EXT.
A MILWAUKEE STREET – NIGHT.
Three
THUGS and JULIA HUNTER, a short-haired housewife in her late thirties, are all lined
up, covered in blood; ANNA, a nurse, is off to the side. GREEN, a policeman and
BAILEY, a police woman, are interviewing with flashlights, without which the scene
would be dark.
GREEN.
[looks at first thug]
Bloody nose.
[looks at the second]
Bloody nose and torn ear. Somebody bite you?
[the third]
Bloody nose, black eye, fat lip, is that a claw
mark? Ma’am, do you have a dog?
[and looks down at Julia]
What about you, buddy, do you need a doctor too? Any
cuts or scrapes?
Julia,
wearing a Packers cap, holds her bloody fists in front of her face and raises
her eyebrows ironically at Green.
BAILEY.
Okay, somebody tell me what happened here.
ANNA.
Me and these three guys, we had a drink in the bar.
I come out, and they come out after me, and they want to go out and hangout
some more, it was stupid. Then Tommy mouths off at me, and smacks me, and I
smacked him. And then all three of them start shoving me around. Goddamn
cavemen.
THUG 1.
Bitch scratched my face
right open.
ANNA.
Hey, Neanderthal Man, it’s the twenty first century,
it’s time to get your clock fixed!....And then
[points at Julia]
This guy, he’s like a bolt of lightning, just came
out of nowhere.
JULIA.
I’m a girl.
THUG 1.
This guy just went totally nuts. Hitting, kicking,
scratching, spitting, pulling hair, all at two hundred miles an hour. He’s like
a goddamn mountain lion on crack. Who the hell is this guy?
JULIA.
[boiling mad]
Girl! I’m a girl!
The
three thugs back away from her.
THUG 2.
[talking over her]
Ought to be in a cage.
GREEN.
Okay, lady, these three guys slapped you around, and
then they were attacked by
[skeptical]
this young man here?
Julia
loses it and tries to go after him; Bailey pushes her against the wall.
BAILEY.
Three guys for the ER, one guy straight to booking.
THUG 1.
See? He’s nuts.
JULIA.
Doesn’t listen. I’m. A.
Girl.
Julia
starts to pull apart her shirt, cops reflexively reach for their weapons.
GREEN.
Oh, for Christ sake. Um....Bailey?
BAILEY.
This is ridiculous. Go back to the unit and hit the
lights for me.
Green
does so, illuminating the scene.
BAILEY.
[to Julia]
Stop. What the hell is the matter with you?...
[takes off Julia’s hat; to
Green]
Holy crap. Green, he’s a
girl.
[to Julia]
Sorry, we couldn’t tell, you’re all covered in
blood.
JULIA.
It’s not my blood.
[looks at the thugs and
smiles]
BAILEY.
[impatient]
Put your clothes back on.... You need a shower, you
smell like a brewery.... You’re not going to try to hit me, are you?
Julia
glares at her.
GREEN.
[to Julia]
So, no ID. What’s your name?
[skeptically]
Ma’am?
JULIA.
Jane Doe.
GREEN.
Listen, if we can’t identify you, you’re in the can
for the night.
BAILEY.
Here, let me try....Where’d you learn to fight like
that?
JULIA.
Home.
BAILEY.
You a cop, or army?
JULIA.
Housewife.
BAILEY.
Okay, bonus question, what the hell were you
thinking?
JULIA.
I just heard what this guy was saying to his
girlfriend, he hit her, right on the street, and I just.... It was just the
last straw, and I just lost it....
BAILEY.
Last straw? Let me guess. Boyfriend?
Husband?...Okay, this thing you did, you know how stupid that was? Flying in
like Batman to save the day, taking on three guys? You don’t need me to give
you that speech, do you? ....
[to the bunch of them]
Luckily, stupidity isn’t a crime, or you’d all be
going in, and then I got a whole night worth of paperwork.
GREEN.
Man, our shift is almost
over....
BAILEY.
[to Julia]
You don’t sound like you’re from around here. Where
are you from?
[Julia says nothing.]
Well, wherever that is, go
there.
JULIA.
I can’t go home.
BAILEY.
Well, don’t come back here. Alright? ...You’re not
going to try to drive a car, are you?...
JULIA.
A car??
[cackles a laugh]
You crack me up.
BAILEY.
[to the thugs]
Are you rocket scientists going to press charges
against this girl?...I didn’t think so....
[irritated]
Okay, everybody just get the hell out of here.
Thugs
exit.
ANNA.
[to Julia]
My name’s Anna.
JULIA.
[whispers]
Lia. Short for Julia.
ANNA.
Julia?
JULIA.
Shh!...Dammit!...
[pulls her aside, more angry at herself than at Anna]
Never say my name out loud, in front of a cop!
ANNA.
I’m a nurse.
[takes Julia by the chin]
Hold still....
JULIA.
I’m okay. Are you okay?
ANNA.
I can handle it. Come see me at the Medical Complex.
We’ve got AA, the whole program....
JULIA.
Not in a million years. And just forget my name,
okay?
[as Anna leaves; to Bailey]
Thanks. Sorry.
[Bailey pulls out her notepad and glares at her.]
Um, yeah.
She
weaves slightly as she grabs her duffel bag, which stays with her in every
scene, and leaves.
BAILEY.
[rolls eyes at Green and
writes]
“Alcohol was involved.”
EXT.
MILWAUKEE STREET – NIGHT.
This
quick scene, and the next five after it, constitute a no-dialogue montage. Julia
with her duffel bag walks down the street toward the camera. She passes the
thugs, swats one on his butt, they stop as she proceeds past them; she wears a
giant raincoat over a tank top and jeans.
EXT.
OUTSIDE RAY’S BAR – NIGHT.
Julia
sits in the doorway of a bar with her bag, her face hidden by either a Packers
cap or a cheesehead, surveying the street. Customers and then exotic dancers
leave the bar. Julia grabs RAY in the bar doorway, begging to be let in, gesturing
that she only needs one night. He finally rolls his eyes and lets her in. Julia
kisses Ray, he pushes her away.
INT.
RAY’S BAR, MAIN ROOM – NIGHT.
Inside
the bar, Ray gestures to her to take off her shirt. She does, and reveals an
Ace bandage protecting her wounded ribs. Ray unwinds her bandage and treats her
back. Julia steals a beer from the back; Ray takes it away and she sticks her
tongue out at him. He pats his heart on his way out the door; she smiles. The
scene is in no way romantic or erotic.
INT.
RAY’S BAR, BATHROOM – NIGHT.
Julia
strips off her jeans and goes into the bathroom, after stealing another beer.
She sees the blood on her face in the mirror, laughs and cleans it off. She
washes her shirt in the sink and hangs it on a chair. She uses the bathroom
soap to give herself a “whore’s bath” in the sink, then does her hair, then
uses the soap to brush her teeth with, making a face and washing out her mouth
with beer.
INT.
RAY’S BAR – NIGHT.
Julia,
in the bar, lays down on the pool table, with her duffel bag for a pillow,
tries to sleep in her coat and jeans, but just tosses and turns. She sits up,
bleary-eyed. She uses body English to get the jukebox going, and dances badly.
She munches pretzels while watching TV. She checks the lock, peers out the
window and pulls back when she sees a car approaching.
EXT.
OUTSIDE RAY’S BAR – NIGHT.
Julia
leaves the bar, checks to ensure it’s locked, checks the street outside, and
walks down the street, her hat/cheesehead jammed low over her face. She stops
in front of an ugly service building with ghastly statue out front, nods to the
statue and says …
JULIA.
Good morning, Milwaukee.
Another
shot of the ugly building and the statue.
Julia
smiles and walks away.
INT. A LAW OFFICE – DAY.
New
Jersey law office; MORGAN, a lawyer, with his client DAVID HUNTER, a rich
husband, meeting ADAM TURNER, a private investigator.
TURNER.
Mr Morgan? Adam Turner.
[handshakes]
MORGAN.
This is David Hunter. We’ve asked you in to talk
about Mr Hunter’s wife Julia.
[as they all sit. ]
We expect that Mr Hunter is going to be in divorce
court ultimately, and we need an investigator....I assume we’re speaking in
confidence?
TURNER.
[pleasantly]
Obviously.
MORGAN.
We’re prepared to spend all we need to win in court,
and we control the family money so Mrs Hunter won’t be getting the best and the
brightest at her table. We know the judges pretty well.
TURNER.
Yes, I know, the Hunter family pretty much runs this
whole town. I learned that the hard way when I was on the force.
MORGAN.
Mr Hunter comes across as calm and cool, and Mrs
Hunter frankly comes across as hysterical. Our witnesses will testify that she
tried to blackmail him, she sent harassing emails, and she tried to turn her
daughter against him. We want to deny her any custody, so the dirtier she comes
out of this, the better.
TURNER.
Mrs Hunter disappeared?
MORGAN.
Months ago. I doubt she has a fixed address, so she
will have a hard time getting custody anyway. No witness in this town will back
her story, not even the police; policemen hate domestic cases anyway.
TURNER.
Don’t I know it.
MORGAN.
We can prove she abused painkillers. We filed for a
restraining order because of her violent behavior.
TURNER.
You’ve got everything covered. Where do I come in?
MORGAN.
First we need you to find her. She took a huge
amount of money which belongs, by rights, to their daughter Lily. Which is odd
because Mrs. Hunter adores her daughter. We will give you a liberal per diem
and a long leash, within reason, and a hefty finder’s fee.
[passes documents for Turner to look at]
TURNER.
How are you paying?
MORGAN.
In cash. Very often we work
in cash.
TURNER.
Fine with me.
[looking at the documents]
So you’ve had other guys looking for her.
MORGAN.
Six. They all failed. Then they started working as a
team, and they still failed.
TURNER.
If she’s jacked up on pills all the time, how come
she’s outsmarting these guys?
MORGAN.
Let’s just say our team was unlucky. And she is very
clever. It’s like chasing the wind. And we heard you were very good, so...
TURNER.
She could be dead.
MORGAN.
We think we saw her for a few seconds in Atlanta.
And we’re almost sure we had her in sight at the Chicago bus depot.
TURNER.
You’re almost sure...?
HUNTER.
[emotional]
I don’t want this to go on indefinitely. My wife and
I are going through a rough patch right now, but I am genuinely worried about
her. She’s sick. She has a track record of erratic behavior. I really hope
she’s alright.
TURNER.
No sweat. I do this all the time. Every week I got a
husband telling me his wife is stepping out on him.
MORGAN.
You check credit card
records?
TURNER.
Yep, surveillance, GPS, talk to their bosses, their
friends..... So, you’re a lawyer. This story you told me, that’s the pitch
you’re going to make in court. How much of all that is true?
Long
silence.
MORGAN.
[doesn’t look up; shuffles papers, hands Turner a
fat envelope]
Your retainer will be wired later but here are your
first three months’ expenses. We will wait for your report.
[finally he looks up]
Thank you for coming.
TURNER.
Well, my question still stands. If I know the truth,
there’s a better chance --
HUNTER.
[loud]
You’ve got everything you need! You’ll get your
money, you need to get moving --
MORGAN.
David, we discussed this,
didn’t we?
[glares at David; smiles at Turner]
As I said, the rest of your money is on its way.
Thank you.
Morgan
and Hunter leave.
TURNER.
[looking at the door where they exited, then at a
mass of hundred dollar bills in the envelope]
What the...?...Hello Mister Franklin. And his whole
family...
INT.
A BAR -- NIGHT.
In
Milwaukee. A JUKEBOX BLASTS AWAY. SARAH McIntosh and MISTY Baker, exotic
dancers, are on break, in a corner, in robes. Julia, dead drunk and slack-jawed,
leaning on a chair against a wall or table, with two chair legs off the floor. RAY,
a bartender and ex-cop, watches Julia warily. Customers drink.
SARAH.
We need to get back onstage dancing, just so they’ll
turn off that crap on the jukebox.
[MUSIC STOPS as she’s speaking]
Oh thank God.
RAY.
Last warning, fellas, don’t touch the girls.
[points at Julia]
Lia, careful with the chair.
SARAH.
Ray, I know it’s cold outside, but seriously, we’re
up onstage in our fine washables and it’s fifty, sixty degrees up there.
RAY.
Fine, but help me sell more beer, Sarah, so I can
pay the power company. How’d your Calculus final go?
SARAH.
Uugghh.
THUG 1.
Hey Misty....You girls are smoking hot tonight.
MISTY.
Thanks.
THUG 1.
[crowding her space a
little]
You want to dance later?
MISTY.
[nicely]
Just shove off, okay?
Thug
looks for a moment at Julia who is motionless.
THUG 1.
[to Julia]
You want to dance?
They
all look; Julia doesn’t budge.
SARAH.
Leave her alone. That’s Lia. She doesn’t work here.
She just hangs here.
THUG 1.
What’s the matter with her?
MISTY.
Just shove off, okay?
THUG 1.
[to Julia]
You want to dance?
JULIA.
[looks at him for the first
time]
Looking for a good time, sailor? Once you have a
Jersey girl, you never go back, baby.
Julia’s
chair finally slides out from under her and she falls onto the floor; the thug
pulls her up by the hand.
JULIA.
Lia. Short for Ju-lia.
[points to a door]
I’m the troll who sleeps in the cellar here. Where
are my keys?
[pulls out keychain, shows picture of Lily on it]
My little girl.
[squints; wrinkles her nose]
I smell like Sam Adams.
[holds up a finger]
The beer, not the dead President.
She
starts bumbling around in circles a bit, looking for her beer.
THUG 1.
Sam Adams...?
MISTY.
For the last time. She’s not one of us. She’s just....well,
she’s just here. Leave her alone.
Jukebox
begins ABBA SONG, or whatever; girls scream in outrage; Julia throws a glass, a
chair, a beer can, a plate of food, director’s choice.
JULIA.
Turn. That. Shit. Off.
[a pause]
RAY.
Sorry girls, this is the
last time.
SARAH.
But Ray, it’s just Lia.
RAY.
I’m running out of glasses.
And chairs.
[or whatever it was]
What are you, keeping her as
a pet?
Ray
half-carries Julia out the door, she yowls “Dancing Queen”, or whatever,
off-key.
SARAH.
Dammit, Ray! Let me put her in a cab. More tip money
down the toilet.
[She runs out with Julia’s duffel.]
EXT.
A STREET – DAY.
Hunter’s
GOOMBAH is on his cellphone.
GOOMBAH.
No, no sign of Mrs Hunter. But Turner, your new
detective – he was nosing around a lot in Jersey, and then ran around all over
the map. Then, funny thing, he spent a lot of time in Milwaukee....Yeah, I
looked around, I saw him, but not her....What do you mean, he’s back in Jersey?
Fuck.
EXT.
NEW JERSEY, OUTSIDE A SCHOOL – DAY.
A
middle-school field, where LILY HUNTER and other girls play soccer. Julia is in
the parking lot, watching. At the other end of the parking lot, Turner watches
Julia as her emotions begin to get the better of her.
Julia,
like all good actresses, hides her emotions more than she displays them, an
excellent survival tactic for battered wives. But from this scene on, as more
and more disasters happen, and as thoughts of her daughter weigh more and more
on her, her ability to hold herself together emotionally begins to unravel. She
is essentially hanging on to sanity by her fingernails.
INT.
EMERGENCY ROOM – DAY.
A
New Jersey ER, Andrea JACKSON, a nurse, doing paperwork. Turner enters with MOLLY,
a policewoman; Andrea pulls Turner into an exam room, irate.
JACKSON.
Turner!
TURNER.
Andrea...?
JACKSON.
You came into my
ER to ask two of my nurses
about one of my patients....sit
down. I’ll tell you about Julia
Hunter. Keep this under your hat or I’ll lose my job.
[as Turner sits.]
Julia Hunter is one of my worst nightmares. A repeat
customer.
[flips through a massive folder]
Broken nose, black eye – look at the size of this
file!...ribs, nose again, ribs again, broken arm – that last time she finally
started defending herself.
TURNER.
Jesus, this X-ray looks like something out of the
morgue. She survived with all these busted ribs? How does she breathe?
JACKSON.
They never healed right. She’s gonna feel those ribs
for the rest of her life. Every time she hugs her daughter.
TURNER.
She’s never going to see her daughter again....So
what do you do, the next time she comes in?
JACKSON.
Did you see that X-ray? If she ever gets beat up
again, she’ll never make it to the ER. She’ll have a tag on her toe. It’s a
miracle she’s still alive.
MOLLY.
She never went to the
police?
JACKSON.
You mean tell her brother-in-law, the police captain?
Tell him that his brother was beating on her? In this town?
TURNER.
So this is why you called me back to the hospital.
JACKSON.
No. I called you over to see my next patient. This
is Julia’s sister-in-law. The wife of the cop.
KATHERINE
Hunter, in her thirties, comes in for treatment on her arm.
JACKSON.
Mrs Hunter, this is Mr Turner, I think he works for
your family.
KATHERINE.
Him and everybody else in
town.
TURNER.
Sorry, I’ll go...
KATHERINE.
[she looks at Jackson]
It’s okay.
[looks at her arm]
I’m an old hand.
[picks up the splint]
JACKSON.
[gets ready to splint her
up]
This girl is lucky, if you want to look at it that
way. You ask Molly, your police friend -- for every battered wife in my ER,
there are four more out there who are too afraid to come in and get stitched
up.
MOLLY.
Yep. A lot of these girls get beat up while they’re
pregnant.
JACKSON.
All the women who die in my ER, one third of them
were killed by their husbands or their boyfriends. Here in the land of the free,
we’re talking about 10,000 women getting beaten up...
TURNER
Whoa, whoa. Ten thousand a
year?
JACKSON.
It’s ten thousand a day, Turner. Just picture this in your head: every night there’s
a row of a thousand broken arms like this one, and then a thousand broken
noses, and then a thousand smashed teeth, a thousand broken ribs because some
girl got thrown down the stairs – ten thousand of these every night. During the
Iraq war we lost more women getting killed because of this shit, than we lost
soldiers in battle. Like I’m running a MASH unit here.... You used to be a cop,
what were you, a meter maid? Where have you been?
[to Katherine]
So I suppose you’re not going to go to the shelter
or file a –
KATHERINE.
No.
JACKSON.
[deep breath]
And another Saturday begins....
INT.
EMERGENCY ROOM – DAY.
Milwaukee,
an emergency room, Anna and Julia looking over charts. WAYNE and EMILY Duncan enter
the ER. Emily wears a long-sleeve shirt and sunglasses; she removes the glasses.
WAYNE.
My wife needs an X-ray now.
ANNA.
[picks up a clipboard,
points]
Grab a seat outside and start filling....
WAYNE.
Isn’t this the emergency room? This is an emergency!
She needs an X-ray!
ANNA.
[glares at him, hands him the clipboard]
Okay, sweetie, why don’t you tell me what happened.
Emily
looks at him uncomfortably.
WAYNE.
It was an accident. Emily’s
clumsy.
EMILY.
He’s right, it was my fault. It’s nothing really, I
almost didn’t come in....Wayne took care of me, he really watches over me.
ANNA.
[to Emily]
Take off your clothes.
Wayne
is entering deeper into the room.
JULIA.
[to Wayne, taking his arm]
We need the room, please.
WAYNE.
[pushes her away]
Who the hell are you?
JULIA.
[speaks softly, but still in his face]
Watch your mouth....Do you even like girls, there,
Wayne? ...
Wayne
looks around.
JULIA.
Yeah, you got witnesses,
this time...
Wayne
looks angrily at Emily.
JULIA.
I know where you live, and I’m watching you. And her....Here’s
a pencil for you.
Wayne
tries a staredown, then leaves; Emily starting to unbutton, very clumsily.
ANNA.
No no no, leave your clothes on. I just wanted him
out of here....
EMILY.
You really pissed him off. Usually I just try to
keep him calm.
JULIA.
How’s that working for you? You’re in the emergency
room.
EMILY.
[weaves, disoriented]
I’m sorry, I’m, um...My head’s spinning a little, I
have a headache and everything’s a little blurry.
JULIA.
I’m Lia. You sit. You feel like you’re gonna throw
up?
[She pushes aside Emily’s hair and looks at the scrape
on her head, and the black eye]
I’m not a doctor, but you have a concussion, kiddo.
EMILY.
A concussion??
JULIA.
Trust me, I’m the Muhammad Ali of concussions.
She
jokingly pretends to punch herself in the head twice; Emily flinches.
JULIA.
I’ve seen you at the courthouse. I work at the shelter....
[looks at the door]
Did he drive you here drunk?...I don’t believe it.
EMILY.
Par for the course. He drinks, I get hit. Then he’s
like “Sorry, I was drunk so I was out of control”. But somehow he’s never so
drunk that he doesn’t know what he’s doing: he won’t hit the people in the bar,
he’ll drive home all in one piece, and then he “loses control”.
JULIA.
Let me guess -- he almost never hits you where it’ll
show....He knows exactly what he’s doing.
ANNA.
And this only happens at
home?
EMILY.
Oh, yeah, always. When we’re out with friends, he’s
Saint Wayne, and I’m his arm candy. He puts on an act, always helping, always
listening, so no one would ever believe what an animal he is at home. Even in
court, I’m standing there with a broken arm, and this judge is yelling at me!
“Ma’am, you really gotta calm down” while my husband was standing there cool as
a cucumber.
JULIA.
Duncan....The judge sent him to rehab, right?
EMILY.
It was just a game to him.
[wags her finger, “doing”
Wayne]
“I can’t stay sober if you nag me about all the
other stuff. All that stuff happened before rehab, it doesn’t count.” Then the
rehab stopped and the hitting kept on. We tried therapy: he said the therapy
proved it was really all my fault, and when I told the therapist about the
nasty stuff, he would blow up when we got home. He just scammed the judge.
WAYNE. [Off Screen]
What the hell is taking so
long?
JULIA.
You left before, didn’t you?
EMILY.
Eight times. The last time -- I knew he’d go nuts
the day I left, so I had the cops come over, and sure enough, blammo....
ANNA.
Clever girl.
EMILY.
He followed me around, he called the house, I had to
change my phone number, email. I had to switch apartments because the landlady
got sick of him coming around causing trouble...
ANNA.
And then you went back to
him...
EMILY.
And he knew he had me. And it just got worse. He got
fired, and he hit me. I offered to get a job, and he hit me. He said he’d kill
me if I tried to leave again... Like an idiot I put all sorts of links on the
computer -- the shelter, Greyhound. He gave me a black eye. He reads my email.
I started using the computer at the library, but he noticed I never brought any
books back....
JULIA.
Stay off the internet for a while ....You have a
daughter, right? Where is she?
EMILY.
[agitated]
He’s got her in the car....He always used Zoe to get
to me, he used Zoe to try to win me back, he hurt Zoe just because he knew it
hurt me. He threatened Zoe – “If you tell anybody, no one will believe you,
I’ll hurt you and your mom, I’ll leave and take all the money”...
JULIA.
Oh boy.
EMILY.
He tried to drive a wedge between me and Zoe, he
undermined my decisions, he bribed her. He’s using my child as a weapon to hurt
me with. Sometimes I wonder what the hell I was thinking, having a kid...
ANNA.
Oh come on now.
JULIA.
I’ve got a little girl. Had,
anyway.
EMILY.
Just a few days ago, Zoe was watching some movie,
and out of nowhere she yells at the TV, “hey, you can’t hit a girl, it’s
against the law!”...Didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, I don’t know what to
say to her.
JULIA.
Trust me, she sees more than you think.
EMILY.
I had to tell her teacher never to let Wayne pick
her up, but he could just disappear with her. I need to do this quick...
[looks at Julia
suspiciously]
So how did you just happen to be here so fast?
JULIA.
Saturday is practically a Holy Day for husbands
beating their wives, so sometimes I swing by the ER....So if you want help...
EMILY.
I can’t do this by myself anymore.
JULIA.
Okay, you just took the one big step, asking for
help. First we need a plan for you, make sure you and your girl are safe.
You’re going to pack a bag, clothes, documents, money, we got a whole list -–
stash it at a friend’s house.
EMILY.
My friend Tara.
JULIA.
Get out of the house now and then, so that he gets
used to it. Walk the dog, go shopping. You got relatives out of town?
EMILY.
Yeah.
JULIA.
Have one of them fake an illness so you can go
visit. We’ll get you a post office box and a lawyer --
ANNA.
Lia, I need to do my thing here, this could still be
a TBI....I keep telling you, you’re not a real nurse, you shouldn’t be here.
EMILY.
TBI...?
ANNA.
Traumatic brain injury.
JULIA.
I will come find you soon, when it’s safe.
EMILY.
Oh God, don’t leave a phone
message.
JULIA.
Course not. I’ve done this
before.
[she’s wobbly getting up; to
Anna]
Chinese tonight?
ANNA.
Gotta have my General Tso....
[whispers]
Still hung over?
JULIA.
Don’t ask.
[Julia leaving.]
ANNA.
Okay.
[to Emily]
Trouble with your vision?
JULIA.
You have no idea....Oh, you
meant...
Anna
and Emily both laugh, and the tension simmers down, until...
WAYNE. [OS]
Where’s my wife? I want my
wife now!
[and a chill descends over the room]
INT.
A RESTAURANT – DAY.
Turner,
returning to his table and putting money on it, overhears TARA Watson, his
waitress, on the phone in a restaurant. Tara is quite young but already
married.
TARA.
It’s my fault, but I don’t know what I’m doing
wrong. I just have to try harder to make this work. ....I wish I knew what was
setting him off...He went out drinking ....Got no sleep at all last night ... I
just don’t know how I got into this -- how did I not see this? What’s wrong
with me?...God no, I could never leave, don’t even joke.... No, I can’t, gotta
get back to the house and check in.
[angry, impatient]
Trust me, it’s just easier
that way.
[hangs up, turns and sees
Turner]
Oh! You’re back! I’ll be back with your change.
TURNER.
Nah, keep it.
TARA.
[picks up the money]
Wow. You’re kidding.
TURNER.
Hey Tara.
[he points to her phone; she is upset that he
overheard her]
Tara, you take care of
yourself.
TARA.
[she looks at him hard; her façade crumbles for just
a second, and then she sighs and nods]
Thanks.
[moves off]
TURNER.
Hey, kid. Down two blocks and hang a right, there’s
a bus station. Take you anywhere you want.
TARA.
Yeah, I know....
[holds up the money]
So that’s who’s on the hundred.... Please, come back
anytime!
[he smiles]
EXT.
A STREET – DAY.
Hunter’s
goombah is back on the phone. Other goombahs listen and wait.
GOOMBAH.
Yeah, there’s no sign of her. But Turner is back in
Milwaukee. Maybe he’s onto something, but he isn’t telling us. The whole thing
smells fishy.
INT.
AN APARTMENT – DAY.
Milwaukee;
Julia is in her apartment. She answers the phone.
JULIA.
Hello?
TURNER.
Mrs Hunter? My name is Adam Turner. I work for a
lawyer named Andrew Morgan.
JULIA.
You work for my husband.
[panics]
How did you get this number?
TURNER.
Mrs Hunter, I want you to listen for just a minute.
Can you do that for me?
JULIA.
You have a minute and then I’m out of here.
[She grabs duffel with her free hand and sets it on
a table, open.]
TURNER.
I know, this is the third or fourth time you’ve
moved. If you listen to me, maybe you won’t need to run again. I can find you
anywhere, but I’m tired of chasing you, and you must be tired of running.
JULIA.
Tick tock.
[She’s gathering her keys, her purse etc.]
TURNER.
Your husband, his mother, all told me you were
dangerously insane. They hired me to track you down. So I got to work. I
figured out that you couldn’t get a good lawyer because they tied up the money;
they got you fired so you couldn’t support your daughter. They schmoozed the
judge and committed some truly unbelievable witness-tampering – they actually
got the judge to issue a restraining order against you because of the scratch
marks on his arms while you were defending yourself. They lied about you
blackmailing him and harassing him.
JULIA.
[still terrified, opening her door to leave]
Old New Jersey proverb.
Everybody lies.
TURNER.
I’m not surprised that you were using painkillers –
you had broken bones and bruises almost every year you were married. And you
left your girl so you could save your own life. And you weren’t cheating, there
was no boyfriend. Or girlfriend....I figured out that you didn’t take that much
money.
JULIA.
I’m living on mac and
cheese!
TURNER.
And an awful lot of rum. Strange, they didn’t go to
the police about you, or about the money.... Then I heard that your sister-in-law
was in the hospital with a fractured skull.
JULIA.
Is she alright?
TURNER.
I don’t know – I don’t want to check in, because
they’ll ask me where you are....So now I know what happens to you, once I do
tell them where you are.... I got to be fascinated by watching you outsmart me.
For months it’s been like watching an Indiana Jones movie. I saw you working
the underground railroad for the other women.
JULIA.
[shocked]
No, you can’t --
TURNER.
Don’t worry, I have no interest in the railroad....And
then...You actually went back to Jersey, and watched your daughter play soccer.
And you lost it completely.
JULIA.
So they said I took how much money? Like those guys
would ever put that much in one account -- these guys have been hiding money
from the IRS since you were in diapers.
TURNER.
So the money...
JULIA.
I took enough walking-around money to hit the road with.
It’s all gone now.
TURNER.
And the pills....
JULIA.
I can’t get the pills anymore, it leaves a paper trail.
But I’m afraid I drink quite a bit. It’s the only way I can sleep. I bought
plane tickets to half a dozen places online, then I saved a few nickels by
taking the bus to Wisconsin.
TURNER.
[laughs]
I know, four of their goons wasted a week in LA.
JULIA.
You think this is funny?... Actually I used his
credit cards to buy the tickets, all first class. You know, that is funny...Do you know if Lily is
okay? Is she safe?
TURNER.
Listen. I don’t want you to be frightened....Actually
I do want you to be frightened. The Hunters are sending more guys like me. They’ll
take you back home, or just do something right here in Milwaukee.
JULIA.
Why are you calling me? How did you find me this
time?
TURNER.
You want all the trade secrets? Not so fast. I don’t
know what I’m doing here. I don’t have a plan. I don’t believe your husband,
but I don’t completely believe you either. Right now, I just don’t think I’m
ready to pick up the phone and give you away to those people.
JULIA.
You don’t think? That’s a little bit vague.
TURNER.
Alright, you wanted to know how we keep finding you.
You went to the same store every week, the same doctor. Stop talking to your
sister – her daughter tells all about it on Facebook. Lock your windows, get an
alarm. Set up a signal with your neighbor so she can call for help if you need
it – the next guy who finds you may not be me. Keep the car gassed up and
pointed toward the road. ....Couple of freebies for you.
JULIA.
Why are you telling me this?
TURNER.
I haven’t worked out all the details here, but so
far, I think I’d rather see you alive than dead. I don’t think you have that
many ER visits left in you.
She
hangs up, pulls her duffel shut.
TURNER.
Hello?...
[realizes she hung up]
Dammit!
JULIA.
[dials the phone]
Anna, are you
home?....Dammit!
EXT.
AN UNDERPASS – NIGHT.
New
Jersey, where a small tent city has sprouted up.
MOLLY.
You’re only back in town for a few days?
TURNER.
I’m flying back out west soon....So this is why
you’re late every Sunday?
MOLLY.
I check over here once a week. Look at the homeless
woman with the little girl. She is not
homeless – she actually has a home. She can’t go back there because her husband
beats her up.
TURNER.
Home is even more dangerous than living on a steam
grate?
MOLLY.
Across this country, count up the women and kids who
are on the street because they get beat up at home...? Two hundred thousand.
And thousands of kids on the street with no parents at all. Thousands of young
girls, you know...?
TURNER.
Yeah, I can figure out the
rest of that story myself.
MOLLY.
Most women can’t find space at the shelters – our
town has more animal shelters than women’s shelters. You should see this place
in winter. They’re sleeping in tents, shantytowns, abandoned buildings, parks,
doorways, all-night diners....
TURNER.
Sleeping in their cars...
MOLLY.
Yep. Over in New York, train stations, tunnels....
So this is why I come by when I can, before I get you....
TURNER.
Molly, if you’re late you’re
late.
MOLLY.
My brother is a guard in juvie. A bunch of those
kids are in for murder....You think it’s all bangers and drug dealers, right?
The stereotype. But really, more than half of them are in there, because they
killed the guy who was beating on their mothers. Kids.
TURNER.
So why did you bring me to look at these women?
MOLLY.
Because I hear you really are working for David
Hunter. Husband Of The Year. That could be his wife in one of those sleeping
bags....No doughnuts for you.
INT.
A RESTAURANT – NIGHT.
Milwaukee,
a Chinese restaurant. Julia is being served. Her bag is under the table. Turner
enters.
TURNER.
Give me your purse.
JULIA.
Jesus!...I told you, I don’t have any money –
TURNER.
Give me your purse.
[She does; he finds a tiny GPS.]
TURNER.
This is what I’ve been using to track you.
[pulls out a credit card]
And this is what the other investigator is using to
track you.
JULIA.
The other...
TURNER.
Is there anything in the purse you can’t live without?
She
pulls out a driver’s license, keys, phone, cash, and a credit card.
TURNER.
Did your husband buy you
that phone?
[She nods.]
Gimme. Here, keep the pepper spray, trust me. Now
give me back the purse, I’m tossing it in the dumpster....So now they can’t
track you.
JULIA.
But you can...Give me the picture of Lily!
He
does. She looks at it.
TURNER.
Chinese again.
JULIA.
It’s cheap. I like it.
TURNER.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen you without that bag of
dirty underwear.
[He sits]
JULIA.
Some wine for Inspector Javert?...
TURNER.
No.
JULIA.
Have you told them where I am?
TURNER.
I haven’t done anything, I don’t understand all
this.
JULIA.
So there’s nothing I can do, to make this go away.
To make you go away.
TURNER.
[looks at her]
There are some things I won’t do. There’s a line I
won’t cross.
JULIA.
[catches him looking]
How flattering. What, do I smell bad? ...“Gee, poor
Julia, she wouldn’t be dead right now if her ass had just a little more mojo....”
[it hits her; she’s
incredulous]
Wait – there’s a line you won’t cross? You’re seriously
thinking about handing me over to the Hunter boys so they can beat me to death,
but you’re not willing to do The Nasty with me, because that’s immoral, right?
That’s the line you won’t cross. Wow, they’re gonna put up a statue of you in
the park.
She’s
laughing as he says...
TURNER.
It does sound stupid when you put it like that --
JULIA.
-– Yep. Right up there next to Doctor King. Profiles
in courage.
TURNER.
Lia –
JULIA.
[hard]
Why don’t you hop down off your high horse.
[looks warily around and lowers her voice]
I live in the gutter because I have to, to stay
alive, but you chose to live like this....Way back when, you put on your police
uniform because you were going to spend your life helping people. So who are
you helping now?...Doing this for money...how does it feel?
TURNER.
Your whole family said that you can’t be trusted.
They’re lying to me too, but why should I believe you? How does any of this make
sense?
JULIA.
My husband is insane. Since when do crazy people
have to make sense?...What made me so nuts was there was no way to predict it –
he could start swinging for any reason, or no reason, any time, no warning.
TURNER.
So what set him off?
JULIA.
I tried to figure out what set him off, give him
what he wanted. Sheer terror. Guns all over the house. I stopped wearing
necklaces so he would stop choking me with them – I cut my hair so he wouldn’t
pull it out.
TURNER.
So he hit you, what, every night? People would have
noticed.
JULIA.
You don’t get it? After a while I was so afraid, he
didn’t even have to hit me. When he pushes me, kicks in the bedroom door, locks
me in a room, breaks things, I know what’s next.... He tears my clothes,
threatens me....
TURNER.
I knew guys like that on the force. I’m at a
friend’s house once, watching the Jets game, him and his wife, they’re arguing
about something stupid, and right in front of us, he interrupts his wife, he
insults her, he wags his finger at her, he walks away from her when she’s
talking. And when she says something, he stomps, he yells, he swears, he grabs
her, he pokes her....
JULIA.
And what do you think happened to that girl after
you left?...I’ll give you a minute to think that through....
TURNER.
I didn’t want to know.
JULIA.
Exactly. The problem isn’t just the guy who hits his
wife, it’s you, turning the other way. Hitting a woman, hitting anybody --
TURNER.
Not my
business.
JULIA.
It’s everybody’s business, it’s a freakin’ crime,
you were a cop, what am I missing?
TURNER.
Yeah.
JULIA.
So the wife, she was your friend too, right? Did you
help her?....Yeah, thought so...But in the end, my husband didn’t even have to
raise his voice. Just grinding me down, using that nasty sarcastic voice – that
was even worse than getting hit, because it was day after day. And then I get
upset and he starts ragging on me, “you’re crazy, you’re hysterical.” So I tell
myself “I need to try harder to please
him...I’m worthless, I can’t do anything right.”...
TURNER.
So, no romance...
JULIA.
You mean sex. Who do you think called the shots
there? You think I ever said “no”? His notion of sex was just
[glancing down]
marking his territory.
Turner
quickly scans the windows and front door.
CUT
BRIEFLY TO --
EXT.
A STREET – DAY.
The
goombah on the phone again.
GOOMBAH.
Yeah, Turner finally checked in. He knows where she
is. Maybe we can wrap this up in a couple of days.
CUT
BACK TO –
INT.
RESTAURANT – NIGHT.
TURNER.
But you never left, for years....
JULIA.
You’re damn right. Any time I tried to break free,
go to school, go to work, put away my own money, he went nuts. He would take my
keys and my phone, the car battery, he put in a nanny cam to watch me. I had a
curfew!
TURNER.
Still – was it all bad, all
the time?
JULIA.
Every once in a while, after he broke one of my
bones maybe, we’d have a little honeymoon, he was in love with me all over
again. Even then it was all about what I had to do. “I can’t change unless you
change too, you have to forgive me, how long are you going to stay mad? Stop
hanging around with those friends who keep badmouthing me!”
TURNER.
But seriously, no one in that whole town could help
you?
JULIA.
He picked and chose our friends -- anyone who might
challenge him or defend me was cut out of the herd. He drove a wedge between me
and my old friends. “Babe, the only one on God’s earth who loves you is me.”
TURNER.
So everyone around you was
on his side.
JULIA.
And I started to blame myself, doubt myself -- “Why
am I the only one who sets him off? What’s wrong with me?” Any time I talked to any man, any time I left
the house, he was liable to start screaming that I was cheating. And I didn’t
want to admit I made a mistake, marrying him. Especially to my mother the
Church Lady – “you made your bed, now lie in it” ....
TURNER.
I gotta tell you....the more I know, the less I
know.
JULIA.
Listen to that voice in your head. Like me, when
that voice in your head says “it’s time to get the hell out” – hit the road. Woman’s
intuition is the best thing there is. I had to remind myself – “You’re not
imagining it, and you’re not crazy.”...
[looks at him]
Do you believe me? Are you going to throw me to the
wolves, or not?
TURNER.
Once you left New Jersey you shortened your name
from Julia to Lia. Was that to make it harder for me to find you?
JULIA.
Yeah, Turner, it’s all about you.... I was named
Julia after the Beatles song. I loved that song. Then I realized the song was
about John Lennon’s mother, who ran away when her child was young ....I didn’t
want to be Julia anymore.
TURNER.
So you haven’t even seen
Lily in...
JULIA.
Almost a year.
TURNER.
[reaches into his pocket]
I’ve got a better picture of Lily, she grew a lot in
the last two years...
JULIA.
[emotion turning to anger]
Please. Just stop....You’re not my friend, okay?
You’re just the guy who hasn’t gotten me killed yet.
[pushes her plate away]
Give me the picture!
He
does, and she looks at it. He throws a bill on the table.
JULIA.
What’s with the Benjamin?
TURNER.
Your husband’s paying for dinner, don’t tell him.
JULIA.
Don’t worry. Damn, should have had that steak.
TURNER.
Why Milwaukee? All your running, and then you just
stopped.
JULIA.
[deadpan]
I love their beer....It’s a...a job I found here.
TURNER.
It’s okay, I already know about the women’s shelter.
JULIA.
I can’t leave those girls right now. And that’s all
I have to keep me going. So don’t make me hit the road again. Leave me alone.
Please. You people already have my daughter, isn’t that enough? You won.
TURNER.
Hunter won’t give up. He’s got other guys hunting
you, they’re already on the road. That’s why I came tonight ....Lia, when
I first found you here, I told your husband about you sleeping on the pool
table in the strip club.
JULIA.
Okay....
[suddenly wary]
And what else?
TURNER.
Lia....
JULIA.
[terrified]
You didn’t.
TURNER.
I’m sorry....
JULIA.
You
told them about the shelter! Didn’t you?
TURNER.
Lia
-- you can’t go back to that shelter –-
JULIA.
I have to go back to the shelter!
TURNER.
Lia –
JULIA.
Fucking Inspector Clousseau!
[runs out with her bag]
TURNER.
Holy shit.
[runs out]
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