Strong Use of Voiceover Mourning the Living passage
Opening: Choppy 8 mm fun youthful family cuts skating interspliced with Denver OD partying pills narcan gurney strapped intubate chest compressions agonizing screams
Scene 1: In the garage.. Dad's turned the garage into a lumber yard, building all our house's furniture by hand. As he works furiously away on a circular saw, his three sons Larry Barry and Jerry are all there in support.. Dad is asking us for tools and parts.. He asks me to hand him a nut.. I look down and see nuts and screws and nails.. I look down at a bunch of metallic objects, mistakenly hand him a screw.. He gets mad. That's not a nut! That's what you are. A screw. Larry, hand me the nut please. L: Get out of the way you screw.. I smack him. Younger brother Jerry (3 years my junior, 5 years Larry's stares on in silence.. We are 10, 8, 5 in this opening scene. Jerry cowers in the back at the barbs and smacks.
Scene Takeaways: Dad's mania, Dad's abusiveness, How connected we are to his approval/disapproval, sibling tension particularly between myself and my older brother, My Mom is noticeably absent from the action..
Scene 2: Yard work.. Dad wraps up woodwork, calling all of us to the front yard to start the day's yard work. Larry gets the mower, I get the clippers, Jerry gets the rake. Yard work all day. Dad always scowling berating us to do a better job. Start Over!! Sends me to the street to sweep. Almost done, neighborhood bullies come by and throw dirt at me, messing up my sweeping job.. Dad sees it.. Approaches..Did you pop that kid in the mouth like we discussed? Are you yellow? I have a Yellow fucking pussy for a son. Larry sees it. walks by laughing calling me a pussy instead of defending me. Kids have to get chores checked off and approved before we go on to the next one.. Its hot, its humid, Its miserable. All my friends are out playing coming by on their bikes asking if I can play ..Dad, can you check the road and if its good can I go play. No! You can't. And get in the back yard and help your brothers, we're just getting started! (all my friends on bikes waiting for me, myself walking to the back yard with Dad for more work)
Scene Takeaways: Dad's intense discipline, work ethic, verbal abusiveness, my spirit being squashed, Bullying, sibling conflict, divide and conquer, Again Absent Mother
Scene 3: Dad goes for a drive..Dad goes inside while we keep working in backyard. He's inside for a minute. Comes out with keys.. Finish you jobs and you can play. Gets in car, backs down the driveway. We all look around the corner of the house to make sure he's gone. Soon as he turns the corner driving out of site, I throw my rake down and run up the street where my friends are playing. My Mom comes out, yelling at me to finish my job first but I bolt away undeterred..
Scene Takeaways: The liberating effect on myself and my brothers when our Dad would leave. We were caged spirits in his presence. Fearful, Highly Anxious.. Kids Walking all over Mom
Scene 4: Dad comes home. Hour or so later. My little brother runs up. Dads coming. Dads coming!! I drop everything and hurry home.. I pick up rake and start working again. Larry threatens to tell on me. Please don't, please don't. Dad comes out. Larry immediately tells on me. Dad barks at him. What are you, a fucking tattletale? Go to your room. I start laughing. What are you laughing at? Get Inside and clean up. We all are sitting in the living room while Dad is upstairs changing. He walks down, goes to the closet. Grabs his tennis rackets and walks out the door without saying a word. I stare at rackets as he leaves to play tennis. Mom, where is Dad going? She says to play tennis. As we see Dad's car turn the corner, I bust out the front door to join the baseball game going down in the cul de sac.
Scene Takeaways: Tennis introduced. More anxiety in his presence, More freedom when he leaves. Sibling tension grows
Scene 5: To the cul de sac to play baseball.. Couple hours later, its dusk. Dad drives home.. Here comes dad.. He parks in the driveway. Looks to the front door. Some kids ask him to come down, others groan at the prospect. Dad walks down to the cul de sac, Beer and cigarette in hand. He walks up to the pitcher and takes the ball.. Throwing knuckleballs and curveballs all over the place.. Its Larry's turn up.. fat terrible no technique. swings and can't even come close. Dad "well, the world needs welders too" I'm up next. First pitch I step in the bucket. Stay in there you pussy. Are you afraid of the ball? Here, it really doesn't hurt that much. Watch. He plunks me with the next pitch.. I start crying.. Get back in there you coward. I'm crying, upset.. What a pussy. Games over!! Everybody go home. Kids scramble on their bikes. We run into the house. Jerry watches the whole mini-drama from the front window. As everyone scrambles away, the streetlights come on.. Its time to go home.
Scene takeaways: Dad's abominable bedside manner. Always imploring us to be tough, to accept challenges. Its the only world he knows. Again, everything we do ends in tears. Is it his methods? Or am I hyper-sensitive? Foreshadowing that all may not be well with me.
Scene 6: At the Dinner table: Later that night at the Dinner. Mom clearing plates, my vegetables all over the place.. Dad holding court. Dad drinking. Telling the gotta be tough story again. How when you encounter a bully, you gotta punch him in the mouth, pop em in the kisser, then let's see how tough they are. Dad telling stories, about the time his friend met Bobby Fischer. Mozart playing in the back. The Catcher In The Rye sitting on the table. Holden hated phonies. My Dad hated phonies. He lauded prodigies, eccentric geniuses. Starts repeating himself.. He's drunk and getting drunker.. Blasts music even louder. Mom tries to chime in, telling us to get ready for bed. He shoots her down. Not yet Barbara. Long drawn out stories. The night gets long. He's pretty buzzed. My Brothers peel off. As he starts talking about Bobby Fischer again., he declares "Here lets play play chess!"
Scene Takeaways: Family time is important to my Dad. He wants educated, informed, capable. Always challenging us with quizzes. Wants us to have a better life than he did. Able and willing to provide, complete hopeless about how to support nurture and develop a young talent. I'm more patient than my brothers, more capable. Dad attaches to my potential.
Scene 7 Dad setting up the chess board.. He's tender, He's helpful.. Queen on Color. What's the horsie do? Its a knight. He describes the board. Has me call off my moves when I make them. Pawn to King 4. and asks me to explain my moves. Protecting him, attacking her. Opening up flanks etc.. I pick up chess real quickly. Lets play a game. I'm doing great. Gotcha!!! Oof when I leave a guy hanging. Getting down near the end. I'm about to lose. I move my queen to put him in check and yell CHECK!! then he mates me .. I made a lot of good moves for my first time playing. I get his attention.
Scene takeaways: His willing to spend his time with me/us to make something of ourselves. Chances he never had as a kid. Willing to spend all his free time on us. Piques his interest that I may have something going for me intellectually..
Scene 8: Tennis and Swim Club.. Family walking in to new club, setting up at the pool. Boys arguing, right when we get our chairs and towels out, Dad tells us to stay right there as he walks off with a couple beautiful wood rackets under his arm to go play tennis. Ten minutes later, I'm antsy, venturing to seek him out. Beautiful club. terraced clay courts everywhere. Trying to find him proves difficult. Yet for the first time I'm seeing tennis being played. The sound of a cleanly hit ball. (recurring imagery throughout show) The pageantry, the cadence. I'm enthralled. I find Dad on a distant court hitting balls. I hide behind a tree, trying to remain incognito. But he sees me (has a sixth sense where I am at all times, yelling at me to get back to the pool and the others. Defeated, I walk back toward the pool but not before getting a good dose of the beauty that is tennis
Scene takeaways: Dad's sixth sense, My first exposure to tennis.
Scene 9 At home that night.. Dad and Mom opening the mail at the table. Barbara, take a look at this.. They open my standardized test scores. Ridiculously high. Genius IQ. Barry, come in here.. How's school going? It's pretty easy.. Like how easy? I mean, I finish my work way before everyone and always have the highest scores. We see that. We got your test scores back, they're really high. Yeah, that whole thing was stupid. I finished in like 10 minutes, had to sit there for hours waiting for everybody. Drives me crazy... Here, come with me. Dad walks me to his book shelves. Hundreds of books. Whole sections of Biographies of great people. Prodigies. Dad was obsessed with special people. He grabs an Encyclopedia from the shelf and opens to a random page. Here, Read this tonight, and we'll talk about it tomorrow, ok? Sure Dad.. as Larry and Jerry seethe in the background.
Scene Takeaways: I have brain power. Genius IQ. Dad intrigued. Starts me home schooling, after regular school of course. His teaching methods. If I'm special, it will be obvious. More special treatment over my brothers
Scene 10 Reading in my room.. Struggling. I ask Larry for help.. He helps a little, but starts mocking my mispronunciations.. Why do you have to be such a dick. You're the genius, you should know everything. Why don't you just ask Dad.
Scene Takeaways: Dad's teaching methods.. Brother tension mounting..
Scene 11: Next night..Living room Bruins Game about to start.. Dad, I can't read this. Too many big words. Larry jumps in with my mispronunciations.. Fuck off fatso.. Larry comes at me. Knock it off you two. Everyone get in here.. Bruins game comes on..We all huddle around the old TV. Everybody in the living room. Larry the people pleaser parks it next to the TV to fix the color when it goes off. Rabbit ear antennae. Whole family, two cats and Bulldog all in the room. Family time. Between periods, the Chess board comes out.. Larry sulks..Dad and me play.. everyone else is ignored. Later in the night. Dad tells brothers to go to bed but I get to stay. Why does Barry always get to stay up and we don't? Because I haven't finished him off (in chess) yet and its taking some time tonight.. Now go to bed..Larry then Jerry
Scene 12 Me and Dad playing chess watching the Bruins game.. 2nd period.. I get sent to bed.. I beg if I can stay up and watch. Dad ponders.. Ok, set the pieces up. He lets me stay up, don't tell your mother.. and we keep playing chess with the hockey in the back just me and dad end scene with us both nodding off watching the game.
Scene Takeaways: Dad and I bonding, More preferential treatment
Scene 13 At school.. I'm super hyper.. Finish my work in 2 seconds..I immediately start helping everybody else with their answers. Always trying to help. To be right was to be liked.. Teacher admonishes me to sit down and let others finish their work.. I don't listen, continue to try and help. I'm given a time-out. I get seated in the corner.. Allowed back to my seat, I immediately try to help again. I keep talking teacher sends me to the principal. They call my parents. Its not the first time. Mom takes the call. She calls to Dad. Dad at work with his badge and all these massive computers. I'll take care of it tonight.
Scene takeaways: Impulse control issues. Discipline. Can't follow directions, Very hyper (manic) Parents start getting frustrated. Red flags. Being told not to do something, that there are consequences for my inability to curb my behavior, yet can't control myself.
Scene 14 At dinner, Nothing is said, I'm tense. Dinner finished always eating together as a family.. My brothers ask to be excused. They clear their plates and leave. I begin to also. They tell me to wait.. We just had this talk last week and we're here again.! Dad's temper flailing..What was the penalty? ten spankings.. He sits me over his knee.. the first couple are mellow.. last couple are hard.. he lets me have it good..I'm crying..I keep repeating "All I was trying to do was help" Hey, you're lucky.. When I was your age we got the belt.. Not get to your room and behave yourself. My brother mocks me for crying I was trying to help.
Scene Takeaways: Discipline and Punishment. His old school ways. ZERO conversation that something might be wrong. More sibling tension. Everybody piles on. No nurturing to be found. A cold tense house.
Scene 15.. Dad wins tourney: Kids sitting in living room watching TV. Phone rings. Mom screams out in joy. Your dad won, Your dad won. Dad had won a tournament. Mom's excited. We all sit around waiting for dad to come home. Car pulls up the driveway. There's a delay. Mom sends me to the garage to help. Always helping. Enter garage to see Dad in full body cramps. I reach his door. He's in tears (Dad's cry too) He hands me his trophy and asks me to help pull him up. I'm immediately transfixed. Seems the more I try to help the worse he gets. Eventually stabilize him. Get him in house. Dad telling stories all night again. But I'm fascinated by the trophy on the table. Mind drifts off (possible animation) of me with huge trophies and a room full of trophies.. And at the end of the night, I ask my Dad if I can try tennis too? No response.. Then out Come the books.. Dad Grabs the Euclid. We start working through geometric proofs. My older brother seethes at being ignored again.
Scene Takeaways: More Dad bonding, More sibling rivalry, Tennis about to enter my life.
Scene 16 Brother and I fighting... Getting hairy.. Dad intervenes. Yells at us all to get in the car.. We start driving.. Dad goes to the store, grabs a beer. Bottle opener in the glove box. We go to sporting goods store. I think I'm getting a racket. I'm transfixed by the tennis rackets. I grab one. Dad, can I have a racket.. NO.. But here, try these boxing gloves on. Why? Because if you boys want to fight all the time, you're going to learn to fight correctly.
Scene 17 drive home.. Driving home. Dad stops into the liquor store again. buys a six pack and some smokes. Larry: Are we really going to punch each other? Yeah, but you're so fat you won't even feel it. I'm going to fuck you up..Jerry jumps in. STOP!!. Dad's been drinking. After dinner, he calls us to the living room and clears it out.. Gotta toughen you guys up..gotta learn how to fight.. tears and tears... older brother swinging for the fences against me.. trying to hurt me with all abandon.. Little brother just cries a lot..dad ridicules him for his weight.. hit him in the bread basket..he won't even feel it.. the cruelty.. the divide and conquer.. Mom watches from the background, shaking her head.. She tries to intervene.. Harv, maybe this is not such a great idea.. Dad backs her off with a glance. They need to be able to take care of themselves, to never have to rely on anyone. Gotta toughen up, harden them.
Oh it hardened us alright, in all the wrong places.
Scene Takeaways: Dad's limited parenting skills. Divide and conquer among the siblings. His control over our house, his children and his wife. Old school upbringing
Scene 18 Mom and Dad in bed.. MOM: Was that really necessary? I'd prefer they learn to play with each other than beating on each other. Every night it ends like this..What about we take them to play tennis?
Scene 19: Post dinner Euclid..You boys go to bed.. Barry, come in here. Euclid books.. Lets try and do some of these problems.. He starts going through the Euclid.. I'm getting them all right.. Then I'm not..and the yelling begins..I cower.. I'm trying.. I get one right.. he erupts.. I smile. I get one wrong, he erupts NOOO!! I cry..The math goes late.. hes drunk..loud.. expressive, dramatic.. protractors are out.. ripping sheets of paper everywhere with graphs and proofs.. (Animation in my head of X's and Y's and graphs) I start missing.. He starts getting mad.. louder..calling me stupid.. numnbuts..I cower and crumble.. You don't have it.. lets wrap it.. Go to bed.
Scene about me going to private school.. Dressing up in a turtleneck and sport coat. Driving past the bus stop where my brothers and neighborhood friends are..
Voice Over: Reading the Passage about all the mixed feelings about all the mixed messages. Doing so much for me, but also to me. Egomaniac with an inferiority complex where I wanted two things from my young life. To grow up and not be like him and to get the fuck out of that house as soon as possible..
Scene 20 Its family tennis.. Back at the swim and tennis club..we all try.. he hands me and my brothers rackets.. its messy..make some, miss more.. he mocks us for missing, for not holding the racket right..tries to get me to hit a kick serve w a continental grip..More condescension, more belittling.. But eventually I win the battle of the siblings for my Dad's attention, eventually making a lot of balls and showing great promise, promise not lost on Dad he sees immediately I might have something going for me with tennis..
Another possible Voice over about tennis my first time, second time, now a lifetime.. How it became not just the soundtrack of my youth, but my adult life too.
Scene Takeaways: Tennis intro, I win the battle among the siblings
Scene 21 Later that night Mom and Dad sitting quietly in the living room. I walk down the stairs. Go back to your room and get ready for bed.. Ok.. I just wanted to ask when can we play tennis again?
Scene 22: Mom and Dad at night.. Dad: I'm going to take him in the morning to play tennis. Before school? Oh Harv, can't he just be a normal kid. Barbara, I don't think he's normal. The test scores, the picking up tennis. His backhand is better than yours and he's only played for half an hour. Ok, but don't be so hard on him. That' s the only way hes going to get better. That's the only way I know. Hard knocks. Tough love. Mom: It always ends badly with you two, he always ends up crying. Either he's got something wrong with him or you're an ass.. Just don't be so hard on him
END OF ACT 1
Scene 23 First early morning tennis.. House is dark.. Dad comes in my room to wake me up.. Clock says 4:59 Put your clothes on, we're going to play tennis. Getting dressed. Sound of Coffee. Grab the wood rackets from the closet. Take the presses off. He grabs a can of balls. Walk down to the garage. My older brother watches us pull out the driveway..
Scene 24: Arrive at the Bubble. Not even open yet. Dad always early (his anxiety) Enter the club. Get our court. We're the first ones there. Ok, lets rally. Dad's trying to teach me. Its one part tender, one part tense. Three balls.. I'm bad.. Missing everything. "can't rally if you miss every ball" then I make a few Racket is huge. He tries to teach. Yells when I miss.. C'Mon!! Patient yet impatient..
VOICE OVER .. Getting yelled at for missing might have turned most kids off to tennis. To me, it turned me off to missing. Seemed simple. Don't miss, don't get yelled at. Then through all the mornings I stopped missing so much
Scene 26 Driving home from first tennis. How'd I do? Some good ones, (I light up) Lot of bad ones. You're not very good.. But you did a lot better than all the kids still in bed this morning
Scene 27 More early mornings. Older brother seethes, younger brother gets sad. Seasons change.. As we go out the driveway.. I have to Shovel the snow and get the paper, Dad warms up the car. Still get their early which means no heat. Whole thing is grim. Little kid paying with his Dad's extra huge racket, one can of balls, freezing cold dank bubble, Dad yelling, me crying, but I'm improving
VOICE OVER ABOUT MISSING.. EVENTUALLY I STOPPED MISSING SO MUCH TIME FOR A TOURNAMENT
Scene 28.. Driving to first tournament Dad lecturing me about the rules.. I can barely see above the dashboard (revisit this exact scene years later as an all grown up junior) Fairness.. If I see my ball is out I have to call it out, otherwise that was cheating. Arrive.. Pop the trunk.. see kids with rackets.. all decked out with entourages.. Me with rag tag clothes.. I grab Dads extra racket.. See the sign for tournament upstairs. Find the draw. Play top seed in first round.. Leo Power..Dad: "That outta be it for you" Waiting around the site by myself. All the other kids interacting.. Match time: Give him all he can handle.. Lose heartbreaking 3 setter. Dad never flinches while I play. No clapping, No expressions. I get a few nice matches on the way out
Scene takeaways: My Father's inherent kindness and fairness, first tourney rites of passage, his struggles with my losing, living vicariously through me
Scene 29 Walking to the car... Fighting back tears. Dad lecturing me about feeling sorry for myself. Mr Power flags us down.. Hi, my name is Leo Power. The father of the boy your son just played.. Just wanted to introduce myself.. I have a feeling we're going to be seeing a lot of each other.
VOICE OVER: And in that gesture, I had been accepted into this strange new fraternity of junior tennis
Scene 30 Driving home.. I'm crying. He's quiet. Driving home through the New England countryside. (strong music choice here) .. Get off freeway. Stop at intersection.. He pauses. Hey..He pats my leg. You did good out there today.. I calm down. Stop crying. Dad's approval more important than the match
Scene 31 Arrive home. Family awaits.. Come in.. How'd you do? I lost. Haha you lost.. Loser!! I chase Larry outside.. Mom and Dad sit and talk.. How'd it go. Well, he almost beat the best kid in NE.. So are we doing this again? What about the other boys? When you're gone for so long, they all just sulk. Dad ignores. There's a tournament damn near every weekend. Let me look into this
Scene 32 Dad decides to enter me into another tournament. Families and their entourages everywhere. Just me and Dad. Sign for tournament desk upstairs..trophies everywhere..I know nobody.. They cautiously talk about me.. He almost beat Leo Power. Still with one racket.. waiting around to play.. Rites of passage playing kids a foot taller.. I win the event.. I get handed My own trophy.. Can't let it go. The drive home.. Stop at the candy store.. Milk shake The high water mark of my relationship with my Dad.. We walk in the house.. Show trophy to Larry.. Maybe you can win a hot dog eating contest.
Scene 33: Mom and Dad at night in bed.. Having a talk.. I think he might be really good. He might even be special..They share a quiet moment in bed. What do we know about raising an elite athlete? Nothing, but we're going to learn real fast.. Dad starts painting lines on the garage, toss box in the garage.. Tennis is taking off.. Lets see what we can do with this..Starts surveying the back yard.. looking to grade the back yard to put in a court. Not enough room. Starts looking for larger lots
Scene 34: Dinner table with schedule What does that mean.. He needs to start playing tournaments.. Every weekend, all over.. If he does well enough here, he can qualify for Nationals. And the National kids get the college scholarships.. But What about
hockey and private school and everything else.. I think we're done with
all that..Kids he's competing with are all in.. Dad pulls out the schedule..Dad pulls out the charts..shows it to me.. Whats that say? It says your forehand sucks.. And the only thing that sucks worse is your second serve. Totally over the top tennis parenting
Scene 35 Next morning. Serve practice.. I'm terrible, he's mean.. You can't win a point if you can't start a point.. You do realize every point starts with one of these. Except for you. Because you can't fucking make one..You have a tournament tomorrow and you can't get a fucking serve in
Scene 36 Tourney.. I do well.. Lose in the final..small trophy.. Pass by the same candy store.. Dad, can we go to the candy store? You want candy, win next time.. Full on Rant.. whole weekend a waste of time.. pushing, losing to a pusher and the choking..spend all week working on one thing and then you go out there and play like that..You look like you never played tennis before. Can't believe you could lose to a kid like that. the kid could barely play.. You want candy, win next time
Scene 37 Drive to next tourney.. VOICE OVER... Cheating talk..You should walk right through this.. Another loss, I keep looking up at him.. All the other tennis parents are cheering away.. He is perfectly stoic.. Arms crossed.. Another berating.. Next tourney.. Charts of me and my opponent.. totally over the top stuff.. I told you to play his backhand..you lobbed every ball to his fh.. Are you fucking stupid? What is the point of spending entire weekends away if you're going to do what I tell you to do.. You shouldn't be losing to these kids. Now listen.. You need to win this next event ot you're not going to qualify for nationals. Period..
Scene 38 My Cheating Days.. Pressure mounting. I'm showing anxiousness Another tourney.. Keep looking to glass to see Dad.. Score close.. getting tight.. I cheat blatantly...I look up..he's gone.. Walk to desk. Lotta looks. He snaps. Yelling, screaming, crying.. I try to defend myself. Full on speech about sportsmanship and fairness and him telling drunk stories at the dinner table..I get spanked with the broken racket.. Larry all over me.. Jerry crying.. Stop Dad, Stop..
SCENE My Tennis Tantrums I'm playing, he's watching.. I'm losing. I start freaking out..
Voice Over.. I wasn't mad about losing.. I mean, of course i was. I was mad about how I got treated for losing. That somehow a tennis result put me on the wrong side of conditional love.. That a tennis result was somehow a referendum on my value as a young human being.. Here playing this most imperfect of sports.. And I was 12 years old.. And the battle for my soul was on
Scene 39 The Drive Home..Tantrum, Cheating, Choking.. Long Drive Home Voice over of that passage staring out the fogging window.. VOICE OVER...He's yelling.. He's screaming.. His mouth is moving.. I've completely checked out.. VOICE OVER...You know what I'm thinking you asshole.. If you're going to play like that, you should just quit..
POWERFUL VOICE OVER OF THE DRIVES HOME TALK..
Scene Takeaways: Lines have been crossed
END OF ACT 2..
Scene 40... Couple mornings pass. he doesn't wake me up.. Just goes to work without morning tennis.. All the brothers stare out the window.. I'm hanging my head. Quiet at school, quiet around the house. I'm getting a silent treatment. Mom, whats wrong with Dad? No response.. Virtually ignored..Eventually he wakes me up again.. we go to play....Its quiet in the car.. No talking. Enter. Lets play a set.. I'm purging.. Extra focused.. I come out crushing the ball. I beat him for the first time and badly.. He's humble, contrite.. Its awkward. I feel bad for him.
Scene 41: Enter the house.. Mom: How'd it go? Dad: He whopped my ass. Everybody stops what they're doing.. Jerry to Larry.. Barry beat Dad.. What??? Dad and Mom at night..Barry seems really off..Dad: He beat me today.. Beat the shit out of me really.. He what? Yeah, I never had a chance. I didn't even play that bad.. Oh Jesus. Now what? I entered him in the adult open at the club this weekend.. Harvey, he's 12 years old..Why do that. He'll just get rubbed out.. If he plays like he did this morning hes going to win it.. and we need to move.. Bigger house, Bigger lot. hes going to need a court.. I'm not going to be able to hang with him real soon..
SCENE: Dad surveying the back yard to put a court in
Scene 42: I win the adult Open too.. Adults so much taller..Little kid, huge trophy.. awkward photo
Scene 43: Win a couple more tourneys.. Home at the dinner table.. I Get the letter for NELTA that I qualified the National Clay Courts
Scene 44: Pick up the Motor Home.. Trip to NC.. 5 kids, two parents riding in a motor home.. I'm happy. I'm with my friends.. All of us in a motor home.. Nationals.. Dad raging.. Guys have video games.. I have friends ..I'm having fun.. He tells me to put that down.. Photo opps.. Dad keeps trying to get me alone.. people fill the space.. we'll talk about this later..
VOICE OVER: American tennis in the 70's.. I was in the company of future greatness.. Who would it be and why couldn't it be me
Scene 45 Back home at the dinner table.. Goes over all the clay court stuff. increasing condescension..Tells me to get my shit together because I have a big trip the next week to Dallas
Scene 46 All week.. The courts going in .. Dad's in the backyard pouring concrete, setting poles for fences, hanging wind screens...guiding the action...
Scene 47: Night before trip to Dallas.. I'm nervous. Dad calls me in..At the dinner table Go to Hard courts.. Hand me money.. Hand me ticket.. Brothers stew.. I travel alone..
Next morning, I'm driving away with my Mom to the airport for a tourney all on my Dad working on pouring concrete, putting in fence polls.. hanging wind screens.
VOICE OVER About hard court trip traveling alone.. All by myself.. I get a dozen donuts ..world class stomach ache.. I do well enough..
Scene 48 Traveling to and from without a hitch
Scene 49 Come home to the court finished.. Ball machine locked and loaded.. Wall striped and ready for action.. Miserable practice session.. Can't hit the fucking targets condescending.. Its getting dark.. drill seargent.. Won't let me go in.. Kids come by to play.. No can do.. Have to hit my targets .. Dad eventaully leaves with his own rackets to go play doubles
Scene 50.. Late night phone call.. Mom upset.. Dad's in the hospital.. Torn Achilles tendon Get him in the house.. Huge cast up to his hip.. Can't drive.. can't do much
No more practice.. Court sits idle..
Scene 51 Tourney with Mom.. VOICE OVER Tanking talk.. I keep looking up, he's not there.. i didn't care anymore
Scene 52 Mom and Dad.. he didn't try
Scene 53 Dad raging.. Not going to try, not going to play
Scene 54 Days and Nights change of the seasons.. Court lies empty.. Rackets go unmoved.. I'm barely playing
Scene 55 Huge winter storm Snow on top of snow.. Shoveling and shoveling.. Dig ourselves out.. Shoveling path for heat.. Getting bullied on the bus.. friends turn on me.. its a bad time.. Down, forlorn, ignored.. Brothers not talking.. Nobody talking.. Its grim.. Another storm.. 8 foot snow drift .. Dad looks out the front door.. We're out of here Liked a girl: Hop in the sack with her ILLUSTRATION OF BURLAP SACK
Scene 56 Dad on a plane.. California.. Job interview Handshakes.. comes home.. House for sale sign goes up.. We're moving to California.. VW Van.. Packing it up.. Go West Young man
Final Scene: Driving out our street.. Friends in their front yards waving good bye.. My head looking out the back as we turn the corner to a life unknown.. Strong outro music
