Read Dreamsongs - Volume II for Free Online

apocryphal, but the role the yellow press played in
whipping up war fervor was beyond dispute.
     
    A sullen dark-haired student with the look
of a jock interrupts the lecture before Jeff can proceed.
     
    JOCK
     
    At least they were
on our side.
     
    Jeff stops, looks at him, sits on the edge
of his desk.
     
    JEFF
     
    You have a point to
make, Mueller?
     
    JOCK
     
    (points at board)
    These
guys, at least they were behind our boys. The real yellow journalists were the
ones who ran down everything we did in Nam.
     
    JEFF
     
    (drily)
    Not every war can
be as box office as Hearst’s little shoot-em-up, I guess.
     
    JOCK
     
    Yeah, well at least
we won that one. We could have won in Nam too.
     
    JEFF
     
    I
wouldn’t go that far, Mueller. You need to spend more time with your text and
less with Rambo.
     
    The class breaks into laughter, but the
jock looks angry. Before Jeff can resume his lecture, the class bell RINGS. The
students begin to rise, gather up their books, etc.
     
    JEFF
     
    Remember, chapter
twelve of Emery is due by next week.
     
    He puts down the chalk and begins to clear
his papers into a briefcase as the students file out. The jock lingers until he
and Jeff are alone. He steps up to the desk. Physically he is bigger than Jeff,
who closes the briefcase and looks up at him.
     
    JOCK
     
    So where were you during
Nam, Mister McDowell?
     
    The two men lock eyes for a long, solid
beat. It is Jeff who breaks and looks away first, his eyes averted as he
replies.
     
    JEFF
     
    (brusquely)
    I was in school.
Not that it’s any of your business.
     
    He brushes past, walking a little faster
than necessary, while the jock watches him go.
     
    CUT TO
    EXT. - DAYCARE PARKING LOT - DAY
     
    Denise and Megan emerge from a Day Care
Center, and cross the parking lot to her Volvo. Denise, on her way home from
work, is dressed in a chic tailored suit, carrying a briefcase. As she unlocks
the car, we HEAR the sound of a wheelchair.
     
    ANGLE OVER VET’S SHOULDER AT DENISE
     
    In f.g., we see a man’s shoulder and the
back of his head. Denise backs out of the parking spot, turns toward the
camera.
     
    ANGLE ON CAR
     
    As it passes we get a quick glimpse of a
legless man in a wheelchair (THE VET) turning to follow it with his eyes. He is
long-haired, bearded, his trousers pinned up at mid-thigh, wearing a shapeless
olive drab jacket without badges. We should not see his face clearly.
     
    CLOSE ON MEGAN
     
    staring out the car window, she SEES the
Vet, follows him with her eyes until they turn a corner.
     
    TIME CUT TO
    EXT. - MCDOWELL HOUSE - EVENING
     
    Denise pulls up and parks the Volvo in the
driveway, behind Jeff’s modest Datsun. The house is a two-story suburban tract
home; pleasant, respectable, in a decent neighborhood, but nothing too large or
expensive. A comfortable middle-class sort of house.
     
    CUT TO
    INT. - KITCHEN
     
    Denise & Megan enter, to find Jeff
tossing a salad. A small TV set sits on the counter, and Jeff watches the news
from the corner of his eye. The newscaster is reading a story about El
Salvador. An open bottle of wine and half-empty glass are close at hand. Jeff
turns when they enter.
     
    JEFF
     
    Roast beef, baked potatoes,
tossed salad, and wine,
    (kisses Megan)
    Except for you. You
get milk,
    (to Denise)
    So how does that
sound?
     
    DENISE
     
    Like paradise
regained,
    (to Megan)
    Go wash up, honey.
     
    Megan rushes off upstairs.
     
    DENISE
     
    So what’s wrong?
     
    JEFF
     
    Wrong? What makes
you think something’s wrong?
     
    Denise gives him a rueful smile, picks up
the wine bottle, sloshes it thoughtfully.
     
    DENISE
     
    Clues,
Sherlock. The last time you served wine was the day your car got banged up in
the school lot. What is it this time?
     
    Jeff looks as though he’s going to deny it,
then stops, shrugs. She knows him too well.
     
    JEFF
     
    This morning in
class, a student asked me where I was during Vietnam,
    (beat, grimace)
    I told him I was