Vapors: The Essential G. Wayne Miller Fiction Vol. 2
Page 19
I am.
SERENA
No, you’re not — that’s your lie to yourself, a lie you’ve repeated so often you probably believe it. The truth is you got her pregnant and the honorable thing to do was walk her down the aisle. Isn’t that how it happened, Ben? You knocked her up and some twisted sense of morality overlaid with your father’s stifling influence made you marry her.
BEN
You’ve got it wrong.
SERENA
Maybe I do. Maybe you just needed someone to take care of you.
(a beat)
I can take care of you, Ben.
Ben goes to speak. Serena puts her finger to his lips.
SERENA (CONT’D)
Shh. I’ll be right back.
Still wrapped in her towel, Serena goes to her car. When she returns, she is carrying a distinctively designed bottle. She finds two champagne flutes and fills each. She hands one to Ben.
BEN
Absinthe.
SERENA
You remember.
BEN
I’d never had it before. It was a rainy night. We built a fire.
SERENA
We made love. Here, in this room.
It was the first time.
Before drinking, Serena goes to the CD player and finds the song she wants. It’s Sheryl Crow’s All I Wanna Do. After a drink, Ben, reluctantly at first, dances with Serena.
SERENA (CONT’D)
After that summer, I could never hear this song without being desperate for you.
BEN
We must have played it a hundred times.
SERENA
I wanted your soul, Ben.
BEN
You could have had it.
SERENA
Is it too late now?
They kiss passionately. Serena slips out of her towel and unbuttons Ben’s shirt. She has gotten to his pants when he pushes her away. The music stops.
BEN
I can’t.
Serena doesn’t protest. Without a word, she dresses, takes her absinthe, and goes to the door.
SERENA
I’ll be waiting for you, Ben.
Serena leaves. Off screen, we hear the sounds of an ENGINE starting and TIRES squealing.
INT. BEN’S STUDIO - LATE AFTERNOON
Ben is in his darkroom, developing and printing the latest shots. He is preoccupied with the topless photos. He makes an enlargement of the best one.
As it’s drying, he finds another negative from the attic box and makes a print. It’s a nude shot — from the summer he met Serena. Ben takes both prints to his lightboard, where he scrutinizes them.
INSERT - ENLARGEMENT OF TODAY’S PHOTO
We see pearl necklace, tan lines, the curve of a breast.
INSERT - PRINT OF CORRESPONDING YEARS-AGO PHOTO
We see the identical necklace, tan lines, and curve of a breast. The two prints could be from the same negative.
BEN (whispering)
It’s impossible.
His concentration is broken by the sound of his PHONE RINGING. The answering machine picks up.
BEN’S RECORDED GREETING
You have reached Ben’s Island Studio. I’m not available to take your call now, but if you leave a message, I’ll get back to you.
BEN’S SISTER (O.S.)
Ben, it’s your sister. I’ve already left a message at the summer place. It’s really important that you call as soon as—
Ben picks up his phone. His sister will remain off screen for this conversation.
BEN
Carol. I’m here. How is he?
BEN’S SISTER (O.S.)
Slipping, Ben. Fast. The doctor doesn’t
know how long he’ll last.
BEN
Is he conscious?
BEN’S SISTER (O.S.)
He’s in and out. I think you should come tonight.
Ben looks at his watch. It’s almost five p.m.
BEN
If I hurry, I can make the five- thirty ferry. That would put me in Boston by nine.
BEN’S SISTER (O.S.)
I’ll see you at the house.
Ben hangs up, then calls Stephanie at her office.
STEPHANIE (O.S.)
You’re sure you don’t want me to pick you up?
BEN
I don’t want to take you away from that trial. I’ll take the Jeep.
STEPHANIE (O.S.)
Then I’ll meet you at his house. You sound frantic, Ben. Please be careful. Someone else needs you now. Someone very little.
INT. BEN’S FATHER’S RESIDENCE - FRONT HALL - THAT NIGHT
Stephanie and Ben’s sister greet Ben at the front door. He hugs Stephanie, then his sister, and the three go upstairs.
Outside Houghtie’s room, Dr. Hendren and Houghtie’s attorney are standing watch. The attorney is the aged Peter Barclay, who is holding a stack of documents.
PETER BARCLAY
Hello, Benjamin. Frankly, I’m surprised to see you. Your father thought you’d never come.
BEN
You haven’t changed a bit, have you, Barclay?
An asshole to the bitter end.
PETER BARCLAY
I don’t think that’s necessary.
BEN
How much will you get as executor? A million? Two? For that kind of money, I think you can take some of my shit.
Ben goes into his father’s bedroom, Barclay following.
INT. BEN’S FATHER’S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Houghtie can speak, although he is wheezy and dangerously short of breath. A death rattle.
BEN’S FATHER
(to Barclay)
You - get out.
Barclay leaves.
BEN’S FATHER (CONT’D)
(to Ben)
Close the door.
Ben does, then stands at the foot of his father’s bed.
BEN’S FATHER (CONT’D)
What made you come? A sudden rush of nostalgia? Or did
you want one last look before they plant me.
BEN
You’re staring death in the face and it hasn’t softened you.
BEN’S FATHER
I’m not afraid of dying. In Vietnam, I saw soldiers die every day. Some were men about it. Some checked out as blubbering wimps. They were cowards, Ben. There’s nothing more loathsome than a coward.
Ben turns from his father, toward a window with a drawn drape.
BEN’S FATHER (CONT’D)
You’re probably wondering about the disposition of the estate.
BEN
I haven’t given it a thought.
BEN’S FATHER
Yes, I suppose you haven’t. You free-spirited types with your trust funds, never worrying about a thing.
(a beat)
I did you a great disservice, Ben, when I established that for you.
BEN
I never asked for it.
BEN’S FATHER
And you never refused the checks, either, did you.
BEN
Are you done?
BEN’S FATHER
No. I haven’t gotten to the details. I’ve split everything seventy-five/twenty-five between you and your sister. Peter has just completed the fine print. I’ve signed, with the requisite two witnesses. Peter assures me that despite the morphine, probate will rule that I was of sound mind. We taped everything, just to be safe.
Saying nothing, Ben continues to look away.
BEN’S FATHER (CONT’D)
Aren’t you curious who gets the seventy-five?
Ben shows no interest.
BEN’S FATHER (CONT’D)
You do. Does that surprise you? Carol gets this place and the mutual funds. You get the summer house and stock portfolio. Plus sole proprietorship of the firm. It works out almost exactly to a three- to-one split.
BEN
The firm? Is that some sort of sick joke?
BEN’S FATHER
Quite the contrary. My hope is that, at the age of alm
ost 40, this sill finally jump-start you. If it doesn’t, I have every faith Stephanie will step in. She told me about the baby, by the way. Congratulations — I know how long you two have tried to get pregnant again. It’s a shame I won’t live to see my first grandchild, but there’s a certain symmetry to it, wouldn’t you agree — one checking in, while another checks out. DNA simply can’t be denied.
(a beat)
Have you nothing to say, Ben?
BEN
No. Nothing.
For a fleeting moment, it seems as if Houghtie may cry. He doesn’t, but something inside him finally breaks.
BEN’S FATHER
Well, I do. It’s hard for a man like me to apologize, you know that better than anyone, but I suppose it’s better late than never.
(a beat)
I’m sorry, Ben. I wasn’t the father I could have been. Should have been. I wasn’t the husband your mother deserved, either. I hope it works out better for you and Stephanie and your baby than it did for me and for her. You might not believe I mean that, but I do. I’ve had a lot of time lately to reflect. It’s a new experience for me. Uncomfortable and uplifting at the same time. And this is where I net out.
(a beat)
I love you, Ben. I wish I could go back in time and change things. Many things. It really is true, what they say: no man on his deathbed ever regretted that he didn’t make more money.
With painful effort, Ben’s father extends his hand to his son. Ben starts to extend his in return, but stops — momentarily. Just when it seems he will withhold this last gesture, he takes his father’s hand. Then he hugs the old man, and both cry.
EXT. FUNERAL HOME - EVENING
Ben’s father’s wake, a few days later. A steady stream of Mercedes, Infinitis, and other luxury automobiles discharge well-dressed mourners.
INT. FUNERAL HOME - MAIN PARLOR - EVENING
Near the open casket containing Houghtie, Stephanie, Ben and his sister greet the mourners one-by-one. Among them are Dr. Hendren and STEVE McAfferty.
INT. FUNERAL HOME - SMOKING ROOM - EVENING
The lone occupant is PROFESSOR BERGMAN, who is about Houghtie’s age, is confined to a wheelchair, and wears horn- rimmed glasses and a rumpled suit.
We NOTE that this is the young MAN from the opening scene — many decades later, but still handsome. Bergman is smoking a Nat Sherman cigarette.
Ben enters the room and lights a cigarette of his own, a Marlboro.
BERGMAN
I’m glad to see that I am not the only politically
incorrect person here.
BEN
I haven’t had a cigarette in 15 years. I’m on my second pack today.
Ben extends his hand.
BEN (CONT’D)
I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Ben Houghton.
BERGMAN
Conrad Bergman. I’m sorry about your father.
BEN
Thank you. Did you know him from the firm?
BERGMAN
No. I teach at Harvard — for one more year, that is. Houghtie and I served many years together on the Board of Overseers. Every board needs its token flake and I was it.
(laughs)
You would be surprised how having a token flake helps in separating certain alumni from their pocketbooks. I was a particularly big hit with Meg Whitman.
BEN
The head of HP.
BERGMAN
Yes. Business School, ‘79, if memory serves me.
BEN
What do you teach?
BERGMAN
Scandinavian languages. I also dabble in Scandinavian folklore — I’m the son of Swedes, you see. I teach one course, every spring.
BEN
Sounds fascinating.
BERGMAN
You may be the only person here besides me to think so. But it has always been my favorite course. Something about prattling on about elves and trolls and mermaids while the ghosts of Harvard’s Puritan founders watch from the rafters — suitably horrified, I am sure — has a certain appeal.
(laughs)
You can see I have earned my credentials as token flake.
BEN
Mermaids — they make for great movies, don’t they. I assume you’ve seen Splash.
BERGMAN
Yes. But my interest is much deeper than Hollywood. Mermaids have been with us forever. The ancient Greeks wrote of them. The Cretes and Romans and Celts, too, and so on into modern times. The stories and sightings from Scandinavia alone would fill volumes.
BEN
You sound like you believe in them.
BERGMAN
(a beat)
I do.
BEN
You’re kidding.
(a laugh)
Do you believe in the tooth fairy, too?
BERGMAN
Did I not say I was the token flake? But I’m dead serious. Mermaids are the devil’s helper. Pure evil wrapped in beautiful packaging.
Ben indulges the old man, who seems to have reached his dotage.
BEN
I can’t say as I find tails on women attractive.
BERGMAN
They shed the tail, of course, when they’re about their business — the business of stealing men’s souls. No scales, either. Nothing but irresistible beauty.
BEN
Daryl Hannah, for example.
BERGMAN
Exactly.
BEN
(sarcastically)
And she dated JFK Jr., who died when he crashed his plane into the ocean. Could be a link. You might want to look into it.
BERGMAN
You think I’m daffy.
BEN
Not at all.
BERGMAN
Well, the truth is, I am.
Ben puts his cigarette out and heads for the door.
BEN
Well, nice to have met you.
BERGMAN
The pleasure was all mine.
INT. BEN’S FATHER’S RESIDENCE - FRONT HALL - LATE AFTERNOON
The next day. Houghtie has been buried, and the last of the post-funeral guests are leaving. Carol, Ben, and Stephanie bid them farewell, then Stephanie and Ben talk quietly inside the front door.
STEPHANIE
You’re sure this is what you want to do.
BEN
I’m sure.
STEPHANIE
The place will be crawling with memories of him.
BEN
I’ll be OK.
STEPHANIE
You could have our place. I could—
BEN
What, take a hotel room? You have the trial.
We’ve got a baby to think of now, too.
Ben hugs Stephanie.
BEN (CONT’D)
I’m fine. Honest. I just need a few days to myself.
STEPHANIE
I understand.
Stephanie and Ben leave.
EXT. BEN’S FATHER’S RESIDENCE - LATE AFTERNOON