My oWN PrivaTe idAHo
A screenplay by Gus Van Sant
Revised Apr. '89
Copyright 1993 by Gus Van Sant
My Own Private Idaho was first shown at the Venice Film Festival
in 1991. The cast includes:
MIKE WATERS River Phoenix
SCOTT FAVOR Keanu Reeves
RICHARD WATERS James Russo
BOB PIGEON William Reichert
GARY Rodney Harvey
CARMELLA Chiara Caselli
DIGGER Michael Parker
DENISE Jessie Thomas
BUDD Flea
ALENA Grace Zabriskie
JACK FAVOR Tom Troupe
HANS Udo Kier
JANE LIGHTWORK Sally Curtice
WALT Robert Lee Pitchlynn
DADDY CARROLL Mickey Cottrell
WADE Wade Evans
Directors of Photography Eric Alan Edwards
John Campbell
Editor Curtiss Clayton
Production Designer David Brisbin
Costume Designer Beatrix Aruna Pasztor
Music Bill Stafford
Executive Producer Gus Van Sant
Co-executive Producer Allan Mindel
Producer Laurie Parker
Screenplay Gus Van Sant
Additional dialogue by William Shakespeare
Director Gus Van Sant
Produced by New Line Cinema
VIEWS OF THE CITY OF Portland Oregon digressing into the seedy
areas of the small city.
ARCADES, and yellow storefronts, of PORNOGRAPHIC BOOKSHOPS.
A FEW YOUNG MEN LOITER IN FRONT OF ONE OF THE BOOKSHOPS
SOLICITOUSLY AND EYE A CUSTOMER.
WHO ENTERS THE BOOXSHOP.
INSIDE, WE SEE:
Counters displaying COLORFUL COMIC-LIKE plastic covered MAGAZINE
and BOOK COVERS with names like HONCHO - BUTCH - JOYBOY.
INDICATING A Homoerotic section of the bookshop.
GROUPS OF MEN loiter about the magazine shop flipping through the
books and disappearing in and out of curtained doors.
THE COUNTERMAN is on the phone.
Next to him is a particularly interesting YOUNG MAN on the cover
of one of the magazines - a bright yellow background, jeans open
two buttons on the top, shirtless wearing a black cowboy hat.
This character is named SCOTT.
FULL VIEW of the MAGAZINE cover as Scott comes to life - and
talks to us.
SCOTT
I never thought I could be a real
model, you know fashion-shit,
cause I'm better at full body
stuff It.8 okay so long as the
photographer doesn't come on to
you and expect something for no
pay I'm trying to make a living,
you know, and I like to be
professional 'Course if the guy
wants to pay me, then shit/yeah.
Here I am for him. I'll sell my
ass, I do it on the street all the
time for cash. And I'll be on the
cover of a book. It's when you
start doing it for free that you
start to grow wings, Right, Mike?
ACROSS THE AISLE ON ANOTHER SHELF IS ANOTHER COVER OF A MAGAZINE,
AND ANOTHER YOUNG MAN ON THE COVER STARTS TO MOVE AND SPEAK,
ADDRESSING SCOTT.
This character is named MIKE. (MIKE SHOULD BE DIFFERENT FROM
SCOTT, MIKE SHOULD BE BLOND AND SCOTT SHOULD BE BROWN HAIRED,
ALTHOUGH BOTH POSSESS A CERTAIN PAINFUL DOWN AND OUT HANDSOMENESS
OF A STREET HUSTLER.)
MIKE
What are you talking about? What
wings?
SCOTT
Wings, man, you grow Wings and
become a FAIRY
MIKE
I ain't no fairy.
ANOTHER COVERBOY INTERRUPS MIKE AND SCOTT'S DISCUSSION, BUTTING
IN.
COVERBOY
He ain't saying you is a fairy;
faggot, he's saying that if you go
working for free then you has no
choice, you turn into a fairy,
with wings and all. That's all he
mean, dunk.
MIKE (to Scott)
Well, nevertheless, what do you
care about doing stuff for free or
for money, shit You're going to
inherit a hunch of money, you
might as well do it for free.
COVERBOY
Is that right, sweetie?
OTHER COVERBOYS PERK UP AND START FLIRTING WITH SCOTT
COVERBOY 2
How much is a bunch of money;
honey?
COVERBOY 3
What are you doing on the cover of
that magazine, slumming?
Scott listens to all of them then looks back at Mike. Mike
smiles.
SCOTT
(to us)
Actually, I'm on the street to
settle a bet with my goddamned
stone-faced old man. I've decided to
live away from home for three years.
To prove a point. That I can live on
my own. And to appreciate the value
of a dollar. And Mike is right,
there, I am going to inherit money.
A lot of money
IdAho
The desert in the daytime.
MIKE enters the frame in front of a blue sky filled with white
clouds. He has a Texaco gas station attendant's shirt on with a
name tag that reads: BILL (not Mike, his name).
The clouds are puffy against a deep blue sky. The road is red.
Purple mountains surround Mike on all sides far in the distance,
ten miles away. Mike looks in front of him at a long stretch of
road that disappears into the horizon.
Mike looks at his wristwatch on his arm. He times how long it
takes to walk ten steps down the road.
Ten seconds. He glances back at a duffel bag. The duffel bag
falls over.
Mike looks at the picturesque sights surrounding him. A wind
sends a tumbleweed into the air. He takes ten steps back to his
duffle bag and checks watch again.
The sun is now setting.
MIKE
(to himself)
You can always tell where you are by
the way the road looks. Like I Just
know that I been to this place
before. I Just know that I been
stuck here like this one fuckin'
time before, you know that?
ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD A JACKRABBIT IS LISTENING TO HIM.
MIKE
There ain't no other road on earth
that looks like this road. I mean,
exactly like this road. (sniffs)
One of a kind. (Sniffs) Like
someone's face. Like a fucked up
face...
THE ROAD HAS A DEFINITE FACE. TWO DISTANT CACTUS FOR EYES - A
CLOUD SHADOW FOR A MOUTH, MOUNTAINS FOR HAIR.
MIKE
Once you see it, even for a
second, you remember it, and you
better not forget it, you gotta
remember people and who they are,
right? Friends and enemies. You
gotta remember the road and where
it is too...
MIKE SUDDENLY LUNGES AT THE LITTLE RABBIT LISTENING TO HIS CHAT
ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, AND THE RABBIT RUNS FOR HIS LIFE.
MIKE
I Just love to scare things... I
don't know. It gives me a sense
of.... Power.
Mike thinks about the loneliness of the road.
MIKE
This is nowhere. I'll bet that
nobody is ever going to drive down
this road. I'll be stuck here
forever.
Mike looks at the road stressfully. The road looks back. He looks
at the road his eyes growing heavy. The road looks back...
Mikes yawns.
MIKE'S VOICE OVER
I don't know when it was I
recognized I had this disease.
Mike looks like a backwoods character who fits into the terrain.
Mike makes strange movements, like he is having a sort of
epileptic fit, then yawns like he is very tired, again.
MIKE'S VOICE OVER
Sometimes I'll be in one place,
and I'll close my eyes...
MIKE CLOSES HIS EYES. THEN A WHOLE RITUAL OF EVENTS HAPPENS, HIS
EYES TURN BACK IN HIS HEAD AND HE BEGINS TO SHAKE ALL OVER. THEN
ALL GOES BLACK.
MIKE'S VOICE OVER
When I open them again, I'll be in
a completely different
surrounding.
When Mike opens his eyes, he is in downtown PORTLAND, OREGON.
A LOUD BUS drives by Mike's view in the city. He is asleep, then
wakes enough to see other UNKNOWN KIDS rifling his pockets in a
doorway, as Mike sleepily looks
on.
SUBTITLES
It's kind of like time travel.
It's kind of good.
MIKE CLOSES HIS EYES AGAIN, AND WHEN HE OPENS THEM HE IS BACK IN
THE COUNTRY. BUT THIS TIME A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT TERRAIN. LIKE A
LONG TIME HAS PASSED. HE IS ALSO WEARING DIFFERENT CLOTHES.
MIKE CHECKS HIS WATCH AGAIN. He looks happy at the passage of
time.
MIKE
Yeah. It's kind of good. Passes
the time. Unwanted as it is.
MIKE LEANS AGAINST THE DUFFLE BAG WITH HIM. HE LOOKS INTO THE
FIELD next to him. The wind blows a paper cup into the air.
Mike watches the cup tumble in the air, and with a few notes, a
GUITAR follows. Then an uprooted cactus.
The paper cup, cactus and guitar lyrically trade places in the
air, and are followed by a large barn, which twists and turns,
then crashes directly into the middle of the road.
On the, road. Riding in the back of a pickup truck. Mike's shirt
ruffles wildly in the wind, traveling at 60 mph.
And the truck disappears into the sun, toward a steep mountain
range.
LAS VeGAs
Mike is walking down a LONELY ALLEYWAY in the city. ALL OF A
SUDDEN he is surrounded by three BLACK BOYS, who are smiling and
joking.
BLACK 1
SAY, WHITE BOY, where you goin'?
Black 1 pulls out a knife and waves it at Mike.
BLACK 1
What's in the sack. Let's see.
Mike fights with the guy for his sack. The Black cuts Mike's
hands with his knife but Mike won't let go.
In terror he watches his hands get cut, but he won't let go. Mike
starts to yawns and does the jitters to the Black's amazement and
drops to the ground. Scottie, the older boy on the magazine
cover, comes to Mike's aid. He pushes the Black boy over, throws
some trash cans in their direction.
BLACK 1
This gonna be fun. Come on...
Scottie keeps fighting them off.
SCOTT
Man, what do you want from us, we
haven't got anything.
The Blacks chuckle. Then they stop and slowly walk away from
Scott who hovers protectively around Mike's body on the ground.
BLACK (o.s.)
Faggot!
We are in the city of Las Vegas in the daytime. (We are aware of
this because one character, RAY, is reading the Las Vegas
Chronicle.) Mike sleeps, as a shopkeeper washes his windows and
three other street kids, Gary, Ray and Scottie, are hanging
around on the corner with him.
Gary is hitting a public wastebasket with the end of a stick as a
MAN in a MERCEDES BENZ drives by them very slowly, and looks at
each one of the boys individually. Gary pauses for a moment and
poses.
RAY
(to the man in the car) What's up?
MAN (in German)
[Entschuldiging, Junge...]
The man in the car speeds off.
INT. CAR DAY.
THE MAN has the look of Rainer Fassbinder and Geraldo Rivera as
the same man; is of average build and has a wash of hair gracing
his forehead that looks quite foreign. He turns to the right
three times, as he is circling his car.
OUT THE WINDOW OF THE CAR, we see the boys again.
EXT. STREET
GARY
What's this guy want, think he
wants to party?
SCOTT
He said "Entschuldiging, Junge."
GARY
What's that mean? "Suck my dick?"
Does he want to suck my dick?
SCOTT
It means, "Excuse me, boys."
GARY
How the fuck do you know.
SCOTT
I've studied German, in prep
school.
GARY
You know, Scottie, I don't know
when to believe you.
SCOTT
Here he comes again.
THE MAN leans out the window of his car.
MAN
HELLO?
Gary leans into the man's car.
GARY
Hey, dude.
MAN
(speaks with a thick German
accent)
Excuse me. Can I speak to the young
man over there, with the blond hair,
ya?
GARY
Who, that kid there? You can't
talk with him now, he's asleep.
MAN
Can you wake him up?
GARY
No, you can't wake him... he......
but, what about me? Don't you want
to talk with me?
The man is not interested in talking to Gary. He shakes his head
no, bothered by Gary.
SCOTT
(speaking fluent German)
Was willist du in Gottesname mit uns
Juenge? Mach' es flar oder fanre
ab!
(What in the hell do you want with
us young kids, be specific or get
out.)
MAN
(surprised)
Du bisst sehr intelligent mit deinem
Aksent.. Fuer elnen Puppejunge.
(You are very clever with an accent
like that.. for a street boy.)
THE MAN IN THE CAR SPEEDS OFF.
GARY
Alright then, asshole!
VIEW of Mike's sleeping face.
INSIDE OF MIKE'S thoughts. He is flying over the city streets,
above the Mercedes Benz, effortlessly hovering and gilding above
it, between the buildings. Like a bird.
Mike wakes and looks at Scottie, who is talking to
Gary.
MIKE'S THOUGHTS
The first time I met Scott, I had
a feeling he was a sort of comic
book hero. He was always saying
the right thing at the right
moment, and standing up for me
when there was no reason to. Look
at his face now, when the sunlight
shines off his lower lip, like it
is the face of some sort of
statue. Strong and soft at the
same time. I never could figure
out what Scott was doing here with
us on the street in the first
place, like he was on some sort of
crusade, to help the poor. Because
he really did come from a rich
Portland family. I know because he
brought me to his house one day
and showed me around. I mean, wow,
they were rich I They even had a
swimming pool. Scott's the only
kid that I had ever met that had a
swimming pool. I'd make a bet with
anybody right now, that Scott is a
saint or a hero, or some such
higher placed person.
Meanwhile...
Gary and Ray are talking. Ray, who is a Chicano street kid, is
looking poetically off into the distance.
RAY
My father was a gaucho. But nobody
gonna find him. He killed a guy
and split. Nobody gonna find that
fuck. I never gonna find him.
Ray spits into the gutter and the spit drifts in a small stream
made by the shop-owner who was washing his windows, down the
street and into drainage grating.
View of MIKE as he closes his eyes, oblivious to what is going on
around him.
The music in a DISCO blares, at night, and all we can see is
Mike's face, sleeping. The disco MUSIC STOPS, and the lights go
up.
A broom passes by Mike's head.
Finally, THE MANAGER'S SHOES appear at his head.
MANAGER (o. s.)
What's wrong with him? Passed
out?
The shoes prod Mike.
MANAGER (o. s.)
Hey, wake up.
Mike wakes up in a WARD ROOM BED in the daytime.
He looks around him. The room has a lot of light, windows
practically on all sides of the room. There are other DETOX men
and women in other beds. Mike gets up and starts to walk out, but
he is wearing a gown.
A nurse stops him.
NURSE
Excuse me. Are you all right?
MIKE
Yeah. I'm fine.
(Mike looks around the room.)
NURSE
If you're going to leave us, it's
okay, but we need you to sign out,
and you'll need to get your
clothes from downstairs.
MIKE
Oh. Yeah. (he pauses and looks
around the place.) Do you live
here?
NURSE
Why... no. But sometimes I feel
like I do.
The nurse walks him over to a clipboard on a desk. Mike signs the
board, and she gives him a receipt.
MIKE
What's this?
NURSE
That's Just a receipt. if you
don't want it. You can throw it
away. That's what most people do
with it.
Then we cut to Mike's face at night. As his eyes open he takes a
look around him, a little dazed, trying to figure where he is. We
see he is under a store awning. A lot of fog is rolling across
the street.
A twenty-eight-year-old woman stops in a Mercedes Benz sedan,
similar to the one that the German man was driving. She motions
Mike to get inside the car.
Dazed, Mike looks at the car, then responds.
MIKE
This chick is living in a new car
ad.
Inside a hallway entrance to the woman's home. Mike and the woman
take off their Jackets.
MIKE
This is like a dream. A pretty
woman never picks me up.
Mike begins to caress her arm.
LADY
They Don't? Well. I Don't see why
not...
MIKE
Is this your house?
LADY (caressing his head)
Yes...
Mike follows the woman into her...
Living room where sit Scottie and Gary on a plush sofa. Mike sees
them.
MIKE
Oh...
Mike sits down in an easy chair next to the sofa.
MIKE
What's up, Gary? Scottie?
GARY
HEY, DUDE.
LADY
You men make yourselves
comfortable, and I'll be right
back. There're cokes in the
refrigerator - help yourself.
They watch her go.
SCOTTIE
She's cool. She Just likes to have
three guys, 'cause - it takes her
a little while to get warmed up.
It's normal. Nothing kinky.
MIKE
Oh.
Mike looks around the room. Gary leans closer to Mike.
GARY
Hey, did you get into that Van
Halen concert last night?
MIKE
I've never been to a concert,
dude.
Interior of the Woman's bedroom. Mike undresses. He waits by the
side of the bed and takes a last drag on a
cigarette and puts it out. Then the woman arrives. lets down her
negligee and approaches Mike like an EARTH MOTHER, slowly, big
breasted, warm, comforting.
As she approaches, Mike begins to see a familiar face. He is
upset when he looks into her eyes. And he begins to
spasmodically shake then he grows sleepy, and finally, as she is
upon him, he passes out.
Outside, Gary and Scottie struggle with Mike's body.
They plop Mike down on the corner, under a streetlight, fold his
arms under his stomach and bend him over so he is sitting up
against the light pole.
SCOTT
(putting money into his pocket) He
always does this! I'm surprised he
makes money at all.
GARY
How do we tell if he's okay?
SCOTT
Well, he's not dead.
Scott listens to his heart.
SCOTT
Listen.
Gary listens.
SCOTT
He's not dead. He's Just passed
out. It's a condition. It's called
narcolepsy.
GARY
Scared the shit out of her. What
causes it. Sex?
SCOTT
Stress. Some hustler, huh?
Silence for a second.
GARY
Where are we going to take him?
Scott lifts Mike's body up and carries him to a soft carpet of
grass on the edge of a lawn. Scott looks around to see if it is
okay. Then he speaks to Mike even though he is asleep.
SCOTT
Hey, little brother. You stay
here, and when you wake up, Just
come back into town. I'll be there
waiting for you. I figure you're
going to be safer here in this
comfy neighborhood than in the
city. I grew up in a neighborhood
like this. It'll be safe here.
Scottie hides a tear. Then he takes his Jacket off and puts it
over Mike, then leaves him there.
Mike's face is lying down with his nose pressed against a leafy
ground in the daytime.
He wakes up, stands, makes his way up a slope and out to the
street. He brushes himself off as the Mercedes Benz shows up
again. Mike recognizes it, and walks up to the window of the car.
It is the MAN, though, not the lady. The Man speaks with a German
accent - and he is about 35 years old. HIS NAME IS HANS.
MIKE
Hi.
HANS
Say....
Hans reads Mike's shirt.
HANS
Say, Bill. What's happening?
Mike brushes himself off and walks down the road, thinking that
the guy is weird.
MIKE
Nothing much.
Hans drives alongside Mike in his car.
HANS
Do you want a lift? Bill?
MIKE
Hey, isn't this the lady's car?
HANS
Is Alena a friend of yours? She's
a friend of mine. Any friend of
Alena's is a friend of mine. Do
you want to be my friend?
MIKE
Not really.
HANS
Get in and I'll take you
someplace. Yes? Where do you want
to go?
Mike doesn't respond, and walks on.
He pauses a moment, and looks at the houses in the neighborhood.
He looks down the street and can see Hans stopped in his car. The
guy gets out, and leans against the car.
MIKE
This guy is a pervert. I can tell.
To Hans:
MIKE
Go home!
THE HOUSES LINE THE STREET, EACH WITH A LITTLE CALIFORNIA STYLE
GARDEN. MIKE CAN SEE ALL THE ROOFS OF THE HOUSES LIFT OFF, AND
THE FURNITURE INSIDE EACH HOUSE FLY OUT AND CIRCLE IN THE AIR.
MIKE GETS THE JITTERS AND PASSES OUT.
THE MERCEDES BENZ PULLS UP NEXT TO HIS HEAD, WHICH IS NOW ON THE
GROUND.
PORtLAnd
When Mike wakes up he is in Scottie's arms. They sit under a
statue in a park. The statue is of two Indians pointing out
across the horizon, and on the base of the statue is written: The
Coming of the White Man.
Mike looks at Scott and then at the new surroundings.
At the Broadway Cafe Mike bites into a hamburger.
MIKE
How'd we get home?
SCOTT
That German guy. Hans. He brought
you downtown, you were passed out.
He said he was heading to
Portland, so I asked him for a
ride.
MIKE
I don't remember any German guy.
SCOTT
Well. You were sleeping.
MIKE
How much do you make off me while
I'm sleeping?
SCOTT
Just a ride, Mike. I don't make
anything. What, you think that I
sell your body while you are
asleep.
MIKE
Yeah.
Scott sips from a coffee cup.
SCOTT
No, Mike. I'm on your side.
He puts down the cup. Mike knows Scottie always tells the truth.
Mike is a little embarrassed, that he has maybe offended Scott's
honor.
MIKE
I was Just kidding, dude.
SCOTT
Gary's up here somewhere. He left
three days ago, he flew up with
some John.
MIKE
Exotic. Have you seen your dad?
SCOTT
Are you kidding?
MIKE
I'd visit my dad, if he was here.
SCOTT
I have to take care of you.
MIKE
How about your mom?
SCOTT
No.
MIKE
That lady. She looked like. My
mother.
SCOTT
Is that why you passed out?
MIKE
Yeah. I mean. I don't know. She
really looked like my mother. I
must have been imagining things.
A pause.
The Broadway Cafe is beginning to pick up in business. The table
where Scott and Mike sit is in front of a large window, and it is
semi-circular in shape. Scottie spies Gary across the street.
He bounds up out of his chair and Mike watches him as he goes to
the door, kicks it open and yells to Gary.
SCOTT
HEY' You dick!
Gary sees Scott and runs across the street.
Later in the BROADWAY CAFE, there are other street kids hanging
around the table.
Scott has his arm around a girl named DENISE, who has a lot of
make up on and long stringy hair and who carries a teddy bear.
Denise is crying and Scott is consoling her.
MIKE'S THOUGHTS:
It was almost as if Scott was on
some sort of crusade or mission,
when you checked him out. He
could make you feel good right at
the very time that you felt so
bad. I remember there were many
times that I had been sobbing in
Scott's arms and he was helping me
out too. He was the great
protector of us all, and the great
planner. He gave us hope in the
future. Even though there was no
future. There must have been real
trouble at home, though, for Scott
not to want to visit his father.
Scott strokes Denise's hair adoringly and gives her a kiss every
now and then.
Mike looks across the table at CARL, a skinny kid with black hair
and a large floppy sports cap, and GARY, who is talking with him.
MIKE'S THOUGHTS
That's Carl. He's always around
the Broadway, he didn't run away
from home like a lot of these kids
did. He had a mom, and no dad, at
least they didn't know where he
was. And one day, he came home to
the apartment where they lived,
and there was no mom anymore
either. He didn't know where she
went. That was sir months ago.
MARY, an older, wiser street prostitute who is chain smoking Kool
cigarettes.
MIKE'S THOUGHTS
That's Mary over there. She was a
mean old chick. She was maybe
thirty now. Old, old. Somebody
once told me that in the past,
Mary had this enemy, a chick that
had turned her in. And Mary had
gone off and kicked this chick to
death right in the street in front
of everybody. I don't know if it's
true, but I watched out, Just in
case. I was afraid of Mary. And
everyone else was too.
Mary takes a drag from her cigarette and blows smoke in Mike's
face.
Scott notices this. But he attends to Denise's problems.
MIKE'S THOUGHTS
(as he coughs)
This was our little round table, a
point around which everything else
revolved. It was our "center." It was
like our home. Our living room. Not
everyone was the best of friends, but
everyone knew everyone else, and we
kind of stuck together.
Mike on the street. He watches as a man carrying a large bag of
tin cans, crosses at a crosswalk. Mike steps up to him and begins
walking. His name is MARTY.
MIKE
Hey Marty. What's goin' on?
MARTY
Is that you Mike? Hey, what's new
with you? You look pretty good.
MIKE
How many you got so far today?
MARTY
I reckon that I picked up about
twenty-three bucks so far with
these cans, and some I got stashed
back in the bushes. You know the
old hiding place?
MIKE
Wow!
MARTY
Don't tell anybody, though. Just
between you and me. You need a
place to stay?
MIKE
I always need a place to stay,
dude.
MARTY
Yeah, well, I'm under the bridge.
You can Join me if you like.
MIKE
Yeah, I think I'll rooftop it
tonight. I'm hanging with a
friend.
MARTY
Am I walking too fast for you?
MIKE
No, but I'll see you around. See
you under the bridge.
MARTY
Okay, Mike.
Mike stops walking with the guy and he splits down the street at
a fast clip.
Inside the BROADWAY CAFE, Mike smokes a cigarette at the round
table and watches Gary and Carl playing keepaway with Denise's
teddy bear. Denise is swearing, using profanities that are
unusual for a girl.
Night. Mike walks through a dark wet troubled inner-city alley
and on the other side, there is a parked car. In the car sits a
man in his 40's, bestial, good looking but overweight. He beeps
his car horn at Mike.
Mike pauses, lights a cigarette coolly and walks to the car and
leans in the window.
MIKE
Hey - what's up?
Int. MOTEL, nighttime.
The man is naked in the background standing In front of a mirror
in a motel bathroom, as Mike sits naked on a bed in front of a
t.v. set laughing at the show that is on.
We see various still compositions of the two making love.
Afield. Day. Two figures cross the field. One is Bob Pigeon, a
man in his fifties, and the other, his manservant, Budd. Because
of his girth, Bob has problems crossing the field.
BUDD
Jesus. ..the things we've seen...
do you remember a thing since we
moved from graffiti bridge?
BOB
No more of that, Budd.
BUDD
Ha-ha, what a crazy night.
Above the two walking figures, Gary wakes near a heating duct
atop a ten story building. He yawns, looks down at the street and
spies Bob and Budd.
GARY'S VIEW: a tiny Bob and Budd are making their way across a
field.
GARY
Hey, Scottie, here comes that fat
pig himself!!! He owes me money!
Scottie, atop an adjacent building peeks his head over the edge.
The two guys are relatively close to one another but far from the
street.
SCOTT
Who?
GARY
You know, the fat one... Pigeon!
SCOTT
He stole my shoes, the dick!
GARY
Hey, everybody, here comes Bob the
chiseler!
He yells to the other buildings and other street kids to wake up.
Scottie pours an old paper cup of Coca-Cola over Bob and Budd
below.
GARY
Look out, it's raining Coke!
Bob hears the show atop the buildings.
BOB
Ah, I think my friends can see I
am back from Boise.
Bob looks worried and happy at the same time, not knowing if they
are friend or foe. He shields himself from the Coke sprinkles.
BOB
Do you see any clouds in the sky,
Budd?
BUDD
No, Bob.
The Derelict Hotel.
Budd and Bob enter the threshold of a busted up but operating
hotel. There is a fire in a trashcan turned upside down, with
holes poked in it.
Budd looks around the hotel.
BUDD
Is Jane Lightwork alive, Bob?
BOB
She's alive, Budd.
BUDD
Is she holding on?
BOB
Old... old, Budd.
BUDD
She must be old, she has no
choice...
THE TWO sit at a larger fire deeper into the derelict hotel.
BUDD
I remember her daughter, she died
years ago... of old age. She must
be old, all right. That was before
I came to Clements Inn.
BOB
(warming by the fire)
Ahh...
BUDD
Jesus... the things that we've
seen. Aren't I right, Bob? Aren't
I right?
BOB
We have seen the light at the end
of the tunnel...
BUDD
That we have, that we have... in
fact Bob, we have. Jesus... the
things that we've seen.
Scott drinks from a beer can inside the derelict hotel, tosses it
to a young boy, laughs, wipes his mouth and puts his lit
cigarette into the mouth of Gary, making his way to some steps,
through a circle of girls, kisses Denise, who we remember from
the Broadway Cafe, and charges up the steps.
Inside the hotel on a staircase landing, Scottie passes a couple
of figures, one is asleep and one is awake.
SCOTTIE
Where's Bob?
A BOY
Fast asleep.
BUDD
And he's snoring like a horse.
SCOTTIE OPENS A DOOR AT THE TOP OF THE STEPS AND WALKS INTO A
ROOM, INTERRUPTING MIKE, WHO STANDS OVER BOB'S SNORING BODY.
Mike coolly holds up a wad of bills and a folded envelope of
cocaine.
MIKE
I picked his pocket.
SCOTTIE
(whispering)
What did you get, dude?
MIKE
Just this.
Scottie takes the cocaine from him, sits down at the foot of the
bed and begins to unfold the packet. Bob turns in the bed and the
rush of air from the sheets blows the white powder out of the
packet.
BOB
What the hell?
Mike laughs.
BOB
What time is it, son?
SCOTTIE
(climbing in bed with Bob)
What do you care?
Bob, dazed, is looking around himself, like he is being had.
SCOTTIE
(amusing Mike)
Why, you wouldn't even look at a
clock, unless hours were lines of
coke, dials looked like the signs of
gay bars, or time itself was a fair
hustler in black leather... isn't
that right, dude?
Bob staggers out of bed retching and spitting. Then back into his
waking stupor, feeling something is being put over on him.
SCOTT
There's no reason to know the
time. We are timeless.
Bob checks his wallet.
BOB
Aren't you forgetting, Scottie my
boy, [A GOVERNOR'S SON], that we
who steal, do so at midnight?
Bob's money and cocaine are gone. Bob turns angry and bellows.
BOB
What the...who ripped me off?
Budd!!! Budd!!!
Stairs again
BUDD
Yes, Bob!!!
Budd stands at the stoop and comes through the door, Just as Bob
is running out.
BOB
I fell asleep and have been
robbed!
Jane!!!
The room below.
Jane Lightwork, the owner of the established hotel, comes to
arms. She is very old.
JANE
You'd think that I could keep the
peace in my house...
Scott and Mike laugh. Mike gets down on his hands and knees and
tries to scoop up a little cocaine from the floor.
Bedroom.
Hall
JANE
Bob, Bob we'll find your drugs.
We'll find them.
Another hall.
Bob is storming down it in a rage, people opening doors of the
rooms.
BOB
Jane, I know you well enough...
Yet another hall.
Hotel dwellers are watching Jane move down the hall answering
Bob.
JANE
I know you, ~ you owe me money,
Bob, and now you pick a fight with
me, and are disturbing the peace
of my hotel.
MAIN derelict hall of the hotel.
Bob parades, in his night clothes, in front of a gathering of
outcasts in the hotel.
BOB
This hotel is full of thieves...
Junkies!
JANE
You are the thief!
BOB
They picked my pocket!
LAUGHTER from the throngs of outcasts. Jane enters a balcony
overlook of the main hall. Mike and Scott enter, arms around each
other, laughing.
JANE
It's impossible to board a dozen
or so men and women who live
honestly and have the others live
like Junkies.
One of the dwellers listening to the argument is shooting up as
they speak. We see a close view of the needle and Bob running
around in the background.
Bob makes his way next to Scott.
BOB
You have corrupted me, Scottie, I
was an innocent before I met you.
..and now look at me.. just a
little better than wicked. I used
to be a virtuous man...
Scottie is laughing at him.
BOB
'''well, virtuous enough. I swore
a little. I never gambled more
than seven times a week. Poker. I
never picked up a street boy more
than once a quarter...
Scottie laughs.
BOB
... of an hour. Bad company has
corrupted me. I'll be darned if I
haven't forgotten what the inside
of a church looks like.
MIKE
Where do you find your strike
tonight, Bob?
SCOTTIE
I see a good change for Bob to
make. From Stealing to Preaching.
BOB
Stealing is my vocation, Scott.
It's not a sin for a man to labor
at his vocation.
GARY
Hey... .......
The three gather around Gary.
GARY
Very early tomorrow morning, there
will be small time rock and roll
promoters coming back from their
show. Every night, they walk home
with the loot and they stop by the
Grotto Bar, one mile away from
here, and more often than not
they've been drinking already. If
we can't steal from them on their
way to the bar, we can get them
when they come out. See, dude?
MIKE
I'm not gonna rob anybody. I'd
rather sell my ass. Straight and
simple. It's less risky.
BOB
So long as I don't know these guys
personally. ..it's okay with me.
GARY
They're from Beaverton. New to the
business...
MIKE
Not me. I'm not going along on
this crackpot scheme. Especially
since Gary thought it up.
BOB
Come oft it, Mikey. Find a better
way to make a buck. Something to
fall back on, other than your ass.
MIKE
Scott's inheritance.
Bob walks away from the two others.
SCOTT
(whispering)
Come along, Mikey. I have a joke I
wanna play... a joke I can't pull
off alone...
Mike laughs and joins Bob, hugging him around his fat belly.
BOB
Oh, my sweetheart, come and rob
with us tomorrow.
MIKE
I was going to come anyway.
SCOTT hugs the others too.
MIKE
We'll be rich!!!
Scottie dances away.
SCOTT
Provide for us, oh great
psychedelic Papa!
Scottie grabs Denise and kisses her then begins to leave through
the door. He throws her to Mike who catches her and runs off with
her.
SCOTT
Good catch dude. ..and meet me on
three street!
Scott leaves, Bob follows him:
0utside the derelict hotel.
BOB
Scott. When you inherit your
fortune, on your twenty-first
birthday, let's see. ..how far
away is this?
SCOTT
One week away, Bob, just one more
week.
BOB
Let's not call ourselves robbers,
but Diannah's foresters. Gentlemen
of the shade. Minions of the Moon.
Men of good government.
SCOTT
(under his breath)
When I turn twenty-one, I don't want
any more of this life. My mother and
father will be surprised at the
incredible change. It will impress
them more when such a fuck up like
me turns good than if I had been a
good son all along. All the past
years I will think of as one big
vacation. At least it wasn't as
boring as schoolwork. All my bad
behavior I'm going to throw away to
pay my debt. I will change when
everybody expects it the least.
Scott turns and leaves.
BOB
And you will become a hard roller,
a hatchet man for your old man.
Scott laughs to himself, because he knows Bob is misunderstanding
him. Bob is part of the past life that he says he is going to
throw away.
SCOTT
No! You will be the hatchet man,
Bob, that will be your job, and so
there will rarely be a job
hatcheted. It will be one big
endless party, won't it?
Bob laughs. Scott walks across a field.
BOB
Well, at least my little friend
has offered me a job. They are so
good to me.
Inside the Broadway Cafe. Day.
Denise and Mike hang out together. Both are smoking cigarettes
which have made a billow of smoke that hangs over the table that
is in the front window.
DENISE
Moms are great, because, you know,
I could always go to my mom and
say, hey I need a new lipstick,
and she would always give me money
for that. That was great.
MIKE
I only saw my mom once, but I
remember what she looked like. She
was very beautiful.
DENISE
What do you mean, once?
MIKE
When I was born.
DENISE
How could you remember when that
god-awful thing happened?
MIKE
Dunno. But I remember it. how
beautiful and kind she good. Yeah,
I remember was. She was good
DENISE
And she split from you, huh?
MIKE
Maybe she didn't mean to.
DENISE
Did you see what was going on,
Mike? Between Pinky and Dale? Did
you see that? That's the third
fight I've seen today. Things
always happen in threes.
MIKE
I don't know. They have a sort of,
ah, relationship. Between them.
Across the street there are three people, a TALL MAN, who has his
hat stuck on his boot and a lady and another man with a dog on a
leash.
MIKE
I don't know about that, but, ah,
listen, what you and me talk
about, it's just between us, you
understand? Hey, what's over
there, see those assholes? Who are
they, you know any of them?
DENISE
I can't see that far
DENISE STANDS AND OPENS THE FRONT DOOR AND YELLS ACROSS THE
STREET.
DENISE
HEY!
The group across the street look up and begin yelling back, but
we cannot hear them.
Under the Burnside Bridge, day.
Mike and Denise kiss, and their arms are entangled in a loving,
but awkward embrace. Twigs and leaves are caught in Denise's hair
as they are lying on the ground.
Different STILL COMPOSITIONS OF SEX while they are lying in the
wilds under the bridge.
Then...
Denise lights a cigarette.
DENISE
That reminds me, I gotta send my
Ma a Christmas card, I still
haven't done it yet.
MIKE
Yeah, I haven't done it either.
DENISE
Your mom lives in Idaho right now?
MIKE
Yeah.
DENISE
I used to live in Montana.
MIKE
My own cousin. He's dead. that's
one...two... And my grandma, it
usually comes in threes.
DENISE
Does come in threes.
MIKE
My cousin died, my grandmother
died, and right after she died,
her daughter died. My aunt. Within
a year. And they wuz all women,
not even a year, six...well....
six months-eight months, three
women in the family died.
A pause.
MIKE
That's funny, huh? I WONDER WHY
YOU THOUGHT THAT, cuz, my FATHER
says stuff like that.
DENISE
Well, my grandma was
superstitious.
MIKE
My father told me that, said
things usually come in threes...
and I said, .... you're crazy.
A Long pause. A motorcycle passes, someone yells, and a horn
honks.
MIKE
It sounds crazy. That's my lucky
number too.
DENISE
Huh?
MIKE
Three.
DENISE
Mine's eight.
MIKE
I like three.
DENISE
You know why I like eight?
MIKE
Why?
DENISE
Cause of the eight ball. You know.
When you're stuck behind the eight
ball? I fuckin' feel stuck behind
the eight ball today, I'll tell
you. The business is so slow in the
middle of the week, you know that
Mike?
Public bathroom. Night.
Mike empties the contents of his pockets at a bathroom sink. He
has in his possession: One condom. One comb with blond hair stuck
in it. One nickel. Half a stick of gum. One knife with the letter
W stamped on it.
He arranges these things in a neat order on the surface of the
sink while a man flushes a toilet in the background and uses
another sink. Mike is quite at home here. He takes his time
arranging the articles, and washing his hands. He looks over at
the man washing his hands and gives him a friendly smile.
The man leaves. Mike puts all the things on the sink into his
pockets. Then he walks over to a urinal, unzips his fly and
starts to take a leak. A shadow opens the door in back of him,
and without turning around, Mike senses the presence of a man.
Alleyway. Night.
Scottie is helping Bob with a disguise, putting on pants over a
large belly, with medallions around the neck.
SCOTT
How long has it been, Bob, since
you could see your own feet?
BOB
About four years, Scottie. Four
years of grief. It blows a man up
like a balloon.
Mike and Budd appear, running, with costumes on. There are two
others behind them.
MIKE
There's rock and roll money
walking this way!
BUDD
And they're drunk as skunks.
MIKE
This is going to be easy. We can
do it lying down.
SCOTT
But don't fall asleep, now, Mike.
BUDD
Shh! Here they come!
SCOTT
You four should head them off
there!
BOB
We four? How many are walking with
them?
MIKE
About six.
BOB
Huh, shouldn't they be robbing us?
Scottie laughs. Bob waddles along the side of the alleyway,
stepping on a curb, then in a pothole losing his balance. Another
accomplice whistles from atop a building. We SEE the group of
ROCK AND ROLL promoters.
Bob walks further from Mike and Scottie.
SCOTTIE
If they escape from you, we'll get
them here.
Bob struggles as he walks.
BOB
Eight feet of cobblestones is like
30 yards of flat road with me.
Mike and Scott run off, laughing at him.
BOB
I can't see a damned thing in
here.
BUDD
Jesus, will you shut up! And keep
on your toes!
Budd sees the promoters coming and waves to Bob as he lies down
on the ground.
BUDD
Lie down!!
BOB
Lie down!?
BUDD
Lie down and stay quiet, until
they round the corner and we'll
ambush them.
BOB
Have you got a crane to lift me up
again?
Budd laughs.
MIKE
They're coming!!
Down the way, the rock and roll promoters are approaching, having
no knowledge of the buffoonery at the other end of the tunneling
alleyway. They are drunk.
VICTIM 1
Come along neighbor, Tommy will
lead the way. I've lost track of
time... (burp)
At the other end of the alley:
Bob and three others are marching in procession, chanting, a
facsimile of Rashneesh, but a bad act.
The rock promoters approach, smashing a bottle.
VICTIM 1
Who are these jokers?
VICTIM 2
Rashneesh, listen!
VICTIM 1
They're chanting....
Scottie and Mike hide behind garbage cans, laughing.
The rock promoters circle the group of chanting Rashneesh.
VICTIM 3
I thought that all you Rashneesh
had up and left...
Victim 1 pours a beer on one of their heads. Just as he does this
Bob pulls out two long pistols, almost heavy enough that he
cannot hold them straight, barrels parallel.
BOB
Aha! One move and I'll blow you
away, you sully scumbags, up
against that wall!
One of the victims falls down and begins to run away. One of
Bob's men starts after him. A lockbox that he was carrying falls
to the ground. Bob spies it.
BOB
No! Let him go!
Bob aims one pistol at the running figure as he keeps the others
against the wall with the other pistol. He fires three times. One
of Bob's boys grabs the lockbox.
A VIEW of the running figure, bullets cutting around him.
BOB
Look at him go!
VICTIM 2
Don't shoot us!
Bob winks at the lockbox and shoots the gun in the air.
All the rock promoters go running. Bob charges after them, firing
the gun twice more in the air, then once at the lockbox, breaking
it open.
BOB
The valise is open. Let's see what
we got.
Mike and Scottie hiding behind trashcans.
SCOTTIE
Where are our disguises?
Mike runs to his stash and finds two large capes and large hats.
They put these on.
Bob finds wads of money and receipts.
BOB
Ticket anyone? To next week's
show?
He throws these on the ground and the boys fall over themselves
for the tickets. Bob wads the money and puts it back in the box,
laughing to himself.
Mike and Scottie sneak closer to the group still hiding, long
flowing capes concealing their identity.
BOB
Scott and Mike have disappeared,
did the shots scare them away?
They sneak closer. Mike lights a big firecracker and waits.
BOB
...maybe we should get the hell
out of here. But, are they such
chickens?
A LOUD EXPLOSION!
Mike and Scottie, disguised, jump out with large silver baseball
bats, swinging them and making as much noise as they can,
knocking over a set of garbage cans, flashing flashlights into
Bob and the others' eyes.
Frightened, Bob drops the lockbox and runs, the others follow,
Mike and Scottie hitting them with the bats as they go.
BOB
Get the box! Oh, Fuck!
Mike swings the bat at Bob, it grazes the side of a building and
sparks fly from it. Bob wheezes from the run.
Scottie chases the others in the same direction.
They stand, kicking garbage cans and watching them run,
convulsing with laughter.
SCOTTIE
The thieves scatter!
MIKE
Bob Pigeon will sweat to death!
Jack Favor enters the Governor's CHAMBERS day.
JACK
Can anyone tell me about my son?
He walks across the room.
JACK
It's been a full three months
since I last saw him. Where is my
son Scott?
AID
We don't know, sir.
JACK
Ask around in Old Town, in some of
the taverns there. Some say he
frequently is seen down there
drinking with street denizens.
Some who they say even rob our
citizens and store owners. I can't
believe that such an effeminate
boy supports such 'friends.'
A high overhead (helicopter?) view of the country landscape in
the early morning. Far below us on a lonely road is a small dot,
a motorcycle, traveling east.
Further along on its travels, the motorcycle crosses a steel
BRIDGE.
Old Town day.
Scottie and Mike, riding on a stolen motorcycle, sweep through
the early morning streets without being noticed.
Stopping at a stop light in the city.
Scott pauses to think.
SCOTT
Mikey, do you realize how long I
have been here out on the streets,
on this crusade?
MIKE
About as long as the rest of us. I
mean. I can't even remember that
far back, Scott, I mean
SCOTT
It's been three years, Mike.
MIKE
Wow... that's a really long time,
Scott. Have I been here three
years, too?
SCOTT
What I'm getting at, Mike, is that
we are survivors.
MIKE
Yeah, well, so, isn't that
obvious?
SCOTT
Yes. It is incredibly obvious.
They could drop a bomb on this
city and you know what we would
do?
MIKE
(thinking)
DIE?
SCOTT
No. We would survive. Because we
are...
MIKE
Survivors!
SCOTT
Right, Mike.
MIKE
Say, Scott. Whaddya say we go
survive over at the Broadway Cafe
a little bit, at least it's warm
over there.
Int. Broadway Cafe. Day.
Mike and Scott sit around the table with Carl and Mary. Mike
blows a smoke ring.
Denise runs in the door of the cafe, excited about something.
DENISE
MIKE! Scottie! There's a man from
City Hall down the street. He
wants to speak with you, Scottie.
SCOTT
What's that?
DENISE
He says that he's sent by your
father.
SCOTT
Say hello and send him to my
mother.
MIKE
What kind of a man is it?
DENISE
A young man. And he's got cops
with him.
SCOTT
Cops....
Street exterior day.
Two POLICEMEN and one OFFICIAL are walking down the street toward
the Broadway cafe.
Broadway Cafe interior day.
The cops enter, passing The PROPRIETOR of the cafe, an aging
heavyset woman named NANCY.
NANCY
Good morning, officers...
COP 2
How are you this morning, NANCY?
Don't mind if we take a look
around your place, do you?
One officer is already inspecting the stolen motorcycle outside.
Mike sees this, and looks the other way from the cop who is
peering in the Broadway cafe window.
COP 1
Have you seen the young Scott
Favor?
NANCY
I do believe he was here just a
second ago. Nancy looks in the
front window.
NANCY
Oh, yeah, there he is.
Nancy points Scott out.
Scott is giving Denise a long kiss, hiding from the cops. The
OFFICIAL walks to the front window of the Cafe. Scott pretends
he is being rudely interrupted.
SCOTT
Ah-ha... what have we here?
OFFICIAL
Excuse me... Mr. Favor... we have
been sent in search of a fat
man... a large bearded....
COP 1
FAT MAN...
COP 2
Goes by Bob Pigeon.
SCOTT
Bob Pigeon?
COP 1
That's right.
SCOTT
What do you want with him?
COP 2
Ahem. There's been a report, sir,
he has been involved in a
holdup...
COP 1
Last night. Have you seen him?
SCOTT
I saw him around last night, when
was the holdup?
COP 1
Late. Two in the morning.
SCOTT
I saw him about four, but he
wasn't very loose with his wallet.
Did he get away with any of the
money?
COP 2
Yes, indeed, sir... two thousand
dollars of a rock promoter's
money.
SCOTT
Well, anyway, I haven't seen him
recently. Why do you look here?
COP 1
They say he has friends here.
SCOTTIE
I beg your pardon.
COP 2
Sorry...
OFFICIAL
Sorry for the interruption. We
have a message for you from your
father. He says that he would like
to see you as soon as possible.
THE OFFICIAL HANDS SCOTT AN ENVELOPE.
SCOTT
Thank you for your message.
Scott takes the envelope and puts it on the table.
street, day.
The police close the door.
COP 1
Hmmm.
COP 2
What about the dead body.
COP 1
Let's not get Favor's kid involved
in this report if we can help it.
But if he were my son, I'd....
Cop 1 makes a fist and slams It In the palm of his other hand.
INT. Broadway Cafe.
MIKE
Bob is a wanted man now.
SCOTTIE
And as dangerous to be around as
cops themselves.
MIKE
We need a hiding place.
SCOTTIE
Where should we go?
MIKE
To visit my brother.
SCOTT
You have a brother?
MIKE
Yes, I have one.
SCOTT
Where is he?
MIKE
He's in he's in
Mike suddenly begins to shake, and, falls asleep.
Scottie picks up the envelope from his father and puts it in his
pocket.
Mike and Scott are stuck on a long straight road in the desert.
Mike is angry at Scott because he doesn't think he knows how the
motorcycle works.
Scott is trying again and again to start the engine.
MIKE
Come on...
SCOTT
Shut up, Mike.
He tries to turn it over again.
SCOTT
If I had known that it was going
to be this hard to start, then I
wouldn't have stopped it at all.
Mike looks at the road and the surrounding area. It is the same
road that he was stuck on in the beginning.
MIKE
Scott? I just know that I have
been on this road before.
Mike stares at the face in the road. Two cactus for eyes,
mountains for hair, a cloud shadow forms the mouth over a red
nose road with a dotted line running down it.
At night, Scott and Mike sit next to a fire they have made on the
side of the road. We can hear Indians in the distance dancing
and chanting a song.
MIKE
It sure is lonely out in the
desert.
SCOTT
Yeah, I guess.
MIKE
If I had had a normal family, and
a good upbringing, then I would
have been a well adjusted person.
But somehow that just didn't work
out.
SCOTT
Depends on what you'd call
"normal. -
MIKE
Well, normal, you know, with a mom
and a dad and a dog and shit like
that... normal.
SCOTT
So you didn't have a dog? Or you
didn't have a dad...
MIKE
I didn't have a dog and I didn't
have a dad. Well, not a normal
dad...
The music is getting louder. It sounds like a war chant.
MIKE
Hey Scott?
SCOTT
What?
Mike is hesitating. He is about to say something personal. He
looks at Scott and back to the fire, a few times too many.
SCOTT
What, Mike?
MIKE
Oh. Have you ever. Uh...
Scott is getting Mike's drift. Mike rubs his crotch.
MIKE
I mean, don't you ever get horny?
SCOTT
Yeah. But...
MIKE
Oh, yeah... not for a guy.
SCOTT
Mike. Two guys can't love each
other. They can only be friends.
An awkward moment passes where Mike is looking away from Scott
and Scott can't help but look at Mike. Then Scott catches Mike's
eye and motions for him to come closer to him.
Mike walks over to Scott and Scott holds him in his arms.
Overhead VIEW of the two in front of the campfire.
SCOTT
I only have sex for money.
Mike starts to get out some money.
SCOTT
I can't take your money.
A pause.
SCOTT
But we can be close friends.
The next morning. Mike is sleeping. As he opens his eyes, he can
see Scott still trying to start the motorcycle.
Mike stands and looks down the road at an approaching State
Police Car. Mike, afraid of the police, starts to move into the
bushes.
Scott is out of breath trying to start the bike.
MIKE
Scott, look...
Scott looks in the direction of the police car.
SCOTT
Looks like this is it.
MIKE
Yeah.
Scott hits the side of the gas tank of the bike with the palm of
his hand.
SCOTT
Can't get the bike started. Cops
are coming. Stuck in the middle of
nowhere with a stolen bike. Yeah,
Mike. Looks like this is the end.
The policeman pulls up to them and parks.
The policeman sits in his car for a second and reports into the
radio, then he gets out and walks over to the boys.
Mike gets scared and runs into the desert.
The cop stands and watches. Mike has nowhere to go, he is running
into an open desert.
The policeman, a full blooded American Indian, seems amused at
his power. He looks at Scott then back at Mike, who trips in the
desert and falls in a cloud of dust.
COP
What's the matter with him?
SCOTT
I don't know. I guess he doesn't
like cops.
COP
Yeah.
SCOTT
That's how it looks.
COP
What are you kids doing out here?
SCOTT
This cycle is one bitch to turn
over. But you probably don't know
about motorcycles. You aren't a
motorcycle cop.
COP
I turned a few.
Scott walks through the desert looking for Mike where he dropped.
He picks him up out of the dirt, spit dripping from his sleeping
lips, and smacks him in the face.
SCOTT
Wake up, Mikey, the heat's off.
Mike will not wake up.
When Mike wakes up. He is inside a TRAILER at night.
Scott is eating sandwiches to his right that are on a little TV.
tray.
There is MIKE'S BROTHER leaning into him on his left. He looks at
Mike offensively. His brother is very good looking, but looks
like he has lost his mind somewhere down the line. Which is why
he lives in the desert in a trailer, away from people.
SCOTT
Look, Mike. Sandwiches.
BROTHER
Your mother... now she was a right
woman. She used to be so proud of
you... you know... she would just
beam. And not Jim Beam either. If
you know what I mean. We used to
drive for hours to get a look at
you. I remember, what was it...
eighteen years ago?
MIKE
Twenty-one.
BROTHER
Is that how old you are now? I
thought you wuz younger than
that... what? Well anyway, we
would start off in the morning to
see you, and it would take an hour
to get to the institution. You
were maybe one year old. What? I
wasn't proud that you had to live
in an institution, mind you... but
all the same, when I would look at
you, all the institutional walls
would come down and we were a
family. Your mom, me, and you. God
knows where dad was.
Mike is getting visibly upset. Scott gets up to go to the
bathroom.
Inside the bathroom night.
Scott enters and notices a velvet portrait of a woman hanging on
the wall. Off screen Scott can hear Mike and his Brother.
MIKE (o.s.)
I don't belong to you, DUDE... I'm
not yours...
BROTHER (o.s.)
(his voice booms out so
unexpectedly deep and loud that
Scott is startled) Shut your
mouth! Don't you talk back...
His brother hits the table with a crash.
Living room night.
BROTHER
Well... (takes a breath )
Anyway. You were maybe not in the
biological sense, my brother, but in
our business, ~..... (holds his
hands up in the air) And If I'm not
Your brother, how's come you turned
out exactly like me then?
Mike has gotten the jitters and fallen asleep in front of him.
Scott enters from the bathroom.
BROTHER
Oh, he'll come out or it. It's
like this whenever we get together
It's always like this when we get
together It's the way that we say
hello to each other.
He holds his head down.
BROTHER
I'm all that he's got. But he
doesn't want me. He doesn't care.
He'd rather live out on the
streets. I love him, though.
Scott looks around the trailer at all the velvet portraits
hanging on the walls.
BROTHER
Oh. I paint these for a living.
But sometimes the people don't
send the check when they get
finished. So I keep them. I like
them.
Ext. Trailer. Night.
Mike and his brother sip iced tea. Colored lights decorate the
trailer.
BROTHER
Want me to tell you what happened
to your Mom? Have you ever heard
it? Did you ever hear what the
hell happened to her?
MIKE
No. But I don't care.
BROTHER
You loved her, and don't tell know
you did. me you didn't. I
MIKE
I didn't even know her.
BROTHER
Yeah, you loved her, though.
MIKE
I already heard what happened to
her.
BROTHER
But you don't know the whole
story. One thing about the truth.
It's interesting.
MIKE
I don't care.
BROTHER
If you had known her, you would
care. She would see guys on the
side. At night. When I wouldn't be
around... maybe I'd be in San
Francisco or some darned place,
doing my own business. God knows
where. She would see guys...
yeah.... anyway along comes this
guy. A guy we both knew. A guy who
was into cards. A gamblin' man.
And he said that he used to herd
cattle in Argentina. I dunno,
maybe he did, and he had a bit of
money. More'n I had at that point
in time. But it was funny, the way
he gambled. He was not safe in the
friends that he made. So his money
would come and go real fast....
MIKE
I never heard this one before.
BROTHER
So this guy, your Mom fell for.
What? She went cuckoo over this
guy. Well, their affair went on
for a year or so and your mom
wanted to marry this guy. She was
already married to our real dad.
So he said no. He didn't love her
anyways. But she wanted him to
marry her. And to have a little
family. That's when you were born.
As a matter of fact, you were
really the cause of this whole
mess. She wanted to make a little
family and take you and this guy
someplace and set something up.
(slaps his leg with his hand)
A family thing! Ridiculous, right. A
card man. Had a bunch of money, but
could have just as well lost it on
his next hand. Probably did too. Well
you'll see what I'm getting at.
MIKE
That's not how I heard it.
BROTHER
Yeah, I know. You heard it from me
and I'm telling it different this
time, see? So this Mom of yours
found herself a fuckin' gun. I
thought she was going to blow me
away with it one night. She got so
into this gun. She would flash it
to anybody that gave her trouble.
She would sleep with it. Yeah...
strange, huh? She would stir fry
vegetables with the loaded gun.
What? I mean What? I used to
say, politely, "Mom, don't go
stirring up dinner with the gun,
now, you'll blow a hole in the
frying pan." What?
Mike begins to cry.
BROTHER
And she used to do other things
with this gun. Sexy things with
it. Oh, boy, she was into this
thing. I just thought it was some
sort of weird phase that she was
going through. And so anyway, this
guy, who she was cuckoo over,
brought her to the movies one
night. A drive-in movie in a
stolen car, don't-chaknow, what?
And the movie was.... ah.... RIO
BRAVO or some shit like that. And
well, she went and shot this
guy.... don't-cha-know.
MIKE
You're making this up as you go
along, bro.
BROTHER
And they didn't find him until the
next show, RIO BRAVO playing on
the big screen. Spilled popcorn
soaking up the blood.
Mike begins to really cry now, bawling and coughing.
SCOTT
(who has been listening)
Oh, come on, how corny, man....
BROTHER
No. Your mom had to split, and
split she did. And that guy. That
guy was your real father.
MIKE (sniffs)
I knew that was coming. You sure
do like to make me cry, bro.
BROTHER
And I got this card from her, not
too awful long ago. Maybe a year.
Mike's Brother hands him a postcard with a Holiday Inn motel on
the front of it. Written on the card, Mike's mom says she is
working as a waitress there, in the "Blue Room" of the Holiday
Inn off Interstate 85 outside Boise, Idaho. He also hands him a
picture of his mom.
Mike and Scott wore sunglasses as they journeyed onward to the
Blue Room, Scott driving the motorcycle and Mike riding on the
back.
Night time exterior of the Holiday Inn.
Mike and Scott pull up on the motorcycle and park it.
Inside the Holiday Inn.
A hostess is standing in front of a sign that bills "Shecky
Crude" as the featured entertainer of the evening in the "Blue
Room."
Mike is speaking to the hostess. He shows her his picture of mom.
MIKE
My mother works here. Her name is
Dorothy.
HOSTESS
(thinks for a second)
No. I can't think of anyone by that
name. Let me get the manager.
The hostess picks up the phone.
Manager's office night.
A MANAGER is sitting behind his desk wearing a shiny blue suit,
he shifts in his swiveling chair, and looks at the Holiday Inn
Postcard that Mike's mother sent to his father.
MANAGER
Dorothy, Dorothy There was a
Dorothy Biondi used to work here a
year ago, but she split. Saved up
all her money and headed to Italy.
MIKE
To Italy?
MANAGER
Yeah. It took her forever to save
any cash, but she did, and flew
away. She was looking for her
family. I guess she came from
Italy. But she didn't look
Italian.
SCOTT
Was your mom Italian?
MIKE
I don't know. I guess that she
was.
In the lobby of the Holiday Inn at night.
Mike and Scott witness the arrival of the German Mercedes Benz
parts salesman.
SCOTT
There's that guy.
MIKE
Who?
SCOTT
The guy who gave us a ride from
Portland. What's he doing here?
Scott and Mike walk up to him. HANS turns and a broad smile
crosses his face.
HANS
Mike! Scottie! How good to run
into you! My dear boys! How have
you been?
Inside Hans' hotel bathroom. Night.
Mike lies in a bathtub in sudsy water. There is a pounding on the
bathroom door.
MIKE
I just got in the tub! Wait your
turn.
HANS
But Mike! Don't you want anything
to eat? We are ordering room
service. Ya?
MIKE
Ahhh. Room service? Ya! Let me
see. Two hamburgers, with cheese,
onions, lettuce, tomato, no
pickles. A Coke and french fries.
HANS
O.K. That's hamburger wiz
everything, no pickles, Coke,
french fries.
MIKE
That is correct.
HANS
Thank you.
MIKE
You're welcome.
As Mike and Scott eat their hamburgers, Hans sits across from
them next to a small desk light on a double bed in his Holiday
Inn room.
HANS
How are the hamburgers, boys?
MIKE
They're okay, Hans.
SCOTT
Good, Hans. I don't think that
I've tasted a hamburger as fine as
this Holiday Inn hamburger.
HANS
I'm glad that you like it.
The boys eat approvingly.
HANS
How did you boys get so far? I
only left you in Portland a few
days ago.
SCOTT
We rode on our trusty motorcycle.
HANS
And what brings you to the Holiday
Inn?
SCOTT
Business.
HANS
What kind of business?
SCOTT
We're selling motorcycles.
Still images of Mike, Scott and Hans having sex in the motel.
Hans rides his newly purchased motorcycle across the plains from
Boise to Picabu, Idaho. A local policeman pulls him over doing 95
mph in a 45 mph zone.
At the Boise Airport Scott and Mike stand in a ticket line. The
ticket taker stamps their tickets.
TICKET TAKER
Do you have any baggage?
Mike and Scott shake their heads no.
ItaliA
Mike wakes up and finds himself sitting beside the Trevi fountain
in Rome. There are other street kids surrounding him fishing for
coins that tourists have thrown in the fountain. He doesn't see
Scott.
He looks around a bit.
SCOTT (o.s.)
Mikey! Over here!
Mike's VIEW of Scott in a taxi cab.
The TAXI pulls up to a small farmhouse on a hill outside of Rome.
Mike and Scott get out and walk around the house. A farmer is
cutting his crop on the next hillside.
A DOG walks up to them.
The taxi driver gets out of the car and asks for his money in
Italian. Scott holds out the money that he has and the driver
takes it, counting it out for himself.
Mike walks around a corner of the house and notices the doors are
open as the cab drives off down the drive.
Scott sits down on the stoop in front of a shack and Mike steps
into the house.
MIKE
Mom?............Hello?
An extremely Beautiful Italian girl walks around the corner where
Scott is sitting. He can't see her. And she leans against the
shack and stares at him, then looks up at Mike, who is walking
through the house trying to find someone.
GIRL
Hello.
SCOTT
Hi. Is this your house?
The girl is a little shy and leans on the shack.
GIRL
No. This isn't my house, but. It
is my uncle's house.
SCOTT
I'm Scott.
GIRL
I'm Carmella.
SCOTT
And he is Mike. We came from
America to find his mother.
CARMELLA
Oh. An American woman?
SCOTT
Yeah, do you know her?
CARMELLA
Yes, but. It is not true that she
lives here..
SCOTT
It isn't true?
CARMELLA
No. She left a long time ago. Back
to America.
SCOTT
Oh, shit. Was she your friend?
CARMELLA
I wanted to speak English, and she
taught it to me.
Scott looks up at her, a little surprised.
Mike walks from the house to Scott and Carmella.
CARMELLA
Hello. My name is Carmella.
MIKE
I'm Mike.
CARMELLA
Hello Mike.
SCOTT
She knows your mom.
Later in the afternoon, Mike is inside of a room in the house,
and he is crying. He is talking to Scottie, who is holding him.
MIKE
I mean, Christ, we come all this
fuckin' way and she ain't here
either. Where'd she go from here?
Mike walks through the rooms of the Italian country
MIKE'S VIEW of a room, and Scott is just closing the door. He
winks at Mike as he shuts it.
Inside the room, Carmella and Scott lay down on the bed and kiss.
Scott takes off his clothes and ravishes Carmella, tearing at her
dress.
Carmella is naked and the two grab and twist with each other on
the white bed.
Still views of the lovemaking.
Mike in the country, watching the farmer in the field.
Mike approaches the house and there is a taxi cab waiting.
Carmella is putting a suitcase in the trunk.
Scott helps Carmella in the front seat of the taxi.
SCOTT
Hey, Mike. Let me talk with you
for a second.
Scott follows Mike inside the house and into a room.
SCOTT
I'm gonna take some time off.
Scott gives Mike an American Express card.
SCOTT
Don't leave home without it. Ha-
ha. (Mike doesn't think it's
funny)
I mean, maybe I'll run into you
down the road.
Mike is shocked but sees what Scott needs to do as he looks out
the window and can see Carmella in the taxi.
MIKE
Yeah, sure. Okay.
SCOTT
Sorry about this, dude.
MIKE
I'll be okay. Don't worry about
me.
SCOTT
Sorry, but....
MIKE
No, man, forget it. Hurry up,
she's waiting, you're gonna lose
her.
Mike hides a tear.
SCOTT
All right. You sure you'll be
okay?
MIKE
Go on, get out of here.
Outside, a dog watches the taxi leave down a rutted dirt drive.
MIKE'S THOUGHTS:
Well. So much for the great
protector-of-us-all. Protector of
himself, more like. I couldn't
believe Scott would leave me here
in the middle of a foreign
country.
Inside, Mike goes into one of his fits, snorting, a little like a
pig, and falls asleep.
PoRtland
Mike wakes up in an airline's passenger seat. A STEWARDESS is
leaning over him.
STEWARDESS
Wake up. Wake up, we're here.
MIKE
Where? Where am I?
STEWARDESS
You're in Portland.
INT. BROADWAY CAFE in the day.
Mike sits at the round table in front of the window.
Denise is with a new boy, STUART, and they are making out. Mary
sits and chain smokes cigarettes, there are three other UNKNOWNS
around the table.
MIKE
And so, I was back in Portland,
enjoying the life I used to lead.
It was like I was back from a
vacation. Denise had a boyfriend
now....
Ext. street night.
Cars cruise by. Mike is on a street corner. He hops into a
stranger's car.
Int. MOTEL night.
Still views of Mike having sex with a date.
MIKE
... and I enjoyed the fruits of my
labor.
CLOSE VIEW of money exchanging hands.
BROADWAY CAFE day.
Mike is at the table again, smoking a cigarette.
There are three new kids who look very MEAN, and are hassling
another kid, pulling his collar and throwing him around.
MIKE'S THOUGHTS
And there were new kids who were
coming around who wanted to take
your money. It was a dark period
for the streets. Normally, Scott
would keep order In the Broadway
Cafe.
A Hot dog stand. Gary cheerfully prepares Mike a hot dog.
MIKE'S THOUGHTS
Gary and Ray both got work at
stands. It was funny...
Int. Deli day.
Ray serves Mike a hot dog.
MIKE'S THOUGHTS
( they both sold hot dogs. Which
is what they were used to selling
on the streets in the old days.
These guys had really changed, I
thought.
Mike's FACE, outdoors in the daytime.
He looks out on the cityscape.
The buildings of the city uproot and tumble in the air.
Jakes restaurant night.
Mike wakes up. He is sitting next to Bob and Budd. A new friend,
a colorfully dressed man named BAD GEORGE, who looks like a
street minstrel, talks on the street in front of a fancy
restaurant. Bad George is obnoxiously yelling in Bob's face.
BAD GEORGE
Bob! What tidings I bring you. And
such joy. Some of that old rot gut
that you and I used to drink. I
have three bottles stashed in the
bushes out on eighty-second.
BOB
What blew you in?
BAD GEORGE
Think of the fun we can have, if
we could only rind a ride for a
journey to the bushes where the
hooch is hid.
BOB
If I shared your wine, I might
catch this awful disease you
appear to have. My clothes would
turn striped, and I would suddenly
have bells on my toes, like this
here...
Bob points to George's bells on his shoes.
BAD GEORGE
Bob, you're one of the greatest
living men on Three-street.
BOB
That is correct.
BAD GEORGE
Surely you can find us a ride
somewhere.
MIKE'S THOUGHTS:
As I listened to Bad George and
Bob talk, I watched across the
street as a long black car pulled
up alongside one of the fancier
restaurant/bar establishments of
Portland. And who got out of that
car? It was the old protector-of-
us-all, himself Scottie Favor.
Bob notices the group of men getting out of a car in front of the
restaurant. One of them is Scottie , in a three pieced suit. He
is with his Italian girlfriend.
BOB
If it isn't Scottie Favor himself.
Blessed are they who have been my
close friends. Now dressed in a
three pieced suit and looking
every bit a gentleman! He has run
into his inheritance.
BAD GEORGE
Who?
BOB
George, Budd, Mike. We have waited
for this day to come.
Bob charges in the direction of Scottie and his friends.
I nt. Jakes. Night.
Scottie and his associates, who are men much older than he,
perhaps in their thirties, make their way through the yuppie
crowd standing in the bar drinking. Hellos and how-do-you-do's
are directed at Scottie. A man stops Scott on his way through the
crowd.
MAN
Scottie! I haven't seen you in a
dog's age. You're looking well. So
grown up. Scottie, I'd like you to
meet Ed Warren, he's in marketing
at Nike. Ed, this is Scottie
Favor.
ED
Oh, Jack Favor's son, hello,
pleased to meet you.
SCOTTIE
How do you do?
Bob is following Scottie through the crowd. Scottie walks past
Hans, who is having a drink with another man. They recognize each
other but neither speak.
Bob, with Bad George in tow, straightens himself up as the yuppie
crowd looks on disapprovingly. Their smelly clothing betrays
them.
BOB
Come, George, watch this. You will
see the attention that I get.
Bob looks at his clothes. A bouncer spots them.
BOB
It's true we're drawing attention
to ourselves. But Scottie will see
that I am dying to see him, and it
won't matter how we're dressed.
Scotty and his friends are sitting around a crowded table. As
they take their seats, Scottie hears Bob bellowing.
VIEW of Bob being detained by the bouncer.
BOB
God save you! God save you, my
sweet boy.
Scotty turns away from Bob, so his back is to him.
BOB
Sonny! My true friend!
Silence for a second, the crowd grows quieter.
BOB
I mean you, Sonny! It's me, Bob!
Without turning toward Bob, Scottie speaks.
SCOTT
I don't know you, old man.
GIRL IN CROWD
Who is that bum?
Scottie turns and meets Bob, who kneels next to him.
SCOTTIE
Please leave me alone.
Bob is thinking that Scottie's attitude is a joke.
SCOTTIE
Don't think that I'm the same
Scottie that I was before.
Everyone has noticed that I have
turned away from that life, and
the people who kept me company.
Bob is shocked.
Outside, Mike can see through the windows of the restaurant, Bob
and Scottie talking.
Int. Jakes. night.
SCOTTIE
When I was young, and you were my
street tutor. An instigator for my
bad behavior, I was trying to
change. Now that I have, and until
I change back don't come near
me.
Bob feels the rejection like a shock. Stares at Scott for a
second, then he's pulled away by the bouncer.
Ext. Jakes. night.
Mike watches Bob and Budd sit down with him.
BUDD
Don't take all this seriously.
It's one of his jokes.
Nighttime overhead view of Bob in his greasy derelict hotel bed.
He is having nightmares, and suddenly he CRIES OUT'
BOB
God, God.... God!
Dawn views of the city
Mike awakes atop a downtown building.
Inside the Derelict Hotel Day.
Mike enters, and walks through a very quiet, although crowded
MAIN ENTRANCE. There is a body on a slab in the middle of the
room that is covered with a sheet.
MIKE
Pigeon?
A BOY
Scottie Favor broke his heart.
GARY
He's gone now, either to Heaven or
to Hell.
JANE LIGHTWORK
Be sure it isn't to Hell. He tried
to be an honest sort. I'm the one
who heard him cry out last night.
He said God, God, God... three or
four times. And when I got there I
put my hand into the bed and felt
his feet. And they were cold as
stone. And I checked the rest of
his body. And it too was as cold
as stone.
BUDD
(crying)
It sure is quiet.
Mike approaches Budd.
MIKE
I guess you're gonna miss him the
most, Budd.
Mike gives him Scottie's American Express card, as others carry
his body out of the hotel.
Dawn views of the city.
MIKE
Here. Maybe you can give him a
good burial.
Budd cries.
Mike exits.
In the country, Mike looks at the road.
He has visions of sagebrush and rock flying into the air as if
picked up by a big wind.
Then he lies asleep by the side of the road.
MIKE'S VOICE
I suppose that a lot of kids like
me think that they have no home,
that home is a place where you
have a mom and a dad.
Pause.
MIKE'S THOUGHTS
But home can be any place that you
want. Or wherever you can find
My home is right here on the side
of this road, that I been to
before. I just know I been on this
fucking road one time before, you
know that?
Later, a car drives by Mike's sleeping body by the side of the
road. It turns around and stops next to Mike. A figure puts Mike
in his car and drives off down the road.
MIKE'S THOUGHTS
Sometimes I had thought that God
had not smiled on me, and had
given me a bum deal. And other
times, I had thought that God had
smiled on me. Like now. He was
smiling on me... for the time
being....
Int. Car. Day.
Scott is driving the car. He looks over at Mike sleeping.
Ext. Desert. Day.
The car disappears down the road.