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Young and Innocent (2017)
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Marion. Marion. Marion. Let's go. Well, see you tomorrow. Okay. Goodnight. Goodnight. As a girl I fell asleep pondering the mysteries of glow in the dark plastic things and I imagine their histories. How did they earn that drowsy life? What gave them their fluorescent fizz? But now the indigo watch has burned out and at midnight an angel stands in the doorway silhouetted without wings and pulls my body into boundless darkness. I've returned to that child's bed. The druggie glow of galaxies on the ceiling with the self-adhesive backings to numb her into dreams. They don't do the job anymore, but I know someone who can. That was really great Marion. Did you write anything Danny? Actually, I wrote a little haiku during breakfast that I shared with Ally. It's not as good as any of your stuff. Let's hear it. Well, okay. Here it is. Gary the schizo is often quite confusing. His name is Johnny. Did you like my poem? I did. It was very playful, which is good. You're fun to read. What, just fun to read? Hey look, I wanna ask you something. Have you ever been to New York City? No. I really wanna go. I wanna go to college there. Well, I think you're a very beautiful woman and I think you're absolutely brilliant. And I think, I think we should cool it until after camp is over just so no one catches on to us. I haven't told anyone. Right, I know. But just until camp is over and then I'm thinking you and me can go to New York. My cousin lives in New York City. He runs an Airbnb for his extra room we can stay with him. We could do some writing. We could look at colleges. We could do all sorts of stuff. How does that sound? Yeah. It sounds really nice. It's really thoughtful of you. Great. I can set it all up. You just can, you know, think of an excuse to tell your parents. They're almost always working. They won't care. Great. I'm like, suddenly really excited now. Yeah. Well thanks for being so cool about everything and you're like, such a woman. I'll see you later? Okay. Hey. Hey. How you guys doing? Good. Yeah? Let me see it. You know what I think? I think Danny and Ally like each other. Oh, that's crazy. Yeah. Have you seen how they've been like close talking and whatever? He doesn't like her. He's just being nice to her because she's a shitty writer. Whatever. I'm done with all this poetry crap. Hey. What's up? Hey, how's writing camp? You write a novel yet? No not yet. I'm writing poetry not novels. How's the ice cream business? My arms are getting huge from scooping. It looks like I'm giving hand jobs from noon to six three days a week. But I'm going to the beach this week and I'm packing now. Right. Very jealous. You should come. My parents love you. Seriously, just ditch your camp and get over here. Yeah. Hey mom! Is it cool if Marion stays with us? She says it's cool. Alright, well, I gotta go. Write me a sonnet. Yeah, we'll see. And so I wait beside my classmate for the bell to ring, for the cafeteria to sing, for the lunch that I bring. That's really good Carter. It really feels like you've captured a moment. Yeah, it's about the moment before lunchtime. It's so precise too. Good job. Yeah, really great. Okay, so, Marion. Would you like to share what you've been working on? Yeah. It's a poem. It's called Betrayed By Moonlight. Beauty in the day is betrayed by moonlight. Constellations give bad directions. The North Star points you to a dark alley. Veins in my caressed neck are chewed by owls and raccoons gnaw at my lips, kissed by my darlings tricky mouth. A mornings promises becomes midnights dumpster fire and my rayon bed sheets burn with a low velocity flame, while the apple of my sleepy eye rots in the darkness with two-faced bitches in the shadows. And that's all I've got so far. Okay, good. Who's next? I thought your work today was interesting. Definitely more progressive than your previous writing. Thanks, it came really easily. I think you can find something a little more evocative than two-faced bitches though. I'm pretty happy with it. Okay. Well, I have a job for you. Maybe you wanna go down and pick up our lunch order? It's just down the road and there's no rush, you can take your time. It might be nice to get some air. Here, take this. Oh, and don't forget to save the receipt. Hi, I'm here to pick up an order for the Emily Dickinson writing camp. Okay. Her writing was alright, but she never took criticism well. That's my guess as to why she left. She always seemed a little off to me. To be honest, she told me some things that made me think she was capable of making up elaborate lies, seeing things that weren't really there. I think she imagined that her and I had more of a relationship than we actually did. Well, she's a runaway. How can you really trust her about anything? She left because she was in love with Danny, but he wasn't interested. I mean, he's a funny, smart, older guy. Why would he wanna date a high schooler? And if you read her writing, you wouldn't wanna dater her either. She's not even the cutest girl at the camp. Hello, is this Marion's mother? Sorry to interrupt your vacation, I just wanted to tell you that your daughter has run away from camp. I don't think writing is really her strength. Sorry, we don't offer partial refunds for girls who run off. Ladies and gentlemen we've got a rest stop coming up. Ladies and gentlemen we've got a rest stop coming up. 15 minutes coming up. 15 minutes coming up. Hi. I need a room if you have one. Sure do. How many nights will you be staying? Just tonight. And it's just you? Yup. That'll be smoking or non? Non. Alright, with taxes it comes to 43.10. Really? If you have cash I guess I could do 30. I have a debit card. Yeah okay. Alright, sign this. Is there any place to eat around here? There's a diner a couple blocks up. Okay, yeah. Well thanks. Enjoy your stay. Who is it? Guy from the front desk. Hey. I forgot to tell you checkout time is at 11 tomorrow. Got it. How do you like the room? It's fine, it's a room. Well, I was wondering, are you really gonna go to that diner? Probably not. I'm really tired. Well I just ordered a pizza. Would you maybe wanna split it with me? I already paid for it, it's on me. What'd you get on it? Mushrooms, pepperoni, peppers, and sausage. Olives? No, I hate olives. Yeah, me too. Well, they said it'll be here in 30 minutes or less like they always do. So if you want any just come to my office then. Okay. I already had a few slices. You can have as much as you want. I like your T-shirt. Thanks. Did you go to that camp? Yeah. We thought about getting T-shirts for the employees here. It might still happen, I don't know. So is this like your summer job? It's like a summer, fall, winter, and spring job for me. I kinda look after the place. Cool. So you're like the manager then? Well my mother owns the place. Day-to-day I guess I'm in charge, but I wouldn't say it's that interesting. I worked at an ice cream parlor for the past two summers. It's gotta be more interesting than that. What's your favorite ice cream flavor? Banana peanut butter crunch, probably. We also have a toffee walnut whiplash that's pretty good. What about you? I guess vanilla. Really? Yeah. That banana one sounds pretty good though too. I'll have to try that. You know, I really feel like I've seen you before and I just can't figure it out and it's gonna bug me. Were you ever in like a commercial? No. What high school did you go to? Youth Jackson. But I just graduated. I can step out of you need to get that. No. It's fine. So where do you think you know me from? Something on TV. Maybe a magazine. Yeah, I'm not in any of that stuff. Well, you could be. Thanks. I think I'm gonna head back. I'm pretty tired. Sure, sure. Well thanks for the pizza. Norman. Marion. Goodnight. Goodnight. Hi Marion, it's Danny again. Please give me a call when you get this. What could you possibly want with cigarettes? I feel more at home carrying. About as silly as that gun kit. You know there's no life on the moon. - I - guess I'm like Helen. I feel more at home that way. I wish you'd tell him not to Laird. Either we're on a scientific expedition or we're a bunch of boy scouts on an outing. - I - agree with you Helen. But I guess it won't do any hurt. There's too much infantile romanticism in this crew. Lookout! Meteorite! I really loved him. He was gonna take me to New York. Could you give me a ride home? My car's under water. Hey, are you still here? Oh no. I went home after you left last night. My shift just started. Good. You sleep okay? I had some weird dreams. Yeah, I hear that often happens when people travel. Oh! It's the leftover pizza. It's been in the fridge and I thought maybe you'd want it for the ride. That's really sweet of you. I had three bowls of Frosted Flakes this morning so I'll be full all day. Okay. Well thank you. I bet once you leave we'll both figure out where we knew each other from. Bye. 640 bus to Richmond leaves in five minutes. 640 bus leaves to Richmond in five minutes. Hi. I checked already but I need a room again. Same room? Sure. Scratches on his wrist. Hey Leland! It's me, come here! Don't you know me? Mr. Snively! Is Norman here? No. Are these the only books you have? Yeah. More leftovers. Oh my God, you're awesome. I made them for my mother and I. I didn't know if you'd eaten or not. Where would I be without you. You'd be fine probably. Do you wanna come in? Okay. How was your dinner? It was fine. Maybe I should've just ordered her a pizza and made this for you. You made this? My mother only likes certain things, so I learned how to make those. And sometimes she doesn't even like to eat them so I just figured if you hadn't eaten yet maybe you'd want it. Your mom doesn't cook? What's your mother like? She's okay. She's remarried, which is weird. I would hate it if my mom got remarried. They'd been gone for two weeks. Her and my step-father planned this trip because they knew I'd be away at writing camp. The writing camp on your shirt? Yeah, this camp. You're not there now. Nope. Must be nice to get some time to yourself. It's pretty nuts. I've never been out on my own before. Not this long. Oh. This might be stupid, but I noticed when you checked in you didn't have any luggage with you. You're still wearing the same shirt you wore yesterday. I left it on the bus. Well I just figured for the time being if you needed something to wear, you could have some of my shirts. They probably look better on you anyway. Well I'll be here tomorrow if you're still here. Just ask the front desk. They'll know where I am. Okay. I still feel like we've met before. Me too. Hi. Hello. Do you know where Norman might be? Yes I do. He's right back there doing laundry. The maids only clean the rooms where people have occupied. I like to change the sheets in the rooms even if nobody stayed in them. Don't want things getting too musty you know? It's still warm. Smell it. Here, just put it over your face and smell it. It smells great right? Yeah, I love fresh laundry. Honestly, there's nothing better. You wanna hear something crazy about me? Yes. Sometimes I'll just take all the fresh laundry and put it on the bed, and then I'll just lie down on it and take a nap. It's like my spa you know? I want someone to just pour it all on me. Maybe you can turn this place into a resort and have everyone do that. Make sure it's tucked in under both sides and then smooth it over. That's good, you're a pro. Thanks. You know, they say if you're feeling stressed out, you make your bed you'll instantly feel better. It like helps bring order to your life. That one little thing, it's so simple. I never make my bed. You should try it sometime. You're pretty popular. Yeah right. You run away? Why would you say that? It was a joke. I left my writing camp. It was my sister. They probably called her. You in trouble? I don't know. I don't really care. Why'd you run away? They were idiots. They didn't like my work. I'd love to read something you wrote. Yeah. I don't really think I'm ready to share that with anybody yet. You showed it to them. Yeah, and then I ran away. And that's kind of it. I took a dance camp a couple of summers ago but I forget most of the moves. You're a great dancer. Shut up. I can do this too. So what about you? Any special skills other than bed making? I can play guitar. Like in a band? No, classical guitar. I wanna hear you play. Yeah, maybe some time. Marion, Danny again. We're really concerned and worried about you. We really wanna know you're okay. Marion, it's Danny again. Please call me back. You're not in trouble. But it's really important we speak with you. Another coke? Sure. Hey babe. I hope writing camp isn't too boring. I miss you. We'll be at the beach until Monday if you still wanna come. Love you. Hey it's your sister. Some guy from your camp called and said you left camp. So can you call me whenever? I'm at moms house. He wants you to call him too. He sounds like an idiot. Hey, me again. If you don't call me by tomorrow I'm gonna tell mom. No, just routine. You know, we're asking questions of everyone around the neighborhood. So, that's about all you can remember? Yeah. Oh, does this place have a security camera? No. Oh too bad. Well, if you can think of anything would you contact me? Here's my card. Thank you. Sure, much obliged. She change the sheets here too? Oh no, she's a guest. Hi sweetheart. Listen, do you recognize this girl? Did you see her on the night of the 10th? No, I wasn't here then. Too bad. Alright, well if either of you remember anything, would you give me a call? Sure will. What was that about? Some girl went missing a couple days ago. I saw some people with candles for her last night. Is that for her? Maybe. She was last seen down the street from here. Well that's really sad. I guess they have to annoy everyone in town just 'cause they can't find her. Hey. Holy shit, did you leave your camp? Yeah, but... Well where the fuck have you been? They said you left two days ago. Erica called, she said she was going to Ocean City and she was allowed to bring a friend. So that's where I am. I told a camp counselor but obviously he doesn't remember me saying I was leaving. Are you even allowed to leave? Yeah if it sucks. Well why the fuck didn't you call me back? I've been calling for the past two days. I've just been relaxing. Trying not to let technology rule my life. Yeah, whatever. So, Katie's parents are paying for you all week? Yup. They've got a lot of money. Some camp counselor called wanting to know where you were. Did he sound worried? He sounded like a fucking idiot. Just leave a note or something next time. You didn't tell mom did you? No, but I was pretty close. I'm fine, everything's fine, nothing to worry about. So you're at Ocean City? Where at? Like right on the water. When are you coming back? A few days. They'll drive you back? Yup, it's fine. How's the job search? Oh God, don't ever graduate college. Stay away from the real world as long as you can. Noted. Call me if you need anything. Okay. Bye. Your phone hasn't been ringing that much. I put it on silent. Must be nice to just put the outside world on silent like that. Hey you, this your car? Don't you know better than to leave a car with the wheels halfway in the middle of the road? Can I ask you a question? Okay. Do you have a girlfriend? No. There's not like a girl at a Holiday Inn you dream about? That's a good one. You know, I'm kind of surprised that no girl has tried to get with you. You're pretty cute. I've always sort of kept to myself. So you've never had a girlfriend? No. Well what about a boyfriend? No. Well do you like boys? Marion, these questions are a little embarrassing. Do you want me to change the subject? No it's okay. So do you think about girls? Sure. Well what's your favorite part of a woman? Like butt, or thighs, or boobs? I guess eyes. I like eyes. Really? That's sweet. Some guys like girls feet. I don't really understand that. Yeah, it's weird. So who's like your celebrity crush? Like from movies, or magazines, or whatever. I guess Madonna. You know there's like a really old magazine with her in the lobby? All your magazines are like from the early 90s. She looked beautiful right? She was going to the Oscars. Yeah, with Michael Jackson. You know that they were born the same year? So that makes her how old now? I don't know. I just think she's pretty. It's a shame about Michael Jackson though. What about him? See? I like this guy, Channing Tatum. Yeah he's okay. You should get more magazines for the lobby. I once went to a hotel and they had all kinds of magazines in every room. You could take them home. Seems kind of presumptuous to think this is what people would wanna be reading in their hotel. They don't have to read it. This is what you like reading? They're okay. I don't read them all the time. Just fun to look at. Here, look what else I got. Well do you like magazines like this? I once found a few of these in the house. They belonged to my mothers boyfriends. They were in the bottom of his drawer. Well did you look at them? No. You can take it home with you if you want. If my mother found it, I wouldn't wanna upset her like that. I'll hold onto it then. In case you ever wanna look at it. These other magazines are great. I'll put them in the lobby. Yeah, that'll bring the customers in. Put you in the lobby. That'll bring the customers in. Hey, want another coke? Yeah, thanks. Hey. Hi. I'm Teresa, this is Summer, and this is Kristen. Marion. Are you into the Holocaust or something? No, why? Your book. Oh. It's all they had at the motel. It just passes the time. It's pretty interesting though, once you get into it. Hitler surrounded Poland by sending troops into Bohemia and Arabia and invading Slovakia. So, do you live around here? No, I'm just passing through. I'm on a road trip. I figured I'd hang around for a couple of days. If I were on a road trip I would drive straight through this place. So what's there to do around here? Good question. Mostly we just hang around. Some kids hang out in the Food Lion parking lot. Sometimes we get drunk in the bowling alley parking lot and then we go bowling. Mostly, we just drive around looking for places to drink. Nothing much happens around here. I heard about that girl that went missing. Yeah. She was like two years ahead of us. But yeah, it's pretty sad. My sister played volleyball with her. She said she was really nice. Not the kind to disappear like that. She's probably dead. Summer. I mean, it's sad. Fingers crossed she's okay. Some detective even questioned me and I wasn't even here then. She's like the third girl to disappear in the past few years. Probably some crazy guy in the woods. It's too creepy to even think about. There's a surveillance footage of her wandering around this parking lot. Then she starts to stop to talk to someone who you can't really see. And then she disappears. I feel so bad for her family. My dad gave me a knife. My dad got me pepper spray. Let me see. See. Hey. If you're not doing anything Tuesday, we usually go to a parking lot or a field to get drunk in if you're interested. Sounds fun. Do you need a ride? No, I'm like two blocks that way. You sure? That's the street that kid went missing on. It's fine. I've walked it a couple of times before. Well, here. Ooh, wow. That looks sharp. Right? Here. Don't you need it? I have another at home. Well thanks. Have a good night. Hey. Hey, what's up? Would you come outside for a second? One sec. I was thinking about you today. Oh yeah? I was thinking about how you're spending all your time here with me. And how we're spending the bulk of our time together inside. This is true. Well I was also thinking about how warm the weather is. It is summer. Well I was wondering if maybe you'd wanna spend some time together outside. What'd you have in mind? Listen to this, this is crazy. "And so it was on the first of September, "summer turned to autumn "and the citizens of Poland awoke to the "terror of the 20th century screaming through the dawn "as German planes announced hell on earth "and carnage to all with human annihilation "and urban destruction on a scale the world "had never imagined. "The horror of a new world awash in blood, "mankind on the doorstep to mass extinction." Are you gonna go in the water? I think I'm gonna hang out here. Try and get some sun. Actually I kind of have like a phobia of large bodies of water. And anything that can go over my head, it freaks me out. It's not funny. There's a kiddie pool over there. Shut up. I don't like blood. That's what I'm afraid of. Well ew, who does? Are you gonna go in? I don't wanna go if you're not going. You like it? It's good. You know, I learned at the ice cream parlor if you only eat sherbet and never eat ice cream your butt gets bigger but everything else stays the same. Never thought about that. Yup, the life hack. What about popsicles? Popsicles are harmless. What's happening with Germany? 100,000 Polish soldiers have been taken as prisoners of war. Wild. Look what I got. Where'd you get that? Some girls gave it to me. They just gave it to you? They had a spare. What are you gonna do with it? Whittle wood, peel potatoes, clean fish I've got, take the sleeves off my T-shirts. See that house? See that woman in the top corner? That's my mother. Hi. What can I do for you? Yeah, I'm looking for Marion Presley. Do you know if she's here by any chance? Never seen her. She used a stolen debit card and we traced it to this motel. A lot of people use stolen debit cards here. It seems really quiet here. That's why I like it. Do you come here often? I guess. I'm always afraid that one of these days I'll come out here and a construction crew will be tearing the place up and turning it into a strip mall. I think it's nice you have a place like this. Like your own private island. We can go back if you're afraid of the water. No, it's okay. I feel like I've been here before. Do you ever go swimming here? No. But it's pretty deep. It's all ready. Not hungry? No, I guess not. It's good, I just don't have much of an appetite. Save it for later. Have you ever brought anybody else out here? You're the first. Yeah, but do you think other people come out here? Like other kids our age? Not really. That's why I wanted to show it to you. I like thinking I'm the only person who knows about this place. And now you do too. You know most people think that the Germans were like super well prepared when they invaded France, but really, most of their soldiers were like over 40 or they'd only had like two weeks of training. The French had like twice the vehicles. So what? Like the French just didn't know what they were doing? Well yeah, sort of. What really helped the Germans is that they had radio communications. So they could change tactics quickly and the French were still working on like mouth-to-mouth communications. So it really hurt their ability to adjust. French are stupid. And even though the French had like double the amount of vehicles they had like half the people in the vehicles so the guy driving it had to shoot it too. The Germans had like five people per tank. Do you think, like, Nazi girls our age used to get drunk in their Volkswagen and just hang out like we're doing? Probably not. They had big orgies for the military guys. That's in the book too? Alright fuck it, I'm going to the library first thing tomorrow. I mean, I guess it's good that they lost and we bombed the shit out of them, but even a bombed out Germany must be nicer than this place. What the fuck? So Marion, how do you like this place? I went swimming at the pool on Glover the other day, that was really nice. By yourself? No, with this guy. Is he from around here? Yeah. His name's Norman. I've never heard of him. He said he just graduated. From where? East Jackson? Norman? That's his first name? Yeah. I was student government historian and I've never heard of him. Well he's pretty quiet, that's probably why. How do you know him? I just met him. He works at motel on the highway. You should have invited him. I did. He said he was busy. Do you like him? I mean, we're friends. I guess it's good to have a couple of guy friends around. Do you remember that guy Randy who used to sit next to me in Geometry? He would always like come in with all these pencils and line them up straight on the desk. How was it last night? It was okay. I'm really tired though. Hey, what high school did you say you went to? East Jackson. Yeah, they went there too. You said you just graduated. Yeah. Like in June. Yup. They said their names were Summer, Teresa, and Kristin. Do you know any of them? No. Yeah, they said they graduated like two years ago. There ya go. Who were your friends there? I mainly keep to myself. I'm okay with that. Did you go to any football games? No. Well who was your school mascot? Some animal I think. What was the name of your principal? I don't remember. Well who was your favorite teacher last year? What was your favorite subject? I saw you dead. So your idea was to drive the car a little way, maybe into San Bernardino. You weren't gonna sell it? Sell it? Do you think I'm crazy? Somebody elses car? See all I wanna do is leave it somewhere and forget I ever saw it. Hey, how's the beach? We left yesterday, I'm back at work. That sucks. Yeah, that's why I'm calling. Hold on, my sisters on the other line. Hey, what's up? Hey, how's the beach? It's fine. Yeah? Because I just saw your friend Erica at Ben & Jerry's. So where the hell are you? I stayed a couple of extra days. Bullshit. You better tell me where you are right now or else I'm telling mom. Hey, I called an order in to go. Hill. Just a sec. Thanks. Do we know each other? Thanks. No problem. Take care. My sister called. She knows where I am. She's coming to get me. Maybe there's a camp you can runaway from next summer. Maybe next summer you can run away and visit me. Would your parents be okay with that? I'd hide you in my room. Cover you in fresh laundry. I'd never leave. Good. I wrote you a poem. Do you wanna read it? Sure. Do you wanna just look at it or do you want me to read it to you? I get to choose? Yeah. Read it to me. Okay. Do pillowcases fight, do thread counts keep score, does the top sheet say hello to the comforter each time it's turned up and tucked in? How many different sheets have paired up and creased into each other and do they say "I've seen you before" the way I say it to you? Perhaps they are bails of veils and we're lost in different there's and elsewheres or several somewheres. And when we say "Where do we know each other," really we say, "I never wanna be without you again." And that's it. I love it. Really? Can I keep it? Yeah, of course. You're the best writer that camp ever lost track of. Ha ha. What time's your sister coming tomorrow? Early I think. Do you want me to go? Do you wanna go? No. I think I'm gonna take a shower. Norman it's really hot. Norman, the water is really hot. You wanna use both the hot and cold nozzles to control the temperature. Play with it a little and figure out what you like. Can you show me how to get the water right? You have to use both nozzles. Yeah, but can you just show me? You just have to adjust them. I don't know what temperature you like. Just show me what you like. How's that? Yeah, it's nice. Norman. Do you wanna take a shower with me? Just get in with me. I can do it. Is this okay? Is the water okay? Yeah, it's nice. What? Nothing. Can we switch so I can wash the soap off? Sure. You want shampoo? Yeah, in a minute. Do you want me to shampoo your hair? I can do it. But it feels so good if somebody else does it. It's okay. Hey Norman. Norman would you wanna watch some TV? Norman? I won't tell mom and dad but you can't say anything either. Okay. Do you realize how dangerous it is to go out on your own like that? I have a knife. Where'd you get a knife? Some girls gave it to me. Where's your suitcase? I left it on the bus. How are you paying for the room? He's letting me stay here. I only paid for the first night. What? |
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