Heat SCENE ONE: EXT. / DAY – A FREEWAY TRAFFIC JAM LISA GRAHAM is sitting behind the WHEEL of her dark blue VOLKSWAGEN JETTA in heavy rush-hour traffic. She has the sunroof open and all the windows down. She pulls off the freeway and is stopped next to a LARGE TRUCK at a light. LISA (V.O.) My name is Lisa. I’m 35 years old. I found out today that I have cancer. [beat] I can’t believe this fucking traffic. LISA looks over at the TRUCK. On the door is stenciled a logo for a meat company. "BIG PORK MEATS … WE’RE MAKIN’ BACON" is hand-painted around a cartoon of two pigs copulating. LISA looks up at the DRIVER through her SUNROOF. The DRIVER is middle aged and overweight. He notices LISA and blows a kiss down. LISA (V.O.) This was right after leaving my doctor’s office. The light turns green and LISA guns it through the intersection. SCENE TWO: CUT TO: INT. / DAY – A DOCTOR’S OFFICE DOCTOR OWENS enters the dull sterile room and closes the door behind him. LISA (V.O.) My doctor. I like being able to say that. Most of my friends can only say "The Doctor." "The Doctor" says I need to eat more fiber," they say. My health plan actually gave me my own doctor that I get to see over and over again. Something to call my own. DOCTOR OWENS sits down on the edge of the examining table and grabs LISA’s FOREARM. He slides his HANDS down her FOREARM until he has her HAND sandwiched between his own. He looks over his large-rimmed glasses. DR. OWENS Lisa, I’ve got bad news for you. LISA How Bad? DR. OWENS Pretty bad, Lisa. I’m sorry. LISA (V.O.) You’re going to tell me I’m dying, I don’t say. [beat] I like how he moves his fingers on my wrist. CUT TO: SCENE THREE: EXT. DAY / SURFACE STREETS LEADING BACK TO LISA’S HOUSE LISA drives the several blocks to her house and pulls into the driveway. Sweat is running down her face. She unlocks the front door and makes a beeline for the A/C control and turns it all the way up. She walks out onto the deck outside and fishes the THERMOMETER out of the water. It reads about 97 DEGREES. LISA (V.O.) Shit. Almost body temperature. My husband is always fooling with the solar system, trying to get the water as hot as possible. It’s the first full summer we’ll have had the pool back here. LISA scans the fence line and plops the THERMOMETER back into the water. She goes back into the house and begins to prepare some teriyaki burgers and a salad. CUT TO: MONTAGE OVER MUSIC OF HER PREPARING THE MEAT PATTIES, PUTTING THEM INTO THE REFRIGERATOR TO MARINADE, WASHING HER HANDS, MAKING A SALAD WITH MUSHROOMS AND TOMATOES, AND THEN PUTTING THAT INTO THE REFRIGERATOR. SHE THEN RETRIEVES THE HAMBUGER BUNS FROM A LOWER CUPBOARD. SHE GOES BACK OUTSIDE TO PREPARE AND LIGHT THE BARBECUE. LISA moves upstairs, peeling off her clothes on her way to the bathroom. She hangs her clothes over the back of the bathroom door. She catches herself looking into the mirror. LISA (V.O.) I feel older than I look. She steps into the cold water of the shower and is visibly shocked at first at the coldness. LISA (V.O.) The water is intensely refreshing. I can feel the day rinsing off me. CUT TO: MONTAGE OF LISA SOAPING UP AND GIVING HERSELF A BREAST EXAM. LISA gets out of the shower and wraps herself in a towel. She goes into the bedroom and puts on her red bikini and then puts on some baggy black shorts. She goes downstairs and starts the barbeque. Her HUSBAND enters (gets home). The HUSBAND has his suit jacket off and his tie pulled out if his shirt. His face is glowing red and he drips with sweat. THE HUSBAND Hey, baby. [HE PLANTS A KISS ON HER CHEEK] Motherfucking traffic! [HE PLANTS ANOTHER KISS AS HE PULLS HIS TIE COMPLETELY OUT OF HIS SHIRT.] THE HUSBAND Jesus H. Christ, it’s hot as hell out there. [BEAT] I’m going to take a shower. He plants a sweaty kiss on her cheek, and heads upstairs to shower. CUT TO: SCENE FOUR: INT. / DAY -- THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE MONTAGE of DR. OWENS showing her the X-rays of the various parts of her body, and explaining what’s wrong. LISA (V.O.) Dr. Owens explains it all to me. He uses words that I’ve heard of on television. Lymphoma. Metastasized. LISA: So what can we do about it? DR. OWENS looks at her over his glasses, and then takes them off. [LONG BEAT] LISA (V.O.): I found him in the Yellow Pages. His ad was very small, but big enough to have his picture in it. SHOW THE AD. WITH DR. OWENS SITTING WITH HIS HANDS ON HIS KNEES AND THE SAME LARGE SQUARISH-RIMMED GLASSES] LISA (V.O., continuing): I knew he was the one I wanted by the way his owlish expression looked at me from that dirty yellow page. [beat] My plan from work had him on their lists, so he was mine. Close scene with close up of DR. OWENS with solemn, empathic look on his face. CUT TO: SCENE FIVE EXT. / DAY – OUTSIDE BY THE POOL THE HUSBAND is out of the shower, in shorts and a T-SHIRT, and is manning the grille with a big smile on his face. LISA (V.O.) He’s smiling because the pool is so hot. THE HUSBAND It’s like having a huge jacuzzi! LISA [yelling from the kitchen] It’s too hot! THE HUSBAND Too hot? [beat] What the hell do you mean, "Too Hot"? Are you crazy? FADE TO: EXT. / SUNDOWN -- IN THE BACK YARD LISA and the HUSBAND are sitting at the glass-topped table under the LARGE UMBRELLA. They eat and drink wordlessly. THE HUSBAND It’s getting cooler pretty quickly. Just wait ‘till it gets cool out here. LISA takes a bite of her burger and takes a sip of wine. Then she pushes some salad onto THE HUSBAND’S plate. LISA (V.O.) The wine relaxes me. [LONG BEAT] CUT TO: SCENE SIX INT. / DAY – THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE [OR CONFERENCE ROOM] DR. OWENS AND ANOTHER DOCTOR ARE SITTING BEHIND A CONFERENCE TABLE. THERE IS A STACK OF MEDICAL FILES AND LARGE BROWN ENVELOPES NEATLY STACKED TO THE SIDE. LISA is sitting on the other side of the table with her hands placed flat on the table just in front of her, palms down. LISA (V.O.) My doctor has called in another doctor to explain that they've both considered the case. They both sit in their white doctor outfits on the other side of the small conference table and agree that I am dying. They tell me that the cancer is already all over my body. [beat] This is a particularly aggressive type, they say. They concur that chemotherapy and radiation will probably only end up making my last few months even worse. They tell me they want me to talk to another doctor and get another opinion. [beat] They also want more tests, they say optimistically. They also tell me they're very sorry. I believe them. [[I will edit this speech down, probably, later. If she’s going to give any long speeches, then it better be for a good reason.]] CUT TO: SCENE SEVEN: EXT. / NIGHT -- OUTSIDE BY THE POOL OPEN WITH A MONTAGE SHOWING LISA ON THE COUCH INSIDE (WE SEE HER THROUGH THE WINDOW) WATCHING TV AND THE HUSBAND OUTSIDE IN THE POOL. Lisa is splayed out on the couch. The HUSBAND is outside coaxing her to come in. THE HUSBAND Come on, Lisa! It’s great in here! LISA (V.O.) My husband is a very sweet man. We met in college. He was my editor at the school paper, one year ahead of me. He sells computer chips now. He’s the kind of man you can take home to meet the family, but you don’t probably want him to stay there overnight. She gets up and goes out to the pool. She sits at the shallow end, near her HUSBAND, and lowers her lower legs into the water. STEAM should be coming off the husband in the cold night air. He moves toward her and takes her calves into his hands. THE HUSBAND Come in, honey, you’ll love it. [beat] It’s nice and cozy. LISA (V.O.) He’s very proud of his achievement, getting the water that hot. LISA pulls her legs out and walks to the other end of the pool. The water is cold on her wet calves. The HUSBAND stays at the other end and hold out his arms, inviting. LISA peels off her shorts and throws them onto the cement. She then takes a step, curls into a ball, and crashes into the water. LISA (V.O.) The water is very warm. When I surface, the steam rises above me like white fire. I can see my husband as a half-light, half-dark form at the other end of the pool, with his hands held out to me. He is cut in half by the glow of the waterline. His body under the water is vague and shifting, sickly illuminated by the pool light. Above the water is just a steaming dark form, although I can tell that he is smiling. Between us is the water and the steam. I can also see that he is moving toward me. CUT TO: SCENE EIGHT: INT. / DAY -- THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE OR CONFERENCE ROOM DR. OWENS and the OTHER DOCTOR are walking LISA to the door. DR. OWENS stops and puts his hand on LISA’S SHOULDER. LISA (V.O.) He’s reminding me to come in for more tests tomorrow. There’s somebody else they want me to talk to about it. LISA Okay, … DR. OWENS He’s a specialist. From San Francisco. He may be able to make some suggestions. THE OTHER DOCTOR He’s very well known. LISA (V.O.) I smile at them and say okay again. CUT TO MONTAGE OF HER WALKING OUT TO HER CAR AND GETTING IN. LISA (V.O.) I open the door and the heat assaults me. The air conditioner goes on but only less-warm air emits from the dashboard vents. I turn it back off and roll down all the windows. The middle of rush hour, I begin to crawl home. CUT TO: SCENE NINE: EXT. / NIGHT – IN THE POOL The HUSBAND has arrived at the deep end and begins to kiss LISA. They embrace. LISA (V.O.) The side of the pool digs at my back, but my body melts into the warm water. There is no boundary. I can feel him hard against my thigh and hip. I begin to sweat despite the cool night air. I am dimly aware of a pain in the top part of my left breast. When he touches it, I move and make a small noise. They are making out. He reaches around and undoes her bikini top from behind. He kisses her chest and she reacts painfully. LISA takes him up by the hair and kisses him on the mouth. She reaches for his hand and puts it against her chest. She moves his hand over a certain spot, and he reacts similarly, but with a question on his face. LISA He wants to know, and I want to tell him. He’s my husband. [long beat] I kiss him harder. She kisses him. FADE TO BLACK
Copyright © 2000 Juan Apagado |