'ANITA' - Encounter with Derek - Full script / Unfinished

UNTITLED

MONTAGE SEQUENCE:

1. ANITA walking through various entrances: plastic fish and chip shop door-strips, a pub door, a cafe. Always wearing the same clothes.
2. Close-ups of ANITA with an expectant, piercing glare, engaged in one-on-one conversation with various people, often men her age (early 20s). This glare turning to a flirtatious smile, laughter. Her head on their shoulders.
3. Tracking shots of miscellaneous objects on bedroom shelves, in bedrooms. 
4. Cut between shots of Anita’s fingers through various people’s hair, laying next to them on beds, asleep.
5. ANITA being yelled at by some of these people. These shots all edited so the images/scenarios are hard to grasp, cut very briefly.
6. (Sound: people from previous scenes yelling)

ANITA sitting on various buses, different scenery and light behind her each time, sewing shapes onto her coat with thread (barely visible, but enough to invite curiosity).

7. A bus pulls up. ANITA steps out, walks.

(sound: Fast paced, a simple cover & mix of two songs; ‘get lost and keep yourself a step ahead of the impact... ...oyster pearl, you easy girls, you’re flapping in, you’re shouting, you’re dead good, all the men say, legs wide, hips swinging like a doorway…’ (This will

start playing in the montage as soon as the bus pulls up, while she’s walking - but end it here with the underlined section

over first few seconds). )

1. INT/EXT: PUB: NIGHT: LATE EVENING:

From the pub's doorway ANITA surveys the room. Bored, she frowns and sternly heads to the bar.

BARTENDER

Hey lady, what would you like?

ANITA refrains, pretends to contemplate. This indecision frustrates the BARTENDER, yet she focuses her eyes past him at DEREK: alone in a booth with a cowboy hat. A stranger to her. 

BARTENDER

Lady?

ANITA 

Ummm... 

The BARTENDER huffs, serves another customer. ANITA watches DEREK. He swigs the last drops of his beer. Places the glass beside two other empty pint glasses. Nervously chows down a chicken parma. 

ANITA reaches in her pocket. Pulling out a cigarette pouch, she hopelessly pushes scraps of tobacco around. By the FRONT DOOR she throws the pouch in the bin and walks outside.

ANITA grabs a half finished cigarette from a dirty footpath and asks a PUNTER to light it. She smokes quickly, butts it out. Hesitates before walking back in the pub through the BACK DOOR.

ANITA walks by DEREK’s table and steals three chips off the plate. She eats them while strolling to the bar, where she sits on a stool, swivels, and looks back at DEREK. A cheeky grin. Intrigued, he curiously smiles back.

DEREK finishes his chips. ANITA hasn’t dropped her gaze, so he walks toward her. She swivels around again. DEREK orders a beer, and notices ANITA’s fingers tapping impatiently on the bench.

DEREK

What? You expect me to buy you

a drink after you steal my chips?

ANITA rests her head on his shoulder. DEREK orders her a pint.

2. INT: DEREK’S HOUSE: BEDROOM: MORNING

ANITA’s dirty clothing lays under DEREK’s white singlet and linen shirt, both crumpled over sheets that trail from DEREK’S bed.

ANITA lays with limbs spread widely over the double bed. Waking, eyes half closed, she pulls at sheets and attempts to wrap her legs around the body no longer beside her. Confused, she sits up and rubs her eyes.

Standing, fumbling over clothes, ANITA knocks a photo frame off the counter. Beneath smashed glass is a photograph: A small boy wearing a school uniform and sheriff’s badge. He’s straining to smile beside a father figure who proudly squeezes the boy, much too tight. This father holds a cowboy hat that peeks out behind his legs, as if he were hiding it from the camera.

ANITA pulls all the broken glass out. Kicks the pieces under the

counter, places the picture back on the bench. 

She scans DEREK’s dusty sentimental display. Reaches for four coins on a shelf, and winces at the stench of her rank armpit. 

She pockets the coins and a lighter. Walking toward the kitchen, she sniffs the air and smiles, more pleased with it’s smell.

INT: KITCHEN: MORNING

DEREK faces the stove in his cowboy hat and boxers, unaware as

ANITA walks toward him from behind. He tries to flip a lumpy

Pancake and jumps as ANITA tries to pull the hat off his head. 

He drops the pancake and spatula. It folds over itself in the pan.

DEREK

Shit! Gimme that! For fuck’s sa...

DEREK wrenches the hat back down on his head as ANITA unfolds the pancake again, placing the spatula back in his hand.

A beat. 

ANITA

Haha calm down, it’s just me.

What’s your deal though? You haven’t taken

that hat off this whole time.

DEREK

(Defensive)

I never take it off.

ANITA

Haha what? I don’t believe you.

Why not?

 ANITA looks DEREK up and down. He's now holding a sudden stiff stance. He crosses his arms. ANITA isn't halted by his nerves.

ANITA (CONT'D)
What, is there some harrowing reason?

Derek ignores her question, flips the pancake. Faces her again.

ANITA (CONT.)

Can’t I just try it on?

Just for a second?

DEREK glares at her and rolls his eyes. ANITA steps back, slouches on a chair, spreads her legs comfortably and licks raw pancake liquid off her finger. Sighs.

Smoke rises from the pan behind DEREK.

ANITA

The pancake’s burning.

DEREK turns, panicked. A smoke alarm begins. DEREK grabs a tea

towel and waves it underneath the alarm.

Un-phased, ANITA pulls a fork from the drawer and stabs the burnt pancake. She takes a bite, chews, and opens a window. 

Leaning out the window, she throws the remaining pancake onto the lawn, and then the pan. Spits her chewed burnt goo on the flowerbed.

As she opens the second window, the fire alarm stops. DEREK stands panting, tea towel in hand.

ANITA

I thought you’d be one.

The one who’d make one of these

mornings smell better than me.

DEREK

That’s not a very hard thing.

You reek.

ANITA crosses her arms, impressed with his unexpected insult.

ANITA

Ha. you’re learning.

But you still cooked it.

Well no, you couldn’t… So you burnt it.

DEREK pulls his tea towel back, aiming at ANITA. As he lets go, he hits the edge of her arm, but she dances away toward the bathroom, singing:

ANITA

‘Vicious, you hit me with a towel, oh

you do it every hour,

oh baby you’re so vicious...

...When I see you coming

I just have to run.

You’re not good

and you certainly aren’t very much fun...’

INT: BATHROOM: MORNING:

DEREK

‘...When I see you walking down the street

I step on your hand and I mangle your feet

you’re not the kind of person

that I’d even wanna meet

‘cause you’re so vicious...’

ANITA walks to the bath, puts a plug in, turns on the tap.

DEREK

What do you think you’re doing?

ANITA

You said I reeked. We’re having a bath.

Take your hat off.

DEREK momentarily closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, before giving her a tired and sullen expression. He walks out of the bathroom and down the hall.

INT: BEDROOM: MORNING:

DEREK’s hunched over, fully clothed in a t-shirt with a boot-shop logo, black tight jeans, and his hat. He’s holding the photo of him and his dad.

There’s a small cut from the broken glass over the image of the  sheriff’s badge. Without the glass shielding the image, DEREK’s tears drop over it, staining the photo, slightly spreading some colour. He tries to stop crying, doesn’t want Anita to hear. But it’s no use. 

He walks to his record player. Puts LOU REED’S ‘TRANSFORMER’ on. His hand shakes when placing the needle down. The vinyl crackles before the song. 

INT: BATHROOM: MORNING:

A full bath. ANITA turns off the tap and picks up bubbles. She hates them, clearly, so violently shakes the foam into the sink. Muffled, ‘VICIOUS’ can be heard upstairs. She smiles, dries her hands, walks out the bathroom door. 

INT: BEDROOM: MORNING:

ANITA walks inside, innocently singing to the record.

ANITA
‘Baby, you’re so vicious...’ 

ANITA sees the photo in DEREK’s hands and stops abruptly. He looks up, red eyed. Places the frame on the bed. Wipes his tears.

A beat. 

ANITA

(genuine, but speaking too quickly)

DEREK I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to,

I was just so hungover,

and your clothes were on the floor,

and I didn’t even mean to touch the photo,

…I just fell and then it fell

and I didn’t say because I…’

DEREK

Nah nah nah stop, please.

I don’t care about the frame.

I really don’t, honestly. It’s not that.

ANITA

(She looks stern, yet confused and concerned)

Don’t be silly, hey -

why else would you be crying??

DEREK

(Over it)

Never mind.

Anita fidgets uncomfortably. Opens her mouth, pauses, says nothing. Derek stands up, fiddles with the stuff on his shelf.

A beat.

DEREK

Just have your bath. Don’t worry.

Forget about it.

ANITA 

Ok, uh…

A beat.

ANITA (CONT.)

But don’t you wanna

have one together?

ANITA sits next to Derek, hand on his knee. He softens slightly.

INT: BATHROOM: MORNING

ANITA stands staring at the bathtub. She pulls her coat on, over

manky clothes, and sporadically takes it off again. Takes off her shirt, undoes her bra. Does it back up. She’s spent too long in this indecision, and looks serious, puzzled.

The murmur of the LOU REED record stops. The crackling stops. Only the tap drips slowly above the bathtub. 

She sits on the tiles and pulls a sewing needle out of her jacket pocket. Placing the jacket on the floor, she runs her hand over various flat voodoo-style dolls lining the inside of the coat. Pins are stuck in some. 

She takes small scissors and off-white dirty felt out of her pocket. She cuts a figure out of the felt, mirroring those on the jacket’s lining. Next, a sheriff’s badge. A cowboy hat shape. 

She threads the needle while looking at the hat. Goes to place the needle in. Stops. Instead, she puts the needle in the middle of the body shape to hold it against the jacket, and sews nothing. Puts the felt cut-out shapes in her pocket.

Footsteps grow louder from the hall.

ANITA

Ugh hey just wait a second,

don’t come in yet.

ANITA scrambles to hide the inside of her jacket. Shoves it under her t-shirt. DEREK pushes the door open.

DEREK

What the hell are you doing in here?

Have you even touched the bath water?

(Fade to and from black)

2. INT: BATHROOM: MORNING: LATER, ALMOST MIDDAY

ANITA and DEREK are once again relaxed (enough) and sitting in the bath. ANITA’s pulling at her hair, wringing water out.

DEREK’s still wearing his cowboy hat.

ANITA

The water’s almost cold!

Aren’t you going to wash your hair?

DEREK lifts his arms, widens his eyes, a ‘duh’ motion. He shakes

his head, smiles with a ‘for God’s sake’ sigh.

ANITA

Ooooh, your fuckin’ hat.

Whatever, ok, do what you want,

just hurry up! I’m cold!

ANITA shivers and waits, though not for long. She steps out of the bathtub, into a towel.

A trail of water drips behind her down the hall. A puddle sprawls at her feet in Derek’s room. She puts a new record on. MIDNIGHT WOLFF’S ‘TAKE IT OFF’. 

Still in the bath, hearing the song (once again just a

mumble from his room) DEREK pulls his hat further toward his

nose, leans his head against the wall, and sinks further into the tub.

After a while he plugs his ears with both his hands. But gives up, and uses both arms to lift himself out of the tub.

INT: KITCHEN: MIDDAY

DEREK’s clothed again. He eats vegemite toast and ties his shoe laces.

ANITA

Where are you going?

DEREK points at his work shirt.

DEREK

I’m almost late.

ANITA

Oh. Shit.

I guess I’ll go too then?

She picks all her things up, but leans against the wall,

distracted, thinking. She plays with the frayed insides of her

coat. The felt figures are exposed. She doesn’t notice.

DEREK

Where are you gonna go?

ANITA

Where I always go.

DEREK

I don’t know where that is.

I don’t know anything about you…

It’s as though he’s only just realised this. He stops tying his

laces, looks up, scratches the back of his neck.

ANITA

I catch the bus.

DEREK 

Where?

ANITA

Where it goes.

DEREK

 …Where?

ANITA

I dunno yet.

DEREK

You don’t know, but you always go there?

That doesn’t make sense.

ANITA gives him the same ‘duh’ motion DEREK gave her earlier, arms lifted, eyes wide.

A beat. 

ANITA 

Yep.

DEREK

I don’t believe you.

ANITA

I didn’t believe you when you said

you’d never take off the hat.

DEREK

But this is different,

it’s a simple thing.

ANITA

No, it’s not.

ANITA (CONT.)

Anyway.

Don’t you have to go to work now?

ANITA’s tapping her foot. DEREK shrinks to his usual nervous self, blubbers his words as affirmations, covering up unsettled nerves.

A beat. 

DEREK

Yeah. I do. Ok. That’s fine, yes.

Lets go.

I’ll walk you to the bus stop?

ANITA

Nah, you don’t have to do that.

DEREK

I’ll walk you to the bus stop.

3. EXT: STREET: MORNING

They walk silently toward the bus stop for a while.

DEREK

(breaking the silence)

Do you even have money for the bus?

ANITA pauses, looks guiltily away. She pulls the money from her

pocket. Shows it to him. The felt cut-out cowboy hat falls onto the path, but neither of them notice.

ANITA waits for him to pull her up on it being his money. It doesn’t occur to him. He just nods.

DEREK mumbles something about how he’ll miss her company, but it’s almost indecipherable. After beginning the muffled sentence, he’s unable to string together the rest, realising he’s unsure whether he should say it at all. 

ANITA smiles warmly back, squeezes his hand, but doesn’t open her lips to reciprocate his mumbling affection.

They reach the bus stop and sit down. A bus comes. Derek stands in anticipation. Anita doesn’t move.

ANITA

I can’t go yet.

DEREK

Oh. Why not?

Is this the wrong bus?

ANITA

No, it’s always the right bus.

I just can’t go yet.

DEREK

What do you mean? 

You’re impossible.

DEREK sits, contemplating. Tries to pull apart her facial

expression.

ANITA

DEREK geez you must be 

so late now, surely?

DEREK looks at his watch. ANITA sighs and opens her mouth to speak again. Silence.

Slightly bored, ANITA picks the needle out of her pocket, and pricks the very tip of her finger. It doesn’t bleed, she just slides the needle

through, onto her next finger, like a child in sewing class.

DEREK’s repelled and confused, but mesmerised. ANITA continues.

A beat. 

DEREK

(blinking, snaps out of it)

Wait, why do you have a sewing needle?

ANITA

Ugh.

Why do you always have that hat?

DEREK

I asked you first.

ANITA

Listen, honestly, I just can’t tell you.

DEREK

(Trying to be charming, gentle) 

You can. You just don’t want to.

ANITA’S obviously stunted, held silent by irrational discomfort.

She puts the needle in her pocket, replaces it with a coin, spins the coin on it’s side, on top of the chair between them.

The coin rolls over and bumps Derek’s leg. Restless, he picks it

up. flicks it in the air. catches it.

DEREK

Right. Heads? you first. Tails? me first.

ANITA

Mmm… how ‘bout… cigarette first?

DEREK

Nah, come on, I gotta go to work.

ANITA

If you were going to work,

you’d be there already.

ANITA reaches for the smokes in his pocket. DEREK slides away so

she can’t reach. He waves the coin toward her instead, an

invitation, a compromise.

ANITA (CONT.)

Alright alright, it’s a deal.

ANITA’S holding in her apprehension, sits stifly, breathes slowly. They shake hands, with the coin held between them. DEREK pulls her hand up and kisses her palm. She groans sarcastically, laughs.

DEREK flips the coin up, catches it in his hand. Flattens the hand over his other palm, lifts off his hand, exposes the coin.

DEREK 

Tails.

ANITA smirks. DEREK takes out a cigarette, passes one to ANITA.

They smoke.

ANITA

So? The harrowing tale?

Another bus rolls by.

He finishes his cigarette. Immediately lights another, goes to smoke, but doesn’t. Passes it to ANITA. 

DEREK

I need to um… 

I can’t, ugh, the thing is…

She looks at him, confused, now holding two cigarettes, both lit. DEREK’s all of s sudden subtly becoming somewhat distressed, and ANITA tries to comfort him, directing her arms toward his body for a hug (but holding two cigarettes makes it awkward and strange). His back’s damp from sweat. 

Another bus.

DEREK pulls away and tries to laugh light-heartedly, standing quickly as the bus’ doors begin to close.

DEREK (CONT.)

U-u-ugh, I really should go to work…

(suddenly yelling)

Wait! Driver! I need to get on that bus!

He runs toward the bus, bangs on the door. ANITA puts both cigarettes in her mouth, and runs after him. As the driver opens the door again to let DEREK on board, ANITA takes the hat from his head. The doors begin to close. 

ANITA puts the hat on her own head and takes the cigarettes out of her mouth. She blows smoke toward the door, now closed, and they stare at each other, both disoriented and unnerved. DEREK pulls the bus’ door, presses the stop button, looks at the driver expectantly. (Note - Could the film just end here??)

DRIVER

Oh, MATE. Come ON! 

Shoulda made up your mind!

Just get off at the next stop!

DEREK tightly clenches his fists and looks out the window. ANITA stands where he left her, tips the hat at him. Turns and looks away.

When the bus pulls into the next stop DEREK’s so shaken he doesn’t seem to notice the doors opening.

DRIVER

OUT, Cowboy.

Next bus goes the other way in ten.

Time doesn’t revolve around you

and your bloody Cowboy romance.

DEREK stumbles out and sits on the grass. Pulls his knees up to his chest, rests his chin against his knees, and covers his head with his arms and hands. 

Soon he gets on the next bus, and gets off at the stop (where him and ANITA left one another). She’s no longer there. Neither is his hat. He walks briskly back down the path they’d walked on, kicking furiously at trash, leaves, and whatever’s around. 

He accidentally kicks the felt cowboy hat cut-out that’d fallen from ANITA’s pocket earlier. He picks it up. Looks around him. Nobody, no explanation. Holds it to his chest, grateful for a second, until he scrunches it up, angrily. Flings it behind him.

(Cut to)

ANITA’s sitting alone on the ground outside the pub. It’s not open yet. It’S too windy to light her cigarette. She flings it behind her. Tries to lean her head against the wall. The cowboy hat gets in the way.

____ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___