CLEAN PLATE a screenplay by S. A. Scoggin
Registered WGA and 2009
1
INTERIOR.
BOSTON: A COLLEGE DORM.
NIGHT.
A small dorm room. On the walls local signage: a Bruins poster, a Red Sox game schedule. From downstairs drift the muffled laughs and thumping bass line of a lively party. MARK is pacing back and forth in his room just a bit too fast to be in time with the beat. He opens the door and the sounds of the crowd burst in. It doesn't seem to make him any happier. MARK walks out onto the landing and looks down the stairwell, pausing a moment before stepping slowly down the stairs. He stops halfway down and sits on a step, looking at the party through the bannister. MARK does not notice the pair of attractive legs that appear behind him until one knee touches him. He looks up at a willowy Blonde. BLONDE You were going to call me eventually, I suppose. MARK Sorry. BLONDE You are. I'm going to get a beer. Have a very good story ready. She brushes by him and goes down into the crowd. MARK rises and goes back into his room, closing the door. He turns around in a slow spin, seeing the whole of his room, then collapses into his desk chair as though helpless and apathetic. On the desk are two cassettes. One is labeled "INXS: DON'T CHANGE", the other just "DON'T CHANGE". He picks up the second one and puts it into a tape deck. The first ethereal notes whistle out above the thumping of the floor. Outside, the night sky is pitch black. Large puffy snowflakes drift through a thin shaft of light from a streetlight. The live version of the tune slowly overlaps with and finally becomes the original, crackling from the old speaker of a pickup truck. The snow is cottonwood cotton caught swirling in the headlights. MARK is driving. It is a hot summer night. The dark fields on either side are alive with frog and insect songs. MARK is singing along. He has a strong voice, but the signal is fading in and out, overpowered by a country station. He tries worrying 2
with the tuning knob, but his song is buried: RADIO ...fifty thousand watts of country power serving western Nevada and the Sierras. It's ten-fourteen in the PM and the temperature is eighty-four degrees here in the big melon, Fallon, Nevada. Heading to a low of about sixty overnight, going back up near to one hundred degrees tomorrow. Let's pick up our Agfeed Top Ten Countdown with number four, Garth Brooks withCursing vigorously, MARK grabs for the knob and spins it. The next station he finds is in the middle of "Ob La Da". He keeps going. More country. Led Zeppelin. Country. He flicks the radio off and mumbles, then suddenly begins singing "I Want to be Sedated".
EXTERIOR.
NEVADA: A SMALL TRAILER HOME.
NIGHT. trailer. Someone door. CARSON, a door. He is keeping a
MARK parks beside a battered old aluminum is playing drums inside. He bangs on the young man with long curly hair, opens the slight and wiry, and his hands can't help nervous, twitching rhythm. CARSON Welcome back to planet earth. MARK Carson.
INTERIOR.
NEVADA: A SMALL TRAILER HOME.
NIGHT.
MARK mounts the high step. The trailer is clean and neat. A trap set fills up most of what was intended to be a dining area. The interior is decorated with found art: road signs, plastic toys, sun-bleached animal skulls, and postcards. CARSON 3
How's the old college life? MARK Old. CARSON Well, suck it up son. You've got one more year to go. What's up for the summer? MARK Zipetty do dah. I applied for internships at Boeing and Lockheed, but they tell me nobody's got money. CARSON You want me to see if Ray needs help at the market? MARK Yeah, sure. I can bag groceries...you still don't have a CD player, do you? CARSON That's just a fad, man. MARK Just wonderful. I worked part time in a record store near campus. Serious employee discount. Now I've got a crapload of discs and you don't have the foresight to own a player. CARSON Don't your parents have one? MARK Get real. They still play vinyl. CARSON Should have moonlighted in a stereo store. MARK You get discounts on meat? CARSON 4
Hell, no - I've chopped up too many pigs. I'm totally vegetarian. MARK Doesn't Ray think it's bad PR to have a butcher who wont eat his own work? CARSON Gee, I don't think he knows. He never asked. So what kind of discs you got? MARK All kinds. Industrial, house, acid jazz, tribal rhythms, world music..... CARSON Hum a few bars. Yeah. MARK Guess I need to find a job.
EXTERIOR.
A FIELD.
DAY.
Mid-day under a white-hot sun. MARK is wandering around aimlessly in a vast expanse of sagebrush. Far behind him, the truck is parked on the side of a lonely road, the door open, the radio still faintly audible. There are other sounds, barely discernible: the wind rising and falling, insects trilling, a lizard rustling along the brittle soil. Beyond are brown hills streaked with dark emerald, without a trace of man upon them.
INTERIOR.
THE F&B MARKET.
DAY.
MARK enters through the electric door. He waves at a cashier and strolls by the produce section, where he palms some cherries. He looks up at the ceiling and grimaces. The store sound system is tuned to KNEV and some dripping, twanging song of loss. In the meat department, CARSON is cellophaning green trays packed with red. CARSON Hey, callow slacker youth! I heard that 5
there might be a job open with the county. Can you drive a dump truck? MARK I can do many things. CARSON Have you ever driven a dump truck? MARK Well, shit. How hard could it be? I've got the better part of a college education. CARSON Then you'd better get on over to the County Yard and jump on it. Unless you got anything better? MARK No. SANDRA, young woman about their age, comes down the aisle. She has a toddler in her cart who is struggling against his nylon seat belt. She has one hand on the cart and one hand on her child's shoulder. CARSON Hi, Sandra. SANDRA Hello, Carson. Hi, Mark. working here now? Are you
MARK Sure. What can I get you today? Cow, pig, lambie? How 'bout a free wiener for little Matty? SANDRA It's Derek, dumbass. And didn't you see the little kid nearly choke to death in "Field of Dreams"? You can't give hot dogs to toddlers. Anyway, they're full of nitrites. MARK, who had picked up a hot dog and held it out to DEREK, 6
takes it back, chagrined. SANDRA I hope you're both going to be at Lee and Rachael's wedding? MARK absentmindedly takes a bite of the hot dog, then points the remainder for emphasis. MARK This whole wedding racket is a bunch of so-called traditions invented out of whole cloth and sustained by the floral cartel. So, Mr. it? SANDRA Romance? Are you paying for
EXTERIOR.
THE COUNTY ROAD MAINTENANCE YARD.
DAY.
Early morning - the sun is just above the trees. The county yard is a combination of a material storage field and heavy equipment parking lot. Men are servicing road graders, dump trucks, and front end loaders. MARK is standing on the running board of a very old and dinged-up Ford dump truck. The FOREMAN, is trying to start it. FOREMAN Damn key's all worn down - takes some time to get her to turn - be careful not to break her.Don't put her into it over forty or the goddamn thing'll fly off. MARK Five speed box? FOREMAN Yep. MARK Reverse is? FOREMAN 7
Over and up. The key finally turns, and the unmuffled engine roars and sputters, sounding powerful and dangerous. MARK pivots out of the way as the FOREMAN leaps out and points off to the horizon. FOREMAN They'll load you up with tailings on Miller's Road. Take it on up to the Cottonwood Ranch turnoff, where the culverts are. As the foreman walks away, MARK gets in and surveys the interior: the cracked brown seat showing springs, motor parts on the floor, a collection of ancient pens and pencils and broken tools on the dash. He revs the engine. The cab shakes, and dust dances up from every surface. Pulling around to turn out of the gate, he starts to sing. MARK Oh, give me forty acres and I'll turn this rig around, it's the easiest way that I've found. Some guys can turn it on a dime or turn it right downtown, But I need forty acres to turn this rig around....
EXTERIOR.
NEVADA: THE F&B MARKET.
NIGHT.
CARSON is exiting the Market. Behind him, lights are going out, the doors are being locked. He walks to the far end of the parking lot to his old VW beetle. MARK is sitting in the passenger's seat, looking through a heap of cassette tapes. MARK I know what I'm getting you for Christmas. CARSON Door locks? MARK 8
Music from this decade. Speedwagon? Cmon. CARSON How was work?
REO
MARK Fun. They gave me a prehistoric truck. At lunch I heard several ribald but witty jokes. CARSON Such as? MARK Well, they're truckdrivin' jokes, so you as a layperson might not appreciate their subtlety. Okay, now imagine that I don't have any teeth: Once there was a man who went into a diner looking for a job. The cook says: OK, but remember, I like my orders in the form of a poem. So the man says: That won't be a problem. Pretty soon two men come in and order stew. Then two women come in and order stew. Then a young woman comes in and orders egg in a glass. So the man thinks a minute, then he goes to the cook and says: Coupla stews for a coupla Jews. Coupla more for a coupla whore. Egg in a glass for a country lass, and if that ain't poetry, I'll kiss your ass. CARSON What's 'egg in a glass'? MARK It's truckdrivin' vittles. CARSON Oh...so what do you want to do? MARK What is there to do? CARSON 9
Drag Main. They sit in silence. Somewhere out in the night, a chorus of bullfrogs call for mates. MARK What the hell, let's do it. CARSON starts up the car and drives out of the lot. MARK puts in a tape and sings along with the Beatles in a bad, thick Cockney. MARK Ob la di! Fucking ob la da! CARSON pulls onto Main Street. After a short block, he turns into a large dirt field where several cars have parked in a cluster so their drivers can converse without getting out. Two boys and a girl come over. FIRST BOY Carson! How ya doin'? CARSON The usual. GIRL Where's the party? CARSON You're looking at it. SECOND BOY Hey - Mark! How's school? MARK One big yuk. FIRST BOY I bet. Beats hanging in this burg though, huh? GIRL (Coyly playing with a roll of money.) Hey, Carson, how about buying for us? 10
Sure.
CARSON What'll it be?
GIRL Two cases of Coors. CARSON Fifteen minutes. garlic field. Back of Lohmiller's
CARSON drives back out onto the street. MARK I don't believe you. Those kids are barely old enough to drive. CARSON Aw, shit. Somebody's going to buy it for them. When we were their age, somebody always bought for us. MARK Suzie's brother, the bunghole? Good thing he was twenty-one. He had no other redeeming features. He still around? CARSON Nah. He rammed that old Camaro of his right into a hay truck one day over by Dayton. He's fucked up in a wheelchair - they all moved to California somewhere. MARK Hell of a way to leave town. CARSON stops in front of a small liquor store. He gets out; MARK stays in the car. CARSON is half-way to the store before he notices that he is alone. He comes to MARK's window. CARSON Coming in? MARK I'm not twenty-one yet. 11
EXTERIOR.
MARK'S HOUSE.
NIGHT.
MARK falls out of Carson's car and waves ineptly as it drives away. He is holding a bottle of beer. He drains it, then looks around for a place to hide the bottle, finally dropping it behind a bush. He goes quietly into the house and flops down on a chair. With a remote, he turns on the TV and finds MTV. After a few minutes of Alternative Nation, his MOM tiptoes in. She is in a nightgown and robe, holding a book. Mom. you. MARK I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake
MOM You didn't. What did you do tonight? MARK We did the same old thing... with all new people.
EXTERIOR.
A DIRT ROAD.
DAY.
MARK is slumped in the cool silent protection of his dump trucks shadow. He is reading a paperback and eating lunch. Out of one of the emerald-green fields of alfalfa which border the road rides a young redheaded girl on a black stallion. She slides down to open the gate and leads her horse through the fence. Once on the road, she leaps back into the saddle. MARK has been watching her over his book the whole time. As she rides past him, she smiles, then kicks her heels. The horse gallops away, churning up white alkali dust that settles all over MARK, who waves it away with his book as he watches her disappear.
INTERIOR.
MARK'S GARAGE.
DAY.
The garage was built to accommodate two cars but is instead jammed full of boxes, dressers, bikes, tools, chairs, etc. 12
MARK is searching for something in the chaos. Finally he finds an old bass and a small amplifier. He drags the amp into one of the narrow clearings and plugs it in. He connects the bass and begins to tune it. One of the strings snaps violently under the tension and flies close to his face. He recoils away, cursing. Retying it, he finishes tuning and begins to play. The amp hums loudly and crackles. Yellow lights shine from its guts. Mark is playing faster and louder and does not see the amp start to smoke. He smells it and turns. Still wearing his bass, he grabs the amp by its cord and drags it out into the driveway. It is smoking heavily now even though the power is off. Mark turns on a garden hose and wets it down.
EXTERIOR.
A TRACK SURROUNDING A FOOTBALL FIELD.
DAY.
MR. REDD, the high school music teacher, is jogging along the grass on the side of the track. MARK rides across the field on a bicycle, bounces down onto the dirt of the track and inches along, keeping pace. MARK How far today, MR. REDD? MR. REDD Five miles. How's college life? MARK Expensive. MR. REDD I'll bet. MARK I need a favor. MR. REDD What can I do you for? MARK I'd like to borrow the Marshall amp. MR. REDD Well, nobody is going to need it until September. But I'll need some quid pro 13
quo. MARK Name it. MR. REDD Pep band needs some new charts. still score? MARK Yeah...yeah, no sweat. truck. You
I'll go get my
EXTERIOR.
CARSON'S TRAILER.
DAY.
MARK and CARSON have set up their equipment in the shade of a willow tree a few yards from the trailer. MARK has a mike on a stand connected to the borrowed Marshall. CARSON is whacking about on his trap set, testing the distances. MARK Okay, let's give it a try? Slow, like this. One, two, three, four. He begins to play the bass line for "Cure for Pain". He sings a couple of verses. A dozen cows watch them from a nearby field, slowly chewing.
EXTERIOR.
CARSON'S TRAILER.
DAY.
MARK and CARSON are sprawled in the trailer's shadow. MARK Jimmy Bailey? CARSON He moved to Winnemuca three years ago or so. Works in a gold mine. MARK Who the hell else was there? CARSON 14
Carl Frye? French? MARK He was...okay. He around?
CARSON Naw - he and Gina finally got married. He joined the Navy. MARK Jesus H.! Isnt there anybody in this freaking hole who still plays guitar? CARSON How about if you play guitar and we find someone who can play bass? MARK We are in deep trouble.
INTERIOR.
THE VFW HALL.
DAY.
MARK and CARSON are sitting on the stainless steel counter top of the large kitchen. Family, friends, and hired help are preparing and delivering platters of food. Laughter and music come from the larger room beyond when the door swings open. SANDRA bursts through the door, looking like she is on the hunt for something. She spots MARK and CARSON and pounces. SANDRA C'mon, you guys - get out there and dance! All the old folks are dancing, and the kids are just standing around like it's the goddamn freshman hop. Come and dance with me, we'll get them started. MARK You're married. with you. Get your mate to dance
SANDRA Get your butt off that counter. 15
INTERIOR.
THE VFW HALL.
DAY.
Arm in arm, MARK and SANDRA come into the main room. A three-piece band, The Cremetti Family according to a small placard, is playing danceable tunes. The father is seated at an electric piano, the mother is blowing clarinet, and a daughter is on the violin. MARK and SANDRA go onto the dance floor. SANDRA begins to dance apart, waving at the onlookers to come out onto the dance floor. MARK takes her by the hand and waist and swings her around gracefully. MARK Come to me, you temptress. possess you. SANDRA Here they come! MARK They are jealous of me, my love. SANDRA Sure. I heard you're driving truck for the county this summer. MARK Are there any secrets in this town? SANDRA None at all. I also heard that Carson and you have been playing. MARK Man, we are a quarter of the way to being half-assed. Know anybody who plays guitar? SANDRA How about Mr. Cremetti? He used to give guitar lessons. MARK Our tastes in music are probably 16 I must
irreconcilable. You idiot. taught. Oh. SANDRA I meant ask him who he has
MARK Great idea.
INTERIOR.
THE VFW HALL.
DAY.
MARK is leaning on the piano, watching MR. CREMETTI play romantic background music. His wife and daughter are on a break. MR. CREMETTI No, I haven't had a guitar student in ten years or so. Why do you ask? MARK I'm trying to put together a band. MR. CREMETTI Sorry. I wish I could help you out. If I do hear of anyone, I'll let you know. MRS. CREMETTI has come up, punch glass in hand, in time to catch the gist of the conversation. MRS. CREMETTI What about Stanley, dear? MR. CREMETTI In a band, Mother? MARK Stan...plays guitar? MRS. CREMETTI You didn't know? MR. CREMETTI He's been terribly shy all of his life. 17
I gave up trying to get him in my piano recitals by the second grade. MARK He plays piano? MRS. CREMETTI Since he was three. Stanley would never let anyone see him. It's a shame, really. He has perfect pitch. MR. CREMETTI Funny thing is though, he can't sing a lick. Perfect pitch on the violin but can't sing. Well, you can ask him, if you want, but I seriously doubt you'll ever get him to play in public. MARK He plays violin?
INTERIOR.
THE VFW HALL.
DAY. MARK comes up
CARSON is in the middle of a pack of guys. from behind and pulls him away.
MARK You won't believe who can play guitar. Stan Cremetti. CARSON Yeah, right. MARK His mom and dad told me. violin, too. CARSON Get outta town. MARK He wont play when there's anybody around. CARSON 18 Piano and
Well, I believe that. I've known him since we were five, and I've never heard him put two sentences together. So what are we going to do about it? MARK We've got to audition him.
INTERIOR.
THE VFW HALL.
DAY.
MARK is talking with some friends. Among them is STAN, a large hulking fellow who is listening intently but not speaking. Couples are still out dancing. CARSON brings up a tray of drinks. He has taken off his suitcoat, rolled up his sleeves, and wrapped an apron around his waist. CARSON Three beers...gin and tonic...soda water...Stan, another lemonade freeze? STAN Thanks. Stepping back from the group, MARK catches up with CARSON. MARK What's in the lemonade? CARSON Two ounces of Everclear. taste it. He can't
MARK Jesus, show some restraint, okay? We don't want to kill him. CARSON Look, he weighs about two-fifty. It'll take seven, eight ounces of alcohol to get him up to point one five. This is his third glass. One more and then he gets straight lemonade. He'll be much less inhibited any time now. MARK 19
Point one five? Let's not let him get to his car while we're not looking. CARSON You have no faith. I have his distributor cap in one pocket and his keys in the other.
INTERIOR.
THE VFW HALL.
DAY.
The hall is empty except for MARK, who is sitting at the piano, picking out a melody with one finger. CARSON comes in, followed by a noticeably unsteady STAN. CARSON Okay, Stan is here to back me up on this. No way. MARK You're wrong.
CARSON Impossible. MARK Stan, you be the judge. Carson and I have a bet. He says that this is "Days of Wine and Roses". He pecks out a couple of bars. MARK And I say that this is. MARK struggles with a few more bars. Both tunes sound pretty much the same, remarkably like "Yankee Doodle". STAN No, no, no. You're both nuts. Here this is "Days of Wine and Roses". STAN sits down, shoving MARK aside, and begins playing with both hands. Two of the bridesmaids come in, giggling between themselves. STAN stops in mid-chord and stands up. 20
STAN I've gotta go. find my keys.
Patti's sick.
Can't
CARSON C'mon, I'll drive you home. keysll turn up.
Your
EXTERIOR.
A RESIDENTIAL STREET.
DUSK.
CARSON and MARK are sitting in Carson's car. MARK Think she's forgiven him yet? CARSON I hope so. Man, he was a puking wreck. MARK Just can't hold his frozen lemonade. CARSON What's that? MARK All right! A guitar! They jump out and slink along a cedar fence to the back of a house. They peek through a gap in the fence and see STAN and his young daughter, JULIA. STAN is sitting in a rocking chair holding an acoustic guitar. His daughter is struggling to keep her arms around a four string ukelele. STAN Want to try it again, Julie? JULIA Yes! STAN Remember to change back to D after the oinky part. STAN starts to pick a melody, and she begins to strum chords and sing. 21
JULIA Once there were five little piggies in a row. Oink, said one, I've got to go. Oink, he said, and oink, he did. He got up and away he went... Oink...oink, oink, oink, oink... Oink, oink, oink, oink... Oink, oink, oink, oink... MARK pushes open the gate. STAN stops playing. keeps singing for a moment, then stops. JULIA Who's that, Daddy? STAN Friends, pigpen. MARK and CARSON come up onto the porch. MARK picks up the guitar which STAN had laid down behind the rocker. MARK Julia, I'm Mark. This is my pal, Carson. Do you remember us? JULIA No. MARK Is your daddy a good guitar player? JULIA He's the best! STAN Julie! Please go see if your mother needs help. JULIA Okay, Daddy. Bye. She waves farewell and goes into the house, clutching her ukelele by the neck. MARK Guitar? Piano? 22 JULIA
STAN shrugs. Out the back door steps his wife, PATTI, a diminutive redhead, her long hair up in a bun. She is wearing a "The French Chef" apron. She pats her hands together and puffs of flour fly off. PATTI Mark and Carson. by? Whatever brings you
MARK Well...actually, we...came to apologize. For the other night. We kinda slipped Stan some pretty strong drinks. PATTI So that's how it was. STAN I told you. MARK Yeah. It was stupid of us. We're sorry. I hope we didn't cause any problems. PATTI At least you didn't let him drive home. CARSON We made sure he couldn't. PATTI So? You got him drunk. I don't think Stan does it often enough. STAN I puked all night. CARSON Jeez. That was straight grain alcohol. You should have slept like a baby. PATTI You obviously have never had a baby. They cry and spit up all night. Poor 23
dear. You spent a long time on the white telephone, calling Ralph. MARK It was a mean thing to do. PATTI Then why did you do it? MARK Carson and I need a guitar player. We used to know some guys who could play guitar, but they've all left town. At the reception, Stan's dad and mom told me that Stan played guitar. And piano and violin. PATTI And trumpet and French horn and banjo. MARK We were skeptical. So we tricked him into getting drunk and playing the piano. PATTI You want Stan to play guitar in your band? MARK Yeah...is that okay with you? PATTI Okay? It's fabulous! Stan, you play so beautifully. It's about time people appreciated your talent. STAN Too busy. MARK We'll just be jamming for fun, by ourselves. PATTI Go ahead, honey. Give them a chance. 24
(From where whole Daddy, can
JULIA behind the screen door, she has listened to the scene.) I play in your band too?
INTERIOR.
MARK'S GARAGE.
DAY.
MARK is moving the last few boxes out of the center of the garage. He has somehow managed to clear a sizable space by piling junk outside. CARSON is setting up the drums. STAN drives up and comes in, holding his guitar nervously. MARK Acoustic guitar? Looks like we are unplugged. STAN Is it okay? MARK Sure. I'll turn my amp way down. Listen to this. Heres a couple of tunes for us. Clean trio stuff. I charted out the chords. He punches play on a black boombox. "American Music starts. After one chorus, MARK turns it off. MARK I like that one. straightforwardIt's pretty
STAN is already playing the rhythm chords, in tempo. CARSON You didn't stay up all night charting out the chords, did you? MARK What the hell. can get. Let's see how far we
He starts. CARSON leads them sparely; STAN drives with the rhythm. MARK stumbles along, trying to sing and keep up 25
with the bass line. They play to the end of the first chorus, right where Mark had stopped the tape. STAN stops and looks up at them for guidance. MARK Uh...second verse, same as the first? STAN nods and takes off again. up. The others race to catch
INTERIOR.
MARK'S TRUCK.
DAY.
MARK is driving much too fast down a two lane highway running straight through the browned sagebrush. STAN is on the outside; CARSON is crammed into the middle. After sneaking several peeks at the speedometer, he cannot contain himself. CARSON D'you think this old thing should be doing eighty? MARK I'm an engineer. CARSON That's what they said on the space shuttle. MARK Is that so? What kind of guitar should we get Stan? One of those futuristic triangular jobbies? Or maybe a square one with fur around it, like a ZZ Top thing? STAN I like the one I've got. MARK It's okay for folk songs, but we're a power trio, man. Bass, drums, guitar. You've got to be solid-body ampped-upthe-wazoo screaming. 26
STAN What kind of music does a power trio play? MARK A power trio strips a tune down to its core. Rhythm, melody, chords. The fundamental inputs of pleasure. Synaptic depolarization. The neurons fire in little sparks. Pinka pinka pink. The music that moves your butt contains harmonics and subharmonics of your natural neural vibe. Harmony in a song is the relationship of two notes to each other and to the background humming in your noggin. The music I like to hear makes me feel good. It resonates in synch with my natural cellular oscillations and elevates my endorphin levels. You like Brahms, I'm down with da boys, da boys, da Beastie Boys. Our brains are just beating differently. Except if you like country music, which is a result of zero brain activity and so satisfies the legal definition of death in most states.
INTERIOR.
RENO: A PAWNSHOP.
DAY.
MARK, CARSON, and STAN enter the shop. Two walls are covered with musical instruments - brass, woodwind, a few stringed, and lots and lots of guitars. There are several traps sets and other assorted drums and a row of amplifiers. MARK Look at these babies! Every one was someone's dream. Bought at retail in the heat of passion. CARSON And unloaded for rent money. This isn't the most inspirational place. 27
MARK Who dares, wins, my friends. Stanley! Look at that! This is an awesome axe. He takes down off the wall a black and gold Stratocaster and hands it to STAN. CLERK Can I help you? MARK Can we try this guitar, please? The CLERK rummages behind a counter and finds a cord which he uses to connect the guitar to a small amp. He turns the volume on to "1" and walks away. STAN begins to strum a tune. CARSON recognizes it and sings along. CARSON Down in the valley, valley, so low... MARK disconnects STAN from the small amp and plugs him in to a monster. He turns it on as quietly as it will go, lower even than "1". MARK Butthole Surfers. STAN Okay. CARSON has found a pair of drumsticks. He taps out the rhythm on a kettle drum. MARK starts to sing "Who Was in My Room?", sotto voce until he twists the volume up to "10". MARK WHO THE HELL WAS IN MY ROOM? STAN slashes. The walls tremble. store clap hands over their ears. incensed, rushes toward them. MARK (Screaming.) We'll take it! 28 The customers across the The clerk, alarmed and
INTERIOR.
RENO: A CASINO BUFFET ROOM.
DAY.
MARK and CARSON are heaping their plates with food at the buffet line. Behind them STAN has his plate precariously balanced in one hand. He is holding his new guitar in the other. MARK That window was cracked when we went in there. CARSON My left ear is still ringing. They move to a table. STAN joins them. in his lap while he eats. MARK What? He puts his guitar
INTERIOR.
MARK'S GARAGE.
NIGHT.
CARSON is adjusting a cymbal - he can't seem to obtain the proper height. STAN has his new guitar hung around his neck. He has found an old chainsaw in the corner and is pulling the cord. It doesn't start. He worries it with a screwdriver and keeps trying. MARK is working with a solder iron behind a big black amplifier. It looks pretty shabby next to the school amp. MARK Jesus, this thing is a wreck inside. CARSON Mrs. Frye told me that Carl's father built it from scratch. MARK Yeah, I remember. pretty good. It used to sound
CARSON Remember how Carl would turn up the 29
treble to get that fuzzy sound? MARK I remember blowing up the speaker doing that. The damn magnet shot across his bedroom and broke a hole in the door. He should have replaced the crossover net when he put in the new speaker. CARSON Hell, he didn't have that kind of cash. He stole that speaker from the movie theater. MARK No shit? I never knew that. CARSON You didn't notice that you only heard the left side of the soundtrack for over a year? MARK Nah. I was going out with Shelley. We sat way back in the dark rows. I had her tongue in my ear most of the time. Okay. Done. He gets up and plugs in the power cord. STAN bangs a chord which starts out clearly but tails off into static. CARSON What's that smell? MARK Son of a bitch! He unplugs the amp and kicks it. It arcs a bright flash of sparks in response, and they all scramble back away from it.
EXTERIOR.
THE HIGH SCHOOL.
DAY.
MARK and MR. REDD are loading another big amplifier into Mark's truck. MARK ties it down. Both are dripping with 30
sweat. MR. REDD Four more arrangements - you're sure you can do that much? MARK No problem. Great. MR. REDD Need any more equipment?
MARK Thank God, no.
INTERIOR.
MARK'S GARAGE.
NIGHT.
The boys have both amps humming. MARK is putting the last pieces of tape on plastic sheets fitted to the windows. CARSON We're going to sweat our balls off. Shaking his head, MARK flips a switch on the wall and a fan starts to turn above the rafters. The plastic on the windows bulges inward as the air is sucked through the room. MARK Let's try that Sugar tune. He picks up his bass and counts off. your Mind". They start "Change
EXTERIOR.
MARK'S GARAGE.
NIGHT.
A young couple out for an evening walk with their babe in a stroller has stopped in the street to listen. The music is plainly heard and still fairly loud. A bicyclist rides by, turns around, and stops. He nods at the couple. BICYCLIST Is that somebody's stereo? 31
WOMAN I don't think so.
INTERIOR.
MARK'S GARAGE.
NIGHT.
The three are concentrating on their playing.
EXTERIOR.
MARK'S GARAGE.
NIGHT.
The couple and the bicyclist have been joined by a jogger, a man walking his dog, and two cars full of teenagers. The couple with the stroller is dancing.
INTERIOR.
MARK'S GARAGE.
NIGHT.
They are repeating the chorus. There is a knock on the steel of the garage door, barely noticeable at first. CARSON hears it and stops playing. The others grind down to a halt. They hear a banging and muffled shouting. MARK opens the garage door. Standing outside is a cop holding his nightstick. Behind the cop is the crowd which had gathered, now more than a dozen people.
EXTERIOR.
A TRAILER PARK.
NIGHT.
Most of the mobile homes are dark. One is still brightly lighted, and loud music leaks out the windows. Several cars and trucks are parked outside.
INTERIOR.
A MOBILE HOME.
NIGHT.
The trailer is packed. Teenagers are on the floor, sitting on the tables, squeezed into the bedroom. MARK is crammed on a small couch in between two girls who look about his age. They have to speak loudly to be heard over the stereo. 32
FIRST GIRL You're so lucky, living in Boston. It must be exciting after growing up in this place. SECOND GIRL Id give anything to get out of this burg. Maybe we can visit you in Boston, huh? FIRST GIRL My brother was in seventh grade last year, and he said that Mr. Hodges told them: "Look at Mark Foster. He used to get C's in my class, and now he's going to be an aeronautical engineer". MARK That senile old bastard. I spent most of seventh grade in the hall for being a wiseass. FIRST GIRL But at least you ditched this burg. MARK Hey - I'm still here.
EXTERIOR.
MARK'S HOUSE.
NIGHT.
MARK is trying to sneak into the unlighted backyard. He comes through the gate quietly, then almost trips over his father, who is lying back on a lounge chair, looking at the sky through binoculars. MARK Dad! What are you doing? His father reclines and puts the binoculars back to his eyes. DAD Stargazing. You've been drinking. 33
MARK Two beers. DAD You'll be twenty-one soon enough. young as long as you can. MARK You mean stay illegal longer than necessary. DAD Have a good party? MARK Sure. Some of these people I hadn't seen since graduation. You know, I'm pretty lucky. My old friends don't seem to be jealous. I'm not sure I could be that generous if they were getting something I wanted. DAD Maybe they have their own dreams. MARK You're probably right. There are all these kids that I spent nearly every day with for over twelve years. They're like family. I know guys in college whose parents moved around all the time. They went to a different school every couple of years. They dont have friends like mine. DAD Look there. Do you know what that is? He hands the binoculars to MARK. MARK Space junk. Booster rockets, solar panels, dead satellites, stuff like that. A lot of it's only a hundred and fifty miles up, waiting to burn in. 34 Stay
DAD I'm going inside.
EXTERIOR.
A COUNTRY ROAD.
DAY.
MARK is easing a full dump truck down a rough road. Piles of fill line the side; a road grader is blading the hard dirt level. MARK pulls into a recently cleared field where three huge new metal sheds stand in a row. He parks and hops out. A man pushing a wheelbarrow loaded with cement block comes from behind one shed. MARK Excuse me - is this the Hack ranch? MAN Not Hack. MARK What are these? Que...casa? Onions. MAN Casa por onions.
EXTERIOR.
A COUNTRY ROAD.
DAY.
MARK is driving his truck down the same washboarded road, CARSON and STAN bouncing about beside him. MARK These buildings are awesome. Apparently Fenilli got a deal from the construction company. Three for the price of two, and the third shed won't have onions in it until the season after next. He pulls into the field and drives up to one of the sheds. They all get out. MARK takes out a key and unlocks the door. He steps inside and flips on a light switch. The shed is huge: metal walls and roof, cement floor, translucent panels in the ceiling letting in some natural light. There are bales of straw stacked at one end. The 35
remainder of the shed is thinly strewn with construction debris. MARK All we have to do is clean it up and pay for the electricity. What a beautiful space! CARSON picks up a couple of wooden slats and bangs on an empty five-gallon plastic bucket. STAN kneels and runs his hand admiringly over the floor. CARSON Good acoustics. STAN Nice pour!
INTERIOR.
THE ONION SHED.
NIGHT.
They have set up their gear in one end of the shed. STAN, wearing his guitar, turns on his amp and thumbs a chord. They listen in awe at the reverberations. CARSON What a waste on onions! MARK "Head On" - Pixies version. He plugs in his bass and turns on his amp, then nods at CARSON, who clacks his sticks together to set the pace. They play over the montage.
MONTAGE. Late at night. MARK is sitting at a desk, one lamp on in the dark. He is transcribing music from a tape. He plays the tape in his boombox for a few seconds, then makes a couple of notes on the sheet. He reaches for a small keyboard and picks out a melody with one finger. MARK and CARSON are deep in the sagebrush, away from 36
everything. MARK takes an old album: MEET THE BEATLES! and a pistol from his truck. He gives the album to CARSON, who shucks record of its paper sheath, scales it into the air, and hits the dirt. MARK fires at the black circle and misses. He stomps over to where it lands and empties his weapon into it, raising volcanic spurts of dirt. MARK is stopped at a drive-thru bank window in his dumptruck. He can barely reach down to the drawer. He leans halfway out of the window to grab his fistful of cash. MARK and STAN are back in the Reno pawnshop. STAN is caressing a hollow body Fender. The clerk who waited on them before comes out of the back room and rushes at them in a panic, shaking his head. He takes the guitar away from STAN. MARK points at an amp. The clerk plugs the guitar into the amp and plays a chord for them. STAN and CARSON are manhandling the two school amps from the back of Mark's truck back into the high school while MARK shows some scores to MR. REDD. They have built a stage from odds and ends of planks and straw bales. Their two new amps stand on either side of the trap set. MARK stage dives off into a big pile of straw. CARSON follows. They wave at STAN to try, but he shakes his head adamantly.
INTERIOR.
MARK'S HOUSE.
DAY.
MARK is eating a sandwich on the porch, watching a baseball game on a small TV. MOM comes out with a glass of milk. MARK Thanks, Mom. MOM I ran into Mrs. Costello at the Post Office this morning. MARK Yeah? Her husband does most of the county welding. 37
MOM She is under the impression that your position is full time...permanent. MARK Really? MOM You should straighten things out. MARK You know, don't you? MOM Know what, dear? MARK I'm going to stay here...into the fall. MOM And how long are you planning on driving a truck for the county? MARK I don't know. MOM I presume you were going to tell us eventually? MARK Sorry. MOM What's wrong? You haven't been expelled? MARK No. MOM A girl? MARK No. MOM 38
Then what? You've got one more year to go, and you'll have your degree. You've wanted to build airplanes all your life. One more year.... Well, I'm glad you aren't in trouble. I'll let you tell your father. MARK What do you think he'll say? MOM Oh, he'll be upset for a while. Then he'll go out in the shop and build something, and he'll be all right. MARK I thought you'd be pretty mad at me. She hugs him. MOM My baby. You don't remember what you were like as a toddler. No one could tell you anything. You had to touch the hot stove. You had to try and grab the flame in the fireplace. You put everything into your mouth. When you were about seven or so, we quit trying to give you orders. We just gave you suggestions. But someday you'll meet a nice girl, get married, and have a child who'll be just like you were. Then youll appreciate your parents.
EXTERIOR.
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL FIELD.
NIGHT.
A football game is in progress under the lights on a warm Friday night in early September. A crowd of several hundred fills the stands on the home side. Fewer sit in the smaller away bleachers on the other side of the field. Perky cheerleaders are cartwheeling, the band is blaring, the crowd leaps up and cheers a long run from scrimmage. MARK is wandering on the track between the stands and the field. He turns away and walks over to the stands where the marching band is playing the school fight song. MR. 39
REDD waves at him. MR. REDD When do you leave for Boston? MARK I'm taking the year off. MR. REDD But you're almost done. Well, at least you will get a chance to hear the fruit of your labor. Were going to play "Whip It". The band shuffles sheets to the score. MR. REDD counts them down, and they begin to play. The tune is barely coherent. Instruments take off on tangents, the rhythm speeds up and slows down. MARK forces a smile and gives them a thumbs-up. He waves farewell to MR. REDD and turns away, immediately spotting CARSON, who was coming up behind him. CARSON is wearing a fringed leather jacket, black cowboy hat, tie-dyed pants, and sandals. CARSON What the hell are they playing? MARK That's...uh..."Like a Virgin", you know, Madonna? CARSON Oh yeah, sure. They make their way into the stands and up to the very top, pausing to greet someone on almost every step. Once at the top, MARK hears his name called from below and behind. He looks down and sees SANDRA with her arms full of bags of popcorn. MARK That's saturated fat colored yellow. SANDRA It's for Bernie and Derek. MARK So you are the Black Widow. 40
SANDRA Why aren't you in Boston? MARK I'm taking some time off. SANDRA Why? What's wrong? MARK Nothing's wrong. school. I'm just tired of
SANDRA But what are you going to do here? MARK I'm driving truck for the county. SANDRA Oh God. You're making me sick to my stomach. Will you come over to dinner? MARK When? SANDRA I'll call you. Moron. She walks off into the darkness. CARSON What are we doing after the game? MARK It must be about time to go railing again. CARSON Great idea. Your truck doesn't fit on the track, does it? MARK Nope. But Billy Souza has a '72 Dodge Dart, and that will fit. I saw him on the way in. 41
CARSON What if he doesn't want to go? Cmon. railing. MARK Nobody ever didn't want to go
EXTERIOR.
IN THE DESERT.
NIGHT.
MARK and CARSON are driving slowly along a narrow, rough dirt road. They round a turn and in the headlights see an old Dodge stopped just before a slight grade which rises up to a single pair of railroad tracks. MARK and CARSON stop and get out. In the Dart are two teens, BILLY and BUDDY. MARK Hey, Billy. Nice car. Hi, Mark. BILLY This is my cousin Buddy.
MARK How ya doin? BUDDY Did you bring some? CARSON holds up a cooler. They see another pair of headlights coming on the road. BILLY That's probably Annette Lewis. of girls wanted to come. A bunch
BUDDY Some'm'll probably have to sit on our laps. BILLY I hope so. The car drives up and stops. Four girls get out, giggling and fluttering. One of them is the girl Mark saw on the horse. 42
BILLY Hot damn. Annette and Barb and Melissa. BUDDY Who's that other one? BILLY Oh, that's Victoria Riley. I've never partied with her before. What is she, a sophomore? BUDDY Jail bait. The girls come over the Dart in a tight group. ANNETTE Hi guys...what's going on? BILLY We're ready to get her up on the rails and ride. ANNETTE You know, my uncle said they used to do it all the time, back in the sixties. How do we do it? MARK We have to let just enough air out of Billy's tires so they can follow the track. It'll steer itself. BILLY This won't hurt my rims, will it? MARK Naw. It doesn't take much. Then we just sit in the car and party. MELISSA Sounds like a blast. How come people don't do it all the time? MARK 43
They used to, long ago. Then one night in 1969 - the summer of love - a car full of kids was smashed head-on by a freight train. They were all killed instantly. It happened right up there. About two miles from here. BARBIE Oh my God! MARK They were high - so high they totally forgot about the 11:33 train. BILLY Hey, it's 10:30 now. MARK Don't worry. That train doesn't run anymore. Not since.... There's no traffic on this line until the 4:11 from Fallon. BUDDY How many were killed? MARK Eight kids. Their bodies were so mangled together that the mortician just divided up the remains into eight caskets pretty much at random. BARBIE Jesus! There's eight of us!
EXTERIOR.
ON THE RAILROAD TRACKS.
NIGHT.
It is a clear moonless night. The Dart idles along the tracks. BARBIE is sitting behind the wheel, facing sideways, not touching the controls at all. MARK is outside on the hood, sipping a beer and looking at the stars. Inside, the kids are drinking, listening to the radio, talking, laughing. VICTORIA (O.S.) 44
Get your elbow out of my ear! that's it!
OK,
She climbs out of the window and sits beside MARK. MARK Plenty of room out here. VICTORIA Infinite room! Cant you just feel yourself falling into the sky? MARK I guess. VICTORIA Arent you supposed to be back in Boston? MARK Christ. I should have a T shirt printed: No, I am not going to college this year. Thank you very much. VICTORIA I'm sorry. MARK Small town life. business. Everybody knows your
VICTORIA Then why are you still here? MARK How old are you? VICTORIA Sixteen. MARK Well, this is the first time in fifteen football seasons I haven't been off to school. Since you were one year old! VICTORIA So how does it feel to be out? 45
Strange.
MARK No required reading.
He sits up, peering off into the blackness, then slides off the hood and sprints down the track ahead of the car. VICTORIA follows without hesitation.
INTERIOR.
THE CAR.
NIGHT.
The kids are silly, giddy from the novelty of the moving party. CARSON cocks his head, then leans far out of the window. CARSON Hey! Be quiet! I hear something! They fall silent. Suddenly, there is a blinding light and the piercing shriek of a whistle. Screaming and swearing, they fly and tumble out of doors and windows. They flop in the dust and roll down the grade. When they recover enough to look up, they see MARK standing on the track with a big spotlight lantern. VICTORIA is standing beside him, blasting a canned air horn. CARSON is rolling around in the dirt, crying from laughter. BILLY and BUDDY shout threats and curses. MARK sidesteps the Dart, which starts to pick up its pace once relieved of its human ballast. MARK Hey! Better catch that car! There are real trains through here sometimes! All except CARSON, who is still howling, dash after the fleeing Dart.
EXTERIOR. COUNTRY ROAD. DAY. MARK is driving an overloaded dump truck down the road. A boombox on the floor is cranked up with a Rubber Rodeo tune. At the gate leading to the cemetery he sees a familiar horse tied to a post. He turns down the cemetery road, where VICTORIA is sitting on a grassy plot, her back to him. He stops and jumps out. 46
MARK Anybody I know? VICTORIA Jamie Villacort. He was my date at the eighth grade dance. MARK I heard about that. again? What happened
VICTORIA He was drunk. He drove off the road, out on Pitts Lane, where the curve is and the old cottonwoods are right next to the road. Apparently he never even touched the brakes. There were no skidmarks at all. MARK Where was he going? VICTORIA Going? He wasn't going anywhere. That's what he did for entertainment. Have you been away so long? What did you and your friends do on summer nights? MARK Well...yeah, I guess we did some of that. One night I was riding around with Lowell and Dave. All of a sudden Lowell floors it. We were doing a hundred and fifteen, I swear, past the old dairy. I laid down on the floor. The trees were a blur...but I never felt in any real danger. VICTORIA Oh, right, I forgot. You are immortal.
MARK You're supposed to feel immortal at sixteen. 47
VICTORIA Tell Jamie. MARK What do you do for fun? VICTORIA I walk around town after dark. After ten o'clock, all the houses go dark. I walk down my street and I wonder: What goes on behind the shades? Every healthy person has a secret life. They must! People here want to be so uniform. So I pray that there are wild bestial acts happening as I walk by. Life just couldnt be this bland. MARK You'd be surprised. VICTORIA Usually I can walk down Main Street from NAPA Auto Parts all the way to the Silver Strike without a car passing me. What's it like to live where you can find people up all night? MARK You know Parrott Road, out where the Hack Ranch is? Yes. VICTORIA I ride down there.
MARK There are some new onion sheds there, about half a mile from the highway. We've been playing two or three times a week. If you wanted to come and listen. VICTORIA I'd like that. What's the dirt for? MARK We're laying in a culvert. I'll see you around. They're waiting for me. 48
He backs up and bumps into the headstone. He grabs it to keep his balance, then something in the inscription computes. MARK Wait a minute. He was only fifteen. What was he doing driving?
INTERIOR.
SANDRA'S HOUSE.
NIGHT.
The door bell rings. BERNIE, a tall, dark man who looks part Hispanic - maybe Native American - gets up from an easy chair and answers the door. It is MARK, bearing a small paper bag. BERNIE Sandy told me you were still in town. How come I haven't seen you in the courthouse, picking up your check? MARK Direct deposit. it. Maybe you've heard of
BERNIE Hey, you'd be proud of us. The assessor's office is high-tech. Everything is electronic. . MARK Really? Stand alone or network? BERNIE Network all the way. We run a custom client-server package off a VAX in Carson City tied to a statewide WAN. SANDRA comes in holding her flailing son under one arm. SANDRA Mark! Bernie's been waiting for you to come and talk computers with him. She puts Derek down and accepts the bag, looking inside. 49
SANDRA Cherry Garcia! Derek, stay here and male-bond. She leaves. DEREK runs and flies onto BERNIE's lap as BERNIE turns down the volume of the baseball game he had been watching. BERNIE Sandy told me you're playing in a band. MARK That sounds formal. It's just me and Carson and Stan having some fun. BERNIE It's hard to picture Stan Cremetti playing a guitar. DEREK has stolen to the front of the TV and changed the channel to a cartoon show. MARK I wouldn't have believed it myself. He plays piano, too. And violin, and who knows what else. BERNIE flicks the remote, changing to the baseball game. DEREK leaps up and changes it back. BERNIE Is he any good? He tries to use the remote, but DEREK is shielding the cable box with his body. MARK Good isn't even the word. He's a fucking freak of nature. Derek, you didn't hear that. Stan's a human sample machine. He hears something; he plays it. BERNIE Judas. I knocked heads with the guy everyday for four years. You'd think 50
I'd know this about him. MARK He's shy. BERNIE Tell me about it. Twice he made AllState at tackle and didn't even show at the dinner to get his trophy. Hard to believe he'd stand up in front of an audience. MARK What audience? We play for the onions.
INTERIOR.
THE ONION SHED.
NIGHT.
MARK and CARSON and STAN are playing something, probably for the first or second time judging from the way it falls to pieces every other bar. They fight to hold it together, but there is no structure by which the tune can be identified. The door opens a crack, and VICTORIA enters hesitantly. MARK motions for her to come in, and she does, trailed by three more girls and two boys. STAN stops playing and turns around. MARK points to a wall of straw bales set back from the stage. VICTORIA nods and leads her flock out of sight. MARK At the chorus: 1...2...3...4... They begin again. STAN plays without turning around. VICTORIA peeks around the bales. Behind her, the kids are dancing.
EXTERIOR.
MAIN STREET.
NIGHT.
MARK is walking down the center line of Main Street. No cars pass. He looks up and down the street. No headlights. A VW comes from a side street in front of him and pulls alongside. CARSON is behind the wheel. He shifts into reverse and backs up to keep pace with MARK. 51
CARSON What's shakin', pal?
You hammered?
MARK I'm walking from one end of Main to the other without anyone passing me. CARSON Did I screw it up? MARK You haven't passed me yet. you doing out so late? What are
CARSON Couldn't sleep. Thought I'd come down and play the slots. MARK looks up and sees that they have ended up in front of the Silver Strike casino. MARK Why don't you just hand me your money? CARSON Coming in? MARK Not tonight. CARSON I forgot. When's your birthday? MARK Thursday. CARSON Let's make a date. Your first night legal, we go out on the town. MARK Family's got a party planned. CARSON Till midnight? MARK 52
Not likely. CARSON Then you call me when it's done.
INTERIOR.
THE ONION SHED.
NIGHT.
They are playing the last chorus of "Long View". A dozen kids are dancing in front of the stage. STAN is facing backwards, trying to ignore them. MARK looks up and sees four more kids slip in the door. MARK This is just a practice. BOY We don't care. MARK You get what you pay for. break. We're on
He slips a tape into the boombox and connects it to an amp. He starts the tape and takes off his bass. The kids start to dance again. MARK walks outside and stretches his arms over his head, then he leans against the building and slides down it so that he is sitting on the ground. Above, the stars are huge and steady. VICTORIAs voice comes out of the darkness. VICTORIA Word gets around. MARK Think we need a bigger club? VICTORIA Is that what you want? MARK That's my dream. Playing in some noisy smoky dive in front of fist-fighting drunks until four in the morning. VICTORIA 53
You guys don't even realize what you have. Anybody else in your place would be riding it out of here. You could play clubs. Reno, Tahoe, who knows? But you've already been out there and come back. MARK Hey, you need a ticket out? Learn to play bass and you can have my place. VICTORIA Whatever you need out of this band, you can't give it to me. I wouldn't know what it was. I've still got to study for a history test. She jumps up and disappears into the night. Singing "Don't Know Much About History", MARK tries to go back inside, but a knot of kids is coming through the door. One girl is holding Carson's cowboy hat, upended and half-full of coin and bills. She gives the hat to Mark. GIRL Here. We heard that you were paying the utilities. BOY Now we got what we paid for.
EXTERIOR.
OUTSIDE MARK'S HOUSE.
DUSK.
CARSON pulls into the driveway. The family is cleaning up from a barbecue. They wave and call hello. DAD holds up a burger and points to it. CARSON shakes his head. MARK comes out of the house and jumps into the car. CARSON drives away. CARSON Get any good toys? MARK Clothes. Cash. for my Mac. Got a nice CAD program
54
CARSON Take a big hint, eh? something practical.
Well, I got you
He digs under the seat and brings forth a new CD. MARK Human Sexual Response! find this? Where'd you
CARSON Tahoe. There's a little record shop in Crystal Bay, run by aging hippies. I knew they'd have something for you. We'll have to drive up there sometime. Here we are. Legal gaming and consumption of alcoholic beverages by the drink. He parks in front of the Silver Strike Casino.
INTERIOR.
THE STRIKE.
EVENING
The front door opens into a large room. A bar runs along the right; rows of slots and video poker are on the left. CARSON Give me your license. He takes Mark's license to the bar and holds it up for inspection by the bartender, a flabby, dour man. CHUCK Congratulations, Mark. First drink's on the house. What'll it be? MARK Uh...beer? CHUCK draws him a glass and slides it across the bar. MARK picks it up, then waits as CARSON orders a beer. They take their glasses into the next room, a lounge where a threepiece band is playing a country song. A sign reads: The Highwaymen. 55
CARSON Next time you're twenty-one, request a more expensive drink. MARK What did you ask for? CARSON A beer, of course. They wouldn't have that tradition if people thought to ask for strawberry daiquiris or Suffering Bastards. In the lounge, a dozen or so people are sitting around chatting. Most tables are empty. The band is bass, guitar, drums. They finish one song and immediately start another. Two couples are dancing. MARK and CARSON sit down and survey the scene. MARK Can I have my ID back now? CARSON No way. Hey Rimmer! My friend Mark is twenty-one today. How about that? An older man staggers past. He has the look of a weathered cowhand. CARSON holds Mark's license up. RIMMER shakes MARK's hand with great gravity, then shouts at the bar. RIMMER 'Nother round here on me, pard! (To MARK.) Just remember to stay single, you hear? I was hitched to the plow two times before I was your age. Two sisters, too. Can you believe that? Sisters and sisters-in-law. They wereCARSON Rimmer! Your pizza's ready. RIMMER I didn't order any goddamn pizza! I'd better go and tell them again, I didn't do it...those bastards... 56
He ambles off just as the barmaid brings them two more beers. MARK starts to put money on her plate, but CARSON makes him take it back. CARSON Not tonight, pard. good here. Your money's no
INTERIOR.
THE STRIKE.
EVENING
Later. More tables are occupied. An older crowd, mostly. More dancers on the floor. One couple walks by; CARSON shows them the ID. The woman motions to catch the barmaid's attention, then points at Mark and holds up two fingers.
INTERIOR.
THE STRIKE.
DAY
Later. The room is crowded. The floor is jammed with couples swaying in time to a live rendition of "Your Cheating Heart". The barmaid brings another round. She nods toward another table, where two older women wave. GUITAR PLAYER We got a special night here for somebody? CARSON Mark's twenty-one today! GUITAR PLAYER Well, Happy Birthday, Mark. From the Highwaymen. He starts to pick out "Happy Birthday to You". GUITAR PLAYER Twenty-one is the very best birthday of all. Is that a beer you're drinkin'? Nothin' like your first beer. That is the first beer you've ever had, right? That's what I thought. Have one on us. 57
The barmaid nods, her hand already on the spigot. begins to sing. BAND Happy Birthday to you You were born in a zoo You look like a monkey And you smell like one, too.
The band
The barmaid sets another glass of beer down in front of MARK. BARMAID You know, I'm not supposed to serve you if you are obviously inebriated. MARK Wh- what makes you...say that...thing you said? CARSON He's not driving. BARMAID He'd better not be. If anything happens to him, I'll kick your ass. MARK She could do, too. 'Cause you're just as fucked up as am I. Wanna crash on our couch? CARSON No thanks. I got a key to the loading dock door at the store. There's a cot back there. I've got to be in early tomorrow anyway. MARK Work! Holy Shit! I forgot all about work. I've got to haul sand out to Keane Valley in the morning.
INTERIOR.
COUNTY MAINTENANCE SHOP. 58
MORNING.
Reddish dawn comes in the windows. MARK is wandering around, looking pale and sick. Everywhere he turns waits something offensive to his condition. A man hammering on a tire rim; another eating a greasy toasted sandwich; the whine of a pneumatic wrench. He spies several sets of earmuff soundguards hanging on a wall over some chainsaws and slips a pair on. The look on his face is one of blissful relief.
INTERIOR.
STAN'S HOUSE.
DUSK.
MARK, STAN, and CARSON are sitting around the dining room table, which is covered with cassettes, printed sheet music and handwritten charts. In the kitchen, PATTI is setting a camcorder up on a tripod. JULIE is sitting on the floor in a pile of videotapes, holding up a tape. JULIE Is this it, Mommy? It says...beefer..beefer n-tees..beavers eat trees? PATTI That's it, kiddo. Beef entrees. it in and let's get to work. Pop
CARSON. After "she said", we should go buddabudda-budda-fade-conk? MARK In D. STAN I can bend the chord up at the end. MARK Chop it, like that! CARSON Budda-budda-budda-fade-conk? PATTI is taking out pots and pans and setting them on the rangetop. The cooking area is on an island. Attached to the ceiling is a large mirror angled so the camera can 59
shoot a top view. JULIE has dragged a stool over and is standing on it, sighting through the camcorder eyepiece. MARK "She said"-budda-budda-budda-buddaconk! JULIE Quiet on the set! PATTI Welcome back. Today we will be preparing three dishes for a small dinner party. We begin with the classic Caesar salad, followed by an elegant yet hearty boeuf a la monde with broccoli timbales. These particular dishes are definitely not low fat, so you wouldn't want to eat them everyday. We have prepared our roast by marinating as one would for the preparation of sauerbraten. The marinade is about one quart of equal parts vinegar and water. I prefer the more expensive balsamic vinegar from Italy. It has a delicious smoky, nutty tang. Then add one-half diced white onion, two bay leaves, freshly ground pepper, and several tablespoons of sugar. Don't scrimp on the sugar even if it seems odd to have sugar and beef in the same pot. Heat the sauce until warm and thoroughly mixed and pour over the beef. MARK and CARSON have fallen silent and are watching the cooking intently. STAN is reading sheet music, nodding his head to a silent beat.
INTERIOR.
STAN'S HOUSE.
NIGHT.
They are in the middle of dinner. JULIE's plate is clean, and she is curled up asleep in her chair. MARK and CARSON are eating with gusto. 60
PATTI So close to Cambridge. I had a dream about that. I dreamt that I was on a cozy little street lined on both sides by tall trees. I was wondering where I was, then I saw her. She seemed to know me, like I was an old friend. She invited me into her house. I took off my coat; we chatted. She made dinner for me! MARK Well, if I ever do run into her, I'll recommend you highly. PATTI She cooked in a frying pan made of solid gold once, you know. MARK Entirely appropriate. I know she would approve of this a la monde. PATTI Thank you. I made it last New Year's Day for my parents. Now it's all they want. CARSON Speaking of New Year's, KRNV in Reno has their battle of the bands. Finals on New Year's Eve. Want to get tickets? MARK Tickets? Hell, we should be in it. CARSON Why not? MARK notices STAN stiffen. MARK Stan! You can do it. You're doing great in the shed, man. STAN 61
Yeah, but I know all those guys. CARSON I feel better playing in front of strangers. PATTI Get over it, dear. They need you. And you need them. You know you love to play that loud old guitar. I mean, my God, hasn't our sex life been fantastic lately? STAN Patti! PATTI turns to MARK, who is nodding politely. choking on a timbale trapped in mid-guffaw. PATTI Well, it's true. CARSON is
INTERIOR.
MARK'S HOUSE.
DAY.
It is mid-afternoon in late fall. The trees outside are red and gold. Mark and his father are watching a college football game. DAD Naked bootleg - strong side. MARK Flanker screen. The phone rings in the other room. with a cordless phone. MOM Mark. MARK holds the phone to his ear, still watching the game. MARK Hello? 62 Mark's mom comes in
VICTORIA (O.S.) I need a gigantic favor. The Sophomore Sock Hop is supposed to start at seven, but our band just canceled. Would you play for us? MARK What? That's in like...three hours. All our gear is out in the shed. And we don't have but maybe twelve tunes. VICTORIA (O.S.) Please, please, please? You could mix in tapes like at the shed. You could play things twice. No one will mind. MARK Let me think. If Carson is home and willing, and if Stan doesn't freak. VICTORIA (O.S.) Get back to me as soon as you can. I've got to know whether to cancel the food and the cop. I've got to call MARK Okay, I get the picture. Bye.
INTERIOR. NIGHT.
A LARGE FUNCTION ROOM AT THE HIGH SCHOOL.
A crowd of kids stands about. Some are carrying in the band's equipment and arranging it under MARK's supervision on a low platform. CARSON is adjusting his cymbals. STAN is sitting on the back of the platform, his back to all, cradling his guitar. MARK steps up to the mike. MARK Good evening! Can you hear me all right? OK - we're almost ready. You probably know by now that we are the substitute band. What we're going to do tonight is play some of our favorite tunes and spin some others. We might stop and start over and cuss at each 63
other. Please bear with us. If you have requests, we'll try to accommodate you. My name is Mark Foster. On drums is Carson Carson, and on guitar, the one and only Stan Cremetti. MARK turns around and sees that STAN is still hunkered down. He takes off his bass, turns on a tape, and goes to sit beside STAN. STAN I thought it might get easier. MARK It's never easy. If you want to be a performer of any kind, you've got to figure out how to tap that fear for energy. STAN I said I would try. try. I came here to
MARK Stand right behind my amp so you can see Carson. He goes back to his mike and turns off the boombox. Putting on his bass, he nods to CARSON. MARK This one is called "Divine Hammer". From nowhere, it appears, comes STAN's guitar opening. Kids who weren't paying attention before are looking, trying to see where the player is. CARSON and MARK join in, and dancing breaks out.
EXTERIOR.
THE ONION SHED.
NIGHT.
A crew of youths is just finishing unloading the band's gear from MARK's truck into the shed. One by one and two by two they bid farewell and drive off, leaving MARK, CARSON, and VICTORIA standing in the clear cold night. 64
MARK How about a beer? There's some in the fridge. CARSON I've got a steer and two lambs coming in in the morning. You know what they call a butcher with a hangover? MARK No - what? CARSON holds up his right hand with some of the fingers folded back out of sight as he heads for his car. CARSON Lefty. VICTORIA How about that beer? MARK Uh... VICTORIA Oh, c'mon.
INTERIOR.
THE ONION SHED.
NIGHT.
The shed is black except for one small lamp in the corner where a refrigerator, two wooden chairs, and an old couch form a little conversational grouping. MARK and VICTORIA are sitting on the couch, sipping beers, listening to the silence. VICTORIA Do you miss school? MARK I miss my friends. I miss learning new things. I don't miss the exams. VICTORIA Miss your girlfriend? 65
MARK Dont have a serious one. VICTORIA What did you tell her when you left? MARK See you later. VICTORIA Grand. MARK What? VICTORIA You're such a man. with your eyes. You see the world He responds, politely at
She comes closer and kisses him. first, then passionately.
MARK What am I supposed to see with? VICTORIA My heart. She takes his hand and guides it inside her shirt. MARK You? VICTORIA YesMARK I? She fumbles a condom from her shirt pocket. VICTORIA There. MARK Sure? 66
They slowly fall to horizontal together. VICTORIA Blind, blind, blind....
INTERIOR.
MARK'S HOUSE.
DAY.
Sunday morning. MARK is eating a late breakfast in front of the TV, watching an NFL pregame show. He looks out the window and sees VICTORIA riding her horse into the yard. He hurries out the door.
EXTERIOR.
MARK'S HOUSE.
DAY. She reins her mount in and
VICTORIA is riding bareback. slides down to the ground.
VICTORIA Want to go riding? I can get another horse. With a saddle, even. MARK I'll pass. VICTORIA Geez. Someone once said that the only creatures happy after intercourse are roosters and women. I didn't know it lasted until the next day. MARK cant resist the urge to glance over his shoulder. VICTORIA What? MARK I guess I...just...I'm sorry about last night. VICTORIA Sorry? Why should you be sorry? MARK 67
I didn't mean for us to - you know VICTORIA Oh, I see. Well, I'm only a teenager from a tiny cow town. I don't expect to be in the same sexual league as your East Coast coeds. MARK I shouldn't have forced myself on you. VICTORIA My god! You fucking fool. I have been trying to get your attention ever since I was in seventh grade and you were a senior. Don't you remember me riding my bike up and down this road everyday? MARK Really? VICTORIA Really. I used to stand behind your car when we were at the drive-in and make believe that it was me in the car. You didn't force me to do anything.
INTERIOR.
VICKI'S HOUSE.
NIGHT.
VICTORIA is curled up by the fireplace, reading. Outside it is snowing heavily, big puffy flakes caught by an exterior light, white on black - reminiscent of the opening scene. There is a knock on the window. VICTORIA looks up and sees MARK waving. She hops up and lets him in. He shakes off the snow, setting down a small electronic keyboard and a folder. VICTORIA You're frozen. Where's your coat? MARK I forgot to put it on, I guess. writing a tune. VICTORIA 68 I was
You walked over in this? MARK pokes at the keyboard. MARK Listen to this. then C, B. D flat, B, D flat,
VICTORIA sits close to him. VICTORIA I love creative men. A, G... MARK. Where's the old folk? It's just
VICTORIA Out to the movies, sweetie. me...and you.
MARK I figure we can get away with one cover, but we gotta come up with two good originals. Think "Headon" would work for us? You know, Pixies, Jesus and Mary Chain? VICTORIA Uh huh. She nibbles on his ear. He gives her a quick kiss, just to acknowledge her presence. MARK The scoring at these things is entirely subjective. It all depends on who they've dredged up to judge that night. She is rubbing up against him with her whole torso. MARK You're not listening to me. She manages to slip a hand under his shirt and rub his chest. MARK 69
What if Leon and Shirley walk in? VICTORIA You'd have to marry me or go to jail. MARK That's not funny. VICTORIA What? I was joking. She sits up, straightening her clothes. VICTORIA You think it's possible, don't you? You think that I could trap you into marrying me. What? We'd get a trailer and have dirty little babies - and you'd have to drive that fucking truck all day and never get back to your precious college friends? No. MARK That's not what I meant.
VICTORIA But it crossed your mind, didn't it? How dare you even consider that I would have you and your rotten children and be stuck here forever? I'm getting the hell out! And nobody - especially somebody like you who had their chance and blew it, is going to stop me. Get out! Now! MARK No way! It's cold out there. VICTORIA You should have worn a coat! She grabs him and tries to move him off the couch, but he is too big and much stronger. He cannot be budged. He fends off her blows, finally getting her in a hold with her arms pinned behind her. VICTORIA 70
Let me go! MARK Promise to stop gouging me with your bony fingers? VICTORIA Okay. Releasing her, he stands. Wait. VICTORIA Did you really-
MARK Think you were out to get me? No. I wouldnt like that anymore than you. VICTORIA Please don't go. Let's start over. It's so cold out there. MARK Well, yeah. It is. VICTORIA Did you mean it the other day, when you said that you enjoyed - you know - it? Was it really all right? MARK It was better than all right. VICTORIA I mean mechanically. Was everything working the way it should? Yeah. MARK You could make a living at it.
VICTORIA You'll get free samples anytime. She runs her fingers through his hair. They kiss. It is becoming serious when they hear voices outside. They leap up, composing themselves. VICTORIA grabs her book and dives onto the floor by the fireplace. MARK picks up his 71
keyboard and stands there uncomfortably. VICTORIA's parents, SHIRLEY and LEON, come noisily in the door, brushing and stomping away the snow. LEON What a night! Well, hello, Mark. VICTORIA How was the movie, Dad? LEON The movie was good, but the sound was lopsided. The speaker on the left side seemed to be dead. SHIRLEY How's the homework coming?
INTERIOR.
HIGH SCHOOL GYM.
NIGHT.
MARK and CARSON are squeezed into stands watching the last seconds of the first half of a close basketball game. They are focused on the cheerleaders, who are cavorting and tumbling during a timeout. VICTORIA is one of the cheerleaders. The pep band is blasting out the school song. MARK Scientists think that the ability to recognize symmetry in one's environment may have played a significant part in survival. CARSON And? MARK These cheerleaders. symmetrical. They're quite
The half ends; the teams clear the floor. Much of the crowd stands. Some head for the doors. MARK leaves CARSON talking to some friends and goes down to the corner of the gym where the pep band is set up. 72
MR. REDD Good timing! We were just about to kick off one of your arrangements. Would you do the honors? Love to. MARK Which one?
He peers over the top of the music stands. MARK Great idea. Okay, gang - here we go They play "Whip It", and this time it is recognizable. MARK nods in approval and pitches in with the vocals. The cheerleaders skip over and improvise a chorus line dance.
INTERIOR.
VICTORIA'S HOUSE.
DAY.
It is late afternoon. MARK, VICTORIA, SHIRLEY, and LEON are sitting at a dining room table, finishing a meal. LEON I couldn't believe it. I just had the brakes done, and now on the transmission! We were hoping it would be Vicki's car someday. MARK Oh, you wouldn't want a big car like that at college - ow! VICTORIA I'm sorry. I thought that was the table leg again. MARK Cant you relax? My leg is going to be black-and-blue. SHIRLEY Vicki, are you feeling all right? VICTORIA I'm fine, Mom. I'm just full of 73
nervous energy. walk.
I need to go for a
She gets up. MARK follows, thanking them all for the meal. He follows VICTORIA to the front room, where they put on their jackets. The walls are covered with pictures of Victoria: as a baby, toddler, posed with different relatives, playing sports, with parents on trips. They go out the door. It is clear and sunny and cold.
EXTERIOR.
STREET.
DAY.
VICTORIA and MARK are walking. MARK What the hell is with you? You were kicking me on purpose. VICTORIA Because you can't take a hint. My parents get nervous when I talk about college. MARK What? They don't want you to go to college? VICTORIA Of course they do. They just don't want me to leave them. MARK Excuse me? Miss 'can't wait to get the hell out of here'? What did they think you were going to do when you graduate? VICTORIA They know. They've been saving for my college since before I was born. They're just not emotionally ready for it to happen. MARK You're an only child. 74
VICTORIA That's part of it. MARK Where you want to go? VICTORIA I want to go everywhere. I want to enroll in dozens of Universities, all at the same time. I want to go to Homecoming with a hundred thousand drunken, screaming football fans. I want to scuba dive in the Pacific and ski in the Rockies. And get credit for it. I want to study writing and biology and business and psychology. I want to take a year abroad at Oxford and Heidelberg and the Sorbonne. I want everything, all the time, everywhere. MARK That could get expensive. VICTORIA I'm an only child, remember?
INTERIOR.
SILVER STRIKE CLUB.
DAY.
MARK and CARSON are sitting in the restaurant eating a pizza. The casino manager comes in and sees them. He comes over, pulls a chair up to the table, and sits. MANAGER How's our pizza compare to the big city? MARK Mmm. MANAGER My son tells me that you guys have a band going. MARK 75
Mmm mmm. MANAGER He says you're hot. Between all the money I've spent on music lessons and he's spent on records, I would hope that he'd know. MARK He studies with Mr. Cremetti, doesn't he? MANAGER Since the second grade. MARK Stan plays guitar with us. MANAGER No shit? That's one talented family. Well, anyway, I have a problem. I need a band to play Thursday nights. You interested? Here? MARK But we're not country.
MANAGER I know. I want some new music in here. I already got Fridays and Saturdays booked with out-of-town talent. CARSON What about the Highwaymen? MANAGER Ben and Roy both work for Crowell Copper. They're getting transferred to the Kingston, Arizona mine. I don't think that Barry Lee playing bass all by himself is going to cut it. So what do you say? MARK It's a deal. MANAGER 76
Great. Bring your gear round the back Thursday, anytime. Play from eight to one. Ten minute break every hour. The manager leaves for the kitchen. MARK Damn, I forgot to ask him about the money. CARSON Screw the money. Stan's going to shit a concrete block.
EXTERIOR.
A HOUSE UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
DAY.
MARK and CARSON walk up to STAN, who is helping another man screed a concrete patio. MARK Lotta mud. MAN Seven fucking yards. CARSON That won't blow away. MARK Say, Stan, we got an offer to play at the Strike on Thursday nights. What'd ya think? STAN Son of a bitch? MARK Five hundred bucks a pop. STAN Son of a bitch. CARSON We already kinda made a commitment. 77
STAN Son of a bitch! MARK It'll be just like the shed...with slots instead of hay. STAN Son of a bitch. MARK Thursdays are a slow night. Practically deserted. STAN Son of a bitch. MARK We start this week. STAN Son of a bitch.
INTERIOR.
MARK'S HOUSE.
DAY.
No one is home. The phone rings four times, then the answering machine picks up. MARK has recorded the greeting. MARK Hello, this is the Foster residence. If you are calling to ask about the Shed, we will be playing tonight starting around seven. If you have a message for Mark Foster or for Mr. or Mrs. Foster, please leave it after the beep.
INTERIOR.
THE ONION SHED.
NIGHT.
It is early, but already there is a good crowd of kids milling around. On the stage, a young man is telling jokes. He is getting heckled and razzed. More kids come 78
in every minute. MARK and STAN are in the conversational grouping, looking at some charts.
EXTERIOR.
THE ONION SHED.
NIGHT.
Two beefy youths wearing letter jackets are blocking the door against the entry of a cursing teen. A girl comes from inside. GIRL What's the problem? FIRST BEEFY YOUTH Charlie's drunk. GIRL Charlie! You know the drill. You can't come drunk. You want us to get shut down? CHARLIE I am not drunk, goddamnit! GIRL C'mon. Give me your keys, and I'll drive you home. CHARLIE Fuck you! He shoves one of the beefy youths and gets shoved back, landing on his ass on the dirt. A Sheriff's patrol car pulls off the road and into the parking area. CHARLIE springs to his feet. The beefy youths wave at the deputy, who waves back, and after a look around the lot, drives away. CHARLIE stumbles to his car. FIRST BEEFY YOUTH Should we stop him? SECOND BEEFY YOUTH We'd have to hurt him to help him. GIRL Drive carefully, Charlie. 79
CHARLIE Fuck you!
INTERIOR.
THE ONION SHED.
NIGHT.
SANDRA comes in the door and looks around the shed in awe. She spies MARK and comes over to sit beside him. SANDRA This is boss! MARK Where's the rest of the tribe? SANDRA Fast asleep. I thought I'd come out and see what all the fuss was about. MARK Fuss? SANDRA Are you kidding? This is the talk of the town. CARSON rides a motorscooter in the door. helmet and turns off the motor. Jesus! MARK What is this? He takes off his
CARSON New wheels. Got it at a yard sale over on Oregon Street. I'm going to paint her apple red with black tiger stripes. Pretty cool, huh? Did you tell them all yet? They climb up onto the stage and pick up their instruments. MARK takes the mike from the young comic. MARK I have an announcement. We won't be able to open the shed on Thursdays 80
anymore. We've got a regular gig at the Strike. You've all been very generous, but we tapped out buying hardware, and we can really use the cash. We'll still be here Fridays and Saturdays.
EXTERIOR.
STAN'S HOUSE.
DAY.
It is a sunny, cold December afternoon. STAN is splitting wood with an axe. MARK is helping by taking round logs from a stack and setting them up on a stump to be split, then tossing the pieces into a basket. CARSON is driving invisible golf balls with an old five iron. CARSON The crowd falls silent as Carson prepares to tee off on the first hole of sudden death here in Augusta. The intense pressure seems to have Woods and Duval looking tight, but young Carson is relaxed and confident as he addresses the ball. Carson, who is the leading money-winner on the PGA tour this year as well as the drummer for the famous.... Hey. What's the name of our band? MARK shrugs.
INTERIOR.
STAN'S HOUSE.
DAY.
CARSON stumbles in, struggling with the heavy basket of wood. He plops it down by a wood stove. Through a doorway he sees PATTI and VICTORIA cooking and talking, to each other and to someone else. He moves closer and sees that it is JULIE, up on her stool with one eye pressed to the camcorder. STAN and MARK come in carrying kindling. CARSON Jesus, will you look at that coq au vin? Stan, what the hell did you do to deserve this? 81
They go into the kitchen. finger to her lips.
JULIE quickly turns and puts her
PATTI So we have the galantine of turkey with the imported truffle rolled inside served with poached mandarin oranges and a side of tomato provencale. Victoria, thanks for cohosting today. VICTORIA It was my pleasure. JULIE Cut! CARSON reaches for a truffle, and VICTORIA raps his hand with a wooden spatula. VICTORIA Wash your hands. CARSON Si, Mrs. Grasso. VICTORIA Who? MARK Bryan Grasso's mom. afraid of germs. She was deathly
CARSON I still have dishpan hands. Every time we took five she would yell, "Wash your hands when you come into my kitchen!" I think she made her own soap so it would have extra lye in it. MARK They were in a band. VICTORIA When was this? MARK 82
I never told you about the Junior High Rock and Roll Revival? The Golden Age of Garage. VICTORIA Please do. They all sit down at the table Patti has been loading with food. MARK You know that pink house across the street from the Junior High? When we were in the seventh grade, the Rusts lived there. Steve was a senior, I think, and he had an older sister who was a secretary for the city. Sarah. CARSON My first love.
MARK You wished. Steve and Sarah both played guitar. Steve would come home from school every afternoon and drag his guitar and amp out into the carport and grind away. We watched him out of the windows in last period. Some of us started to go over and hang out and listen to him after school. Later, Sarah would come home and get out her guitar and the two of them would jam. It wasn't long before we were scrounging around for guitars of our own. Steve showed us some chords, and away we went. By eighth grade, there were quite a few kids who could play. Of course, no one could play like Stan, but we didn't know Stan played at all. CARSON I put together a trap set. Me and Bryan and Dave Stanger and Kenny Lamonica were The Scrofulous Toads. VICTORIA Why did you switch to bass? 83
MARK There were too many guitar players. You can't have a band with just guitars. I saw an old Fender bass in a yard sale in Carson City and got my dad to buy it for me. I was the only bass player in town for months. I was in three bands at the same time - Hard Water, The Dipsticks, and Too Dilute. CARSON That summer before high school you could hear guitars twanging on every street in town. We would set up right in the Grasso's driveway and play. We got really good at "Pipeline", you know, by the Chantelles? We played it over and over. MARK Drove the grownups crazy. As far as they were concerned, if it didn't have a steel guitar and wasnt about alcoholism and ignorance, you were just making noise. It was the purest punk. No-talent smart-ass kids with cheap, loud amps. Then we got to high school. Football practices lasted until dark, and girls took more time, and we got cars. The bands played less and less. Then Sarah got married, and Steve went into the Army. There were a dozen bands in town that summer. Two years later there were zero. JULIE shoves a last bite of food into her mouth and holds up her plate for all to see. JULIE Clean plate!
EXTERIOR.
THE SILVER STRIKE.
NIGHT. Bartenders, cooks,
MARK and CARSON are in the alley. 84
waitresses come in and out a back door, carrying parcels and food, changing shifts, grabbing the air, smoking cigarettes. MARK He's not going to come. CARSON Maybe. If he can't, he can't. we gonna do about it? What're
STAN comes stumbling down the alley, looking fairly terrified. MARK Just in time! CARSON Mark though you'd bailed. STAN Patti said I should give it a fair try. CARSON Or what? No sex? STAN That's got nothing to do with it. MARK Okay. Let's get in there while we have that old momentum going.
INTERIOR.
THE SILVER STRIKE.
NIGHT.
They are setting up and doing a mike check. The room is about a third full. SANDRA and BERNIE are there with another couple. STAN is facing a wall, tuning. A man in cowboy boots saunters over. MAN Is it too early to make a request? MARK What can we play for you? 85
MAN How about "Thunder Road"? MARK Ah. The one and only hit of Robert Mitchum. No. MAN Garth Brooks. MARK Don't know it.
Sorry.
MAN You know anything by Garth Brooks? MARK No. MAN How about Clint Black? MARK Nope. MAN Gatlin Brothers? MARK How about some Jerry Jeff Walker? MAN Who? MARK Kinky Friedman? MAN Well, how about some Beatles, then? MARK We don't do any Beatles. MAN Don't you know anything? are you going to play? 86 What the hell
MARK We'll play whatever you want. Just nothing by one of those prettyboy neocowpokes with clean boots and fancy hats. And no Beatles. I'm sick of the fucking Beatles. The boomers who control the radio stations have been cramming that ancient shit down our throats too long. MAN Well, whatever it is you do play, play it. We want to dance. MARK motions for SANDRA. She comes to the stage, and he hands her a stack of paper. MARK Help us do "Joyride"? SANDRA Here? MARK Why not? I made a bunch of copies so we could have a good old-fashioned sing along. SANDRA Good thought. I'm the only one here who could even fake it. She circulates in the room, handing sheets to the women, whispering instructions. CARSON Yee haw! Are we gonna line dance to it, hoss? MARK Good evening, cowboys and cowgirls. This is a light-hearted little tune name of "Joyride", and it has nothing to do with rodeo. Ladies, you've got to help us out on the chorus, if you would. It'll become clear to you in 87
just a moment. CARSON kicks it off. MARK sings the first stanza, then he and SANDRA lead the chorus as a few others manage to stumble along with them. MARK again, and the women get the chorus down a little better this time. They are whacking it out. Loud and together, the women in the room are belting. Customers are leaving the slots and tables in the gaming rooms to crowd in the doorways, drawn by the commotion. Cooks and busboys are looking in from the kitchen. The couples who were sitting are now dancing, the women still singing. At the finish, the room is packed.
INTERIOR.
CARSON'S TRAILER.
NIGHT.
Later that night. MARK and CARSON are slumped on a couch, having a beer, and watching an old movie on a small blackand-white TV. CARSON I'm glad I have tomorrow off. It'll be a while before I can even think about sleep. MARK Performance high. CARSON It's doing Patti some good. it? MARK How did you know? CARSON It's not too obvious. Anyway, in this state she's legal. Believe me. I've read the statute carefully. MARK She's quite mature. CARSON Whatever. Too bad she couldn't catch us tonight. We were rockin' and 88 Vicki dig
reelin' and hangin' from the ceilin'. MARK I have a clock radio. Takes forever to wake me up - an hour, sometimes. I just lie there drifting and listen. One morning I was in a dream when the music came on, and the tune got incorporated into the story. I was in a band, a big band, and we were playing a gig in some club. We had to push together lots of little tables to make a stage. Then we jumped up on them to play. It was "Don't Change" by INXS. I was playing something shaped like a guitar, but I could make all the sounds in the song come out of it, just by strumming it and willing it to come out. Like one of those things that Mrs. Ross had in second grade, where you hold down one button and strum and get B-flat chord, only a thousand times cooler. Like my thoughts were turned into sound. CARSON Why don't we play it? MARK It was the kind of dream you shouldnt try to make real.
EXTERIOR.
RENO NIGHTCLUB.
NIGHT.
MARK, CARSON, and STAN are unloading gear from Mark's truck. VICTORIA is standing on the sidewalk, holding Mark's bass and Stan's guitar and looking at the line of people waiting to get in. Another band passes by without acknowledging them. MARK, CARSON, and STAN carry a load of gear to the door. VICTORIA goes ahead of them. Waiting inside the door is a large, ugly bouncer.
INTERIOR.
RENO NIGHTCLUB.
NIGHT. 89
BOUNCER IDs? MARK She's with us. BOUNCE
![Multitudes [Screenplay]](https://static.documents.pub/doc/80x56/568bd74f1a28ab20349f3e09/multitudes-screenplay.jpg)
