Cara



(Ep 70 - "The Lake")

(Wayne and Wart have abandoned Kevin and Paul at the drive-in showing "Planet of the Apes". They see a girl they had seen earlier. Kevin wants to talk to her.)
OK...All I needed was a snappy opening.
You, uh...got another cigarette?
Sorry. Bummed this one myself.
Oh.
You can have a drag on mine if you want.
(She holds out the cigarette for Kevin. Paul watches Kevin take the cigarette. Cara sits up, and looks at the movie. Paul watches as Kevin takes a puff.)
My goal was to appear like I'd been doing this my whole life. (Kevin hands the cigarette back. Kevin exhales and coughs. Paul grimaces and fans the smoke. Cara looks at Kevin.)
You don't smoke, do you?
Oh, uh, sometimes. (Nods.)
You shouldn't. (Smiles.) It doesn't flatter you.
Oh?...What about you?
(Cara looks off.)
I shouldn't either.
The thing is, for some reason...I couldn't breathe.
So...where're you from?
Here.
Where, the drive-in?
(Smiles.) About a half-mile from here.
I'm Kevin.
(Paul nudges Kevin expectantly.)
...and...this is Paul. (Gestures.)
Hi. (Waves.)
Hey. Cara. (Smiles.)
(V/O): Hey, Cara!
(Billy walks up to the truck.)
You wanna hang out, or you want to go?
Whatever.
(Cara looks at Kevin.)
I think my brother wants to split.
Well, it was nice talking to you, Cara. (Nods.)
Yeah.
And maybe we'll see you around. (Gestures.)
Yeah. Maybe.
And that was it. Except, that in that brief wrinkle of time, I knew beyond a doubt...
(Kevin walks away toward the camera.)
That something had happened...something big.
(Cara stands up in the back of the truck looking toward Kevin.)
Hey!
(Kevin turns around.)
If you're around tomorrow night...I'll be here.
(Kevin smiles.)
I guess she knew it, too.
(The truck drives off past Kevin. He turns and watches Cara leave.)
*
(Next day at the lake.)
No matter how I tried, I couldn't get that girl off my mind.
We're going back tonight.
What? You don't think I'm actually gonna go back there, do you?
Come on...(gestures)...we'll all hang out!
Yeah, right.
Maybe she has a friend. (Smiles.)
A friend?
Sure, it was underhanded.
(Kevin smiles.)
But absolutely necessary.
(Cut to the drive-in at dusk. Cara as she slides off the hood of the pickup truck.)
Considering the circumstances.
Hey! (Smiles.)
Hi, Cara! (Waves.)
How's it going?
Awright. Uh....
(She gestures behind her.)
My brother and a bunch of us were thinking about going down to the lake...to hang out.
(Cara raises her eye-brows.)
You want to come?
Sure, sounds great! (Smiles.)
(Cara smiles.)
Ahem!
(Paul nudges Kevin.)
Oh. You think you have a...a friend or someone who maybe wants to come along?
(Cara looks off in thought.)
Yeah. (Frowns.) Maybe...Lori!
Lori? That's great! (Smiles.)
(Cut to the snack bar. Shot of Lori - a plump, made up, blonde, gum-smacking girl looking at Cara.)
Sure. Love to go.
Fantastic! (Smiles.)
Meet ya out back. (Smiles.)
If I can just grab my associate for one quick second here.
(Paul tugs Kevin's sleeve. Kevin smiles at the girls. They start walking a few steps away.)
So, what do you think?
I'm not going! No way on Earth. Kev - I'm your best friend. I'll do anything you want me to do. But please, don't ask me to do this for you.
It was the heartfelt cry of a dear and trusted friend. So really, I had no choice.
(Cut to the drive in lot. Kevin and Cara are sitting in the back of the pickup truck.)
Seeya! (Gestures.)
G'night, Paul.
(The truck starts to drive off.)
It was true I hardly knew these kids, and I'd just met this girl. And I had no idea where I was going. Seemed to me, that was exactly the point.
(Fade to night at the lake. Kevin and Cara sit on the truck hood, leaning against the windshield. Lights are on boatdocks in the background.)
Nice night.
Yeah.
That night I felt a million miles from everything else I'd known before.
I'm starting high school in the fall.
Me too.
Stinks.
Yeah.
Maybe things'll pick up when I get my license.
That's what I'm hoping - a little mobility. (Smiles.) You should come up and visit me.
I'd like that. (Smiles.)
The thing is, even though I'd just met this woman, I felt like I'd known her my whole life.
(V/O, in the distance.): Hey, Cara! You want to go, or hang out awhile?
(Loudly.): Leave us alone, Billy!
(Cara looks down. Kevin turns around in mild surprise, then relaxes.)
He watches out for you, huh?
The guys around here are idiots, you know?
Yeah.
And the summer guys...they're pretty much to stay away from.
Oh...
(Kevin looks off. Cara sits up to get a cigarette from her jeans jacket. Kevin sits up with his elbow on his knee, and looks down. Cara looks at Kevin.)
My brother hates that I smoke.
Do your parents know?
(She shakes her head faintly and looks off.)
Sometimes it's like they're speaking a different language. You know?
Yeah...(Smiles.) I know.
We were so much like each other. I could feel myself missing her, even while I was with her.
I'm not supposed to trust you, you know...
So...do you?
Yeah.
Lemme.
(Kevin takes the lighter, then leans in and kisses Cara. She looks at him a second.)
I thought you were gonna light my cigarette.
(They look at each other a second. Kevin looks relieved. Cara smiles again. She bends down as they light her cigarette. They look at each other a moment. Then Cara lies back against the windshield. Music "So Happy Together" - The Turtles starts.)
Nice night.
(Kevin leans back.)
Yeah.
"Imagine me and you, I do"
"I think about you day and night"
And it was.
(Cut to next day at the lake. Jack and Kevin walk away from the camera toward the lake.)
"It's only right"
(Jack is loaded up with hip boots, nets and pails, and is whistling.)
The next day, I tried to be a good son to my dad. To my family.
"So happy together"
Hey, Kevin!
(Jack and Kevin turn toward her voice. Cara is standing in front of the truck, dressed in a red top, cut-offs, and hiking boots. Jack looks at Kevin. Kevin looks at Jack, then toward Cara.)
"If I should call you up, invest a dime"
But somehow, something kept calling me away.
(Kevin looks at Jack.)
"And you say you belong to me"
I gotta go, Dad.
(Kevin tries handing his fishing pole to Jack, who is puzzled, and leans it against him instead.)
"And ease my mind"
(Kevin runs up past the camera to Cara.)
"Imagine how the world could be"
"So very fine"
(Jack looks on, starts to say something, but stops in futility.)
"So happy together"
(Fade to a rural road. Kevin and Cara are riding in the back of the pickup, engaged in casual conversation.)
"I can't see me loving nobody but you"
Cara and I had found something no two people had ever found before.
(They snuggle a little closer, and Kevin puts his arm around her.)
Each other.
"For all my life"
"When you're with me, baby, the skies will be blue"
"For all my life"
(Fade to long shot past cat-tails of Kevin and Cara standing on a dock in the distance. Two people and a dog are swimming nearby.)
"Me and you"
We talked about everything.
"And you and me"
Almost everything.
"No matter how they tossed the dice"
(Cara looks toward Kevin, who is looking toward the water.)
"It had to be"
Will I see you tomorrow night?
Sure!
(He looks at her and smiles. They look toward the water and throw stones.)
"The only one for me is you"
(Kevin looks at Cara.)
"And you for me"
Of course. (Nods.)
"So happy together"
(He looks down at her hand and takes it.)
"So happy together"
(They swing their joined hands.)
Trouble was, I was running out of nights - and fast.
"And how is the weather?"
*
(Kevin has left his family at dinner, over Jack's objection, to be with Cara. They are sitting in the front of the truck, facing away from the movie-screen. The movie screen fills the background, and the truck fills the foreground. Charlton Heston's character and the woman, Nova, have just gotten on the horse on the beach. "Jamaica, Say You Will" starts to play on truck radio.)
That night, huddled in that cab, we put the whole world behind us.
(Kevin has his arm around Cara's shoulder. Cara leans forward and adjusts the radio.)
I didn't know what would happen when I got home. It didn't matter.
"Jamaica was the lovely one I played her well"
You like this?
Sure...
"As we lay in the tall grass where the shadows fell"
(Cara snuggles closer.)
Whatever. (Smiles.)
I had to be with Cara. I had to hold her.
"Hiding from the children so they would not tell"
(Kevin looks forward uncomfortably.)
I just couldn't bring myself to tell her...
(Kevin glances at Cara, then off.)
I was leaving.
So. What do you want to do tonight?
"We would stay there till her sister rang the evening bell"
"Jamaica, say you will"
(Cara looks up at him, then looks forward again. Kevin glances at her, then looks off.)
You're leaving, aren't you?
"Help me find"
Yeah.
"A way to fill"
(Kevin looks down. Cara sits up and Kevin pulls his arm back. She looks forward, and Kevin looks at her.)
"These empty hours"
That's too bad.
"And say you will"
I'll miss you.
"Come again tomorrow"
(Kevin looks over her face and frowns.)
What's wrong?
"The daughter of a captain on the rolling seas"
Nothing's wrong.
(She shakes her head faintly.)
"She would stare across the water from the trees"
I'll miss you too.
Look...
"Last time he was home he held her on his knees"
(Kevin glances off, then looks back to Cara and smiles.)
We can still see each other. I mean...I get my license in a few months, I could...you know...(gestures)...drive up.
"And said next time they would sail away"
(Unconvinced): Yeah.
"Just where they pleased"
On weekends. (Smiles.)
Yeah...
(Cara looks off.)
"Jamaica, say you will"
I think I gotta hang out with my brother tonight.
"Help me find"
I was losing her. I guess I knew I had to, but...
Don't be like that! (Frowns.)
"A way to fill"
(Cara still looks off.)
"These lifeless sails"
Sorry.
(Kevin moves in a little closer, earnestly.)
"And stay until"
Look, I wanna stay. You know that.
"My ships can find the sea"
You've gotta know that, more than anything!
(Cara continues to look off, as Kevin looks at her.)
But there was nothing more I could say, except...
I'm sorry.
(Cara turns toward Kevin. A tear rolls down her cheek.)
I'm not.
(They look at each other a few moments.)
"Jamaica was a sweet one"
(Cara looks down and takes his hand.)
"I loved her true"
(Kevin looks down, then at Cara. She puts his hand on her heart.)
"She was a comfort and a mercy through and through"
(They look at each other for a long time as she gently strokes his hand.)
"Hiding from this world together, next thing I knew"
"We'd brought her things down to the bay - what could I do"
"Jamaica, say you will"
"Help me find a way"
(Kevin slowly moves in and kisses her.)
"To fill these sails"
(Shot of the truck and movie-screen. The camera slowly pulls up and back as they continue to kiss. On the screen is the expansive beach and ocean. The couple on horseback ride along the beach.)
"And we'll stay until"
I wanted to stay there...in that night.
"Our waters have run dry"
More than anything I'd wanted before. But I knew I couldn't. I was fifteen.
"Jamaica, say you will"
I slept under a roof my father owned, in a bed my father bought.
"Help me find a way"
Nothing was mine. Except my heart. And my fears.
"To fill these sails"
And my growing knowledge...
"And we'll sail until"
That not every road was going to lead home, anymore.
"Our waters have run dry"

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(Ep 92 - "Back to the Lake")

(Norma is directing Kevin's house-cleaning.)
I'd been sentenced to June in hell - two months of hard labor, heavy lifting, chores.
(He opens shoebox of old letters and notes, and tosses some onto the bed.)
It didn't seem fair. It's not that I minded work. I just couldn't shake the feeling that out there...the world was full of adventure...romance.
(Kevin looks at a greeting card. "Merry Christmas. Wish you were here. Cara.")
Memories!
(Sounds of crickets and music.)
Cara!
(Norma knocks, and whisks in with laundry. Music grinds down.)
I want you take Wayne's sheets to the laundry room.
(Norma hurries out. Kevin looks at the sheets and recoils.)
Wayne's sheets?!
OK. Enough was enough.

*
(Kevin has gotten a job with Paul at Chong's Chinese - chopping onions. Winnie has a waitress job. Kevin is moping in his room.)
Things had gone from bad to worse. My best friend was a jerk...
(He picks up papers and notes.)
My best girl was on a career track. And the only person who understood me...
(Kevin opens Cara's card again - crickets and music.)
Seemed a million miles away.
*
(Kevin has taken Paul with him to the lake, to look for Cara.)
After half a day of scouring the territory, we reached a dead-end. Not a sign of her anywhere. My plan to bust out had turned into a bust. And now, there was nothing to look forward to, but...
(Kevin spots Cara outside the store.)
True love.
(Paul is in a phone booth talking to Mr. Chong as Kevin walks toward the store.)
Yessir, we're on our way home now.
(Kevin starts to go up the stairs.)
Kevin! Where are you going?
Nowhere.
Kevin? Kevin!
But from now on, there was no going back.
Hi. (Smiles.)
It was a moment worthy of great poets.
What are you doing here? (Smiles.)
Well, you know I was just, uh...I was... - Actually, I came to see you.
(Cara looks down.)
Oh.
I missed you. (Smiles.)
(Cara takes a long look at him.)
Yeah. (Nods.) I missed you too.
Bingo!
So...you think...maybe you could get off in a little while?
It seemed like my whole world was riding on what she said next.
I'll see what I can do. (Nods.)
Great. (Smiles.)
(Fade to evening. The three of them are in the car, on the road.)
That evening, driving through the dark, surrounded by the sounds of summer night, I was certain I'd found what I'd been looking for. Sure...Cara and I hadn't seen each other for eight months, but somehow, I sensed everything was right.
(Fade to lakeside. Kevin and Cara are sitting on an over-turned canoe, looking forward.)
It was - perfect. The night, the stars.
Look how clear the sky is.
Yeah.
Summer is great, isn't it?
I guess.
It was like nothing had changed.
(Cara turns to Kevin.)
Well, almost nothing.
Did you get my Christmas card?
Oh, sure - yeah!
You didn't write me back.
Well...you know...
(Kevin looks off, a little embarrassed.)
I'm not much of a...writer - but I thought about you a lot. (Smiles.)
Kevin...(Pause.) Why are you here?
I told you! (Softer): I drove all the way up here to be with you.
My God - didn't she understand?
You wanted to see me, didn't you?
Yeah. It was just kind of a surprise. I mean, its been a long time.
And the way she said that, the sound of her voice, the look in her eyes...I guess I knew what had to happen next.
(Kevin leans in to kiss Cara. Cara puts her hand up.)
Wait.
What's wrong?
I better go home.
(She stands up, and Kevin stands up in front of her.)
What? (Gestures.) Why?
I don't know - I have to work tomorrow.
Well, alright, then I'll drive you home.
No. I'd rather walk. (Exits.)
Cara, wait. (Gestures.) Cara!
*
(At the gas-station the next morning.)
The next morning I had made up my mind about two things. One...I was never gonna to spend another night in an Oldsmobile...
(A pickup truck drops off Cara across the street. Kevin looks toward her.)
And two.
(Cara stands at the side of the road looking toward Kevin.)
Somehow, I was gonna have to make this right.
(Cara walks across the street a little apprehensively. Kevin hangs up the pump. Cara approaches him.)
Hey.
Hi.
Listen. I'm sorry about last night. About not writing...about...coming up here and...
Yeah, well, about that...
Let me finish.
It was time to tell her. I had a life, a job...I had a girlfriend...
See, Cara -
Kevin, I have a boyfriend.
What? (Frowns.)
We've been going out since February. I should have told you last night. I'm sorry.
(Kevin pauses and looks down, then back to Cara.)
Well, that's great! (Smiles.)
You think?
(Sincerely) Yeah. I really do.
(Cara walks up to Kevin and kisses him on the cheek, then hurries past him. He looks after her.)
I mean, who was I to stand in the way of true love?
(Cara turns at bottom of the steps.)
Hey.
(She pauses, then smiles slightly and nods.)
Send me a Christmas card?
I will. (Smiles.)
(She smiles as they look at each other a few moments.)
But I didn't. After all, when you're sixteen, eight months is a lifetime. And time had moved on...
(Cara smiles at him, then turns.)
For both of us.
(She goes up the steps.)

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11/13/14 17:16