Dear John (10 page)

JOHN

If...if I’d been there... if I’d found him like that earlier...would it have made a difference?

The Doctor pauses, looks at John. Takes pity on him.

DOCTOR

I doubt it.

No matter how convincing he sounds, though, it does not appear to do John much good.

165       
EXT. MR. TYREE’S HOUSE
-- NIGHT

John hesitates, not wanting to go in, knowing he has to. Finally he puts the key in the door, walks --

166       
INT. MR. TYREE’S HOUSE
-- NIGHT

And it’s worse than he thought. It’s dark, silent, messy. There’s a dirty dish on the kitchen floor, a meal half-cooked on the stove. His father has never left a dish dirty or a meal half-cooked in his life.

It’s all too much. John has to turn and walk right back out.

167       
INT. BOWEN’S SEASIDE RESTAURANT
-- NIGHT

The place is practically empty at this late hour. John sits at the bar, alone, peeling shrimp but not eating them.

Reveal that the table he sat at with Savannah on their first date is right behind him. John steals a glance back at it.

168       
OMIT

169       
OMIT

170       
OMIT

171       
INT. MR. TYREE’S HOUSE
-- NIGHT

John walks back in, sets his keys back down. Gets his bearings. Heads through the house, back to his bedroom.

But he pauses in front of his father’s den. Then, despite himself, he enters, flips on the light. Looks around the room.

Here are his father’s coins, stacked all over the furniture. Here is his father’s desk, and his father’s chair.

John takes a seat. Looks down at the desk. Starts to open drawers. Look through cabinets.

He finally finds what he was looking for: a clean sheet of paper. He clears some room on the desk, lays the sheet of paper down in front of him.

Then John grabs a pen, and he begins to write.

171A     
INT. HOSPITAL
-- THE NEXT DAY

John arrives at his father’s room and looks through the window -- to find that the room is empty. Mr. Tyree is nowhere to be found.

172       
INT. HOSPITAL CORRIDOR
-- THE NEXT DAY

John walks down the hallway, looking for a doctor to talk to--

--when he finds his father on a gurney by the elevator.

John hurries over. Mr. Tyree is awake, but as the doctor said, that’s not necessarily the same thing as lucid. But his eyes seem to flash with recognition when he sees John.

JOHN

Hey, Dad. What are you doing out here?

(to a PASSING NURSE)

What’s he doing out here?

But the nurse is hurrying somewhere else and doesn’t hear him.

Then, although Mr. Tyree is very weak, he reaches up and tries to pull the oxygen mask off his face, yank the tube out of his mouth. He seems like he’s trying to say something.

John gently grabs his hand, pulls it away.

JOHN

It’s okay, Dad. It’s fine.

John guides his hands back down by his side. Mr. Tyree makes a NOISE, but it’s indistinguishable. John grins at him.

JOHN

So now you wanna talk, huh?

John leans over the gurney, lets the familiar silence hang.

Then John pulls out an envelope from his back pocket, hands it to his Dad. Mr. Tyree looks back at John -- very clearly asks “what’s this?” with his eyes.

JOHN

It’s nothing. Just a letter I wrote.

Mr. Tyree tries to open it. His hands are shaking heavily.

JOHN

No, don’t read it now. I didn’t think you’d even... just-- just read it when I’m not around, okay?

Mr. Tyree stops. His hands still shake, but he follows John’s instructions, tries to put the letter down beside him.

John watches him. Sees how hard even that is.

JOHN

You know what? To hell with it -- here...

He takes the letter back, opens it himself. But he doesn’t start reading yet -- there’s something he wants to say first.

JOHN

Listen, I know that... I know I haven’t been around very much the last couple of years, and...

He stops. This speaking from the heart thing isn’t working. So he looks down at the letter, unfolds the sheet of paper.

JOHN

Okay. Dear Dad. There's something I’ve been wanting to tell you.

He glances up -- Mr. Tyree is listening carefully.

JOHN

Remember a few years ago, back when I got shot? Well you wanna know the very first thing that entered my mind at that moment, right before I blacked out? Coins.

John looks up again, sees Mr. Tyree’s eyes GLINT with pride.

JOHN

Suddenly I was eight years old again, on a tour of the US Mint, listening to the guide explain how coins are made. How they are punched out of sheet metal. How they are rimmed and beveled. How they are stamped and cleaned.
And then how each and every batch of coins are personally examined, just in case any have
slipped through with the slightest imperfection.

(off Mr. Tyree’s look)

Remember that, Dad? You remember that trip to Philadelphia we took?

Mr. Tyree nods. John has to turn away or else he’s gonna start crying. He focuses back on the letter.

JOHN

Well that's what popped into my head. I am a coin in the United States Army. I was minted in the year 1980. I have been punched from sheet metal, I have been stamped and cleaned, my edges have been rimmed and beveled.

Now John can’t help it. Tears drip out of his eyes, even though he fights hard against them.

JOHN

But now I have one small hole in me, so I am no longer in perfect condition.

He reflexively rubs his neck, right where he was shot, and looks down at his invalid father trapped in a hospital bed.

JOHN

How about it, Dad? We’re just a couple of culls here, huh?

He starts crying harder. Focuses on the letter.

JOHN

But there’s one more thing I want to tell you, too.

Now he’s all starts and stops -- he’s too emotional to read any more, although he tries to push through as best as he can.

JOHN

After I got shot... right before I blacked out... you wanna know the very last thing that... I’m sorry, just.... the very last thing that... that entered my mind?

But he’s sobbing now, unable to get it under control. And he just can’t get the last word out. No matter how hard he tries. He sits in his chair, unable to speak, unable to finish.

Then Mr. Tyree reaches his hand out. Puts it on top of John’s. It is remarkably steady.

They look each other in the eye. And through the tears, John can see -- his Dad understands.

173       
EXT. BEACH
-- DUSK

It’s getting dark, and a storm is coming. A few adventurous SURFERS still remain, but most everybody else heads in.

Except for John. John is heading out. The waves are huge, but he’s not interested in catching any. Instead, he barrels straight into them, takes the brunt of their force.

A big wave hits him, nearly knocks him off his board. John forces his way through it. Then another wave appears-- an enormous one, the kind you brag about for weeks afterwards.

The other few surfers turn, paddle furiously to catch it. But John... John paddles straight into it.

The wave SMASHES into him so hard his surfboard is ripped right off his leg strap. John goes under, lost in the current and a sea of whitewater.

Finally, John’s surfboard pops back up. But John does not.

174       THEN DRIFT BENEATH THE SURFACE -- to find John, holding his breath down here in the water.

DRIFT CLOSER -- to find his body shaking, his tears getting lost in the ocean around him.

CUT TO:

175       
EVEN CLOSER ON JOHN
--

-- Dry now, in his dress uniform. It’s not quite clear where he is yet, but he sits rigid and straight. His jaw is set, his eyes focused in front of him. PULL BACK to reveal we’re--

INT. CHURCH
-- DAY

Other than John, the church is completely empty. And in the front of a church is a casket.

A PASTOR walks in from behind the pulpit. Checks his watch.

PASTOR

I’m sorry to interrupt -- you’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like, it’s just that they were hoping to lock the outside doors, and...

(then, delicately)

You’re not... still expecting anyone else, are you?

John doesn’t respond. It’s clear he was at least hoping for someone else. Anyone else. Or maybe someone else specifically. And then, just like that, he makes up his mind, stands up.

PASTOR

Where are you going?

John doesn’t say a word as he walks out through the door.

176       
EXT. HIGHWAY
-- DAY

John drives his father’s old Lincoln Continental, pushing 80 mph, focused only on the road.

177       
INT. LENOIR STABLE
-- DAY

Clean and neat. In the very far stable, a HAND taps the kneecap of a horse, causing the leg to rise.

A SCALPEL like instrument is stuck into the cracks of the horseshoe, cleaning out the caked dirt and finally, a particularly painful looking acorn.

SAVANNAH

There we go. Feel better now?

The horse WHINNIES her approval. Savannah smiles up at her.

She stands, finishes cleaning out the feeding trough. She wears work boots and her hair is different. She’s still pretty, but she’s aged four years, and it shows.

She pets the horse goodbye, then walks out, checking on the other horses as she passes by. Then as she exits the stable, she finally looks up -- and what she sees makes her GASP.

There, standing next to a tree up on the hill where the end of the driveway meets the road -- is John, still in uniform. He walks towards her. Savannah tries her best to recover.

SAVANNAH

Wow. Just like that, huh?

John doesn’t respond. Savannah stares at him, there in front of her, four years older than she last saw him.

SAVANNAH

So why today then? After all these years... why today?

John thinks... then shrugs.

JOHN

I guess my Dad kinda sent me today.

SAVANNAH

Yeah? How’s he doing?

John just shakes his head. It’s quick, almost imperceptible, but Savannah immediately realizes what it means.

SAVANNAH

No -- oh, John. I’m so sorry. I...

I wish I’d known.

JOHN

Wouldn’t have changed anything.

SAVANNAH

No. I don’t suppose it would’ve.

They’re only a few feet apart now, but Savannah doesn’t move.

SAVANNAH

How’d he die?

JOHN

(beat)

Alone.

Savannah can see the pain creep onto his face.

JOHN

He never had a bad word to say about anybody. He treated everybody with respect, everybody with decency. And none of that mattered one goddamn bit, because you wanna know how many people came to his funeral?

He doesn’t need to answer. Her face creases with sympathy.

SAVANNAH

He wasn’t alone, John. He had you.

John doesn’t respond. Instead he glances at the stable behind her, remembers the last time they were in there together. Above the barn door is a sign that reads CAMP HORSE SENSE. John smiles. Remembers her letter.

JOHN

So. You finally did it.

SAVANNAH

No. I didn’t. But... I tried.

(off his look)

It only lasted one summer, after we took this place over from my parents. We raised a lot of money, but it was just so expensive.

Savannah turns, stares sadly back at the stable.

SAVANNAH

Life is expensive. Isn’t it? You just don’t think about that stuff when you’re in college. You have all these dreams -- every sentence starts with ‘when’, you know?

‘When I graduate...’ When I get out of here...’ ‘When I grow up...’ But that’s not real life, is it?

JOHN

Sentences in real life start with ‘why’.

Savannah looks at him again. Sees the pain there.

SAVANNAH

I am sorry, John. It might not be worth much, but I am sorry. He was a good man.

JOHN

I know.

They eye each other. She nods to the main house.

SAVANNAH

You wanna come inside?

John pauses. Savannah knows what that means, too.

SAVANNAH

It’s okay. No one else is home.

178       
INT. FAMILY HOME IN LENOIR -- DINING ROOM
-- DAY

Savannah sets two cups of coffee down, takes a seat.

SAVANNAH

How long you back for?

JOHN

Just till I get his things squared away.

Savannah nods, too -- that’s what she was expecting. She takes a sip of coffee, and John notices her WEDDING RING gleams in the sun.

JOHN

How’s married life?

SAVANNAH

Can’t complain. How about you?

Settled down yet?

John just shakes his head. She forces out a smile.

SAVANNAH

Must be dating lots of girls, huh?

John looks back at her evenly, holding eye contact.

JOHN

I wouldn’t say ‘dating’, exactly.

Savannah looks away, but before she can respond, the phone RINGS, bailing her out. She excuses herself to answer it.

SAVANNAH

Hello? Hi, honey. No, I’m fine, why?

She looks over at John. Bites her lip.

SAVANNAH

Well...I’m sitting across the table from John, actually. Yes. John Tyree. Um... I’m not sure he’ll...

Savannah pauses, listens to the voice on the other end.

SAVANNAH

Okay, I’ll tell him. No no, I’m still coming, I’m just about to leave. I’ll be there soon.

(off his response)

I love you, too.

She hangs up the phone. Turns back to John.

SAVANNAH

He wants to see you.

JOHN