Adventures in Baby-Sitting
Transcribed By: Sonja
(Bedroom – Day)
(A teenage girl, Chris Parker, is singing/dancing as she prepares for her date that night. Outside her boyfriend, Mike, arrives and honks his horn.)
Chris: Oh God, he’s here.
(Stairs)
(Chris comes down the stairs while putting on her earrings.)
Chris: Okay, Chris, just relax. Tonight is going to be the greatest night of your life.
(Front Door)
(Chris swings open the door to find Mike standing there wearing jeans.)
Chris: Hi!
Mike: Hi Chris.
Chris: I’m a little overdressed.
Mike: No, it’s just uh, I have to cancel. My little sister got sick and my parents are going out tonight.
Chris: Oh, well…I could come over and help out. We could make some chicken soup or something.
Mike: No, no. You don’t want to be there. She’s contagious. I don’t want you to get sick. Look, we’ll do the French restaurant thing next week.
Chris: Okay. When?
Mike: I don’t know…Friday…Saturday. I gotta get going…my sister’s waiting for me. (pause) You’re upset about tonight, aren’t you?
Chris: No! Well, yeah, a little. But I understand.
Mike: You know Chris, girls like you come along once in a lifetime. (Chris smiles and moves to kiss him, but he stops her.) Oh! Contagious.
(He kisses her cheek and leaves.)
(Chris’s Bedroom)
(Chris had just told her best friend, Brenda what happened. Chris sits on the bed, still wearing her dress while Brenda paces.)
Brenda: Contagious?
Chris: Yeah, that’s what he said.
Brenda: He’s lying.
Chris: Brenda!
Brenda: God, I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal about him.
Chris: Because he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
Brenda: Chris, he’s the only thing that’s ever happened to you. That’s why we have to get out of this place. It’s like a Dairy Queen. You only get one flavor.
Chris: (laughs) Brenda, you know, I asked you over here to cheer me up. Now I feel worse.
Brenda: Oh Chris, I’m sorry. (sits on the bed) I’m just in a really bad mood. My parents are driving me crazy. My stepmom is such a pain. If I don’t get out of the house I’m gonna spike her Tab with Drano.
Chris: (half laugh) Don’t do that.
(There is a knock at the door and Chris’s mom comes in.)
Mom: Chris? Hi Brenda.
Brenda: Hi.
Chris: Hi Mom.
Mom: Chris, that was Mrs. Anderson on the phone. She wants to know if you can baby sit for them tonight.
(Chris and Brenda share a look.)
Chris: No, tell her I can’t.
Mom: Why not?
Chris: (to Brenda) Wait, do you want to do something?
Brenda: Oh, I have to go home.
Chris: (to her Mom) Because I want to stay home and be depressed.
Brenda: Oh, go sit for the Anderson’s. That’ll depress anyone.
Chris: (sighs) I’m too old to baby sit.
(Car)
(We get a shot of Chris driving over to the Anderson’s.)
(Anderson Residence)
(A young girl, Sara, skates into the kitchen where her older brother, Brad, is making macaroni. Sara wears a silver helmet with wings on the side. Brad looks to be about 15, while Sara is about 9.)
Sara: Guess what Brad!
Brad: Mom is gonna kill you when she catches you wearing your skates in the house.
Sara: Mom’s gotta catch me first. Guess what!
Brad: I don’t care, wing head.
Sara: Mom got Chris to baby sit for me.
Brad: Chris?!
(Brad, surprised at this news, spills the macaroni all over the counter as Sara laughs, then skates off.)
Brad: Sara!
Sara: Bye!
(Driveway)
(Chris pulls up in her mother’s station wagon.)
(Stairway)
(Sara sits on the stairs as Brad comes around the corner trying to go upstairs.)
Brad: Sara, will you get out of the way, Chris is coming!
(Brad climbs over Sara and goes upstairs.)
(Driveway)
(Chris gets out of the car, goes to the front door, and knocks.)
(Upstairs Bathroom)
(Brad runs in and looks at his face in the mirror. He spots a zit and tries to pop it.)
Brad: Oh, no.
(Front Door)
(Mrs. Anderson opens the door to let Chris in.)
Mrs. Anderson: Hi Chris.
Chris: Hi.
Mrs. Anderson: Come on in.
(Front Hallway)
Mrs. Anderson: Chris, thanks a million for this. I’m really sorry about the short notice.
Chris: Oh, it’s no problem. I’m glad I could help out.
(Upstairs Bathroom)
(Brad is going through one of the drawers looking for something. He realizes Sara must have what he’s looking for.)
Brad: Sara. Sara!
(Sara’s Room)
(Sara’s room is entirely covered with Thor stuff. She sits on the floor coloring yet another picture of Thor. Brad walks in.)
Brad: Sara, did you take my Clearasil again?
Sara: I ran out of brown.
Brad: Great. How am I supposed to cover up my zits?
Sara: You want some orange? (holds it out)
Brad: I can’t use paint.
Sara: (looks at her picture) What do you think? I think it’s my best one yet. Look, I got the sunrays, the cape, and the helmet, and…
Brad: Great, you wasted all my Clearasil on another picture of Thor?
Sara: Thor’s my hero.
Brad: Thor’s a homo.
Sara: He is not.
Brad: (smiles) Yeah, he is.
Sara: He is not!
Brad: Thor’s a complete homo.
Sara: Take it back, Brad!
Brad: No.
Sara: Take it back! Take back what you said about Thor!
(Brad moves out into the hallway and Sara runs after him.)
(Front Hallway)
(Brad comes down the stairs and almost falls on one of Sara’s skates.)
Sara: Take it back, Brad! Take back what you said about Thor!
(Brad picks up the skate.)
Brad: You are going to kill someone with one of these things.
Sara: Take it back, Brad! Take back what you said about Thor.
Brad: (smiles) No.
(Behind Brad, Chris walks up.)
Sara: If you don’t take it back, I’ll tell Chris about all those love poems you write about her.
Brad: (suddenly serious) All right. All right, Sara, I’m sorry. Thor’s not a homo.
Sara: Thank you. (waves) Hi Chris.
Chris: Hi. (Sara runs off as Brad stands there in shock for a minute before turning around.) Hi.
Brad: Hi. You didn’t just hear what we…
Chris: Oh…no.
Brad: Good. Boy you look great. I mean really…your hair…your eyes…
Chris: What about them?
Brad: Oh, um…they’re so well placed.
(Chris laughs.)
Chris: Brad, relax.
Brad: Relax. Take your coat? (He accidentally roughly helps Chris out of her coat.) Oh sorry. Sorry.
Chris: Thank you.
Brad: Boy, this is a really cool coat. No way is this from Sears or anything like that. This is way too cool.
Chris: It was my grandpa’s.
Brad: He’s got great taste.
Chris: He’s dead.
(Brad tosses the coat aside. Mrs. Anderson comes down the stairs.)
Mrs. Anderson: Oh, Brad. Stop fawning all over Chris. (to Chris) Come on in the kitchen, honey.
(Brad shakes his head as he follows them.)
(Kitchen)
Chris: No she did.
Mrs. Anderson: ?
Chris: Oh really? (to Mr. Anderson) Hi.
Mr. Anderson: Hi, Chris.
(Mrs. Anderson sees the mess that Brad made with the macaroni.)
Sara: Brad did it.
Mrs. Anderson: Brad, clean it up.
(Brad gives Sara a look.)
Brad: Sure mom.
(Mrs. Anderson takes a list off the fridge door.)
Mrs. Anderson: All right, Chris, I’ve left some notes for you. We’re going to be at a reception at the Associates Center. (hands her the paper) I’ll leave this right here with you.
Chris: Okay.
Mrs. Anderson: And Sara is not to wear her skates in the house.
Mr. Anderson: Now Sara, Chris is in charge, okay?
Sara: Sure. Can we go to Haggan Daz?
(Brad gives Chris a smile as he cleans.)
Mrs. Anderson: Well yes. But don’t go to late, okay? Now Brad is going to be staying at his friend Daryl’s tonight so you won’t have to worry about him. (Brad gives Chris another cocky smile and she rolls her eyes.) Now this one (meaning Sara) is just getting over a very bad cough.
Sara: It’s been over for two weeks.
Mrs. Anderson: (goes and gets some cough medicine out of the fridge) So I want her to take some of this…(looks at her watch)…give her a spoonful in about an hour, and another spoonful before she goes to bed. (She spots Brad eating a Nestle Crunch bar and takes it from him.) Stop eating chocolate. You have zits all over your face.
(Chris and Sara laugh.)
Brad: (horrified) Mom! Jesus.
(Front Door)
(Mr. & Mrs. Anderson come out the door. Brad, Sara, and Chris stand in the doorway.)
Brad: You guys have a good time.
Mr. Anderson: We should be home by one.
Chris: Okay.
Mrs. Anderson: Take good care of my baby.
Chris: (hugs Sara) I’ll guard her with my life. Bye.
(Mr. & Mrs. Anderson get in their car.)
Brad: Bye.
(Front Hallway)
(The three kids come in and shut the door. Chris reaches over and takes the Nestle bar out of Brad’s hand, again.)
Chris: Brad, you need to go clean up that mess.
(They hear a knocking.)
Brad: It’s the back door. I’ll get it.
Sara: Come on Chris, let’s go watch some TV.
(Back Door)
(Brad walks to the back door. It’s his friend Daryl. Daryl makes a face against the glass and Brad laughs, but then opens the door.)
Daryl: Look are you spending the night at my place or what?
Brad: No, not any more.
(He tries to shut the door, but Daryl stops him.)
Daryl: Chris is here, isn’t she?
Brad: No.
Daryl: Yes, she is. That’s why I’m sleeping here tonight.
Brad: I don’t think so.
Daryl: Oh, come on. Did you get her clothes off yet?
Brad: Don’t be crude. Now get back.
Daryl: Oh listen to you. You fall in love and suddenly you’re a classy guy.
Brad: I’m not in love.
Daryl: What’s she wearing?
Brad: (sighs) Clothes! Now get out.
Daryl: Wait! You’ve got to see this month’s Playboy because there’s a girl in it and she looks exactly like Chris. I’m serious. (Brad shoves him out the door.) She’s got these huge…
(Brad shuts the door and pulls the shade over it.)
(Living Room)
(Sara sits on the couch next to Chris’s bag. She looks sly around before pulling out a college book and looking at it. Behind her we can see Daryl at the window. Chris is kneeling in front of the TV as Brad walks in.)
Chris: Who was at the door?
Brad: Stray dog.
(He spots Daryl at the window and quickly goes over to shut the curtains.)
Chris: What?
Sara: Are you going to go to college?
Chris: Huh? (Brad walks over to the other window and shuts those curtains as well. Chris turns around and sees Sara with the book.) Oh great. (She gets up and takes the book from Sara.) Thanks mom.
Brad: You’re going to college?
Chris: No.
Brad: (sighs) Thank God.
Sara: Calm down.
(Brad sits next to Sara on the couch and smacks her on the arm. Sara returns the gesture. The phone rings and Chris goes to answer it.)
Chris: Maybe it’s Mike. (answers the phone) Hello?
Phone Operator: Will you accept a collect call from Brenda?
Chris: (into phone) Oh, yeah. Sure.
(Bus Station)
(Brenda is in a phone booth.)
Brenda: (into phone) Chris? Chris, it’s Brenda.
Chris: (on phone) Brenda?
Brenda: (into phone) Chris!
Chris: (on phone) Brenda, what’s wrong?
Brenda: (into phone) Oh Chris, I’m in trouble.
Chris: (on phone) Brenda, you’re always in trouble.
Brenda: (into phone) No, I’m really in trouble.
(Anderson Residence)
Brenda: (on phone) I did it!
Chris: (into phone) You spiked her Tab with Drano?
(Bus Station)
Brenda: (into phone) No, I ran away from home!
(A homeless man walks up to the phone booth and looks in.)
(Anderson Residence)
(Chris stands up in surprise.)
Chris: (into phone) You what? Where are you?
(Bus Station)
Brenda: (into phone) I’m at the bus station downtown.
(Anderson Residence)
Chris: (into phone) Brenda! Look, just don’t go anywhere.
(Bus Station)
Brenda: (into phone) I can’t! I don’t have any money. I spent it all on the cab here. Chris, I need help.
Chris: (on phone) I know.
Homeless Man: You’re in my house!
Brenda: (into phone) If I take a cab to the Anderson’s do you think you could pay for it.
(The homeless man bangs on the door of the phone booth.)
(Anderson Residence)
Chris: (into phone) Oh no, Brenda. That’s going to be like forty dollars. I don’t have forty dollars.
(Bus Station)
Brenda: (into phone) Well can you pick me up?
(The homeless man bangs on phone booth.)
(Anderson Residence)
Chris: (into phone) No, Brenda I’m babysitting.
Brenda: (on phone) Chris I can’t call anyone else. My dad doesn’t know…
(Bus Station)
Brenda: (into phone) …he’d kill me if he found out. (The homeless man bangs on the door.) Chris, I’m begging you. It’s really scary here. I’ve just seen 3 people shoot up, a bald Chinese lady with no pants on, and there’s the old guy outside who wants his bedroom slippers.
Homeless Man: Get out of my house!
(Brenda opens the door and shoves his slippers and things out of the phone booth.)
Brenda: You just moved! (into phone) Chris, please hurry up and get here!
(Anderson Residence)
Chris: (into phone) Brenda, I’ve got my mom’s car.
(Bus Station)
Chris: (on phone) I can’t drive it into the city.
(Brenda turns and looks behind her and a man in a trench coat flashes a gun at her.)
Brenda: (into phone) Oh my God!! There’s a man with a gun!
(Anderson Residence)
Brenda: (on phone) Get me the hell out of here!
Chris: (into phone) Brenda, look…just hang up and sit down!
(Bus Station)
Chris: (on phone) Don’t move. I’ll be there in half an hour.
(Brenda looks at the man again and he flashes the gun.)
Brenda: (into phone) Oh please hurry. I think he’s going to kill someone, maybe me!
(She hangs up.)
(Anderson Residence)
Chris: (into phone) Brenda? (hangs up the phone and starts pacing) I don’t believe this. I do not…
Brad: Who’s Mike? Is he your boyfriend?
Chris: Yes. Uh, listen guys I have to go downtown. Brad, will you please watch Sara?
Sara: No way! What if the house explodes?
Chris: The house is not going to explode.
Sara: You leave him here and it will.
Chris: I will be gone an hour, there and back. That’s it, okay?
(Chris goes over and gets her coat. Brad and Sara get up and follow her.)
Brad: You guys go steady or what?
Chris: What?
Brad: Do you?
Chris: Yes. Are you two listening to me?
Sara: My mom is paying you good money to watch me.
Chris: Well Brad can watch you.
Sara: Why would my mom pay you good money for Brad to watch me?
Chris: Sara…
Sara: Why can’t we just all go?
Chris: Because…
Brad: Do you like him a lot?
Chris: No…yes.
Brad: Well which is it?
Chris: Yes, I like him a lot. No, Sara your parents would die if they found out I took you into the city.
Sara: They’d die if they found out you left me here alone with him.
Chris: Well who’s going to tell them? (Brad and Sara share a smile.) Anybody have to go to the bathroom?
Brad & Sara: Nope!
(Driveway)
(The three of them come out the front door.)
Chris: Come on. Let’s go. Now if anybody asks we went for ice cream.
Sara: Okay.
(They begin to get in the car when Daryl pops up.)
Daryl: Road trip?
Chris: (surprised) Jesus!
Daryl: (walks over ) Where are you going?
Sara: Downtown.
Daryl: The city?
Chris: Sara!
Daryl: Hey, can I go?
Brad: No, Daryl. Go home.
Chris: Who is this kid?
Sara: Stray dog.
Daryl: Daryl Coopersmith. (shakes Chris’s hand) And you’re Chris Parker, right?
Brad: Daryl, go home!
Daryl: (to Chris) You must be a great babysitter.
Chris: (to Brad) What is he talking about?
(Brad shrugs.)
Daryl: Mr. & Mrs. Anderson must really trust you to take little kids into the city alone.
Sara: Yeah! Isn’t it great?!
Daryl: It is so great, (begins to walk away) that I’m going to get my mom to talk to the Anderson’s about you.
Brad: Oh, stop him.
Daryl: And then maybe you can baby-sit for me…
Brad: Chris, stop him!
Daryl: …and then maybe we can drive off to New York or something just for kicks.
Brad: Chris!
Chris: Daryl!
Daryl: Ya think?
Chris: (to Brad) What am I supposed to do?
Sara: Get in the car and run him over.
Brad: Let him come.
Chris: Daryl!
Daryl: Sorry, can’t talk, gotta run.
Chris: Daryl, will you just get in the car.
Daryl: (grins) All right.
Chris: Now boys, I swear if you give me any grief over the next sixty minutes I swear to God I’ll kill you. Dead. Murdered. Stabbed.
Daryl: Raped?
Chris: I am too old for this crap.
(Chris and Sara go to get in the car. Daryl laughs and Brad smacks him.)
(Freeway)
(The car drives along in evening traffic.)
Brad: Mike what?
Chris: Mike what what?
Daryl: Mike what what what? What are we talking about?
Brad: What’s his last name?
Chris: Toddwell. Are you writing a book?
Daryl: Mike Toddwell! Do you know him?
Brad: They go out.
Daryl: He’s got a red Camero, right?
Chris: Oh gee Daryl are you a gear head and a sex fiend? (Brad laughs.) Anyway, a lot of people have Camero’s.
Daryl: Yeah, but do a lot of people have the license plate “So Cool”.
Chris: (smiles) That’s Mike.
Daryl: He’s the guy that beat me up last summer for touching his car. Which I didn’t do.
Brad: That was him?
Daryl: That was him.
Chris: Mike wouldn’t do that.
Daryl: Yes he would.
Chris: He would not.
Daryl: Yes he would. He did. He kicked my ass! You wanna see the footprint?
Chris/Brad/Sara: No!
Sara: (points to the city) Look! That’s where Thor lives.
Chris: Thor?
Sara: Well, all the superhero’s live in the city. Spiderman, Daredevil, and Captain America. But Thor’s the best. He fights the forces of darkness. (She picks up her toy Thor hammer.) Forces of darkness beware.
(Later)
(They are still driving into the city. Chris is telling Sara a scary story as they drive along.)
Chris: So the baby sitter goes upstairs, and the sound keeps getting louder. Scrape, scrape, scrape. (In the backseat Daryl pulls a Playboy magazine out from under his shirt.) The baby sitter stops at the kids room. She reaches for the doorknob. Her hand is trembling. (On the cover of the Playboy is a model who looks just like Chris. Daryl opens the magazine and shows Brad.) Her heart is beating fast. Sweat pours down her face. She opens the door. And the kids are safely in their beds.
Daryl: I’d like to be safe in her bed.
Chris: What are you guys doing back there?
(Brad grabs the Playboy, rolls down the window and tosses it out.)
Brad: Uh, nothing. Nothing.
Daryl: (hits Brad) That was my dad’s, stupid.
Brad: You shouldn’t have brought it along, stupid. God.
Sara: (to Chris) So what happens?
Chris: Okay, but see when the baby sitter looks more closely at the kids she sees…they don’t have any faces!
Sara: Oh my god!
Chris: Just a pool of mushy goo.
Sara: Like Spaghetti O’s?
Chris: Spaghetti O’s with meat.
(In the back seat Daryl begins making faces at Brad.)
Sara: Oh, yuck.
Chris: The baby sitter screams, and she turns to run, but there’s this big giant hairy guy standing right in front of her. And he raises his right arm, and there’s a big metal hook instead of a hand, and the hook goes to the baby sitters face…scrape, scrape, scrape. (She makes the motion in front of Sara’s face as she speaks.)
(From the backseat Brad leans forward and grabs Sara. She screams. Just as she does a bang sounds as one of the tires blows out.)
Chris: Oh no.
Sara: All right! (The car begins to swerve a bit.) This is great!
Brad: Pull over.
Chris: Which way?
Brad: To the right. Over to the right.
(Daryl begins laughing.)
Chris: This is not funny!
(Chris has to weave through 3 lanes of traffic to get to a sort of service road.)
Brad: Hold it steady. Pull over. Pull over.
Chris: I’m pulling over!
Sara: This is great!
(Chris brings a car to a stop on the service road and they all climb out. The kids all spot the flat tire and laugh as Chris comes around from the drivers side. Chris sees the flat tire and sighs. She goes to the back of the car and opens the trunk. She looks shocked at what she sees.)
Brad: Uh, where’s the spare?
Chris: I don’t know.
Daryl: Maybe it’s on the car. (They all give him a look.) Ya think?
Chris: Okay, we are going to flag somebody down and we’ll go buy a tire. (She starts to walk to the front of the car.) I’ve got my checkbook…(realizes) my purse! (She goes and opens the passenger door and realizes she didn’t bring her purse.) Oh shit! (She slams the door shut.) I forgot my purse. (begins to pace) I don’t have any money. I don’t have my license.
Daryl: Did you forget your purse?
Chris: Listen you little asshole…
Daryl: (to Brad) She’s great.
Brad: Hey wait, I’ve got some money.
(He reaches in his pocket and pulls out some change.)
Chris: Oh what, 50 cents. You don’t have any money. You’re a kid for Christ’s sake.
(Brad looks a little taken aback.)
Daryl: She’s right, you’re a kid for Christ’s sake. You don’t have any money.
Brad: (points to the freeway) Why don’t you just go take a walk over there, okay? Right there.
(Suddenly they look and see a large diesel truck pull up behind the car. There is a JP on the front of the engine. A small sign says “Pruitt”.)
Sara: Everybody stay behind me.
(A man in a jumper gets out of the truck. He holds his hands behind his back and whistles as he approaches the kids.)
Man: You kids having some trouble? (They don’t answer.) You got a spare?
Sara: No.
Chris: Sara!
Man: (chuckles) You went out on the Expressway without a spare? (laughs)
Brad: We’re history!
Daryl: Ancient history.
(The man reaches up with his right hand to adjust his hat, but he has a hook instead! The kids scream.)
Chris: Just relax. Stay calm. Don’t panic. (to man) What do you want?
Man: I just wanna help you.
Daryl: Don’t listen to him. He just wants to scrape our faces off.
Man: What, you’re scared of this? (motions to his hook, and laughs) You kids must be from the suburbs.
(He turns and goes back to his truck and on the back of his jumper it says ‘Dawson’s Garage’. He gets into the truck and pulls it around to the front of the car and we see it’s a tow truck.)
Chris: I suddenly feel like a total idiot. Just stay here all right. I’ll be right back. (She goes over to talk to the man as he gets out of his truck again.) Listen I’m really sorry for freaking out back there. (The man begins to hook up the car to the tow truck.) I guess we just kind of overreacted.
Man: It’s okay, I’m used to it.
Chris: Listen, I appreciate this but…see we don’t have any money. I’m stuck baby sitting these kids, and I’m not supposed to be taking them into the city like this. I’m just not.
Man: I’ll tell you what, I’ll tow you town to Dawson’s Garage, and I’ll buy you a new tire. My treat, okay?
Chris: Oh no, that wouldn’t be right.
Man: What would be right? Leaving you kids alone on the Expressway?
(Chris looks at the kids and then back at the man.)
Chris: No, I guess not. My name’s Chris. Chris Parker. (She holds out her hand.)
Man: Pruitt. Handsome John Pruitt.
(He holds out his hook and they shake. The kids look on in shock.)
(Later)
(They are all driving down the freeway in Mr. Pruitt’s truck. Daryl’s eyes are wide as he watches Mr. Pruitt drive with his hook.)
Daryl: Hey mister?
Mr. Pruitt: Yeah Red, what?
Daryl: How did …you know, how did you know, lose it?
Mr. Pruitt: Lose what?
Daryl: Your…your hand. Was it in Nam?
Mr. Pruitt: (laughs) No, fraid not, no. I was, I was changing a tire on a big rig and the jack gave out. The back of the truck fell right on the hand and popped it right off.
Daryl: What did they do with the hand? Did they bury it?
Mr. Pruitt: No, I wouldn’t let ‘em. I kept it.
Daryl: You kept it?
Mr. Pruitt: Yep. I got it over in the glove compartment.
(The kids all look at the glove compartment in horror. Suddenly the radio comes on.)
Man: (on radio) Pruitt.
Mr. Pruitt: (into radio) Yo!
Man: (on radio) Dawson here.
Mr. Pruitt: (into radio) Yes?
Dawson: (on radio) I just went by your place.
Mr. Pruitt: (into radio) What did you see?
Dawson: (on radio) You won’t like it.
Mr. Pruitt: (into radio) What did you see?!
Dawson: (on radio) That car was parked out front.
Mr. Pruitt: She’s with that bastard again.
(He shifts the truck into a higher gear and floors the gas. The kids all gasp in fright.)
Brad: Stop, Mr. Pruitt, please. Slow down!
Sara: This is great!
(Chris glances back at the car to see it swerving all around.)
Chris: That’s my mother’s car!
(Neighborhood)
(They exit the freeway and go tearing through residential streets.)
Mr. Pruitt: (reaches for the glove box) Look out kids.
Daryl: (covers his eyes) Oh god! (The others widen their eyes in shock as Mr. Pruitt pulls out a gun.) Is it a hand?
Brad: No.
(Daryl uncovers his eyes.)
Daryl: Oh good.
Brad: It’s a gun.
Daryl: (covers his eyes) Oh god!
(They come to a stop outside a house.)
Sara: Can we do that again?
(Mr. Pruitt gets down out of the car and goes inside the house. The sounds of a fight can be heard.)
Brad: What’s going on in there?
(They jump as they hear a gunshot.)
Brad: I can’t believe this.
(Mr. Pruitt punches a man through the window. The man gets up and tries to run off. Mr. Pruitt tries to shoot after him again but ends up shooting the truck window.)
Chris: Oh god, everybody out. (They all climb out of the truck from the drivers side.) Be careful.
(They head over to another car that’s parked on the street. As they do Mr. Pruitt shoots again, and this time hits the front window of Chris’s car. Chris wheels around in shock.)
Chris: My mom’s car!
(Brad spots the man that Mr. Pruitt was shooting at look up at them. He grabs Chris’s arm.)
Brad: Chris. Chris, get in the car.
(They all climb into the car.)
Man: Hey, you kids get out of my car! (He runs over to the car.)
(In the car the kids all shut the doors.)
Chris: Lock the doors.
(Before they can, the locks lock themselves. They look at each other in confusion. Suddenly a man pops up from the front seat of the car. He appears to be in his early twenties with long hair pulled into a low ponytail, and he’s black. The kids all scream. Suddenly the man Mr. Pruitt was shooting at bangs on the window.)
Man: Get out of my car! (bangs again) Get out of there. Get out of my car!
(The black man shakes his head then hotwires the car. They drive off as Mr. Pruitt and the other man get into a fist fight in the front yard.)
(Car)
Chris: Oh thanks mister, you saved our lives.
Brad: Chris?
Chris: Yeah?
Brad: Uh…he’s a car thief. This is a stolen car.
Chris: No…
Daryl: The chick is losing it.
Chris: I am not.
Sara: (pulls out a Nestle crunch bar) You guys want some candy?
(Brad takes the bar and begins to unwrap it. Chris comes to her senses. She reaches over the seat and knocks the candy out of Brad’s hand.)
Chris: Brad, no chocolate! Your acne. Sara! It is time for your cough syrup. Daryl! Fasten the seat belt.
Sara: She is definitely losing it.
Chris: I am not losing anything! I am still in control here! (The black man smiles.) Got it?! (All the kids nod. Chris turns her attention to the man.) Sir, would you please take us to the next corner and drop us off?
(The man chuckles.)
Man: In this neighborhood? Hey, I wouldn’t even get out of the car in this neighborhood.
Brad: Could you drop us off at the nearest mall?
Man: A mall? Where you think we’re at, Boise, Idaho? Shoot…man. Look, look why don’t ya’ll come with me? I’ve got a little bit of business to take care of, all right? And then I can drop you off at the train station or something like that, but I ain’t driving to no mall. No way.
Chris: Do you promise me you won’t hurt these kids?
Man: (glances at her and the kids) Yeah, yeah I promise you.
(Alley)
(The car pulls into an alley near a warehouse. The man pulls out a garage door opener and the doors to the warehouse open.)
Chris: Where are we going?
Daryl: To Hell. Kind of exciting, don’t you think?
(The man pulls the car in.)
(Warehouse)
(There are a lot of men working on all sorts of cars. It’s a body shop for stolen cars. There are several men in suits sitting at a table. One of the men, Grayden, walks around the car as it comes to a stop.)
Daryl: Did you steal all of these cars?
Man: Yeah. Gets me some good money.
Brad: Isn’t it kind of dangerous?
Man: Hey, I like danger.
Chris: You should try babysitting. (The man moves to get out of the car but she stops him.) Sir? Uh…
Man: Wait, wait. My name is Joe Gipp, okay?
Chris: Mr. Gipp…
Joe: (laughs) No, just Joe. Just Joe.
Chris: We have to get our car to Dawson’s Garage…do you think you could…
Joe: Relax, relax. Everything’s going to be okay.
(Joe gets out of the car and walks up to Grayden. A bell rings.)
Grayden: All right, it’s quitting time! (he turns to Joe) Good job. Got any defects.
Joe: Yeah, a few.
(Brad shuts the door of the car and they all turn to look. One of the men at the table, Bleak, looks a little ticked to see the kids standing there. Brad begins shaking hands with the men standing nearby.)
Brad: Hi. Uh…hi, how’re you doing? I’m Brad Anderson. Nice to meet you. This is my sister, Sara. This is Chris Parker, and that’s my best friend Daryl Coopersmith. How’re you doing? Nice to meet you.
Grayden: (to Joe) What are you doing?
(Brad walks up to Grayden and shakes his hand.)
Brad: Hi! Nice to meet you. This is a nice place you’ve got here, really.
Grayden: (pulls his hand away) Thanks.
Brad: Yeah, it’s uh…it’s great. Look, we sorta took a wrong turn somewhere, and if you don’t mind…we’d like to get out.
(The others nod their heads. Suddenly Grayden punches Joe. Chris grabs Brad in fright and he’s pleased about that.)
Joe: Hey, hey, don’t hold it in Grayden. Go ahead and get pissed man.
(Grayden grabs Joe by the lapels of his jacket.)
Grayden: You went and boosted a caddy full of kids?
Joe: Hey, they got in the car while I was stealing it, man. What was I supposed to do, put them out on the street? They would’ve been killed.
Grayden: They know where our operation is. They could go to the cops.
Chris: Sir? (Grayden lets go of Joe.) No, we wouldn’t go to the cops.
Grayden: How am I supposed to know that?
Brad: (looks around at everyone) Hey, uh…we could put it in writing. Everyone would sign it, huh? We could take it to a notery republic…
Grayden: Shut up.
(Bleak slams his hand onto the table.)
Bleak: Take the Brady Bunch upstairs. (The kids spot the office upstairs.) We’ll take care of them after the meeting.
Grayden: (to workers) All right, you guys go on home! Clear outta here!
(Joe leads the kids upstairs to the office.)
Chris: Don’t worry. We’ll get home. This has all just been a big mistake.
Sara: What about Brenda?
Brad: That was her parents mistake.
(Bus Station)
(Brenda is sitting at one of the many TV’s that populate the bus station. There is a homeless woman sitting beside her. Brenda takes off her glasses to rest her eyes and she sets the glasses down on the arm of the chair. The homeless lady quietly picks up the glasses and tries them on herself. Realizing that she can see out of Brenda’s glasses she leaves behind her sunglasses on the chair and quickly gets up and walks off. A moment later Brenda reaches down to put her glasses back on but realizes they’ve been stolen.)
Brenda: I can’t see! Oh Chris, please hurry and pick me up!
(Warehouse – Office)
(Sara is trying the phone.)
Sara: It’s dead. (she hangs up the phone)
Brad: Kinda like us.
Chris: What?
(Daryl picks up a Playboy magazine from the desk. There is a girl on the cover that looks remarkably like Chris. Daryl hides the magazine under his sweatshirt.)
Brad: We’re really in trouble. We’re gonna die here.
(Sara looks up and spots something on the ceiling.)
Sara: No we’re not.
(They all look up to see what she’s looking at. There is a hole in the ceiling.)
Chris: Oh no. We are not climbing up there. It is much to dangerous. I mean, look at that…you could poke you’re eyes out.
(Brad looks out the window to the meeting going on below.)
Brad: Yeah, well they might poke our brains out.
(Downstairs)
Man1: Now Dallas gets the Ferraris, there’s one Lamborghini to Phoenix, and Cleveland needs four Porches.
Bleak: Forget that.
Man2: But they got an order.
Bleak: I said forget it. I don’t like the way they been running things. Cleveland is dead.
(Office)
(Back in the office the kids have made a ladder out of office equipment and are climbing onto the roof of the office which is still inside the warehouse. They look around for a way to escape. Chris spots an open window of sorts that is across a catwalk beam.)
Chris: We can go out that window.
Daryl: You gotta be shittin’ me.
Chris: Watch your mouth!
Daryl: Watch my mouth? You gotta be shittin’ me.
Brad: Shhh.
Daryl: What if I fall?
Sara: I won’t let you fall.
Daryl: (small smile) Thanks Sara.
Chris: Just be careful.
(They begin their walk across the beam. Chris goes first, then Brad, then Sara, then Daryl. Downstairs Joe happens to look up and notice what they are doing, but he says nothing. Chris’s foot causes some loose rust to fall into one of the coffee cups on the table below. No one at the meeting notices and one of the men picks up the cups and takes a drink.)
Chris: I don’t think your parents will ever ask me to baby sit again.
Brad: If they do, I’d ask them for a buck more an hour.
(Party)
(The Anderson’s are at their office party and it’s in full swing. Mr. Anderson walks over to Mrs. Anderson who is on the phone trying to reach the kids at home.)
Mr. Anderson: Well is it multiple murder or has Sara just cut off a finger?
(Mrs. Anderson hangs up the phone.)
Mrs. Anderson: I got the answering machine.
Mr. Anderson: Well, they went for ice cream. They’re okay. Chris can handle it.
Mrs. Anderson: Sure. Sara’s probably hanging from the rafters right about now.
(Warehouse)
(Sara, and the others are indeed in the rafters, still trying to cross the beam to get to the open window.)
Sara: Don’t look down.
(As Daryl moves forward the Playboy magazine comes loose from under his shirt. He manages to catch it before it falls. Brad grabs the magazine from him.)
Brad: You idiot. Shhh…
(The kids manage to make it to the window and slowly climb out.)
Bleak: (to Grayden) Where’s the magazine?
Grayden: The Playboy? I…uh…I took the Playboy upstairs…there was this…article…
Bleak: Get it.
(Chris is the last one to climb out the window just as Grayden heads upstairs to the office. Joe lets out a sigh of relief.)
(Roof)
(The kids run across the roof to a ladder that goes down the side of the building.)
(Office)
(Grayden comes in the office and looks around for the magazine.)
(Roof)
(The kids begin to climb down the ladder.)
Chris: Let’s go. Come on. Hurry up. Sara, hold on.
(Office)
(Grayden finally realizes the kids are gone. He goes back downstairs.)
(Downstairs)
Bleak: Where is it?
Grayden: It’s not up there. I think the kids got it.
Bleak: Well get it back from them.
Grayden: They’re not up their either. They…they got away.
(Outside)
(The kids have just finished climbing down the ladder and are in the alley by the warehouse.)
Brad: (holds out the magazine to Daryl) Where did you get this?
Daryl: I boosted it from the office.
Sara: Come on!
(Daryl puts the Playboy in Sara’s backpack.)
Brad: You’re going to get us into so much trouble.
(Down the alley Grayden, Bleak, and Joe come out of the warehouse.)
Grayden: Hey you kids…
Chris: Run!
(The kids take off running down the alley. Bleak watches them.)
Bleak: (to Joe) Get the car.
Joe: Oh come on…they’re kids. What are you gonna do, run ‘em down and kill ‘em?
Bleak: (grabs Joe) Get the car. (Joe nods and goes to get the car.) We gotta get that magazine back. It’s got all my notes for the Philadelphia order.
(Joe pulls up with the car.)
Grayden: That could put us away for 20 years.
(They take off down the alley in the car. They come around a corner and spot the kids.)
Bleak: Faster.
(Another Alley)
(The kids run down another alley, only to find a chain link fence at the other end that’s locked.)
Chris: Oh no!
Grayden: (os) Hey you kids! Come back here!
(The kids run into a nearby building.)
(The Silver Dollar Club)
(Inside the building is a Blues club. There is a band on stage playing some very good blues. The entire band is black and as a matter of fact, the whole audience is black. Backstage the kids are trying to find a way out of the building. Suddenly the kids appear on stage just as the band is finishing their song. Everyone gets quite and just looks at Chris and the kids.)
Chris: (to lead guitarist) Sir, we didn’t mean to interrupt your little concert here, if you don’t mind we’d just like to let ourselves off the stage…
Albert Collins: Nobody gets outta this place without singing the blues.
Chris: What?
Albert: Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues.
Chris: You want me to sing? (to Daryl) They want me to sing.
Daryl: Well do whatever they want, just get us outta here.
Chris: I can’t sing.
(Backstage)
(Bleak and Grayden have found where the kids are but they opt to go around at catch them from another way.)
(On Stage)
(No one makes a sound as they wait to see what’s going to happen. Chris goes over and adjusts the microphone.)
Chris: Hi. My names Chris Parker.
(Albert and the others start the blues rift.)
Chris: I live in Oak Park. That’s a suburb.
Brad: They probably figured that out.
Chris: This is Brad, Sara, and Daryl. And we’re in trouble.
Daryl: Ain’t no doubt.
(Chris begins slowly singing along with the blues rift. From now until the end of the scene the kids are singing.)
Chris: See, me and my boyfriend Mike, tonight’s our anniversary. But then he went and canceled and now I’m stuck watching these three. And it’s so hard.
Albert: And it’s so hard.
Chris: Babysitting these guys.
(Sara motions to Brad to adjust the other microphone so she can join in.)
Albert: She’s got the…
Chris: I got this call from Brenda, we went to pick her up. But the tire had a blowout, and my mom’s car got shot up.
Sara: And these guys started to chase us…
Brad: And we all got hijacked.
Daryl: We’re cruisin’ down the highway…
Chris: In this big old Cadillac…(the audience goes wild) And it’s so hard…
Albert: It’s so hard…
Chris: Babysitting these guys…
Albert: She’s got the…Babysitting Blues.
Others: Baby, baby…babysitting blues.
Chris: I’ve got the…Babysitting Blues.
Albert: There are nights, you’d swear you were born to lose…like tonight. And you wish your feet were walking in someone else’s shoes.
Chris: Some guys are out to get us.
Daryl: And Brenda’s probably dead.
Brad: We ain’t got a nickle…
Albert: And they should be in bed, and you outta luck.
Chris: I just love watching these guys. I’ve got the Babysitting Blues.
Others: Baby, baby.
Chris: Babysitting Blues.
Others: Baby, baby.
Chris: Babysitting Blues.
Albert: There are night…
Chris: You’d swear you born to lose…
Albert: Like tonight.
Albert/ Chris: And you wish your feet were walking in someone else’s shoes.
Albert: Some guys are out to get ‘em, and the girls probably dead. They ain’t got a nickel…
Brad/Daryl/Sara: And we should be in bed!
Albert: And you outta luck!
Chris: I just love watching these guys. I’ve got the…Babysitting Blues.
All: Baby, baby.
Chris: Babysitting Blues.
All: Baby, baby.
Chris: Babysitting Blues.
(The band continues playing as Albert leads the kids off stage and towards the exit. They give several members of the audience high fives as they pass. The audience loves them! The kids get out the door just as Albert finishes his last rift and stops Bleak and Grayden from following the kids.)
Albert: Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues.
(Outside)
(The kids run outside.)
Daryl: (to Chris) You were incredible. Amazing!
Sara: I didn’t know you were so cool.
Brad: I did.
Chris: Oh, you guys are pretty cool yourselves. Come on, we gotta get outta here.
Daryl: Where are we going?
Chris: I don’t know, but anywhere but here.
(Later)
(The kids are walking along near downtown by the bridge (I think). There are lots of fires burning in garbage cans as the homeless people try to stay warm.)
Brad: Chris?
Chris: Yeah?
Brad: Can I tell you something?
Chris: Sure.
(Daryl and Sara hang back as Brad talks to Chris.)
Brad: I, uh, didn’t really know you until tonight. I mean, um, I knew you were pretty…I mean you are pretty!
Chris: (distracted) Thanks. (points) Is that your dad’s building?
Brad: Uh, yeah. You’re more than just that, though. You’re kinda smart too.
Chris: I think we should turn ourselves in.
Brad: Wait, listen to me…(Daryl sees something and runs off.)…the point is I…(Sara runs up to walk between them)…the point is I, uh…I don’t know what the hell you’re doing with Mike Toddwell. Okay?
Chris: What?
Brad: I mean it. The guy’s a total loser. Daryl knows it. I know it.
Chris: Brad, it’s none of your business.
Brad: Um, there’s nothing personal Chris. I…I just think you should give other guys a chance.
Chris: Like who?
Brad: Well, like uh…
Sara: Don’t say it. Don’t say it!
Brad: Like me.
Sara: Oh no, he said it.
(Chris bursts out laughing.)
Brad: What’s so funny?
Chris: (stops laughing) Well, it’s just that…you’re a child.
Brad: You’re just a girl in love with an asshole.
Chris: Brad, look I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.
Brad: Forget it. Forget it.
Sara: (points) Chris, look where Daryl is.
(They all look and Daryl is talking to a hooker.)
Hooker: I’d really like to get to know you, if you have enough time.
Daryl: I have tons of time.
(Chris and the others run over to where he is.)
Chris: Daryl!
Daryl: What are you doing? I’m trying to get a date here. You’re cramping my style.
Chris: She’s too old for you.
Hooker: And you’re not?
Chris: Well, I’m his babysitter.
Hooker: How old are you?
Chris: I’m 17.
Hooker: So am I.
(They all look at her in shock.)
Chris: You’re 17? (The hooker nods.) What are you doing on the streets?
Hooker: I ran away from home.
Chris: Brenda! Come on.
(They all run off.)
Daryl: Bye.
(Bus Station)
(Brenda is trying to feel her way along since the homeless woman stole her glasses.)
Brenda: Oh Chris, why aren’t you here? (She makes her way over to the coke machine and sees a small furry animal curled up just beside it.) Oh. It’s a kitten. Here kitty, kitty. Here kitty, kitty. (She reaches down and picks it up.) Hello. What’s the matter, you got lost?
(Two janitors walk up to her.)
Janitor1: Drop it.
Brenda: What?
Janitor1: Put the animal down.
Brenda: Why?
Janitor2: We’re gonna kill it.
Brenda: What?! You monsters! Why would you want to kill a poor defenseless little kitten?
Janitor2: (to his partner) Kitten?
(The two Janitors burst out laughing.)
Janitor1: This ain’t no kitten, kid.
Janitor2: It’s a jumbo size sewer rat!
(Brenda looks down at the rat in her arms and screams bloody murder. She tosses the rat down and runs away.)
(Street)
(The kids are walking along.)
Daryl: Brad, you wouldn’t believe what that girl would do for twenty bucks.
Brad: Daryl, I don’t care.
(They hear a car coming up behind them.)
Brad: It’s them!
(They take off running.)
Sara: It’s them!
Chris: Run! Come on guys! Run!
(The car chases them all the way to the subway station.)
(Subway Platform)
(The kids jump over the gates.)
Chris: Take Sara.
(She hands Sara to Brad before jumping over herself. The token man starts to yell at them. They manage to make it onto the subway train just as Bleak, Grayden, and Joe arrive on the platform. The train leaves.)
Token Man: Hey, who’s gonna pay for those kids? Somebody better pay for those kids or I’m calling the cops.
Bleak: (to Grayden) Deal with it.
(Grayden takes out his wallet and goes over to the Token Man.)
Bleak: (to Joe) I want you tell me all about those kids. Where you found them. Where they came from.
Joe: Well, how am I supposed to…I don’t know anything, you know?
Bleak: You know something. Yeah, you do, don’t you?
Joe: They, uh, they gotta get their car.
Bleak: We’ll get to it first.
(Subway Train)
Chris: What do those guys want?
Daryl: Maybe they wanna give us a ride home. Ya think?
Chris: Sara, honey, I think you should lay down and get some sleep.
Sara: I’m not tired.
Chris: Well pretend that you’re tired.
Sara: Then can I pretend to sleep?
Chris: Yeah whatever. Jesus.
(All of a sudden the door at the end of the train compartment bangs open and a bunch of gang members walk in wearing black. The kids look over at the gang member and the gang members just look right back. Suddenly the door at the other end bangs open and a rival gang walks in wearing red.)
Sara: Cool threads.
Chris: We’ll get off at the next stop.
Black Gang Leader: Don’t you even think about getting off this train.
Red Gang Leader: The only people getting off this train are gonna be doing it in body bags.
Black Gang Leader: This is our train!
Red Gang Leader: Yeah, well your train is rolling in our turf.
Black Gang Leader: So what.
Red Gang Leader: So as soon as we cross Devereaux street you and your girls here is dead meat.
(The Black Gang Leader and his gang all make sounds of fake fear.)
Black Gang Leader: Oh, well we’ll go right now.
Daryl: They’re gonna kill each other.
Brad: And kill us doing it.
Red Gang Leader: (pulls out a knife) There goes Jefferson.
Black Gang Leader: (pulls out a knife) Here goes Jackson.
Red Gang Leader: Here comes Devereaux.
(They all move to attack each other but Chris jumps up and holds up her hands stopping the fight before it starts.)
Chris: Uh, excuse me. I couldn’t help but notice that you two groups of people are about to start killing each other, and I was wondering if you could please just wait on that until we could get off the train.
Red Gang Leader: Sit down bitch.
Black Gang Leader: Yeah, bitch, sit down!
Daryl: (to Brad) Are you gonna let him get away with that?
(Brad stands up.)
Brad: Wait a minute!
Daryl: I was kidding.
Brad: (to Red Gang Leader) That was really rude. Take it back. Apologize.
Chris: Brad stay out of this.
Brad: No, he called you a bitch.
Chris: Brad, shut up!
Red Gang Leader: Hey, listen to the bitch, Brad. (laughs)
Brad: Watch your mouth. You…big city scum sucker.
Red Gang Leader: You just can’t keep your foot outta your mouth, can you boy? Let me help. (He throws his knife into Brad’s foot.) Don’t fuck with the Lords of Hell!
(Chris reaches down and grabs the knife out of Brad’s foot and holds it up.)
Chris: Don’t fuck with the babysitter!
Red Gang Leader: All right, baby, chill out.
(Chris makes a path and all the kids get off the train as it comes into the station.)
(Subway Station)
(Chris drops the knife as soon as she’s off the train.)
Chris: (to Brad) Are you okay?
Brad: I don’t know. I can’t feel anything.
Daryl: Don’t touch it! It could get infected. Jesus. He could get anything. Tetanus. Lock Jaw. Rabies. Scabies. Emphysema.
Chris: Well then don’t let him walk on it. Come on, pick him up.
(They pick Brad up.)
Daryl: What are we gonna do with him?
Sara: Guys, can’t you read? (points to a Hospital sign) Take him to the hospital!
(Hospital)
(The kids rush Brad into the Emergency Room.)
Sara: Doctor!
Daryl: Doctor!
Chris: Somebody!
Nurse: What is it?
Chris: Doctor. My friend was wounded in a gang fight.
Nurse: Just calm down. Do you see that…(points)
(Pull back to show the man that Mr. Pruitt was shooting at being led away by the cops.)
Man: Hey wait. That’s them. Those are the kids that stole my car. What are you bothering me for, it’s them you want.
(Time Lapse)
(Chris, Sara, and Daryl are in the waiting area while Brad sees the doctor.)
Chris: Brenda, if you’re dead, I wish I was with you.
(Bus Station)
(Brenda makes her way over to the hot dog vendor.)
Brenda: (sniffs) Hi. Those are…uh…hot dogs, right?
Vendor: Yeah. Want one?
Brenda: Yeah, I’d love one.
(The vendor pulls out a hot dog while Brenda pulls a piece of paper out of her purse and squints at it.)
Vendor: That’ll be two bucks. (Brenda holds out the piece of paper.) A check?
Brenda: Yeah, but it’s a good check. See Chris’s mom wrote it out to Chris because Chris bought her something, I can’t remember what. Then I bought Chris some press-on nails, I gave Chris the difference and she wrote the check over to me. So I’ll write the check over to you, you keep the difference and I’ll take the hot dog. So, you got a pen?
Vendor: Get outta here.
Brenda: Wait! I’m starving! You’d rather throw it away than give it to me?
Vendor: I work on a cash only basis.
Brenda: But it’s a perfectly good check!
Vendor: No! I’ll make it very clear. You slip me the cash, and I’ll slip you the weiner.
Brenda: But I don’t have any cash!
Vendor: Then I don’t have a weiner!
(Hospital)
(Brad is in with the doctor.)
Doctor: There you are. One stitch. All better.
Brad: One stitch?
Doctor: Oh yes, one stitch.
Brad: My only chance of ever being in a gang fight and all I get is one stitch. Chris is gonna think I’m a total failure.
(A nurse peaks her head behind the curtain.)
Nurse: Doctor, the guy with the stab wounds just died.
Doctor: Oh dear.
(Hallway)
(Chris, Daryl, and Sara walk up to the Doctor as he exits Brad’s “room”.)
Chris: Doctor, we’re looking for a friend.
Doctor: Your friend? Which one is he?
Chris: Um, he’s the one with the stab wound.
Doctor. Oh dear.
Chris: What?
Doctor: I’m sorry, your friend is dead.
Sara: Dead?
Daryl: Dead?
Chris: Dead?
(Chris’s eyes roll back and she faints.)
Sara: Chris!
(Brad comes out from behind the curtain but no one sees him because they are all focusing on Chris.)
Brad: Sara? What happened?
(Sara turns around in surprise.)
Sara: Brad? Brad!
(She gets up and throws her arms around his waist, giving him a big hug. Daryl spots him and gets up to give him a hug as well.)
Brad: Daryl, why are you hugging me?
(Daryl pulls back.)
Daryl: Brad, don’t you ever die on me! Ever.
(Brad is surprised by all of this.)
Brad: Okay, I won’t. (sees Chris) What’s going on? (He goes over to kneel beside Chris.) What happened?
Doctor: Oh, you are her friend. She fainted.
(The nurse waves some smelling salts under Chris’ nose and Chris wakes up.)
Chris: (gasps) I had the worse nightmare. We were stuck in this… (they all help her up)…it’s really happening.
Daryl: Some night, huh?
Doctor: It’s all right. I made a mistake. See, he’s fine. (Chris turns and gives Brad a hug.) Now you stay here and I’ll send the nurse back with the paperwork.
(The Doctor and Nurse walk away.)
Brad: Paperwork. They’re gonna want to know my name and stuff.
Chris: I’m going to call my mom.
Daryl: No! No mothers. They’ll kill us. No way!
(Behind them the man who’s car Joe stole comes out of one of the curtained areas.)
Man: Hey you kids! (begins walking towards them) Where’s my car god damn it!
(Mr. Pruitt comes out and knocks the man down.)
Chris: Mr. Pruitt!
Mr. Pruitt: (laughs) Babysitter! (He spots the cops standing nearby.) I’ve got your car. Come on, let’s split.
(They run out as the police go over to check on the other man.)
(Alley)
(All the ambulances are parked in an alley of sorts next to the hospital. The kids and Mr. Pruitt hide behind one of them.)
Daryl: What are you doing here?
Mr. Pruitt: My wife called the cops. I got a little banged up.
Chris: Well where’s our car?
Mr. Pruitt: I’ve got the car at Dawson’s Garage.
Daryl: Is our car okay?
Mr. Pruitt: Yeah. I paid for the window…that’s my fault. But Dawson’s gonna make you pay for the tire.
Brad: How much?
Mr. Pruitt: 50 bucks.
Brad: 50 bucks?
Chris: 50 bucks?
Mr. Pruitt: Yeah, 50 bucks. (He sees the cops come into the alley and goes to leave.)
Chris: Wait, where are you going?
Mr. Pruitt: I’m a fugitive now, okay?
Daryl: Kinda like us.
(The police head their way.)
Mr. Pruitt: Good luck babysitter! (He runs off.)
Chris: You too, Mr. Pruitt!
(The cops spot Mr. Pruitt and run after him. The kids hide.)
Cop: Stop! Wait! Hold it right there!
(After the cops are gone the kids relax.)
Brad: Where are we gonna get 50 bucks?
Sara: Maybe we could sell Daryl. Ya think?
(Daryl rolls his eyes and Brad laughs.)
Chris: We will think of something. Come on.
(They head away from the hospital.)
(Street)
Sara: Chris, I gotta make.
Daryl: You gotta what?
Sara: I gotta go to the bathroom. I really gotta go!
Chris: Just try and hold it honey, okay?
(Faint music can be heard.)
Daryl: Sounds like a party. (spots something) Looks like a party. (They all look and see people milling around a Frat house.) It is a party!
(Daryl heads for the house.)
Chris: Daryl get back here!
Daryl: Sorry, can’t talk. Gotta run. (He goes inside the house.)
Brad: Why do I have a strange feeling we’re never gonna see him again?
Chris: Come on, Sara. You can go to the bathroom in there.
Sara: Okay.
(They head inside.)
(Frat House)
(There is a live band playing. People are talking, drinking, and dancing. Everyone is having a good time. Daryl is trying to dance, but basically looks like a dork. People move away from him.)
Sara: I really have to go to the bathroom.
Chris: It’ll be okay.
Sara: I have to go really bad!
(Across the room there are 3 guys standing at the bar. One of them looks up from his beer and spots Chris and the kids.)
Guy1: I don’t believe it.
(He motions to the other two and they look at Chris.)
Guy2: Well who is it? Some high IQ kids?
(Chris and Guy3 share a look and a smile.)
Guy1: No stupid! It’s Miss March!
Brad: Uh, there’s Daryl. (points)
(Guy1 one has pulled out the Playboy.)
Guy2: No way!
(Guy1 and Guy2 go over to Chris, Brad, and Sara with the Playboy.)
Guy1: It is Miss March.
Chris: What?!
Guy2: This is amazing.
(They hold out the magazine.)
Guy1: Could you sign this.
Guy2: Right here?
(Sara sees the magazine and her mouth opens in shock. Brad quickly covers her eyes. Guy3 comes over from the bar.)
Chris: I can’t believe it.
Guy3: Can’t believe what?
Chris: (folds up the magazine) This is not me!
Guy1: It sure is you.
Chris: It is not!
(Guy3 looks at the magazine.)
Guy3: What’s your name?
Chris: It’s not Shayleen.
(Guy3 looks at the pictures again.)
Guy3: She’s not Shayleen.
Guy1: Wait a minute.
Guy3: Guys, come on. Think about this. Do you honestly believe a Playboy centerfold would have nothing better to do on a night like this…than to show up at a Kappa party with a bunch of kids.
(Brad doesn’t appreciate being called a kid.)
Guy1: Yeah.
Guy2: Maybe.
Guy3: Where’s your brain?
(The guys look at Chris and she just looks back at them.)
Guy1: (to Guy2) I told you it wasn’t her, stupid.
Guy2: Sorry.
(They walk off.)
Chris: (to Guy3) Thanks.
Guy3: You’re welcome.
Sara: I really gotta go Chris.
Brad: (to Guy3) Oh. Where’s your bathroom?
Guy3: (points) Straight that way.
Brad: I’ll uh…I’ll take Sara to the bathroom.
(Bar)
(Back at the bar Daryl is watching some guys chug beer. He tries to show how cool he is, but still ends up look like a dork.)
Daryl: Hey guys.
Guy: I must be hallucinating. Does anyone else see a talking penis?
(They all laugh, including Daryl.)
Daryl: Hey, speaking of penis’s…do you know how the Playboy unabashed dictionary defines oral gratification?
(A girl comes up and throws her arm around Daryl.)
Girl: I do.
(She drags Daryl out of the room.)
(Living Room)
(Brad can been see in the hallway as Guy3 talks to Chris.)
Guy3: You know, I haven’t seen you around campus much. You a Freshman? (Chris shakes her head.) Sophomore? (Chris shakes her head again.) Well you can’t be a Junior.
Chris: I’m a Senior. (Guy3 looks surprised.) In High School.
Guy3: In High School?!
Chris: (laughs) Yeah.
Guy3: I can’t believe it.
Chris: What?
Guy3: The prettiest girl at the University of Chicago is in High School.
Chris: Oh that was good.
Guy3: No, I mean it.
Chris: Yeah?
(Guy3 smiles. The band ends their song.)
Guy3: Wanna dance?
Chris: I don’t have time.
Guy3: Come on, come on. (takes her hand) She’ll be in line for a couple of minutes. You’ve got time.
Chris: Okay.
Guy3: I’m Dan. Dan Lynch.
Lead Singer: We’re gonna slow things down now and do a song I wrote for the woman I love. Do it Bobby.
(The band begins playing a slow song. Dan and Chris go out on the floor and begin to dance.)
Dan: So you’re babysitting these kids?
Chris: (sighs) I don’t think you can call what I’ve been doing tonight babysitting.
(Hallway)
(As Sara waits for the bathroom a guy wearing a hat with Viking horns on it comes out. They see each other and give a thumbs up.)
(Living Room)
Chris: If these kids turn out to be drug addicts and mass murderers it’ll be my fault.
Dan: Look, don’t worry about it. Everything’s going to be okay. I think you’re doing a great job.
Chris: You do?
Dan: Sure I do! You’ve gotten the kids this far. You’re still alive. (He laughs and Chris smiles.) It could be a lot worse.
Chris: It could be.
(They dance closer. Brad watches from the doorway.)
(Hallway)
(Daryl is seated on the stairs with the girl.)
Girl: It’s always the same. All he cares about are the Bears, the Bengals…the Dolphins. What about the love? The romance? The sex?
Daryl: I care about those things. Deeply.
Girl: I’m so lonely.
Daryl: How could a righteous babe like you be lonely.
Girl: (smiles) That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me. Wanna go to bed?
(Daryl’s eyes go wide.)
(Living Room)
(Chris and Dan are still dancing close. Chris spots Brad in the doorway.)
Chris: Oh, I really have to go.
Dan: Oh no. Tell me what I can do to help. What do you need?
Chris: Well, um…actually…I need fifty dollars.
Dan: No problem. (digs in his pocket)
Chris: Really?
Dan: Oh, all I’ve got is a $20.
Chris: Oh, no that’s fine.
Dan: No, wait right here. I’ll be right back.
(He walks off as Chris goes over to Brad.)
Chris: He is getting us fifty dollars.
Brad: (fake happy) That’s terrific.
(Out on the stairs Daryl and the girl are making out. Sara comes up to Brad and Chris.)
Chris: Hi! We’re gonna get the money.
Sara: Really?
Chris: Yeah!
Sara: Isn’t that great Brad?
(Dan comes back.)
Dan: I could only get $45.
Chris: Oh no, that’s great. Really. Thank you so much!
(Guy1 spots the girl with Daryl on the stairs.)
Guy1: Sue Ann. (She and Daryl break apart.) What the hell are you doing?
Sue Ann: You’ve been replaced you big, dumb, bohunk.
Guy1: Oh you’re dead kid!
Daryl: I didn’t touch her! I’m just a child!
(Guy1 picks up Daryl and is about to hit him when Dan intervenes.)
Dan: Hey, lay off. He’s just a kid you big, dumb, bohunk. (The kids head out the door.) I’m driving.
(Dan’s Jeep)
(Dan is driving. Chris is in the passenger seat, while Daryl, Sara, and Brad are in the backseat. They drive towards an underground garage.)
Daryl: This is really weird.
Chris: You’re weird.
(Daryl laughs.)
(Dawson’s Garage)
(Dan pulls up and they all get out of the Jeep. Chris goes over and opens the door to look inside. Her mother’s car is completely fixed. She goes back to the others.)
Chris: The car is fixed!
Brad: That’s great. That’s wonderful!
Chris: (to Dan) Thank you. Really.
Dan: No problem. Why don’t you go pay for your car and I’ll wait out here and make sure you get out okay.
Chris: (glances at Brad) No, that’s okay. We’ll be fine.
Dan: You sure?
Chris: (glances at Brad who is nodding) Yeah, I’m sure.
Dan: Okay. Take care of yourself. (to others) See you guys. (walks back to his Jeep)
Daryl: Bye.
Chris: Wait! (Dan stops and turns.) How am I gonna find you…to pay you back. (smiles)
Dan: Don’t worry about it. (pause) Maybe I’ll see you again.
(He gets in his Jeep.)
Daryl: (to Brad) Come on, Brad. He seems pretty cool. All right?
(Brad nods. Dan drives away as Chris and the others go into the Garage.)
(Inside)
(It’s very quiet. There doesn’t seem to be anyone around.)
Chris: Mr. Dawson?
Brad: Hello?
Sara: Mr. Dawson?
Chris: Is anybody here?
Sara: Hello?
Brad: Hello?
Chris: Mr. Dawson?
Brad: Mr. Dawson?
(Suddenly a lift machine begins to lower. Mr. Dawson stands there. He is a good looking blonde man, with nice muscles. He wears a red hat, a blue shirt, and jeans. He holds a hammer very similar to Sara’s hero, Thor.)
Sara: Thor.
(Sara runs forward and kneels before Mr. Dawson.)
Chris: Sara.
Sara: Oh Thor, mighty God of Thunder.
Mr. Dawson: Who is this kid?
(Chris gets Sara to her feet.)
Chris: You must be Mr. Dawson, right?
(Mr. Dawson nods.)
Sara: (to Brad) Secret identity.
Mr. Dawson: What do you want?
Chris: Mr. Pruitt sent us. (points) This is our car.
Mr. Dawson: You owe me fifty bucks.
(Chris pulls the money out of her pocket and hands it to him. Sara runs forward again.)
Sara: Have you been fighting the forces of darkness?
(Brad moves forward to get her.)
Mr. Dawson: What is she talking about?
Brad: Sorry. She thinks you’re someone else.
Sara: It’s him, Brad. It’s really him. It’s Thor!
Brad: Yeah, come on. Let’s go.
Sara: Don’t listen to him anyway. He said you were a homo.
(Mr. Dawson grabs Brad by his shirt.)
Mr. Dawson: You spreading rumors about me, kid?
Brad: Oh no. No, sir.
(Brad manages to remove Mr. Dawson’s hand from his shirt. He moves back and takes Sara with him. Mr. Dawson holds up the money.)
Mr. Dawson: What’s this? There’s 45 dollars here. You owe me $50.
Chris: I know. That’s all we have.
Mr. Dawson: Then you don’t have a car.
Chris: No, you don’t understand. We have had the most unbelievable night…
Mr. Dawson: Save it! You owe me money. Now, you give me 5 bucks or you get out.
Sara: (walks forward) I thought you always helped people in trouble.
Mr. Dawson: (leans down to look Sara in the eye) Hey kid, this is the city. I don’t help anybody but myself.
Sara: But I always…
Mr. Dawson: (interrupts) Get lost!
(Sara backs away and the kids start to leave. Suddenly Sara realizes something.)
Sara: Wait! (runs back to Mr. Dawson) I know why you’re not acting like yourself. You don’t have your special helmet. See you’re wearing the baseball hat, (she pulls her silver helmet off and holds it out) but you’re supposed to be wearing this. Take mine. Go on, take it. (Mr. Dawson takes the helmet) Take it.
Mr. Dawson: You’re giving this to me?
Sara: Well yeah, you’re my hero. (smiles)
(Mr. Dawson smiles back. Chris, Brad, and Daryl look at each other and smile.)
Mr. Dawson: Here. (fishes the keys out of his pocket) Take the car. (He tosses the keys to Chris.)
Sara: Thanks Thor.
Mr. Dawson: You’re welcome. (Sara walks back to the others.) Hey kid. (Sara turns back and Mr. Dawson holds out the helmet.) I got one of these at home. (He tosses the helmet back to her.)
Chris: Can I get your address so that I can send you a check for the five dollars.
Mr. Dawson: Go!
(They all move to get into the car.)
Brad: Thank you.
Daryl: Thanks!
(They get into the car and head out.)
(The Car)
Chris: Daryl, what time is it?
Daryl: 11:41.
Chris: Okay, we can pick up Brenda and be home by 1:00.
Sara: Man, am I up late.
(Street)
(Unknown to Chris and the kids they drive by Joe, Grayden, and Bleak.)
Bleak: Good work, Joe Gibb. Now follow them.
(Bus Station)
(Brenda slowly walks down the stairs and sees the women who stole her glasses earlier. The woman is asleep. Brenda quietly takes her glasses back and puts them on. She sighs with relief as she is able to see again and begins to walk off. As she does the woman wakes up.)
Homeless Woman: Thief! Stop!
(The woman begins to go after Brenda. Brenda begins to run. She runs past the man with the gun. She runs past the two janitors who laugh at her. She runs past the homeless man who is now back in the phone booth. The homeless lady stops at the phone booth and looks at the homeless man before hitting the booth with her stick.)
Homeless Woman: Get outta my house!!
(The Car)
Sara: Look at that toy store. Chris, look at the toy store! Look at all the toys! Chris look!
Chris: I see it. (smiles)
(They come to a red light and stop. Chris looks over and sees the restaurant that she and Mike were supposed to go to that night.)
Chris: Oh great.
Brad: What are we looking at?
Chris: Mike was supposed to take me there tonight.
(Daryl looks over, sees something and laughs.)
Chris: What?
Daryl: Looks like he went without you. Check it out.
(They all look and see Mike’s car sitting in the restaurant parking lot.)
Sara: What’s wrong?
Chris: Everything.
(Restaurant)
(The kids all walk in and look around.)
Maitre D: May I help you?
Chris: We’re just looking for somebody, thanks.
(Outside)
(Bleak, Grayden, and Joe are all waiting in the car for the kids to come out.)
Grayden: Let’s just go in and get them.
Bleak: Patience.
(Restaurant)
(Chris looks around and spot Mike at a table with another girl.)
Chris: He’s with Sessamy Plexer. (groans) She’s such a sleaze.
Daryl: He dumps you for an easy chick and you get a night of hell. Doesn’t seem fair to me.
Chris: (to Brad) Stay here and watch Sara. I will be right back. (walks off towards Mike)
Daryl: I gotta see this. (walks off after Chris)
(Brad follows Daryl leaving Sara by herself. She goes over to the dessert tray and picks up a pastry. She then heads outside. Chris walks up to Mike’s table in time to hear him use a familiar line on Sessamy.)
Mike: You know Sess, girls like you come along once in a lifetime.
Chris: (walks up) Or twice in the same night.
Mike: Oh wow.
Chris: How’s your sister? Is she all better?
Mike: Well, uh…
Chris: You lied.
Mike: No I didn’t.
Chris: Don’t lie!
(Other patrons turn to look at them.)
Mike: Get a grip, Jesus.
Chris: A grip. Do you have any idea what I’ve been through tonight?! (Brad and Daryl walk up.) I thought that, um…I thought that you loved me. Or was it all just bullshit, huh?
Mike: Look little girl. I don’t know what you thought we had, but it wasn’t half as serious as you like to think it was.
Brad: (to Mike) Hey, you let go of her.
Mike: Jeez, you’re picking them kinda young aren’t ya?
Chris: This kid’s got more class at 15 than you’ll ever have.
Brad: (to Mike) You’re such a loser.
Daryl: Here we go again.
Brad: I can only dream of having someone like Chris for a girlfriend. But you’ve got her. And you treat her like this?
Mike: Don’t waste your time half-pint. Her legs are locked together at the knee.
(Sessamy laughs. Brad grabs Mike by his coat.)
Brad: I’d love to hit you. I’d love to pound on your face!
Mike: Yeah? Go ahead.
Brad: (looks at Chris and then lets go of Mike) But I won’t. You’re so slimy, I won’t sink to your level.
Daryl: I will.
(Daryl kicks Mike in the butt sending him flying into a nearby table.)
Sessamy: Oh, that’s just great.
Chris: See you around, Mike.
(Chris, Brad, and Daryl walk out.)
(Outside)
Daryl: That was great! We were amazing!
(The doorman watches them leave. He then glances over at a nearby billboard which has the model who looks just like Chris from Playboy on it. He does a double take as he looks back at Chris.)
Chris: (looks around) Where is Sara?
(Toy Store)
(Sara is eating her pastry in front of the toy store that they passed earlier in the car. Bleak, Grayden, and Joe drive up. Bleak opens the door of the car and stands.)
Bleak: Hey kid. (Sara turns to look at him.) Come here for a second.
(Sara drops her pastry and runs.)
Bleak: (gets in the car) Get her.
(They take off in the car after her.)
(Alley)
(Sara runs down an alley. She looks up and spots her parents building.)
Sara: Mom! Dad!
(She runs for the building. The bad guys come driving down the alley after her.)
(Street)
Daryl: Sara!
Chris: Sara!
(They arrive at the toy store.)
Brad: I thought she’d be here!
(Building)
(Outside of the parents building Sara can be seen running for the door. The bad guys pull up at the same time. Sara makes it to the revolving door, but Grayden grabs her cape and she can’t get the door to move anymore.)
Sara: Let go!
(She pushes hard enough and the door moves again. Grayden is thrown back holding Sara’s cape. Sara runs past the night cleaner and heads for the elevator. Grayden stops to punch the night cleaner. Sara makes it to the elevator and hits the button. The doors close just as Grayden reaches them.)
(Alley)
(Chris, Brad, and Daryl are running down the alley still looking for Sara.)
Brad: Guys, look!
Chris: What?
Brad: It’s my dad’s building.
Daryl: So?
Brad: My mom and dad are there.
Chris: So she’s probably there! Come on!
(Building)
(Sara exits the elevator onto a floor of the building that they are renovating. There is no one around.)
Sara: Mom? Dad?
(Lobby)
(The elevator that Sara was in comes back to the ground floor. Grayden and Bleak get in. They look at the floor numbers. There is a chocolate smudge on two of the buttons. Floors 42 & 44. Bleak presses the button for the 42nd floor.)
Bleak: I’ll take this floor, you take the one above.
(44th Floor)
(Sara is still looking around for her parents.)
(42nd Floor)
(Bleak gets of the elevator.)
(44th Floor)
(Grayden gets off the elevator and looks around.)
Grayden: Hey kid. Come on out. I just need to get something from you. (Sara is hiding behind some boxes. Grayden walks down the hallway.) I’m not gonna hurt you.
(Sara spots an open window and a large spool of rope. She heads for the window.)
(Outside)
(Chris, Brad, and Daryl run up to the building from across the street. They get to the bad guys car and look inside.)
Chris: Sara!
Brad: Sara!
Daryl: Sara!
(They realize there is no one in the car. Brad looks up and spots Sara’s cape on the ground beside the revolving door.)
Brad: Guys, Sara’s in trouble.
(44th Floor)
(Sara begins to climb out the window while holding onto the rope.)
Grayden: (os) No, stop! Don’t go out there! Hey kid, get back here. (Sara begins to climb down.) Hey kid, wait. (He looks out the window.) Jesus Christ. Hey! (Sara looks up.) Come on back up here.
(Lobby)
(Chris, Brad, and Daryl get in the elevator that Sara was in. They see the chocolate smudges.)
Daryl: Which floor?
Chris: (presses 42) We’ll try this one first.
(44th Floor)
(Sara continues to climb down the windows outside. Grayden grabs the rope and begins to pull her back up. In a panic Sara lets go of the rope. She slides down a few windows and stops. Luckily this side of the building has an angle.)
(42nd Floor)
(The kids exit the elevator and run around the corner, coming to a dead stop.)
Brad: Oh God, we’re at my parents party.
(They all run quickly to hide in the coat closet.)
(44th Floor)
(Grayden throws the rope out the window. He then climbs out onto the window too.)
Grayden: Hey kid. Stay right where you are. Don’t move.
(Sara moves onto the window pane to her left.)
(42nd Floor – Coat Closet)
Daryl: What are we going to do?
Chris: I’m going out there to find Sara.
Brad: You can’t go out there, they’ll see you!
Chris: (grabs a fur coat and puts it on) No they won’t. Stay right here. I’ll be back.
(Chris makes her way out into the party, and of course no one thinks it’s odd that there is a teenager walking around in a fur coat with the collar turned up. She goes to her right and almost bumps into Mr. Anderson.)
Mr. Anderson: I’ll be right back with the coats, hun.
(He heads for the coat closet. Brad sees him coming, so he grabs Daryl and they hide behind the coats. Chris continues to look around when she suddenly hears Mrs. Anderson across the room. She ducks down behind a table. Mr. Anderson walks up to his wife with the coats. Bleak finds Chris behind the table.)
Bleak: Looking for something?
Mrs. Anderson: Oh, come on honey. Just one more. (She walks up to the table and gets another little treat.) My diet doesn’t start until next week.
Mr. Anderson: Well, we told Chris 1:00.
(Chris hides lower and Bleak turns to look at the Anderson’s.)
Mrs. Anderson: (to Bleak) Excuse me. Have you tried one of these?
Bleak: What?
(Chris uses this distraction to unplug something from the wall and tie the cord around Bleak’s feet.)
Mrs. Anderson: They are so delicious. I’ve got to get this recipe. Do you happen to know the name of the caterer?
Bleak: The caterer?
(He looks up and spots Sara out the window.)
Mr. Anderson: We didn’t mean to spring it on you like this.
Mrs. Anderson: Hello?
(Chris turns to see what Bleak is looking at and sees Sara.)
Bleak: If you’ll excuse me.
(He goes to leave but falls due to the cord Chris wrapped around his feet.)
Mrs. Anderson: Oh my gosh, are you okay?
Mr. Anderson: Did you hurt yourself?
(Chris uses this time to run back to the coat closet.)
Chris: Brad? Daryl?
(They come out from behind the coats. Chris takes the fur coat off.)
Daryl: Where’s Sara?
Chris: She’s out the window!
(They run for the elevator.)
Chris: I saw her out the window.
Daryl: The window?
Chris: She’s out there now!
(Outside)
Sara: Mom? Dad?
(Grayden lets go of the rope and moves to a nearby window a few up from Sara.)
Grayden: Damn.
(44th Floor)
(Chris, Daryl, and Brad come running over to the window.)
Chris: Sara, just hold on okay? Don’t be scared! Daryl, Brad loosen the rope.
(Daryl loosens the rope and they throw more of it out the window so Sara can grab on.)
(42nd Floor)
(The Anderson’s help Bleak to his feet.)
Mr. Anderson: Let me give you a hand now.
(44th Floor)
Chris: Sara, grab the rope!
(42nd Floor)
Mr. Anderson: Easy, easy.
(Bleak walks off.)
Mrs. Anderson: That’s the most exciting thing that’s happened all night.
(Outside we can see Sara grab the rope and begin to climb up.)
(44th Floor)
Brad: Okay, just take it really slow!
(They are all holding on to the rope and pulling Sara up. Sara has almost reached Grayden.)
Brad: Don’t be scared of him Sara. Okay that’s good. Don’t look down. Okay, that’s good. Keep walking. That’s right. Just walk right by him. He’s not even there. (Grayden tries to grab Sara, but misses.) Hold on! All right, come on Sara. All right, you’re almost there. Hang on. (Sara finally reaches Brad.) Grab on!
(Brad grabs Sara and they hug.)
Sara: Oh Brad.
(Brad pulls Sara inside.)
Chris: Sara! (She gives Sara a big hug.) Are you okay?
Sara: Yeah. Can we go home now?
Joe: Not yet. (They all turn to see Joe standing nearby.) Look, I’m not gonna hurt you, all right? I just need the Playboy. (Chris reaches into Sara’s backpack and hands Joe the magazine. He flips it open to the centerfold.) See this is what they were after. Some notes and stuff. I guess it’s pretty important. (Brad and Chris give Daryl a look. Joe takes a good look at the centerfold model and then looks at Chris.)
Chris: Don’t say it.
Joe: Wow.
Daryl: It’s pretty uncanny, huh?
(Joe looks at the model again and then looks at Chris.)
Joe: Nah, she doesn’t even compare to you.
(Chris smiles.)
Brad: Well what about him?
Joe: Who?
Brad: Come here.
(He walks Joe over to the window and Joe looks out. He sees Grayden holding on for dear life.)
Grayden: Help.
Joe: Oh yeah. (Pulls his head back inside.) Leave him hanging out there for a while. Let him sweat it out.
(They all head for the elevator and run into Bleak.)
Bleak: Give me the magazine and get out of here. I’ll take care of the children.
(Joe glances at Chris and then punches Bleak, knocking him out cold. He then tosses the magazine to him.)
Joe: (to Chris) You’re right. Baby sitting is dangerous. Come on.
(They all head out.)
(The Car)
(They are heading frantically for the Bus Station.)
(Bus Station)
(Brenda is waiting out front.)
(The Car)
(They are still hurrying to the Bus Station.)
(Bus Station)
(The car pulls up. Brenda gets into the backseat between Brad and Daryl. They drive off.)
Brenda: What took you guys so long? You’ll never believe what I’ve been through tonight.
(The Car)
(They have reached the highway and are headed home. Sara is going through her bag.)
Sara: I lost my skate! It’s not here!
Chris: Maybe you left it someplace.
Sara: Chris, we gotta go back and find it.
Chris: No, Sara, honey, we can’t.
(Sara sighs and mouths “I can’t believe I lost my skate”. In the back seat Brenda has fallen asleep and is resting her head on Daryl’s shoulder. Daryl tries to get a look under Brenda’s jacket but Brad slaps his hand. Chris spots something.)
Chris: Brad, Sara…that’s not your parents car is it? (points)
Sara: Yes it is!
Brad: Yes it is! What are we gonna do?
Chris: (thinks) Everybody duck.
(They all duck, except for Brenda and Chris floors it, flying past the Anderson’s car. Once they are past they all lift their heads again.)
(Anderson’s Car)
Mrs. Anderson: Oh my…look at that lunatic. You know Brad and Sara are going to be driving soon and they’re going to be on the road with people like that.
(Chris’s Car)
Chris: How fast do your parents drive?
Brad: Uh, about 45.
Chris: We’ll go 80.
(She floors it.)
(Anderson Residence)
(The kids come running into the house.)
Chris: Okay, Brad, Sara, Daryl, upstairs and into your pajamas.
Daryl: I don’t have any pajamas here.
Chris: I don’t care, just go upstairs. (The kids all go upstairs. Chris turns to Brenda who is standing by the front door.) Brenda, go home.
Brenda: Oh, but I don’t want to go home.
Chris: Brenda you have to. (She shoves Brenda out the door.) I’m sorry. I’ll call you tomorrow.
(Kitchen)
(Chris tosses her jacket over one of the chairs and begins to frantically clean the mess in the kitchen.)
(Driveway)
(The Anderson’s pull up.)
(Kitchen/Driveway)
(We go back and forth from the Anderson’s slowly making their way to the front door to Chris cleaning up the kitchen.)
(Living Room)
(Chris finishes in the kitchen and rushes into the living room just as the Anderson’s open the front door. Chris quickly picks up a magazine and pretends to read as the Anderson’s walk into the room.)
Mr. Anderson: Hey Chris, sorry we’re late.
Chris: Oh that’s okay.
Mrs. Anderson: Any problems?
Chris: No, not really. Well, Brad stayed home and Daryl’s sleeping over.
Mrs. Anderson: Daryl? What a nightmare for you.
Chris: Yeah. (smiles)
(Brad’s Bedroom)
(Brad, Daryl, and Sara are watching a scary movie on TV. Chris comes in and shuts the TV off. She sits on the end of one of the beds.)
Brad: What happened?
Chris: Everything is cool.
(They all sigh with relief.)
Sara: Chris, can we do this again next Friday?
Chris: Oh, Sara. Um, I think I’m retired.
Sara: Oh come on, you gotta sit for me again.
Chris: We’ll see, okay?
Sara: (smiles) Okay.
Brad: I know that Seniors don’t normally hang out with Freshman. So if I see you around school and I say Hi and you ignore me as usual it’s okay.
Chris: I don’t ignore friends, Brad.
(Brad and Chris smile.)
Daryl: Chris, I’d just like to say thanks for giving me what is probably the greatest night of my life. (pause) So far. (grins)
Brad: Me too.
Sara: Me too.
Chris: Me too.
(Driveway)
(The Anderson’s see Chris to the front door.)
Mrs. Anderson: Thanks a lot, Chris.
Chris: Oh, you’re welcome.
Mr. Anderson: Drive safely.
Chris: I will, thanks.
Mr. Anderson: Okay, bye.
(The Anderson’s shut the door and Chris walks to her car. As she does someone pulls up behind her. It’s Dan.)
Dan: Hi.
Chris: (surprised) Hi. How did you know that I was…
Dan: (holds up Sara’s skate) Oh, I thought the little girl might be missing this. (On the skate is a “If Lost” tag.) She left it in the backseat.
Chris: You came all the way out here just to return this?
Dan: Actually I was…
Chris: Oh…oh you came for the money.
Dan: No, no, no. (smiles) I’m looking for a babysitter.
Chris: (laughs) Really?
Dan: Yeah.
Chris: Well, I think tonight was my last job.
Dan: Oh, that’s too bad.
Chris: Who was the baby sitter for?
Dan: (smiles) Me.
Chris: (grins) Maybe retirement can wait.
Sara: Kiss him!
(Chris and Dan look up to see Brad, Sara, and Daryl watching from an open window upstairs. Chris and Dan laugh. The kids then duck back inside. Brad closes the window and the blinds.)
(Dan reaches up to cup Chris’s cheek as he gives her a soft kiss.)
(The End)