INT. COURTHOUSE HALLWAY - DAY
LEO, six, sits with a female SOCIAL WORKER on a bench across from a locked door. They do not speak to each other.
The largeness and emptiness of the hallway seem to diminish Leo’s size even more, but a close look at his face tells us that he understands the immensity of what is at hand.
SUPERIMPOSE TITLE: “LEO”
Suddenly, the door opens. MOM, a stern woman, exits, followed by DAD, who looks sheepish. Both parents are in their early thirties: Dad is a man who seems detatched from the world, and -- as we will learn later -- Mom is more immersed in the adult world than the child one: a businesswoman-turned-mother.
An efficient LAWYER exits and whispers something to the social worker. Only bits and pieces of sentences are audible.
LAWYER
...full custody...
awarded to the mother...
father... alcoholic...
required rehabilitation...
Mom grabs Leo’s hand.
MOM
Come on, let’s go.
INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY
The fireplace mantel holds a slew of family pictures. Mom goes along and picks up each one with Dad in it. She places the unwanted pictures in a trash bag.
As she is turned away, Leo runs in and grabs a photo from the bag.
INT. LEO’S BEDROOM - DAY
We see snippets of Leo’s room: a half-finished model plane, a Thomas the Train alarm clock, a Polaroid camera on a shelf, blue wallpaper strewn with finger paintings. One finger painting in particular is of three stick figures, with ‘Me + Mom + Dad’ written on the bottom.
Leo places the photo he grabbed on his bed. The picture is of his smiling parents, holding newborn Leo in a hospital room.
He runs to the door to make sure his mother isn’t coming. He shuts the door. Leo takes the picture out of the frame and gets a pair of scissors.
Slowly, Leo cuts baby Leo out of the picture. He looks at the new arrangement: his happy father and mother, arms outstretched, holding an empty circle of nothing.
INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT
Leo eats a take-out dinner with his mother. They are silent.
INT. LEO’S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Leo reads a Detective Dan comic in bed. Mom enters and tucks Leo in.
MOM
Good night.
MOM (CONT’D)
You okay, baby?
Leo nods. Mom turns off the light.
LEO
Mom?
MOM
What?
LEO
When is dad coming back?
MOM
We talked about
this, Leo. He’s not.
LEO
But don’t you still love him?
MOM
Leo, sometimes... two people
don’t love each other forever.
Do you understand? Good night.
She exits. Leo tries to sleep.
LATER
Leo tosses and turns. Finally, he gets out of bed and goes to his closet. He drags his desk chair to the door and steps on it to reach the top shelf.
Leo removes the cut-out picture from earlier. He puts it under his pillow and tries to fall asleep.
INT. MOM’S CAR - DAY
Mom drives Leo to school. The silence is awkward.
MOM
What are you going to
do at school today, Leo?
She accepts this and drives on.
EXT. SCHOOLYARD - DAY
Leo stands outside of the building with his backpack. He waits for his mother to drive away. After a moment, he turns and bolts in the opposite direction.
EXT. RANDOM STREET - DAY
Leo walks down a street, his hands in his pockets. People walk around him, too engrossed in cellphone conversations and each
other to notice him.
Leo peers into shop and restaurant windows.
He pats a dog that is tied to a pole.
INT. SHOE STORE - DAY
Leo watches an amiable YOUNG MOTHER help her clumsy 3-year-old DAUGHTER try on a pair of sneakers. The mother kisses her daughter’s forehead. From behind a shelf, Leo takes a picture of them with his Polaroid.
An eager SALESWOMAN cuts the tags off the sneakers. The daughter (now wearing the new sneakers) and the young mother leave the store. Leo leaves his shelf and collects the tags from the ground. He puts the tags and the Polaroid picture in his backpack.
INT. CAFE - DAY
Leo enters a cafe. He spots a MAN and WOMAN, both mid-twenties, sitting by the door, lost in each other’s eyes. He takes a picture of them without them noticing.
The man wipes a crumb off the woman’s face with his napkin. They giggle. Leo watches them finish their coffee. They pay the bill and leave.
Leo walks up to the table. He looks at the man’s napkin, now stained with lipstick. He puts the napkin and the new Polaroid picture into his backpack and leaves the cafe.
EXT. PARK - DAY
Leo watches an excited FATHER bounce his giddy infant SON on his knee. He takes a picture.
EXT. NURSING HOME PARKING LOT - DAY
Leo walks past a sign that says ‘West Oak Nursing Home.’
INT. NURSING HOME - DAY
Leo sits on an armchair in an OLD WOMAN’s room. She is wearing a bathrobe and is happy to have Leo here. A jar of lollipops sits on top of a cabinet.
The old woman moves to a drawer and removes a framed picture of a young man.
OLD WOMAN
When we were just married,
Henry would read the newspaper to me.
Summer evenings, we’d sit on
our porch that overlooked the corn
and the night would be filled with the sound
of his voice. We were both twenty
when Kennedy was shot... We found out
about it through the paper. Henry
was the only person I knew whose
voice could make disaster sound beautiful...
OLD WOMAN (CONT’D)
You’re such a good boy.
Leo eats another take-out dinner with his mother.
LEO
Mom?
Leo’s mother seems distant from the table.
MOM
Hm-mm?
LEO
Remember what you said
last night?
Mom is surprised.
MOM
No. What did I say?
LEO
About how people don’t love
each other forever. I think you’re wrong.
Leo leaves the table. He comes back with his backpack. He spreads out all the Polaroids on the table, along with the cut-out picture, sneaker tags, and stained napkin.
LEO (CONT’D)
Detective Dan says hard evidence is key.
Leo is proud of himself. He smiles. Mom looks at the items for a long time.
MOM
When did you take
these pictures, Leo?
Leo’s smile fades.
MOM (CONT’D)
Was this today? Did you go
to school today, Leo?
Leo shrugs. His mother is furious.
MOM (CONT’D)
You could’ve gotten lost!
Or been kidnapped! Or...
LEO
Mom...
MOM
I cannot believe this.
I thought I taught you to be
responsible... Are you listening
to me? Never do that again.
I’m calling Ms. Phelps tomorrow.
You are in trouble. Go to your room.
LEO
Mom!
MOM
I don’t want to hear it!
Leo angrily gathers the pictures and leaves. His mother waits for him to be gone, then puts her head in her hands.
INT. LEO’S ROOM - NIGHT
Leo’s Thomas the Train alarm clock reads 11:59 PM, but Leo is not asleep in his pajamas. He lies on his bed in normal clothes watching the second hand tick by.
It is now 12:00 AM.
Leo slips off his bed and puts on his backpack.
INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT
Leo creeps down the hall. He peeks through a doorway into his mother’s room.
INT. MOM’S ROOM - NIGHT
LEO’S POINT OF VIEW: Mom’s room is dark. No sound from within except for SOFT BREATHING.
EXT. STAIRCASE - NIGHT
Leo tiptoes down the stairs.
EXT. ANOTHER RANDOM STREET - NIGHT
Leo walks alone in the dark.
He should be afraid, but he isn’t.
INT. APARTMENT HALLWAY - NIGHT
Leo stands in a dimly-lit apartment hallway. He knocks on the door. He waits with anticipation for a long time. Finally, the door opens.
Dad stands in the doorway, obviously drunk.
DAD
Hey... What are you doing here...
Leo is shocked.
DAD (CONT’D)
What time is it? Shit...
I guess you can stay.
DAD (CONT’D)
Bet your mother’s worrying.
The walls are bare, the furniture sparse. A simple couch sits behind a coffee table littered with old beer bottles and food wrappers.
DAD
‘Scuse the mess.
He brushes a few pieces of garbage off the table and relaxes on the couch. Leo gingerly sets his backpack on the dirty coffee table. He sits anxiously. Dad begins to snore.
LATER
Dad, now sober, sits with Leo on the couch. He is drinking a black coffee and Leo is drinking a Sprite. In front of them are spread the contents of Leo’s backpack.
DAD (CONT’D)
Am I sorry for what I am?
Doesn’t matter. Because buddy,
you and I both know that’s not
the real question. The real
question is: should I be?
DAD(CONT’D)
I guess that’s why I don’t
deserve to be your dad.
DAD (CONT’D)
I’ll give you a ride home.
EXT. DIFFERENT RANDOM STREET - DAY
It is early morning, but barely light. Leo, wearing his backpack, walks away from his father’s apartment.
INT. DAD’S APARTMENT - DAY
Dad watches from his window to make sure Leo crosses the street safely.
INT. MOM’S ROOM - DAY
Mom sits on the edge of her bed staring out the window.
After a moment, Leo walks in. He sits next to her. She wraps her arm around him and kisses him on the head. He leans on her.
MOM
Your father called to let me
know where you were. Didn’t I tell
you not to scare me like that again?
Leo doesn’t respond.
MOM (CONT’D)
What are you so afraid of, baby?
LEO
Do you love me?
Mom is surprised by the question.
MOM
I do.
LEO
Forever?
Mom is moved. She wants to cry.
MOM
You’ll never have to worry about that.
LEO
I love you, too.
They hug.
INT. LEO’S ROOM - DAY
Snippets of Leo’s room: a now fully-finished model airplane, new finger paintings on the wall. One in particular depicts two stick figures with ‘Me + Mommy’ scrawled on the bottom.
Leo’s Polaroids, now framed, rest on a shelf. The last picture is the cut-out photo from earlier. Leo has taped himself back into
the photo.
INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY
New pictures have appeared on the fireplace mantel: Leo and Mom having a picnic; Leo and Mom at the beach; Leo, Mom, and the old woman from the nursing home; Mom holding flowers and posing with a tall man.
INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT
Leo and Mom eat a home-cooked meal.
MOM
What did you do at school today?
LEO
We talked about the words ‘dog’
and ‘bog’. And the four-times-tables.
And about how penguins can’t fly.
MOM
They can’t?
LEO
No. But they’re the only ones
in the whole bird species who can swim...
FADE OUT.
