Scene 15

FADE IN: EXT. LOCUST STREET - NIGHT
In f.g. XAVIER exits sushi place,
as in the b.g. Y moves out of sight.
XAVIER (V.O.): I don’t know whether to embrace
this chance to do a sudden about-face
or stick to my guns, and she can go to hell
with all her cloak-and-dagger, come-and-chase—
SFX: A bicyclist rings her bell.

FLASHBACK to XAVIER, on a bike, age 10.
He rings the bell the way that children do
and rides with wild joyfulness, but then
he skids and stops just as he passes through
an unhinged gate. Beyond it just a few
more yards, the previously green and gentle slope
gives way to a yawning gorge, each side with two
large posts that each trail fraying ends of rope.

He cannot bring himself to venture quite
to the end of the path as it drops off into space.
His breath gets short, he shuts his eyes real tight,
then turns and flees in cowardly disgrace.
In a short time he’s able to retrace
his path and break the broken bridge’s spell
by pedaling his bike at breakneck pace,
his shaking fingers constantly ringing the bell.

CUT TO: XAVIER on the street again.
He shudders and turns to follow Y anew.
MONTAGE: He picks his way through several men
on his way through Rittenhouse Square; He jumps a slew
of puddles; He knocks a woman’s feathered hat askew;
He cranes his neck to act as a periscope;
He kneels near City Hall to tie his shoe;
He comes to 12th and Race and the end of his rope.

VOICE (O.S.): You’ve fought a solid fight.
I guess I’ll put an end to this drawn-out race.
XAVIER turns to the speaker, on his right.
Y smiles and offers her hand without a trace
of hesitation. Her easygoing grace
makes XAVIER’S eyes in recognition swell;
there’s something about her posture and her face
that in his whirling memory rings a bell.

XAVIER (V.O.): She looks like my Uncle Ben…
Y: Now, X, it’s high time that you knew
the who and what and how and why and when
about your family’s past for real and true.
So I’ve arranged this little rendezvous
to make sure that you knew the honest dope.
Let’s walk this way and I’ll enlighten you.
CUT TO: A giant Y at the end of a rope.

CUT TO: XAVIER and Y beneath a bright
streetlamp at the corner of 9th and Race.
Y: I know that you might bear some spite,
and rightly so, but I promise to erase
that hate. The news I have will soon replace
your hurt with equal awe in parallel.
While they talk, they move along apace
toward the grounds that ring the Liberty Bell.

P.O.V. of the statue of William Penn
on top of City Hall (high-angle view).
They sharply turn from the square that was named for Ben
Franklin, and walking abreast, they head for the new
Constitution Center. Meanwhile, a crew
atop the WHYY building are now forced to grope
when their powerful floodlights blow out, leaving darkness that’s too
pervasive for them to track down the end of a rope.

The workers do their best to try to brace
the Y, which could be deadly if it fell,
but none of them can find a steady base
and there’s no time to ring a warning bell.
CUT TO: Y, below, without a clue.
Y: In just a couple hours, I hope
to put an end to your questions, and all this stu—
SMASH CUT TO: The slithering end of the rope.

[20:00 / addressing / ballade / face / X = crossing / Convention Center]