U-Turn

                            (Stray Dogs)



                           Screenplay by
                            John Ridley

                                and

                  Richard Rutowski & Oliver Stone






     NOTE: THE HARD COPY OF THIS SCRIPT CONTAINED SCENE NUMBERS
     AND SOME "OMITTED" SLUGS. THEY HAVE BEEN REMOVED FOR THIS
     SOFT COPY.




     EXT. SOMEWHERE IN THE DESERT SOUTHWEST - DAY

     BEGIN TITLES OVER:

     It is early morning and already hot.  INSECTS drone, crackle,
     and scurry for shade.  PRAIRIE DOGS burrow to escape the sun.
     We can see the heat shimmering off the surface of the Earth.

     On a dusty highway, a pair of VULTURES dine on a dead coyote.
     One of them snags an intestine and tugs a few feet of it out of
     the carcass.

     In the distance, where a long, dusty road meets the horizon, a
     small shape appears -- a Sixty-four-and-a-half Mustang
     convertible, its top down.  Its candy-apple red burns like a
     brilliant fireball under the sun.  As the car drifts closer, we
     see steam escaping from under the hood.  Sammi Smith's "Please
     Help Me Get Through The Night" plays on the car's radio.

     INT. BOBBY COOPER'S MUSTANG - DAY

     At the wheel, ignoring impending disaster, BOBBY COOPER, young,
     good-looking, fiddles with the RADIO dial, annoyed only to find
     country stations. He's been driving since noon yesterday and it
     shows -- along with a heavily-bandaged left hand resting on the
     steering wheel. He finds something by Pearl Jam or Smashing
     Pumpkins and he cranks it. He pops a Percodan with his good hand
     as, in the shimmering distance ahead, he sees black shapes in
     the road and lays on the horn.

                       BOBBY
             Get off the goddamn road!

     EXT. DESERT ROAD - DAY

     As the MUSTANG powers by, the VULTURES move off the shoulder,
     silently watching.

     INT. MUSTANG - DAY

     The RADIO blares as BOBBY fights to stay awake. His attention is
     caught by blue and red lights flashing in the oncoming lane. He
     sits up as the POLICE CAR (SHERIFF POTTER inside) closes
     quickly. The SIREN starts faintly, then SCREAMS as the cruiser
     roars past at speed.

                       BOBBY
             Fuck you!

     There is a loud pop from the front of the Mustang and a thick
     cloud of steam now pours from the hood. The temperature gauge
     now starts rising.

                       BOBBY
             No!...Not now!...Shit!

     A couple of SEMIS roar past in the opposite direction,
     buffetting the Mustang with their air waves.

     EXT. FORK IN THE ROAD - DAY

     The car rolls into a fork in the road, limping with the droop of
     an animal that won't make another hundred yards.

     One sign on the larger road says "GLOBE" is 29 miles away. The
     other sign, on the lesser road, tells us "SUPERIOR" is only 2
     miles. A third sign confirms his destiny with "Gas, Food, 1
     Mile."

     BOBBY seems to have no choice. He aims the car down the lesser
     road towards "Superior, Arizona."

     EXT. OUTSKIRTS SUPERIOR - DAY

     The car rattles on its last legs, as BOBBY mutters incantations,
     noticing a old, ghostlike MINING COMPANY at the base of the
     mountains overlooking the TOWN. It's deserted now, no one
     visible, the gates shut, but in its vast, dark bulk, we sense
     the ancient richness and power of this town. Bobby moves on.

     EXT. HARLIN'S GARAGE - DAY

     Down the road from the MINING COMPANY, BOBBY'S CAR pulls into a
     small GAS STATION, made of weather-beaten wood, its windows long
     since dusted over. The pumps themselves look to have been
     manufactured in the early fifties. Above the station is a sign
     so faded it's barely readable: HARLIN'S.

     Bobby gets out of the car and with great care, favoring his
     bandaged left hand which seems to give him a great deal of pain,
     he opens the hood. A plume of steam hits him in the face.

                       BOBBY
             Oh shit!

     Bobby looks around for someone, anyone.  After a few moments he
     reaches into the car and blows the horn.  He waits, then blows
     it again.  From out of the station walks DARRELL - a
     slow-looking man in coveralls caked with grease and dirty.  He
     looks the part of a yokel.

                       BOBBY
             You Harlin?

                       DARRELL
             Nope.  Darrell.

                       BOBBY
             Harlin around?

                       DARRELL
             He's up at the Look Out.

     Darrell points a scraggly finger at a plateau in the distance.

                       BOBBY
             Will he be back soon?

                       DARRELL
             Doubt it.  He's dead.  The Look Out's a
             cemetery.

                       BOBBY
             You own this place?

                       DARRELL
             Yep.

                       BOBBY
             Then why do you call it Harlin's?

                       DARRELL
             'Cause Harlin used to own it.

                       BOBBY
             But he's dead.

                       DARRELL
             So?

     Bobby is confused, but chooses to drop the matter.

                       BOBBY
             You want to take a look at my car?  I think
             the radiator hose is--

                       DARRELL
             Damn.  Gonna be another hot one today.
             Sometimes I don't even want to get out of
             bed. Course don't want to get out for the
             cold one's neither.  Then of course the
             clouds come in...

     Darrell mops his brow with a greasy rag.  It doesn't so much
     wipe the sweat as it does streak his forehead with dirt.

                       BOBBY
             Look, Harlin, I've got places to be.

                       DARRELL
             Darrell--

                       BOBBY
             OK. Darrell... Could you just take a look
             at my radiator hose.  It's busted.

     Darrell is clearly upset at being cut off.  He leans into the
     car and looks at the engine.

                       BOBBY
             So?

                       DARRELL
             It's your radiator hose.  It's busted.

                       BOBBY
             I know it's busted.  What did I just tell
             you?

                       DARRELL
             Well, you know so much why don't you just
             fix it yourself?

                       BOBBY
             If I could do you think I'd be standing
             here wasting my time.  Can you fix it, or
             do I have to go somewhere else?

                       DARRELL
             Somewhere else?  Mister, somewhere else is
             fifty miles from here. Only other gas
             station down in town closed 3 years ago
             when the mine got shut...

                       BOBBY
             Okay, I'm stuck.  You happy?  Now can you
             fix it, or not?

                       DARRELL
             Yeah, I can fix it.

                       BOBBY
             Great!

                       DARRELL
             Gotta run over to the yard and see if I can
             find a hose like this one, or close enough.
             Gonna take time.

                       BOBBY
             How much time?

                       DARRELL
             Time.

                       BOBBY (rewinds his watch)
             What time is it now?

                       DARRELL
             Twenty-after-ten.

                       BOBBY
             Jesus.  Twenty-after-ten and it must be
             ninety already.

                       DARRELL
             Ninety-two.  Course half hour from now
             might be seventy-two. These clouds move
             around a lot.

     Bobby wipes the bandaged hand across his forehead.

                       DARRELL
             What happened to your hand?

     Self-consciously Bobby quickly drops his hand to his side.

                       BOBBY
             Accident.

                       DARRELL
             You got to be more careful. Hands is
             important.  Let me show you something. When
             I was a kid, now I don't know if you can
             still see it, but I gashed my fingers in a
             lawnmower.

                       BOBBY
             I'm very interested in this but is there
             someplace...

                       DARRELL
             Diner up a piece.  Not much, but us simple
             folk like it.

                       BOBBY
             I'll be back in a couple of hours.  And be
             careful with her, will you?

     Darrell slams down the hood.

                       DARRELL
             Just a car.

     Bobby reaches into the car, pulls out a small ugly gym bag which
     he slings onto his shoulder and moves to the trunk, pops it open.

                       BOBBY
             It's not just a car. It's a sixty-four and
             half Mustang convertible. That's the
             difference between you and me, and why you
             live here and I'm just passing through.

     The trunk lid rises in the air, partially blocking Bobby from
     Darrell, acting as a partition between them.

                       BOBBY
             Now do you mind? I got to get some stuff
             out of the trunk.

     He throws the car key to Darrell who takes the hint, spits
     grotesquely into the dirt, scratches his nuts, and walks back
     to the shack.

     Concealed by the trunk lid, Bobby pulls out a GUN (a .9mm black
     Baretta), wrapped in a t-shirt, from the top of the bag. Perhaps
     we see a flash of green money, lots of it. Sports pages and
     betting sheets are piled inside. With a look around, Bobby takes
     the gun and stashes it underneath the rubber mat in the trunk.
     Briefly we notice a towing ROPE under the mat. There is a small
     travel bag, from which he peels a fresh bottle of Percodan,
     quickly taking two, as well as the sports page.

     INT. HARLIN'S GARAGE - DAY

     DARRELL watches out of the darkened office through the front
     window, as BOBBY slams the trunk and starts walking down the
     road, with the bag on his shoulder.

     EXT. DESERT ROAD - LATER

     BOBBY walks along a dusty patch of road into town past a sign
     saying "SUPERIOR - HOME OF THE GOLDEN DOOR RETIREMENT
     COMMUNITY." As he walks on, a pair of MOTORCYCLERS roar past on
     their Harleys blanketing him in a cloud of DUST.  He shouts
     after them, but his words are lost under the whine of the cycle
     engines.

     EXT. SUPERIOR MAIN STREET - DAY

     BOBBY hits town, such as it is:  The Freeway left here a few
     years back. There are only a few little stores:  A general
     store, a catalog outlet, a post office that doubles as a bus
     depot.  All of them built for the desert heat. The busiest spot
     in town seems to be the truckstop/diner with a few 18 wheelers
     parked outside it.

     At the corner of one street sits an old BLIND MAN dressed in
     raggedy clothes, perhaps an Indian. His SEEING-EYE DOG lies next
     to him. He's talking to TWO OLD MEN, veterans perhaps, Indian or
     Spanish. They both have missing limbs and slide off with furtive
     alcoholic looks as Bobby passes. The Blind Man yells out in an
     American Indian accent.

                       BLIND MAN
             Hey!  You there!

                       BOBBY
             You want something, old man?

                       BLIND MAN
             Don't call me old man.  Ain't you got
             no respect, boy?

                       BOBBY
             You want something?

                       BLIND MAN
             Yeah I want something.  I want you to run
             over to that machine and get me a pop.

                       BOBBY
             You can't do that yourself?

                       BLIND MAN
             Hell no, I can't do that myself.  I'm
             blind.  Can't you see that?

                       BOBBY
             I'm sorry, I didn't--

                       BLIND MAN
             What'd you think I was doing out here
             with these glasses on?  Sunnin' myself?

                       BOBBY
             I don't know.  I thought you were keeping
             the sun out of your eyes.

                       BLIND MAN
             I ain't got no eyes.  You want to see?

                       BOBBY
             Christ no!

                       BLIND MAN
             Lost my eyes in Vyee-et-nam.  Lost them
             fighting the commies.  Fought the war and
             lost my eyes fightin' the commies just so
             you can come around here and make fun of
             me.

                       BOBBY
             I said I was sorry.

                       BLIND MAN
             Don't be sorry.  Just run over there and
             get me my pop before I die of thirst.

                       BOBBY
             Yeah, sure.  You got change?

                       BLIND MAN
             Change?  You want my change?  I fought the
             war and lost my eyes just so I could give
             you my change?

                       BOBBY
             All right, old man.  Christ.

     Bobby walks across the street to a very old soda machine; it has
     bottles instead of cans.  The blind man shouts to Bobby.

                       BLIND MAN
             Get me a Dr. Peppa!  I don't want no Colas.
             Colas ain't nothing but flavored water.

     Bobby puts change in the machine and pulls out a bottle of Dr.
     Pepper.  He starts back to the blind man.

                       BLIND MAN
             Don't forget to open it for me.  I can't be
             opening my own bottle.

                       BOBBY
             Christ!

     Bobby goes back to the machine and opens the bottle, then walks
     back to the old man who pours a splash on the ground.

                       BLIND MAN
             A little for Mother Earth. I'm about fifty
             percent Indian, you know. To all our
             relations.

     He takes a hearty swig of the soda.

                       BLIND MAN
             Ah!  Just what I needed!  Want some?

     The blind man holds the bottle out to Bobby.  A string of saliva
     runs from his lips to the bottle's neck.

                       BOBBY
             I'll pass.

     Bobby reaches down and pets the old man's dog. Flies buzz around
     both the dog and the Blind Man.

                       BOBBY
             I think you'd better give your pooch a sip.
             He looks sick.

                       BLIND MAN
             That's 'cause he's dead.

     Bobby jumps back.

                       BOBBY
             Oh, Jesus.

                       BLIND MAN
             I hope you wasn't pettin' him none, was
             you?

                       BOBBY
             What the hell are you keeping a dead dog
             around for?

                       BLIND MAN
             He's only just dead.  What was I supposed
             to do with him?  I can't take him away
             anywhere.  And nobody wants to take him for
             me.  Do you?

                       BOBBY
             Hell no!

                       BLIND MAN
             See.  Ain't nothing I can do but keep him
             here beside me.  That's where he belongs
             anyways.  Me and Jesse, that's my dog, not
             anymore, but me and Jesse we been pals
             since the war when I lost my eyes.  He was
             just a pup then... a companion that's
             loyal, that'll keep coming back to you no
             matter how much you kick him...I miss him.
             (as Bobby moves away) I'll see ya later,
             unless I come across something worse.

     Bobby noticing a beautiful woman down the street, GRACE McKENNA,
     compulsively turns and catches up to her.  She is dressed better
     than the usual t-shirts and tank tops of this town -- perhaps a
     mail-ordered dress or a mother's hand-me-down.  With her raven
     hair and caramel skin, it is obvious she is Native American. Her
     arms are full with an awkward package she can barely manage.

                       BOBBY
             Can I give you a hand, beautiful?

                       GRACE
             I'm just going to my car?

                       BOBBY
             That's right on my way.

                       GRACE
             My mother told me never to accept offers
             from strangers.

                       BOBBY
             My name is Bobby.  Now I'm not a stranger
             anymore.  See how easy it is for us to get
             to know each other, beautiful?

                       GRACE
             Do you have to call me that?

                       BOBBY
             I don't know your real name.

                       GRACE
             Maybe I don't want you to.

     Grace stops walking.

                       BOBBY
             Maybe, but if you didn't I think you would
             have kept on walking.

                       GRACE
             You're pretty full of yourself, aren't you?

                       BOBBY
             I like that about me, beautiful.

                       GRACE
             It's Grace.

                       BOBBY
             May I carry your package, Grace?

     Grace hesitates, then gives the package to Bobby.  He has
     trouble with it himself.

                       BOBBY
             Jesus.

                       GRACE
             You sure you can manage?

                       BOBBY
             I got it.

                       GRACE
             Do you want me to carry your pack for you?

     Bobby blurts out emphatically.

                       BOBBY
             No!

     He catches himself, and softens a bit.

                       BOBBY
             No, I've got it.

                       GRACE
             What happened to your hand?

                       BOBBY
             Accident.

                       GRACE
             You should be more careful.

     They start walking towards Grace's car.

                       GRACE
             It's very nice of you to help me.  That
             package is kind of heavy, and it's so hot.

                       BOBBY
             No trouble at all, really.

     They get to a car and Bobby puts down the package.

                       BOBBY
             Wasn't nothing.

                       GRACE
             Oh, this isn't my car.  It's down a ways.
             I should have parked closer.  I just didn't
             think it would be so heavy.  I could drive
             up.

                       BOBBY
             That's all right.  I got it.

     Bobby takes up the package and they begin walking again.  The
     package seems to have gained weight.

                       GRACE
             It's just new drapes and curtain rods.  If
             I had known it was going to be so heavy I
             would have had them delivered up to the
             house.

     Bobby struggles with the package.  Sweat starts to sheet his
     face.

                       BOBBY (panting)
             That a fact?

                       GRACE
             I just got tired of looking at the old
             drapes. My mother made them. Had them long
             as I can remember. You ever seen something
             and just knew you had to have it?

                       BOBBY (straining)
             Yes, I have.

                       GRACE
             'Course they cost a little more than I
             should really be spending.  But, damn it, I
             don't hardly ever do anything nice for
             myself.  I deserve nice things.

                       BOBBY (can hardly talk)
             I ... can't ... argue ...

     They arrive at a JEEP SAHARA.

                       GRACE
             This is it.

     Bobby practically drops the package.  He is covered with sweat.

                       GRACE
             Thank you, Bobby.

                       BOBBY
             You're welcome, Grace.

                       GRACE
             You're not from around here, are you?

                       BOBBY
             Why you say that?  Just because I help a
             lady with her package?

                       GRACE
             You don't have that dead look in your eyes
             like the only thing you live for is to get
             through the day.

                       BOBBY
             I just drove in this morning.

                       GRACE
             Drove into Superior?  What for?

                       BOBBY
             Didn't have a choice.  My car overheated up
             the road.

                       GRACE
             You're lucky you didn't break down in the
             desert.  Day like today, you'd be dead in no
             time. When you leaving?

                       BOBBY
             Not until my car's fixed.  I don't know how
             long that's going to take.

                       GRACE
             And here I've made you all hot and sweaty.

     Grace steps to Bobby and places her hand against his chest.  She
     rubs away some of the sweat. They look at each other a beat. A
     POLICE CAR, seen earlier, pulls up beside them from behind and
     idles. SHERIFF VIRGIL POTTER is a weathered, handsome,
     middle-aged man with suspicious eyes, black haired in contrast
     to Bobby's sandiness.

                       SHERIFF
             Morning Grace.

                       GRACE
             Morning Sheriff. Got my drapes.

                       SHERIFF
             Well it's about time. Looks like you found
             yourself a helper too.

      Bobby wants to shrink behind the drapes.

                       GRACE
             Well, he offered, and I just couldn't
             refuse. His car overheated.

                       SHERIFF
             Oh?

     Bobby turns to the Sheriff and forces a smile.

                       BOBBY
             Morning, officer.

                       SHERIFF
             Son.
                  (beat, to Grace)
             Little excitement out at the reservation
             this morning. Wayne and Dale Elkhart were
             up drinking all night and then Wayne starts
             chasing Dale around the desert with his
             shotgun. BIA handled it. I went by for
             backup.

                       GRACE
             Anybody hurt?

                       SHERIFF
             Hell, no. That Wayne can't shoot when he's
             sober, much less drunk. He's lucky he
             didn't kill his own danged self.
                  (beat)
             Well, anyhow, you stay cool. Nice meeting
             you, son.

                       BOBBY
             Same here, officer.

     The Sheriff drives on.  Pause.  They look at each other.

                       GRACE
             Well, I guess I could use some help
             getting this box into the house.  Not far.
             You could shower, get something cool to
             drink.

     Bobby considers the offer, but there's not much considering to
     do.

                       BOBBY
             Well, I could use something cool.

     EXT. DESERT ROAD - DAY

     BOBBY rides along with GRACE in her JEEP.

                       GRACE
             Where you coming from?

                       BOBBY
             All over.  Chicago, Houston, Detroit.  Just
             lately Dallas.

                       GRACE
             You've been around.

                       BOBBY
             I guess I've got wander in my blood.

                       GRACE
             Where you headed?

                       BOBBY
             I don't know.  I have to make a stop in
             Vegas.  Business to finish.  Then maybe
             I'll head to Santa Barbara.  I might be
             able to pick up some action there.

                       GRACE
             So, what is it you do, Mister...?

                       BOBBY
             Cooper. Bobby Cooper. Oh you know, whatever
             pays best. Little bartending, used to teach
             tennis, played a little competition ...
             (drops it).

                       GRACE
             I never played tennis. You just travel
             around Bobby-- no direction, no steady
             work.  You must like taking chances.

                       BOBBY
             If you're going to gamble, might as well
             play for high stakes.

                       GRACE
             What happens when you lose?

                       BOBBY
             I pack up and go somewhere else.

                       GRACE (wistfully)
             Somewhere else.  I've never been anywhere
             else.  Just once.  Years ago.  Went to the
             State Fair. It was nice, but it wasn't
             nothing.

                       BOBBY
             I couldn't stay in this place.  I wouldn't.
             I'd just pick up, do whatever I had to do,
             and get out.

     Grace looks to Bobby and smiles.

                       GRACE
             Sometimes I feel the exact same way.

     INT. GRACE'S BEDROOM/BATHROOM - LATER - DAY

     BOBBY, naked, steps into the shower and turns on the water.  It
     shoots from the shower head and cascades over his body.  As the
     water falls over him we hear a Russian accented voice:

                       VOICE(V.O.)
             I want my money.

     Bobby press his left hand against the white tile to steady
     himself.  His hand is curled in such a way we cannot see his
     pinky or ring finger.  Bobby leans back in the shower.  Just as
     he does:

     EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT

     It is raining hard.  Matching the backwards motion of the last
     scene BOBBY is thrown violently against a brick wall, facing
     out.

                       VOICE(V.O.)
             I want my money.

                       BOBBY
             Look, I'll get the money! You don't want to
             do this!

                       VOICE (V.O.)
             Take two for now. One a week, punk...

     Bobby is being pressed against the wall by two muscular GOONS.
     Another MAN stands partially hidden behind the goon's frame.
     With one hand one goon flattens Bobby's hand against the brick,
     with his other he clips two fingers off with a GARDEN SHEAR. We
     see Bobby's face in agonizing pain, then he slides screaming to
     the ground until he is framed between the legs of the men.

     As Bobby clutches his left hand the rainwater runs in streaks
     down his ashen, blank face.

     INT. GRACE'S BEDROOM/BATHROOM - MOMENTS LATER

     We see BOBBY's face reliving the experience as once again we
     hear the voice.

                       VOICE (V.O.)
             Two weeks, asshole. Get the money or you
             gonna lose your nose and ears.

     Bobby has slumped to the floor of the shower, looking to his
     left hand, almost crying, unable to tolerate it.  As a streak of
     blood snakes down the white tile we see that the pinky and ring
     FINGERS have been cut off at the joints.

     INT. GRACE'S BEDROOM/BATHROOM - DAY

     BOBBY, his hand rebandaged, is putting on his clothes.

                       BOBBY (to himself)
             You're still lucky.

     As he does he looks at himself in the mirror.  He bends to pick
     up his shirt which is draped over the gym bag.  As he lifts it we
     can see, perhaps more closely than at the garage, that the bag is
     3/4 filled with money.  He closes the bag and stands.  In the
     MIRROR, hidden in the doorway, he sees GRACE watching him.  Bobby
     slows perceptibly, but does not try to hide himself.  After a
     moment Grace walks into the room carrying a glass of lemonade.

                       GRACE
             Thought you might like a refill on your lemonade.

     Bobby takes the lemonade and drinks it down.  He rubs the glass
     against his forehead.

                       BOBBY
             That's good.  Cools you right off.
             (tentatively) I saw you watching me.

                       GRACE
             I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to.

                       BOBBY
             I didn't say it bothered me.

                       GRACE
             Did you like it; me watching you?

                       BOBBY
             I guess.  I've got an ego same as any man.

                       GRACE
             Good, 'cause I liked what I saw.

     Bobby gives a smile as devilish as it is pleasant. Grace slides
     an ice cube from the glass between her lips. He notices a framed
     picture of GRACE and an OLDER MAN.

                       BOBBY
             Nice place.

                       GRACE
             Thank you.

     Grace sits on the edge of the bed. Bobby indicates the picture,
     ironic.

                       BOBBY
             Who's that, your father?

                       GRACE (without much thought)
             Stepfather...

                       BOBBY (coy)
             Got a boyfriend?

                       GRACE
             No. Not really.

     Bobby senses she's lying but plays along.

                       BOBBY
             Must get kind of lonely for a woman living
             by herself in a big house.

                       GRACE
             I guess it must.

                       BOBBY
             What do you do anyway?

                       GRACE
             A little of this, a little of that.  Mostly
             I tell fortunes.

                       BOBBY
             Where'd you learn to do that?

                       GRACE
             From my father.  He was the tribe's shaman.

                       BOBBY
             A medicine man?

                       GRACE
             Those are white words, not ours.

                       BOBBY
             Nice house for a shaman's daughter.  You
             must be good.

                       GRACE
             Come here.

     Bobby goes to Grace and kneels before her.  She takes his head
     in her hands and looks deep into his eyes.  Her voice goes
     thick, but soft, like a morning fog.

                       GRACE
             There's something in your past; something
             you want to keep hidden.  There's a pain.
             Something ... someone you can't forget.
             And there is something you want very badly.
             It seems very far away to you, but you are
             determined, and you will do what you must
             to get it.

     Bobby closes his hands on Grace's and takes them from his face.
     He is more than slightly spooked by the accuracy of Grace's
     reading.

                       BOBBY
             My face tell you all that?

                       GRACE
             It tells me what every face tells me.
             Everybody has a past, they have a pain, and
             they have something they want.
             (seductively) What is it you want?

                       BOBBY
             The same thing you do.

     They silently stare into each other's eyes.

                       GRACE
             Really?  I want to hang drapes.

     Grace walks from the room.  For a moment Bobby stares after her.
     He takes an ice cube from his glass and crunches it in his
     teeth.

     INT. GRACE'S LIVING ROOM - DAY

     GRACE is standing on a step ladder trying to hang the drapes.
     BOBBY notices a photo of Grace with an older INDIAN WOMAN, her
     mother?

                       GRACE
             Hold me.

     Bobby stands behind her, gently places his hands on Grace's
     waist.

                       GRACE
             Tighter.  I won't break. You know girls are
             a lot tougher than men think.

     Bobby holds her tighter as she finished hanging the drapes.  His
     eyes are transfixed on her ass.

                       GRACE
             There.  All done.  Lift me down.

                       BOBBY
             What?

                       GRACE
             Lift me down.

     Bobby lifts Grace down from the ladder.  He holds her, his hands
     around her waist.

                       GRACE
             You can let go of me now. I'm safe.(with
             a wicked smile) How do they look?

                       BOBBY
             Like you.

                       GRACE
             Beautiful?

                       BOBBY (kidding)
             Like they're made of polyester.

                       GRACE
             I like them.  I was sick of looking at this
             room.  I think they add a little life.

                       BOBBY
             Nothing like a little liveliness.

     With a sexy pout Grace loads the next question.

                       GRACE
             No more drapes to hang.  Now what should
             we do?

                       BOBBY
             I have an idea.

                       GRACE
             And what would that be?

     Bobby steps close to Grace and takes her by the shoulders.  He
     pulls her to him and presses his lips hard to hers.  Grace
     doesn't respond.

                       BOBBY
             All right, Grace.  No more games.

                       GRACE (innocently)
             Games?

                       BOBBY
             You flirt with me, then you run cold.  You
             lead me on, then slap me down.  I don't go
             for being jerked around.

                       GRACE
             Really?  And what game did you want to
             play?  You carry my box for me, and I fall
             into bed with you?

     Bobby grabs up his pack.

                       BOBBY
             I think I can find my own way back to
             into town.

                       GRACE
             Maybe I like to find out about a man first.
             Maybe I like to know what he's made of.

                       BOBBY
             I'm just flesh and blood, baby.  That and a
             few memories of bad women; just like most
             guys.  But you already know that.  You read
             my mind, remember? Thanks for the lemonade.

     Bobby turns to leave.

                       GRACE
             You never did answer my question.

                       BOBBY
             Still playing?

                       GRACE
             That's not an answer.  What is it you want?

                       BOBBY
             You know what I want.

                       GRACE
             Maybe I just want to hear you say it.

     For a beat Bobby stands and stares hard at Grace.  His pack
     slides from his shoulder and thuds on the floor.  With great
     determination, like a beast closing for the kill, Bobby moves
     for her.  Grace stands firm, ready for him; her head tilts back.
     Her breath comes deep and hard.

     Just as Bobby is about to reach her, just as he is about to take
     her, he is stopped dead by the booming voice of JAKE McKENNA.

                       JAKE (O.S.)
             Grace!

     Bobby turns to face Jake:  An older man, still large and
     formidable for his age.

                       GRACE (nonplussed)
             Jake.  I thought you...

                       JAKE
             Who the hell is this!?

                       BOBBY
             Who the hell are you?

                       JAKE
             I'm her husband.

                       BOBBY (shocked whisper)
             Husband ...?

                       JAKE
             Now who the hell are you, and it better be
             good, or God help me I'll break you in
             half.

                       BOBBY
             Easy, chief. I... I was helping your wife.
             I met her in town.  She needed a hand with
             her drapes.  That's all.

                       JAKE
             Didn't much look like you were hanging
             drapes.

                       BOBBY
             I swear to you that's all that happened.  I
             haven't so much as set foot in your
             bedroom.

                       JAKE
             A lot that means.

                       BOBBY
             Grace, tell him.

     Grace says nothing.  She picks up a glass of lemonade and sips
     at it coolly.

                       BOBBY
             Damn it, Grace!  Tell him.

                       GRACE (coyly)
             If he says that's what happened, Jake, it
             must be true.

                       JAKE
             Oh yeah, and I suppose you didn't have
             anything to do with it Grace, he just
             wandered up here by hisself. I got a mind
             to put you over my knee and paddle your
             ass raw!

                       BOBBY (to Grace)
             You bitch! Is this what it's all about? You
             sucker me up here so you can watch the two
             of us beat the shit out of each other over
             you? You both... Forget it! (heads for the
             door)

                       JAKE
             Where you going!

                       BOBBY (exiting)
             'Scuse me, you want to take my head off,
             mister. I won't even try to stop you. I
             deserve it for being an idiot. But if
             you're not, I think I'll be on my way...
             Ow!

     Jake punches him in the nose.

                       JAKE
             You can't just walk in here and walk out,
             you sonufabitch! I'm gonna tear you a new
             asshole!

                       BOBBY
             You broke my nose!

                       JAKE
             It ain't broke.

     It probably isn't, but it bleeds. Bobby feels the blood and then
     sees it on his shirt.

                       BOBBY
             Goddamn it! I'm... you're lucky I don't sue
             you.

                       JAKE (opens the door)
             Get goin' Junior.

     Bobby glares back at Grace who gives him a maddening little smile.

                       BOBBY
             You people are crazy!

     He storms out holding his nose.

     EXT. DESERT ROAD - LATER - DAY

     BOBBY, holding a handkerchief to his nose which has stopped
     bleeding, hauling his bag on his shoulder, walks back to town
     along the side of the road. Already he is caked with a mixture
     of sweat and dust, looking up at the relentless sun that beats
     down on him.

                       BOBBY
             Fuckin' shithole!

     A CADILLAC slows beside him, JAKE driving.

                       BOBBY
             What the fuck do you want?

                       JAKE
             I'll give you a lift, son. Too hot to be
             walking... People die out here, y'know.

     Bobby continues walking.

                       JAKE
             Aw, you're not still upset about that love
             tap, are you? If I meant you real trouble,
             I'd have given it to you by now. Get in,
             lad. Come on. Get in.

     Bobby gets in.

                       JAKE
             After you huffed off, Grace lied so bad, I
             got so pissed off, I pulled down her pants
             to paddle her ass raw and finger-fucked it
             instead. Sorry I lost my cool like that.
             It's a funny thing, women.

                       BOBBY
             Yeah...

                       JAKE
             Say, what happened to your hand?

                       BOBBY
             Accident.

                       JAKE
             You've got to be--

                       BOBBY
             Yeah, I know.  More careful.

                       JAKE
             I guess we've never been introduced proper.
             Jake McKenna.

                       BOBBY
             That's a solid name.

                       JAKE
             I'm a solid man.

                       BOBBY
             Bobby Cooper.

                       JAKE
             "Bobby Cooper." What brings you to
             Superior, Coop?

                       BOBBY
             An overheated car.

                       JAKE
             Oh? Darrell taking good care of you?

                       BOBBY
             Darrell's a moron.

                       JAKE (laughs)
             Yeah, he sure is a character. You need any
             help with that car now?... Where you
             headed?

                       BOBBY
             California...

                       JAKE
             Live there?

                       BOBBY
             Got work.  I know a man who's got a boat.
             Wants me to sail it for him.

                       JAKE
             You a sailor man?  That'd be the life.
             Drive across the country, step on a boat
             and just sail away.  A man could pretty
             well disappear like that.  Just sail away
             until all he was was a memory.  I guess a
             little place like this would just be a dot
             on a map to you after awhile.

                       BOBBY
             I hope so. (beat) Listen, McKenna about
             your wife:  If I had known she was
             married--

                       JAKE
             It wouldn't have made a difference to you,
             now would it?  Not a wit.  Do you know why?
             Because you're a man without scruples.

                       BOBBY
             Wait a second--

                       JAKE
             Ah, I can smell it on you.

     Jake wipes his hand across the back of Bobby's neck and holds it
     to his nose.

                       BOBBY
             Hey!

                       JAKE
             That's the sweat of a man who hasn't an
             honest bone in his body.  Don't be
             offended, lad.  A man who's got no ethics
             is a free man.  I envy that.  Beside, how
             can I blame you?  That Grace sure has a
             mind of her own, and a body to match, don't
             she?  Eh?

     Jake nudges Bobby who smiles a nervous smile.

                       JAKE
             She does at that.  I knew when I married
             her she was a free spirit.  A woman with
             her looks and a man my age; what was I to
             expect?  But you see a woman like that in a
             town like this and you don't think, you do.
             So, I married her.  What are you to do, eh?
             Women.

                       BOBBY
             Can't live with them, and you can't shoot
             'em.

     Jake looks at Bobby, his lips curled into a sly smile.

                       JAKE
             "You can't shoot 'em!" I like that.
             (laughs) I bet she led you on good, didn't
             she?  Taking you up to the house to hang
             drapes. Oh that's a good one. Bet she had
             you hard as a rock wiggling her ass in your
             face.  I bet you just wanted to pull down
             her pants and hog her out. Then me busting
             in like some wild bear. Ha! Bet you had a
             fire going under you.

                       BOBBY
             Like you don't know.

                       JAKE
             Mad like a dog in heat, I bet you were.  I
             can tell you got a temper on you.

     Bobby gives a little laugh.

                       JAKE
             Bet you just wanted to snap her neck right
             then, didn't you?  Bet you just wanted to
             kill her.

     Bobby starts to laugh heartily.  Jake joins in, then stops
     abruptly.

                       JAKE
             Would you?

                       BOBBY
             Would I what?

                       JAKE
             Would you kill her?

     Bobby starts to laugh. Bobby stops laughing.

                       JAKE
             Because I'm sick and tired of her little
             games.  Because you could do it and drift
             away on your boat and no one would ever see
             you again.  Because I've got a
             fifty-thousand dollar life insurance policy
             on her, and I would be more than happy to
             give the man who does her in a good chunk
             of it.

     For a moment Bobby sits in silence not sure of what to make of
     the offer.

                       BOBBY
             I've done a few things but I'm not a
             murderer, Mr. McKenna.

                       JAKE
             How do you know if you've never tried?

                       BOBBY
             This is a joke, right?  You just want to
             rattle me.  Right?

     They reach town and Jake stops the car near a small GROCERY
     STORE.

                       JAKE
             That's right.  Nothing but a joke.  That's
             all.

     Bobby gets out of the car.  With a big smile Jake says:

                       JAKE
             Enjoy your stay, lad.

     Jake speeds away.  Bobby looks after him.

                       BOBBY
             Who are these people?

     INT. SMALL GROCERY STORE - LATER

     The store is small and dark and empty save for a tiny, older
     Mexican WOMAN who is behind the counter.  BOBBY enters.

                       BOBBY
             Got any cold soda?

                       WOMAN
             Eh?

                       BOBBY
             Soda.  You got any soda?

                       WOMAN
             Hablar slowly, por favor.  My ingles no es
             bien.

                       BOBBY
             Soda.  You know.

     Bobby cups his hand and brings it to his mouth pantomiming.

                       WOMAN
             Oh.  Something to eat.  Si.

     She holds up a pack of Twinkies.

                       BOBBY
             Not eat.  Drink.  What the fuck is drink in
             Spanish ... uh, agua?

     The old woman's eyes widen.  She starts to scream, but quickly
     clamps her hands over her mouth.  For a moment Bobby thinks the
     woman is screaming at what he has said.  Then, as if he feels a
     presence behind him, Bobby turns slowly to face the TWO
     tough-looking, unshaven, tattoo-covered BIKERS.  One holds a
     gun.

                       BIKER
             That's right, lady.  Keep it in you and
             nobody gets hurt.  That goes for you too,
             stud.  Gimmie the money.  Now!

                       WOMAN
             Eh?

                       SECOND BIKER
             The dinero, Senora.  Hand it over.

     Bobby shifts his weight trying to hide his pack behind his back.

     The woman goes to an old-fashioned cash register and rings it
     open.  She hands the money to the biker.

                       BIKER
             That's it?  Lady, I got kids to put through
             school.

                       WOMAN
             Es all I have.

     The biker turns to Bobby.

                       BIKER
             Okay, pal.  Whatcha got? Give it, now.

     Bobby pulls a thick wad of cash ($1,000 plus) from his pant
     pocket, tosses it on the counter.

                       BIKER (thumbing through it, impressed)
             Nice...Just who are you beautiful? What
             else you got for papa?

     Bobby makes a show of pulling out his wallet, flings it to him.

                       BIKER
             Better...you're getting tasty. Now toss the
             bag, sweetie.

                       BOBBY
             It's just books.

                       BIKER
             I'm a reader. Toss it.

                       BOBBY (an entreaty)
             It's personal things...family things.

                       BIKER
             How touching...I like family values. Give
             it to me.

     Bobby takes an unsteady breath.

                       BOBBY
             No.

                       BIKER
             No?

                       SECOND BIKER
             Hey man, forget it. Come on.

                       BIKER
             No?

                       WOMAN
             Senor, give him the bag.

                       BIKER
             That's all right. He doesn't want to give
             me the bag...

                       SECOND BIKER
             He's fucking with you man. Shoot him.

                       BIKER (cont'd)
             ...he doesn't have to give me the bag.

     The biker grabs Bobby's bag. Bobby flinches in anticipation of a
     shot but refuses to let go of the bag.  The biker swings the gun
     hard, clipping Bobby across the forehead.  Bobby falls against
     the counter and to the floor.  The woman starts to scream. The
     biker grabs up the pack, then, looking back at the woman, sees a
     ring on her finger.  He grabs her hand and pulls at the ring.
     The woman screams wildly.

                       SECOND BIKER
             Let's go, man.

                       BIKER
             A little extra never hurt, Benji, would you
             just relax.

                       WOMAN
             No!  No! My wedding ring.

     He pulls the ring from the woman's finger and pushes her back.
     With Bobby's bag slung over his shoulder he turns to leave.

                       BIKER
             Now we go.

                       WOMAN
             You go to El Diablo!

     From beneath the counter the woman pulls a shotgun. The woman
     fires A SHOT that rips through the bag and into the back of the
     biker.  He falls to the ground, very dead, amid a shower of
     blood and shredded money.

                      SECOND BIKER
             Bugger! You bitch!

     The Second Biker now sees the money floating all over the place
     out of the torn bag. His eyes go big with greed as he FIRES at
     the old woman, who ducks behind the counter.

     The Biker grabs for the bag and what's left of the money, not
     expecting the feisty old lady to pop up and unload her SECOND
     BLAST into him and the bag.

     Whatever was left of the money on the first round is now gone to
     shreds along with the bag and the Biker who is very dead.

     Bobby is staggered, crawls towards the shreds.

                       WOMAN (cursing in Spanish)
             Hijos de puta. Bayan a comer su propia
             mierda en el infierno. (TRANSLATION: Sons
             of bitches. Go eat your own shit in hell).

     She comes around the counter to his side as he grabs his wallet
     and the $1000 cash roll from the dead biker's pants.

                       WOMAN
             I call the sheriff.

                       BOBBY
             No! No police.

     Bobby gives her a hundred dollars.

                       WOMAN
             A hundred dollars? No police?

     Bobby gives her some more cash. She looks at him. Finally he
     gives her the entire wad.

                       BOBBY
             No police until I leave.

     Bobby stumbles from the store as the screen burns a bright white.

                                                     FADE TO:

     EXT. STREET - LATER

     BOBBY, dazed and holding his head, sits on the ground next to a
     SPIGOT that is dripping water.  He cups his hands under the
     water and splashes it against his face, lightly wiping the cut
     above his eye. The SHERIFF'S CAR goes wailing by on the main
     drag. Recoiling from being spotted, Bobby tries to take another
     drink. A SCORPION crawls out of the faucet. He jumps back.

     EXT. HARLIN'S GARAGE - LATER

     DARRELL is leaning under the hood of a car working on its engine
     as BOBBY walks up.

                       BOBBY
             Hey.

                       DARRELL
             Hey, your ... what the hell happened to
             you?

                       BOBBY
             Nothing.

                       DARRELL
             Don't look like nothing.

                       BOBBY
             Just banged my head.  It was an accident.

                       DARRELL
             Another accident?  You got to be more
             careful.

     Bobby rolls his eyes. Then notices the front fenders have been
     removed.

                       BOBBY
             What the hell happened to my car?

                       DARRELL
             Bottom hose was shot too.  Rotted clear
             through. Had to put a new one in. Runs like
             a dream now.

                       BOBBY (suspicious)
             How much?

                       DARRELL
             Well ... you got your parts, you got your
             labour ... let's call it a hundred-fifty
             bucks.

                       BOBBY
             How much!?

                       DARRELL
             Hundred-fifty.

                       BOBBY
             To replace a goddamn radiator hose!?

                       DARRELL
             A goddamn radiator hose in a
             sixty-four-and-a-half Mustang.  You know
             how long it took me to find that hose?

                       BOBBY
             About an hour and a half, because that's
             all the longer I've been gone.

                       DARRELL
             Actually, it's been about three hours.
             You're the one thinks that car's so damn
             fancy.  What you expect but fancy damn
             prices?

                       BOBBY
             That's a Ford, not a Ferrari.  You going to
             tell me no one else in this shit hole
             drives a Ford?

                       DARRELL
             "That's not just a Ford, that's a
             sixty-four-and-a-half Mustang."

                       BOBBY
             What's that got to do with the radiator hose?

                       DARRELL
             I don't know, but "it's the reason I'm living
             here and you're just passing through."  Now you
             owe me a hundred-fifty dollars.

                       BOBBY
             It might as well be fifteen-hundred
             dollars, because I don't have the money.

                       DARRELL
             Then you ain't gonna have the car.

                       BOBBY
             Listen, man.  I got rolled half an hour ago
             for everything I had.

     Bobby digs through his bloodied wallet, trying to hide it from
     Darrell. He fishes out a five dollar bill. Then digs out a
     bloody one dollar bill from his pocket.

                       BOBBY
             I've got five...six dollars.

     Darrell snatches the five from him and adds it to a thick wad of
     greasy bills he carries in his overalls.

                       DARRELL
             Then you're only a hundred-forty-five in
             the hole.  You can keep that dollar. Now
             why don't you just take your American
             Express Gold Card, and call that guy with
             the big schnooz on TV and have him send you
             the money lickity split.

                       BOBBY
             I don't have a goddamn credit card.

                       DARRELL
             Now that's too bad.  I sure hope you know
             how to wash dishes or shovel shit 'cause
             you're gonna have to work this one off.

     Bobby proffers his Movado watch.

                       BOBBY
             Look, I got a Movado.  It's worth at least
             seven, eight hundred. You could sell it for
             that.

                       DARRELL (studying it)
             Who the hell to? Shit, can't see no
             numbers.

                       BOBBY
             You don't need numbers.  That's why it's
             expensive.  Look at the gold.

     Darrell doubts that, shake his head.

                       DARRELL
             ...got no day, got no date.  Probably ain't
             worth a duck's fart (proffers his own
             watch). This one here cost me $3.75 and
             it's got every doodad you can imagine. No
             sir I'll stick with this (walks away).

                       BOBBY
             You son of a bitch! I'll have my lawyers
             shut you down.

                       DARRELL
             You ain't got no credit card but you got a
             lawyer. Sweet talk me all you want.  Didn't
             you read the sign? It says...

                       BOBBY
             What sign? Fuck the sign. I want my car.

                       DARRELL
             I want my hundred and forty-five dollars.

     Bobby stands his ground for a moment as if deciding whether or
     not to fight for the car, then wheels and walks away.

     Darrell looks at him, smirks.

     INT. TRUCK STOP/DINER - LATER

     It is a little worn diner-type stop one would find on most any
     open road:  Counter with stools, laminated menus, a Wurlitzer in
     the corner belching out country TUNES.  Business is slow but
     it's the only restaurant in town. There is a SHORT ORDER COOK in
     the kitchen, and FLO, a hard-looking waitress is behind the
     counter.  A couple of regular drivers, ED and BOYD, are seated
     on the stools, Boyd is flipping a coin.

                       ED
             One-hundred-thirteen degrees.  That was
             back in July of forty-seven. That afternoon
             it dropped down to forty three! True story.

                       BOYD
             One time last year I remember it went from
             98 to 23 same day. Wind, black clouds come
             out like...

     BOBBY comes out of the men's room and sits at the end of the
     counter.  He has cleaned himself up a bit but still looks like a
     mess. He buries his face in the menu.

                       BOBBY
             You got a beer?

                       FLO
             What kind?

                       BOBBY
             Beck's.

                       FLO
             No Beck's. A-1, Coors...

                       BOBBY
             Heineken?

                       FLO
             No, we ain't got no Heineken.  We got
             Miller.

                       BOBBY
             Genuine Draft?

                       FLO
             No.  Just plain ol' Miller. Now you can
             fuckin' take it or you can fuckin' leave
             it.

                       BOBBY
             I'll fuckin' take it. To go.

                       SHORT ORDER COOK
             Flo, cheeseburger bleedin'.

                       FLO
             I'll be right back with that beer.

     Flo moves off.

                       BOBBY
             ...and a waitress named Flo.  Christ.

     As Bobby stares at the money on the counter in front of him, he
     hears, from somewhere outside the diner, the sound of a POLICE
     RADIO crackling. He now feels something against his foot.  He
     looks down and sees a CAT rubbing against his leg.  He gives it
     a good kick sending it sliding across the floor with a screech.

                       BOBBY
             Fucking cat.

     In the background, two teenagers sit at a booth.  TOBY looks the
     part of a local, wearing jeans and a white T-shirt.  His hair is
     cropped close and he looks to be a senior in high school.  His
     girl, JENNY, is nondescript, neither ugly nor beautiful. She is
     the kind of girl most guys would pass without a second look.
     Toby gets up from his booth and goes to the bathroom.  After he
     is gone Jenny walks to Bobby.

                       JENNY
             Hey, Mister.  You gotta quarter for the
             juke?

                       BOBBY
             What?

                       JENNY
             I wanna play a song on the juke.  You got a
             quarter?

     Bobby looks at Jenny, then picks a quarter from his winnings and
     flips it to her. He can't resist putting a little charm into it.

                       JENNY
             What happened to your hand?

                       BOBBY
             I cut it shaving; I know, I gotta be more
             careful.

                       JENNY
             Got any requests?

                       BOBBY
             That country shit all sounds the same to
             me.

                       JENNY
             How about I pick one out for you?

     Bobby half smiles.  Jenny plays a song.  Patsy Cline's "Your
     Cheatin' Heart."  Jenny takes up a stool next to Bobby's.

                       JENNY
             You like Patsy Cline?  I just love her.
             How come, I wonder, she don't put out no
             more new records.

                       BOBBY
             Cause she's dead.

                       JENNY
             Gee, that's sad.  Don't that make you sad?

                       BOBBY
             I've had time to get over it.

                       JENNY
             You're not from around here, are you?
             Where you from?

                       BOBBY
             Oz.

                       JENNY
             You ain't from Oz.  Oz is in that movie.

                       BOBBY
             You're too quick for me.

     Toby walks back into the room.  He looks at Jenny.  He looks at
     Bobby.  He looks at Jenny talking to Bobby.  He loses it.

                       TOBY
             No....No....No I'm seeing but I'm not
             believin'...Stop the wedding.  This can't
             be. Hey!  What are you doing with my girl?

     Bobby says nothing, ignoring Toby.

                       TOBY
             I axed you a question.

                       JENNY
             Aw, Toby, we weren't doing nothing.  We was
             just talking.

                       TOBY
             You shut your mouth, girl, and get back
             over to our table. (to Bobby) Now, I'm not
             going to axe you again, Mister.  What were
             you doing with my girl?

                       BOBBY
             I wasn't doing anything.

                       TOBY
             That's not the way it looked to me.  Looked
             to me like you was trying to make time with
             her.

                       BOBBY
             Make time?  Is everybody in this town on
             drugs?

                       JENNY
             Honest, Toby.  I just axed him for a
             quarter for the jukebox.

                       TOBY
             Stay out of this, Jenny.  We got man's
             business to take care of. I ain't never
             taken no drugs, mister, and ...

                       BOBBY
             Then maybe you should've. Look, pal, I
             wasn't making a play for your girl.

                       TOBY
             You expect me to believe that?

                       BOBBY
             I don't care what you believe as long as
             you leave me alone.

                       TOBY
             Mister, I'm calling you out.

                       BOBBY
             What?  You want to fight?  Over her?

     Bobby looks Jenny over.

                       FLO
             Toby, you go finish your soda and leave the
             man alone.

                       TOBY (to Bobby)
             You know who I am?  Toby N. Tucker.
             Everyone round here call me TNT. You know
             why?

                       BOBBY
             Let's see...they're not very imaginative?

                       TOBY
             'Cause I'm just like dynamite.  And when I
             go off, somebody gets hurt.

                       BOBBY
             Fine.  I was making time with your girl.
             Now I'm scared to death and I learned my
             lesson. Now can you go away?

                       TOBY
             Not before I settle with you, chickenshit!

                       BOBBY
             Christ, I don't believe this!

                       TOBY
             Stand up.

                       BOBBY
             I wasn't hitting on your girl!

                       TOBY
             Stand up, Mister, or I'll beat you where
             you sit.

     Bobby sits for a beat. he doesn't need a fight with Toby now
     with his damaged hand nor does he need to be noticed either. He
     sits there.

                       FLO
             Toby, you stop it now! Can't you see he's
             got a hurt hand?

                       TOBY
             Don't you never mind, Flo.  This is gonna
             be over real quick.

     Reluctantly Bobby rises, facing off against Toby, each clenching
     their fist and waiting for the other to make the first move.
     The tension builds.  We see it on the faces of Jenny, Flo and
     the regulars.  Just then the record on the juke ends and the
     needle scratches off.  There is the crackle of a police radio as
     the door to the diner opens and SHERIFF VIRGIL POTTER walks in.
     The tension eases. Toby, mindful of the sheriff, steps closer to
     Bobby and whispers menacingly into his ear.

                       TOBY
             You're lucky, Mister.  Don't think it's
             over.  I called you out and I'm gonna see
             this through.  You hear me? (to Jenny)
             Come on, girl.  I got half a mind to make
             you walk home.

     Toby takes Jenny by the arm and pulls her out of the diner.

                       FLO
             My lord, that little baby of yours Virgil,
             has gotten cuter'n a bunny's nose.

                       SHERIFF
             What was that all about?

                       FLO
             You know how that Toby is.  Thinks every
             man he sees is after his Jenny.

                       SHERIFF
             More like Jenny is after every man she
             sees.

                       FLO (to Bobby)
             You pay Toby no mind.  He just likes to
             show off for his girl.  Give him a couple
             of hours, he'll cool off.  Still want that
             beer?

                       BOBBY (tense, seeing the Sheriff)
             I'll take it to go.

     Bobby holds his hand to his face to cover the cut on his
     forehead.

                       ED
             How's it with you, Sheriff?

                       SHERIFF
             Already started out bad.  Couple of bikers
             from out of town tried to knock over
             Jamilla's grocery store this morning. It
             was a real shootout.

                       BOYD
             What happened?

                       SHERIFF
             The old witch killed 'em both.

                       ED
             Holy shit!

                       FLO
             Poor thing.  Is she all right?

                       SHERIFF
             Sure, when the sons of bitches tried to
             steal her wedding ring. That's when she
             started shooting.  Can't blame her.  The
             ring was all Carlos left her when he died.
             Store's a mess.

                       BOYD
             It's the desert.  That's what it is.  The
             desert makes everybody crazy.  Ain't that
             right, Sheriff?  People go crazy out here.

                       ED
             Come on, Boyd.  I've got to make tracks.
             That yogurt's got to make Santa Fe before
             it spoils.

                       BOYD
             Dr. Pepper don't have that problem.

     Ed and Boyd toss a few bills on the counter and exit.  Flo
     stands near the cash register with Bobby's beer.

                       FLO
             I can't open off-sale for you, sugar.

     Bobby pays for the beer ($1.75).  Flo opens the register.

                       FLO
             Let me get your change.

                       SHERIFF
             Flo, I'm just gonna help myself to a refill
             on the coffee.

     The Sheriff reaches around the counter for the pot.

                       FLO
             You be careful now, Virgil.

     Just as the words leave Flo's mouth the Sheriff spills the pot.
     It shatters against the floor spilling hot coffee everywhere.
     Flo runs over to him.

                       SHERIFF
             Son of a bitch!

                       FLO
             Virgil!  Now look at what you done!  Are
             you all right?

                       SHERIFF
             I think I burned my gun hand!

     As Flo bends to wipe the counter, Virgil touches her intimately.

                       SHERIFF (Cont'd)
             How 'bout we put something soft on it
             later? (a look)

                       FLO
             (quietly) I could put some butter on it,
             hon'. (Her normal abrasive voice) It'd
             serve you right, you asshole.  Put it under
             some cold water. Joe, run get a mop and
             clean this fuckin' mess up.

     While everyone is distracted Bobby notices that the register
     drawer has been left open.  He looks around to make sure he is
     not being watched.  Slowly he eases his hand towards the drawer.
     It gets closer and closer.  As he is about to grab the money
     there, the cat - the same one he kicked away earlier - hisses
     and claws at his hand.  Bobby jumps back startled.

                       FLO
             Shasta!  Now why'd you go and scare the
             nice man like that?  Sorry about that,
             mister.  Let's see, you want $3.25. (gives
             it to him) You try to have a nice day now,
             would you?

                       BOBBY
             Sure, I'll try.

     With the Sheriff occupied, and the Mexican Jose mopping the
     floor, Bobby exits.

     EXT. PHONE BOOTH - STREET - DAY

     BOBBY begs on the phone.

                       BOBBY
             Cici?  Cici, it's Bobby...Bobby
             Cooper...Yeah, look, I know it's been a
             while, but I'm kind of in a
             jam...yeah...One-hundred-fifty
             dollars...That's a lie. I called you on
             your birthday..Two years ago...I can't help
             it if you didn't get the message. Cici,
             honey, I don't want to argue. I need you to
             wire me the money...Because they're fucking
             going to KILL ME!  I didn't steal your
             CD's...Yeah, well where's my Mr. Coffee.
             Cici...Cici...

     Bobby slams the phone.

                       BOBBY
             Bitch. Cunt.

                                                     JUMP CUT TO:

     EXT. SAME PHONE BOOTH - STREET - DAY

     BOBBY is on another call, circling a local sports page betting
     line.

                       BOBBY
             73-11, this is Pluto. What's the line on
             Dallas?

                       GAMBLER'S VOICE
             Pluto. Fucking deadbeat. We head about
             you. You owe "the commie" 13 dimes, why you
             tryin' to get in my office? Lose this
             fuckin' number.

                       BOBBY
             Mike...Mike...you asshole.

                       GAMBLER'S VOICE
             Mike who?
                  (hangs up)

     Bobby, frustrated, clicks off.

                                                     JUMP CUT TO:

     INT. MR. ARKADY'S OFFICE - DAY

     It is the kind of cheesy, temporary office one would expect to
     find in a Las Vegas apartment building overlooking the DOWNTOWN
     STRIP.  MR. ARKADY, dressed in a silk suit with conspicuous
     jewelry, sits behind his desk eating lunch and cleaning his
     nails.  SERGEI, his goon in a shiny polyester shirt, hovers over
     his boss helping feed and manicure him.  These are the TWO MEN
     from Bobby's earlier FLASHBACK.  They are dangerous in an
     endearing way.  Sergei answers the phone. In the background is a
     very voluptuous female, obviously from the Middle East. SOFIA.

                       SERGEI
             Da?

                       MR. ARKADY
             Sergei, what are you, a Neanderthal? How
             many times do I have to tell you?  You
             answer a phone "hello," not "da."

                       SERGEI (nods yes)
             Sorry, Mr. Arkady.(into phone)"Hello?"

                       OPERATOR(V.O.)
             I have a collect call from Bobby Cooper.
             Will you accept the charges?

                       SERGEI
             Mr. Arkady, deadbeat Cooper's calling.

     Mr. Arkady doesn't acknowledge him.

                       SERGEI
             He's calling collect.

     At this Mr. Arkady's head springs up.  He snatches the phone
     from Sergei.

                       MR. ARKADY (overly sweet)
             Bobby, what a surprise.  I expected to be
             seeing you, not talking to you over the
             phone.

                                                    INTERCUTS TO:

     EXT. PHONE BOOTH - STREET

     BOBBY on the phone.

                       BOBBY
             I know, Mr. Arkadin. I know. I was on my
             way to you, it's just ... what a day I've
             had. I know I'm coming up with a highly
             improbable story, and I know you're not
             going to believe this, but this ...is...
             what happened. I had the money, I swear I
             had it. I was on my way to Vegas when my
             car breaks down in the middle of nowhere.

     Mr. Arkady cleans his nails completely disinterested in what
     Bobby is saying.

                       MR. ARKADY
             That's a shame, Bobby.  A real shame.

                       BOBBY
             And that's not the half of it, Mr.
             Arkadin...

                       MR. ARKADY
             "Arkady"

                       BOBBY
             Right, Mr. Arkady. And that's not the half
             of it. I got your money, and I go into this
             little grocery store in this hicktown to
             get something to eat and then... well, it
             gets robbed!

                       MR. ARKADY
             ...And let me guess.  This robber -- he
             gets your money.

                       BOBBY
             No. Two of them. Two robbers. And they both
             get nailed... get shot by the old lady.

                       MR. ARKADY
              The old lady?

                       BOBBY
             With a shotgun!  She kills both of 'em,
             and... and the money in my bag gets all
             shredded to bloody pieces. Not one bill is
             left alive.  I mean, what are the odds?

                       MR. ARKADY (beat, dry)
             Pretty long, Bobby.

                       BOBBY
             Mr. Arkady, honest, I ad to beat it outta
             there before the cops showed. So now I
             don't have a cent to my name. I can't even
             get my car out of the garage.  I tell you,
             Mister... (pause) if it weren't for bad
             luck I wouldn't have nay fuckin' luck at
             all, you know? (beat, waits)  So, I was
             wondering if you could wire me a hundred
             fifty-dollars so I could get my car out of
             this garage, see?  The bus depot here has a
             Western Union thing.  And of course I'll
             pay it back with the rest of the money.

                       MR. ARKADY(V.O.)
             Which you don't have.

                       BOBBY
             But which I can get. No problem. Look, I
             can sell my car in Vegas. Blue book it's
             worth 16 at least. I just need the 150,
              uh...

     Sergei looks like he's ready to pound heads.

                       MR. ARKADY (pause)
             Where are you?

                       BOBBY (hopeful)
             Uh...a little shithole in Arizona called
             Superior. About 200 miles east of Phoenix.

                       MR. ARKADY (pausing, V.O.)
             Superior, hunh?

     Bobby suddenly feeling suspicious.

                       BOBBY(V.O.)
             Yeah, if you could send it care of...

                       MR. ARKADY
             ...Now, let me get this straight. Two years
             you give me problems with your fuckin'
             payoffs. Now you owe me thirteen-thousand
             dollars, you call me - collect - then ask
             me to wire you one-hundred-fifty dollars
             just so you can get your car fixed.

                       BOBBY(V.O.)
             A hundred-forty-five would probably cover it.

                       MR. ARKADY
             A hundred and ... Now you listen to me
             you deadbeat little punk:  I don't care if
             you got hit by a truck and run over by a
             steamroller.  You owe me thirteen-thousand
             dollars and I want it.  I don't care how
             you get it, or where from, but I want it on
             my desk tomorrow, or I'll show you what
             real bad luck is.

     Sergei snaps a pencil he's holding in his hand, which goes
     flying by Arkady's head, forcing him to duck.

                       MR. ARKADY
             Do you understand me you little fuck?

                       BOBBY (snaps)
             Oh, fuck you too!

                       MR. ARKADY
             What'd you say to me!

                       BOBBY
             Shit I'm sorry!...you can't believe the
             strain I'm under. I'm just under a lot of
             strain here.

     There is a sharp silence at the other end. Bobby waits.

                       MR. ARKADY
             Bobby, you owed me that 'bread' 4 weeks
             ago. Now you tell me you want another week.
             That's 5 weeks, Bobby. That's also 5
             fingers, cause you and I know it's a finger
             a week Bobby. So you got balls. Good--now
             you come here tomorrow and you talk to me
             real nice and maybe I don't take the other
             3 fingers you owe me, you see? Tomorrow --
             and Bobby, don't make me come look for you,
             okay...have nice day.

     He hands the phone back to Sergei.

                       SERGEI (into phone)
             You got that? -- have nice day (hangs up).

                       MR. ARKADY
             The nerva that piece of shit! And look at
             you, you Neanderthal -- don't you fuckin'
             break pencils, you goombah!

                       SOFIA
             Finger? What are you, a faggot? In my
             country a man don't pay we cut off his
             head.

     Arkady motions Sergei to come close.

                       MR. ARKADY
             Get your ass down to this Superior,
             Arizona. Bring me this Bobby Cooper. I
             don't think he got the lesson. This is your
             last chance, Sergei.

                       SERGEI
             Da.

     EXT. STREET - DAY

     BOBBY, desperate, stares at the bandage of his wounded hand. It
     throbs, holding the hand to his ear.

     We hear an OPERATOR'S VOICE:

                       OPERATOR(V.O.)
             Hello?

                       BOBBY
             Hello?

                       OPERATOR(V.O.)
             Are you finished with your call?

                       BOBBY
             Yeah.

                       OPERATOR(V.O.)
             Please deposit an additional seventy-five
             cents.

     Bobby slams the phone against the hook.

                       BOBBY
             Goddamn rat's ass fuck! Shit! Damn! Damn!
             Damn!

     He marches from the phone booth, past an old HARDWARE STORE. The
     phone falls from the hook and we hear a recorded voice:

                       VOICE(V.O.)
             Thank you for using AT&T.

     In the store window, Bobby notices a set of garden shears for
     sale.

     EXT. EMPTY STREET - LATER DAY

     BOBBY walks a bit going nowhere in particular.  Looking at his
     watch thinking of Mr. Arkady, he shields himself with one hand
     from the sun.  At the side of an old building, in the bit of
     shade it throws, he twists at the beer cap which sticks and
     won't turn.  Bobby tries again twisting harder -- too hard -- as
     the cap jerkily twists off, cutting into his hand as it rotates.
     Bobby yells in pain.  At the same time the beer comes foaming
     from the bottle and spills onto his sleeve. The bottle slips
     from his wet fingers and crashes on the ground, emptying. He
     clutches his bleeding hand, pissed.

                       BOBBY
             Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I hate this fuckin' town!
             I hate it! Do you hear me?
                  (no answer)
             Get me outta here, please.  I gotta get out
             of this place.

     As if in answer, a JEEP drives by on the main street. GRACE
     looks pretty hot up there in the driver's seat, her eyes, behind
     sunglasses, flicking over him but not acknowledging him as she
     keeps going.

     Bobby's eyes throw back his own hostility at her, but
     unfortunately she misses it, as he now notices -- across the
     street -- a well-kept building with the most modern decor and
     signage, reading "McKenna's Realty Co."

     He thinks about it, in a quandary.

     EXT. HIGHWAY/CAR - DAY

     In a rented convertible, we now see SERGEI racing across the
     desert. His jacket off, a man with a mission. He glances at his
     watch, eager to get to this "fucking hole in the wall" which is
     somewhere on this incomprehensible American map he holds in one
     hand.

     INT. JAKE'S REALTY OFFICE - DAY

     BOBBY squats, looking at a real estate model of a desert
     development. JAKE smiles.

                       JAKE
             What can I do for you, lad?

                       BOBBY
             I was hoping we could talk.

                       JAKE
             Talk?  About what?

                       BOBBY
             About things.  About your wife.

                       JAKE
             Sweet Grace?  What about her?

                       BOBBY
             About what you said this morning.

     Jake shakes his head as if he doesn't understand.

                       BOBBY
             You said you had an insurance policy out on
             your wife.  Fifty-thousand dollars.

                       JAKE
             I do.

                       BOBBY
             You said you'd cut that up with the man who
             did her in.

                       JAKE
             I did?

                       BOBBY
             Don't play simple with me, Jake. You're a
             betting man. You want me to spell it out
             for you? I'll kill Grace if you cut me in
             on the money.

                       JAKE
             Boy I think this heat's getting to you the way
             you're rambling on.

                       BOBBY
             I'm not rambling.

                       JAKE
             You're talking like a madman.

                       BOBBY
             Well then, I guess that qualifies me for
             citizenship in this town. You're the one
             brought it up. This morning. In your car.

                       JAKE
             Oh, that was just loose talk. Husband
             gettin' pissed off.  I don't want anybody
             dead.

                       BOBBY
             Bullshit.  You wanted me to kill her.

                       JAKE
             A man doesn't always mean the things he
             says.

                       BOBBY
             You meant it.

                       JAKE
             What makes you say that?

                       BOBBY
             Because you're a slimy bastard who would
             have his wife killed just to get his hands
             on some money.

                       JAKE
             And what does that make you?

                       BOBBY
             The slimy bastard who's going to do it for
             you... (pause) You're a jealous man Jake.
             If you can't have Grace to yourself...well,
             you're not the sharing kind.

     For a moment Jake stares quietly at Bobby.

                       JAKE
             Well, I guess I have what you call a
             love-hate relationship with Grace.

                       BOBBY
             You love her, but you hate her?

                       JAKE
             No, I hate loving her. I hate the kind of
             person she is. I hate having to tolerate
             the little "games" she plays. Like fucking
             half of the town behind my back and
             laughing at me. The bitch. She loved to
             play. She wants me to hit her and when I
             hit her she likes it. She tortures me. But
             she's family. She's my little girl. My
             baby. I couldn't stand to watch her eyes
             roll back in her head as she sucks her last
             breath, or to see her pretty pink brains
             spill from her skull. No. Not me. But you?
             You got the killing in you, boy...How much
             you want?

     A pause.

                       BOBBY
             Make it twenty.

                       JAKE (stressed, paces)
             Twenty-thousand?  I don't have that kind of
             money.  I won't get the insurance until
             months after she's dead.  I don't imagine
             you'll want to be stickin' around after
             poor Grace's demise.  Twenty-thousand;
             that's more money than I could ever get my
             hands on.

                       BOBBY
             How much could you get?

                       JAKE
             Maybe ... ten-thousand.  And that's a
             maybe.

                       BOBBY
             I need thirteen.

                       JAKE
             That's a bit much.

                       BOBBY
             We're not talking about buying a car Jake.
             We're talking about killing your wife. It's
             thirteen, or it's nothing.

     For a moment the two men stand silent.  All we hear is the
     ticking of a grandfather CLOCK that stands in the corner.

                       JAKE
             You drive a hard bargain, but I had a
             feeling you were my boy when I met you.

                       BOBBY
             I'm not your boy.  I don't like you.  I got
             no choice but to do business with you.
             Let's just call this a nasty little
             marriage of convenience.

                       JAKE
             Don't say that.  I had a marriage of
             convenience with Grace, and look where
             that's lead...  Well, looks like we got
             ourselves a contract.

                       BOBBY (sarcastic)
             Do we shake hands?

                       JAKE
             If you can't trust the man you've hired to
             kill your wife ...? The thing is it's got
             to look like an accident; that's the thing.
             If it doesn't, then it's no good.  I won't
             get a dime, and it's my neck that'll be on
             the chopping block while you're living it
             up somewhere.

                       BOBBY
             How do you want it?

                       JAKE
             How the hell should I know?  I've never had
             a wife killed before. Jesus Christ! You
             want this job, you don't know how to do
             this? I guess I should have hired a
             professional.

                       BOBBY
             You want to do this yourself?  I don't have
             to do this, you know.

                       JAKE
             Be quiet, boy.  I got to figure this thing.
             I'm thinking. It can't be done at the
             house. It should be...

     Jake walks the office thinking.

                       BOBBY
             Come to think of it, how 'bout some money
             upfront?

                       JAKE
             Oh yeah sure. Why don't I buy you a plane
             ticket right out of here while I'm at it. I
             know you...
                  (then)
             This is what you do:  Go to the house to
             see her.

                       BOBBY
                  (beat)
             And tell her what?

     EXT. MCKENNA HOUSE - LATER DAY

     BOBBY stands on the porch talking to GRACE through the screen of
     the front door.  The look on his face is sincere.  Hers is
     skeptical.  We see the action take place as we hear Jake's V.O.:

                       JAKE(V.O.)
             ...I don't know.  Tell her you had to see
             her.  Tell her you don't care if she's
             married or not, you had to be with her.
             Sweet talk the woman.  A young buck like
             you must be good at that.  Then ... maybe
             shift the conversation.  Get her thinking
             about that jeep of hers.  She loves that
             thing.  Maybe the only thing she does love.
             She'll want to take you for a ride.

                       BOBBY
             I know you're not surprised I'm back here,
             cause you can read my mind and all.

     She's not surprised.

                       GRACE (seeing his new cut)
             That's some cut. I told you to be more
             careful.

                       BOBBY
             Yeah, well I said I was an idiot. Whatta
             you say we get out of here, take a drive
             somewhere, talk...

                       GRACE
             How do you know he's still not here?

                       BOBBY
             Guys like me take those chances. Let's go.

     EXT. DESERT - DAY

     GRACE'S JEEP cuts hard across the desert.  Grace has a wild,
     excited look on her face.  BOBBY sits next to her looking
     somewhat nervous.

                       JAKE(V.O.)
             She'll take you out somewhere in the
             desert.  She loves it out there; ridin'
             through the red rock and the mesas.  So do
             I.  I guess we got that in common.  She'll
             ride you out someplace quiet.  Someplace
             deserted.

                                                         FADE TO:

     EXT. DESERT - LATER DAY

     GRACE has stopped the JEEP on a plateau.  BOBBY sits beneath its
     shade while Grace walks in the sun seemingly unaffected by the
     heat. VULTURES swoop above.

                       JAKE(V.O.)
             There won't be anyone for miles around.
             Just the two of you and some prairie dogs.
             That's all.  You can sweet talk her a
             little if you like.  Makes no difference to
             me.  Just put her at ease, make her feel
             relaxed -- then do it.

     JAKE'S V.O. ends.  The scene is now synch with real time.

                       BOBBY
             Are there snakes out here?

                       GRACE
             They hear you comin'.  They won't bother
             you. Just don't sneak up on 'em.

                       BOBBY
             Doesn't the isolation bother you?

                       GRACE
             Yeah, but I like the sun.  I grew up on a
             reservation.  The sun, the desert; they
             like a religion to us.  Jake's the same
             way.  He loves the desert.  I guess we're
             alike that way.  That's about the only way.

                       BOBBY
             You love him?

                       GRACE
             No.

                       BOBBY
             Did you ever?

                       GRACE
             Depends on what you call love. I grew up on
             a reservation. A patch of desert in the
             middle of nowhere. That's where they stick
             Indians, Bobby. That's where they leave us
             to die. My brother killed himself when he
             was 19 cause he couldn't take it anymore.
             There's no hope there... Jake was my ticket
             out. Mom and me.

                       BOBBY
             Is that why you're with him?

                       GRACE
             I let him think he was courtin' me, but I
             reeled him in like a fish on a line. I
             wanted him. I wanted what he could give me,
             and I would've done anything to get him. Is
             that love?

                       BOBBY
             I'm guessing no.

                       GRACE
             Yeah, I guess you're right.

                       BOBBY
             I take it things didn't much work out the
             way you planned.

                       GRACE
             I'm still here, aren't I?  See this?

     Grace sweeps her hand before her across the expanse of the
     desert. The vultures are very much a part of this landscape.

                       GRACE(CONT)
             All this nothing? It doesn't get to Jake
             like it gets to me.  He says he don't mind
             being nothing but a big fish in a small
             pond.  More like a little fish in a dried
             up watering hole.

                       BOBBY
             You could leave him.

                       GRACE
             I don't know how.

                       BOBBY
             Walk away.

                       GRACE
             It's not that easy.  Maybe you can take
             chances; maybe you can wander around like
             some stray wherever you please.  I can't.
             I don't want to be alone.  I need to know
             I'm going to be taken care of.

                       BOBBY
             You need a meal ticket is what you mean.
             Some guy you can latch onto just long
             enough for him to get you out of here.

                       GRACE
             Is that so bad?  It's not like I wouldn't
             try to make him happy.  For awhile, anyway.
             I mean, I would ... do things for him.  I
             guess I'm no good that way.  I guess I
             tried to sucker you along like that.  Do
             you hate me for it?  I wouldn't blame you
             if you did.  But maybe it's like you said:
             You just got to do whatever it takes to get
             out.

                       BOBBY (soft echo)
             Whatever it takes.

     Grace steps to the edge of the plateau.

                       GRACE
             I wish I was a bird.  I know it's stupid.
             Every child says that.  When I was growing
             up some of the old ones on the reservation
             believed people could actually change into
             animals.  I wish I could.

     We see Bobby behind Grace.  He stares at her standing on the
     edge of the plateau.  He rises and walks towards her slowly, but
     with deliberation.

                       GRACE(CONT)
             If I was a bird I would fly to Florida; to
             Disney World.  I always wanted to go there.
             I'd fly to New York.  Maybe.  I guess New
             York isn't the best place to be a bird.
             I'd fly to St. Louis, then New Orleans, all
             over Texas.  Then I'd fly to California.  I
             guess by then I'd have seen it all and I
             could die.

     Bobby now stands a few feet behind Grace.  She kicks a rock and
     watches it sail over the lip of the cliff into the nothingness
     below.

                       GRACE(CONT)
             They say you don't feel anything.  The
             shock kills you before you hit the ground.
             I don't know how they would know that.  But
             I heard it's just like flying; straight
             down into the ground.  I guess if it
             doesn't hurt it's a beautiful thing.

     Bobby tenses himself.  Sweat forms on his brow as he stands
     directly behind Grace with his hands extended before him.  They
     hover just below her shoulder blades ready to push forward.
     Suddenly Grace wheels.  Startled by Bobby she almost falls over
     the edge.  Bobby grabs her, her weight still going back.
     Grace's life is literally in his hands.  She looks down at the
     ground far below, then up into Bobby's eyes.  She shows no fear,
     but instead wears a curious smirk.

                       GRACE
             Hate's a funny thing.  Right now I bet you
             don't know if you want to kill me, or fuck
             me.

     Bobby hesitates, then pulls Grace close and kisses her with
     great ardor on the lips.

     EXT. APACHE LEAP - DAY

     On a blanket on the ground, BOBBY and GRACE make love quickly,
     hotly, her dress pulled up, his pants down. But Grace is
     troubled and pulls out, further frustrating Bobby.

                       GRACE
             No...Stop!  I can't!

     Her eyes withdraw into another dimension, as she hikes her dress
     back up. Bobby comes out of his own head, feels the distance
     between them.

                       BOBBY
             What's the matter?...Grace?

                       GRACE
             Nothing.

                       BOBBY
             Don't feel like nothing.

     He finishes relieving himself behind a tree, puts his pants back
     on.

                       GRACE
             Get out of town, Bobby, as quick as you
             can.

                       BOBBY
             Grace, I've been fucked over too many
             times, by too many women.  You're becoming
             the queen of hot and cold.

                       GRACE
             You'd never understand.

                       BOBBY
             Try me.

                       GRACE
             It's just such a mess. With Jake I mean...

                       BOBBY
             Nothing I understand better than a mess.

                       GRACE (in great tension)
             Jake was with my Mom after my real Dad
             died.

                       BOBBY
             You mean the Shaman?

                       GRACE
             He was a Shaman...in the mine. We had
             nothin' after he died. Jake took us in,
             gave us a little money. He used to call me
             his "little halfbreed"... He kept Mom on
             the side y'know, cause he was married
             someplace else. He had kids in Phoenix I
             think, no one knew him around here...but
             the thing was...you see...
                  (pause)
             ...he was raping me the whole time...for
             years. He loved to do things to me. Believe
             it or not, he used to say he was in love
             with my ass. Y'ever been in love with a
             woman's ass?

     The dominoes are tumbling for Bobby.

                       BOBBY
             Yeah.

                       GRACE
             You're sick too...he loved to do things to
             me. Control me. My Mom...it tore her up
             cause she couldn't do nothing about it. She
             become alcoholic...and the funny thing is--
             I liked it. I liked being controlled by
             Jake. The truth was as far out and crazy as
             he got, I wanted more. I wanted to go all
             the way. Women say they don't want to be
             taken like, really taken -- that's bullshit
             -- they do. The first time he finished with
             me, he said I was a woman now. I was 14.
             Then he started crying like a baby...wanted
             me to hold him. It's a strange feeling to
             hate someone so much for so many years, but
             still want to hold him, comfort him... They
             found my Mom right down there (points) at
             the bottom of Apache Leap. She had cactus
             needles stuck all over her body and
             Virgil...Sheriff Potter said she was drunk
             and went insane. But I'll never believe she
             ran off that cliff by accident. She was
             born on this earth and she loved it. She
             was like me. She just wanted to fly away.

     Bobby is quietly stunned. A whole world has opened up to him;
     and he isn't sure yet where the story ends. There is some force
     at work here, beyond his control.

                       GRACE
             After he got his divorce, he forced me to
             marry him...but when I saw her body, I
             swore to her on my soul that some day I'd
             get Jake for what he did to her...

                       BOBBY
             I'm sorry...

                       GRACE
             Yeah. What do you want. Life, right?
             (shrugs, stoic) Have you ever been to
             California?

                       BOBBY
             Yeah.

                       GRACE (as if in a dream)
             Is it far from here?

                       BOBBY
             Oh yeah. It's far, it's another world.

                       GRACE
             Is it pretty?

                       BOBBY
             Oh yeah. It's beautiful, beautiful beaches.
             Blue water and clear skies as far as you
             can see.

                       GRACE (like a little girl)
             Would you take me with you?

                       BOBBY (pause)
             I wish I could.

                       GRACE
             Please. I won't hang on you. As soon as we
             get there you can dump me. I don't care. I
             just want to get out of here.

                       BOBBY
             Honey, baby, I can't. I can't even get out
             of here myself. Believe it or not, I need a
             lousy hundred and fifty bucks to get my car
             back from that crazy mechanic...

                       GRACE
             Darrell?  You know he and Jake are...

                       BOBBY
             You don't have any money put away, do you?

                       GRACE
             Jake never gives me more'n twenty bucks at
             a time, like a bird in a cage, he don't
             want me goin' anywhere...

                       BOBBY
             ...you could get me money. I'll get you
             out of here.

     She looks at him.

                       GRACE
             There's money. A lot.

     The words hang there, thick between them.

                       BOBBY
             Where?

                       GRACE
             Jake hides it. In a safe. In the floor. In
             the bedroom. He counts it. He loves to sit
             there and count it.

                       BOBBY
             What do you mean?

                       GRACE
             At night. He just sits there and laughs and
             talks to himself and counts it. I heard
             him. My Mom told me he had a hunnert
             thousand dollars down there. Maybe more.

     Bobby's eyes widen in hope.

                       BOBBY
             In cash?

                       GRACE
             Oh yeah. There's nothing else with Jake. He
             don't trust banks. He keeps the money in
             the floor right under the bed. He loves it
             so much, he wouldn't think of spending any
             of it on me. I never seen it but I know
             he's got more than a hunnert thousand at
             least...

                       BOBBY
             One-hundred-thousand!?  That son-of-a-bitch.

                       GRACE (puzzled)
             What do you mean?

                       BOBBY (ignoring her)
             If it's in a safe we'd have to get the
             combination--

                       GRACE
             It takes a key.  He keeps it on himself all
             the time.  I mean all the time.  It
             scratches up against me when we do it.

                       BOBBY
             If the key's on him, how do we get the key?

                       GRACE
             Kill him.

     Spoken almost innocently, it hangs there between them. A
     silence.

                       BOBBY
             I can't kill, Grace. I can't kill anybody.

                       GRACE
             It's not like he's a young man, Bobby. He's
             had time to live. It'd be quick. I mean, he
             wouldn't even have to feel it...
             (seductively) I mean, sometime in the
             middle of the night, when it's quiet...when
             he's asleep, you could just come up behind
             him when he's pounding on me and...

     Grace lays her hands on Bobby, starting to caress him. He
     bristles and freezes with fear and disgust.

                       BOBBY
             Shit! Listen to you... Are you crazy,
             Grace?

     He abruptly pulls away.

                       BOBBY
             Jesus Christ! I think this place is making
             me crazy. I was crazy to come back here and
             see you. I'm crazy for listening to anyone
             in this town, and I'd sure as hell be crazy
             if I spent another minute with you.

     Grace rises, covering her nakedness, shooting a hand to his
     face, like she did when she read his fortune.

                       GRACE
             But it's in you, Bobby. I see it. I see
             Death. It's in your heart. Let it out for
             me. Let it out...

     He's mesmerized. Then:

                       GRACE
             Do it for me, Bobby, you'll never regret
             it. I promise you. I'll do anything for
             you. Anything.

     Bobby pauses, terribly torn.

                       BOBBY
             I...take me back to town...

     He turns away, towards the jeep. Grace has a tone of desperation
     in her voice.

                       GRACE
             You need the money, Bobby. It's a lot more
             than $100,000. A lot more. How are you
             going to get out of here? You need the
             money. Whatever it takes, Bobby, remember?

     Bobby walks past the jeep, on his way back to town alone.

                       GRACE
             Where you going? I'll give you the
             ride...Come back! Bobby? It's three miles.

     Bobby doesn't look back. Her eyes drift backwards into her
     solitude.

                       GRACE (to herself)
             Bobby?...Whatever it takes.

     EXT. DESERT/ALONG THE ROAD - LATER DAY

     BOBBY walks through the desert parallel to the road, still in a
     rage. Desert insects produce a cacophony of drones, buzzes, and
     clicks. A rattlesnake darts off a rock into the brush. A VOICE
     whispers to him.

                       JAKE (V.O.)
             You've got the killing in you, boy.

     Bobby turns and looks around. Just desert. He continues.

                       JAKE (V.O.)
             Next time you'll do just fine.

                       BOBBY
             No!

     The screen burns a bright white.

     EXT. STREET CORNER - DAY

     In a news pot, further down the street from where he was first
     seen, the old, BLIND MAN sits with his dead DOG, speaking as if
     into camera, sipping on a Dr. Pepper.

                       BLIND MAN
             It's the desert that makes you crazy. The
             loneliness out here. Nobody to talk to.
             People on the run. Trailer parks. White
             trash. I seen some peculiar things on a hot
             day.  I seen a scorpion sting itself to
             death.  It just keeps driving its tail into
             its body again and again.  A little killer
             killing itself.  Seen a coyote kill itself
             too.  Just kept on biting and tearing at
             its own legs.  Near tore one clean off
             before it bled to death.  And what a white
             man'll do when it's freezing one moment,
             hot as hell the next. A man could get
             hisself killed just for rubbing shoulders
             with another (smacking his lips) kiss kissy
             kiss. Nice pussy y'see, see it coming. I
             don't know what it is about the desert. I
             figger it's sort of like putting a kettle
             of water over a fire.  People is mostly
             water.  We boil when it's hot.  'Cept when
             we boil the water's got no place to go.  It
             just churns inside of us until we can cool
             off.  If it's not too late.

     BOBBY is now revealed standing next to the blind man, and we
     realize the blind man has been talking to him all along. Bobby
     sips a Dr. Pepper as well.

                       BOBBY
             You sure seen a lot for a blind man.

                       BLIND MAN
             Just 'cause I ain't got eyes doesn't mean I
             can't see.

                       BOBBY
             That a fact?

     Bobby noticing now all the little NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS that the
     Blind Man keeps around him in a sort of inchoate stall.

                       BLIND MAN
             I can see just fine.  For example:  You're
             a young man who thinks he's got someplace
             to be.

     A POLICE RADIO crackles, Bobby tensing.

                       BOBBY
             Maybe I do.

                       BLIND MAN
             Or maybe you just think you do. Just
             another small town. One guy chasing you.
             You go big town. Just gonna have four guys
             after you instead. Kiss kissy kiss. It gets
             down to one thing -- are you a human being
             or are you one of those hungry ghosts out
             there never satisfied with nothing? Cause
             you gotta remember you can run just as far
             as you can, but wherever you go, that's
             where you gonna be.

                       BOBBY
             I think I've heard that before.

                       BLIND MAN
             What do you want for free?

                       BOBBY
             You sure got a lot of philosophy, old man.

                       BLIND MAN
             Seems like I do but only cause end of the
             day we're all eyes in the same head. And
             everything is everything.

                       BOBBY
             What?

                       BLIND MAN
             ...And everything is nothing too.

                       BOBBY (shakes his head)
             Maybe one day I'll get to sit on a corner
             and spout wise.

                       BLIND MAN
             Think you'll live that long?

     Bobby is clearly unnerved by this. Suddenly the blind man
     stands, pissed and powerful, sniffing the air with the police
     radio in it.

     As SHERIFF POTTER cruises by, glancing at Bobby shrinking. The
     car goes on up the street.

                       BLIND MAN
             Cocksucker motherfucker! Cops. I hear you.
             Always sneaking around. Thinks I can't see
             him. Well he's right. Motherfucker. But
             that ain't mean I don't know what's going
             on around here. They're all cursed. Yes
             sir.

                       BOBBY
             Who's cursed?

                       BLIND MAN
             All them miners last century. Hungry
             ghosts, killed off all the Indians. Up at
             the mine. Earth ran red with blood, think
             I'm fooling around here. White sky was on
             fire. Grown men cried like babies. I saw a
             flash, then darkness descended upon me.
             They put me in the joint. Took my eyes. I
             cursed them. White people can't seem to
             stay away from Indians (grabs his bandaged
             hand, smelling the blood). You gotta watch
             where ya put your fingers. Pussy pussy
             pussy, Indian pussy.

     It sounds demented. Bobby, checking him out to see if he's
     really blind, walks quietly around him during this monologue and
     peeks over his glasses trying to see the blind man's real eyes.
     Although he thinks the Blind Man thinks he's on the other side
     of him, the Blind Man fools him by suddenly swivelling around
     and cranking a gob of spit into Bobby's face as if Bobby were on
     the other side.

     Bobby, pissed, wipes the spittle from his face.

                       BLIND MAN (finishing)
             ...but they gotta know you don't fuck
             around with Indians.

                       BOBBY
             I thought you said you lost your eyes in
             the war?

                       BLIND MAN
             So now you're going to tell me where I lost
             my eyes. You don't think I know where I
             lost my eyes? I was there when I lost them.
             I lost them in the war. The war in the
             joint. There's always wars in the joint.
             Cause I was a code talker in the joint and
             in the war too.(sniffs) Mmmm, nothing like
             the smell of a naked lady. Be careful, boy.

                       BOBBY
             Musta been some bad ass nuclear tests here
             in the 50's. This town's all inbreeding.

                       BLIND MAN
             Well, people gotta get by somehow. That's
             the curse. The mines done it. All that
             uranium, plutonium, fuffonium, fuckononium,
             assononium, all that "om"! Everybody's got
             a mother. You don't rip up your mother. You
             don't rip up the Earth and take everything
             out. It's like the Cracker Jack box says,
             "the more you eat, the more you
             want...."...

                       BOBBY
             I got things to do.

                       BLIND MAN (offended)
             Oh well, go do 'em. You don't see me
             stopping you...

     Bobby starts to walk away. The Blind Man rattles his tin cup.

                       BLIND MAN
             ...But ain't you got a little something for
             the infirm?

                       BOBBY
             I'm a little short Pops. I'll catch you
             next time.

                       BLIND MAN
             Your lies are old, but you tell 'em well.

     EXT. STREET - DAY

     BOBBY, depressed, is heading towards Harlin's gas station,
     passing JENNY sitting on a corner drinking a soda, almost as if
     waiting for him. She runs to him, and follows him, as somewhere
     a POLICE RADIO crackles and buzzes.

                       JENNY
             Hey mister. Mister, I just... I just wanted
             to thank you.

                       BOBBY
             For what?

                       JENNY
             For defending my honor this afternoon.

                       BOBBY
             I hate to bust your bubble honey, but I
             wasn't defending you.

                       JENNY
             But you was going to fight for me.

                       BOBBY
             I wasn't going to fight for you.  I was
             just going to beat the shit out of your
             boyfriend.

                       JENNY
             He's not my boyfriend.  I mean, I let him
             take me out and stuff, but I ain't spoken
             for.  Not yet that is.

                       BOBBY
             Get it through your head, little girl; I'm
             not going for you.  If this Toby likes you,
             then if I were you I'd marry him.  You're
             not going to get much better in this town.

                       JENNY
             That's what I thought until you came riding
             in.  I saw your car over at the gas
             station.  It's a cool car.  Want to take me
             for a ride?  Desert's kind of lonely this
             time of day.

                       BOBBY
             How old are you?

                       JENNY
                  (beat)
             Eighteen... Well, I'm gonna be eighteen in
             two years, but that don't mean you can't
             take me for a ride if you want.

                       BOBBY
             No, I don't want to take you for a ride.
             What I want is for ... Hey, you don't
             think you can get $150 from your parents,
             could you?

     From OFF CAMERA we hear TOBY.

                       TOBY(O.C.)
             Mister!

                       BOBBY
             Oh, shit!

     Toby moves menacingly up the street towards Bobby.

                       TOBY
             That's right, Mister.  You better be
             afraid.  I told you it wasn't over, but you
             didn't listen.  Now I find you sneakin'
             around with my girl behind my back.

                       BOBBY
             I wasn't sneaking around with your girl.
             Would you please tell him?

                       JENNY
             You're too late, Toby.  We're going to get
             in his fancy car and ride off and leave you
             behind.

                       BOBBY
             What the hell are you talking about?

                       JENNY
             What's your name anyway?

                       TOBY
             Oh, that tears it, Mister.  I'm gonna bust
             you up but good.  I'm gonna bust you into a
             million pieces and then ... and then bust
             those pieces up, and then ... and then
             spread them all around.  That's what I'm
             gonna do.  You don't know what you're
             dealing with, Mister.  I'm crazy.  I'm
             psycho crazy.

                       BOBBY
             Yeah, I know.  You're TNT.  Just like
             dynamite.  When you go off somebody gets
             hurt. (at his wit's end) All right.  Let's
             do this.

                       JENNY
             Toby Tucker, it don't matter to me if you
             beat him all up and knock out all his teeth
             and he's just drooling and bleeding all
             over hisself, 'cause we love each other and
             we gonna run off, and I'm gonna have his
             love child.

                       BOBBY
             Will you shut up!

                       TOBY
             You gonna pay for that, Mister.

     Toby and Bobby square off, sizing each other up and preparing
     for a violent confrontation.  Just as the two are about to clash
     we hear the voice of SHERIFF POTTER from OFF CAMERA.

                       SHERIFF(O.C.)
             Toby!

     The two men freeze in their tracks, as Potter drives up fast.

                       TOBY
             Hey, Sheriff Potter.

                       SHERIFF (tough)
             Toby, I just came from your mother's place.
             She's worried sick about you.  She says she
             ain't seen you since this morning.

                       TOBY
             That ain't true, Sheriff.  I was home for
             lunch.

                       SHERIFF
             Boy, I'm not trying to hear nothing from
             you except that you're heading home.  Now
             run along.

                       TOBY
             Yes, sir.  Come on, Jenny.

                       JENNY
             I want to stay.

                       TOBY
             I said come on!

     Toby grabs Jenny by the wrist and literally pulls he along.  As
     she goes she yells back to Bobby.

                       JENNY
             Bye, Mister.  Don't go nowhere without me.
             I wanna have your love child.

     Toby points a vicious finger at Bobby.

                       TOBY
             Next time, Mister.  Next time.

     Toby and Jenny exit leaving Bobby and the Sheriff alone. Bobby
     would also like to exit fast.

                       SHERIFF
             Where ya goin'?

                       BOBBY
             Harlin's.

                       SHERIFF
             Get in.

     Bobby has no choice. He gets in.

                       SHERIFF
             Seen you popping up a little bit of
             everywhere today.  You're not planning on
             staying are you?

                       BOBBY
             No, sir. I'm not going to be around long if
             that's what you're worried about.

                       SHERIFF
             That's a nasty cut you got there.

                       BOBBY
             Yeah, fell down and hit a rock. Not as bad
             as it looks.

                       SHERIFF
             There was a young fellow over at Jamilla's
             today when it got hit.  Way she tells it he
             got whacked around good by one of the
             robbers.

                       BOBBY
             Sounds like it. I wish I could help
             Sheriff, but I just want to get my car and
             get on up the road.

     JAKE drives up in his GOLD CADDY. His windows whirr down.

                       JAKE
             Everything all right, Virgil?

     He eyes Bobby.

                       SHERIFF (a little nervous)
             Just fine, Jake. Where you going?

                       JAKE
             I was just up at Darrell's. How's the wife?
             That little eskimo baby walkin' yet?

                       SHERIFF
             Oh just fine.

                       JAKE
             You haven't seen Grace around, have you?
             I'm looking for her.

                       SHERIFF
             No. But if I do, I'll tell her you're
             looking for her, Jake.

                       JAKE (looking at Bobby)
             Whatcha got there, some trash?

     He drives off. The Sheriff drives on.

                       SHERIFF
             Peculiar, how things happen. A man's car
             breaks down. There's a hold up. People die
             and all that money -- and now old Jake out
             looking for his young wife. And then you
             show up...

     The Sheriff looks right through Bobby, who knows this is more
     than a conversation. He pulls up to Harlin's garage. Bobby gets
     out.

                       SHERIFF
             Time's running out, son. I'll be seeing you
             in the morning...

     With this thinly veiled threat, the Sheriff drives on. As Bobby
     watches, feeling the pressure to get out now while he can.

     EXT. HARLIN'S GARAGE - LATER DAY

     DARRELL is cleaning his tools.  Bobby's MUSTANG sits prominently
     in the car bay, washed and gleaming, as BOBBY walks up.

                       DARRELL
             Hey there.  I was beginnin' to think you
             wasn't comin' back...  You don't look so
             good.

                       BOBBY
             Yeah, well, I've been around the bend a
             bit.

                       DARRELL
             One of those days you feel like you been
             runnin' in circles and you ain't no closer
             to where you tryin' to get than when you
             started?

                       BOBBY
             You've been there?

                       DARRELL
             Hell, I've had days I would gladly trade
             with a whippin' dog.  Ain't much you can do
             when you feel like that 'cept tough it out.

                       BOBBY
             You believe that?

                       DARRELL
             You think bad, and bad is what you get.

                       BOBBY
             That's a good piece of advice, Darrell.

                       DARRELL
             No charge.

                       BOBBY
             Listen, Darrell, about that hundred-fifty
             bucks for the car, as soon as I get where
             I'm going I swear I'll--

                       DARRELL
             Two-hundred.

                       BOBBY
             What?

                       DARRELL
             It's going to cost you two-hundred dollars.

                       BOBBY
             You said this morning the hose was going to
             run me one-fifty.

                       DARRELL
             Yep.  For the hose.  But while you was gone
             I replaced a gasket.  That's going to run
             you another fifty.

                       BOBBY
             I didn't tell you to replace any gasket.

                       DARRELL
             Yeah, but it was shot.

                       BOBBY
             I don't give a fuck! I didn't tell you to
             do it!  You can't just do unauthorized
             work.

                       DARRELL
             Well, now, you just know all there is about
             bein' a mechanic, don't you?  Didn't you
             read the sign.

                       BOBBY
             What sign?

                       DARRELL
             The goddamn sign on the wall. I can't do
             unauthorized work?  What am I suppose to
             do? Just let you ride out of here with a
             bad gasket.  Then you get in an accident
             and get killed.  Or worse.  Who they gonna
             blame then?  They gonna blame me, and there
             goes my reputation.

                       BOBBY
             What reputation?  You're nothing but an
             ignorant, inbred, tumbleweed hick.

                       DARRELL
             Is that an insult?  Are you insulting me.

                       BOBBY
             Listen you stupid fuck, I want my car.

                       DARRELL
             Listen to me you sorry sonufabitch. You owe
             me money, and this car ain't going nowheres
             until I get it.  And if you take another
             five hours I'll find another fifty dollars
             worth of work to do on it. Is that clear?
             Now get out of here 'fore I call the
             Sheriff, who knows me.

     Bobby is in a rage.  He turns to leave and walks a few paces.
     He sees a WRENCH lying on a table.  For a second his mind reels,
     then he snatches up the wrench and turns ready to smash it down
     on Darrell's head.  He stops cold.  Because ol' Darrell holds a
     CROWBAR in a batter's stance ready to smash it onto the Mustang.

                       DARRELL
             You want to play, Mister?  I'll play with
             you.  You want to smash something?  So do
             I.

     Darrell pulls back the crowbar, ready to swing.

                       BOBBY
             No! Okay! Okay!

                       DARRELL
             What's the matter?  The fight gone out of
             you?  I'm just gonna smash a headlight.
             Maybe two.

                       BOBBY (pleading, almost crying)
             Please, just leave the car alone!

                       DARRELL
             Mister, you already pissed me off but good.

     Darrell lays the tip of the crowbar on the hood of the car, and
     drags the tip of the bar across the hood leaving a long scratch.

                       BOBBY (about to lose it)
             Goddamn you!  You son of a bitch!

                       DARRELL
             There you go, sweet talking me again.

     Darrell begins to laugh. Bobby, desperate, looks to the trunk,
     thinking of his gun in there.

     His POV -- the trunk. A FLASHBACK of the GUN goes through his
     mind.

                       BOBBY
             Look, Harlin.

                       DARRELL
             Darrell.

                       BOBBY
             Darrell. I'll get you your money. I just
             have to get something out of the trunk.

     Using his TRUNK KEY, he tries to open it but realizes the lock
     has been changed.

                       BOBBY
             What the fuck did you do to my trunk?

                       DARRELL
             Well, that key's not gonna work. I had to
             pop the lock. You didn't leave me the trunk
             key.

                       BOBBY
             And you had to go into the trunk, didn't
             you?

                       DARRELL
             When I work on a car, I work on a car.

                       BOBBY (snaps)
             You motherfucker! (etc.)

                       DARRELL
             You can't help yourself, can you mister?
             You're out of control.

     Darrell starts to laugh. It is a repetitive, almost demonic
     laugh that grows louder as the camera slowly dollies in on
     Bobby's anguished face.

     EXT. STREET - DAY

     As BOBBY steps out into the glaring sun, he notices down at the
     other end of the town, GRACE'S JEEP parked right outside the
     SHERIFF'S OFFICE, empty.

     Presently, GRACE and the SHERIFF walk out TALKING, and she gets
     in, says a few last words and drives away.

     Bobby backs around a corner into a sidestreet. Is she selling
     him out? He's very confused, turbulent.

     INT. BUS DEPOT - LATER DAY

     BOBBY enters the BUS DEPOT.  The interior is poorly lit.  There
     are a few benches for people to wait on, but they sit empty.
     Old, faded travel posters hang on the wall.  A bored FEMALE
     CLERK is behind the counter.

                       BOBBY
             I need a ticket.

                       CLERK
             Where to?

                       BOBBY
             Out of here.

                       CLERK
             But, in particular?

                       BOBBY
             I ... Mexico.  You got a bus that goes to
             Mexico?  That's where I have to go.

                       CLERK
             Mexico is a large country. Where in Mexico
             would you like--

                       BOBBY
             I don't care, just get me there.

     The clerk is a little put off by Bobby. He seems delirious. She
     goes through her schedule looking for a bus.

                       CLERK
             How about Ciudad Juarez? You could take a
             local, arrives in two hours, and transfer
             in Albuquerque. It'll get you across the
             border.

                       BOBBY
             How much?

                       CLERK
             One way, or round trip?

                       BOBBY
             One way.

                       CLERK
             30.55. Twenty more will get you back.

     Bobby counts his money.

                       BOBBY
             Twenty-seven, fifty.  That's all I got.

                       CLERK
             The ticket is 30.55.

                       BOBBY (rifling his pockets)
             I bought a beer.  That was a dollar
             something. Then I gave that girl 25 cents
             for the juke box. And the blind man...the
             soda...I..I'd have 30 if...if...

                       CLERK
             I'm sorry, sir.  It's $30.55 for the
             ticket.

                       BOBBY (to himself)
             Yeah.  Just a little short.  Figures.  I
             just wanted to get out, that's all.

     Bobby starts to walk away. Suddenly he turns, runs back at the
     clerk, proffers his money, half-crazed, near tears.

                       BOBBY
             Please, ma'am, you don't understand! I have
             to get out of here.  They're going to come
             looking for me.  They're going to kill me.
             If I can't get this ticket then I'm going
             to have to do things to get out of here.
             You know what I mean! I don't want to hurt
             anybody, I just want to leave. Please. I
             can't...I can't.

     He's so desperate and in her frightened but neutral expression,
     Bobby experiences the only compassion he ever finds in this
     whole town.

                       CLERK
             Okay, I'll give you the ticket, sir,
             but...just...just, please calm down,
             please!

     her sane tone reminds Bobby of how far down he's come. He
     shrinks, suddenly ashamed of himself. She takes the cash on the
     counter, hands him a ticket.

                       CLERK
             Keep your change.  Bus three-twenty-three.
             Leaves at seven fifty two, tonight.

                       BOBBY
             I'm sorry.  It's just ... you know ...

     She nods, puts a "closed" sign in the ticket window, disappears.

     EXT. BUS DEPOT - LATE DAY

     We hear the crackle of the same POLICE RADIO again, OFF CAMERA,
     as BOBBY walks out of the depot. ticket preciously held in his
     hand, and suddenly reels as he sees SERGEI, about a 100 yards
     down the main stretch, slowly rolling into town in his
     convertible, looking for guess who.

                       BOBBY
             Holy shit!

     INT. SERGEI'S CAR - SIMULTANEOUS

     BOBBY turns away, but not fast enough. SERGEI spots him, hits
     the pedal.

                       SERGEI
             Got you, shitface! Bobby Cooper. Bobby
             Cooper...

     EXT. MAIN STREET - SIMULTANEOUS

     BOBBY, ducking around a corner, hears the brief "Whoop" of the
     sheriff's POLICE SIREN. He glances back.

     His POV - sure enough, the SHERIFF'S having a field day. He's
     just pulled SERGEI over. At this distance, we catch snippets of
     conversation as the Sheriff ambles from his car, checking
     Sergei's out-of-state plates.

                       SHERIFF
             Where's the fire sweetheart? Don't know how
             they work things in Nevada, but we got
             speed limits in this state.

                       SERGEI
             Vat? I am going 5 miles an hour! I am
             looking town. I not even moving.

     We pop in closer to their conversation -- Bobby relishing this
     in his mind's eye. Sergei is constantly looking off to where he
     last saw Bobby. But the Sheriff, strangely, pays no attention to
     these looks.

                       SHERIFF
             Whoa, what kind of accent you got there?
             You one of them Russians?

                       SERGEI
             I am Russian, da! I am also rich Russian,
             da? Maybe we work something out, my friend
             Sheriff?

                       SHERIFF
             What? You trying to bribe me, mister? Just
             cause you Russians ain't commies anymore,
             don't think money can buy everything...

     Down the street, Sheriff Potter is holding up a concealed GUN.

                       SHERIFF
             What's that? (He grabs the gun)
             ..."concealed" is a definite no no in this
             town, Ivan. You know anything about
             Jamilla's grocery store?

                       SERGEI
             What fuckin grocery store, you fucking
             shithead idiot! You call yourself a
             police...

     Sergei looking Bobby's direction.

                       SHERIFF
             Get out of the car, spread them. You can
             jawbone all you want or you have the right
             to shut the fuck up! You commie
             motherfucker. Either way you're goin' to
             the can.

                       SERGEI
             I want my lawyer!

     Sheriff cuffs Sergei and sticks him in the police car.

     Bobby can't help smiling as he turns away to the SODA MACHINE
     seen in an earlier scene.

     He comes up with the change the bus clerk left him and, dying
     for a drink in this heat, inserts the coin. Though still under
     considerable pressure from all sides, this lucky break with
     Sergei seems like it might be the beginning of something new
     today -- some luck.

     The icy cold soda bottle shoots out. Bobby raises it to his
     lips, about to taste it, about to relax for once. Violently it
     explodes out of his hands as he doubles over in blinding pain
     from a KIDNEY PUNCH. He stumbles forward into the soda machine,
     gasping. The legs of his assailant are close to him, but the
     face is unseen.

     Bobby doubles his agony as his bandaged left stump takes the
     brunt of the blow into the machine, re-opening the wound. Blood
     starts to seep through the bandage.

                       BOBBY
             Ow!

     Bobby crumples to the ground as TOBY now towers over him with
     his fists curled and a snarl on his lips.

                       TOBY
             Get up, Mister!  Don't ever let it be said
             Toby Tucker beat the living shit out of
             someone without giving them a fair chance.

                       BOBBY (gasping)
             What the hell are you doing?  You fucking
             psycho!

                       TOBY
             I'm doing what any man would do if he'd
             been offended.  I'm stompin' your ass.

                       BOBBY
             You idiot!  You don't even know what you're
             fighting over!

                       TOBY
             My honor, that's what I'm fighting over.
             Now get up off the ground, or do I have to
             whoop you where you lie?

     JENNY comes running up the street.

                       JENNY
             Toby!  Toby Tucker, leave him alone!

                       TOBY
             You stay away, Jenny.  I aim to mess him
             up, and that ain't a thing for a woman to
             see.

     Jenny runs to Bobby and cuddles him where he lays.

                       JENNY
             Don't be afraid of him none.  I don't care
             what he does to you, we can still be
             together.

                       BOBBY
             Get away from me!

     Bobby sees his bus ticket on the ground.  He grabs for it, but
     Toby beats him to it.

                       TOBY
             Now, what's this?

                       BOBBY
             Give it to me!

                       TOBY
             Mexico?  You going to Mexico?

                       BOBBY
             I'm leaving.  You never have to see me
             again.  Just please, give me the ticket!

                       TOBY
             This means something to you?  Jenny means
             something to me.

     Toby sticks the ticket in his mouth and chews it up whole.

                       BOBBY
             Nooo!

                       TOBY (between bites)
             I'm gonna beat you so bad you gonna be
             eatin' nothing but soup the erst of your
             days.  Rain dogs is gonna be prettier than
             you when I'm done.  I'm gonna mess you up
             so bad you gonna make your own momma sick.
             I'm gonna ...

     Toby's words drift to Bobby from a million miles away.  The
     world around him is like a dream, or a nightmare.  A primal rage
     wells inside of Bobby that rises up in a howl as he swings the
     soda bottle up out of nowhere across Toby's head, smashing him
     backwards. Then he lands blow after blow with his right hand on
     the boy's face and head.

     Jenny screams:

                       JENNY
             Stop it!  You're killing him!

     Jenny grabs Bobby's arm, literally hanging all her weight on it,
     stopping him from striking Toby again.

                       JENNY
             You're killing him!  Toby!?  Toby!?

     Jenny sinks to the ground and cuddles Toby.  Bobby stands.  He
     looks at Toby, then at his bloodied knuckles in disbelief. His
     bandage is soaked with his own blood, but his adrenaline numbs
     the pain.

                       JENNY
             You killed him! You killed him!

     She wails in the background as he backs away, around the corner,
     into Main Street, crossing to where the PHONE BOOTH is.

     EXT. PHONE BOOTH - LATE DAY

     BOBBY is on the phone.

                       BOBBY
             Hello, Grace?  It's Bobby.

                                                    INTERCUTS TO:

     INT. MCKENNA HOUSE - SIMULTANEOUS

     GRACE, in the kitchen, is also on the phone.

                       GRACE (coolly)
             I thought you'd be on your way to Vegas by
             now.  Is there something you wanted?

                       BOBBY
             I wanted to talk.

                       GRACE(V.O.)
             I don't think we have anything to talk
             about.

                       BOBBY
             What about us?

                       GRACE
             There is no us, remember?

                       BOBBY
             Except I can't get you out of my head,
             Grace.
                  (beat)

                       GRACE
             Stop it.

                       BOBBY (V.O.)
             Why?  Am I making you hot, or does the
             truth scare you?

                       GRACE
             Because I know you're full of shit.

                       BOBBY
             I mean it, Grace.  I'm getting out of here,
             and I want to take you with me.

                       GRACE (V.O.)
             I thought you couldn't get your car.

                       BOBBY
             I could if I had Jake's money.

                       GRACE (V.O.)
             Is that what changed your mind?  The money?

                       BOBBY
             I don't give a damn about the money.  I
             want you, and I want to get us out of this
             shithole.  There's only one way to do that.

     Pause.

                       GRACE
             Are you sure?...  About me, I mean?

                       BOBBY
             I came back for you; this morning I came
             back.  Before I even knew about the money.
             You're what I want.
                  (then)
             The only reason I stormed off is because
             you spooked me talking about Jake.  But
             I've had nothing but time to think about
             it.  It keeps coming back to you and me and
             us getting the hell out of here.  But we've
             got to get the money, baby.  We get the
             money, I get the car, then we get the hell
             out.

                       GRACE
             You said you couldn't kill anybody.

                       BOBBY
             We don't have to kill him.  Just knock him
             out and tie him up 'till we get away.
                  (beat)
             It was your idea, remember?  I'm doing this
             for you.  I'm doing this so you can
             fly...fly like a bird.

     Grace bites at a nail and fidgets, but says nothing.

                       BOBBY (V.O.)
             Grace ... Grace?

                       GRACE
             After dark.  I'll leave the back door
             unlocked.

     She quickly hangs up the phone.

     Bobby also hangs up the phone, an unreadable expression on his
     face.

     INT. MCKENNA LIVING ROOM - LATE DAY

     JAKE sits in an easy chair reading a paper.  Puffs of smoke from
     his pipe rise from behind the paper and hang like a cloud over
     his head.  GRACE stands in the doorway, body stiff and arms
     crossed, staring at him.

                       JAKE
             Who was that on the phone?

                       GRACE
             Wrong number.

                       JAKE
             You spent a long time talking for a wrong
             number.  But then you make friends so
             easily.  Don't you, Grace?

     Grace has no answer for that, so she says nothing.  A long
     moment passes, then:

                       GRACE
             I put up new drapes, Jake.

                       JAKE
             I know.  I was here when your apprentice
             was helping you.  Remember?

                       GRACE
             You never said anything.  About the drapes.

                       JAKE
             They look nice.

                       GRACE
             You haven't even looked at them once.

     Jake lowers the paper, looks at the drapes.

                       JAKE
             They look nice.

                       GRACE
             I picked them out for you, Jake.  I thought
             you would like the colors.

                       JAKE (softly, admiring)
             You look just like your mama when you move
             like that against the light.

     Grace stares at the CHAIN now visible around Jake's neck that
     disappears under his shirt.  She knows that hidden there is a
     key, and she fixes on it intently.

                       JAKE
             What the hell you looking at, girl?

                       GRACE
             Nothing, Jake.  Absolutely nothing.

     EXT. DESERT - EVENING

     The SUN is setting. It strikes the horizon sending a ripple of
     golden light through the sky.

     EXT. PORCH OF HOUSE - EVENING

     A MAN dances in the evening light with a small child in his
     arms.

     EXT. CORNER OF HOUSE - EVENING

     A DOG and CAT huddle together in sleep.

     EXT. POLICE STATION - EVENING

     SHERIFF VIRGIL POTTER is tossing horseshoes with his DEPUTIES.

     EXT. MCKENNA HOUSE - EVENING

     GRACE watches the sun going down outside her house, cradling
     herself in her arms. A desert wind gently caresses her.

     EXT. STREET CORNER - NIGHT

     The BLIND MAN, along with his dead DOG, sits on the side of the
     street.

                       BLIND MAN
             Well, that's it.  Sun's going down.  People
             go home, trade stories over dinner.
             They'll talk about the day, about the heat,
             laugh about something crazy it made them
             do.  They'll kiss, sleep a few hours, then
             do it all over again.

     BOBBY now appears next to the blind man holding two Dr. Peppers.
     He hands one to the blind man, takes a sip of the other one, and
     offers him his own change.

                       BOBBY
             The day wasn't so bad.  We all got through
             it all right.

                       BLIND MAN (giving back the change)
             Keep it.

     There's a suggestion of cockiness in Bobby, feeling his luck
     coming back with the night. His humour is enhanced by his POV
     down the street:

     As DARRELL, with his dilapidated truck, readies SERGEI'S
     convertible for towing.

                       BLIND MAN (OVER)
             Ain't over yet.  Night is part of day;
             separate, but equal.  Night is when you let
             your guard down; when you see things in the
             shadows and hear things in the dark.

                       BOBBY
             Difference between you and me, old man, is
             I see the glass half full, you see it half
             empty.

                       BLIND MAN
             Night is when you want to sleep, but the
             dry heat keeps you tossin' and turnin'.
             It's when you wish the sun was bakin' high
             in the sky so you could see what it is
             you're afraid of.

                       BOBBY
             You afraid of the dark?

                       BLIND MAN
             Afraid of it?  Boy, I live in the dark. All
             cause of a woman who made me this way.
             People are afraid of what they can't see.
             I can't see nuthin', so it's all the same
             to me.  Kiss from a beautiful woman, kissy
             kissy kiss, a lick from a dog, slurp,
             slurp, the kiss of death (he makes a
             strange sound). It's all the same to me.

                       BOBBY
             So, we're all just floating along like
             twigs in a stream, so enjoy the ride.  Is
             that it?

                       BLIND MAN
             More or less.

                       BOBBY
             Not this twig, friend.  I got plans.

                       BLIND MAN
             Nothing makes the Great Spirit laugh harder
             than a man's plans. We all got plans. I
             planned on seeing all my life. I know you
             didn't plan on straying into town.

                       BOBBY
             No and I don't plan on sticking around
             either.

                       BLIND MAN
             Well, don't say I didn't warn you when
             things go your way.

                       BOBBY
             You got a lotta philosophy in you, old
             timer but you don't fool me for one second
             with all this blind man crap. One minute
             you lost your eyes in Vietnam, next it's
             the joint. Now it's a woman? I'm hep to
             you.

     The Blind Man slowly lifts his glasses, showing his EYES at
     last. Where his eyes should be are scars and dead flesh. An ugly
     sight that even takes Bobby back a step.

                       BLIND MAN
             Used to be a young smartass like you. Then
             I got smart with the wrong man's daughter.
             Got some acid poured on my peepers for my
             trouble. You know human beings ain't always
             just human -- they got animals living
             inside 'em too...People give spare change
             to war heroes not fools. All fools get is
             pity. May not have eyes, but I see. And
             you, boy?

     The Blind Man puts his glasses back on.

                       BLIND MAN
             You got my pity.

                       BOBBY (doesn't believe him)
             Hope she was worth it.

                       BLIND MAN
             Oh, she was worth it.  She was worth every
             black minute since.

     Bobby looks at his watch, gets ready to go, drops a coin into
     the Blind Man's cup.

                       BOBBY
             Time's up. Any last words of wisdom?

                       BLIND MAN
             Things ain't always the way they seem. You
             got to ask yourself: is it worth it? Day
             comes Earthmaker is going to look in your
             fucking heart! Then you better know what it
             is you're doing. Are you a human being --
             or just one of them hungry ghosts out there
             floatin' around?

     Bobby walks away, smiling.

                       BOBBY
             You are crazy, you know. Be seeing you, old
             man.

                       BLIND MAN
             You know I won't be seeing you.

     The Blind Man lifts his sunglasses and peers into the cup as if
     he sees. We don't really know. He reaches into the cup and pulls
     out the coin Bobby tossed in.

                       BLIND MAN
             Cheap bastard. Gives me back my own
             money... Well, Jesse, time's up, let's go
             for a walk.

     The Blind Man now stands up and pulls the seeing-eye dog's
     harness. The DOG struggles to its feet and they walk off down
     the street together.

     INT. MCKENNA HOUSE - NIGHT

     GRACE stands by the back door staring at the bolt lock. JAKE
     yells to her from another room.

                       JAKE(O.C.)
             What the hell you doin', Grace?  Are you
             coming to bed, or aren't you?

     For a moment Grace's hand wavers above the lock.  Suddenly, like
     a snake striking, her hand shoots out and unlocks the bolt.
     Just as quickly she turns from the door and heads to the
     bedroom.

     EXT. YARD - MCKENNA HOUSE - NIGHT

     A LIGHT is on in the bedroom window.  After a moment it dims and
     the house is dark, silhouetted against the horizon by moonlight.
     BOBBY steps into frame, carrying an iron pipe.

     INT. MCKENNA HOUSE/BEDROOM - SIMULTANEOUS

     We start close on GRACE -- a KEY slapping against her buttocks
     as bedsprings groan.  We reveal Grace copulating on all fours
     with JAKE from behind.

                       JAKE
             Ya little bitch, you like it don't you! You
             like it this way -- rough and hard. Gotta
             go fuck around on me, like your Mama, but
             you always gotta come home to Daddy, don't
             you, cause you know Daddy's the best.

                       GRACE
             Yes, yes, hit me...beat me, please.

                       JAKE
             You been a bad girl, Grace. You took my
             heart from your Mama, didn't ya? You
             betrayed her! Like you did me. There ain't
             no forgivin' ya, girl!

                       GRACE
             Oh no! Oh please forgive me, Papa!

                       JAKE
             You broke her heart! You broke your Mama's
             heart. You stole me! That's right. Fuck it
             away. But it ain't ever goin' away, cause
             your Mama -- she's like a hungry ghost
             baby, she won't go away, she won't leave ya
             alone.

                       GRACE
             No! No! Please!

     He hits her. Harder.

     In a strange flashback of his mind, he now sees Grace's MAMA
     beneath him, receiving his punishment.

     He stops, abruptly. He can't go on. Fear coming into his eyes.
     He starts to whimper, begging for his punishment and/or
     forgiveness.

                       JAKE
             Oh baby, I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry...
                  (he starts to cry)
             I didn't mean to hurt you so bad. It
             just...got away...

     He drops down, burying his face between Grace's legs.

                       JAKE
             Forgive me, baby, forgive me!

     He hides there from the world that he has created, crying to
     himself.

     Grace has an unreadable expression, but that's certainly not a
     new occurrence in their strange relationship.

     INT. MCKENNA HOUSE/BACKDOOR - NIGHT

     The knob of the backdoor twists and the door opens.  BOBBY slips
     quickly through the space and into the house quietly closing the
     door behind him.  It is nearly pitch dark, and he has no
     bearings.  He steps gingerly through the hall, but in the
     darkness he bumps into a table nearly knocking over a lamp only
     to catch it just before it crashes into the floor.

     INT. MCKENNA HOUSE/BEDROOM - SIMULTANEOUS

     JAKE hears the noise.  He raises his head and cocks an ear to
     the air. She knows who it is, and is concerned; he's too early.

                       GRACE
             What's the matter?

                       JAKE
             You didn't hear something?

                       GRACE
             Yeah, I heard a key slapping against my
             ass.

                       JAKE
             There's someone in the house.

                       GRACE (nervous)
             Maybe...maybe the wind blew something over
             (encouraging him to continue). Come on
             baby, keep going.

     Jake climbs out of bed, throwing on some pants, reaching into a
     drawer in the chest of clothes, pulling out a small dark
     metallic OBJECT.

                       GRACE (realizing)
             What's that? Jake -- where's you get that?

                       JAKE
             Relax baby. Stay here.

     He goes to the door. She follows, tries to block the door.

                       GRACE
             Jake, don't go out there. Call the sheriff.

                       JAKE
             Shhhh! Just like your Mama, always scared
             of things...

     He maneuvers her aside and slips out the door into the corridor.

     INT. LIVING ROOM/MCKENNA HOUSE - SIMULTANEOUS

     Crowbar in one hand, BOBBY makes his way slowly through the
     living room, banging against the edge of a table. He hops
     silently in pain, then waits at the door to the next room and
     listens.  Hearing nothing he slowly pokes his head into the
     darkness.  A moment later Bobby backs from the door and we see
     the barrel of his own black .9mm BARETTA pressed against his
     forehead.  JAKE appears now, backing him into the living room.
     He switches on a LAMP.

                       JAKE
             Well, well.  As I live and breathe.  I
             didn't expect to be seeing the like of you
             again.  Thought you'd be long on your way
             by now.

     Jake continues to press the gun to Bobby's head.

                       BOBBY
             That's my gun...(then) That fucking
             Darrell!

                       JAKE
             I like Darrell.  He may be an idiot, but
             he's my half brother. We own Harlin's
             together, yeah, that little redneck manages
             to get paid no matter how things work out.

                       BOBBY (realizing)
             You been workin' me the whole time.

                       JAKE
             I guess this is what they call "ironee"?
             Hunh?

                       BOBBY
             It's not what you think, Jake.

                       JAKE
             No, but it don't matter anyway when you're
             lying there with your brains all over my
             carpet and I'm telling Sheriff Potter about
             this drifter, didn't have enough money to
             fix his car. And Darrell happened to find
             his gun, and through maybe this drifter
             heard old Jake got some money stashed away,
             and figgered he might try to break in and
             steal it!

                       BOBBY
             Wait a minute.  Just listen to me...

                       JAKE
             ...And he thought he'd clock old Jake
             McKenna and turn his brains into wall
             paper...and then maybe borrow $200 or
             $20,000, or $200,000...

                       BOBBY (very serious)
             That's not the reason I'm here, Jake.

                       JAKE
             There's another reason? It better be good.

     INT. HALLWAY - SIMULTANEOUS

     GRACE makes her way down the hall in a nightgown, and now hides
     in shadow, listening.

                       BOBBY (V.O.)
             I came for Grace.

                       JAKE (V.O.)
             You came to take my wife from me?

     INT. LIVING ROOM - SIMULTANEOUS

                       BOBBY (sincere)
             No. I came to kill her.

     INT. HALLWAY

     GRACE'S eyes get real narrow and angry.

                       JAKE (V.O.)
             Shhh! Liar.

                       BOBBY (V.O.)
             It's the truth, Jake.

     INT. LIVING ROOM

                       JAKE
             That's a thick change of heart from this
             afternoon.

                       BOBBY
             Maybe I don't like being played, like she
             played us today.  Maybe I don't like that
             at all, Jake. I'm just pissed enough, maybe
             I'll rip the neck off my own grandmother.

                       JAKE
             You have a lot of talk in you, whole lot of
             talk.

                       BOBBY
             Damn it, Jake. There is a guy coming to
             kill me, and if it comes down to me or
             Grace, then I pick Grace.  You were going
             to give me thirteen-thousand.  Give me
             two-hundred.  I'll kill her and dump the
             body where no one will ever find it. She
             showed me the perfect place. There won't be
             enough left for an autopsy.  But I need the
             the money.  I've got to have the money.

     Jake is silent.  He takes his time thinking.  Finally:

                       JAKE
             She's in the bedroom.

     INT. HALLWAY

     GRACE, distressed, starts backing off towards the bedroom.

     INT. LIVING ROOM

     BOBBY stares at the automatic in JAKE's hand.

                       BOBBY
             Wanna give me my gun?

     Jake laughs, a "don't even think about it" look.

                       JAKE
             A strangling'll do just fine. Go to work.

     Bobby holds up his eight fingers with a "you try" look. Jake
     shrugs. Bobby points to the crowbar on the carpet.

                       BOBBY
             How 'bout the pipe?

                       JAKE (sarcastic)
             She's got a slender neck.

     Bobby turns and walks towards the bedroom. Jake follows into an
     adjoining room.

                       JAKE
             Hold on a second! Come here!

     Bobby turns to Jake, who is suddenly extremely upset.

                       JAKE
             How the hell did you know where the
             bedroom's at?

                       BOBBY
             What are you talking about!

                       JAKE (getting closer)
             This morning when I came in on you and
             Grace, you swore you hadn't been near the
             bedroom. Now you make straight for it.

     INT. HALLWAY

     GRACE returns to listen. This thing is like a seesaw battle of
     wills.

                       BOBBY (V.O.)
             Come on, Jake --

                       JAKE (V.O.)
             Don't Jake me boy! It's a big house. You
             probably didn't even make it out to the
             desert this afternoon...

     INT. LIVING ROOM

     JAKE has come right up on BOBBY in a rage.

                       JAKE
             ...Or did you just ply the afternoon away
             between my sheets putting your lips all
             over her, you little horndog...

                       BOBBY (changing tactics)
             What difference does it make if I slept
             with her? We're gonna kill her.

                       JAKE
             You're right! I don't give a damn about
             her. But killing her's one thing. Fucking
             her behind my back, that's another!

     Suddenly Jake swings his arm, clipping Bobby across the side of
     the head with the pistol and opening another bloody gash.

     Bobby crumbles to his knees, crying out.

     Jake suddenly grabs Bobby by the hair, forcing his face back and
     smearing his lips with his own in a vengeful kiss. The blood
     from Bobby's wound runs down to his lips and mixes with Jake's
     lips.

                       JAKE
             Now you've tasted both of us!

     He pulls back the hammer on the gun and levels it at Bobby's
     head. Bobby sees it coming, plays his last card on his knees.

                       BOBBY
             O.K.! I admit it! I fucked her! But it's
             her you have to worry about, not me! She
             wants you dead, Jake. She wants you dead
             and she wants your money.

                       JAKE (hesitates)
             What are you babbling about?

                       BOBBY (talking fast)
             Think about it! How do you think I got in
             here? Did you hear any glass break? Did you
             hear a door splinter?

     INT. HALLWAY - SIMULTANEOUS

     GRACE listening.

                       BOBBY (V.O.)
             How did the evening end?  After you went to
             bed did she linger a bit?  Maybe just long
             enough to leave the door unlocked?  Is that
             what happened?

     INT. LIVING ROOM - SIMULTANEOUS

     Like an old rag, JAKE gradually soaks all this up becoming
     heavier with the weight of the knowledge.

                       JAKE
             You'd tell me anything to save your
             pathetic life.

                       BOBBY
             You know what kind of woman Grace is, Jake.
             You know how badly she wants to get the
             fuck out of Superior.  What's she to you,
             Jake; a woman who wants you dead?  Let me
             kill her.  All I want is two-hundred
             dollars to get out of here with.

                       JAKE
             Two-hundred dollars?

                       BOBBY
             Two-hundred dollars...I'll do it!  I'll
             kill her!

     A beat. Jake stares down at Bobby on the floor.

                       JAKE
             Sweet Christ, I'd be doing the world a
             favor, ridding it of the likes of you. Get
             your miserable ass off the floor. You're
             positively pathetic... Go on, go kill
             Grace.

     Bobby slowly stands.

                       JAKE
             I'm not letting you walk for nothing. Two
             hundred dollars. Do it, boy. Kill her.

     Bobby goes.

     INT. HALLWAY - SIMULTANEOUS

     GRACE bolts back to the bedroom, the camera following her as she
     flies.

     INT. BEDROOM HALLWAY - NIGHT (MOMENTS LATER)

     BOBBY walks it. His POV -- the door. Every step seems freighted.

     INT. BEDROOM - SIMULTANEOUS

     GRACE is in a quandary. How many seconds before Bobby walks in
     to kill her? Or can he really kill her? She's not sure.

     She looks around the room frantically. Picks up a lamp, puts it
     down. She looks quickly through her closet, rummages below in
     the boxes. Suddenly she finds it.

     A dangerous looking Indian HATCHET with a feather hanging off
     its bindings. It's a formidable piece of iron, quite capable of
     splitting a skull or impaling flesh.

     Grace hears the footsteps just outside the door. She runs behind
     the door.

     A moment later, the bedroom door creaks open and BOBBY quietly
     enters, approaching the bed. We sense the doubt in his eyes as
     to whether he can kill her.

     In a reverse POV, Bobby sees the outline of Grace in the bed as
     victim...closer, closer.  He now lifts the edge of the bedcover
     but sees a blanket bunched up to resemble a human figure.

     He suddenly hears a foot fall behind him, then he feels her
     presence. He spins.

     She's directly behind him, hatchet raised. His life is in her
     hands.

     His eyes, locked in an eternal moment.

     Her eyes, the hatchet.

                                                     SNAP CUT TO:

     INT. HALLWAY - SIMULTANEOUS

     As JAKE, anxiously torn, waits, there is a LOUD CRASH, followed
     by SOUNDS of struggle, of murder, of death. Then...

                       GRACE
             Jake!

     It is a desperate cry for help. Jake can't help himself. He
     breaks into a roaring run down the hall to save his beloved.

                       JAKE
             Grace!!

     INT. BEDROOM - SIMULTANEOUS

     JAKE bulls into the bedroom. It's a mess, furniture overturned,
     sheets and blankets all over the floor. The lights broken.
     Waiting for him, face down on the floor, is BOBBY'S BODY in a
     pool of liquid. A broken bottle lies nearby. Bobby's body heaves
     in its final death throes, and then shudders quiet...  Over
     there, by the bed, is GRACE, who still clutches the HATCHET.
     The look on her face is pure shock.

                       JAKE
             Well...looks like you got him, Grace.
             That's good...that's real good.  He must of
             slipped past me, but you got him.  Looks
             like that drifter from this morning.  Got
             to be careful who you make friends with,
             sweetheart.

     Jake eyes the weapon in Grace's hand.

                       JAKE
             Why don't you put that down? It's all over
             now.  Put it down.

     Grace eyes the gun in Jake's hand.

                       JAKE
             Go on, girl.  Put it down.

     What choice does Grace have?  She lets the hatchet clank to the
     floor.

                       JAKE
             Aww, that's my Grace:  Not about to let
             someone get the best of her.  That's what I
             love about you.  As dangerous as you are
             unpredictable.

     behind Jake, the lifeless BOBBY rises up from the floor, very
     much alive, and clobbers Jake with a golf club. Jake is
     staggered, but he's one tough old customer as he manages to spin
     slowly, gun still in one hand, as if to fire.

     Before he can, Grace grabs up the hatchet from the floor and
     drives it straight into his back.

     He gurgles, stunned from both sides, but it's like trying to
     kill Rasputin. He still has the gun as Bobby jumps him from the
     rear, trying to get his neck in a chokehold. The gun FIRES once,
     discharging into the wall. The hatchet is ripped from his back.

     Grace watches as the two men bang into the walls in a rugged
     rodeo-type fight, Jake seeking to dislodge Bobby off his back.
     An expression of fear and excitement in her eyes.

     Finally the two men go crashing to the ground, rolling around,
     Bobby maintaining his stranglehold, but calling to her, his
     hands full.

                       BOBBY
             Grace, goddamit, do something!

     Jake's eyes rolls up at her like a beaching whale, pleading for
     help.

                       JAKE
             Grace...?

     She commits. Jumping into the fray, it's not clear whose side
     she's really on as the three of them roll across the floor,
     strangling, biting, hitting, spitting, scratching, gasping. It's
     a Guignol, but the pressure from Bobby's forearm is taking its
     toll on Jake. Trying to bite Jake, Grace bites Bobby instead,
     but then she scratches Jake's face. Jake is grabbing her hard as
     Bobby chokes him, trying to use her to leverage himself away.
     But she manages to rip herself from his grip and scrambles on
     her knees across the floor.

     She grabs the hatchet. And stands, moving back towards the two
     men locked on the floor. Bobby looks up at her, hatchet in hand,
     no longer sure which way she'll go.

     Jake, however, gasping for air, eyes bulging, spittle dripping
     from his mouth, looks at Grace with some inner certainty that
     she will help him. He gasps the words.

                       JAKE
             Help me, Grace, help...

                       GRACE
             Like you helped her, Jake?

     Grace stands there, deciding, the power of the hatchet in her
     hands. She raises it suddenly over the two men.

     It flashes downwards. Deep into the gut of her husband Jake,
     almost transfixing him to the floor.

     In the silence that follows, Jake's eyes roll up to meet hers.
     But all she has for him is a cold, distant stare.

     Jake's head drops as the life rushes out of him. Bobby falls
     back from the body puffing and dripping with sweat.

                       BOBBY
             What the hell'd you wait for?

     She doesn't answer, turbulence in her face. He rolls Jake's body
     off, upset. She may have made it a murder, but he was part of
     it, and he feels the shift in himself. They're both in new
     territory, feeling an apartness between them.

     Suddenly JAKE gasps, still alive! It is too much for Bobby. He
     grabs the hatchet and plunges it down on Jake, silencing him one
     last time.

     Grace is pushing the bed away from the wall, slipping down on
     her knees and prying open several floorboards.

                       GRACE
             The money's right here! Get the key!

                       BOBBY
             No! You get it!

     He doesn't want to get close to Jake. Grace coldly runs over to
     his corpse, ripping the chain, key and all, from the neck. The
     action pulls Jake's head up, then she lets it thump back on the
     floor. She runs back to the floorboards.

     The top of a thick steel floor safe is revealed.

     Bobby watches -- his whole life, it seems, hanging on the
     outcome.

     With the key, she opens the safe. Inside are rolled-up bundles
     of cash -- in hundred dollar denominations. She looks up at him,
     offering it as she reaches in for more. Bobby also gets down on
     his hands and knees and grabs more and more, sucked into the
     fever of freedom, far more money than he lost at the grocery
     store, overcome now with emotions of fear and freedom.

     They see each other.

                       GRACE
             Didn't I tell you?

                       BOBBY (plunging into the cash)
             There must be 150, 200 thousand here!
             Goddamnit Grace, you were right!

                       GRACE
             We done it, Bobby. Oh my God!

     They laugh excitedly and start kissing, rolling in the stacks of
     cash, some of which sticks to Bobby's sweating back. The day
     didn't turn out so bad after all for Bobby.

                       GRACE
             Fuck me baby!

                       BOBBY (looking at Jake)
             What about him?

                       GRACE
             Let him watch. I want him to know what he's
             missing.

     As they consummate their violent relationship for the first
     time, Jake's lifeless eyes watch them.

     EXT. MCKENNA HOUSE - LATER NIGHT

     The LIGHT in the bedroom window is low candlelight, but we sense
     something watching them. GRACE's silhouette moves across a
     window.

     BOBBY now comes out of the house, cautious, walking down the
     driveway.

     He stops, thinks, and walks back to open the hood of GRACE'S JEEP.

     He reaches into the ENGINE and disconnects something, then
     closes the hood and walks on.

     EXT. HARLIN'S GARAGE - NIGHT

     BOBBY walks up to the SHACK near the garage and bangs on the
     door. A light goes on in the window.  DARRELL shouts out.

                       DARRELL (O.C.)
             What you want?

                       BOBBY
             Open up!

                       DARRELL (O.C.)
             We're closed.  Come back when the sun comes
             up.

     Bobby, in a hurry to get back should Grace pull any tricks,
     bangs and kicks against the door. Darrell yanks the door wide.

                       DARRELL
             What the hell ... oh, it's you.  Might've
             figgered. Listen I got a waitress coming
             over.  What do you want?

                       BOBBY
             I want my car.

                       DARRELL
             You got the money?

     Bobby pulls the money from his hip pocket and hands it to
     Darrell.  The mechanic fingers it suspiciously.

                       DARRELL
             Two-hundred dollars in hundred-dollar
             bills.  And this morning you was broke.

                       BOBBY
             That's none of your business.  Get the keys.

                       DARRELL
             I don't want no dirty money.  I run an
             honest business.

                       BOBBY
             Yeah, like Al Capone on tax day. Get the keys?

                       DARRELL (pause)
             Well, there's a $50 overnight storage
             charge we got to talk about.

     Bobby is ready at first to explode, but then just laughs out
     loud. You got to give it to a guy like Darrell. He holds up a
     $100 bill.

                       BOBBY
             All I got's a hundred, Darrell. You got change?

                       DARRELL
             No.

                       BOBBY
             Figgers. There's a scratch on the hood and how
             much you make selling my gun? Deduct it.

     Bobby pulls the hundred back from Darrell's grasp.

                       DARRELL (going to get the keys)
             Don't know nothing about no gun.

                       BOBBY
             Course you don't. Tell me something
             Darrell. Forty thousand people die every
             day! How come none of them are you?

                       DARRELL (throws him the keys)
             I think you know where to find her.

                       BOBBY
             And the trunk key.

                       DARRELL (pulls out the trunk key)
             Topped off the tank for you. No charge.
             Just my way of doing business.

                       BOBBY (jovial, confident now)
             Listen up good, Darrell. I'm getting outta
             this shithole. You're staying! And one
             little peep outta you -- remember that gun
             makes you part of the food chain. Your
             prints are all over it. I'd be awful
             careful whose rectum I was pointing my
             finger in, Darrell.

     Bobby hops in the car, a free man. As Darrell glares at him,
     bewildered and frightened at the same time.

     EXT. MCKENNA HOUSE - NIGHT

     BOBBY turns the MUSTANG up the drive. THE HEADLIGHTS cut the
     darkness and land on an empty patch where Grace's jeep had been
     parked.  Bobby jumps from the Mustang and runs around
     frantically. His look is devastated. He falls to his knees,
     about to sob when:

     GRACE opens the front door and pokes her head out, putting out
     several suitcases.

                       GRACE
             Bobby?  What the hell's the matter with
             you?

                       BOBBY
             I ... nothing.  I just stubbed my toe on
             a rock.  Hurt like hell.

                       GRACE
             I got the money all packed.  I put the jeep
             and his caddy in the garage. People'll
             think maybe me and Jake went away.  Buy us
             some time...I know a back road we can take.

                       BOBBY
             Good thinking. (looking at her four bags)
             What's all this?

                       GRACE
             I'm not coming back.

                       BOBBY (accepting)
             Awright, let's go. I want to be fifty miles
             from here before the sun comes up.

                       GRACE
             Funny thing; the jeep wouldn't start. I had
             to push it.

                       BOBBY (dryly)
             Funny thing... I'll get the bags.

     EXT. MCKENNA HOUSE - LATER NIGHT

     Bobby's MUSTANG is backed towards the front of the house.  We
     see a silhouette of BOBBY and GRACE carrying something wrapped
     in a BLANKET and dumping it in the trunk.

     EXT. DESERT HIGHWAY - NIGHT

     A lone pair of HEADLIGHTS illuminate the night as the Mustang
     cruises through the dark.  As the lights brighten the screen we:

                                                         FADE TO:

     INT./EXT. MUSTANG - NIGHT

     GRACE sits next to BOBBY peering out the windshield, clutching
     the money in a backpack. She's humming an Indian song.

                       BOBBY
             I can't see it.

                       GRACE
             It should be just up ahead.  Hold on ...
             there!  There it is!

     A SIGN illuminated by the HEADLIGHTS.  It reads:  YOU ARE
     LEAVING SUPERIOR.  THANKS FOR VISITING.

     Grace lets out a scream of joy, leans over and hugs him.

                       GRACE
             Oh, God!  I can't believe it.  I'm out.
             I'm finally out!

     The MUSTANG begins to swerve along the road.

                       BOBBY
             Hey!  Take it easy.  Want to get us killed?

                       GRACE
             You don't know what it feels like to be
             free of that place.

                       BOBBY
             I don't know about that?

                       GRACE
             You spent a day in Superior. I wasted my
             entire life there. I feel like someone just
             took a million pounds off my shoulders.

                       BOBBY
             We've still got some dead weight to get rid of.

                       GRACE
             Can't we just dump him fast someplace?

                       BOBBY
             I want a place where only the vultures will
             find him...(then) It'll be over soon,
             Grace.

                       GRACE
             Then will you take me on your friends' boat
             with you?

                       BOBBY
             I'm not sailing his boat.

                       GRACE
             But I thought --

                       BOBBY
             We're going to buy a boat of our own baby,
             and sail it wherever we want to go.

                       GRACE
             Anywhere?

                       BOBBY
             What the hell? Why not? Where should we go?

                       GRACE
             Hawaii. I've read all about it. I've
             dreamed of going there and just lying on
             the beach while the water licked up against
             my feet. Oh, God. I'd kill to go there.

                       BOBBY
             You already have.

     She gives him a funny look.

                       BOBBY
             You know I thought you'd left me back
             there.

                       GRACE
             What are you talking about?

                       BOBBY (emotional)
             When I got back from the garage, and your
             jeep wasn't there, I thought you'd gone and
             left me and taken the money.
                  (off her look)
             ...Cause I never had any luck with women,
             Grace. You don't know what I been through.
             The shit I've taken. I thought you were
             like the rest of 'em... but when you came
             out of the house... well you're here Grace
             and we might be starting in the shit but
             we're starting where I never been --
             together with someone -- together with you
             Grace.

     She responds with a luminous smile.

                       GRACE
             I love you Bobby.

     He looks back at her with trust and love in his eyes.

                       BOBBY
             We're gonna pull this off, Grace.

     Just then a HEADLIGHT rakes them from the rear as we hear,
     again, the ominous crackle of a POLICE RADIO and the short
     brutal "Whoop" of the siren, as Sheriff Potter's VEHICLE rolls
     up quickly behind them. Grace's face is caught like a surprised
     deer in the headlamps.

                       GRACE
             Oh, my God!
                  (then)
             Don't stop!

     Bobby is in a bind. The siren whoops again. The lights flash to
     highbeam.

                       BOBBY
             He must've seen us swerving on the road,
             that's all, just gonna give us a ticket for
             swerving...

     But even Bobby has trouble believing that as the POLICE VEHICLE
     pulls out sharply alongside his and SHERIFF POTTER motions to
     him aggressively to pull over on the shoulder.

                       SHERIFF (into loudspeaker)
             Pull over, goddamnit, pull over!

                       GRACE
             Keep going!

     She seems to be panicking. Bobby pulls over.

                       BOBBY
             Fuck this!...Just shut up, Grace. We done
             nothing! Be cool. Let me do the talking. He
             doesn't know anything.

     His vehicle pulled up on the shoulder in front of them, the
     Sheriff gets out, shining his power flashlight into their faces.

                       BOBBY (starts)
             'Evening Sheriff, sorry bout that but this
             jackrabbit...

     Bobby has no time to react as the Sheriff is suddenly there at
     his window, jerking his door open, angry. A GUN in his hand,
     pointed at them, his eyes on Grace.

                       SHERIFF
             You had to fuck him, didn't you!

                       GRACE (nervous cool)
             I would never do that to you, baby... He
             killed Jake -- said he'd kill me if I
             didn't come with him. All he wants is the
             money.

     Bobby looks at her. He cannot believe what he just heard.

                       BOBBY
             What!

                       SHERIFF (flipping, yelling)
             Don't lie to me!

     Grace knows the jam is up.

                       GRACE
             OK...but he never made me cum! Really
             Virgil, I was only doing what I had to do
             so we could be free. Just like we talked
             about. It meant nothing.

     A pause. Virgil wants to kill her, but he also wants her back
     badly.

                       BOBBY
             You fucking him too Grace? Is everybody
             fucking everybody in this town?

     She ignores him. Her attention on the backpack with the money
     between her legs -- the gun is there, inside an outer flap of
     the bag.

                       SHERIFF
             You fuck this guy -- get him to do your
             dirty work and you think you can take the
             money and dump me?

                       GRACE
             No baby, you got it wrong.

                       SHERIFF
             This road don't go to Globe, Grace -- where
             were you going to meet me?

     His flashlight on the four suitcases in the backseat. She
     doesn't have an answer to that one.

                       GRACE
             It's not like that it... Look, Virgil, I
             got the money here.

     She gets out of the car on her side, comes around to him, the
     pack of money slung on her shoulder, hard to see in the dark.

                       SHERIFF (hurt)
             Oh Grace, you can say what you want...but,
             I watched you fuck that pervert for years
             while you're telling me you loved me? What
             happened to going to Milwaukee together?
             You and me -- gonna open up the finest
             sporting goods store that city ever did
             see? Get us a place on the north shore, by
             the lake? Season Brewer tickets! Just you
             and me, Grace. What happened?

                       GRACE
             All talk, that's all you did was talk, and
             all I did was sit around getting older
             waiting for you to free me! You never did
             nothin' Virgil, you're weak! (pointing to
             Bobby) He did!

     The Sheriff, deeply wounded, casts a hot vicious gaze on Bobby.

                       SHERIFF
             This is some girl you and me got here
             Bobby, yessir, an excellent cocksuck too,
             wouldn't you say? (back at Grace)... Course
             you had a lotta practice haven't you
             darling, going way back to your crazy mama!

                       GRACE (deadly)
             Shut up, Virgil! Take your share of the
             money. It's not so bad.

                       SHERIFF
             I don't want the fuckin' money! I'm not
             gonna give up everything I got for a lousy
             50,000 dollars. It's you. You Grace or
             nothing. The whole thing... I want you to
             be my wife...(hopeful). What do you way
             Grace?

                       GRACE
             You sound just like Jake... I did see into
             the future, Virgil, but you weren't in it.
             Go back to your family. They love you.

     Bobby gets out of the car, misunderstanding the situation.

                       BOBBY (misunderstanding)
             Look, we got more. We got $200,000 at
             least. Split it three ways, we all walk
             away...

     The Sheriff snaps and smashes Bobby with his flashlight,
     knocking him to the ground, kicking him again and again,
     gathering the psychic force to murder him. Grace tries to
     approach.

                       SHERIFF
             Shut up, boy! You don't know shit round
             here! (to Grace) Get back. Did she tell you
             that story about the bird flying away?

                       BOBBY (rolling on the ground)
             Ow! Look, I ... ow!

                       GRACE
             Stop! Stop it!

                       SHERIFF (kicking again and again)
             Were you going to help her fly away,
             asshole? What'd you think, you were the
             first boy to drift through this town she
             came on to? She tell you the story about
             old Jake forcing her to marry him? That's a
             good story... How he killed her crazy Mama?

     Bobby in bloody agony. Grace stunned that Virgil would reveal
     this now publicly.

                       GRACE
             Goddamnit Virgil, stop!  Don't!

                       SHERIFF
             ...But I bet the story she didn't tell you
             was the best story of all. How old crazy
             Jake was really her Papa. And she liked
             fucking Papa! And now she's killed the
             sonufabitch! Just like she's gonna kill
             you!

     Grace plunges into the pack, pulls the gun and shoots Virgil
     across the car in the gut.

                       GRACE
             No...you! You!

     The Sheriff flies back onto the road, stunned, not realizing
     what's happened.

     Bobby watches unbelieving as Grace quietly steps up over the
     Sheriff.

     She puts the next round in his nuts, a modern fury enacting
     ancient wrath.

                       BOBBY
             Grace. No!

     The Sheriff is wide-eyed, dying in shock. Grace then fires right
     at his head in a coup de grace that blows his brains out the
     back of his head.

     Grace and Bobby both stare, then Grace jumps into action,
     dragging the body. She snaps to Bobby.

                       GRACE
             Help me get him off the road. Into the car!
             We'll ditch his car... Get the fuck up!

     Bobby stares at her.

     EXT./INT. MUSTANG - NIGHT

     They're driving. GRACE and BOBBY, wordless, each thinking in
     separate worlds. Grace wipes her hands. The bag with the money
     between her legs. The Baretta is back in the bag.

                       BOBBY (finally)
             Jesus, did you have to kill him?

                       GRACE
             Get real Bobby. He was gonna kill you and
             me.

                       BOBBY
             He was in love with you Grace. He would've
             done what you wanted, you could've made a
             deal and ...

                       GRACE
             The only deal he had in mind was killing
             you for Jake's murder and blackmailing me
             into sucking his dick for the rest of my
             life... no thanks.

                       BOBBY
             He was a cop, Grace, they never stop
             looking for you when you kill a cop...

                       GRACE
             He was a scumbag!... He wanted me, Bobby.
             These guys don't let go! Even when they're
             dead... (softer) You don't know what it was
             like, Bobby. Those two, they were the same.

     A silence. The oncoming road.

                       GRACE
             So, aren't you going to ask me?

                       BOBBY
             Ask you what? You mean what kind of
             horrifying sick shit is coming next?

                       GRACE
             Don't you want to know...? I bet it's
             burning a hole in your brain just now?

                       BOBBY
             Let it go, baby. It's the past. I got a
             past...

                       GRACE
             Don't you really want to know? Was Jake my
             Daddy? Was I fucking my own Daddy? Don't
             you want to know that?

                       BOBBY (shouting)
             What do you want me to say!

     She's yelling, emotionally out of control.

                       GRACE
             Yes! I was! I was fucking Daddy! And I
             married him!... I married him...okay?

     She looks at Bobby, forces him to look at her. Finally:

                       BOBBY
             Why?

                       GRACE
             I don't know why!

     She drops back in her seat. Tears come.

                       GRACE
             All I wanted was to be a kid... He took
             that from me... They all did... (very
             quietly, dangerously) They treated me like
             meat. A piece of meat. Fuck me. Blow me.
             Bend over. Stick their fingers up my ass...
             Fuck them! Fuck the whole town! They
             deserved to die!

     A pause.

                       BOBBY
             And us Grace? What do we deserve?

                       GRACE (crying quietly to herself)
             "Nin chonk, nin chonk," my Mama used to say
             in Apache. "Your worst is doing this to
             you," she said, "your worst has killed
             you." And "Be go tsee" -- "you will find
             out the result of what you have done..."
             Just when you think it's over, when you've
             gotten away, it begins. Cause you never get
             away.

     Bobby stares straight ahead at the oncoming road. Can he still
     love her? She seems to be reading his thoughts, like she said
     she could.

                       GRACE
             It's easy to judge someone else when you
             don't know nothing about it... I'm Apache,
             Bobby. You don't eat what I eat. You don't
             see what I see. Don't judge me.

     A silence. Two former lovers in the dark of a car moving through
     the strangeness of an Arizona desert at night.

                       BOBBY
             I don't want to think anymore.

                       GRACE (quietly)
             Then drive...

     The lights of the car fade until there is nothing but darkness.

                                                THE SUN COMES UP:

     EXT. CANYON - END SPOT - DAWN

     In the vast reaches of a deserted canyon, where VULTURES circle
     in a hot white sky, we find the MUSTANG parked at the edge of a
     drop. We hear the SOUND of a body being dragged.

                       D.J. (V.O.)
             ...Nobody's sure where it was heading so
             fast but the way it hit the semi, it won't
             be getting home now! Hey area weather is
             gonna be hot! Hot! Hot! Then cold! Cold!
             Cold! Just like yesterday. Just like every
             day. Some surprise, huh? So if you're
             planning on anything, don't. You don't like
             the weather, just wait one minute. Got any
             brains, get up to Alaska and get yourself
             some trailer park where you don't see no
             desert for miles and miles...

                       BOBBY (over)
             Right there... Drop it there. I got it.

     BOBBY is giving GRACE instructions as they drop SHERIFF VIRGIL
     POTTER'S corpse over a drop onto some rocks 30 yards below.

                       GRACE
             See ya, Virgil. God bless.

     Bobby pushes him over, his hand hurting. The body crashes below.
     It's hard work. They head back for the Mustang, to retrieve
     JAKE'S body in the popped trunk. But Grace notices Bobby
     glancing at the Baretta now tucked in her waist.

     The silence is tense between them, the rocks and gravel
     crunching under their shoes as they walk.

                       GRACE (indicates the gun)
             Is this what's bothering you Bobby?

                       BOBBY
             No Grace, my hand's bothering me.

                       GRACE
             You think now that Jake's dead, there's all
             that money there and I don't need you
             anymore, and I might just sneak up behind
             you sometime and...pop!

     She pulls an imaginary trigger on Bobby, mimicking the recoil of
     a gun. Bobby is nervous.

                       GRACE
             Don't you think I would've done it if I wanted
             to? What can I do to make you relax, baby?

                       BOBBY
             You could give me my gun back.

     Grace smiles.

                       GRACE
             Why don't we just finish what we started.

     She stares down at Jake. She can't help feeling some old
     feelings. As Bobby walks back to the front of the car, turns off
     the annoying radio. He watches as she softly prays over Jake,
     whose face is concealed by the blanket in which he is rolled.

                       GRACE (after a moment with Jake)
             What do you think happens to someone's
             spirit when they die?

                       BOBBY
             I think nothing happens. You're dead meat.
             That's it.

                       GRACE
             You don't believe in anything do you,
             Bobby?

                       BOBBY
             I believe in this moment, that's all. There
             is nothing else.
                  (lifting Jake by the shoulder)
             Come on. He must weigh 300 pounds.

     Grace leans into the trunk to take his boots when he makes his
     move, quickly, closing on her when she's off guard. He slams her
     hard in the face, coldly sending her sprawling to the ground,
     dazed.

     He steps over her and grabs the gun in her waist, checks it.

     She puts her hand to her mouth, feels the blood on her finger
     tips. She looks at him and laughs a wild crazed laugh that cuts
     into Bobby like a knife.

                       GRACE
             You hit me, Bobby? You hit a woman, you
             motherfucker! Didn't your Momma ever teach
             you anything...?

     Her eyes go to the gun in his hand and she stops laughing. Her
     calm is extraordinary, as if expecting to die.

                       GRACE
             Well?

     For a moment, Bobby does nothing, then he slips the gun through
     his belt.

                       BOBBY
             Well, nothing. We dump Jake, we split the
             money, then you're on your own.

                       GRACE
             Don't leave me. I want to say with you,
             Bobby.

                       BOBBY
             Why? So when the cops catch up with us you
             can sell me out again?

                       GRACE
             I was just baiting him! Bobby, I had to
             tell him that to get his guard down. Just
             like you told Jake you was going to kill
             me!

                       BOBBY
             You lied to me all along! Lies, all lies.
             Your mother, your father, what story are
             you on now?  How come the town didn't know
             you was his daughter?

                       GRACE (in pain)
             Cause my Mom slept around. A lotta men!
             Anybody could've been my father. But we
             knew.

                       BOBBY (not listening)
             Well you got what you wanted all along by
             fucking me.  I wish you had told me the
             goddamn truth in the first place!

                       GRACE (screws out)
             I didn't want you to know! Don't you...
             unnerstand?

     Bobby's got a headache now. It's too much to understand, too
     much talk. Too much history has taught him to doubt.

                       BOBBY
             When you're finished with me, I'm next! I
             been there, baby. I been there with other
             cunts...sorry, not anymore. I'll take you
             as far as California. If we can make that.
             After that you're on your own. Try Mexico.
             With all this bread, you can live like a
             queen.

                       GRACE
             I don't want to go to Mexico, Bobby!
             Please, I really want to be with you. Don't
             blow this. Don't you think I care about
             you?

                       BOBBY
             I think you're a lying, back-stabbing
             psycho bitch, and one day you'll kill me.
             But it's nice to know you cared...

     The expression on Grace's face changes as rapidly as the desert
     weather, a coldness passing over and through her.

                       GRACE
             You don't know your own mind. It blocks
             your heart.

     Keeping a wary eye on Grace, Bobby starts hauling Jake out of
     the trunk.

                       BOBBY
             Give me a hand.

     He wrestles Jake up to a sitting position. He grabs a can of
     beer from a warm six-pack in the trunk and shoves it into a
     pocket of Jake's coat.

                       BOBBY
             Poor old Jake, a few drinks, a fight with
             the sheriff over his wife. And both of 'em
             ended up dead.

     Grace takes his boots.

                       BOBBY
             Time to go for a walk, Jake.

                       GRACE
             My mother died in this canyon.

                       BOBBY
             Save the Mom routine, will ya Grace. It
             doesn't work with me. One, two, three...

     They lift the corpse, and with great effort, haul it towards the
     edge of the drop. As they pause on the way, Bobby, wary of
     Grace's strange coldness, tries to soften the blow of
     separation.

                       BOBBY
             Look, it's not so bad we split up. It might
             be months before they find these guys. If
             at all. I mean with the mountain lions
             around here. Remember, if they can't find
             no bodies, there's no crime... (She doesn't
             respond.) We'll be in Phoenix by noon. Lose
             this car, get another one. Texas, Mexico
             are big countries, all that money Grace,
             you'll meet someone else, you know, there's
             a lot of hope with a $100,000...

     They lift Jake again, and move to the edge.

                       GRACE
             Hope is a four-letter word.

                       BOBBY
             But we all need that too. Hold him.

     He props Jake at the edge, standing, and transfers the weight
     onto Grace. Jake's head is on her shoulder.

                       BOBBY
             You make a pretty couple.

     It seems he might push them both over but instead takes the gun,
     wipes it of his prints, and slips it through Jake's belt.

                       BOBBY
             Won this in a poker game in Reno. God knows
             who it's registered to.  You shoulda been
             more careful, Jake. See you later.

     As he takes Jake's weight off Grace and pushes it over the drop.

     Grace watches him go, her eyes shifting to Bobby, his back
     momentarily to her, also watching. She moves towards him.

     Bobby turns, slips on the edge.

                       BOBBY
             Now all we got to do is try and--

     He feels a blur of motion, almost like a bird, and he is
     falling...falling, his life coming to an end.

     Grace is standing somewhere up above, briefly seen. Did she push
     him? He doesn't know.

     He's stunned as he falls on the rocks next to the bodies of Jake
     and Virgil. He screams out in sharp pain. His leg feels broken.
     But he is alive.

     Grace walks away, cutting it all off, deeply shaken. She must
     get away from the past and all these hollow men. She closes the
     trunk of the Mustang, gets in the driver's seat, reaches for the
     ignition key. Her hand fumbles for it a moment. It isn't there.

                       GRACE
             Shit!

     She sits there. Bobby is calling from below.

                       BOBBY
             Grace! Help me, Grace...! We been through
             too much together.  We've only had one day,
             but you and me have been through more than
             most people ever will. I know you were
             angry at me, and, you know, you were right!
             I'm sorry I hit you. I was wrong about
             leaving you. You don't belong in Mexico.

     She finally gets out and walks back to the edge of the cliff,
     looks down.

                       BOBBY
             Thank you. Thank you. I...I knew you
             wouldn't leave me, Grace.

                       GRACE
             Bobby? Are you all right?

                       BOBBY
             I busted my leg!

                       GRACE
             Can you make it back up?

                       BOBBY
             Grace -- in the trunk of my car is a tow
             rope. It should reach down here. Go get it,
             throw it down.

     She looks. Of course the trunk is closed. She closed it.

                       GRACE
             Bobby, the trunk...it's locked. Throw the
             keys up to me. I'll get the rope.

     Bobby's eyes pass over Jake a few feet away, his eyes staring
     upwards in death. They take in the gun still attached to his
     waist. He knows the trunk wasn't locked when they took Jake out.

                       BOBBY
             I can't throw that far. You got to climb
             down here and get the keys. You can make
             it. It's the only way Grace.

     Grace looks down at the drop.  It's a tough descent but she
     knows she could make it and get back up as well.

                       BOBBY
             Grace!...Please, Grace!  You have to help
             me.

     Grace takes a look around.

                       GRACE
             Okay. I'm coming. Calm down!

     She starts down the cliff face. As she descends, he talks
     deliriously.

                       BOBBY (off)
             I knew you'd help me. I knew you wouldn't
             leave me baby, cause we're tied together
             too close. We belong together always.

     Grace makes it to the bottom of the drop, and walks cautiously
     towards Bobby.

                       GRACE (yelling back, echoing)
             Bobby! Don't flip out on me. I can't do
             this alone. I know you don't trust me, but
             you gotta pull yourself together, I'm not
             gonna leave you...I never wanted it to go
             down like this. It was different with you
             Bobby. You had dreams like me. You
             listened... I would've gone anywhere with
             you, Bobby. We can make this work. I'm
             sorry...I really am. I didn't wanna hurt
             you.

     Can he believe her? She sounds so sincere this time.

     She's heading for the body of Jake. And the gun. Bobby knows
     that and is already crawling there.

                       BOBBY (as he crawls)
             They're right here, Grace.  The keys.  Come
             get me out of here... Know why else I could
             never leave you?

                       GRACE
             Why's that?

                       BOBBY
            'Cause I love you.

     Inching closer.

     Closer. They meet at the apex of Jake's corpse.

                       GRACE
             And I love you too.

                       BOBBY
             And love's a funny thing.  Sometimes I
             don't know if I want to love you...

     Grace leans close to Bobby.  He dangles the keys out in front of
     her, but she doesn't reach for them. Her eyes go to Bobby. She
     reaches for him. At that instant Bobby's hands shoot out and
     clamp hard around her.  A sharp gurgle is all that escapes Grace
     as Bobby twists the life from her, as Jake leers up at them.

                       BOBBY
             ...or kill you.

     Grace twists and flails in Bobby's hands, but in spite of his
     bleeding stump, he holds her like a bear trap holds a grizzly.

                       BOBBY
             I love you Grace, but I just can't trust
             you!

     She looks at him, trying to protest, shaking her head. Grace's
     flailing goes into overdrive. Somewhere in his semi-delirious
     state, Bobby's eyes might notice the gun at Jake's waist is no
     longer there.

     Grace manages one word:

                       GRACE
             Jake...

                       BOBBY
             He can't help you now, honey!

     Bobby is in agony as he kills her, part beast, part lover, he
     kills that which he loves.

     Suddenly, a SHOT is heard. Bobby buckles with the blast, hit in
     the side. He kills her with one last wrenching thrust of his
     hands, breaking her neck.

     Bobby looks down at Jake's gun, which she clutches in her hand,
     and sees the hole in his side and the river of blood that flows
     from it.  He manages to stand, looks at Jake; their bodies lying
     side by side.

     Bobby, with great difficulty, claws his way back up the rocks to
     the car, his fast-flowing wound staining the white rocks with
     blood.

     He makes it to the top and, losing more blood, climbs into the
     driver's seat. He checks the money in the bag. All there. All
     his.

     As he pulls a huge clot of blood from his side, the vultures
     circle. Perhaps one, smarter than the others, lands close by. It
     spooks Bobby but he's okay. He looks in the mirror.

                       BOBBY
             You're still lucky.

     He puts the key in the ignition, the engine comes to life.

                       BOBBY (waves back)
             Adios --

     Suddenly, the RADIATOR HOSE Darrell installed blows apart
     loudly. Bobby knows exactly and immediately what it is as a
     cloud of steam now rolls from under his hood. He shakes his
     head, frustrated.

                       BOBBY (sighs)
             Oh shit!...(then) Arizona.

     He can't help but laugh at his bad luck. As we rise off the
     desert floor and take flight with the vultures, eventually
     leaving them all as specks of earth in the vast empty canyons of
     Arizona.



                            THE END