THE BUNGEE WIFE.
INT. MILWAUKEE RESTAURANT – DAY
Turner returns to his table. Puts money on it, overhears Tara, his waitress, on the phone in a corner. Tara incidentally is married.
TARA
It’s my fault, but I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I have to try harder....I wish I knew what sets him off...He went out drinking ....Got no sleep at all last night....I just don’t know how I got into this -- how did I not see this? What’s wrong with me?...God no, I could never leave, don’t even joke....I can’t, gotta get back to the house and check in. Trust me! It’s just easier that way!
She hangs up, turns and sees Turner.
TARA (CONT'D)
Oh! You’re back! I’ll get your change.
TURNER
Nah, keep it.
TARA
(picking up the money)
Wow. You’re kidding.
TURNER
Hey Tara.
He points to her phone and they share a look; she is upset that he overheard her.
TURNER (CONT'D)
Tara, you take care of yourself.
She looks at him hard; her fa?ade crumbles for just a second, and then she nods.
TARA
Thanks.
She moves off.
TURNER
Hey, kid. Down two blocks and hang a right, there’s a bus station. Take you anywhere you want.
TARA
Yeah, I know.
(holding up the money)
So that’s who’s on the hundred.... Please, come back anytime!
Turner smiles. He heads for the door and finds himself face to face with Julia.
JULIA
Do I know you?
TURNER
(nervous smile)
You must be mixing me up with somebody else.
JULIA
New York or New Jersey?
TURNER
Sorry.
Tara sees Julia.
TARA
You probably don't remember me --
Julia gives her a warning look.
JULIA
I'll catch up with you. Okay?
She looks at Turner again.
INT. ANNA’S APARTMENT – DAY
Milwaukee. Anna and Green stand behind Tara; all three look into a mirror as Tara puts makeup over a black eye.
TARA
Seriously, this is the last time I go back. Boy did I screw this up.
ANNA
Look at this magazine. Pretend this picture is Ethel, worst wife in the world. She’s in the Guinness book.
TARA
Ethel? That’s Angelina Jolie.
ANNA
Pretend it’s Ethel. Worst wife ever, she drinks, she smokes, she tokes, filthy house, kids are a mess. She spends money like a drunken sailor, she sleeps around, she even hits her husband.
TARA
And?
ANNA
Even the worst wife in the world doesn’t deserve to get hit. There’s no way he can beat you over and over, without persuading you that you deserve it.
TARA
He tells me I’m worthless. I look in the mirror, that’s what I see.
ANNA
(brushing Tara’s hair)
I see a girl who survived in a man’s world since the day she was born. Marriage, the hardest job in the world, with the worst possible partner. Betrayed. Her best friend becoming her worst enemy. Doing everything he can to make all her choices painful, impossible.
She puts down the hairbrush.
ANNA (CONT'D)
She’s got more patience and sacrifice than a nun. She survived the friends and family who betrayed her, the judges who didn’t believe and the cops who didn’t care –
GREEN
Hey!
ANNA
Except for Greenie.
GREEN
I see a girl who brushed off broken bones that would make most men fall apart. I’m a cop and I don’t know anybody ever came closer to getting killed. Turn her life upside down, new home, work. Enough stress to kill normal people. She’s like a war vet, she was held hostage, had to live like a fugitive. Soldiers know how to deal with all that, they go to survival school – this kid’s a waitress who cries when she has to kill a spider.
Tara is crying by now, but she chuckles.
GREEN (CONT'D)
I had to go on some dangerous spy mission, this is the girl I take with me. She can solve anything, survive anything.
(points)
Angelina Jolie would have to play her in the movie, but she’d need months in the gym just to keep up with all the stunts.
ANNA
Let's hit the kitchen, polish off the last of my husband’s bourbon.
TARA
I lost most of my family. My friends.
GREEN
Make a new family. Start with us.
ANNA
Look at me. Long as you love people, you may get hurt, but you’ll never be alone. Just think of it! People who need love, they’re all around you. …Now stop moping, put on your drinking shoes.
TARA
(perking up, walking away)
Never got drunk on Bourbon before.
ANNA
(wary)
Oh boy.
Read the story at --
https://threewibbes.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/monteggia-fracture-2017-june-28.pdf