San Francisco
Content
San Francisco By Kaitlyn Boudah
Based on the short story "San Francisco"
Kaitlyn Boudah 45 Quincy Mail Center Cambridge, MA 02138
INT. HOUSE FRONT HALLWAY - DAY Bands of light stream through the little windows around the house’s front door. The door is open, and in the doorway stands MAIDY, a plainly dressed sixteen-year-old girl. Her backpack SLIDES off her shoulder and she releases it onto the floor next to her. She stares into the house without a sound. PSYCHOLOGIST (V.O.) I want you to tell me what you remember about how your mother died. CUT TO: INT. PSYCHOLOGIST’S OFFICE - DAY Maidy is seated in a big, comfy chair in a disgustingly-wallpapered shrink’s office. She’s wearing the same outfit as when she stood in her house’s doorway. The PSYCHOLOGIST sits opposite her in a stiffer looking chair. MAIDY Are you crazy? PSYCHOLOGIST It’ll help to get it out. Maidy sighs and leans back in her chair. MAIDY What do you even want me to say? PSYCHOLOGIST Just everything you want to say. What caused it, when it happened, what happened before, what happened after -- anything. Just talk to me. CUT TO: INT. MAIDY’S HOUSE - DAY - CONTINUOUS We are back in Maidy’s house. She is wandering down the front hallway as if she’s never been there before. MAIDY (V.O.) Fine, I guess. If I have to be here. Well, as you know, my mom had a brain tumor -- a big one, you (MORE) September 19, 2011
2.
MAIDY (V.O.) (cont’d) know, obviously, or maybe they could have done something about it. Right up here, right near her temple, she said. Maidy is in her KITCHEN, looking out the window into the bright, beautiful sunlight. She walks slowly over to some FAMILY PHOTOS sitting along the kitchen counter. MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) I mean, you never would have guessed anything was there, that anything was wrong in the first place. It was funny, there was this one day last year that my little sister - she’s the crazy one, really, she should be here talking to you, not me - she said, "Mommy doesn’t look so good." Maidy is looking at a picture of a young version of herself and her FATHER and younger sister, DARCY, posing, baseball caps on their heads. She moves to the next photo, one of her and her MOTHER. They’re embracing, smiling at the camera. In the photo, Maidy is wearing a gold WATCH. MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) And it was so offhand and sad and cute, but then two weeks later mom comes back home crying her eyes out and dad tells us she’s got a brain tumor and two years to live. Maidy stares at the picture. E.C.U. on the watch on Maidy’s wrist in the photograph. MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) That sucked. Finding out sucked. The randomness of the whole thing. It was like -- Jesus Christ, is this happening to me? Ugh... CUT TO:
3.
INT. PSYCHOLOGIST’S OFFICE - DAY Back in the office, Maidy puts a hand on her face. There is a silence. PSYCHOLOGIST What was your mother like? MAIDY What, before? Or... after? PSYCHOLOGIST Whichever you would like to talk about. MAIDY My mom was... (beat) Brave. And she liked clothes. She liked buying clothes and necklaces and stuff like that. Maidy rubs her wrist. CUT TO: INT. MAIDY’S HOUSE - DAY - CONTINUOUS Maidy sets down the picture frame with sudden intensity and speedwalks out of the kitchen. She RUNS up the stairs. MAIDY (V.O.) She gave me this watch, before... It was an antique watch. I think it was my grandmother’s. It was really pretty. PSYCHOLOGIST (V.O.) I notice you’re not wearing it. BEDROOM - MONTAGE Maidy is RIPPING fitfully through jewelry and clothes drawers, looking under papers on her bedroom desk, looking under her pillow, in the upstairs bathroom, searching for the watch.
4.
END MONTAGE PSYCHOLOGIST’S OFFICE Maidy looks up at the psychologist, hand still on her wrist. MAIDY I can’t find it. CUT TO: EXT. GRAVEYARD - DAY It’s a gray day -- group of people dressed in black are standing around a grave, into which a CASKET is being lowered. A pastor gives religious remarks. Maidy is there, holding 5-year-old Darcy’s hand. Her father stands near them. MAIDY (V.O.) Yeah, um, I’d like to say my mom paid a lot of attention to both my little sister and me, you know, in the last year. But I feel bad, because I think she spent more time with me. Not that she didn’t love us both equally, I just think... I don’t know. I think she forgot. MAIDY’S HOUSE Maidy is looking in all the drawers in the kitchen. She goes down into the basement and looks there, becoming more and more frantic. Maidy’s voice LAUGHS. MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) My sister is so cute. She’s so sweet and funny, I don’t know if she even really got what was going on. She pauses in the bathroom, looking in the mirror. She stares at her own face. MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) She came to me the other day, when I was sitting in my room kind of crying, and she asked me what was (MORE) September 19, 2011
5.
MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) (cont’d) wrong, and I thought I was being dramatic and said PSYCHOLOGIST’S OFFICE MAIDY (CONT.) "Time flies, Darcy." (beat) And she looks at me and she goes, "Fruit flies." And I’m like, "what?" And she says again, "Fruit flies. Fruit flies like a banana." She smiles. The Psychologist laughs a little. Then her smile fades. MAIDY’S HOUSE Maidy approaches and slowly ENTERS a bedroom at the end of the hall, and by the grown-up furniture and French country decorations it’s clear it’s her parents’. MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) She just had to be the one. She’s too young for that shit. Maidy walks toward the tighly-made BED. MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) It’s just nice to know she didn’t see it happen, or anything. Finding your mom dead is a little bit better than watching it happen. You don’t see the transition. It kind of looked like she was sleeping, anyway. She turns away from the bed and begins to look through her mother’s drawers, more gently than before. A few TEARS are visible on her face. PSYCHOLOGIST’S OFFICE Maidy sniffles. She’s crying. She wipes her eye. MAIDY I don’t think this is helping.
September 19, 2011
6.
PSYCHOLOGIST I’m sorry. You don’t have to keep going. We can take a break. How about this: what are some things you like to do? MAIDY I... go for -Maidy is cut off as an EARTHQUAKE RUMBLES through the room, causing the furniture to tremble. Maidy reacts violently. She shouts loudly and SWINGS her arm back, KNOCKING over a lamp which CRASHES to the floor. The psychologist LEAPS out of his seat. PSYCHOLOGIST Maidy! Maidy, calm down, it’s okay. Maidy looks furious. She composes herself and wipes a tear from her cheek. MAIDY Sorry. I’m fine. I’m not crazy. (beat) I shouldn’t even be here. There’s no reason for me to be here. PSYCHOLOGIST Maidy, I’m interested -- when was the last time you saw your mom’s watch? MAIDY I lost it, I told you. I don’t remember. PSYCHOLOGIST Okay. There’s an awkward silence. PSYCHOLOGIST (CONT.) I want you to talk to me about one more thing. You know why it’s good for you to talk to me, right? MAIDY No.
7.
GRAVEYARD We’re back at the graveyard, an identical scene to the one we saw before, with Maidy, her father and her sister. PSYCHOLOGIST (V.O.) I want you to tell me why you hit that man at the funeral. MAIDY (V.O.) Oh, come on. PSYCHOLOGIST (V.O.) Or at least tell the story to me again. I want to know what you were feeling. Maidy is staring down into the grave. The crowd moves a little as the casket hits bottom. MAIDY (V.O.) I told you, we were standing there, and my mom had just been put in the hole, and then there was a quake -just a little tremor. Not a big deal. The earth SHAKES around the funeralgoers. Dirt crumbles and falls into the hole. MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) And then this guy -- my mom’s friend -- next to me nudges me and is like, We see the MAN nudge Maidy. She turns to him. He cracks a little smile. MAN (MAIDY’S VOICE) "Feel that? I think that was a sign of your mother’s wrath." Maidy swiftly PUNCHES the man in the face. In slow motion. MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) So I turned around and socked him.
8. MAIDY’S HOUSE Maidy is sitting on her bed, crying, her fingers tightly grasping her hair. PSYCHOLOGIST (V.O.) Do you remember what you were wearing? PSYCHOLOGIST’S OFFICE Maidy looks offended. MAIDY I’m sorry? PSYCHOLOGIST Like, any jewelry that day? Any outfit you planned in advance? MAIDY I don’t know how the fuck that has anything to do with it. PSYCHOLOGIST Never mind. I’m sorry. MAIDY’S HOUSE Maidy pauses on her bed, as if something has just dawned on her. FLASHBACK - GRAVEYARD We see the repeated punching scene, but this time she’s wearing the gold watch. When she hits the man, she’s hit him so hard that the antique watch BREAKS and SHATTERS, cutting the man’s chin a little bit. Broken glass scatters like diamonds. END FLASHBACK Maidy gets up. She kneels and peers under the bed. She reaches for and retrieves a SHOE BOX that has been deliberately taped shut. Ripping the tape, she opens it. There is the watch, aboslutely shattered. The SLAM of the back door is heard. Her father and sister are home.
September 19, 2011
9.
DAD (O.S.) Hellooo? Maidy? Maidy SCRAMBLES to close the box and shove it way under her bed. She stands and dusts herself off. DAD (O.S.) Maidy? Are you okay? The house is a mess. Quick, little footsteps up the stairs. Darcy runs in and HUGS Maidy. Maidy calls back to her dad. MAIDY I was just looking for something. DARCY What were you looking for? MAIDY ... I can’t find the watch mommy gave me. DARCY You lost it? PSYCHOLOGIST’S OFFICE Maidy is standing by the door, backpack on, ready to leave. PSYCHOLOGIST Thank you for your time, Maidy. Have a good rest of your day. MAIDY Yeah. Thanks. She exits. The psychologist stands for a moment, then moves to pick up the broken lamp. FADE TO BLACK
Based on the short story "San Francisco"
Kaitlyn Boudah 45 Quincy Mail Center Cambridge, MA 02138
INT. HOUSE FRONT HALLWAY - DAY Bands of light stream through the little windows around the house’s front door. The door is open, and in the doorway stands MAIDY, a plainly dressed sixteen-year-old girl. Her backpack SLIDES off her shoulder and she releases it onto the floor next to her. She stares into the house without a sound. PSYCHOLOGIST (V.O.) I want you to tell me what you remember about how your mother died. CUT TO: INT. PSYCHOLOGIST’S OFFICE - DAY Maidy is seated in a big, comfy chair in a disgustingly-wallpapered shrink’s office. She’s wearing the same outfit as when she stood in her house’s doorway. The PSYCHOLOGIST sits opposite her in a stiffer looking chair. MAIDY Are you crazy? PSYCHOLOGIST It’ll help to get it out. Maidy sighs and leans back in her chair. MAIDY What do you even want me to say? PSYCHOLOGIST Just everything you want to say. What caused it, when it happened, what happened before, what happened after -- anything. Just talk to me. CUT TO: INT. MAIDY’S HOUSE - DAY - CONTINUOUS We are back in Maidy’s house. She is wandering down the front hallway as if she’s never been there before. MAIDY (V.O.) Fine, I guess. If I have to be here. Well, as you know, my mom had a brain tumor -- a big one, you (MORE) September 19, 2011
2.
MAIDY (V.O.) (cont’d) know, obviously, or maybe they could have done something about it. Right up here, right near her temple, she said. Maidy is in her KITCHEN, looking out the window into the bright, beautiful sunlight. She walks slowly over to some FAMILY PHOTOS sitting along the kitchen counter. MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) I mean, you never would have guessed anything was there, that anything was wrong in the first place. It was funny, there was this one day last year that my little sister - she’s the crazy one, really, she should be here talking to you, not me - she said, "Mommy doesn’t look so good." Maidy is looking at a picture of a young version of herself and her FATHER and younger sister, DARCY, posing, baseball caps on their heads. She moves to the next photo, one of her and her MOTHER. They’re embracing, smiling at the camera. In the photo, Maidy is wearing a gold WATCH. MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) And it was so offhand and sad and cute, but then two weeks later mom comes back home crying her eyes out and dad tells us she’s got a brain tumor and two years to live. Maidy stares at the picture. E.C.U. on the watch on Maidy’s wrist in the photograph. MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) That sucked. Finding out sucked. The randomness of the whole thing. It was like -- Jesus Christ, is this happening to me? Ugh... CUT TO:
3.
INT. PSYCHOLOGIST’S OFFICE - DAY Back in the office, Maidy puts a hand on her face. There is a silence. PSYCHOLOGIST What was your mother like? MAIDY What, before? Or... after? PSYCHOLOGIST Whichever you would like to talk about. MAIDY My mom was... (beat) Brave. And she liked clothes. She liked buying clothes and necklaces and stuff like that. Maidy rubs her wrist. CUT TO: INT. MAIDY’S HOUSE - DAY - CONTINUOUS Maidy sets down the picture frame with sudden intensity and speedwalks out of the kitchen. She RUNS up the stairs. MAIDY (V.O.) She gave me this watch, before... It was an antique watch. I think it was my grandmother’s. It was really pretty. PSYCHOLOGIST (V.O.) I notice you’re not wearing it. BEDROOM - MONTAGE Maidy is RIPPING fitfully through jewelry and clothes drawers, looking under papers on her bedroom desk, looking under her pillow, in the upstairs bathroom, searching for the watch.
4.
END MONTAGE PSYCHOLOGIST’S OFFICE Maidy looks up at the psychologist, hand still on her wrist. MAIDY I can’t find it. CUT TO: EXT. GRAVEYARD - DAY It’s a gray day -- group of people dressed in black are standing around a grave, into which a CASKET is being lowered. A pastor gives religious remarks. Maidy is there, holding 5-year-old Darcy’s hand. Her father stands near them. MAIDY (V.O.) Yeah, um, I’d like to say my mom paid a lot of attention to both my little sister and me, you know, in the last year. But I feel bad, because I think she spent more time with me. Not that she didn’t love us both equally, I just think... I don’t know. I think she forgot. MAIDY’S HOUSE Maidy is looking in all the drawers in the kitchen. She goes down into the basement and looks there, becoming more and more frantic. Maidy’s voice LAUGHS. MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) My sister is so cute. She’s so sweet and funny, I don’t know if she even really got what was going on. She pauses in the bathroom, looking in the mirror. She stares at her own face. MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) She came to me the other day, when I was sitting in my room kind of crying, and she asked me what was (MORE) September 19, 2011
5.
MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) (cont’d) wrong, and I thought I was being dramatic and said PSYCHOLOGIST’S OFFICE MAIDY (CONT.) "Time flies, Darcy." (beat) And she looks at me and she goes, "Fruit flies." And I’m like, "what?" And she says again, "Fruit flies. Fruit flies like a banana." She smiles. The Psychologist laughs a little. Then her smile fades. MAIDY’S HOUSE Maidy approaches and slowly ENTERS a bedroom at the end of the hall, and by the grown-up furniture and French country decorations it’s clear it’s her parents’. MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) She just had to be the one. She’s too young for that shit. Maidy walks toward the tighly-made BED. MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) It’s just nice to know she didn’t see it happen, or anything. Finding your mom dead is a little bit better than watching it happen. You don’t see the transition. It kind of looked like she was sleeping, anyway. She turns away from the bed and begins to look through her mother’s drawers, more gently than before. A few TEARS are visible on her face. PSYCHOLOGIST’S OFFICE Maidy sniffles. She’s crying. She wipes her eye. MAIDY I don’t think this is helping.
September 19, 2011
6.
PSYCHOLOGIST I’m sorry. You don’t have to keep going. We can take a break. How about this: what are some things you like to do? MAIDY I... go for -Maidy is cut off as an EARTHQUAKE RUMBLES through the room, causing the furniture to tremble. Maidy reacts violently. She shouts loudly and SWINGS her arm back, KNOCKING over a lamp which CRASHES to the floor. The psychologist LEAPS out of his seat. PSYCHOLOGIST Maidy! Maidy, calm down, it’s okay. Maidy looks furious. She composes herself and wipes a tear from her cheek. MAIDY Sorry. I’m fine. I’m not crazy. (beat) I shouldn’t even be here. There’s no reason for me to be here. PSYCHOLOGIST Maidy, I’m interested -- when was the last time you saw your mom’s watch? MAIDY I lost it, I told you. I don’t remember. PSYCHOLOGIST Okay. There’s an awkward silence. PSYCHOLOGIST (CONT.) I want you to talk to me about one more thing. You know why it’s good for you to talk to me, right? MAIDY No.
7.
GRAVEYARD We’re back at the graveyard, an identical scene to the one we saw before, with Maidy, her father and her sister. PSYCHOLOGIST (V.O.) I want you to tell me why you hit that man at the funeral. MAIDY (V.O.) Oh, come on. PSYCHOLOGIST (V.O.) Or at least tell the story to me again. I want to know what you were feeling. Maidy is staring down into the grave. The crowd moves a little as the casket hits bottom. MAIDY (V.O.) I told you, we were standing there, and my mom had just been put in the hole, and then there was a quake -just a little tremor. Not a big deal. The earth SHAKES around the funeralgoers. Dirt crumbles and falls into the hole. MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) And then this guy -- my mom’s friend -- next to me nudges me and is like, We see the MAN nudge Maidy. She turns to him. He cracks a little smile. MAN (MAIDY’S VOICE) "Feel that? I think that was a sign of your mother’s wrath." Maidy swiftly PUNCHES the man in the face. In slow motion. MAIDY (V.O.) (CONT.) So I turned around and socked him.
8. MAIDY’S HOUSE Maidy is sitting on her bed, crying, her fingers tightly grasping her hair. PSYCHOLOGIST (V.O.) Do you remember what you were wearing? PSYCHOLOGIST’S OFFICE Maidy looks offended. MAIDY I’m sorry? PSYCHOLOGIST Like, any jewelry that day? Any outfit you planned in advance? MAIDY I don’t know how the fuck that has anything to do with it. PSYCHOLOGIST Never mind. I’m sorry. MAIDY’S HOUSE Maidy pauses on her bed, as if something has just dawned on her. FLASHBACK - GRAVEYARD We see the repeated punching scene, but this time she’s wearing the gold watch. When she hits the man, she’s hit him so hard that the antique watch BREAKS and SHATTERS, cutting the man’s chin a little bit. Broken glass scatters like diamonds. END FLASHBACK Maidy gets up. She kneels and peers under the bed. She reaches for and retrieves a SHOE BOX that has been deliberately taped shut. Ripping the tape, she opens it. There is the watch, aboslutely shattered. The SLAM of the back door is heard. Her father and sister are home.
September 19, 2011
9.
DAD (O.S.) Hellooo? Maidy? Maidy SCRAMBLES to close the box and shove it way under her bed. She stands and dusts herself off. DAD (O.S.) Maidy? Are you okay? The house is a mess. Quick, little footsteps up the stairs. Darcy runs in and HUGS Maidy. Maidy calls back to her dad. MAIDY I was just looking for something. DARCY What were you looking for? MAIDY ... I can’t find the watch mommy gave me. DARCY You lost it? PSYCHOLOGIST’S OFFICE Maidy is standing by the door, backpack on, ready to leave. PSYCHOLOGIST Thank you for your time, Maidy. Have a good rest of your day. MAIDY Yeah. Thanks. She exits. The psychologist stands for a moment, then moves to pick up the broken lamp. FADE TO BLACK
