Halt and Catch Fire Page #2

CLARK:

Would it make a difference?

The buck seizes Clark by the shirt, pulls him to his feet.

YOUNG BUCK:

Not for you.

CLARK:

Then no.

And the buck BELTS HIM ACROSS THE FACE HARD, sending Clark to

the sawdust floor.

The crowd MURMURS as Clark rises, his nose badly bloodied.

But he grins a little bit as he steadies himself on a chair.

Then...

HE SMASHES THE CHAIR ACROSS THE YOUNG BUCK’S BACK

Knocking him to the floor. Male patrons tackle Clark back

down and proceed to kick the sh*t out of him.

CUT TO:

INT. DALLAS COUNTY LOCK-UP -- LATER

A heavy metal door swings open with a BUZZ.

6.

DALLAS DEPUTY:

Gordon Clark.

THE DALLAS DEPUTY waits, then leads Clark out of the holding

area, tight grip on the programmer’s arm.

CLARK:

Hi, honey.

REVEAL DONNA CLARK (30), facing him, arms crossed. She’s got

the pretty face of a high school sweetheart, but the grim

frown of someone who’s put up with a lot of sh*t.

CUT TO:

INT. DONNA’S STATION WAGON -- LATER

Donna drives in silence, Clark next to her, his nose taped.

CLARK:

You didn’t have to bring the kids

with you.

ANGLE ON their two daughters belted in the backseat, HALEY

(4) and JOANIE (6), spitting images of their mother, blonde

hair and all. They’re in pajamas, out cold.

DONNA:

(without looking at him)

I figured they’d never been to

Dallas County Jail before, so why

not bring them along.

CLARK:

C’mon, Donna.

DONNA:

You’re right, I should’ve asked the

neighbors to watch them at 2 a.m.

‘Hey, can you take Haley and Joanie

for a bit, Gordon got in a bar

fight again.’

CLARK:

Look, I’m sorry-

DONNA:

I get that you’re unhappy, Gordon.

CLARK:

It’s the job, it’s this whole

place, it’s this whole situation-

7.

DONNA:

Things didn’t turn out how we

planned. So what?

CLARK:

Don’t you miss it?

DONNA:

What do you want me to say? I’ll

say it again, like I always do,

Gordon. We can move back to Palo

Alto tomorrow. What I can’t do is

build a time machine and get us

back to Palo Alto six years ago.

CLARK:

Donna, the choice was stay or have

Joanie. I took the job at Cardiff

Giant so we wouldn’t have to--

DONNA:

(’keep your voice down’)

Joanie was coming no matter what.

(pause)

You know what I think? I think you

were scared, because in California

it was just a bunch of us smoking

dope and fiddling with circuit

boards in Steve’s garage. So we

left.

CLARK:

(too loud)

Right, and then Steve shaved his

beard and made a hundred million

dollars. Is that your point?

Haley wakes up in the back seat.

HALEY:

Daddy?

Donna glares at her husband. Are you happy now?

DONNA:

Sorry, girls. Daddy’s pretty tired.

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