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turning to page one
turning to page one
A small room with an Indian pattern on the wallpaper. Pagoda lies on a hammock listening to Indian music on a portable record player. There is a knock on the door, and then it opens. Henry stands in the doorway. He stares at Pagoda.
HENRY
How much is he paying you?
Pagoda looks scared.
INSERT:
A television set tuned in to an interview show. The host is a tall, distinguished-looking man in his fifties. He is Peter Bradley. Eli is his guest. They sit at a round table lit at the center of a pitch-black room.
ELI
Well, I grew up with the Tenenbaum
family, you know.
PETER
Right. They’ve come on hard times now,
haven’t they?
Eli nods sadly.
CUT TO:
Richie’s room. Margot and Royal are watching Eli on television.
ROYAL
Bullshit. Change it.
The door opens. Richie comes into the room. His hand is wrapped with bloody bandages. Margot looks concerned.
MARGOT
What’d you do to your hand?
RICHIE
Nothing.
Richie goes into the closet. Two dalmation mice dart out across the floor. They run under the radiator. Royal frowns.
ROYAL
You think we could get somebody to come
over here and kill some of these mice
for us?
MARGOT
No. Those belong to Chas. Or, anyway,
he invented them.
Richie drags a large trunk out of the closet.
ROYAL
Well, tell him to stick them in a
fucking cage or something.
Henry and Pagoda come into the room. Henry goes over to the
HENRY
Etheline? Would you mind coming up here
for a minute, please?
Royal looks at Henry suspiciously.
ROYAL
What’s cooking, Pops?
HENRY
You’ll see.
ETHELINE (O.S.)
(on the intercom)
OK.
INSERT:
The television set. Eli’s interview continues.
PETER
Now, your previous novel --
ELI
Wildcattin’.
PETER
Right. Not a success. Why?
ELI
Hm. Well, Wildcattin’ was written in a
kind of obsolete vernacular, much like
the --
Eli freezes. He looks quickly across the room.
ELI (CONT’D)
Holy shit.
PETER
(looking around)
What?
CONTINUED: (2)
A look of sheer horror crosses Eli’s face. He braces himself against the edge of the table. Peter looks concerned.
PETER (CONT’D)
Are you all right?
ELI
(concerned)
Why is it so dense in here?
Peter hesitates. Eli removes his microphone, stands up, and walks off the set. Peter Bradley watches him go.
CUT TO:
Everyone watching in Richie’s bedroom. They look stunned.
ROYAL
Son of a bitch. What the hell kind of
way to act is that?
RICHIE
(pause)
He’s on drugs.
MARGOT
(worried)
I’ll be right back.
Margot goes to the telephone. Etheline and Chas come into the room. Chas is eating a sandwich. Ari, Uzi and Buckley follow them.
HENRY
Hold on a minute, please.
Henry steps in front of the television set and turns it off.
HENRY (CONT’D)
Pagoda has something to say.
Everyone looks to Pagoda. Silence. Pagoda looks worried. He turns to Royal and points at him.
PAGODA
He has the cancer.
HENRY
(angrily)
No, he doesn’t.
Royal sits up. Henry stares at Royal.
HENRY (CONT’D)
I know what stomach cancer looks like.
I’ve seen it.
CONTINUED: (3)
HENRY (CONT’D)
And you don’t eat three cheeseburgers a
day with french fries when you’ve got
it. The pain is excruciating.
ROYAL
How would you know?
HENRY
My wife had it.
Silence. Royal pulls out his IV and the other tubes that are attached to him. He goes into the bathroom and closes the door. Henry turns to Etheline.
HENRY (CONT’D)
Not only is there no Dr. McClure at
Colby General, there’s no Colby General.
It closed in 1974.
Chas crushes his sandwich in his hand.
PAGODA
Ah, shit, man.
ETHELINE
But why would he --
Chas slams his hand against the bathroom door as hard as he can. He sits down on the bed and picks up the phone. He places a call.
CHAS
Yes. Can you send a taxi to 111 Archer
Avenue? Right away, please. Thank you.
Chas hangs up. Royal comes out of the bathroom. He is fully dressed in a suit, and he is zipping up a small leather bag. He picks up one of his bottles of pills off the night stand and leaves the rest. He looks to Pagoda.
ROYAL
I guess we’re back on the street, pal.
Etheline looks to Pagoda. She frowns. Pagoda looks uneasy.
ETHELINE
Were you part of this?
HENRY
Of course he was.
Etheline looks to Royal. Royal looks to Pagoda. He says regretfully:
ROYAL
Time to come clean. No more lies.
CONTINUED: (4)
Pagoda stares at Royal bitterly. Richie points at the hospital bed and life-support machines.
RICHIE
How’d you get all these medical
supplies?
ROYAL
(pause)
A guy at St. Pete’s owed me a favor. I
did some malpractice work for him. I do
have high blood pressure, though.
Royal swallows one of his pills. He turns and stands in front of everyone.
ROYAL (CONT’D)
Look. I know I’m the bad guy on this
one, but I just want to say that the
last six days have been the best six
days of, probably, my whole life.
A strange, sad expression crosses Royal’s face.
NARRATOR (V.O.)
Immediately after making this statement,
Royal realized that it was true.
Royal begins to gather his possessions.