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111 EXT -- BREWSTER HOTEL -- DAY (1954) 111
Brooks comes
trudging up the sidewalk. He glances up as a
prop-driven
airliner streaks in low overhead.
BROOKS (V.O.)
The world went
and got itself in a
big damn hurry.
He arrives at
the Brewster. It ain't much to look at.
112 INT -- BREWSTER HOTEL -- DAY (1954) 112
A WOMAN leads
Brooks up the stairs toward the top floor. He
has trouble
climbing so many stairs.
WOMAN
No music in
your room after eight
p.m. No guests
after nine. No
cooking except
on the hotplate...
BROOKS (V.O.)
People even
talk faster. And louder.
113 INT -- BROOKS' ROOM -- DAY (1954) 113
Brooks enters.
The room is small, old, dingy. Heavy wooden
beams cross
the ceiling. An arched window affords a view of
Congress Street.
Traffic noise drifts in. Brooks sets his bag
down. He doesn't
quite know what to do. He just stands there,
like a man waiting
for a bus.
BROOKS (V.O.)
The parole board
got me into this
halfway house
called the Brewster,
and a job bagging
groceries at the
Foodway...
114 INT -- FOODWAY MARKET -- DAY (1954) 114
Loud. Jangling
with PEOPLE and NOISE. Brooks is bagging
groceries. Registers
are humming, kids are shrieking.
WOMAN
Make sure he
double-bags. Last time
your man didn't
double-bag and the
bottom near
came out.
MANAGER
You double-bag
like the lady says,
understand?
BROOKS
Yes sir, double-bag,
surely will.
BROOKS (V.O.)
It's hard work.
I try to keep up,
but my hands
hurt most of the time.
I don't think
the store manager
likes me very
much.
115 EXT -- PARK -- DAY (1954) 115
Brooks sits alone on a bench, feeding pigeons.
BROOKS (V.O.)
Sometimes after
work I go to the
park and feed
the birds. I keep
thinking Jake
might show up and say
hello, but he
never does. I hope
wherever he
is, he's doing okay and
making new friends.
116 INT -- BROOKS' ROOM -- NIGHT (1954) 116
Dark. Traffic
outside. Brooks wakes up. Disoriented. Afraid.
Somewhere in
the night, a LOUD ARGUMENT is taking place.
BROOKS (V.O.)
I have trouble
sleeping at night.
The bed is too
big. I have bad
dreams, like
I'm falling. I wake
up scared. Sometimes
it takes me a
while to remember
where I am.
117 INT -- FOODWAY -- DAY (1954) 117
BROOKS (V.O.)
Maybe I should
get me a gun and rob
the Foodway,
so they'd send me home.
I could shoot
the manager while I
was at it, sort
of like a bonus.
118 INT -- BROOKS' ROOM -- DAY (1954) 118
Brooks is packing
his worldly possessions into the carry bag.
Undershirts,
socks, etc.
BROOKS (V.O.)
But I guess
I'm too old for that
sort of nonsense
anymore.
119 INT -- BROOKS' ROOM -- SHORTLY LATER (1954) 119
Brooks is dressed
in his suit. He finishes knotting his tie,
puts his hat
on his head. The letter lies on the desk, stampe3
and ready for
mailing. His bag is by the door.
BROOKS (V.O.)
I don't like
it here. I'm tired of
being afraid
all the time. I've
decided not
to stay.
He takes one
last look around. Only one thing left to do. He
steps to a wooden
chair in the center of the room, pulls out s
pocketknife,
and glances up at the ceiling beam.
He steps up onto
the chair. It wobbles queasily. Now facing
the beam, he
carves a message into the wood: "Brooks Hatlen
was here." He
smiles with a sort of inner peace.
BROOKS (V.O.)
I doubt they'll
kick up any fuss.
Not for an old
crook like me.
120 TIGHT ON CHAIR 120
His weight shifts
on the wobbly chair -- and it goes out
from under him.
His feet remain where they are, kicking feebly
in mid-air.
His hat falls to the floor.
ANGLE WIDENS.
Brooks has hanged himself. He swings gently,
facing the open
window. Traffic noise floats up from below.