Al and Julie glance at each other. Al smiles. Julie, uncomfortable, turns away and wedges herself between the chair and table. SHEILA (O.S.) I’m going to go check on the table. TOM (O.S.) Hey, c’mon, just a moment, c’mon . . . Laughing, Sheila enters from the kitchen and circles the buffet table. SHEILA Hi there. Mind if I steal this? BILL Go right ahead. She picks something up from the cutting board and drops it into her mouth, wiggling her bottom to show the sensation of the good flavor. She exits to the foyer. Al tears a leg off a chicken. 6. INT. FOYER/STAIRS—NIGHT Through the rails of the staircase, Julie sits alone, balancing a plate on her knees. She arranges a small grouping of doll house furniture displaying a living room and holiday dinner around her plate as she eats. SOUND of ice TINKLING in glasses is unnaturally loud; the soft indistinguishable patter of CONVERSATION. SHEILA (O.S.) I’d love to get a picture of that. I’d love to get a picture of that. AL (O.S.) So just who is Julie’s father anyway? So who’s Julie’s father? That’s what I never understood. Headless and footless adult figures pass in and out of the frame in front of her obscuring and revealing Julie. 312 Writing the Short Film App-B.qxd 9/27/04 6:02 PM Page 312 7. INT. DEN—NIGHT A bar. Amber liquid pours into frame as Tom’s hand fills a tumbler with scotch, ice, and a touch of water. Sheila leans very close to Tom and lets her breast brush against his arm as she lifts the glass out of his hand. Julie enters unobserved from the darkness of the corridor behind them to witness the exchange. Sheila stirs her drink with her finger and licks her finger. Tom and Sheila stand close together and SPEAK under their breath. AD LIB. SHEILA Hi, is that for me? You know what Julie asked me? TOM What? SHEILA If you were the same Tom she met at her birthday party years ago. TOM You’re kidding. (They laugh.) SHEILA (laughing) So how’s your wife? Bill enters unobserved for a moment. Sheila notices Bill and crosses to him. SHEILA (turning toward Bill) Thanks for the drink, Tom. Can I get you anything, sweetheart? BILL No thanks. I’m all set. Bill swirls the alcohol in his glass, forces a smile, and pulls away and heads to the bar. With Tom and Bill in Short Screenplays 313 App-B.qxd 9/27/04 6:02 PM Page 313 the background by the bar, Sheila steps away and lights a cigarette, inhaling deeply. TOM Great scotch, Bill. BILL That’s nice. 8. INT. DEN/CORRIDOR—NIGHT (intercut with sc. 7) Al comes from the corridor behind Julie and surprises her. He performs a simple magic trick offering her a cigarette. Julie takes it. He lights it for her. Julie tries to look natural smoking the cigarette but is made uncomfortable by Al’s proximity to her. From the living room, Sheila watches Julie smoking with an air of surprise but does not reprimand her. Instead she smiles at her daughter and blows smoke rings with her own cigarette. They exchange smiles. 9. INT. LIVING ROOM/DEN—NIGHT Delirious montage of details of the room and the movement of the guests as the party wears on. 10. INT. LIVING ROOM—NIGHT Sheila and Julie dance as Julie hammers away on the organ. She plays very badly. The mother and daughter improvise a raucous R ‘n’ R tune. Bill and Al are off to the side in quiet conversation. Sheila dances across to Bill. SHEILA Come dance with me. BILL (smiling, pushes her away) C’mon, c’mon. Sheila dances back across toward Julie, and Tom joins her in a sloppy dance. BILL Just knock that off; you’re making me crazy. Turn it off. Shut that thing off. 314 Writing the Short Film App-B.qxd 9/27/04 6:02 PM Page 314 Julie lifts her hands off the keyboard and the organ dies. JULIE It is off. SHEILA Take it easy, Bill. BILL Stop that dee-dee-dee shit. Julie gets up and leaves. TOM (O.S.) Hey, Jules, c’mon play for us. 11. INT. STAIRWELL/FOYER—NIGHT Julie stomps up the stairs. A needle drops sharply on the turntable. From the base of the stairs, Al watches Julie’s foot disappear around the banister. 12. INT. LANDING/MASTER BEDROOM—NIGHT At the top of the stairs, a light is burning in the large master bedroom on the bedside table next to a bottle of whiskey and a tumbler; the bed is unmade. An informal wedding portrait of Sheila and Bill is on the nightstand. A rifle rests in the corner of the room. Julie lingers in the doorway a moment. She enters and closes the door behind her. She pushes over the photos on the bedside table and jumps on the bed where she discovers her mother’s nightgown. BILL (O.S.) Just a little while ago you were nothing, you know, you were nothing. Just a woman in a bar with a little snotty-nosed kid, a little snotty-nosed kid. SHEILA (O.S.) What is this story you’re telling me? A little Biafra here. Sheila and Bill laugh. Short Screenplays 315 App-B.qxd 9/27/04 6:02 PM Page 315 SHEILA (O.S.) I was perfectly fine. BILL (O.S.) I understand it was a hell of a job. That was real— working for the president. One hell of a job. I mean it was fine, I’m not saying anything—c’mon—you were working in a bar. Give me a break. SHEILA (O.S.) I happened to grow up five blocks from that bar. I know all the people. It’s not a sleazy place. BILL (O.S.) I’m just saying that it’s not exactly brain surgery, that’s all. SHEILA (O.S.) Good Lord! I wouldn’t exactly call yourself a brain surgeon. She pulls her shirt over her head and holds the nightgown up. 13. INT. BATHROOM—NIGHT SOUNDS of the PARTY continue downstairs: MUSIC, VOICES, GLASSES CLINKING mingle with the rushing WATER. Water pours from the tap; bubbles form on the surface of the water. Julie’s foot plays with the tap as it fills the tub. SHEILA (O.S.) One invention and you’re sitting pretty. BILL (O.S.) That’s right, we’re sitting pretty. SHEILA (O.S.) Oh yeah, well, we’ll just see about that. You’re getting pretty tight, aren’t you? Counting every penny. Julie sits in the bubbles up to her neck. Her dry hair hangs over the edge of the tub. She picks up a 316 Writing the Short Film App-B.qxd 9/27/04 6:02 PM Page 316 lipstick from the edge of the tub and applies it using the side of the tube as a mirror. She admires the fractions of her face that she can see in its reflection. 14. INT. DEN/BAR—NIGHT Sheila leans against the hearth framed by a rack of rifles. She lets out an exasperated sigh over the sound of her own voice arguing with her husband. BILL (O.S.) It’s not every penny. It’s thirteen hundred dollars. I have a right to ask my wife. 15. INT. BATHROOM—NIGHT Julie slowly slides herself into the water. She thrashes around under water blowing bubbles to the surface. Underwater the argument turns to mush. BILL (O.S.) I’m just asking. I have a right to ask my own wife about the goddamned money. 16. INT. LANDING—NIGHT A bottle is knocked over. SHEILA (O.S.) I resent, I resent that you call my daughter . . . 17. INT. BATHROOM—NIGHT (CONT.) Julie reemerges from underwater and the sound returns to normal. BILL (O.S.) What did you call me that for . . . just think of who you’re talking to. SHEILA (O.S.) You’re drunk. BILL (O.S.) Oh yeah, so what are you the Virgin Mary you’re so sober? Short Screenplays 317 App-B.qxd 9/27/04 6:02 PM Page 317 17. A SPECIAL EFFECTS SHOT OF GLASS tumbler with ice fills with scotch. 18. INT. BATHROOM—NIGHT In a three-way mirror, apricot satin shimmers as Julie slides a luxurious nightgown, several sizes too large, over her head. The voices downstairs vanish as she is enraptured by her own sensuality. A loud CRASH is heard downstairs. 19. HARD CUT TO: A tumbler of ice and scotch CRASHES to the ground. 20. INT. BATHROOM—NIGHT (CONT.) Julie turns sharply at the SOUND. 21. INT. FOYER—NIGHT Julie comes out of the bathroom and runs to the landing. Seen from high above through the bars of the staircase. Tom is between Sheila and Bill. The figures pass in and out between the rungs of the banister. Bill taunts Sheila. SHEILA Get your stomach out of the way. BILL Fuck you. TOM Don’t, Bill, c’mon . . . SHEILA I still have a few good years on you. BILL Fucking few, baby, few fucking years, baby . . . Sheila spits in Bill’s face and laughs. BILL Fucking whore. 318 Writing the Short Film App-B.qxd 9/27/04 6:02 PM Page 318 . penny. Julie sits in the bubbles up to her neck. Her dry hair hangs over the edge of the tub. She picks up a 316 Writing the Short Film App-B.qxd 9/27/04. Shut that thing off. 314 Writing the Short Film App-B.qxd 9/27/04 6:02 PM Page 314 Julie lifts her hands off the keyboard and the organ dies. JULIE It