16 INT.

BELKO'S TRUCK - NIGHT 16

HEADLIGHTS flood and ebb over the pair. Belko's eyes are
sharp on the road. Lamont can't settle on staring at the
driver or every passing shadow.

LAMONT
Did that thing kill my dad?

BELKO
One of ‘em. *

LAMONT
How many are there? *

BELKO *
Too many. *

LAMONT *
(concerned) *
How many is that? *

The question lingers uncomfortably. *

Belko slowly takes his eyes off the road, bores into Lamont. *

BELKO
Do you have a couch?

LAMONT
Hmm? *
****

INT. REDPATCH JAIL CELLS - DAY

Lamont lets all his BREATH out at once. He gives his full
attention to the floor.

BELKO
Why didn't you call her?

Takes Lamont a moment to break his staring contest.

LAMONT
You heard the man.

BELKO
No, no, why didn’t you call your *
girlfriend. *

LAMONT
I wasn't sure she'd pick up.
 Blue Rev. (mm/dd/yy) 2.

BELKO
Why not?

A bridge too far for Lamont.

LAMONT
Man, I'm not sure of a lot of
things anymore, alright?

Belko takes the hint, watches his own floor for a while.

LAMONT (CONT’D)
A week ago I had a dad and a life
and now he’s dead and I’m doing *
Wesley Snipes shit. *
Belko looks up, takes a small eternity to break the silence.

BELKO
Mine, too.

Lamont turns to him slowly, as if not to scare him. *

Belko pulls the notebook from his boot, thumbs through it. *

BELKO (CONT’D) *
Folks bought a farm after the war. *
Nothing special. You've seen a *
hundred like it. I've seen a *
thousand. Didn't mean shit to a kid *
like me. *

He stops on the first page, full of hashes like the rest. *

BELKO (CONT’D) *
But it meant something to dad and *
he wasn't a good enough talker to *
tell me what. When he tried war *
stories, those just bored me. He *
was a medic, see? So he didn't *
bring me a Colt for Christmas or *
anything. His only souvenir was a *
little notebook, about this size. *

Lamont really studies the notebook for the first time. *

BELKO (CONT’D) *
A lot of boys kept score. *

Belko looks at Lamont with eyes like cracked glass. *

BELKO (CONT’D) *
Kills. *
 Blue Rev. (mm/dd/yy) 3.

Then back down again. *

BELKO (CONT’D) *
I was so excited at all the *
scratched up pages. My dad was a *
hero. But he said, "No, son, I've *
never pulled a trigger in my life." *
They weren't kills. *

Something catches in Belko's throat. *

BELKO (CONT’D) *
They were losses. *

He folds the front page back, over and over again. *

BELKO (CONT’D) *
Couple years later I snuck out to *
the county fair and my life was *
over by the time I got home. *

He holds up the notebook to Lamont and points at the first *

hashmark in the top left corner. *

BELKO (CONT’D) *
Mine. *

He turns to the latest page, past countless others full of *

pain, and points at a hashmark three back from the freshest. *

BELKO (CONT’D) *
If I got here a day earlier, yours *
would still be alive. *

Lamont can't look anywhere else for a moment. *

BELKO (CONT’D) *
I keep going because nothing hurts *
anymore and they're still making *
more of them... *
It takes him a few tries. *

BELKO (CONT’D) *
...and they're still making more of *
me. *

Lamont has to look away. They both do. *

LAMONT *
Well if you'd gotten here a day *
later, I'd be dead. *

Belko risks only a glance. *

 Blue Rev. (mm/dd/yy) 4.

For once, it's a comfortable silence in the cells. *

They both stare at their respective floors for a while. *

BELKO
You know, I’ve never eaten at a *
Waffle House before. *

Lamont SNORTS to himself.

LAMONT
I'll buy, if we get out of here.