Dear John (6 page)

Tonight you’re here with me.

96       
OMIT

97       
EXT. MR. TYREE’S HOUSE
-- DAY

He opens the front door to reveal Savannah, carrying a pie.

SAVANNAH’S VOICE

I visited your Dad yesterday.

Summer’s almost over, and I wanted to see him before I went back to school again. I hope that’s okay.

98       
INT. MR. TYREE’S HOUSE
-- DINING ROOM -- DAY

Mr. Tyree sets two places.

SAVANNAH’S VOICE

He made me dinner -- it was Sunday, so we had lasagna -- and I got him talking about his coins, so we had plenty of conversation.

99       
INT. MR. TYREE’S HOUSE
-- DEN -- DAY

Mr. Tyree takes Savannah on another tour of his collection.

MR. TYREE

This one’s kind of a cull, so you have to look really close to see the double indentation. But it’s there.

SAVANNAH

A cull?

MR. TYREE

Yeah, it’s what we call the ones in really bad shape. Coins are normally graded on a scale from 0 to 70, but culls are below zero, the bottom of the barrel. They’re basically worthless to collectors.

SAVANNAH

But not to you?

MR. TYREE

No. Not to me.

SAVANNAH

Do you have a favorite? Out of your whole collection, is there one that’s your absolute favorite?

MR. TYREE

(without much hesitation)

                  The '78 Jefferson mule. Definitely.

He opens his desk door, carefully removes the glass encased nickel (though it looks more like a nickel), shows it off.

SAVANNAH

Why this one? Is it worth the most?

MR. TYREE

It’s worth a lot. Not the most.

SAVANNAH

Must be a good story behind it, huh?

Mr. Tyree shrugs, his face drawn.

MR. TYREE

Not really my story to tell.

SAVANNAH

Well... whose story is it then?

100       
EXT. COBBLESTONE STREET
-- DAY

John sits on the open back of a Humvee with his team, finishing up Savannah’s letter.

SAVANNAH’S VOICE

So I'll ask you instead, John, wherever you may be...

The last words on the page are:
What’s the story?
John grimaces. Looks around at his surroundings.

JOHN’S VOICE

Dear Savannah. Only because I promised to tell you everything.

101       
EXT. BEACH ROAD
-- FLASHBACK -- DAY

YOUNG JOHN hurries over to an ICE CREAM TRUCK, buys a cone. The MAN BEHIND IN THE TRUCK hands John his change.

JOHN’S VOICE

When I was seven years old, I bought an ice cream cone.

102       
EXT. FURTHER DOWN BEACH ROAD
-- DAY

John walks home, tossing some pennies in the water.

JOHN’S VOICE

On my way home, I noticed one of the pennies -- wasn’t actually a penny.

He’s about to throw one when he stops, takes a second look.

103       
INT. MR. TYREE’S HOUSE
-- DAY

Mr. Tyree holds the penny up to the light. He is perplexed.

104       
INT. FLEA MARKET
-- DAY

A COIN DEALER holds the penny under a magnifying glass now.

Through the glass (although John and his father can’t see this) the Dealer’s eye WIDENS. But when he looks up at them, his expression is normal -- bored even.

COIN DEALER

It’s a mule.

(off their blank stares)

A mule. An error coin. Every now and then they make a mistake, a batch accidentally slips through. This one, head’s a nickel, tail’s a penny.

Thing’s a mule. They’re really more of a novelty than anything else.

JOHN’S VOICE

Remember the horse sense you were talking about?

COIN DEALER

Tell you what. Since the kid found it, I’ll buy it anyway. 20 bucks.

He winks at John, who’s thrilled. But Mr. Tyree isn’t.

MR. TYREE

No thank you.

He abruptly walks away. John’s bummed -- he was already spending that twenty bucks in his head. The Dealer CALLS after them... but Mr. Tyree does not turn around.

JOHN’S VOICE

Well my Dad has it too.

105       
INT. FRIENDLY COIN SHOP
-- DAY

A SECOND DEALER’s eye widens under his own magnifying glass.

SECOND DEALER

I’ll be damned... you know what this is? You know how much this is worth?

Mr. Tyree and John shake their heads. The Second Dealer digs through a pile nearby (there are piles of everything stacked everywhere), finally finds what he’s looking for.

It’s a clipped magazine article called THE FOUR THOUSAND DOLLAR MULE with a picture of their exact same coin. Now it’s John’s turn for his EYES TO WIDEN.

SECOND DEALER

Listen, I’ll give you the full four grand for that thing right now. But--you want some advice? Dad to Dad?

(off Mr. Tyree’s silence)

Keep it. Just hold on to it. Pass it down to your son, have your son pass it down to his son, and forty, fifty, one hundred years from now...You’ll have something worth much more than four grand, I promise you.

Mr. Tyree considers him. Then looks down at John deferentially, lets him know -- this one’s up to you.

John pauses... and then he grins back at his Dad.

106       
INT. COIN SHOW
-- DAY

Rows and rows of dealers. John and Mr. Tyree scour them all.

JOHN’S VOICE

At first I loved it, chasing after these mules with my father. We finally had something to talk about, something we could do together.

107       
INT. DIFFERENT COIN SHOW
-- DAY

Mr. Tyree focuses on a new glass-encased mule. He’s older now, with less hair, more wrinkles, and the same gleam in his eye.

JOHN’S VOICE

But he became obsessed with them.

You know how he is.

The DEALER gives him the coin. Mr. Tyree carefully flips it over in his hands, inspects it closely. Finally he turns to show it to John -- who’s suddenly nowhere to be found.

JOHN’S VOICE

Then I became a teenager. And you know how I am.

108       
INT. MR. TYREE’S HOUSE
-- KITCHEN -- DAY

EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD JOHN opens an OLD GREEN REFRIGERATOR and drinks some milk out of the gallon.

JOHN

I’m not driving all the way up to Wooster for another goddamn coin show, Dad. Jesus.

Mr. Tyree stands silently at the doorway, his coat already on.

JOHN

You spend all our money on those stupid coins. How about you buy a fridge that works, for chrissakes.

John shuts the fridge, walks past him into the living room, and doesn’t see the hurt that creases his father’s face.

109       
INT. MR. TYREE’S HOUSE
-- DEN -- DAY

Mr. Tyree sequesters himself away with his growing collection.

JOHN’S VOICE

Eventually, he stopped talking about coins with me altogether.

The front door OPENS. Mr. Tyree turns hopefully...

JOHN’S VOICE

And when that happened, we found there just wasn’t all that much left to talk about.

...but then he hears John walk into his bedroom and SHUT THE DOOR. Mr. Tyree looks down at their ‘78 Jefferson nickel mule.

JOHN’S VOICE

So that’s the story. I miss you so much it hurts.

110       
EXT. COLLEGE CAMPUS
-- PRESENT DAY

It is morning, and the campus is still sleepy. Savannah walks down the steps, reading John’s letter --

-- when she’s bumped by a frantic student. She looks up, sees a bunch of other students on their cell phones, concerned and confused. Something is wrong.

111       
EXT/INT LOCAL CAFE
-- EASTERN EUROPE -- DAY

Ten time zones to the east, John’s late for dinner. He pushes open a door, walks into their makeshift mess hall...

...but no one’s eating. They’re all gathered around a small TV here, too. John heads over to take a peek. He’s confused at first, not understanding what he’s looking at.

JOHN

What is that? Is that the Empire State Building?

STARKS

No, Tyree. That’s the World Trade Center.

112       
INT. HANGAR
-- STUTTGART, GERMANY -- DAY

John and his team load packing gear and tents onto pallets.

FALL 2001

CAPTAIN STONE

Alright, fellas, here’s the deal...

To John’s left, Daniels stands at attention, interrupting.

DANIELS

Requesting permission to reenlist, sir.

John looks up, startled. Stone just grimaces.

CAPTAIN STONE

Jesus. Settle down, Daniels -- you’re not even up for it for another, what, eight months?

DANIELS

Doesn’t matter, sir. Requesting permission to reenlist right now, sir.

Behind John, Rooster stands at attention, too.

ROOSTER

Requesting permission to reenlist as well, sir.

CAPTAIN STONE

You guys know you don’t actually need my permission, right?

But Noodles immediately stands at attention on John’s right.

NOODLES

Requesting permission to reenlist as well, sir.

Stone sighs. Understands the gesture. And so John stares down at the floor, jaw set, as one after another, his entire team volunteers to reenlist.

Finally, John is the last holdout. Noodles turns, looks over at him, waiting for him to stand up, too.

The others start to look over at him as well. But before John can react, Captain Stone clears his throat.

CAPTAIN STONE

Okay guys, listen. We’re gonna get our orders from operations on Monday, so before we do anything rash, let’s take the weekend to just mull this all over, alright? I got a wife and kids to think about here.

DANIELS

Nobody’s asking you to stay on too, Capt--

CAPTAIN STONE

(interrupting)

Yeah. You are.

He looks around at his men. Ten standing. One sitting.

CAPTAIN STONE

This is my team. Where you go, I go. Where we go -- we all go.

He shoots a passing glance at John, who looks away.

CAPTAIN STONE

Take the weekend they’re giving us, guys. Think this over. If everyone still wants to reenlist on Monday, then we’ll do it. Together.

NOODLES

Wait -- whaddaya mean, the weekend they’re giving us?

Stone stares back at him soberly... and then he breaks out into a small grin.

112A      
INT. SPECIAL FORCES TEAM ROOM
-- DAY

John is already throwing stuff into a duffel bag when Noodles saunters in.

NOODLES

The van’s leaving for Paris in an hour, my man. I’ll have a flute of champagne in your hand and a pair of french ta-tas in your face by midnight.

John just zips up his duffel.

JOHN

I’m not going to Paris.

NOODLES

What? Why not?

JOHN

Because I’m going to Charleston.

NOODLES

You’re going to -- wait, Charleston,
South Carolina!
? What are you, nuts? We’ve only got two days off, man -- by the time you fly there and back, you’ll maybe have what, 18 hours on the ground?

JOHN

That’s 18 hours more than I had this morning.

He nods over at the television, which is showing footage of Ground Zero.

JOHN

And who knows when I’m gonna get another 18 hours again.

113       
EXT. HALLWAY
-- SAME

John walks out, picks up the hall pay phone, dials a number. Waits impatiently as it rings... and rings...

Mrs. Curtis hangs up some decorations while Savannah carries a cake that says HAPPY 25TH ANNIVERSARY onto an antique buffet table. She sets down the cake, answers her phone...

SAVANNAH

Hello?

On her face, as she breaks out into a much bigger smile --

115       
EXT. US AIRPORT
-- DAY

A military plane touches down on the runway.

116       
INT. PLANE LOADING CORRIDOR
-- DAY

John hurries down the corridor towards the terminal, already twenty feet ahead of the second passenger off the plane.

He anxiously tosses his dufflebag over his shoulder and trots the last few steps before he bursts out into the terminal--

-- to find the gate basically empty. A few people glance up at him from nearby as they mill around, waiting for their flights. But Savannah’s nowhere to be seen. John’s face creases with disappointment.

117       
INT. AIRPORT
-- SECURITY BARRIER -- DAY

Savannah quietly ducks under a security rope... sneaks towards the nearby escalator... and nearly runs right into a visibly annoyed AIRPORT SECURITY GUARD.

SECURITY GUARD

Ma’am. You still can’t go up there.

SAVANNAH

C’mon, man! Do I really look like a national security threat to you?

SECURITY GUARD

No ma’am, you don’t, but rules are rules. No one goes up to the gates anymore without a ticket.

But just then Savannah notices something behind him, on the empty escalator --

-- where a pair of feet have appeared -- and her heart jumps in her chest -- because the rest of John follows.

She pushes past the Security Guard, who’s a second too slow, and runs up the escalator.