T O H I S M E M O R Y

written byMoses Hershberger

MUSIC ON: “Take Me Home Country Roads” by Toots and the Maytals.

FADE IN:

EXT. CALIFORNIA BEACH, BONFIRE - NIGHT

The song is playing from someone’s phone, hence the quality. We find four friends sitting down around a bonfire, drinking beer and dressed in nice Sunday clothes. There’s JEFF: (20s, messy sun-scorched hair). SAM: (20s; face is covered black horn-rimmed glasses). MATTY: (20s; big, burly frat-boy type of guy). And there’s ALAN: (20s, there’s nothing too unique about him. Except that he uses animated hand gestures). We’re in the middle of his story.

ALANHunter made an ass of himself. So this chick has been “supposedly” according to him, been eyeing him the whole night. He keeps telling me, “Dude, that girl just can’t stop! Woo! She can’t stop looking at me!! Feck yea, bruh!”

The guys laugh at his childish impersonation.

SAMDude! I remember that!

JEFFI can’t believe he did that!

ALANNo, wait! Hold on! So this goes on for like eight minutes and there’s a big guy who keeps, like, bumping up against her. It kind of looked like he was bothering her. Anyway, so Hunter builds his momentum to go over and talk to this girl. And he walks over to the bar, bobs his head like this and starts talking to her. She is just looking at him like, “Who is this ginger prick?” He says something to her, and then she like, I don’t know, tells him to fuck off, because Hunter walks back ashamed, and his tail between his legs.

(MORE)

ALAN (CONT’D)So I asked what happened and he goes, “Oh, I just told her, ‘Yeah, that guy was kind of asking for it because it looked like he was bothering you and I could tell you were bothered.’ And she said--" oh shit! You gonna- listen to this, she says, “Uh, yeah he has a right to bother me. He’s my husband!” HAHA!

The boys burst out laughing. They know this is a thing Hunter would do, but for us, we just enjoy them laughing it up.

ALANIt like completely shattered him! Like fucked his swag or whatever! Oh, God! Is this speaking ill of him or what?

SAMNah, dude. It’s all good.

MATTYA little bit. Even though I feel kinda bad and might go to hell for this, but he was such a prick.

JEFFI told you the one time he hit on Lindsey, right?

MATTYOh, yeah! That was a cock move on him.

ALANHe was really a nice guy and all, but down the line he got all needy and just acted like a total bitch.

MATTYDude, he asked me, one time if he could borrow five bucks for gas! Like, what the hell is five bucks of gas gonna do? Come on!

JEFFI think I was there for that.

ALANWhere?

JEFFWhen Hunter asked you if he could borrow five dollars for gas and--

SAMGod. I felt so embarrassed for him.

JEFFAnd I remember thinking to myself, “You asshole! You’re driving an FJ Cruiser. Calm the hell down.” God.

MATTY(laughs)

Every time we parked, he’d put a wheel lock on it on the steering wheel--

ALANWhat?!

MATTYYeah, in little Thousand Oaks and I was, “Man, I really don’t think you need it.”

JEFFNot in Thousand Oaks.

SAMYeah. Not there.

ALANLike, what’s gonna happen? I mean, what the fuck is gonna happen?

MATTYAnd then one time, Zac had asked me if, because we were going to Staples Center.

(MORE)

MATTY (CONT’D)And he was driving his dad’s Jeep. So Zac asked, “It’s my dad’s jeep and I don’t want to leave it here and people see it parked here.” so, I’m like, okay. Whatever. So I’ll ask Hunter if we can use his steering wheel lock.

SAMOh, God.

MATTYAnd then I asked him and he’s looking at me and the expression on his face he gave me was like, “You fucking asshole! What person asks that?!” So, I’m like, I don’t know, man. I just need it for night. I mean, do you use all the time you park?” And he’s like, Yeah!?

ALAN(mocking Hunter)

Yeah!

MATTYSo, you know. Oh, God.

ALANRemember that thing: What?!

(nods his head awkwardly)

MATTYYeah! What?!

JEFFWhat?!

SAMYeah. I remember that.

ALANYeah.

They sit in silence, like they have nothing else to say.

JEFF(to Alan)

What time are we supposed to be there?

ALANI think they said we should be there by 10.

MATTYWho?

JEFFRebecca and Sara. You know... the couple.

MATTYOh, the two--

JEFFYeah. This is the Sara; the same girl that Hunter tried to get with and fucking failed miserably.

MATTY(laughing)

Haha! He failed!

SAMOh, shit. Don’t bring that up.

JEFFShe probably ended up a lesbian because of Hunter. That’s--

(laughs)

ALANOh, man!

MATTYJesus!

JEFFOkay. That was a little harsh. But I’m just saying. He did.

As the laughing settles down, there’s a long pause.

ALANFeckin’ Hunter.

SAMFeckin’ Hunter.

MATTYYou know where that came from?

ALANWhat?

MATTY“Feck yea!”

ALANThat was Hunter’s thing.

MATTYNo.

SAMNo, that’s your thing.

MATTYHe did it, but I used to make fun of this kid, no, it wasn’t making fun of him but it was, like, how he said stuff. It was Chase Bradley. And he’d be, like, “Dude, I got fecked last nah-ght.”

The boys laugh at Matty’s impression.

MATTYSo I just made fun of him for it. And every time I’d see him, I’d be like, “What the feck, man!” and then Hunter took that and made it really weird.

JEFFHe took it way too far.

MATTYYeah. He said it all the time.

The boys acknowledge each other and it goes quiet again. As if entranced by the fire, they each stare at it, captivated and not saying anything. By their looks, it says everything. They miss their friend.

ALANI thought today went pretty well.

JEFFYeah. It did.

ALANI mean, as far as funerals go, it wasn’t bad.

SAMYeah.

MATTYIt was a lot of people.

ALANYeah.

JEFFI liked what his Uncle Jesse said.

MATTYOh, about the deer story?

JEFFI really liked that. No. The sailor at the dock and was waiting for his dog. I just remember what he said.

(pause)“Most people leave without saying goodbye. A few get to say goodbye without leaving.” I don’t know...

Long pause.

MATTYIt is weird that I didn’t cry?

JEFFI didn’t.

ALANI cried a little.

JEFFYou did?

ALANYeah. But because Hunter’s sister, Ashley was right next to me, yeah, I couldn’t help it.

MATTYDude, that was really fucking sad.

ALANYeah.

SAMGoing back to what Jeff said, about the goodbye and all; that’s really the worse part. Like, for me, right know, it’s still really, kind of...

(pause; laughs)Honestly, if you think about it, it doesn’t matter anymore. I mean, yes it kind of does right now, but it’s just... we go away and that’s okay.

(pause)Doesn’t seem like it right now ‘cos we don’t want to think about it. We don’t want to talk about it because sure, why do that to yourself? It’s a waste of time doing that than the “doing it” part. And once that road is ready to be crossed, and there’s nothing more up ahead... doing this means... it’s way better than okay. I realize how reprehensibly cheesy, how inexcusably pretentious and how exaggerated that really sounds, but they left us with all these moments and experiences so that we could do this. Truly, I don’t think anyone could ask for anything more. Truly.

Long pause.

ALANLike, when you were around him and then talked about him, it was just normal. Like, you didn’t even have to think about it. Seeing him that way... it didn’t feel right. Well, you know, obviously. But still...

Long pause. It becomes apparently, the night has gone stale and it’s time to head on out and not overdue this moment.

MATTYWell. You guys ready to go?

JEFFYep.

ALANM’kay.

Matty, Jeff and Alan stand up and start packing up their stuff. Sam, however, doesn’t get up. He just looks at them. Why? As they finish up, Matty, Jeff and Alan grabs their beer bottles.

JEFFWell. Let’s do this. Matty.

For Matty, this is him stepping up to the plate. It’s an honor.

MATTYI’ll keep it brief, ‘cos honestly, what else is there left to say and it’s fuckin’ In-N-Out, so let’s go and end this. Hunter Dowdy. He was the quintessence, the most perfect example of who and what an asshole truly is. When you’re that kind of person, you tend to stay away from them. But no. Not you. You brought us into your overwhelming abyss of a world, in which a friendship was born with the three men that stand here. We’ve endured and strived in this goddamn corner you pushed us in. We did what we could... but to no avail, we were there and stuck.

(MORE)

MATTY (CONT’D)But, brother, because you are our one and only brother, despite all this prattling I’m going on about and more, you were a true friend.

(pause)Yes, he was indeed. And now, if I may quote Whitman, ‘cos what kind of a farewell would it be without quoting a college required poet?!

(pause)“Afoot and light-hearted I take to the Open road... Henceforth I ask not good-Fortune, I myself am good-fortune, Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no More, need nothing...I believe you are not all that is here,I believe that much unseen is also here.”

(pause)And thus, Brother Hunter, while it doesn’t make any sense, considering how much of a disaster you were to us, you gave us all seven wonderful years to know you. With that said, we simply say: thanks. To Hunter!!!

ALL OF THEMTo Hunter!

They down their drinks and throw the bottles in the fire. Matty, Alan and Jeff start leaving. Sam doesn’t get up. Instead, he watches them leave. Then... smiling, Sam waves good-bye to them.

SAMThank you, boys. Thank you.

And then suddenly, Sam fades into thin air. Yes. We come to realize who truly that was. The fire keeps burning, alone.

Think where man's glory mostBegins and ends. And say myGlory was I had such friends.

- W.B. Yeats

FADE TO BLACK:

T H E E N D

He was so awkward about it. You could just tell he was just so pissed.

Yeah, no it’s cool, it’s uh, what?!

I could just spend so much time about that asshole and--

Yeah, if it was, like, for a road trip, then I would obviously pitch in. But from here to eight miles, hell no.

ALANAlso, that time he wanted us to go and pick him up--

JEFFDude, he made such a big deal about that. He was pleading a case!

ALANWhy would we drive all the way to Santa Monica, pick him up and then drive all the way back here, and then back to drop him off?

JEFFIt was that time! Remember he told me, “Hey, do you think we can take your car? Been driving all day and put too many miles on it.”What an asshole!

INT. CLARK’S CAR – NIGHT (LATER)

http://vk.com/video191740236_163833175

tracking #: 15-4037-SH

Fuck, man.

In Bruges scene where Ray and Ken are talking about being good men.

Insert

Hey! I’m back!

Dude? How long did it take you to find your jacket?! We’re about to head out to In-N-Out.

sdgsdgs

What was that place we were gonna go two semesters ago when we were in Marina Levina’s Dracula class?

What place?

The bar, man. right by the campus.

What’s up man? Nothing much. We’re just broing out tonight.

Dude. You remember what Noah Mason would do in Ms. Ray’s class? Like, every time it got quiet, he’d just say out loud, “Huh?!”

Oh, yeah!!

And then right after that, I’d make turkey noises, like, right in front of her. And she always blamed it on Ricky.

She HATED Ricky.

always

Yeah. but it’s too much of a hassle to be thinking about.

Make turkey noises

I remember when, I don’t know if it was you Sam, but one of you made me laugh so hard she was like, “Why are you laughing?” And I’d say it was nothing and then she would turn to you guys and ask why they were laughing and they said because he’s laughing so they totally threw me under the bus.