By
in Erath County
R. Earle Harris All rights reserved (c) 2015 (r dot earle dot harris at gmx dot com)
FADE IN:
EXT. CANADIAN RIVER - NIGHT
Wide, dry, flat red earth, cut by silver threads of water.
Keith Urban's Better Life rises up out of the ground,
shakes the air. Run titles. Enjoy the music. Then --
Title Over:
I have digged and drunk strange waters,
and with the sole of my feet
have I dried up all the rivers.
-- 2 Kings 19:24
INT. TRAVEL TRAILER - NIGHT
Cut music. Dark narrow bed. Clawing out of nightmare sleep, JOE LON
Trueno, sixty-plus-year-old Native American, retired Texas Ranger,
pops his sleeping pitbull, LOSER, on the nose. Loser assumes the
worst.
JOE LON
Hush, Loser. It's alright. It's
alright.
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Loser barks to wake the dead.
JOE LON (CONT'D)
For crying out loud, dog, shut up.
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Joe Lon swats Loser across the nose. Dog shuts up. Joe Lon, in
boxers and t-shirt, gets his bearings in the little trailer.
JOE LON (CONT'D)
Home, sweet home. Come on, Loser. Let's get some milk.
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By the bed: a .41 Magnum Vaquero, an old Texas Ranger star.
INT. TRAVEL TRAILER - NIGHT
Fridge light, tiny bare kitchen. Joe Lon stumbles over the dog.
JOE LON
C'mon, dog. Give me some room. What do
you feel like?
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INT. FRIDGE - NIGHT
Junk food from grocery store. Remaindered cellophane food from
convenience store.
INT. TRAVEL TRAILER - NIGHT
Joe Lon opens up a sandwich, gives it to Loser, who inhales it.
JOE LON
Slow down, babyhead. One is all you get.
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By the light of open fridge, Joe Lon sits on floor, pets dog, drinks
off a quart carton of milk.
JOE LON (CONT'D)
Alright. That should keep the nightmares down.
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Joe Lon gets up.
JOE LON (CONT'D)
Joe Lon closes the fridge. Darkness.
EXT. TRAVEL TRAILER - NIGHT
Hint of dawn. Headlights hit trailer, engine switches off, boots
approach the trailer.
INT. TRAVEL TRAILER - NIGHT
Joe Lon lurches awake to the barking of Loser, the banging of the
door.
INT. FRONT DOOR - NIGHT
Joe Lon in boxers, t-shirt, Ruger Vaquero.
JOE LON
WOMAN'S VOICE (O.S.)
I'm here about your son. Dammit.
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JOE LON
WOMAN'S VOICE (O.S.)
You answer this door, Joe Lon Trueno.
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JOE LON
EXT. FRONT DOOR - NIGHT
Joe Lon, jeans, no gun. LINDA Trueno, his ex-daughter-in-law,
mid-thirties, in the porchlight.
JOE LON
LINDA
INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Joe Lon beckons Linda in, closes the door.
LINDA
I'm going to shoot your damn son.
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JOE LON
Last time we talked, you said you
wouldn't do that.
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LINDA
I said I was afraid I'd hit my truck.
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JOE LON
LINDA
Miguel set my truck on fire, my
beautiful blue truck. Burned it right
down to the Firestones.
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Joe Lon can't help smiling.
LINDA (CONT'D)
Goddamit. You think it's funny? I see
Miguel again, I swear to God I'll shoot
him.
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JOE LON
If you feel that way -- and I'm sure you
do -- what are you doing here?
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LINDA
I'm hiding from your son, Joe Lon. I'm
afraid he's going to shoot me first.
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EXT. POST OAK COUNTRY - DAY
Just after dawn. South Texas oaks, hills, travel trailer and the
burned-out shell of a double-wide. Linda on tailgate of Joe Lon's
old blue pickup. Joe Lon brings two coffees.
LINDA
Your sister-in-law Imelda told me you
burned this trailer down when Margareta
died.
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JOE LON
LINDA
Oh, I believed her. Like father, like
son.
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Joe Lon frowns, hands her the coffee.
JOE LON
LINDA
JOE LON
LINDA
Said he'd lock Miguel up soon as he
caught him.
|
JOE LON
Miguel really set your truck on fire?
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LINDA
It was the gas tank exploding that woke
me up this morning, Joe Lon. Miguel was
standing there waiting for me to look
out the window. Goddamit.
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Coffee in silence.
LINDA (CONT'D)
JOE LON
LINDA
--and chrome, lots of chrome.
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INT. KITCHEN - DAY
Washing their cups in the sink.
JOE LON
LINDA
No, Joe Lon, I told you. Miguel is
scaring the shit out of me right now.
I'm staying here.
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JOE LON
I don't exactly have a guest room,
Linda.
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LINDA
Imelda said that little couch makes into
a bed. This is her trailer.
|
JOE LON
You're not sleeping on my little couch.
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LINDA
I'm not sleeping in your bed, Joe Lon
Trueno. The couch will have to do.
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Phone begins to ring. Joe Lon watches Linda, lets it ring. But it
won't stop.
LINDA (CONT'D)
INT. OFFICE - DAY
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR of Texas, capitol building in Austin, talking into
the phone.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
Are you living with a woman, Trueno? I
thought your wife just died.
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INT. KITCHEN - DAY
Joe Lon shakes his head. Linda watches him.
JOE LON
INT. OFFICE - DAY
Lieutenant Governor sits, hands shaking, voice not quite strong.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
I don't know what kind of ... mess
... is about to hit the fan, Trueno, but
a storm cloud of it is coming and I
don't need any scandal on your end.
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INT. KITCHEN - DAY
Joe Lon looks up at Linda and waves her out.
JOE LON
INT. OFFICE - DAY
Lieutenant Governor's voice shaking now.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
This investigation. My eldest
step-daughter.
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He breaks down and has to hang up the phone.
INT. KITCHEN - DAY
Joe Lon answers the ringing phone.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR (O.S.)
I'm sorry, Joe Lon. This isn't like me
... like that.
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JOE LON
It's all right, sir. Just tell me what
you need me to do.
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INT. OFFICE - DAY
Lieutenant Governor steadier.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
It's DFW. Dallas. My step-daughter.
Her name was Dallas Frances Wilson. Her
body's been found ... in high water.
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INT. KITCHEN - DAY
Joe Lon confused.
JOE LON
Your step-daughter drowned ... died in
the water?
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INT. OFFICE - DAY
Lieutenant Governor pulls himself together.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
Yes. No. I'm sorry. Dallas was found
in a creek, Skull Creek, near
Stephenville. Just outside a little
town called High Water. I want you to
look into it.
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INT. KITCHEN - DAY
Joe Lon shakes his head.
JOE LON
Sir. I don't even have a badge anymore.
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Lieutenant Governor's voice louder.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR (O.S.)
I'll get you a God-damn badge, Ranger
Trueno. Listen to me. They only found
half of her.
|
INT. OFFICE - DAY
Lieutenant Governor shaking again.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
They cut my baby girl in half.
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INT. BATHROOM - DAY
Joe Lon pulls stuff from medicine cabinet. Linda stands in the
bathroom doorway.
LINDA
You're not leaving me here on my own.
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JOE LON
You're already on your own. You're a big
girl. You're not even married anymore.
Which is something I wish my damn son
would figure out.
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Joe Lon turns, faces her, bottle of hair oil in his hand.
LINDA
JOE LON
LINDA
What kind of Indian uses Brylcreme?
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Joe Lon packs a little suitcase, stuffing bathroom stuff in any which
way.
JOE LON
Beat's hell out of me. What are you
looking at?
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LINDA
Don't you own a Dopp kit? I thought all
men owned a Dopp kit.
|
JOE LON
LINDA
A little waterproof thingie. Keeps the
toothpaste out of your underwear.
|
JOE LON
It's usually hair oil gets in my
underwear. And I don't know that hair
oil and underwear are proper topics for
me to be discussing with my
daughter-in-law.
|
LINDA
JOE LON
If you're an ex, shouldn't you be out of
here?
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LINDA
That's what I keep asking Miguel, Joe
Lon. Which brings me to the point.
Until you rein your son in, you are not
leaving me here alone.
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Joe Lon Trueno smiles.
JOE LON
I am not taking you with me.
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EXT. OLD PICKUP - DAY
Joe Lon stops grinding the starter, climbs out of his truck.
Screenplay truncated at 500 lines.
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