The Ice Storm Page #3

PAUL:

(stoned)

-- because I've been reading

Kerouac and Ginsberg and those guys

were creating beat culture and

traveling and sleeping wherever,

and, of course, with all kinds of

people, but when you read carefully

the various contemporary accounts

of their lives, and, uh, these guys

didn't bathe much, I mean they were

really filthy, with like genital

crabs, lice, exceptionally strong

body odor...

Libbets smiles through her yawn.

EXT. SCHOOL BENCH. NIGHT

Paul sits alone on the bench, freezing cold, eating a donut.

Some kids from across the lawn yell good-night to him.

INT. DORM ROOM. EVENING.

Paul is at his desk. Francis enters, wrapped in a towel,

fresh from the shower.

PAUL:

How can you do that man?

FRANCIS:

Do what?

PAUL:

Sleep all day. I mean, look, it's

already getting dark outside, and

you're just getting up.

FRANCIS:

(beat)

Um, Libbets Casey.

PAUL:

What?

FRANCIS:

Aha! I could sense the vibe.

PAUL:

What do you mean?

FRANCIS:

Am I right or am I right?

PAUL:

Sh*t. You're not planning --

FRANCIS:

My man, I speak to you solely as a

comrade in arms offering

unconditional aid. I've been giving

this one a lot of thought, and I

believe that the two of you

together might just reach that

higher ground that --

A knock at the door.

STUDENT (O.S.)

Hood, telephone.

Paul rolls off his bed, opens the door.

PAUL:

Don't mess with Libbets. I mean it!

INT. DORM HALLWAY. NIGHT

Paul walks to the pay phone at the end of the hall.

PAUL:

Hello?

INTERCUT - HOOD HOUSEHOLD. NIGHT

It's a modern (shag carpet, geometric-patterned wallpaper,

etc.) suburban house.

Ben Hood talks on the phone, a drink in his hand.

BEN:

Paul?

In the background, we can see Wendy watching Richard Nixon on

TV.

PAUL:

Hi dad.

BEN:

Hey guy. Things ok up there? You

all right?

PAUL:

I'm fine dad.

BEN:

Well good. Just confirming. You'll

be on the 3:
50 Wednesday afternoon.

PAUL:

Well dad, actually I thought I'd

take the morning train on

Thanksgiving -- got a lot of

studying, papers, you know, lab

experiments --

BEN:

Lab experiments? Right smart guy --

Paul, you know your mother's gonna

be disappointed not to see more of

you -- In fact, let me make this

more than a simple request guy, I

think you should...

IN THE BACKGROUND:

NIXON:

(on TV, from San Clemente

press conference)

Well, with regard to the questions

as to why Americans feel we were

wrong to make the tapes, that is

not particularly surprising. I

think that most Americans do not

like the idea of taping

conversations and, frankly, it is

not something that particularly

appeals to me...

BEN:

Hold on for a second.

(turning)

Wendy, you want-to say hi to your

brother?

She frowns.

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