Five Easy Pieces

The toothed bucket of a back hoe trenches into the

earth, then lifts up into the air, revealing Bobby

in hard-hat and heavy gloves, operating the levers.

As the hoe swings off to the side and deposits a

load of earth into the rear of a truck...

... a SERIES OF SHOTS begins, showing Bobby and a

fellow hard-hat (ELTON) engaged in the dirty and

dangerous task of working "crew" with a team of

TOOL-PUSHERS on the derricks of Signal Hill.

Functioning as servants of the well and its pumps,

the PULL rods, MAKE and BREAK joints on the rig

floor, WELD tubing, CARRY pipes, CLIMB the "tour,"

and PLAY THE DOZENS on beer wagon breaks.

INT. BOBBY'S CAR - SIGNAL HILL - NIGHT

ABOVE SONG OVER:

Bobby, still in his hard hat, as he drives. Out

through the window, the derricks of the Hill can be

seen, their night-work lights on.

EXT. BOBBY'S CAR - NIGHT

SONG OVER:

FOLLOWING ON the car as it moves off the Hill into

the seamy districts adjacent to it, passing by fast

food joints, liquor stores, all-night porno parlors

and neon-lighted bars.

INT. BOBBY'S CAR - NIGHT

SONG OVER:

ON BOBBY'S FACE:

as he stares out through the windshield, his eyes

distant, dwelling in an oblivion that blanks both

the present and past.

EXT. BOBBY'S CAR - NIGHT

SONG OVER:

The car pulls onto a low-rent residential street

and comes to a stop in front of a small bungalow.

Bobby exits the car, moves up the walkway to the

house and disappears inside.

INT. RAYETTE'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

SONG OVER:

Bobby, seated on the couch, a can of beer in hand,

staring morosely across the room, to:

A PORTABLE STEREO,

playing the song:

WYNETTE (V.O.)

"And if you love him/Oh be proud of

him/For after all, he's just a

man..."

RAYETTE DIPESTO,

in a waitress's uniform with a bowl of beer nuts.

After placing them on the coffee table in front of

him, she leans down and kisses him. Challenged by a

less than reciprocal response, she kisses him more

fervently. As she moves her lips from his ear to

his neck, he lifts the can to his mouth and drinks.

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