working title

SCREEN BLACK

PAUL (V.O.)
Everybody always asks about the baby. What happened to the baby?

FADE IN:

INT. DINING ROOM - CIRCA 1925 - DUSK

PAUL sits directly opposite EMILY while nursing a tumbler of straight whiskey. They
both stare vacantly across a white tablecloth.


Each looks defeated by life; PAUL is in his late 40's, attractive at twenty paces, greying at the temples with eye sockets whittled by alcohol and the hands of a clock ; and EMILY, brunette hair in an unkempt bun, a frayed floral housecoat that has seen better days.
Medium shot over her shoulder facing a sweaty and disheveled PAUL.

PAUL (Breaks the silence by hitting table with fist)
Dammit, Em. That's just what I've been trying to tell you, but you won't keep your mouth shut long enough to hear me out.
(Calming down)
Now, the way I see it the two of us, we've been headed to this spot for a long time. Like them trains you stare at out the window all the time, you know. Them ones headed up to Blue Mound, and Wichita. That's what it's like. Like them little lights passing through to someplace better, filled up with all the happy faces pressed up against the glass feeling sorry for the rest of us standing still here on the ground. Hell, I even tried to warn you. God knows the whistle's been blowing ever since you let your sister move in here last summer. But you just wouldn't listen.
(Long pause)
On top of that, you had to go and get.... (loses thought, takes a drink) shit. How many rocks can you pile on a man until his back caves in? I can't even sign for flour down there at Tink's no more. How long has it been? 10 months? A year? Way before you let JOAN move in here.
Look. It really was nothing. Just a sometimes thing. Really. For chris-sakes you were on your back most days, and... and, hell. I didn't have no choice. The mill ain't hiring, and here comes another bird to feed. Two birds... hah. Imagine that. You can't buy milk with kindness. So yeah. I done some things that make me not too proud. Some things, well, you were right about, but not everything. I swear on a hundred bibles.
(Breaks down into tears)
Shit, Em. It would've been alright if she had just gone to Lawrence. I told her, 'just go to Lawrence.' Lots of girls do. Can't you see? We couldn't afford another.... we just couldn't. I told her 'just go to Lawrence.' (sobbing) And I meant that. Really, I did. I never wanted to hurt you -- or JO. I guess life just sort of rubbed me smooth, and I didn't have no choice.
And a man's gotta have choices, or he'll make decisions out of nothing.

A BABY cries from an upstairs room, and PAUL looks up at the ceiling. A faint rust-colored stain pools on the white paint above the dining table. PAUL closes his eyes, regaining his composure and slowly backs his chair away from the table. We see EMILY for the first time with the same vacant stare as she seems to gurgle, slumping headfirst onto the table.

View from above as the white tablecloth becomes a tableaux of red surrounding EMILY.

PAUL takes a final swig and puts down his drink, and slowly heads to the foot of the staircase. He turns to view the room before ascending into the dark and the sounds of a crying BABY.

FADE TO BLACK