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SCENE ONE: PUBLISHER'S PARTY |
| SOUND/BIZ: |
THE CHEERY BUZZ OF A TRENDY PARTY: WRITERS AND MEDIA TYPES MINGLE, MUNCH AND DRINK. SOFT JAZZ MUSIC PLAYS IN THE BKGRD. CONTINUES UNDER: |
| KEVIN: |
A big turnout. Lots of press. A few roving cameras. You must be very pleased with yourself. |
| BERNICE: |
Very pleased, indeed. We're about to go into our second printing and the book's barely been out a week. (SNIFFS A FEW TIMES) Know what that smell is? |
| KEVIN: |
What smell? |
| BERNICE: |
The smell of success, Kev. We've never smelled it before. If you're not careful, you may get high on the stuff. |
| KEVIN: |
Sorry. All I smell is the stench of opportunism. |
| BERNICE: |
'The stench of opportunism.' You always had a way with words. |
| KEVIN: |
Dad would be furious if he saw what you were doing to his company. |
| BERNICE: |
It's our company, Kevin, if you haven't noticed. And what I'm doing is turning a profit for the first time in many a year. (BEAT) Dad would be proud. |
| KEVIN: |
Dad did not become a publisher so that one day you could publish this sleaze just to make a quick buck. |
| BERNICE: |
Did I miss something? Where is it written that small publishers can't think big? |
| KEVIN: |
Big is not always better. Sometimes, big can backfire. |
| BERNICE: |
Here you are, pronouncing like the Duke of Virtue himself and you never even finished reading the damn book. |
| KEVIN: |
I didn't have to. |
| BERNICE: |
I see. You like to judge books by their covers. |
| KEVIN: |
Someone serves you a bowl of sludge. It looks like sludge. It smells like sludge. Are you going to eat a spoonful just to be sure? |
| BERNICE: |
You're mixing apples and oranges. With a side order of sludge. We are talking about a book. A good book. A thoughtful, well-written, honest, inci - |
| KEVIN: |
(UNDER) Spare me the adjectives. |
| BERNICE: |
Incisive book. |
| KEVIN: |
A book that will make us a lot of money. That is all you care about. |
| BERNICE: |
How much longer did you want to limp from year to year, begging for grants? I'm tired, Kev. I'm tired of barely making ends meet. I'm tired of rejecting manuscripts because we don't have the resources to publish them. Brutally Frank is going to change all that. |
| KEVIN: |
A change for the worse. |
| BERNICE: |
A change that couldn't have come a moment too soon. If Frank Marchand hadn't come along we'd be counting the days 'til we closed up shop forever. What would Dad think of that? "Sorry, Dad. We ran the company into the ground rather than publish a potential bestseller." Now if you'll excuse me. I have to make a toast. |
SCENE TWO: PUBLISHER'S PARTY - DAIS |
| SOUND/BIZ: |
MICROPHONE FEEDBACK AS BERNICE TAPS MICROPHONE WITH FINGER. |
| BERNICE: |
Good evening... |
| SOUND/BIZ: |
THE PARTYGOERS CONTINUE TO PARTY. BERNICE TAPS A WINEGLASS WITH A FORK TO GET THE CROWD'S ATTENTION. THE BUZZ FADES TO A MURMUR. CONTINUES UNDER: |
| BERNICE: |
Thank you. Thank you everyone for joining Tiger's Eye Press in celebrating the overwhelming success of Brutally Frank. As you all know, this is a controversial book.. |
| PARTYGOER: |
(OFF) A cash cow! |
| BERNICE: |
A controversial cash cow. |
| SOUND/BIZ: |
APPRECIATIVE LAUGHTER. |
| BERNICE: |
It's nice to see people talking about books again. Talking with passion. Great passion. There's nothing like a good book to get the juices flowing. And by all accounts, Brutally Frank has struck a chord across the country. As of this morning, sales have eclipsed twenty thousand copies... |
| SOUND/BIZ: |
LOUD APPLAUSE AND CHEERS |
| BERNICE: |
(UNDER) With back orders for thousands more. |
| SOUND/BIZ: |
THE CHEERS DIE DOWN. BERNICE CONTINUES. |
| BERNICE: |
There has been a lot of finger pointing in the short time that Brutally Frank has been out. Pundits have weighed in. Religious leaders have condemned it. But the jury has spoken, the jury being our readers. And their verdict on Frank Marchand is in: guilty...of writing a damn fine book. |
| SOUND/BIZ: |
LAUGHTER, MORE APPLAUSE. |
| BERNICE: |
Without further ado, I'd like to introduce the man at the center of this publishing phenomenon. A man who spun a fifteen-year prison sentence into a gripping morality tale. A searing portrayal of one man's rage. A story for our times. Ladies and gentlemen, Frank Marchand. |
| SOUND/BIZ: |
POLITE BUT RESTRAINED APPLAUSE. |
| FRANK: |
Thank you, Bernice. Thanks to you and Kevin and Tiger's Eye Press for believing in me when a lot of other publishers told me that...Well, I won't tell you what some of them they told me. |
| SOUND/BIZ: |
SMATTERING OF LAUGHTER. |
| FRANK: |
What I'm here to tell you is that I didn't think I'd ever see the day when I...I was going to call this book the Road to Redemption. And I have to tell you, it's been a long road. A helluva long road. But I made it. I'm here. And I couldn't have gotten here without a lot of help. I wanted to thank - |
| NANCY: |
(FROM BACK OF ROOM) What about Darlene Gammon? |
|
SOUND/BIZ: |
CROWD REACTS TO OUTBURST: "Let him talk... Shhh..." |
| NANCY: |
(APPROACHING) You gonna thank Darlene Gammon? |
| FRANK: |
This isn't the time or the place for you to - |
| NANCY: |
Where's the blood? |
| FRANK: |
Blood? |
| NANCY: |
The blood of my sister's murder! It's on your hands. |
| SOUND/BIZ: |
NANCY THROWS A JAR OF BLOOD ONTO FRANK. |
| BERNICE: |
Oh, my God! |
| FRANK: |
Bitch! |
| SOUND/BIZ: |
CHAOS AS NANCY DARTS OUT OF THE ROOM AND THE CROWD REACTS WITH SHOCK AND DISGUST. |
| BERNICE: |
Are you all right? (BEAT) Frank? |
SCENE THREE: GAMMONS' APARTMENT- HALLWAY/KITCHEN |
| SOUND/BIZ: |
NANCY ENTERS THE APARTMENT, CLOSES THE DOOR BEHIND HER. SHE WALKS TO FRIDGE AND HELPS HERSELF TO A COLD DRINK. |
| SOUND/BIZ: |
(OFF - LIVING ROOM) A WILDLIFE DOCUMENTARY IS PLAYING ON TELEVISION. CONTINUES UNDER: |
| SOUND/BIZ: |
CAN OF POP OPENING. FRIDGE DOOR CLOSING. |
| NANCY: |
You wanna Coke? |
| | JEAN DOESN'T REPLY. |
| NANCY: |
(LOUDER) Care for a Coke? |
| | NANCY WALKS TO THE LIVING ROOM. |
| |
(APPROACHING) You gonna give me the silent treatment all night? It'll be breakfast before you speak, is that what you're telling me? |
| | JEAN DOESN'T SAY A WORD. |
| NANCY: |
Suit yourself. |
| SOUND/BIZ: |
THE DOCUMENTARY FILLS THE SILENCE BETWEEN MOTHER AND DAUGHTER BEFORE JEAN FINALLY SPEAKS. |
| JEAN: |
I seen you on TV. You must be real proud of yourself. |
| NANCY: |
I'm not proud. |
| JEAN: |
What are you then? |
| NANCY: |
Pissed off. |
| JEAN: |
I gathered as much. Is that what you do to people who make you angry? Throw blood at them? |
| NANCY: |
He's not a person. He's an animal. And that's what I threw at him. Pig's blood. |
| JEAN: |
Pig's blood? |
| NANCY: |
The butcher down on Hargrove Street was kind enough not to ask too many questions. Wasn't much more than a cup anyway. (BEAT) Did you see the look on his face? |
| JEAN: |
You should've seen the look on mine. |
| NANCY: |
I can just imagine. You must have gotten yourself into a real knot seeing me on TV like that. (BEAT) How'd I look? |
| JEAN: |
Like a wild animal. |
| NANCY: |
He's the animal. Shootin' his mouth off about 'redemption'. Not a word about Darlene. Not a word. |
| JEAN: |
He's made his peace. |
| NANCY: |
He's makin' a killin', is what he's doin'. He's killed Darlene once and now he's doing it again, makin' a shitload of money because he's written some boo-hoo sob story. |
| JEAN: |
Have you read it? |
| NANCY: |
Are you kidding me? |
| JEAN: |
Some of these experts, I seen them on TV this morning. They say maybe this book can teach us a thing or two about what makes a man like Frank Marchand tick. |
| NANCY: |
Maybe you should go out and buy a copy. Maybe it'll make you feel better about Darlene. |
| JEAN: |
That's a wound that'll never heal. (BEAT) Never. |
| NANCY: |
Yeah, well, while your lickin' your wounds Frank Marchand is sitting pretty on top of his mountain of money. Where's the justice in that? |
| JEAN: |
Is that what you want? Justice? |
| NANCY: |
He shouldn't be allowed to make a red cent off of Darlene's murder. Not a goddamn cent. |
| JEAN: |
He's a sick man. Book or no book, he's a sick man. |
| NANCY: |
Haven't you read the papers? He's healed. Healed and cured. This book, see, this Brutally Frank, this was his medicine. He's written it all down and he's all better now. |
| JEAN: |
He's got deep wounds, too. |
| NANCY: |
Fuck his wounds! He killed your daughter and left me an only child and you're moaning about his wounds? |
| JEAN: |
Watch your language. |
| NANCY: |
You watch yours. You're gonna choke on that preacher talk of yours one day. (BEAT) I'm going to bed. I've had enough of this shit for one day. |
| JEAN: |
Sleep well. |
| NANCY: |
(PAUSE) I'll sleep really well. I'll fall asleep seein' the look on his face. And I like what I see. He didn't see it coming, did he? |
