"HENRY FOOL" Screenplay by Hal Hartley SHOOTING DRAFT EXT. JUNK YARD -- DAY A garbage truck roars by and... Simon Grim hangs from the back of it. He is a shy, skinny and terrified-looking guy around thirty years old. The truck rumbles to a halt and Simon climbs down off it to go punch out at the time clock. EXT. BEHIND THE WORLD OF DONUTS -- DAY Moments later. He comes walking up a small alley and sits to drink his beer. He begins to relax. This is his quality private time. Then he hears something and looks up. He peeks up over the edge of some junked kitchen appliances and sees... Two teenage kids -- Warren and Amy -- smoking crack and having sex. Simon looks on, intrigued, as Warren smokes, then... WARREN (to Amy) You want some? Amy takes the pipe and smokes as he feels her up. Simon is fascinated. He drinks and looks on as... Amy grins up foolishly at Warren and lowers the pipe. The boy undoes his belt and hikes up the girl's skirt. Simon can't believe this. He looks around to see if the coast is clear, then returns just in time to see... Warren takes Amy by the waist and enter her. The pipe falls from the young girl's hand. Warren throws his head back and grinds himself into her. Simon's mouth falls open in awe. But Amy tosses her head back to the side and sees... The amazed garbage man; caught. Amy starts screaming insanely. Simon runs for his life. Amy and Warren throw rocks and bottles at him as they chase him away. INT. THE GRIM HOUSE -- DAY Moments later. Simon runs up and throws open the screen door. He stands there in the doorway catching his breath. His sister, Fay, is at the kitchen table watching a small portable TV while their mother, Mary, sits a few feet away in the living-room watching another TV tuned to a different channel. FAY (to Simon) Where the hell have you been? (to Mary) Mom, come on and eat. MARY I'm not hungry. FAY (pissed) Then why'd I cook! Mary is a manic-depressive, still in her bathrobe at six in the evening. MARY I don't know why you cooked! I don't know why you bother! Fay holds her head in her hands and sighs. She glares at her brother. FAY Sit down and eat, Simon. Simon sits at the table and Fay slams down before him a bowl of some sort of gruel. He hesitates, then lifts his spoon. Supper is horrible and he screws up his face in disgust. Fay gives him a sideways glance and he leans back down over the bowl and eats some more. Pushing the bowl away gently, he reaches out for the container of milk on the table and drinks straight from it. He suddenly jumps back and spits out sour milk all over the table. The container drops to the floor and thick globs of cheese roll out. He stands back against the fridge, holding his stomach while... Fay and Mary look on in disgust. EXT. THE GRIM HOUSE -- DAY Moments later. Simon crosses the lawn and sits on the curb outside his house. He stares at the ground before him as he holds his stomach and spits, sickened. He looks up, though, and sees... A little seven-year-old girl -- Pearl age seven -- standing there in the street watching him. Simon tries to smile at her. But she throws a rock at him and hits him in the head. He falls forward, hurt, as the little girl runs away. Lowering his hand, he sees he's bleeding. Desperate, lonely and ill, he drags his bloodied fingers across the coarse pavement. Fay slams out of the side door of the house in a tight-fitting dress and stands on the lawn, applying lipstick. FAY God, I wanna get fucked. Fay snaps shut her compact, straightens her skirt and sighs. FAY You OK? Simon loses track of what he is hearing and relaxes. He looks back at his sister. Fay fluffs out her hair and walks off. FAY See ya later. Simon watches her go, but is still drawn to something he seems to hear up the street in the other direction. He cocks his head, sits perfectly still and listens. He hears it now. We do, too. Footsteps. Big ones. Like a giant somewhere in the distance. The neighborhood trembles. Titles begin. Simon tries to figure out where it's coming from; the sky, the house, the highway at the end of his block... Finally, he focuses on... The blacktop right before him, smeared with his own blood. Music starts. He kneels out slowly into the street and stares at the pavement. He stretches out his hand and places it flat on the road. The pounding is louder now, becoming the beat of the music over the scene. Simon lowers his face to the pavement, closes his eyes and... Puts his ear right down against the road. He hears... The steady tread of somebody very much larger than life. Kneeling forward, with his ear to the ground, Simon opens his eyes and sees... A man approaching. The music swells up full. Simon lifts his head slowly from the road, looking off in wonder at... This stranger coming towards him; an oddly handsome freak striding over the crest of the distant intersection with a windswept mane, two over-stuffed suitcases and a crumpled tie fluttering back over his broad but crooked shoulders. Simon rises till he's kneeling up straight in the road. Henry Fool finally reaches him and stops. Titles finish. Simon says nothing and watches as Henry looks off at the house. Satisfied, but wary, Henry Fool looks around the neighborhood and then down at Simon. HENRY Get up off your knees. He tosses the suitcases down in front of Simon and walks off towards his new home. EXT. BACK OF THE GRIM HOUSE -- DAY Henry comes around behind the house and finds the door to his basement apartment. He approaches. Simon follows, carrying the suitcases. INT. HENRY'S APARTMENT -- DAY Moments later. The door is wrenched open and Henry is hit square in the jaw by a decade of dank airless gloom. He coughs. Entering, he finds a few old wooden chairs littering the main room. He inspects the old wood stove, then takes a chair and smashes it. He tosses the wood in the stove. Simon looks on, amazed. Henry lights a fire with unusually quick results, then stands back and looks at Simon. HENRY Where you gotta go to get a six-pack of beer around here? INT. WORLD OF DONUTS -- DAY This is a convenience store with a number of tables at which to eat donuts. Warren is shoplifting while Amy terrorizes Gnoc Deng, the Vietnamese cashier, who stares out at them from behind the safety of the counter. AMY Say something. WARREN (calling) She's mute. AMY What? WARREN She don't -- you know -- talk. Amy looks back at Gnoc, snarls, then follows the cashier's gaze to the door. Simon enters. Clutching Henry's cash, he stops dead in his tracks when he sees... Warren and Amy. He steps forward and approaches the beer cooler. Warren and Amy hover around, just out of reach, like a couple of vampires. Dragging a six-pack out of the cooler, Simon crosses to the counter. Warren and Amy hang back, silent and threatening. Gnoc rings up the purchase and glances over at... Amy, staring a hole into the side of Simon's skull. Gnoc hands Simon back his change and he makes for the door, but... Warren shoves himself between it and Simon. Simon freezes. Warren is expressionless. Simon looks back at Amy. She turns away, reaches up under her skirt, jerks down her panties, then leans forward on to the counter. Leering back over her shoulder, she hisses... AMY Kiss my ass. Simon is nonplussed. Gnoc presses a button on the wall that sets... A red light flashing above the stockroom door. Warren grabs Simon by the neck and drags him over to Amy's bare behind. Amy laughs as Simon is forced to his knees and has his face shoved up right into the crack of her ass. But then... Simon throws up all over her. Warren falls back in disgust. Gnoc covers her face with her hands. Amy looks around at herself, realizes, and starts screaming bloody murder. Simon falls back on to the floor, clutching his stomach, as Amy staggers around with her vomit-strewn underwear down around her ankles. Then Gnoc's father, Mr Deng, appears at the stockroom door holding a shovel and ready to fight. WARREN (scared) Oh, shit! Mr Deng comes running at them and Warren drags Amy from the store. Simon crawls out of the way as the old man throws open the door to the parking lot and screams at the retreating delinquents... MR DENG (in Vietnamese) Stay the hell out of my store, you good-for-nothing punks! Having scared them off, he comes back in and starts screaming at Simon. MR DENG Look at this! What's going on here? Simon, get up off the floor! Is this beer paid for? INT. HENRY'S APARTMENT -- NIGHT Later. Simon splashes water over his face at the kitchen sink, then watches as Henry unpacks one of his suitcases. It is filled with dozens of old, worn notebooks. Henry stacks them on the mantelpiece over the fireplace; the fire is now crackling and bright. Simon steps over and looks at... The name tag on the other suitcase: 'Henry Fool'. HENRY (off-screen) Centuries ago it had an 'e' at the end. Simon looks over and sees... Henry's silhouette against the fire. He steps forward into the light and grabs a beer from the six-pack on the floor. He hands one to Simon. Simon takes it and stares at it a moment before raising his eyes to Henry. SIMON Where do you come from? HENRY Nowhere in particular. He winks at Simon, then struts around the room, hugely impressed with himself. HENRY I go where I will and I do what I must. (stops, drinks) That's why I'm in trouble. I'm sort've what you might call... 'in exile'. SIMON Why are you in trouble? HENRY (stopping) An honest man is always in trouble, Simon. Remember that. Simon comes away from the fire, watching him carefully. Henry stands in a dim corner across the room. SIMON How do you know my name? Henry pauses, looks aside, drinks, then grins demoniacally. He steps forward and comes face to face with Simon. He lifts his finger and points to... Simon's name stitched upon the breast of his work shirt. Realizing this, Simon moves off and thinks. Henry throws more wood on the fire, glancing back over his shoulder, laughing mischievously. SIMON (stopping him) I am not retarded. HENRY (pauses) Well... I'll take your word for that. SIMON (explaining) People. I mean. They think. You know. Because. He tries to articulate what he thinks he feels but winds up gesticulating curiously with his hands. This finally dissolves into a dumb stare into empty space. HENRY I see. Simon looks at him. Henry stands and grabs a notebook from off the mantelpiece. He tears out a few pages and shoves them in his pocket. He hands the now fresh writing tablet to Simon. HENRY Here. Take this. And... He searches his pockets and finds a pencil. HENRY ...this. Keep them with you at all times. You ever feel like you got something to say and you can't get it out, stop and write it down. OK? Simon hesitates, then accepts the gifts. Henry goes for another beer while his new friend studies the dozens of notebooks on the mantelpiece. SIMON What are these? HENRY (proudly, returning) This? This is my life's work. My memoirs. My 'Confession'. SIMON (carefully) What have you done? Henry drinks and looks down into the raging fire. HENRY (wistfully) I've been bad. Repeatedly. (shrugs and steps away) But why brag? The details of my exploits are only a pretext for a far more expansive consideration of general truths. (contemplating the notebooks) What is this? It's a philosophy. A poetics. A politics, if you will. A literature of protest. A novel of ideas. A pornographic magazine of truly comic-book proportions. It is, in the end, whatever the hell I want it to be. And when I'm through with it, it's gunna blow a hole this wide straight through the world's own idea of itself! He smokes. Simon is impressed. They hear a bottle smash outside in the street and Henry goes to the window. They're throwing bottles at the house. HENRY (throwing down his cigarette) Come on, let's go break their arms! Simon jumps up. SIMON No! Henry stops. Simon looks away and sits back down. SIMON (pauses) If I'm quiet. He is ashamed of himself. Henry sees this and settles down. He considers his new friend with genuine care as he gets himself a new cigarette. He lights up, thinks, then grabs another chair and sits close by Simon. They sit there in silence a while, then... HENRY Once. I forget where I was. Central America maybe. Somewhere hot. Stupid job. Bad pay. Dangerous location and water so foul the natives wouldn't even piss in it. This crowd of drunken motherfuckers hired by the local drug cartel shows up at my hotel room and threatens to tear me limb from limb. And I say, listen, hombres, OK, you've got me outnumbered four to one and you're gunna kill me here tonight and not a soul in this dimly lit world is ever gunna notice I'm gone. Fine. But one of you... one of you... one of you is gunna have his eye torn out. Period. Silence. I repeat myself. One of you poor, underpaid jerks is gunna have an eye ripped out of its socket. I promise. It's a small thing, perhaps, all things considered. But I will succeed. Because it's the only thing I have left to do in this world. So why don't you just take a good look at one another one last time and think it over for a few minutes more. (smokes, waits) They sober up a little, look at their shoes in confusion, then step out into the hall to talk among themselves. Henry stares into the flames and falls silent. Simon is riveted. He leans forward, on the edge of his seat... SIMON What happened? HENRY (winking) Well, here I am, still, after all. INT. THE GRIM HOUSE. UPSTAIRS -- NIGHT Later that night. Simon climbs the stairs and stops when he hears raunchy sex from his sister's room. He stands outside her door and listens. MARY (off) Did you throw up all over some girl? Simon looks up the hall and sees his mother in her room, sitting on the edge of her bed, smoking. He approaches and stands in her doorway. MARY They were throwing bottles at the house. Simon says nothing. He looks down at his feet. MARY (gesturing to Fay's room) She's got some ex-con in there she met at the bar. Tattoos all over himself and a big red bloated nose. SIMON Did you take your pills? Now she says nothing. She smokes and looks away. Simon steps into the bathroom and gets her medication. He runs a glass of water and brings it in to her. She swallows the pills and washes them back with water. SIMON You want me to tell her to be quiet? She looks away, unconcerned and cynical. MARY What's the use? She might as well get it while she can. She's not always gunna have the ass she has now, you know. That's just how life is. She throws the blanket over herself and turns off the light. Simon stands there in the dark. INT. THE GRIM HOUSE KITCHEN -- NIGHT Moments later. Simon comes downstairs into the quiet, dark kitchen and sits at the table. He listens to the traffic on the highway and stares off into space. Finally, he takes the notebook Henry gave him from his pocket and places it before him. But then he just gazes off into the dim living-room and scratches his head. Returning his attention to the notebook, he digs down into his pocket and retrieves his short stub of pencil. He opens the notebook and carefully flattens back the cover. Lifting the pencil, he pauses and stares at the blank page. Then, after more intense hesitation, he brings the pencil's dull tip to the very top left edge of the page and begins writing in a slow, laborious hand. INT. THE GRIM HOUSE KITCHEN -- DAY The next morning. Henry barges in the kitchen door with two containers of coffee and some jelly donuts. Simon jumps up from where he sits asleep over his notebook at the table. HENRY Good morning, Simon! Glorious day, huh? Here, have a donut. Can you lend me twenty dollars? Simon rubs the sleep from his eyes, blinks, disoriented and reaches for his wallet. HENRY Thanks. Where's the library in the scruffy little burgh? SIMON (handing him cash) Down the highway about a mile and a half and then make a left. HENRY Excellent! I'm polishing up the final chapters of my 'Confession' and I need a reasonably well-stocked reference section. He lifts up Simon's notebook. HENRY What's this? Simon hesitates, shyly. SIMON I thought. Um. I was. I wanted to. Maybe. He gives up, sighs and gazes at the floor. Henry flips through the book, impressed. It is full from cover to cover, every page dense with Simon's cryptic scrawl. Henry frowns, intrigued. Then... HENRY Can I take this? Simon looks up, terrified. But his friend puts him at ease. HENRY I'll correct the spelling. EXT. JUNK YARD -- DAY Later that day. Simon finds a number of volumes of the classics while crushing garbage. EXT. BEHIND WORLD OF DONUTS -- DAY That evening. Simon sits with his evening beer and his new collection of soiled classics. He cracks open a volume of Shakespeare and tries to read. It's an obvious struggle. He puts it aside and lifts up Wordsworth, studying its cover and the texture of the pages. A page flutters away and he climbs down to the edge of a greasy puddle to retrieve it. It's now wet and torn, so he flattens it out on the concrete and tries to fit it back into the book. He reads a little, furrowing his brow, then drinks. He bites his lip and tries again. He sits back, exhausted and thinks. He hears a twig snap and looks back over his shoulder to see... Amy throws a bottle at his head. Smash!!!! He falls to the ground, blood streaming down his neck. Warren runs over and grabs him by the shirt, lifting him out of the puddle and smacking him in the head. Amy runs forward and waits with a rolled-up newspaper which she sets aflame with her lighter. Warren punches Simon in the stomach and throws him to the ground, then unzips his fly and pisses on him. Amy watches, giggling excitedly, waving the flaming torch. Simon crawls away and grabs hold of an old section of fence, while Warren zips up and grabs the fire from Amy. Simon pulls himself to his knees, rests his face against the rusted fence and gasps for breath. Warren waves the flaming torch in his face. SIMON (weakly, unheard) One of you is gunna lose an eye. Amy comes nearer with a can of gasoline. Simon pulls himself to his feet as she splashes him with fuel. Warren is waving the torch deliriously above his head. SIMON (screaming) One of you is gunna lose an eye! Warren stops. Amy steps back and lowers the gas can. Simon turns with effort to face them, adjusts his glasses and continues... SIMON One of you. I promise. Warren watches him blankly, then is burned by the torch which is too hot to handle. He drops it. Amy giggles, then stops, excited, but confused. Simon grips the rusted chainlink so that it cuts into his hands and stares straight at Warren. SIMON You can set me on fire. But one of you is gunna have an eye torn out of your head. I promise. Warren is transfixed. He shivers and looks at Amy, who steps back, scared, and puts down the gas can. She turns and walks away. Warren looks back at Simon, troubled. He hangs there still, glaring at him. Further away, Warren rejoins Amy and stares at his hands. Amy looks ill. WARREN Fuck. AMY Take me home. INT. WORLD OF DONUTS -- DAY Henry is at one of the tables, correcting the spelling in Simon's notebook, when he looks up and sees... Simon stumble in, beaten and bruised, dropping his classics to the floor. Henry and Mr Deng rush over to him. HENRY (scared) Simon! Who did this to you? SIMON I was gunna tear out their eyes. I knew I could do it. HENRY Whose eyes? SIMON I told them. Like you said. I told them. And I knew I could do it. He passes out. Henry looks at Mr Deng. MR DENG You should take him home. He smells like a toilet. Henry nods, agreeing, then lifts Simon off the floor. Mr Deng holds the door open as Henry carries his friend out into the parking lot. Meanwhile, Gnoc gathers up the classics from the floor and places them beside Simon's notebook, where it still sits open on the table. She looks at it, then reads. She lifts it off the table and reads further, immediately and deeply engrossed. Mr Deng watches as Henry departs with Simon, then comes back into the store and stops, startled, when he sees... Gnoc sitting there, staring off into space, the notebook open in her hands before her, singing quietly. INT. THE GRIM HOUSE -- DAY Twenty minutes later. Fay is in the bathroom helping Simon out of his clothes, trying to clean his wounds. FAY (calling) Shit, Mom, we gotta get him to a hospital! SIMON No! FAY Oh, shut up! Turn around. Henry is at the kitchen table with Mary. She watches him suspiciously. He lets her. MARY This kinda thing has happened before. HENRY (standing) It won't happen again. She watches him as he walks around the room, browsing. MARY How do you know? He stops and lifts a small framed photo of a soldier off the piano. HENRY This your husband? Violated somehow, she gets up and snatches it out of his hands. She puts it in a drawer and cringes as Henry plays one note on the piano. MARY Stop that. He fixes her with a steady, knowing stare which causes her to gather the collar of her bathrobe up around her neck. She steps back, exposed, when there's a knock at the door. They look over to see... Mr Deng enter with the notebook. MR DENG (nods to Mary, then) Mr Fool, what is this? HENRY It's poetry. MR DENG Are you sure? Henry comes over, takes the notebook from him and shoves it in his pocket. HENRY Of course I'm sure. I corrected the spelling myself. MR DENG It made my daughter sing. HENRY Yeah, well, you know -- that's what poetry does. MR DENG But she has never spoken in her life. Meanwhile, back in the bathroom... SIMON Owww!!! FAY Keep still! SIMON Let me do it! FAY (fed up) Fine! You do it, Simon! I don't care! She storms out to the top of the stairs, cocks her hip and whines... FAY Mom! Simon's got a broken rib, his shoulder's dislocated or something, and he won't let me disinfect the gash in his head! MARY Fay, just take him to the hospital, will ya! FAY (stamping her foot) But he won't go! MARY (screaming) Simon Grim, you go to the hospital with Fay right now, do hear me! Simon reaches out and slams the bathroom door. Fay looks from the bathroom door down the stairs to Mary. Mary, her nerves rattled, glances over at Mr Deng, who turns and leaves the house. Henry lights a fresh cigarette, loosens his tie and heads upstairs. INT. THE GRIM HOUSE BATHROOM -- DAY A moment later. Henry throws open the door and enters. He steps over Simon, who is on the floor, folded up against the toilet. HENRY We gotta talk. Henry sits on the edge of the bathtub and takes the notebook from his pocket. HENRY What the hell were you trying to do when you wrote this thing? Simon just looks at him, not certain what he means. SIMON Nothing. HENRY Well, you know you wrote it in a kind of iambic pentameter. SIMON Iambic what? HENRY Verse. He scratches his chin and smokes. HENRY Look, in my opinion, this is pretty powerful stuff. Though your spelling is Neanderthal, and your reasoning a little naive, your instincts are profound. But the whole thing needs to be given a more cohesive shape. It can be expanded. Followed through. Unified. (smokes, then) You see what I'm getting at? Simon just stares at him, overwhelmed. Henry drops the notebook on the floor and points at it with his cigarette. HENRY Are you willing to commit yourself to this? To really work on it? To give it its due? In the face of adversity and discouragement? To rise to the challenge you yourself have set? Simon just blinks, looks away and wonders. HENRY And don't gimme that wonderstruck 'I'm-only-a-humble-garbage-man' bullshit, either. SIMON It hurts to breathe. HENRY (nodding) Of course it does. Simon coughs and Henry leans back and smokes. INT. THE GRIM HOUSE UPSTAIRS -- NIGHT An hour later. Fay cringes outside Simon's room as Henry goes about setting her brother's arm. SIMON Like this? HENRY Yeah. No. OK? SIMON Wait! HENRY Don't move! Fuck. There. SIMON Are you sure that's right? HENRY Yes. Now shut up and lie back. Simon does. SIMON Is this gunna hurt? HENRY Yes. He pauses, then leans back. HENRY You gunna be alright? Simon nods and stares at the ceiling. Henry hands him a towel. HENRY Here. Bite on this. SIMON (spots blood on it) What's that? HENRY (looking) It's blood. From your head. Lie back. Shove that in your mouth and hold on to something. Simon bites down on the towel and grips the edge of the bed with his free hand. Henry sits on his legs and gently raises the broken arm. Outside the door, Fay bites her knuckles. Further down the hall, Mary listens from her bedroom. HENRY Okay. You ready? Simon nods. Henry grabs hold of the arm, swallows and braces himself. Simon waits, then Henry tugs the arm straight. SIMON Aaagghhh!!!!!!! Fay turns and runs down the stairs. Mary backs away into her room and shuts the door. INT. THE GRIM HOUSE KITCHEN -- NIGHT Later that night. Henry comes downstairs and stops, tired. Fay is sitting at the table with a bottle of gin and two glasses. She has dolled herself up a little and Henry likes what he sees. He looks her over and she smiles. He sits. She pours. They drink. FAY So, do you have, like, you know, a girlfriend, Henry? HENRY No. They drink again in silence. He lights her cigarette and they watch each other closely. Finally, Fay leans on the table and twirls a strand of her hair between her fingers. FAY Do you find me attractive? HENRY Yes, I do. FAY I look young for my age, don't I? HENRY How old are you? FAY How old do you think I am? HENRY You look young. FAY (playfully) How young? HENRY I don't know. Young. FAY But how... I mean, do I look more like twenty, or... you know, thirty? He drinks and studies her. She presents her profile. Finally, he leans back. HENRY Thirty. Fay jumps up, furious. FAY Listen, you geek, after a couple of drinks plenty of people mistake me for eighteen! She grabs her bag and storms out of the house. Henry watches her go, then chuckles deviously and splashes himself another drink. EXT. WORLD OF DONUTS -- DAY Next morning. A thirty-year-old cocktail waitress named Vicky walks up and stops when she sees... Warren, sitting back against the side of World of Donuts, smoking a joint and thinking about his future. She sighs and approaches. VICKY Hey, Warren, are you a registered voter? WARREN Bug off, Vicky! Unruffled, she hands him a flyer. WARREN (reading) 'Saving America From Itself.' What the fuck is this? VICKY It's everything you need to know about the upcoming elections and congressman Owen Feer and all the really good things he wants to do for our country. He tokes deeply, then... WARREN Oh yeah, like what? VICKY He wants to win back this country for us Americans, Warren, and restore some kind of cultural-moral standard to our way of life. Warren looks over the flyer, then reconsiders Vicky. WARREN What time's your kid go off to school? VICKY (carefully) Nine o'clock. WARREN How about I come over and visit you later? Vicky sighs, troubled. She adjusts her waitress uniform and looks mildly offended. VICKY Well, I don't know, Warren. I mean... Warren gets up, too. WARREN Come on. I mean it. I'm trying to change. Vicky is hard-pressed. She wants to believe him, but knows better. She thinks about it while... Henry passes by and approaches the store. INT. WORLD OF DONUTS -- DAY Same time. Henry enters and takes Simon's notebook from his pocket. He flips through a few pages and selects one in particular. He tears it out of the book and tapes it up beside the register so customers can read it. He winks at Gnoc. She smiles shyly and makes him a coffee. He takes it and moves off to a table just as... Vicky enters. She starts accumulating groceries, placing them on the counter one item at a time. Henry settles down and watches as... Vicky returns to the counter with a bottle of orange juice and notices the poem. She reads, holding the orange juice out to her side. Gnoc starts to ring up the other purchases as her father comes up behind her, busying himself with an inventory of the cigarettes. Vicky's lip starts to tremble as she reads, a horrified expression clouding her face. Finally... Smash!!!! She drops the bottle of orange juice and stands back. Mr Deng and Gnoc jump back, alarmed. Henry tilts his head and pays close attention. VICKY (screaming at Mr Deng) How dare you put something like this up where anyone can see it! Mr Deng looks from her to the poem and then over at Henry. Henry urges the man to stand up for himself. MR DENG (to Vicky) It's poetry. VICKY It's pornography! The product of a diseased mind! You oughta be ashamed of yourself, Mr Deng! MR DENG It made Gnoc sing. VICKY (pauses, confused) It's disgusting! There oughta be a law or something! She grabs her things and leaves. Mr Deng holds his head and looks over at Henry. HENRY (winking) There's no accounting for taste, is there, Mr Deng? Mr Deng has no idea. He sits, worried, as Gnoc comes out from behind the counter and begins mopping up the mess. INT. THE GRIM HOUSE KITCHEN - DAY Later. Henry is at the kitchen table with Simon, working on the poem. Simon is bandaged up, his arm in a sling, black eyes, etc. HENRY See, Simon, there are three kinds of there. There's 'There'. T-H-E-R-E. There are the donuts. Then there's T- H-E-I-R; which is the possessive. It is their donut. Then, finally, there's 'they're'. T-H-E-Y-'-R-E. A contraction, meaning they are. They're the donut people. Get it? SIMON Uh-huh. Henry lifts up one of Simon's newly acquired classics... HENRY And look, if you're gunna read Wordsworth you've gotta get a more up-to-date edition. This odoriferous tome you're so attached to doesn't even have all fourteen books of the Prelude. And you need notes. Commentary. I'll go to the library and find you the best edition they have. SIMON Thank you, but that's OK. I'll stop there on my way back from work. Well, yes, maybe not today, but, you know, tomorrow, probably. HENRY Quit. SIMON My job? HENRY Yeah. SIMON Why? HENRY You need time to write, Simon. To study. To reflect. SIMON But I like my job. HENRY We all have to make sacrifices. A vocation like ours, Simon, is not a nine to five thing. You can't put a fence around a man's soul. We think and feel where and when we can think and feel. We are the servants of our muse and we toil where she commands. Simon looks past him and Henry follows his gaze to find... Mary standing at the foot of the stairs, listening to them. She says nothing. She looks Henry up and down, then shakes her head disdainfully and grunts. She throws herself on the couch and turns on the TV, casting acid glances over at the kitchen. EXT. THE GRIM HOUSE - DAY Moments later. Henry and Simon come outside... SIMON She's clinically depressed. HENRY Yeah, and what's that mean? SIMON (thinking, then) I guess it means it's not her fault. Henry wanders out to the road, checking his wallet, then... HENRY (sighing) You ever think of leaving? SIMON Here? HENRY Yeah. SIMON To go where? HENRY Out there. You know, into the world. Where ever. Simon looks off, thinks it over and slowly nods. SIMON Yeah, I guess. HENRY (reciting) 'Opportunity will step away and make room for a man to pass it by.' SIMON Is that from your book? HENRY No. I found it in a fortune cookie. He pulls the tiny piece of crumpled advice out from one of his pockets and shows it to Simon. SIMON Can I read your confession? HENRY No. Not yet. Soon. We'll see. SIMON Is it almost finished? HENRY (puffing himself up) Well, you know, Simon, a piece of work like this, it's... A vocation like ours... You can't put a fence around a man's soul. What I'm trying to achieve, it's... Well, it takes a lifetime really. It's a life's work. (looking around) But soon. Don't worry. I'd appreciate your feedback. I gotta go. See ya. He hurries away around the corner. Simon walks back to the house and stops when he sees... A plain-clothes policeman, Officer Buñuel, drive up and park before the house. Simon spies as the man gets out of his car and knocks on Henry's door. He, of course, gets no answer. INT. THE GRIM HOUSE KITCHEN -- DAY Later that day. Simon works on his poem at the kitchen table while Fay flips through a magazine and watches TV. Mary, lying on the couch in her bathrobe, watches her own TV. The cacophony is augmented by the rattling dishwasher and the trucks rumbling by on the highway outside. Mary looks over at her son, suspicious, and leans off the couch. MARY What are you doing there, Simon? He carefully finishes writing a word, then looks up and pauses. SIMON I'm writing a poem. Mary looks at Fay, who looks up from her magazine and considers her brother. Then they break out laughing. Simon looks on. They laugh and laugh and laugh... INT. WORLD OF DONUTS -- DAY Later. Simon is bent over his notebook, consulting a dictionary, hard at work. Amy and three kids are grouped around the register, reading the page Henry taped up earlier. As they read, Amy glances anxiously back at Simon. They finish reading and stand back. PAT So what? It ain't so great. CHRIS (to Amy, of Simon) That him? Amy nods 'Yes', then leads them towards Simon. Simon scribbles away. AMY (off) Pardon me, Simon. He looks up, sees her, panics and slides away on the seat. Amy looks down and bites her lip, contrite. She sighs. AMY Uhm. Look, ah... I'm the editor of the high school newspaper now and... PAT One of the editors. AMY One of the editors, and we... PAT You. AMY I... wanted to know if we could print your poem in this month's issue. Simon looks around at them all, threatened. SIMON Why? AMY Because I think it's great. PAT I don't. CHRIS (to Pat) Who cares what you think? TED You're a drag. CHRIS A well-known drag. AMY (to Simon) Please? Simon fumbles with his pencil, ill at ease and self-conscious. Then, to get rid of them, he nods his consent. INT. THE GRIM HOUSE -- DAY That evening. Fay comes downstairs in only a towel and wet hair. She switches on the TV and looks for cigarettes. She finds Mary's pills on the table and remembers to ask... FAY Ma, you take your medication? Mary is lying on the couch. She drags her eyes from the TV and glances lazily at Fay, then back to the TV. FAY (to herself) Guess so. She sits at the kitchen table and lifts her magazine. Henry shows up at the kitchen door with a pile of library books. His eyes brighten when he sees... Fay sitting there wearing only her towel. He knocks. She looks back over her shoulder and sees him. HENRY Evening, Fay. FAY (disdainfully) What do you want? HENRY I've got these books for Simon. She turns away. FAY Well, leave 'em there on the counter, then. He comes in and stacks the books near the sink. Fay pretends to ignore him, but rakes her fingers through her wet hair anyway, to show more shoulder. This is not lost on Henry, who tarries and leans back against the counter, salivating. Fay flips through her magazine and Henry steps closer and leans against the fridge. She casts a bored glance in his direction, then returns her attention to the TV. She senses him step aside and follows his movements without turning. Suddenly his hand appears from behind her and gently strokes her hair. She freezes, waits, wonders... He leans his face down beside her. She looks at him. He looks at her, then down to... Her bare legs crossed before her on the kitchen chair. His hand moves down and slides itself deep in between her things. Her mouth drops open. He looks back up at her. He grins. Fay jumps up and away, breathlessly clutching the towel around herself. Henry casts a glance over her body, throws his hair back out of his face and shivers with lust. Fay steps back and grabs hold of the staircase banister, making an unconvincing gesture of injured pride. Henry comes closer and she steps backwards up the stairs. He stops, loosens his tie, holding her with his gaze. She readjusts her towel, throws back her wet hair, sighs defiantly, then sashays into her room, leaving the door ajar. Henry waits there at the foot of the stairs, reaches down, grabs his crotch and repositions his hard-on. He takes a step up the stairs, then stops. He looks over to the couch and sees... Mary, lying there, sedately amazed. He pauses, then grins. Mary blinks and smiles sleepily. INT. WORLD OF DONUTS -- DAY Same time. Simon sits back from his writing and rubs his neck. Putting down his pencil, he looks up and sees... Warren enter the store and grab a beer from the cooler. Seeing Simon, he waves and approaches. WARREN Hey, Simon, you a registered voter? Simon hesitates, but then nods uncertainly. Warren hands him a flyer. This year when you go to the polls, I want you to consider Congressman Owen Feer. He wants to restore America to its position of unmatched wealth, power and opportunity; to revitalize American civilization and lead the human race to even greater levels of freedom, prosperity and security! He's a good man. He steps over to the register and pays for his beer. Mr Deng glares at him, distrustfully. Warren stops on his way out and snarls at the old man... WARREN Immigrant. He leaves. Simon looks down and studies the flyer. INT. THE GRIM HOUSE. UPSTAIRS -- DAY Same time. Fay lies across her bed in her towel, holding a pose and glancing anxiously back at the door. Finally, losing her patience, she gets up. FAY Where is he? She opens the door and looks out into the hall. He's not there. She steps out into the hall and listens. FAY Henry? Nothing. She comes to the top of the stairs and hears faint activity from down below. She proceeds downstairs. She sees no one in the kitchen, then looks in the living- room and stops. She goes white, her mouth falling open in horror. Henry and Mary are screwing one another on the couch. Sloppy, impassioned, brute sex. FAY (screaming) Mommy!!!!! They fall away from each other in terror and fatigue. Mary clutches wildly at her bathrobe as Henry falls over the coffee table, stumbles to his feet and pulls up his trousers. Fay is crushed. She breaks out in tears and runs upstairs. Henry catches his breath and starts after her, but stops, uncertain and confused. MARY You bastard! HENRY What? MARY Get out! INT. WORLD OF DONUTS -- DAY Simon is asleep with his head down on the table. He wakes finally and sees... Henry sitting across from him, gripping a beer and reading the poem. He finishes, shuts the book and drinks. HENRY Listen. I know a man. He's a big shot in the publishing business. Angus James. Smart, adventurous and tons of integrity. When this thing is ready, I'll recommend he reads it. He'll respect my opinion. Simon takes this in, then looks down at his hands and proceeds carefully. SIMON A man was here today looking for you. HENRY (alert) What man? SIMON I don't know. He drove by the house a few times. Henry throws his eyes heavenward and pulls his hair. Jumping to his feet, he paces maniacally. HENRY Why do they torment me like this? Why? They're like a bunch of fucking mosquitoes! A customer a few tables away gets nervous and leaves. SIMON What do they want from you? HENRY They want to suffocate me, Simon! They wanna extinguish me like a flame! Some kid named Tim, sitting at another table, turns around and asks... TIM But why? HENRY They're afraid, that's why! They're afraid of what I might do! What I might say! Think! They're afraid of my ideas! He drinks, then returns and sits beside Simon. HENRY You and I are alike in this way, Simon. SIMON Yeah? HENRY We're outsiders. We think and feel too much and too deeply. And the world can't handle that. Our mere existence is a threat to its illusion of security. Sure, they'll name a wing of a new library after us when we're dead! But now... Now, when we're alive... Now, they wanna burn us at the stake! He drinks, burps, then slams down the can. He glances over at Tim who is still looking on. HENRY Scram. Tim hesitates, but then obeys. He gets up and leaves. Henry returns to Simon. HENRY For example, I made love to your mother about half an hour ago and now I'm beginning to think that maybe it wasn't such a good idea. Simon blinks. Henry adds... HENRY I mean to say, I think Fay may be jealous. Simon is deeply confused. He looks ill. He stands and takes a few steps away, staring at the floor. SIMON I don't want to think about this. HENRY Bad move, Simon. Simon stops and looks at him. HENRY (pointing at him) A poet has got to be able to think about anything. Simon pauses, then comes closer to Henry and stops. SIMON Am I really a poet? Henry jumps up, strides around the store and speaks at the top of his voice. HENRY Of course you are! A great poet! But you need experience. You need to do something to be ashamed of every once in a while, for cryin' out loud. He walks to the door. HENRY Come on! Let's go out! There's a den of iniquity right across the street! You got any money? He strides out of the store. Simon stands there, stunned and looks at Mr Deng as the old man wipes off the table with a wet rag. INT. THE INFERNO -- NIGHT Later that night. Henry is dancing wildly on the bar with two sloppy-drunk topless dancers. The place is rocking and the crowd cheers them on. Simon sits perched on a stool, gripping the bar with white knuckles and clutching a beer, looking on in terror as... Henry starts stripping. INT. THE GRIM HOUSE -- NIGHT Later that night. Simon stumbles in and heads upstairs. But he stops, seeing... Mary, sitting on the top step, smoking. She looks guilty and tense. So does Simon. MARY That man's a bad influence. SIMON On who? She gets up and storms into her room. INT. FAY'S ROOM -- NIGHT Moments later. Simon comes upstairs and stops outside his bedroom door when he sees... Fay, passed out drunk on her bed. Her clothes are half off and her lipstick smeared. She still grips a bottle of tequila in her hand. Simon hesitates, but then goes in and removes her shoes. He gets her out of her jacket and rolls her into the bed. Her bare limbs have their effect on Simon and he finds himself staring at her thigh. He reaches out and almost caresses her leg where her hiked- up skirt reveals the bottom of her behind. He catches himself, snaps his hand away and covers Fay with a blanket. He flees. INT. SIMON'S ROOM -- NIGHT Moments later. Simon is alone in the room with his bed. The pale sheets beckon. He is flushed. He blinks. INT. THE GRIM HOUSE KITCHEN -- NIGHT Moments later. He creeps down the stairs with an arm-load of books. Sitting at the table, he wrenches a nearby lamp into a more useful position and begins to read. DISSOLVE TO: INT. THE GRIM HOUSE -- DAY The next morning. Henry stumbles up the stoop carrying a laptop computer, its various accessories and a couple of coffees. He lets himself in and dumps the computer on the kitchen counter. Simon is asleep on the couch, still in his clothes. HENRY (shoving him) Simon. Hey, Simon. (Simon wakes) Come on. I got ya some coffee. Henry trudges back to the kitchen, where he whips out his red pen and immediately begins to correct Simon's poem. Simon rolls off the couch and makes his way to the table. Seeing the computer... SIMON What's this? HENRY It's a computer. You write on it. He reaches into his pocket. HENRY Here's the manual. Simon looks over the computer and flips through the manual. SIMON Where'd you get it? HENRY I stole it. Now listen. Remember how yesterday we discussed the relative desirability of cadence in relation to the readability of... FAY (off) Oh, shit! Not you again! Fay is on the stairs, hungover and disgusted. Henry throws up his hands and gets up to go. HENRY Simon, I can't work under these conditions. FAY Yeah! Get outta here, you freak! HENRY Get a life! FAY Eat shit and die, Henry! Mary throws open her bedroom door. MARY (screaming) Beast! Fiend! Rapist! FAY Oh, shut up, Mom! Fay stomps back upstairs. Mary slams her door shut. Simon runs out after Henry. EXT. WORLD OF DONUTS -- DAY Moments later. Simon follows Henry out into the street and over towards World Of Donuts... SIMON Henry, wait up! HENRY I am not a rapist! But Henry stops short, seeing... Officer Buñuel enter World of Donuts. HENRY Shit. Come on, this way. And he runs down the street in the opposite direction. Simon hangs back, but then follows... INT. CHURCH -- DAY Moments later. They scramble in and Henry is out of breath. He slumps down into a pew. HENRY Keep a look out. Tell me when he's gone. Simon does, but then... SIMON Henry, what's going on? Who is that guy? What's he want? HENRY He wants to help me! He wants to be my friend. He pats his pockets, looking for his smokes. Simon looks on, baffled. He comes closer. SIMON Help you with what? HENRY (suddenly) Shhh! He hears something, stands and moves further into the church. Simon hesitates, but then follows. They hear someone crying. Finally, in a pew off to one side in the shadows, they find... A young priest named Father Hawkes. He's a wreck. He looks up from his quiet sobbing and sees... Henry and Simon standing there looking on with embarrassed distaste. He lowers his head in shame. Henry moves closer and sits beside the distraught priest. HENRY What's wrong? The priest sighs hopelessly. FATHER HAWKES I doubt. Henry leans back with a sigh and reaches for his cigarettes. HENRY So, you're an honest man. Why beat yourself up about it? He offers a cigarette to the priest and he accepts. FATHER HAWKES I don't know if there are grounds for faith. Is my vocation relevant? Does it make a difference? SIMON A difference in what? FATHER HAWKES The world. The way it is. Is this a way to help relieve suffering? HENRY Your vocation makes a difference. FATHER HAWKES How can you be so sure? HENRY Because vocation is the difference. Only someone who really cares doubts. Listen, father, as I was about to tell my friend Simon here, I am, without doubt, the biggest sinner within a hundred miles of this parish. But still, I've gotta stay up late at night to outdo the unending parade of mundane little atrocities I see committed every day right out in the open spaces of this loud and sunlit culture we call home. FATHER HAWKES You seem to me to be a sensitive and generous man. HENRY I like to think so. But the fact is I appreciate depravity. Nevertheless, I insist your vocation makes a difference, because to hold out anything other than a spiritual yardstick to reality is to be jerking off grandly into the abyss. Listen, have you got any money? Let's go have a drink. EXT. WORLD OF DONUTS -- DAY Warren is stopping people on their way in and out of World of Donuts. WARREN Excuse me, miss, are you a registered voter? MISS Oh God, really I don't know. WARREN Well, I'd like to give you some information about Congressman Owen Feer. This man is gunna make a big difference in the lives of every American in the years to come... MISS Thanks, sure. I gotta go, thanks. A man, Bill, steps up... WARREN Pardon me, sir... BILL Fuck off! WARREN Right. Warren stands back and loosens his tie. He looks over at Pearl age seven, who is sitting outside the store. WARREN What time's your mother get off work? She doesn't respond. He shakes his head and approaches. He sees Fay exit the store... WARREN Fay, are you a registered voter? FAY (stopping) Don't you dare talk that way to me! And keep your hands off my brother. Pearl, what are you doing here? WARREN I'm watchin' her. Fay figures it out and approaches. FAY You and Vicky get back together? WARREN I gotta regular job now and everything. She lifts a flyer and reads. FAY I saw this retard on TV this morning. WARREN He's gunna be the next president of the United States of America, Fay. FAY Keep dreamin' Warren. The guy's a Nazi. WARREN I like him! FAY Gimme a light. WARREN (lighting her cigarette) He's a decent man. He takes complicated issues and totally simplifies them. And I appreciate that. FAY You still sell dope? WARREN No. You know what the problem is with this country, Fay? Me. I'm the problem. We live in a culture of poverty and crime, where the work ethic is undermined and male responsibility is made irrelevant. She studies him a moment more, lost, then shakes her head and helps the child off the car. FAY Come on, Pearl, let's go play at my house. WARREN She gives you any trouble, Fay, you just let me know. INT. THE INFERNO -- DAY An hour later. Henry and Father Hawkes are drinking. Simon leans on the bar, nodding off to sleep. After a while, Father Hawkes leans back and... FATHER HAWKES Do you think human beings are innately bad? HENRY Worse than bad! Monstrous! But I love that about them. (banging on the bar) Wake up, Simon! Simon falls off his bar stool. EXT. WORLD OF DONUTS -- DAY Moments later. Warren straightens his tie and looks over to see... Simon stagger up. Warren shakes his head in dismay and approaches. Simon steadies himself against the wall of the building. WARREN Jesus Christ, Simon, you're letting yourself go to hell! You read that flyer I gave you? SIMON What? WARREN Simon, wake up and smell the coffee, huh! It's up to guys like you and me to help create a better tomorrow! Simon is lost. INT. WORLD OF DONUTS -- DAY Moments later. He staggers into World of Donuts and heads for the coffee machine, but stops when he sees Buñuel talking to Mr Deng. Buñuel looks over. Their eyes lock. EXT. WORLD OF DONUTS -- DAY Same time. WARREN (to Vicky) Why would I steal a computer from the campaign office? VICKY I'm not saying you did, I'm just saying one was and since you do have this criminal background... Whack!!! He slaps her... WARREN (pointing) Don't judge me! Simon runs out of the store and limps away towards home as Buñuel storms out in pursuit. Simon tries to run, but Buñuel catches him easily. BUÑUEL Look, I know you know him. People have seen you around together. Simon ceases to struggle, but shakes himself free and stands looking down at his feet. Buñuel stands aside and watches him a moment, then reaches in his jacket and brings out his badge. BUÑUEL I'm his parole officer. Simon studies the badge and waits a little, before asking... SIMON What did he do? BUÑUEL I'm not supposed to talk about that stuff with people. SIMON He's my. Friend. Buñuel pauses, then puts away his badge and looks around the parking lot. BUÑUEL Mr Deng says you're some sort of a poet, or something. Simon doesn't corroborate this. He looks away and readjusts his sling. Buñuel scratches his head, satisfied and prepares to leave. But first... BUÑUEL You tell Henry to call me -- Officer Buñuel -- pronto! Or they're gunna chuck his ass straight back into jail! Got it? Simon shrugs. Buñuel waits a moment, then steps away and gets back in his car. Simon watches as the parole officer drives away and passes... WARREN Vicky, look I'm sorry. VICKY Don't you even come near me! INT. THE GRIM HOUSE KITCHEN -- DAY Later. FAY What do you mean, you quit? SIMON I quit my job. FAY Why! SIMON There are things I want to do. FAY Like what? Simon thinks of trying to explain, but then decides not to. SIMON 'Opportunity will step out of the way to let a man... pass it by.' FAY Are you drunk? SIMON Now you have to go out and get a job! FAY I am not gettin' a job! (paces, then) Who's gunna look after Mom! SIMON I will. Fay looks at the ceiling and sighs. FAY Pearl, go outside. They wait as the child goes outside. Mary listens, unseen, from her bedroom door. Fay comes over and frowns at her brother. She's about to lecture him, but he cuts her off. SIMON If you treat Mom like a sick person, she's gunna stay like... you know, a sick person. Fay tries to control herself. She sighs tiredly and attempts to reason with him... FAY Simon, don't be retarded... SIMON (banging the table) I am not retarded! Fay steps back, startled. Simon stands, but can't decide which way to go. He sits back down. SIMON I can see with my own eyes. Mary turns away from her door and sits on her bed. Fay leans over the stove, where a large pot of water is beginning to boil. FAY Mom can't be left alone with no one to keep an eye on her. Simon is frustrated and lashes out. SIMON Well, who's been keeping an eye on her while you've been out getting fucked by every OTB winner in town? Fay's mouth falls open and she staggers back, hurt. Simon regrets it already and stands to leave, scared. But Fay grabs the pot off the stove and hurls it at him, splashing boiling water all over his back. SIMON Aggghhhh!!! Outside, Pearl turns and looks back at the house. Simon lies gasping on the floor of the kitchen. Fay falls back against the stove, terrified and drops her head into her hands. INT. THE GRIM HOUSE BATHROOM -- DAY Later. Fay is crouched on the floor, sobbing, while Simon lies in a tub of cold water. Mary comes in with a pathetic little freezer tray of ice cubes and dumps them into the tub. She steps back into the hall and throws the ice tray down the stairs. She glares back at Fay, who cries even louder as Simon stares up at the ceiling. Mary shakes her head and walks into her room, slamming the door behind her. FAY (sniffling) What happened to her, Simon? How did she get this way? Will it happen to me too? Huh? Why are we so fucked up? Simon has no answers. But he reaches out and touches his sister's hand. INT. LIBRARY -- DAY Evening. Simon comes limping in, all stiff because of his scalded back. He's not familiar with the library, so he stands looking around, trying to figure it out. INT. LIBRARY STACKS -- DAY Moments later. He wanders into an aisle, overwhelmed by all the books. Coming to the far end of the aisle, he looks off to his left and sees Henry sitting on a small stool, reading, with ten or twenty open volumes scattered around him on the floor. SIMON (approaching) Henry? HENRY (looking up and rising) Simon! What are you doing here? SIMON Henry... Your parole officer, Officer Buñuel, came by again today. Henry sighs and sits back down. SIMON He told me to tell you that if you don't call him they're gunna put you back in jail. HENRY Simon... SIMON He gave me this number... HENRY Simon... SIMON He was talking to Mr Deng too, and, well, you know, I was thinking... HENRY Simon, just shut the fuck up! Simon blinks and looks down at his feet, unable to respond. Deeply hurt, he simply turns to walk away. But Henry reaches out and grabs his arm. Simon stops, pauses and looks back at his friend. HENRY Forgive me. He lets go and turns away on his stool. HENRY Forgive me, Simon. Simon comes back over to him. SIMON Call him, Henry. Please. Henry gives in slowly to the inevitable. He sighs deeply and stands, handing Simon a book... HENRY OK. Look, do me a favor. You got a library card? SIMON Yeah. HENRY Check this out for me. Simon looks at the cover: Paradise Lost. HENRY Milton. Seventeenth century. English. You see, Simon, it's important my 'Confession' dig up the past, comb previous evidence and help chart the historic -- even the aesthetic -- inevitability of my ideas. And... A young woman passes by, scanning the stacks. She and Henry have a split second of eye contact, then she turns and moves away. Henry straightens his tie and watches her go. HENRY This place is crawling with chicks, Simon. Wander around. Leer a little. Cop a feel. Impose yourself on 'em. See what happens. SIMON I make girls uncomfortable. HENRY Bullshit! You've got a rough hewn charm that sets 'em on edge. Now, listen, I gotta go. SIMON Henry? Henry stops and turns. Simon pauses, then... SIMON What did you do? Henry watches him for a moment, then swaggers closer... HENRY I got caught. Simon waits for more but is disappointed. With one final cracked grin at his friend, Henry throws back his shoulders, slicks back his hair and strides off. Simon watches him go and frowns, not comforted. He flips through the pages of Paradise Lost. SIMON (voice over) 'Whereto with speedy words the arch- fiend replied Fallen Cherub, to be weak is miserable...' INT. LIBRARY READING ROOM -- DAY Moments later. He comes out from the stacks, working his way through the first page of Paradise Lost. He nearly bumps into a girl and they stop and look at one another. He tries to hold her gaze for a moment, challenging himself, but then turns away and stalks to a table. He sits and leans over the page. After a moment, though, he lifts his face and glances at... Another girl, sitting further down the table. She looks up from her reading and returns his gaze. He smiles at her. She gets up and leaves. Simon frowns, confounded and returns to his book. He takes out his notebook and pencil, meaning to take notes, but sees instead... A third girl sitting at another table, listening to her Walkman and typing her homework into a laptop computer. He finds himself staring at her and forces himself back to his book. But he can't help himself and glances back over at her. With a sigh, he begins to write in his notebook... SIMON (voice-over) Why is it this beautiful girl makes me sad? Does she know how beautiful she is? Do people tell her? Does she ever feel stupid? He looks back over at her. She happens to look up and their eyes meet. She smiles. Horrified, he looks down. SIMON Why don't I smile when she looks at me? I look away. Ashamed of myself. He watches her again, thinks, then writes... SIMON Her figure makes me violent. I want to somehow break her. But tenderly. How is this possible? Ask Henry. He writes a few moments more, scribbling across the page, then stops and looks back over at the girl. SIMON (voice-over) I can't breathe. He tears out the page and folds it in half. Then he gets up and crosses the room to where the girl is busily engaged in her work. She looks up, sees him, and removes her headset with a pleasant smile. He places his note on the table before her, then turns and walks quickly away. The girl watches him go, confused, then lifts the note and reads... SIMON (voice-over) Why do I do this to myself? And why do I reduce you to only one possibility? These are not even questions anymore. I know the answers myself. This isn't a page of notes. It's a letter. A letter to you. A desperate act. You are a miracle to me. I can't breathe. By now, Simon is gone from the library. The girl finishes reading the letter and looks around in astonishment. INT. WORLD OF DONUTS -- DAY Evening. Henry enters and sits with Buñuel. BUÑUEL How are you, Henry? HENRY (frowning) Peachy. Gimme a light. BUÑUEL Have you found a job? Henry just glares at him and smokes. BUÑUEL How 'bout those Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, did you go over and visit them yet? HENRY What happened to this assistant librarian position you were supposed to set me up with? Buñuel looks down, disappointed. BUÑUEL I tried, Henry. I really did. HENRY So what happened? BUÑUEL Henry, with your background... Well, I mean, with your record, they didn't think it'd be right to have you at the neighborhood library. HENRY Why not? BUÑUEL They thought you'd be a bad influence on the kids. Henry sits back, offended. BUÑUEL (adds) Or worse. HENRY So my word is not enough. My promise worthless. The fact I've served my time nothing but the emblem of my continuing guilt. BUÑUEL Apparently. Henry leans back and sighs, furious and indignant. INT. THE GRIM HOUSE -- NIGHT Simon comes in, excited and preoccupied, and finds Fay working at the computer. FAY What's up? SIMON (guiltily) Nothing. FAY I'm creating my résumé. This computer's got a program especially for it. I bought some special stationery too. It's scented. Look. She shoves a sheath of papers up under his nose and he backs away in disgust. FAY It's roses. Simon takes his notebooks from a cabinet above the fridge. SIMON Can you type my poem into that thing? FAY (shocked) That's your poem? SIMON Yeah. FAY (smokes, then) Simon, Mom's right about you. A poem's supposed to be a small, delicate kinda thing. Kinda feminine. Gentle. Look at this. You've made a fuckin' telephone book. He places the notebooks on the table and leaves the house. Fay clears the computer screen, pulls the notebooks closer and gets down to work. INT. HENRY'S APARTMENT -- NIGHT Moments later. Simon arrives with a six-pack and finds Henry sitting in front of the fire, staring into the flames, brooding darkly. HENRY I was caught. Yes, I was caught... once. I was caught in flagranti delicto screwing a thirteen-year-old girl named Susan. She was an ugly and mean-spirited kid, but she knew how to play upon my weaknesses which, I admit, are deep and many. He drinks, then looks at Simon and adds... HENRY You appear shocked. SIMON (he is) Sorry. Henry stands and leans over the fire. HENRY It was a pathetic little conspiracy. A transparently desperate attempt to discredit me and my ideas; to label me a mere pedophile. As if I'd be ashamed of such a thing. As if Socrates himself hadn't been taken out of circulation for corrupting the youth of Athens! He comes over and takes a beer. He strides around the room, thinking, reflecting. HENRY Seven years. Seven years for one afternoon of blissful transgression. But what of it? Who cares? Prison's not so bad; particularly if one's a sex offender, free from the popular and conventional horror of sodomy. Stops, drinks declares... HENRY They were not 'lost years'. He approaches the notebooks lined up on the mantelpiece. HENRY I put them to good use. I began my major work. My opus. He glances over at Simon, who sits gripping his beer, watching, rapt. HENRY Believe me, Simon, this incident with the girl, prison... It pales to insignificance in the wider context of my career. He pauses and swills back some beer. He brightens up, gets excited... HENRY Nothing in comparison to the day my 'Confession' is unleashed. (beginning to pace) What an orgy we'll have then, huh? What shouts of outrage from the offended populace, from the sanctimonious purveyors of culture and quality, the righteous defenders of what ever inane and haphazard notion of progress then in vogue. They'll be beside themselves with fiercely reasoned critical analysis. Apoplectic with indignation! Drinks sloppily, burps, wipes his mouth with his arm. HENRY Their feelings will be hurt. He smashes the bottle in the fireplace. HENRY Yes, like a mirror which reflects only the inside of the person before it, my 'Confession' will lovingly render humanity's common monstrosity in all of its lurid wide screen glory. He grabs a new beer and twists off its cap. HENRY Why should I blush or feel shame before the common lot of humanity, anyway, for a few banal and, again I admit, inelegant transgressions? He drinks, sighs and sits back down. HENRY After all, really, I'm doing civilization a favor. Simon sits back in awe. He waits a moment and thinks. Finally he stands and approaches the 'Confession'. He reaches out and drags his hand across the notebooks. SIMON When can I read it? Henry sits staring into the flames again. He pauses, then... HENRY Soon. INT. CHURCH -- DAY Next day. Simon and Father Hawkes are deep in conversation. FATHER HAWKES We are told not to judge. But to forgive. Not to look into our neighbor's eye to find the bad, but to find the good. (pacing) Now this is difficult. I admit. (pause) But having a good friend is not always easy. Simon listens and carefully considers all the priest says. SIMON Yes, but... do you think Henry is... dangerous? Father Hawkes pauses, then comes closer and sits. FATHER HAWKES He needs help. Our help. Yours especially. SIMON But what can I do? FATHER HAWKES The best parts of himself come to the surface when he's helping someone learn. I've seen this. Let yourself be taught. Show your appreciation for his guidance. In this way, you know, perhaps. Well. There's hope for everyone. Even. Even Henry. INT. WORLD OF DONUTS -- DAY Fay comes walking up through the parking lot with Simon's notebooks and a pile of typed papers. She's a wreck; tear- stained face and a ball of tissues gripped in her hand like a weapon. She throws open the door to the World of Donuts and looks around. The place is crowded with teenagers hanging around like it was a café or student union. Fay sniffles tragically and falls on the counter. FAY Gnoc, gimme a value pack of Kleenex, will ya? Gnoc gets the Kleenex while Fay overhears two kids near Simon's poem... TIM The violence of the imagery reminds me of early Clash, while the lyricism of the verse recalls, for me, Walt Whitman. BIBI I would have said Dickinson, maybe even Eliot, and so on. But I agree with the punk roots... Fay pays for her tissues and makes her way to the back of the store where she finds Simon with Henry, who is holding forth to his friend and the small coterie of high school students surrounding them... HENRY The greats all say the same thing: little. And what little there is to be said is immense. Or, in other words, follow your own genius to where it leads without regard for the apparent needs of the world at large, which, in fact, has no needs as such, but, rather, moments of exhaustion in which it is incapable of prejudice. (drinks) We can only hope to collide with these moments of unselfconsciousness. This divine fatigue... this... FAY (sitting) Push over. Henry takes the typed manuscript from her and continues... HENRY As I tried to make plain in Paris: 'Nous savons que nous avons chuté parce que nous savons qui nous sommes.' 'We know we have fallen because we know who we are.' FAY (skeptically) When were you in Paris? HENRY (interrupted) That's beside the point. But did they listen to me? Of course not! Fay blows her nose and Simon is concerned. SIMON You alright, Fay? FAY (lighting a cigarette) No, I'm not alright! Your poem brought my period on a week and half early! So just shut up. Everybody just shut up! She drops her head to the table and cries. Henry and Simon look on in silence. Then Henry continues... HENRY For is this not the best of all possible worlds? Are not the evils of this world necessary components of a cosmos that could not exist without them? Amy's girlfriend, Chris, leans forward studiously and asks... CHRIS So, do you believe in God? HENRY (smokes, shrugs) Unfortunately. FAY (lifting her head) Yeah, but when were you in Paris? HENRY (aggravated) At. One. Time. CHRIS Simon, can I have your autograph? Simon looks from her to Henry. Henry winks at him. HENRY Go ahead. But never let yourself be flattered. Simon signs the girl's book. FAY (to Henry) So what about this friend of yours, Hot Shot? The publisher. HENRY Who? SIMON (reminding him) Angus James. FAY Yeah. Angus James. How about sending this poem to him? Henry seems a bit put upon. HENRY Because it's not done yet. FAY (to Simon) When's it gunna be done, Simon? SIMON I don't know. FAY Well, you oughta be home writing instead of hanging out over here with all your groupies. AMY Hey, I'm not a groupie. FAY Pardon me, swivel-hips. Is that your PowerBook? AMY Yeah. FAY Can I see it? Fay and Amy talk tech as... HENRY (continues) The thing to do is to send parts of it to different magazines and literary journals first. That kinda thing. You know. Substantiate it. AMY (looking up) What's 'scatalogical' mean? Henry sips his beer and looks at her. HENRY Filth, child. A preoccupation with excrement. Why? AMY That's what the Board of Education called Simon's poem, yesterday; scatological. Henry reaches across the table and shakes Simon's hand. INT. THE GRIM HOUSE KITCHEN -- DAY The next day. Fay is frying something on the stove, a cigarette hangs from her lip. A middle-aged woman with a press ID on her lapel appears at the kitchen door and taps. EDNA Hello? FAY Yeah, I'm listening. EDNA My name is Edna Rodriguez and I write the human interest column for the Queens County Examiner and I was just wondering if I could have a word with Simon Grim? Intrigued, Fay steps over to the door with her spatula. She looks Edna over, studies her ID, then steps away and screams upstairs. FAY Simon! EDNA (startled) Thank you. Fay comes back over near the door, waving her spatula. FAY You can't talk to him for, you know, too long or anything, 'cause he's gotta, you know... he writes all day. That's all he does. Can you believe that? No response. FAY (calling again) Hey! Simon! Get down here! Simon finally shuffles into the kitchen. FAY Simon, this is Edna. She's from the newspaper. EDNA (rapid fire) Simon, the Parents' Association at the local high school are calling your poem pornography. The teachers are defending the students' right to exercise their critical tastes and sensibilities. The county agrees with the Church and considers the poem emblematic of modern society's moral disintegration. How do you feel about these controversial reactions to your poem? Simon says nothing. He just stares at her. FAY (punching him) Simon, answer the woman. Simon just looks away, thinks, then wanders back upstairs. Mary passes him on his way out of the kitchen and comes up to Fay and Edna at the door. MARY I need my prescription filled. FAY Mom, this is Edna. Edna, Mom. EDNA Mrs Grim, what was Simon like as a child? MARY We all thought he was retarded. FAY Everyone did. MARY Never said a word. FAY He masturbated constantly. MARY Had no friends. FAY Till he met Henry. MARY And that's when all the trouble really started. INT. HENRY'S APARTMENT -- DAY Henry is shaving. Simon sits in the kitchen, sorting through rejection letters... SIMON (reading) Dear Mr Grim, we here at the magazine consider ourselves and the publication open-minded and cutting edge and have consistently printed the work of the most brilliant and farseeing young talent of the day. Every week we are forced to return writing which we can not for one reason or another publish and include a brief but polite refusal. But this tract you've sent us demands a response as violent as the effect your words have had upon us. Drop dead. Keep your day job. Sincerely, The Editors. HENRY De gustibus non disputandum est. SIMON (thinking) You can't argue with taste? HENRY About taste. You can't argue about taste. God, Simon. Simon gives up and pushes the letters away, beaten. SIMON The other twenty-five are almost as bad. I don't know why I bother. Henry drops his razor and stomps out into the hall. HENRY What do you mean you don't know why you bother? You bother because you know the poem is excellent! SIMON Do I? HENRY Of course you do! SIMON I'm not so sure sometimes. HENRY Can you sit there, look me straight in the eye, and tell me you don't think this poem is great? That it is not at once a work of great lyrical beauty and ethical depth? That it is not a genuine, highly individual, and profound meditation on the miracle of existence? Simon holds the stare, overwhelmed. SIMON I, ah... HENRY Can you? Simon looks away, thinks a moment, then looks back at Henry. SIMON No. I can't. HENRY So, you see, you have no choice! He goes back into the bathroom. Simon thinks a while, then... SIMON (calling) Can you recommend it to your friend, the publisher? No response. SIMON Henry? Can you recommend the poem to him? Still no response. Simon gets up and stands in the bathroom doorway. Henry is shaving. SIMON I mean, I think it's finished and, for better or worse, it is book length. HENRY That might not be as easy as it seems. SIMON Why? HENRY Well, it's been a long time. My name might not carry as much weight as it once did with Angus.