH
If you mean where I was born, it was
Belzoni, Missi’ppi, ha-ha! But I
been brought up in Baton Rouge.
LULA
Why you goin’ to Alaska? And where’d
you get them puppies? They look sick.
Roach stares down into the box at the baby huskies and strokes each of
them twice with a religiously unwashed hand. The dogs whimper and lick
his dirty fingers.
ROACH
I saw this movie on TV, ha-ha! The
Call of the Wild. I ain’t never
seen snow, ha-ha! I got these dogs
at the pound. Nobody wanted ’em,
ha-ha! Ever’body here got theirself
pit bulls or some kinda hounds. I’m
gonna feed these boys good so they’ll
be big and powerful and they can pull
me real fast through the snow, ha-ha!
Roach pulls a piece of raw cow’s liver out of one of his pockets of his
field jacket and begins ripping little bits off it and feeding them to
the dogs.
LULA
(screeches as she sees this)
Sailor! Stop! Stop the car now!
Sailor pulls off the road onto the shoulder of the highway and stops.
Lula opens her door and jumps out.
LULA
I’m sorry, but I can’t take this.
Roach, or whatever your name is, you
come out of there with them dogs
this instant!
Roach sticks the liver back in his pocket and pulls his pack and the box
of tiny canines after him. Once he and his belongings are deposited on
the roadside, Lula hops back in the car and slams the door.
LULA
I’m truly sorry? I’m truly sorry,
Roach. But ain’t gonna make it to
Alaska? Least not any part of the
way with us. You’d best find a
party to take care of those dogs
proper, before they all die? And,
if you don’t mind my sayin’ so? You
could most certainly use some serious
lookin’ after yourself, startin’ with
a bath!
Lula takes a pair of sunglasses off the dashboard and puts them on.
LULA
Drive.
Sailor takes off.
SAILOR
You don’t feel you was a little hard
on the guy, honey?
LULA
I know you’re thinkin’ that I got
more’n some of my mama in me? Well,
I couldn’t help it. Sailor, I really
couldn’t. I’m sorry for that guy,
but when he pulled that drippin’ hunk
of awful-smellin’ meat out of his
pocket? I near barfed. And them
poor diseased puppies!
SAILOR
(laughs)
Just part of life on the road, peanut.
LULA
Do me a favor, Sailor? Don’t pick up
no more hitchers, okay?
CUT TO:
95. INT. INEZ’S FAIS-DODO BAR - NEW ORLEANS - NIGHT/
95A. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - MARIETTA’S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Johnnie is seated in a telephone booth at the back of the bar.
JOHNNIE
No, Marietta, I haven’t found ’em.
MARIETTA
This is the kinda mistake can take
a Hindu’s lifetime to unfix...
You better get a move on, Johnnie,
before that boy got her holdin’ down
a Memphis streetcorner and shootin’
dope up her arms.
We see Reggie and Drop Shadow enter the bar. Reggie’s unsmiling eyes
drift across the room until they see Johnnie in the booth. He stares
coldly and waits. Drop Shadow adjusts his socks.
JOHNNIE
Really, Marietta, you got more
scenarios swimmin’ around in your
brain than Carter got pills. Try
to take it easy. Go over to Myrtle
Beach for a few days.
MARIETTA
I’m stayin’ right here by the phone
until you find Lula, then I’m comin’
to get her. You call soon’s you got
somethin’, even if it’s three in the
a.m.
JOHNNIE
I will, Marietta. Goodbye now.
Johnnie hangs up the phone and exits the booth. As he crosses the
bar...
REGGIE
(shouting)
Hola! Senor Farragut! We meet again.
Johnnie goes over to Reggie and Drop Shadow and shakes hands.
JOHNNIE
I thought you two were in Austin,
Texas. Or Takes-us, as they say in
these parts.
DROP SHADOW
We were. Now Mr. San Pedro Sula and
I are on our way back to Utila, in
the morning.
REGGIE
Would you like to enjoy a martini
with us?
JOHNNIE
Why not? How was the fishin’?
REGGIE
I think they are too serious, these
American fishermen. In Honduras, we
are not so concerned with the method.
Reggie orders martinis for the three of them.
JOHNNIE
So, it’s back to the islands.
DROP SHADOW
Yes. Mr. San Pedro Sula spoke
yesterday to his son, Archibald Leach
San Pedro Sula, who is named after
Cary Grant, and he told them there
was a shooting.
REGGIE
Teddy Roosevelt, one of the local
shrimp boat captains is in jail now.
These people are friends of mine, so
I must return and find out what
happened.
JOHNNIE
This island of yours sounds like a
kind of unpredictable place.
REGGIE
(laughs)
It has its moments of uncertainty.
DROP SHADOW
But how are you finding New Orleans,
Senor Farragut?
JOHNNIE
Call me Johnnie... N.O. has always
been a good town to sit around in.
REGGIE
I can tell you are an intelligent
man, Johnnie. One difference between
your country and mine is that in the
islands, it does not pay to reveal
one’s intelligence... Others may use
what they perceive against us...
Reggie raises his glass to Johnnie’s.
REGGIE
Hasta siempre.
JOHNNIE
Hasta siempre.
REGGIE
Do you know how it came about that
copper wire was invented in Scotland?
JOHNNIE
How’s that?
DROP SHADOW
Two Scotsmen were fighting over a
penny.
Johnnie finishes off his martini.
JOHNNIE
I gotta admit, you guys are
(sliding off the stool)
two in four dozen.
REGGIE
The real joke is we never went fishing,
but we’re still fishing.
Johnnie squints his eyes thinking about this one. Reggie and Drop
Shadow smile and stand to leave.
CUT TO:
96. INT. THUNDERBIRD - STREETS OF NUNEZ - NIGHT
Lula and Sailor cruise the dark streets.
LULA
I wouldn’t mind a little night life.
How about you?
SAILOR
Hard to tell what’s shakin’ in a
place like this, honey. You don’t
want to be walkin’ in the wrong door.
LULA
Maybe there’s a place we could hear
some music. I feel like dancin’.
We could ask someone.
97. EXT. RED DEVIL GAS STATION - NIGHT
Sailor spots a Red Devil gas station that still has its lights on and
pulls the car over.
SAILOR
Someone up here might know somethin’.
Two skinny, pimply-faced guys, BUCK and BILLY, wearing dirty coveralls
walk over to them.
BUCK
Gas?
SAILOR
Got enough, thanks. We’re lookin’
for a place has some music, where we
can maybe do some dancin’ - get
somethin’ to eat, too. Anything like
that around here?
BILLY
Cornbread’s. They got western.
BUCK
No food, though, ’cept bar nibbles.
Lula slides over in the front seat and leans across to Sailor.
LULA
How about speed metal?
The kids look worried and take a step back.
LULA
Any kinda rock’n’roll, honey.
BILLY
There’s a boogie joint just about a
mile straight out Lafitte here. But
that’s a black place mostly.
BUCK
Mostly black though in that boogie
place.
SAILOR
What’s the name of it?
BUCK
Club Zanzibar.
SAILOR
You say it’s straight ahead a mile?
BUCK
About. Where Lafitte crosses over
Galvez Highway. State Road 86.
SAILOR
Thanks.
Sailor and Lula drive off. Buck and Billy go back inside the Red Devil
station. Guess who is over the corner cleaning nuts and bolts with a
toothbrush and gasoline ... It’s DELL!
CUT TO:
98. EXT. CLUB ZANZIBAR - NIGHT
The Club Zanzibar sits in the darkness on the left hand side of the
road. A string of multi-colored lights is hung over the front. Sailor
parks the Thunderbird across from the club and cuts the engine.
SAILOR
You ready for this?
LULA
We’ll find out in a hurry.
CUT TO:
99. INT. CLUB ZANZIBAR - NIGHT
When they walk in, the BAND is playing a slow blues and THREE OR FOUR
COUPLES are swaying on the dance floor. There are a dozen tables and a
long bar in the room which is done up in a strange dark azquatic motif.
Eight of the tables are occupied and SIX OR SEVEN MEN stand at the bar.
Everyone in the place is black except for one WHITE WOMAN who is sitting
alone at a table smoking a cigarette and drinking Pearl straight from
the bottle. The atmosphere is not friendly, but Lula takes Sailor by
the arm.
LULA
Come on.
They step up to the bar and order two Lone Star beers. The BARTENDER, a
tall, heavyset man slowly forms his hand into “the bird.” He holds his
hand that way while he speaks...
BARTENDER ZANZIBAR
This is a friendly place, son. You
folks just relax and have a nice time.
LULA
(bound and determined not
to be intimidated)
You got yourself a deal.
BARTENDER
(to Sailor)
That’s a real jacket... By that,
I mean a real stupid jacket.
SAILOR
This is a snakeskin jacket, and for
me it represents a symbol of my
individuality and my belief in
personal freedom.
BARTENDER
Fuckin’ honky cracker mumbo jumbo.
The bartender moves on down the bar. Lula and Sailor take a small table
near the door.
LULA
I’ll be damned if I’m leavin’. That
band is too good?
SAILOR
Uh huh.
LULA
You notice that woman when we come
in? The white woman sittin’ by
herself?
SAILOR
Yeah.
LULA
Well, she ain’t talked to nobody
and ain’t nobody spoke to her that
I could tell. What you make of that?
SAILOR
Honey, we bein’ strangers here and
all, this is the kinda place we don’t
want to make nothin’ of nothin’.
LULA
You think she’s pretty?
Sailor looks at the woman. She lights a new cigarette off a butt, then
squashes the butt in the ashtray. She is thirty years old, maybe more.
Shoulder-length, bleached blonde hair, black at the roots. Clear skin,
green eyes. Long, straight nose with a small bump on it. She is
wearing a low-cut lavender dress that would have emphasized her breasts
had she not been so flat-chested. Slender.
SAILOR
I tend to like ’em with a little
more meat on the bones. Face ain’t
bad, though.
Lula gets quiet and sucks on her beer bottle.
SAILOR
What’s wrong, sweetheart? Somethin’
botherin’ you?
LULA
Mama. I been thinkin’ about her.
She’s prob’ly worried to death by now.
SAILOR
More’n likely.
LULA
I want to call her and tell her
I’m okay. That we’re okay.
SAILOR
I ain’t so sure it’s a great idea,
but that’s up to you. Just don’t tell
her where we are.
LULA
(to Bartender)
Pardon me? Y’all got a phone here
I can use?
BARTENDER ZANZIBAR
Can’t you read?
LULA
(sees the sign -
then to Sailor)
Back in a bit.
She kisses him on the nose and walks back through a dark little door to
the payphone.
CUT TO:
100. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT/
101. INT. CLUB ZANZIBAR - PAYPHONE - NIGHT
Marietta answers the telephone on the second ring.
OPERATOR
I have a collect call from Lula
Fortune. Will you accept?
MARIETTA
Of course! Lula? Where are you?
You all right?
LULA
I’m fine, mama. I just wanted to
tell you not to worry.
MARIETTA
Why, how could I not worry? Not
knowin’ what’s happenin’ to you
or where you are? Are you with
that boy?
LULA
If you mean Sailor, mama, yes I am.
MARIETTA
Are you comin’ back here soon, Lula?
I need you here.
LULA
Need me for what, mama? I’m
perfectly fine, and safe, too.
MARIETTA
You in a dance hall or somethin’?
I can hear music behind you.
LULA
Just a place.
MARIETTA
Really, Lula, this ain’t right!
LULA
Right?! Mama, was it right for you
to sic Johnnie Farragut on us? How
could you do that?
MARIETTA
Did you run into Johnnie in New
Orleans? Lula, are you in New Orleans?
LULA
No, mama, I’m in Mexico, and we’re
about to get on an airplane to Argentina!
MARIETTA
Argentina! Lula, you’re outta your
mind. Now you just tell me where you
are and I’ll come for you. I won’t
say nothin’ to the police about Sailor,
I promise. He can do what he wants,
I don’t care.
LULA
Mama, I’m hangin’ up this phone now.
MARIETTA
No, baby, don’t! Can I send you
somethin’? You runnin’ low on money?
I’ll wire you some money if you tell
me where you are.
LULA
I ain’t that dumb, mama. Sailor and
I been on a crime spree? Knockin’
off convenience stores all across
the south? Ain’t you read about it?
Marietta is crying.
MARIETTA
Lula? I love you, baby. I just
want you to be all right.
LULA
I am all right, mama. That’s why
I called, to let you know. I
gotta go.
MARIETTA
Call me again soon? I’ll be waitin’
by the phone.
LULA
Don’t be crazy, mama. Take care of
yourself.
Lula hangs up.
Marietta hangs up and begins pacing the livingroom floor.
CUT TO:
102. INT. CLUB ZANZIBAR - NIGHT
Sailor and the bleached blonde in the lavender dress are together on the
dance floor. Lula sees them, goes over to the bar, picks up a beer
bottle and throws it at Sailor. The bottle bounces hard off his back
and clangs to the floor, bouncing but not breaking. Sailor turns around
fast and looks at Lula. Everybody else in the place is still.
103. EXT. CLUB ZANZIBAR - NIGHT
Lula runs out. Sailor follows.
Sailor finds her sitting on the ground, leaning against the passenger
side of the Thunderbird. Lula’s eyes are red and wet but she isn’t
crying. Sailor kneels down next to her.
SAILOR
I was just wastin’ time, peanut,
till you come back.
LULA
It’s me who’s wastin’ time, Sailor,
bein’ with you.
SAILOR
Honey, I’m sorry. It wasn’t nothin’.
Come on and get up and we’ll take
off.
LULA
Leave me be for a minute? Mama gets
all insane and then I see you
practicin’ your individuality and
personal freedom with some oil-town
tramp. How you figure I’m gonna feel?
SAILOR
Told you not to call your mama.
Sailor stands and leans against the hood of the car until Lula gets up
and climbs inside. He wraps his snakeskin jacket around her and starts
the car. Lula kisses Sailor on the cheek, puts her head down sideways
on his lap and goes to sleep. Sailor drives.
CUT TO:
104. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - MARIETTA’S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Marietta paces, but then goes back to the phone. She dials a number and
gets an answering machine.
MARIETTA
Santos... If you get this message,
call me right away. It’s Marietta...
I don’t know, Santos... Maybe this
is all not... Call me.
She hangs up. She dials another number. It answers.
MARIETTA
Johnnie! At last! I thought you
was never gonna come back to your room.
CUT TO:
105. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - MARIETTA’S BEDROOM - NIGHT?
106. INT. JOHNNIE’S HOTEL ROOM - MAISON VIOLETTE - NEW ORLEANS
JOHNNIE
I got some news, Marietta. Lula
and Sailor been here. They checked
out of the Hotel Brazil on Frechman
Street yesterday.
MARIETTA
Listen, Johnnie, Lula just called
me. She knew you were in N.O., so
they left the city.
JOHNNIE
Did she tell you where she was
callin’ from?
MARIETTA
No, but my guess is they’re headed
west, so prob’ly Texas. Their money
must be runnin’ low. I don’t think
Sailor had much to begin with, if
any, and Lula took the six hundred
she had saved in the Cherokee Thrift.
JOHNNIE
How’d she sound? Was she doin’ okay?
MARIETTA
Could she be doin’ okay, Johnnie?
She’s tryin’ to prove somethin’ to
me, that’s all. Lula ain’t doin’
no more’n showin’ off, defyin’ me...
(stifles a sob)
Johnnie, I’ve done somethin’ bad...
JOHNNIE
What?
MARIETTA
I won’t tell you over the phone.
I’m comin’ to N.O. and I’ll tell you
then.
JOHNNIE
Marietta, I was just gonna leave and
see if I could pick up their trail.
MARIETTA
No, you wait right there for me...
I’ll be on the Piedmont flight
tomorrow at seven. Meet me at
the airport.
JOHNNIE
I’ll meet you, Marietta, if that’s
what you want, but I’m against it.
MARIETTA
Seven tomorrow evenin’. Se can eat
at Galatoire’s. Fix it.
Marietta hangs up.
CUT TO:
107. EXT. SHELL STATION - HOUSTON - DAY
Sailor and Lula are in a Shell station just outside of Houston. Sailor
is filling the Thunderbird with regular. An OLD MAN sits near the pumps
listening to the radio playing a sad big band tune. Lula starts to
slowly snap her fingers to the beat and the old man gives her a
beautiful smile.
LULA
(smiling and snapping her
fingers)
How much we got left, honey?
SAILOR
Under a hundred.
LULA
You want to stick around here, Sailor?
See if we can get some work?
SAILOR
Not in Houston. We’d be better off
in some place more out of the way.
LULA
You want me to drive for a stretch?
Give you a chance to rest.
SAILOR
That’d be good, Lula.
Sailor kisses her and climbs into the back seat and lays down. Lula
slides behind the wheel and lights up a More. She winks goodbye to the
old man and wheels the car out towards the big beyond.
CUT TO:
108. INT. TEXAS HIGHWAY - DAY
The reception gets bad on the big band tune and Lula starts turning the
dial. Up comes a nationwide call-in talk show and she leaves it there.
ARTIE MAYER, the radio host talks to his callers.
ARTIE
(with a gruff Brooklyn accent)
Come in, Montgomery, Alabama.
CALLER #1
(elderly sounding woman)
Artie? That you, Artie?
ARTIE
Yes, ma’am. What’s on your almost-
perfect mind this evening?
CALLER #1
How ya feelin’, Artie? I heard you
wasn’t doin’ too well recent.
ARTIE
I’m fine, thank you. I had a cardiac
infarction but I’m on a new diet and
exercising regularly. I’ve never
felt better.
CALLER #1
Well, that’s so good to hear, Artie.
You know some of us depend on you
down this way. You’re so entertainin’
and you get so many interestin’ guests.
ARTIE
Thank you. It’s listeners such as
yourself who made me want to get up
out of that hospital bed and back
into the studio as fast as I could.
LULA
(attacking the dial)
Jesus! How could anyone listen to
this crap?
Lula takes a puff of her More and tosses it out the window and starts
turning the radio dial - finds a news station.
REPORTER (NEWS STATION)
...live in exchange for sexual favors.
Police said they have identified and
questioned at least four girls, all
Asians twelve to fifteen years old,
who have been living in the North
Houston warehouse with a Vietnamese
pimp since February. The girls are
being treated as victims, said police
Sergeant Amos Milburn. ‘These are
really just children,’ he said, ‘but
they’ve been exposed to a lot already.
LULA
(lights another cigarette)
I’ll bet.
REPORTER
In international news, India plans
to release crocodiles in the Ganges,
the holy Hindu river in which millions
of people bathe annually, to scavenge
for corpses, authorities said.
CUT TO:
108A. MURKY WATER WITH DEAD BODIES FLOATING
A crocodile suddenly breaks the surface of the water with a rotted human
corpse clutched in its mighty jaws.
REPORTER
(voice-over)
The reptiles were supposed to be of
a docile species, said a senior
government official, but it seems
the breeders bungled and reared
attack crocodiles.
CUT TO:
109. INT. THUNDERBIRD - HIGHWAY TO SAN ANTONIO - DAY
LULA
Damn!
REPORTER
The Indian official who supplied
this information did so only on
condition of anonymity. The Uttar
Pradesh state authorities last October
released five hundred turtles...
CUT TO:
108B. MURKY WATER WITH DEAD BODIES FLOATING
A giant turtle breaks the surface of the water clutching a rotted human
corpse in its mighty jaws.
REPORTER
(voice-over)
in the Ganges near Varanasi to try
and reduce human pollution and now
plan to put in the crocodiles to
devour floatin’ corpses dumped by
Hindus too poor to pay for cremation.
CUT TO:
110. INT. THUNDERBIRD - HIGHWAY TO SAN ANTONIO - DAY
LULA
HOLY SHIT!! IT’S THE NIGHT OF THE
LIVIN’ FUCKIN’ DEAD!!!!
Sailor jumps awake in fright as Lula yanks the car off the road and
brings it to a screeching halt in the middle of the desert.
SAILOR
What’s that, peanut?
LULA
I can’t take no more of this radio...
(switches it off)
I ain’t never heard so much concentrated
weirdness in my life, Sailor Ripley,
you find me some dancin’ music right
this minute... I MEAN IT!!
Sailor starts spinning the dial.
LULA
(still crazed)
The world’s gettin’ worse, I think,
Sailor. And it don’t sound like
there’s much we can do about it,
neither.
SAILOR
This ain’t news, sweetheart. I
hate to tell ya.
Suddenly Sailor finds a station - THE STATION - and he and Lula look at
each other in disbelief...
SAILOR
POWERMAD!!!
Sailor turns it up full blast and he and Lula dance hard until they
disappear in the dust.
CUT TO:
111. INT. MAISON VIOLETTE - LOBBY - NEW ORLEANS - NIGHT
Marietta and Johnnie are standing at the registration desk - talking to
the HOTEL MANAGER.
MANAGER
Here’s your key. Mr. Farragut’s
already taken care of everything.
I hope you’ll be comfortable, Mrs.
Fortune. You’re in room 351 right
down the hall from Mr. Farragut.
The DESK CLERK steps in from a room behind the registration desk.
DESK CLERK
I have a phone call for you, Mrs.
Fortune ... at the phone by the
fireplace. Please wait for it to ring.
Marietta looks at Johnnie. She goes to the phone and picks it up when
it rings.
MARIETTA
Yes?...
CUT TO:
112. INT. HOTEL ROOM - NEW ORLEANS - NIGHT
Marcello Santos sits on the edge of his bed holding the telephone.
SANTOS
I got your message... But you went
right to Johnnie, didn’t you?...
I can’t trust you, bitch - not for
one minute... Naughty girl...
Sailor and Lula are headed west, and
guess what? There’s no turning back.
I’m in a killing mood.
MARIETTA
No...
SANTOS
My very best to Johnnie... Bless
his soul.
He hangs up the phone.
CUT TO:
113. INT. MAISON VIOLETTE - LOBBY - NEW ORLEANS - NIGHT
Johnnie enters as Marietta hangs up the phone - covering her fear.
JOHNNIE
Who was that?... Who know’s your here?
MARIETTA
I’ll be damned if that wasn’t a wrong
number?
CUT TO:
114. INT. MR. REINDEER’S PRIVATE DINING ROOM - NEW ORLEANS - NIGHT
Upstairs in a private dining room, Mr. Reindeer is dining with TWELVE
GUESTS in formal evening attire. Behind him, a JAZZ TRIO and a
STRIPTEASE ARTIST are hard at work. Mr. Reindeer smiles and leans over
very close to a beautiful WOMAN sitting to his left.
MR. REINDEER
Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet,
eating her curds and whey... Along
came a spider and sat down beside her,
and extended his hand out to play.
With this, he reaches under the table between her legs. She turns red
and Mr. Reindeer laughs and lights a cigarette.
MR. REINDEER
Oh dear... Another Miss Dull Cunt.
Reggie and Drop Shadow enter through a door on the other side of the
room. Reggie catches Mr. Reindeer’s eye and smiles. Reggie reaches in
his pocket and takes out a silver dollar - flips it in the air - catches
it - and puts it back in his pocket. Mr. Reindeer smiles and waves him
over to the table. He whispers something in Reggie’s ear - then gives
him an envelope.
MR. REINDEER
When I gave you the silver dollar I
forgot to give you the contents of
this envelope. They are to be
returned. Show it just before the deed...
Reggie pockets the envelope - joins Drop Shadow - and as they are
leaving the dining room, they join a woman, JUANA, who looks half-
Oriental, half-Cajun. She wears a strange, short, yellowish-bleached
blonde wig.
CUT TO:
115. INT. GALATOIRE’S RESTAURANT - NIGHT
They go downstairs together. At the bottom of the stairs, Reggie and
Drop Shadow catch sight of Johnnie who is sitting in the back of the
restaurant having dinner with Marietta. When Johnnie sees the two of
them he waves, but at the same time gets a chill up his spine.
MARIETTA
What is it, Johnnie?
JOHNNIE
Just some guys I met here... I
keep seein’ ’em...
(looks back at Marietta)
Now tell me...
Marietta continues to stare at Reggie, Drop Shadow, and Juana before
turning back to Johnnie. She also feels the fear.
MARIETTA
Johnnie, I can’t tell you, honey. Is
there anyway we can get on the road
tonight? We’ve got to find them kids.
JOHNNIE
Somethin’ was upsettin’ you bad last
night, and you wanted to tell me
and I figured you wanted to tell me
so’s I could help...
MARIETTA
I did, honey, but that was last
night... Let’s just find those two
kids before it’s too late.
JOHNNIE
Honey, I have to ask you this...
Is Santos involved in any of this?
MARIETTA
Hell no, baby... I wouldn’ta done
that without tellin’ you.
JOHNNIE
That bastard Pucinski...
MARIETTA
Who?... Uncle Pooch?...
JOHNNIE
Yeah... The one that introduced
Santos to you and Clyde.
MARIETTA
Johnnie... That’s the past... We
gotta get on to our future, sugar!
JOHNNIE
(smiles)
All I have to do is grab my suitcase,
and I’m ready. You’re lucky cause
I happen to love night drivin’.
MARIETTA
Let’s head for Texas and see if we
can pick up the trail.
JOHNNIE
Did I tell ya it’s great to see ya
again?
MARIETTA
This ’bout the fifth time?
CUT TO:
116. INT. MAISON VIOLETTE - STAIRWAY AND HALLWAY - NEW ORLEANS - NIGHT
Johnnie and Marietta climb together to the second floor and Johnnie
takes Marietta to her room.
MARIETTA
(as she enters her room)
I’ll pack my things and meet you
downstairs.
JOHNNIE
And to think what coulda happened
in that king-sized bed tonight...
MARIETTA
(pinching his cheek)
You won’t of missed much.
JOHNNIE
See ya downstairs.
CUT TO:
116A. MAISON VIOLETTE - JOHNNIE’S ROOM - NIGHT
Johnnie smiles and heads up to his room. He opens the door and steps
inside. WHAM!! Johnnie is knocked in the head with a heavy metal pipe
and he goes down hard. A large dark figure grabs on to him and pulls
him to an open window and lowers him into the back of a pick-up. The
dark figure follows out the window.
DISSOLVE TO:
117. INT. MAISON VIOLETTE - LOBBY - NEW ORLEANS - NIGHT
Marietta is sitting in the lobby trying to hold herself together - half-
sobbing. The MANAGER approaches and sits next to her.
MANAGER
I’m afraid his car is gone, Mrs.
Fortune.
MARIETTA
I don’t understand this... I don’t
understand this one bit. He was
supposed to meet me right her in
this lobby. Somethin’ bad has
happened - I jus know it.
MANAGER
Perhaps we should call a local law
enforcement officer.
MARIETTA
HELL NO!!! That’s the last thing
we need... A buncha cops runnin’
around.
The front desk clerk steps from behind his desk and hurries into the
lobby.
DESK CLERK
I’m sorry... But I have overlooked
this. I’m truly sorry, ma’am.
He hands Marietta a note inside an envelope which she opens and reads
immediately. We see the note.
NOTE
Gone fishing with a friend - maybe
buffalo hunting. Johnnie.
MARIETTA
Oh God! What does that mean?
MANAGER
I’m sure I wouldn’t know, ma’am ...
and buffalo hunting too ... hmmmmm?
MARIETTA
And jus when my baby’s out on some
Texas road with a killer.
The front door of the hotel opens and in walks Santos. He seems to know
exactly where Marietta is and steps to the door of the sitting room off
the lobby. He stands in the doorway and smiles at Marietta.
MARIETTA
(horrified whisper)
Santos... Where’s J-J-Johnnie?
SANTOS
Shhhhhh...
(to the manager and desk clerk)
Thank you, gentlemen... I’ll look
after her now...
The Manager and Desk Clerk bow to Marietta and Santos and go back
through the lobby. Santos walks over to Marietta. Marietta stands.
MARIETTA
Santos... What’s happenin’ here?
SANTOS
Hey... Stop the nervous cry-baby
routine... You’re my girl now...
Santos is gonna wipe away those tears
and make you happy... Come on, let’s
get outta here.
MARIETTA
Where we goin’?
SANTOS
Got word the kids are moving through
Texas... I think an ending is being
arranged there... Come on, lemme
see a smile.
MARIETTA
Please Santos... Where’s Johnnie?
CUT TO:
118. EXT. SMALL HUT - DESERTED BAYOU - NIGHT
Light comes from one small dirty window.
CUT TO:
119. INT. SMALL HUT - DESERTED BAYOU - NIGHT
Johnnie is tied to a small wooden straight-backed chair. His mouth is
gagged and taped shut. His hair is caked with dry blood and one fresh
tickle curls down his forehead to his eyes which are just now beginning
to open and focus. Juana is finishing tying his left ankle to the chair
leg. Johnnie moans and Juana brings her big, smiling face up in front
of his.
JUANA
Johnnie, you take a good look at me,
baby, cause you gonna haf’ta watch
close to know when we do it to ya...
Y’all count when I touch the bottle -
HO!!...
(she slaps Johnnie hard
across the face)
There I slap that mutha fucka face -
pay attention fucka - otherwise we
haf’ta work it all night... Too
much fun for us - you see what I
mean? Now watch me how I touch a
bottle and you count how many times.
Juana steps two paces across the hut where two dirty old soda bottles
sit - one in one corner perched on a dried tree trunk - the other in the
opposite corner perched on an old fence post. Juana touches the left
bottle (#1) once, and crosses and touches the right bottle (#2) once and
comes back and touches Johnnie’s face.
JUANA
You see, Johnnie. I toucha number
one bottle once, I toucha number two
bottle once, and I touch your face.
This is a game we love to play. I
get hot already... Now you meet
second Mr. Killer... Does he fish
or don’t he?
Reggie and Drop Shadow step out of the darkness behind Johnnie and come
around to face him.
REGGIE
Hey, Johnnie... Reggie - you remember
Reggie, don’t ya? Look what I caught.
(to Juana)
I’m gettin’ hot too, mama.
Reggie and Juana kiss hot in front of Johnnie. Juana puts her face down
in front of Johnnie’s again.
JUANA
Now Johnnie... We want to feel the
feelin’... Feel the feelin’... We
be gettin’ up close to you, mutha
fucka, then we go out away ... no’
mally we touch two bottles - both
bottle b’fore comin’ back and
touchin’ you... This mean you okay
fo awhile... If we go out away,
and we touch ONLY ONE BOTTLE b’fore
comin’ back and touchin’ you - you
gonna hear a click from a gun b’hind
you and then it’s gonna be bout ten
seconds... Remember that number ten
- then that’s when the end come...
What end I talk ’bout Johnnie? - I
talk about THE END, FUCKA- That
head will go every part’a this room...
I talk ’bout NO MO JOHNNIE... I
think you understand now - we play game.
REGGIE
(from behind Johnnie)
I can’t stop her, Johnnie... She
get’s me too hot doin’ this... I’m
gonna be right here, but I’m gonna
stand right behind ya with this big
ol’ gun here...
Reggie reaches his hand around in front of Johnnie - showing him a .45
Automatic.
DROP SHADOW
That’s a Marine issue. It goes off
somethin’ terrible - you wanna see?
Drop Shadow pulls the hammer back which makes a loud “click.”
JUANA
You hear click?
Johnnie jumps as Drop Shadow blows a big hole in the far wall in front
of Johnnie.
REGGIE
(laughs)
Hell, it’s even worse than I
remember... Wait a minute...
Reggie comes out in front of Johnnie - Juana grabs him. They kiss hot
again.
JUANA
Okay, gimmee ’nother kiss, Reggie
b’fore I fuck ya right now...
FUCKIN’ HOT NOW, REGGIE.
(she opens her mouth with
her tongue sticking out)
FUCKIN’ HOT!
Juana screams like a monster from hell coming up close to Johnnie’s
face.
JUANA
You think you gonna live through
this night?... YOU WRONG... I
SMELL YO SHIT NOW, JOHNNIE. GIVE
US ONE MO KISS, REGGIE. OH FUCK
ME!!! WE TOUCH BOTTLES NOW - FO
WE CAN’T WAIT NO MO.
Reggie goes back behind Johnnie quick.
JUANA
I go out now... I toucha one bottle...
Reggie... I toucha two bottle...
I come back, I touch Johnnie... AHHHHH
... I touch myself...
(she puts her hand
between her legs)
HA!... Now I go out - I toucha one
bottle... Do I touch second bottle?...
I go now and touch... OH OH... Okay...
This time I toucha second bottle... I
go back, I touch Johnnie... Then I go
back - I kiss Reggie with big gun...
Oh God, Reggie done got two big guns...
HAH!!!... I go out now... SO FUCKIN’
HOT NOW, MAYBE TOO FUCKIN’ HOT NOW,
FUCKA. I toucha one bottle... DO I
GO TOUCH A SECOND BOTTLE?... HUH? -
I DO THIS TIME TOUCH SECOND BOTTLE -
I RUN BACK TOUCH JOHNNIE - TOUCH REGGIE
WITH TONGUE - TOUCH MYSE’F IN HOT
FUCKIN’ PUSSY - GO OUT NOW... NOW I GO
ROUND AND ROUND YOU AHHHH - GO OUT AND
TOUCH A NUMBER ONE BOTTLE - WAIT NOW!!!
... REGGIE... YOU SHOW NOW-
Reggie reaches his hand around Johnnie’s face - tears off tape and gag -
then opens his hand and shows Johnnie a cufflink with a particular
design in turquoise, orange, and silver.
REGGIE
I forgot to show you this. The
gentlemen that gave this to me said
you’d recognize it. Said he wanted
it’d be ’bout the last thing you ever
saw in this life.
JOHNNIE
(recognizing cufflink)
Oh God... OH GOD... Santos...
Oh God Marietta ... are you in on
this?... OH GOD!!!
JUANA
I GO ROUND AND ROUND - DO I TOUCH A
SECOND BOTTLE B’FORE I TOUCH JOHNNIE
- DO I? DO I???.........
(very quietly and breathy)
No... I touch Johnnie.
As her finger touches Johnnie’s face there is a loud “CLICK.” Johnnie
moans and closes his eyes.
JUANA
(counting fast)
One ... two ... three ... four ...
five ... GETTIN’ TOO FUCKIN’ HOT,
REGGIE... FEELIN’ MYSE’F ... six
... seven ... eight...
Johnnie starts to scream and violently try to move out of his chair.
JUANA
Nine...
(she moves out of the way)
FUCK ME NOW, REGGIE... TEN!!!
We see a hole in the front of the barrel - BOOM!!!
The opposite wall and bottles get covered with blood. Juana and Reggie
race into each other’s arms and kiss right above Johnnie’s dead,
bloodied head.
JUANA
FUCK ME!!!!
CUT TO:
120. INT. THUNDERBIRD - TWO LANE TEXAS FARM ROAD - NIGHT
Lula and Sailor are driving through the dark desert.
LULA
Sure is a big deal round here...
Alamo Road, Alamo Street, Alamo Square,
Alamo Buildin’, Alamo Alamo. They ain’t
forgettin’ about it in a hurry. That’s
the thing ’bout memory? Some things
you wish you could forget... What’s
troublin’ you, sugar?
SAILOR
You know, Lula, I never told you
what all I was doin’ before I met you.
LULA
I just figured you was out bein’
Mr. Cool...
SAILOR
Not exactly, sugar... One reason
we’re in all the trouble we’re in
right now is cause of what I was
doin’... I tried to tell you this
before...
LULA
You’re scarin’ me, baby.
SAILOR
Well, there’s a good side as well as
a bad side to it... The good side
is I knew your daddy, and I thought
Clyde was a good ol’ guy...
LULA
You knew my daddy?
SAILOR
Yes I did... I sure did... The bad
side of it is I did some drivin’
for a man named Marcello Santos...
LULA
Oh shit...
SAILOR
I quit workin’ for ’im, but just
before I did, I ended up one night at
a house... I don’t know what it is
they all think I saw that night, but
I was just sittin’ out in the car
till the whole place went up in flames.
LULA
God, Sailor... That’s the night my
daddy died.
SAILOR
I know, sugar... But while the place
was burnin’... Before Santos came
out - I pitched some rocks at the
second floor windows case anyone was
upstairs sleepin’... Afterwards...
When I met you, I always liked to
think I mighta saved your life.
LULA
That’s some big secret you been
carryin’, Sailor.
SAILOR
We all got a secret side, baby. Hope
you don’t think I been lyin’ to you
’bout other things, sugar.
LULA
How’d you know my daddy?
SAIL0R
Met him through Santos... Clyde -
your daddy - had some sorta business
deal with Santos.
Lula stays quiet for a moment - listening to the heavy hum of the V-8.
SAILOR
Lula, you there?
LULA
Yeah, I’m here.
SAILOR
You upset with me?
LULA
No, Sailor darlin’. Just shockin’
sometimes when things aren’t the
way you thought they were... I been
carryin’ a secret too...
CUT TO:
121. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - LIVINGROOM/UPSTAIRS HALLWAY/BEDROOM - NIGHT
The livingroom is on fire.
The livingroom is on fire and we move upstairs - Lula races through the
smoke-filled hallway to her mother’s bedroom.
The livingroom is on fire and Lula throws open the door to her mother’s
bedroom just in time to see Marcello Santos leaving through a window.
Her mother laughs a wild, crazy laugh - exactly the same laugh Lula
heard on the porch of the Cape Fear Hotel.
LULA
(voice-over)
That night in the fire while my
daddy was dyin’... I saw mama up
in her room with Santos...
CUT TO:
122. INT. THUNDERBIRD - TWO LANE TEXAS FARM ROAD - NIGHT
LULA
...They was laughin’ arm in arm
like animals.
SAILOR
I didn’t want to say it ... but I
had a feelin’ Santos was up to
somethin’ with your mama...
LULA
(quietly)
My mama...
(after a pause - she smiles)
So Sailor, our histories have been
somewhat intertwined.
SAILOR
They have, sugar.
LULA
I take that as a sign that we were
destined by fate to be together.
SAILOR
It’s a comfortin’ idea.
LULA
Well, we’re really out in the middle
of it now, ain’t we?
SAILOR
There’s worse places, honey.
LULA
If you say so.
SAILOR
Trust me on it.
LULA
(turns to him)
I do trust you, Sailor. Like I
ain’t never trusted nobody before.
SAILOR
(after a moment)
We’ll be al’right, peanut, long as
we’ve got room to move.
LULA
(looking into the highway)
What’s that?
SAILOR
I don’t know... Looks like clothes.
Sailor starts to slow down. The highway is suddenly littered with
clothes strewn everywhere and two open suitcases smashed near the side
of the road. Sailor slows down to a crawl. He and Lula turn to each
other - they’ve just seen TWO DEAD BODIES. One close to the side of the
highway - and other just off in the desert brush. Off behind is an
overturned car.
LULA
Oh God, Sailor.
SAILOR
One bad car accident...
LULA
SAILOR!!!
Coming out of the darkness is a YOUNG GIRL, her clothes half torn off -
blood draining out of several deep wounds.
LULA
Sailor, what are we gonna do?
SAILOR
I don’t know, honey, but we gotta
help that girl - get her to a town and
hope no one catches on I broke parole.
They get out of the car and the girl comes toward them screaming.
GIRL
(completely gone in shock)
I’ve got about five hundred dollars
in my wallet and I can’t find it...
My mother’s going to kill me. It’s
got all my cards in it... It was
in my pocket... Now my pockets gone.
MY PURSE IS GONE!!! NOW SHE TELLS ME.
The girl starts walking back toward the car.
SAILOR
Let’s get ahold a’ her quick.
LULA
You think she’s gonna make it?
SAILOR
Don’t know, but she’s gonna bleed
all over our car, I’ll tell ya that...
(to Girl)
Hey... Hello... Girl... You gotta
come with us, honey.
Sailor reaches out cautiously and takes hold of the girl’s arm.
GIRL
OWWW GOD!!! LEAVE ME ALONE...
ROBERT!!!... Shit, I got this damn
sticky stuff in my hair...
She keeps digging her fingers into a bloody wound in her head.
GIRL
Gotta find my wallet.
(to Sailor)
Don’t you say one word of this to
my mother. God, she’s gonna kill me.
The girls falls to one knee and struggles to get back up. Sailor and
Lula each take an arm and try to help her.
GIRL
WHERE’S MY HAIRBRUSH?...
Sailor and Lula help the girl stand, but her eyes start rolling back and
a bunch of fresh blood comes gushing up out of her mouth.
LULA
I can’t take this, Sailor. She’s
dyin’ right in front of our eyes...
SAILOR
I’m afraid she is, baby.
Sailor kneels down next to the girl and runs his hand gently across her
forehead.
GIRL
(wide-eyed now)
Get my lipstick...
(whisper)
It’s in my purse.
The girl dies. Sailor and Lula hold real still for a moment. Lula
starts to cry.
LULA
She died right in front of me. Why’d
she have to go and do that, Sailor?
SAILOR
Let’s get outta here, honey.
Before getting up, Sailor lets his hand come off the girl’s forehead
down over her eyes - closing them. He puts his hand on her cheek then
gets up. He puts his arm around Lula and they go back to her car.
Sailor helps Lula in on her side and closes the door for her. He goes
around, gets in and looks over at Lula, who breaks down crying harder.
Sailor starts the car and takes off.
FADE OUT:
FADE IN:
123. INT. THUNDERBIRD - BIG TUNA - MORNING
The Thunderbird drives past a large stucco fish on a rock stand which
has a sign on it that says “BIG TUNA, TEXAS.” Sailor cruises the T-Bird
along the main street of Big Tuna, eye-balling the place.
SAILOR
Well, it ain’t exactly Emerald City...
LULA
Not quite as bad as the weather though...
It must be a hundred and ten and it
ain’t even noon yet.
123A. EXT. IGUANA MOTEL - MORNING
Sailor pulls the car up in front of the Iguana Motel.
SAILOR
This’ll do.
CUT TO:
124. INT. IGUANA MOTEL - DAY
The room is simple: double bed, dresser, mirror, chair, sink, toilet,
bathtub (no shower), electric fan, window overlooking the street.
SAILOR
Not bad for eleven dollars a day.
LULA
No radio or TV...
She strips off the spread, tosses it in a corner and sits down on the
bed.
LULA
And no AC.
SAILOR
Fan works.
LULA
Now what?
SAILOR
Let’s get a sandwich and find out
about some work.
LULA
Sailor?
SAILOR
Yeah?
LULA
This ain’t exactly my most thrillin’
notion of startin’ a new life.
They stare at each other. Lula suddenly feels sick to her stomach and
slumps down on the edge of the bed.
LULA
I’m gonna stay here in this room,
Sailor. I don’t feel so good? This
heat makes me tired.
SAILOR
Okay, honey, I’ll see you later.
CUT TO:
125. EXT. RED’S GARAGE - DAY
A tall, skinny man, RED, in his early thirties with wild, uncombed hair
the color of pomegranate, walks out of the garage.
SAILOR
You Red?
RED
(with a smile)
Well, I ain’t Blackie.
Sailor holds out his right hand to shake.
SAILOR
Name’s Sailor Ripley. Katy over at
the drugstore thought you might have
some work I could do.
Red extends his oil-blackened right hand and shakes.
RED
Things ain’t real hot right now.
Rex, there though,
(nodding toward a half-naked
man burrowed under an ’83 Buick)
is about to relocate in about a week
to San Angelo. I might could use a
man when he does... You good with
engines?
SAILOR
I ain’t no Enzo Ferrari, but they
used to call me Wrench when I was a
kid.
RED
We’ll see how she goes then when
Rex takes off. Check back.
Two men, SPARKY and BUDDY, both about forty, walk up to Red. One of
them wears a grey baseball cap with a Confederate flag on it and the
other has an LBJ straw Stetson.
SPARKY
How’s it look?
RED
Reckon the head’s cracked, like I
thought.
SPARKY
Shit, that’s what I was afraid of.
RED
I’ll get you foreigners a beer.
BUDDY
(to Sailor)
I’m Buddy, and this here’s Sparky.
Sailor introduces himself to Sparky and Buddy and Rex. They all shake
hands or nod and move out of the sun to drink their beers.
SAILOR
My girl and I are lookin’ for a
place to settle. We’re bunked down
at the Iguana Motel.
SPARKY
So are we. It’s the only motel in
Big Tuna. Have you met Bobby ‘Just
Like The Country’ Peru yet?
SAILOR
No, we just got in a hour and a
half ago.
BUDDY
You will. He’s the Mr. Fix-It at
the Iguana. His truck broke down
here a couple of months ago.
REX
Escaped con. Man got some serious
prison tattoos.
RED
Ever’body got a past.
BUDDY
Just some got more future in ’em
than others.
REX
That ain’t no lie.
Sailor finishes his beer, stands it on the ground and steps on it,
crushing it flat.
SAILOR
Been nice meetin’ y’all. ’Preciate
the beer. I’ll be seein’ y’all
soon.
BUDDY
Very soon.
SPARKY
One thing about bein’ in Big Tuna:
you don’t have much choice about who
you see and who you don’t.
CUT TO:
126. EXT. IGUANA BANK - DAY
The temperature on the tower reads “One Hundred Twelve.”
CUT TO:
127. INT. IGUANA MOTEL - DAY
In front of the door there is a large, damp spot on the rug where about
a hundred and fifty flies are buzzing and landing. Sailor sees this
when he opens the door. He steps across the large spot and finds Lula
just waking up on the bed.
LULA
That you, Sail, honey?
SAILOR
The only one.
Lula opens her eyes and looks at him.
LULA
You find any work?
SAILOR
Maybe. Met a guy named Red, owns a
garage, could have some work in
about a week. Met a few hard luck
boys who’s stayin’ here. What’s
that smell?
LULA
I barfed. Tried to make it to the
bathroom... Turned out it was the
wrong door anyways... I sorta got
it cleaned up.
SAILOR
You sick?
LULA
A little, I think... Darlin’?
SAILOR
Yeah?
LULA
Come sit by me.
Sailor goes over and sits on the bed.
LULA
I don’t know that this is the right
place for us.
Sailor strokes Lula’s head.
SAILOR
It ain’t gonna be forever, peanut.
Lula closes her eyes.
LULA
I know, Sailor. Nothin’ is.
CUT TO:
128. EXT. SKY OVER BIG TUNA - EVENING
The darkening evening sky is filled with flying monkeys.
CUT TO:
129. INT. IGUANA MOTEL - COURTYARD - NIGHT
Sailor, Lula, Sparky, and Buddy are sitting in the courtyard of the
motel sharing Sparky’s fifth of Ezra Brooks. An electric bug killer is
working overtime. Buddy is reading from a newspaper.
BUDDY
(reading from paper)
“Robert Brenton, twenty-five, was
killed when his car went off the road
on State Highway 118, according to the
Department of Public Safety. Brenton
and two passengers, William Reese and
Susan Day, were thrown from the
automobile, reports said.”
Sailor looks at Lula.
SAILOR
Susan Day...
The assistant manager, TOMMY THOMPSON, speaks from the shadows behind
the group.
TOMMY
Robert Brenton, that dumb fuck. That
stupid shit... That fuckin’ Bob was
so fuckin’ dumb... He deserved to
die... That asshole.
They all look over at Tommy.
BUDDY
Hey, Tommy... What’s goin’ on over
there in number four where al them
bright lights are all the time?
TOMMY
Them are makin’ a pornographic movie...
Texas style... Why? You wanna join in?
SPARKY
How do you get sixteen Haitians into
a Dixie Cup?
LULA
How?
SPARKY
Tell ’em it floats.
BUDDY
Sparky’s big on Florida jokes.
SPARKY
You need a active sense of humor to
survive in the Big Tuna.
BOBBY PERU walks in and comes over.
BOBBY
Hey, everybody.
BUDDY
Sailor, Lula, this here’s the man
himself. Bobby, this is Sailor
and Lula, the most recent strandees,
economic variety.
Bobby nods to Lula and offers a hand to Sailor.
BOBBY
Bobby Peru, just like the country.
Sparky and Buddy laugh.
BUDDY
Accordin’ to Red and Rex, Bobby’s
the most excitin’ item to hit Big
Tuna since the ’86 cyclone sheared
the roof off the high school.
SPARKY
Only in town two months and there
ain’t a young thing around don’t
know how that cobra tattoo works,
right, Bob?
Bobby laughs. He has a lopsided grin that exposes only three brownish
front teeth and he has flat black eyes that seem to reflect no light.
LULA
You from Texas, Mr. Peru?
Bobby pulls up a chair and pours himself a shotglass full of whiskey.
BOBBY
I’m from all over.
SAILOR
(noticing a USMC tattoo
on Bobby’s right hand)
You was in the Marines, huh?
Bobby looks down at his hand, flexs it.
BOBBY
Four years.
SPARKY
Bobby was at Cao Ben.
LULA
What’s Cao Ben?
BOBBY
(to Lula)
How old are you?
LULA
Twenty.
BUDDY
Lotta women and kids and old people
died at Cao Ben.
BOBBY
March, 1968. We torched a village
and the government made a big deal
out of it.
Bobby sips the whiskey and closes his eyes for several seconds before
reopening them and looking at Buddy. His eyes open slowly and they
practically burn a hole in Buddy.
BOBBY
(to Buddy)
You was on a ship, pardner. Hard to
make contact with the people when
you’re off floatin’ in the Gulf of
Tonkin.
SPARKY
(changing the subject)
Hey Bobby, have yourself another
glass ’a Jack.
Sparky refills Bobby’s shotglass. Bobby tosses it back in one gulp.
BOBBY
Don’t mind if I fuckin’ do...
Speakin’ ’a Jack... One-eyed Jacks
yearnin’ to go a peepin’ in a
seafood store... Good meetin’ you.
Adios, boys.
He walks out and after he’s gone...
LULA
Somethin’ in that man scares me.
BUDDY
No shit.
SPARKY
(pouring himself another shot)
Bobby’s got a way... Can’t shake
that institution odor.
Lula puts a hand on Sailor’s leg.
LULA
Darlin’, I still ain’t feelin’ so
well. I’m goin’ to bed.
SAILOR
I’ll come along.
They say goodnight to Sparky and Buddy and head for their room.
CUT TO:
130. INT. IGUANA MOTEL - SAILOR AND LULA’S ROOM - NIGHT
SAILOR
Man, that barf smell don’t fade fast.
Lula goes right to the bed and flops down on it.
SAILOR
Anything I can do for you?
LULA
No, I don’t think so, Sail. I
just need to lie down.
Lula listens to Sailor brush his teeth, urinate into the toilet and
flush it. Sailor comes out of the bathroom and climbs into bed.
LULA
Sailor? You know what?
SAILOR
I know you ain’t particularly pleased
bein’ here.
LULA
Not that. Look at what I wrote down
cause I can’t say it.
Lula hands Sailor a note which reads “I’m pregnant.” Sailor looks into
her eyes.
SAILOR
It’s okay by me, peanut.
LULA
Well, nothin’ personal, but I ain’t
sure it’s okay by me.
Sailor crumples the note and puts it in the ashtray.
LULA
Really, Sailor, it ain’t nothin’
against you. I love you.
SAILOR
Love you, too.
LULA
I know. Just I’m sorta uncomfortable
about the way some things is goin’,
and this don’t help soothe me.
SAILOR
I know this ain’t easy, Lula, but
I ain’t gonna let things get no
worse, I promise.
CU of Lula setting fire to the pregnant note in the ashtray.
DISSOLVE TO:
131. INT. IGUANA MOTEL - SAILOR AND LULA’S ROOM - DAY
CU of flies on vomit stain.
There is a knock on the door which wakes Lula from her nap. She opens
the door. Bobby Peru stands outside.
BOBBY
Hey, pretty woman... Sailor here?
LULA
No, he’s out changin’ the oil in
the car.
BOBBY
Man, I gotta take a piss bad... Can
I use your head there?
LULA
Well... Yeah - okay.
BOBBY
I don’t mean your head head - I’m
not gonna piss on your head - your
hair an’ all... Just piss in the
toilet. Y’all take a listen -
here a deep sound comin’ down from
Bobby Peru.
Bobby enters the bathroom and starts to urinate.
CUT TO:
132. EXT. PERDITA DURANGO’S HOUSE - DAY
Sailor pulls the T-Bird up front and hurries up to the screen door.
Flies are buzzing all around. PERDITA DURANGO comes forward out of the
darkness inside.
PERDITA
(recognizing him)
Oh... Look at this... What do you
want, snakeskin?
SAILOR
Just passin’ through on my way to
who knows where...
PERDITA
Sure... I figured I’d see you
sometime...
SAILOR
Hopin’ you could tell me if there’s
a contract out on me. I really
need to know.
PERDITA
By who?
SAILOR
I think Santos or Marietta Fortune.
PERDITA
Heard you was goin’ out with that
bitch’s daughter.
SAILOR
You heard right.
PERDITA
You really are one dumb asshole.
SAILOR
Life is unpredictable.
PERDITA
Does that girlfriend of yours know
that her mama and Santos killed her
daddy?
(Sailor doesn’t answer -
Perdita smiles)
Does she know her own daddy was one
of the biggest drug dealers around -
till he started snortin’ the shit
himself?...
(Sailor doesn’t answer)
Does she know you was around that
night her daddy was set fire to?
SAILOR
I didn’t see nothin’...
PERDITA
Yeah... But I did... And I told you
all about it...
SAILOR
Is there a contract?... We made a
deal once that we’d tip each
other off if we ever heard.
PERDITA
I know... I remember.
SAILOR
Well?...
PERDITA
I ain’t heard of nothin’.
SAILOR
Thanks...
Sailor goes back to his car and takes off.
CUT TO:
133. INT. INGUANA MOTEL - SAILOR AND LULA’S ROOM - DAY
Bobby is pacing around the room.
BOBBY
Hey... You gotta smell in this room
of puke... You been pukin’ in here,
little girl? Huh?... You sick?...
Pregnant?
LULA
(flinches)
You used the toilet, now you can go
- what I do around here ain’t any
of your business, that’s for sure.
BOBBY
You know, I really do like a woman
with tits like yours that talks
tough and acts like she can fuck
like a bunny... Can you fuck like
that?... You like it like a bunny?...
Huh?... Cause baby, I’ll fuck you
like a real good like a big ol’ jack-
rabbit bunny... Jump all around in
that hole... Bobby Peru doesn’t come
up for air.
LULA
Get out.
BOBBY
Am I scarin’ ya?... Your pussy wet?
... Come on ... is it?...
(moves his hand toward her)
Hey, don’t jump back so slow... I
thought you was a bunny... Bunny
jump fast - you jump back slow...
Mean somethin’, don’t it?... Means
somethin’ to me... Means you want
Bobby Peru... You want Bobby Peru
to fuck you hard baby - open you
up like a Christmas present.
Suddenly Bobby jumps back, shakes his head and straightens his hair.
BOBBY
Hey... I’m sorry... I don’t think
I’m bein’ too polite here ... and
I apologize... Hell... A man sees
a pretty woman and first thing he
knows, he loses his manners... Sure
sign of modern times... Next thing
ya know, his old hand’ll start
crawlin’ around where it oughtn’t to
go... I’ll be real honest with ya...
I’d like to fuck you and tear you
open like a paycheck envelope...
Will you be honest with me - would
you like me to do it?... Just a
simple yes or no...
He steps a little closer to her.
BOBBY
Just feel me breathin’ on you...
And you’ll know I mean business when
it comes to fuckin’.
With all the strength she can muster, Lula slaps Bobby across the face.
LULA
GET OUT!!!
Bobby grabs on to her hard.
BOBBY
Bobby Peru grab you now... Hold
you tight... Feel everythin’ in you
now... Stay quiet... Say “fuck me”
and then I’ll leave.
LULA
(struggling)
No way... GET OUT!!!
BOBBY
Say it!... I’LL TEAR YOUR FUCKIN’
HEART OUT, GIRL... Say “fuck me”
soft - then I’ll leave. Say “fuck
me”... Whisper it... Then I’ll
leave... Say it... Say it - Say
it - Say it...
Bobby moves in very close to her - Lula’s trembling. Bobby puts his
hand on her neck and moves it up and down behind her ear.
BOBBY
Say it... Then I’ll leave... Whisper
it... Whisper it... Whisper it...
Whisper “fuck me”...
His hand moves down over her breasts - down across her stomach - and
down. Lula’s left hand opens and spreads wide.
BOBBY
Whisper it... Whisper “fuck me”...
Whisper... Whisper... Whisper...
Whisper...
LULA
(whispers)
Fuck me.
BOBBY
Someday honey, I will... But I
have to be goin’ now... Conta i
no joras...
Bobby leaves smiling and slams the door. Lula stands trembling clicking
her heels together.
LULA
(whispers)
Sailor...
CUT TO:
134. EXT. IGUANA MOTEL - AFTERNOON
Sailor is just about finished changing the oil in the Thunderbird when
Bobby Peru pulls up in the maroon Eldo.
BOBBY
Need a hand?
SAILOR
Thanks, Bobby, ’bout done.
Sailor throws some stuff in the trunk and closes the lid.
BOBBY
How ’bout a beer?
SAILOR
That’d be fine, Bobby.
BOBBY
Let’s go by Rosarita’s. You been
there yet?
SAILOR
No, haven’t heard of it.
BOBBY
Thought maybe Sparky and Buddy’d
taken ya. Come on, I’ll drive.
134A. INT. ELDORADO - BIG TUNA - DAY
They get into the Cadillac and Bobby takes off down Big Tuna’s main
drag.
SAILOR
This your car?
BOBBY
(laughs)
Hell, no, belongs to my girl’s sister.
The sister’s been over to New Orleans,
lets us have it while she’s gone.
Where’s that pretty little lady of
yours today?
SAILOR
Restin’ in our room. She ain’t been
feelin’ well.
BOBBY
Sorry to hear it.
SAILOR
New Orleans, huh?... We was just there.
CUT TO:
135. EXT. ROSARITA’S - DAY
Bobby parks the Eldo in among half a dozen pick-up trucks.
BOBBY
Used to be this was a Mobil. Man
converted it into a private club and
named it after his wife. She left
him and he shot himself. The wife
owns it now.
CUT TO:
136. INT. ROSARITA’S - DAY
They enter a long, dark room where a DOZEN MEN, most of them wearing
cowboy hats, sit on stools at a bar drinking beer out of frosted mugs.
BOBBY
No hard liquor here. Just beer.
They claim two stools.
BOBBY
Couple Stars, Jimmy.
The BARTENDER brings over two bottle and two mugs - then walks back to
the other end of the bar.
SAILOR
Thought you said this was a private
club. How come I’m allowed in
without bein’ a member?
BOBBY
You black?
SAILOR
No.
BOBBY
You an indian?
SAILOR
No.
BOBBY
Then you’re a member... Three or
four millionaires in here right now.
SAILOR
(looking around)
They look like a bunch of good ol’
boys to me. I guess it’s oil money,
huh?
BOBBY
Oil, gas, cattle, farmin’. Ain’t
nobody shows off around here. Iguana
County’s one of the richest in Texas.
SAILOR
Wouldn’ta guessed it, that’s sure.
BOBBY
Ready for another?
SAILOR
Why not?
DISSOLVE TO:
LATER
Bobby returns from the jukebox and sits down next to Sailor.
BOBBY
Q-7, three times. Pee Wee King’s
“Waltz of Regret,” my favorite tune.
Pee Wee’s steel guitar ripples through the cigarette haze and buzzes
around Sailor’s head. His reflection wobbles in the long mirror behind
the bar.
BOBBY
I been studyin’ a situation over in
Lobo, take two men to handle it.
SAILOR
What’s that?
BOBBY
Feed store keeps up to five K in
their safe. Need me a good boy for
back-up. Even split. You interested?
Sailor stares at Bobby and works hard to focus his eyes.
SAILOR
No... I don’t think so, man.
BOBBY
Be easy, Sailor. There’s two employees.
I take one in the back to open the
safe, you keep the other’n covered...
You ain’t plannin’ on raisin’ a
fam’ly in Big Tuna, are ya?
SAILOR
(on the alert)
Whattaya mean family?
BOBBY
(smiling)
Well... I mean like Lula bein’ in
a family way.
SAILOR
(a tinge of jealousy/fear)
Lula tell you she’s pregnant?
Bobby grins, showing those three brown teeth.
BOBBY
Couple grand or more’d give you two
a leg up. Get you to the west
coast, Mexico, most anyplace, with
a few dollars in your jeans. I
got it figured good, Sailor.
SAILOR
When did you talk to Lula?
BOBBY
Talked to her this afternoon...
While you was out.
SAILOR
She really say she was pregnant?
BOBBY
(smiles - puts a hand on
Sailor’s shoulder)
Just took a guess is all... You
in or out on this deal?
SAILOR
(looking at Bobby’s hand
on his shoulder)
I ain’t fuckin’ sure, Bobby.
BOBBY
Don’t think about it too long.
(nods toward Sailor’s mug)
You had enough?
SAILOR
(finishing his beer)
Have now.
BOBBY
Come on outside, I got somethin’
to show ya.
136A. EXT. ROARITA’S - LATE AFTERNOON/EVENING
Bobby looks around in the purple twilight before he opens the trunk of
the Eldorado. He peels back a brown army blanket.
BOBBY
That’s a double-barreled, sawed-off,
Ithaca shotgun with a carved pistol
grip stock wrapped with adhesive tape.
Next to it’s a cold Smith and Wesson
.32 handgun with a six inch barrel.
These’ll do ’er... Loosen up that
five grand... Two and a half for you
and the little lady...
Bobby closes the trunk. Sailor stands - hesitating to commit.
BOBBY
How much money you have between the
two a’ya right now?...
SAILOR
Forty bucks...
BOBBY
This is easy money, pardner... No
ones gonna get hurt in this thing...
And I don’t think you can afford not
to take it... I’ll be bringin’ the
Eldo ’round the front of the motel
at ten tomorrow mornin’... If you
ain’t a pussy - you’ll be there.
Sailor stares at him and his fist clenches.
SAILOR
I don’t particularly care for that
kind of talk, Bobby.
BOBBY
Hey... I never said you was a pussy...
Always figured you had the big ol’
round balls for this kind’a thing...
Sure would set you and that pretty
little girl up good.
SAILOR
Yeah ... yeah... I guess so...
That kind’a money’d get us a long
way down that yellow brick road...
Bobby cocks his head and squints at him questioningly.
SAILOR
...But DAMN man... This better go
smooth.
BOBBY
Like takin’ candy from a fuckin’
baby...
CUT TO:
137. INT. IGUANA MOTEL - SAILOR AND LULA’S ROOM - NIGHT
Sailor bends over the bed and kisses Lula’s hair above her left ear.
LULA
You been drinkin’, huh?
SAILOR
Few beers is all. Feelin’ any better?
Lula rolls onto her back.
LULA
Can’t tell yet. Where’d you go?
SAILOR
That smell’s still fillin’ this
room good.
LULA
Buddy and Sparky come by earlier.
SAILOR
(looks right into her eyes)
And Bobby too, I hear...
LULA
(can’t look at him)
Yeah... He was lookin’ for you.
SAILOR
You talk to ’im some?...
LULA
Some... Sparky said Red’s promised
to have him and Buddy out of here
by the weekend.
SAILOR
Oughta make ’em happy.
LULA
So where’d you say you was?
SAILOR
(can’t look at her)
Went with Bobby.
Sailor sits on the bed and starts undressing.
LULA
Sail?
SAILOR
Uh huh?
LULA
Let’s leave here.
SAILOR
We’re goin’ to, Lula, real soon.
LULA
I mean tomorrow.
SAILOR
We got about forty bucks, sweetheart.
That’d get us to El Paso.
LULA
Rather be in El Paso than Big Tuna.
Sailor gets into bed.
SAILOR
You shouldn’t be smokin’ if you’re
pregnant. Ain’t smart.
Lula sticks a More between her lips and lights it. She takes a deep
drag, blows out the smoke, and stares at Sailor.
LULA
Who says I’m smart? You up to
somethin’ with Bobby Peru, Sailor?
SAILOR
What could I be up to, Lula?
LULA
He’s a stone fuckin’ criminal, honey,
and you ain’t.
SAILOR
I killed Bob Ray Lemon, didn’t I?
LULA
That was a accident. I bet both our
asses Bobby Peru done murdered all
kinds of people, and meant it, too.
SAILOR
That was in Vietnam.
LULA
He’s the kind liked it.
SAILOR
Lula, I got to get some sleep.
LULA
Buddy told me about that thing at
Cao Ben?
SAILOR
What?
LULA
Was a massacre. Soldiers there
murdered old folks, women and babies,
and dumped ’em in a trench. Bobby
Peru prob’ly killed the most.
SAILOR
Lula, he mighta did, I don’t know.
But it don’t matter now. Lotta guys
go outta control in a war and it
ain’t their fault.
Lula puffs hard on her cigarette.
LULA
I sure enjoy smokin’, Sailor. I
hate that it’s bad for you.
Sailor turns on his side, away from Lula, and pulls a pillow over his
head.
LULA
That man’s a black angel, Sailor.
You hook up with him, you’ll regret
it. If you live to.
S AILOR
Thanks, darlin’, I know you got my
best interest in mind, and I
’preciate it sincerely. I love
you, but I gotta sleep now.
Lula lights a second More off the first one and stubs out the butt on
the dresser top.
LULA
This whole worlds wild at heart and
weird on top.
Lula turns over, away from Sailor.
LULA
(softly)
I wish you really, truly loved me...
I wish you’d sing me “Love Me Tender”
... I wish I was somewhere over
that rainbow... Shit. Shit, shit,
shit.
CU of Sailor’s eyes - he remembers.
CUT TO:
138. INT. BAY ST. CLEMENT HOTEL - STAIRCASE - NIGHT
Sailor and Lula are walking down the carpeted stairs when Sailor is
called by BOB RAY LEMON, who is coming down towards them fast. Marietta
stands at the top - watching.
BOB RAY
Hey Sailor... Wait a minute... I
got somethin’ for ya.
As Bob Ray passes Lula on the stairs - he puts his hand between her
legs. Sailor starts to see red. Bob Ray smiles and steps down to
Sailor. He leans in and whispers in Sailor’s ear.
BOB RAY
Shit, man... Marietta says you been
tryin’ to fuck her in the toilets
for the past ten minutes... You
crazy fuckin’ bad boy tryin’ to
fuck your girl’s mama... How do
you think that cute little cunt Lula
would feel about that? Hey, take a
look at this...
(shows Sailor one thousand
dollars in cash)
Marietta just gave me this to kill
you right now, and afterward she
said Lula was mine to fuck all the
way into next Sunday.
Bob Ray pulls a knife, but Sailor’s fist is already halfway through Bob
Ray’s brain. From there, Sailor steps firmly into the crazy zone.
Amidst blood-curdling hysterical screams from a growing throng of
SOUTHERN BELLES, Sailor starts taking Bob Ray apart limb by limb and
doesn’t stop until Bob Ray lays completely destroyed and completely dead
at the foot of the stairs. The crowd of formally dressed onlookers
stand aghast. Sailor stares up at Marietta. Both their eyes burning
with hate.
CUT TO:
139. INT. IGUANA MOTEL - SAILOR AND LULA’S ROOM - NIGHT
Sailor is dripping with sweat. His teeth are clenched tight and his
fists violently grip the sheets, as if any minute he could tear the bed
apart.
CUT TO:
140. INT. PERDITA DURANGO’S HOUSE - NIGHT
Bobby lets the screen door bang shut behind him as he comes in and roams
around the livingroom.
PERDITA
Nice of you to drop by.
BOBBY
Told ya I would. You still riled?
PERDITA
(laughs)
You still screwing sixteen-year-olds
in the ass?
Bobby keeps circling.
BOBBY
Ain’t never had no girl pull a blade
on me.
PERDITA
Wish I’d fuckin’ cut you up good.
BOBBY
You heard from Reggie?
PERDITA
Juana called. They’re stayin’
another week.
Bobby stops walking and stares at the photograph on the wall.
BOBBY
Stayin’ a few extra days in the big
N.O., huh? This you?
Perdita turns her head and looks, then turns back.
PERDITA
Yes.
We see the photo now. In it are Perdita along with her sister, Juana,
and her husband, Reggie, whom we recognize as the killers of Johnnie.
BOBBY
Don’t look like you.
Bobby turns around and leans down and puts his face next to Perdita’s
from behind.
BOBBY
The cobra’s waitin’ to strike, chica.
PERDITA
That guy Sailor came around this
afternoon... Asked me if there was
a contract out on ’im.
BOBBY
(laughs out loud)
No shit?!?! You know him?
PERDITA
Used to.
BOBBY
What’d you say?
PERDITA
No, of course.
Bobby takes out a silver dollar and flips it into the air. It lands
tails up in his hand. He pockets it.
BOBBY
That’s right... Could have a bad
accident, though ... before ...
durin’ ... or after a hold-up...
PERDITA
What’s gonna happen when he sees me
drivin’ the car tomorrow?
BOBBY
Maybe he’ll get a little nervous,
but who gives a shit?
Bobby lowers his hands into the front of Perdita’s blouse and cups her
breasts. She burns the back of his left wrist with her cigarette.
Bobby jumps back, then grabs Perdita’s hair and pulls her over the couch
onto the floor. Neither of them speak. She tries to stand, but Bobby
keeps his right foot on her chest while he blows the back of his wounded
wrist. Perdita shoves his leg to one side and rolls away. She stand up
and spits at him.
BOBBY
(grinning)
I knew we could be friends again...
CUT TO:
141. INT. IGUANA MOTEL - DAY
Lula lays very still on the bed. Her head is close to the small
turquoise radio on the bedside table. She is listening to a piece of
sad, nostalgic music and as we move in closer to her and the radio - the
volume increases.
Lula remembers some “moments” in her life with Sailor: (Music continues
over)
When he kissed her outside the jail gate.
When he touched her breast the day after he got out of jail.
When they sat behind the Confederate Soldier.
When they danced to “Slaughter House.”
Suddenly, Lula sees an image in her mind that she does not recognize.
She sees an abstract image of reflected light with two eyes looking
through it at her. The image puzzles her.
(The Music continues over)
CUT TO:
142. EXT. IGUANA MOTEL - DAY
The big Eldorado pulls up in front of the Iguana Motel where Sailor has
been waiting in the hot sun. Bobby opens the door.
BOBBY
Jump in back.
Sailor crawls in the back seat and sees Perdita just as she floors it
and they take off in a cloud of dust.
142A. INT. ELDORADO - BIG TUNA - DAY
SAILOR
What’s she doin’ here?
BOBBY
She’s my girl... She’s drivin’...
That bother you?
SAILOR
Why should it?
BOBBY
That’s right... Take one of these.
SAILOR
What is it?
BOBBY
Panty hose. Work better’n stockin’s.
Pull one of the legs down over your
face and let the other leg trail
behind your head. You get the pistol.
(hands him the .32)
Remember, soon as we get inside, you
keep that bad boy up where those
hicks can see it. Once they notice
the Ithaca and the Smith, they’ll
know we ain’t foolin’ with ’em.
PERDITA
Comin’ up on it now, Bobby.
CUT TO:
143. EXT. RAMOS FEED STORE - DAY
Bobby slips the panty hose over his head and adjusts it. His face looks
crooked and distorted.
BOBBY
(frightening whisper)
Come on! Get that mask on!
Sailor rips open the package and pulls a nylon leg over his head,
stretching the calf part to fit.
Perdita pulls up in front of the store. The street is deserted.
BOBBY
Keep it revved, Chiquita. We won’t
be long. Just goin’ in to get our
five grand.
CUT TO:
144. INT. RAMOS FEED STORE - FRONT OFFICE - DAY
Bobby and Sailor enter the feed store. Bobby raises his sawed-off
shotgun and points it at the TWO OLD MEN behind the counter.
BOBBY
Into the back room, both of you,
NOW!!!
Bobby and the two men head down the hall into the back room.
BOBBY
(calling back to Sailor)
If anyone comes in, herd ’em back
here quick.
CUT TO:
145. EXT. RAMOS FEED STORE - DAY
Suddenly, an Iguana County DEPUTY SHERIFF cruises up in a patrol car and
parks it on angle in front of the idling Eldo. The Deputy gets out of
his car and walks over to the driver’s side of the Eldorado.
DEPUTY
Waitin’ for somebody, Miss?
PERDITA
Mi esposo. He’s in the feed store
picking up some supplies.
DEPUTY
You’d best be careful of that cigarette,
Ma’am. It’s about to burn down
between your fingers.
Perdita stubs out her Marlboro in the ashtray.
PERDITA
Gracias, officer.
CUT TO:
146. INT. RAMOS FEED STORE - FRONT OFFICE - DAY
The two old guys have their hands in the air and are moving back behind
the counter. Bobby is just finishing tying off a bag of money. Sailor
is by the front door holding his pistol on the two old guys. When Bobby
finishes tying the money bag - he lifts the shotgun and blows a hole
through the chest of one of the old men. Sailor goes into shock.
SAILOR
BOBBY!!!! STOP IT, MAN!!!
CUT TO:
147. EXT. RAMOS FEED STORE - DAY
Reacting to the shot, Perdita jams the gear shift into reverse and peels
out, knocking the deputy down.
CUT TO:
148. INT. RAMOS FEED STORE - FRONT OFFICE - DAY
Sailor turns his pistol on Bobby now. Bobby spins his shotgun around
and points it at Sailor.
BOBBY
You’re next, fucker.
The second old man is reaching under the counter.
Sailor fires his .32 at Bobby. There are no live bullets in his pistol.
It just makes a dry click. Bobby smiles and is just about to kill
Sailor when out of the corner of his eye he catches sight of the second
old man bringing out a big shotgun of his own. Bobby instinctively
spins and empties the second barrel of his two-barrel shotgun into the
old gentleman. As Bobby is reloading fast, Sailor sprints through the
front door. Bobby is right behind him as he flys out the front door.
148A. EXT. RAMOS FEED STORE - DAY
The deputy recovers and comes up on one knee with his revolver clasped
in both hands. He fires his first shot into Bobby’s thigh and his
second into Bobby’s left hip. The shock of the initial slug causes
Bobby to drop the bag. The impact of the second forces Bobby’s right
hand to twist sideways to that both barrels of the shotgun wedge under
his chin. The Ithaca goes off, blowing Bobby backwards through the
RAMOS on the plate glass window of the feed store.
Sailor hits the ground - losing the Smith as he falls. He puts his hand
over his hosieried head and keeps his face in the dirt until the deputy
orders him to stand up.
CUT TO:
149. INT. IGUANA COUNTY COURTHOUSE - DAY
Lula is sitting on a bench in the waiting room of the Iguana County
Courthouse Building when Marietta and Santos walk in. As soon as she
sees Lula, Marietta runs over, sits down next to her and hugs and kisses
her.
MARIETTA
Oh baby, I was beginnin’ to think
I was never gonna see you again.
Tears are pouring down Marietta’s cheeks. She holds Lula to her and
Lula does not resist. Lula just stares at Santos.
MARIETTA
You’re comin’ home, precious. Santos’
gonna drive us to the San Antonio
airport.
LULA
Mama, Sailor’s in deep trouble here.
I just can’t leave him.
Marietta takes Lula by the shoulders and looks straight at her. Lula’s
eyes are bloodshot, her hair is greasy and stringy, and her cheeks are
pale.
MARIETTA
Oh, yes, you can.
Santos steps forward. Lula begins to tremble.
SANTOS
Your mama’s been real worried ’bout
you, honey. Me too... Can you
give your old friend Santos a hug,
too?
Santos’ arms begin to go around Lula. Lula lets out a blood-curdling
scream and shakes like a leaf on a tree. Santos grabs her hard - in a
bear hug. On one shirt cuff we see a cufflink which is turquoise,
orange, and silver.
CUT TO:
150. INT. WALLS UNIT - DAY
Sailor lays on his jail bed reading a letter from Lula.
LULA
(voice-over)
Dearest Sailor Darling,
The first thing you’ll want to know is I’m keeping the baby.
Mama wasn’t for it in the beginning but I think she’s looking
forward to it. I’m gonna name it Pace no matter if it’s a
boy or a girl. Pace Ripley sounds good, don’t it? It’s
kind of hard to believe that Pace will be six years old
when you get out.
I feel like I’m kind of in prison too, but I know in six
months, it’ll be over and I’ll have a son or daughter to
show for it. Our child!!
I love you Sailor. I don’t know how much or what it
means though I miss you an awful bunch sometimes I know
you’re thinking about me cause I can feel it. I miss
you not being around to call me peanut nobody else ever
called me that.
Mama married Santos. It just about drove me crazy. My
daddy left a lot of money somehow and they’re spending
it like there is no tomorrow. I’m going to move out as
soon as I can.
Mama and Santos said because of the baby they’re lookin’
at the two of us in a different light - whatever that
means.
Johnnie Farragut has plumb disappeared. No one knows
where. I miss him, but not near as much as I miss you.
Time don’t really fly honey does it?
Love,
your Lula
P.S. I miss dancing...
CUT TO:
151. INT. FORTUNE HOUSE - DAY
Lula sits in her bedroom reading a letter from Sailor.
SAILOR
(voice-over)
Dear Lula,
It is fine with me about the baby as you already know.
And Pace being your family name and all is just right.
What about a middle name if it is a boy after my
granddaddy Roscoe? He would be proud I know though
he is long passed. Pace Roscoe Ripley does not sound
so bad do you think?
This place is not so pretty as Pee Dee. Not pretty
at all. There are boys inside these walls meaner
than Peru you can bet. There is a Death House. I
am getting along. The only thing is not thinking
about the future.
I miss dancing with you, too. I love you. It is
hard to end this letter. If I stop writing you’re
gone. There is not a lot more to say though.
Vava con dios mi amor.
Sailor
LONG FADE OUT:
CUT TO:
152. INT. MARIETTA FORTUNE’S HOUSE - EVENING/
153. INT. LULA FORTUNE’S HOUSE - EVENING - (SIX YEARS LATER)
Six years later... Lula stands in the living room holding a glass of
ice water while talking on the telephone to her mother. Marietta is
wearing a giant diamond ring on one hand and the other hand is holding a
Martini and Rossi sweet vermouth. Marietta is slumped over in an
ottoman with wheels and is pushing her drunken self around the
livingroom as she talks on the phone.
LULA
I’m goin’, mama. No way I can’t go.
MARIETTA
You ain’t takin’ Pace, though.
LULA
Course I am, mama.
MARIETTA
(sighs)
What time’s Sailor’s train get in?
LULA
Six.
MARIETTA
Got any plans?
LULA
Figure we’ll go have supper someplace.
Maybe get some barbecue out by
Stateline. Sailor always liked that
Havana Brown’s Pig Pickin’.
MARIETTA
Well, you be careful with that boy,
Lula.
LULA
Sailor ain’t a boy no more, mama.
MARIETTA
Don’t mean him. It’s Pace concerns me.
LULA
Really, mama, I gotta go.
MARIETTA
What if I asked you not to?
LULA
Wouldn’t make any difference.
MARIETTA
What if I told you not to?
LULA
(forcefully)
Mama ... if you get in the way of
me and Sailor’s happiness, I’ll
fuckin’ pull your arms out by the
roots.
Lula hangs up and throws her glass of water at a picture of her mother -
draining it.
CUT TO:
154. INT. LULA’S CAR - EVENING
PACE ROSCOE FORTUNE is a shy, polite, innocent six-year old who wears a
long-billed fishing cap and pants with suspenders.
PACE
How’ll we know what he looks like?
Lula makes a wide left turn onto Jeff Davis Highway without signaling,
causing the driver of a white Bonneville headed across the intersection
to jam on his brakes in order to avoid a collision. The Bonneville
driver sits on his horn and shouts at Lula.
PACE
Mama, you almost crashed us.
Lula steadies the steering wheel of her Camaro with her left elbow while
she strikes a match and lights up a More. She throws the match out the
window and takes possession of the wheel with both hands, the cigarette
is clamped in her teeth.
LULA
Don’t give me no trouble now, Pace,
please. This ain’t the easiest day
in a long time. And what do you
mean how are we gonna know what your
daddy looks like? You seen his photo.
PACE
How’ll he know what we look like?
He seen our photo?
Lula puffs furiously several times on her More before she takes it out
of her mouth and drops it.
LULA
Damn it, child! Now look what you
made me do.
PACE
What I made you do, mama?
Lula feels around on the floor with one hand until she finds the
cigarette. Sirens can be heard up ahead.
LULA
Nothin’, honey.
(stubbing it out in the ashtray)
Mama’s just actin’ strange.
PACE
You ain’t actin’, mama.
LULA
Why, Pace Roscoe Ripley, ain’t you
got one cute mouth tonight?
They pass an automobile accident where a man has been thrown into the
curb - his head broken open and bleeding. The ambulance is just
arriving. Lula looks away.
CUT TO:
155. ACCIDENT - EVENING
A CRAZY MAN in a wheelchair is wheel up to the accident victim, who is
bleeding profusely and in a state of shock. The man in the wheelchair
stares at him for a moment.
WHEELCHAIR MAN
Hey man... HEY... Same fuckin’
thing happened to me last year...
CUT TO:
156. INT. LULA’S CAR - EVENING
Pace looks up at his mother.
PACE
I still ain’t sure what my daddy
looks like.
LULA
Like you, sweetheart. You and your
daddy got the same mouth, eyes, ears,
and nose. Only difference is your
color hair is like mine.
PACE
My daddy ain’t never killed nobody,
has he, mama?
LULA
Course he ain’t never killed nobody.
Why’d you say that, Pace?
PACE
Heard grandpa Santos and grandmama
talkin’.
LULA
And?
PACE
Grandmama said how Sailor murdered a man.
LULA
Wrong, baby. Your daddy never
committed no murder. Musta been you
didn’t hear grandmama proper. He made
some mistakes, is all. Your daddy ain’t
always been so lucky... We’re almost
at the depot, honey. Sit back a minute.
CUT TO:
157. EXT. TRAIN STATION - EVENING
Lula pulls the Camaro into in the station parking lot and kills the
engine.
PACE
Why we sittin’ here, mama?
LULA
Thinkin’ a second, baby.
Lula gets out and goes around for Pace. They hold hands as they walk
toward the station. The big clock on the side of the building shows ten
minutes past six.
PACE
I’m scared, mama.
LULA
Why, honey?
PACE
Case daddy don’t like me. What if
he don’t like that I don’t got
his color hair.
LULA
Pace, your daddy’d love you even
if you didn’t have no hair at all.
CUT TO:
158. INT. TRAIN STATION - EVENING
Lula sees Sailor as soon as she opens the door. He is sitting in an
orange plastic chair against the opposite wall, smoking a cigarette.
LULA
Still partial to Camels, huh?
Sailor smiles.
SAILOR
First pack of tailor-mades I had in
a while.
He stands up and looks down at Pace, who is still holding hands with
Lula. Sailor puts out his right hand.
SAILOR
You must be my son.
LULA
Shake hands with your daddy.
Pace releases Lula’s hand and puts his own in Sailor’s. Sailor grips it
gently but firmly, pumps once, then lets go.
SAILOR
Pleasure to meet you, Pace. I read
a lot about you.
Sailor looks at Lula. Her eyes are full of tears and she lets them
loose. Sailor tries to smile.
LULA
You hungry? Pace and I ain’t had
dinner yet.
SAILOR
Lead the way.
Sailor picks up his black metal suitcase and follows them to the car.
CUT TO:
159. INT. LULA’S CAR - NIGHT
Lula drives.
SAILOR
No rag top, huh?
Lula starts to reply, then stops. She stares straight ahead, gripping
the wheel hard. Suddenly, she pulls over to the side of the road, turns
off the engine and gets out of the car.
PACE
What’s wrong, mama?
SAILOR
(turning to Pace and
patting his head)
Don’t worry, son. Just stay here.
Sailor gets out and goes over to Lula, who is leaning back against the
hood.
LULA
I’m sorry, Sailor. I just can’t
help it. Give me a minute and I’ll
quit.
SAILOR
Boys frightened, Lula. This ain’t
no good.
LULA
Really, Sail, I’ll be okay.
SAILOR
It’s a mistake, honey. You two go on.
I’ll walk back to the depot.
LULA
What’re you talkin’ about? That’s
your son in there.
SAILOR
He ain’t never known me, Lula, so
there ain’t much for him to forget.
Not seein’ each other for six years
makes it next best to simple for us, too.
LULA
How can you say that, Sailor?
SAILOR
What makes sense, is all.
Sailor goes around to the driver’s side, reaches in and pulls the keys
out of the ignition. He unlocks the trunk, removes his suitcase, and
closes the lid.
LULA
Don’t do this, Sailor, please.
Sailor slips the keys in her shirt pocket and leans his head into the
car.
SAILOR
(to Pace)
Oiga, amigo. If ever somethin’
don’t feel right to you, remember what
Pancho said to The Cisco Kid...
‘Let’s went, before we are dancing at
the end of a rope, without music.’
Sailor stands up and looks at Lula. Her eye makeup runs in dark streaks
down her face.
ECU of Lula’s eyes. Her eye makeup runs like black sweat over eyes and
down her cheeks as in Sailor’s dream.
SAILOR
You been doin’ fine without me, peanut.
There ain’t no need to make life
tougher’n it has to be.
He picks up his suitcase, kisses Lula lightly on the lips and walks
away. She lets him go.
CUT TO:
160. EXT. CITY STREET - LATE AFTERNOON/EVENING
Sailor walks down the street pretending hard not to care.
CUT TO:
161. INT. LULA’S CAR - LATE AFTERNOON/EVENING
Lula climbs in behind the wheel - sobbing. Pace sits sadly, staring out
the window.
CUT TO:
162. EXT. CITY STREET - LATE AFTERNOON/EVENING
Sailor continues walking down the street. A GANG OF INSANE KILLER
TEENAGERS on PCP appear and come towards Sailor. They circle around
him, coming in closer for the kill.
SAILOR
What do you faggots want?
That’s all it takes. The gang is on him. Sailor tries to defend
himself, but one big punch to his nose sends him down and out. Blood
begins to pour from his swelling nose.
162A. EXT. CITY STREET - LATE AFTERNOON/EVENING
CU OF SAILOR’S FACE - a bright light illuminates it.
In the sky above Sailor, a large glowing bubble holding the beautiful
Good Witch of the North comes floating down above him.
GOOD WITCH
Sailor Ripley...
Sailor’s eyes suddenly see the Good Witch through his closed eyelids.
His mouth speaks through closed lips.
SAILOR
The Good Witch...
GOOD WITCH
Sailor... Lula loves you.
SAILOR
But I’m a robber and a manslaughterer
and I haven’t had any parental
guidance.
GOOD WITCH
She’s forgiven you of all these things
... You love her... Don’t be
afraid, Sailor.
SAILOR
But I’m wild at heart.
GOOD WITCH
If you are truly wild at heart, you’ll
fight for your dreams... Don’t turn
away from love, Sailor... Don’t turn
away from love... Don’t turn away
from love.
The Good Witch disappears.
162. EXT. CITY STREET - LATE AFTERNOON/EVENING
Sailor opens his eyes and drags himself and his giant swollen nose up on
his feet. The gang still stands around him.
GANG MEMBER
You had enough, asshole?
SAILOR
Yes, I have... And I wanna apologize
to you gentlemen for referring to
you as homosexuals. I also want to
thank you fellas, you’ve taught me
a valuable lesson in life.
(lifts his head high)
LULA!!!!
Sailor turns around and starts running back. The gang watches him go.
CUT TO:
163. INT. LULA’S CAR - LATE AFTERNOON/EVENING
Lula sits in the car in the middle of a giant traffic jam. She is still
crying and horns are honking all around them.
CUT TO:
164. EXT. CITY STREET - LATE AFTERNOON/EVENING
Sailor runs up the street, holding his nose and SCREAMING LULA’S NAME.
He rounds a corner and spots her in the middle of a sea of cars.
He starts running towards her - leaping from one car to another until he
jumps on the hood of Lula’s car.
She sees him.
SAILOR
LULA!!!!
LULA
SAILOR!!!!
Lula wriggles out of the car and flys into his arms. Behind them is a
giant golden sunset. As they embrace - the sound of the horns goes
away. Lula’s gaze goes to a reflection of golden light on a windshield.
It is the same abstract scene she saw before in her room in Big Tuna,
but now she knows what it is. It is Pace’s happy, smiling eyes looking
up at the two of them in love.
Sailor, with a giant blue nose, looks into Lula’s eyes and sings “Love
Me Tender.”
The people in their cars, and the people on the street look on with a
feeling of love and happiness in their hearts.
THE END
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