Free Joan Hess - Arly Hanks 04 by Mortal Remains in Maggody

5
     
    "WILD CHERRY WINE" (REVISED 5/20)
     
    19 EXT. WIDOW THIGPEN'S HOUSE -- DAY
    Billy Joe stops in the yard and gazes morosely back at the bedroom window. He then puts his hands in his pockets and heads for the gate. CAMERA WIDENS to include LUCINDA, who's waiting by the fence.
     
    LUCINDA
    Well, don't you look like what the cat spit up!
     
    Sighing, Billy Joe joins her at the gate.
     
    BILLY JOE
    I ain't in the mood for your jokes. What do you want, Lucinda?
     
    LUCINDA
    No luck with Loretta, huh?
     
    BILLY JOE
    I'm tormented. I can't sleep at night thinkin' of Cooter Grimmley and what he aims to do to my angel.
     
    LUCINDA
    Mebbe I can help you all so you can be together.
     
    BILLY JOE
    (brokenly)
    That'd be swell, Lucinda. Why don't I visit your trailer tonight so's we can figure out how to save Loretta?
     
    LUCINDA
    Lucinda'll take care of you, you poor baby. You can come at midnight ... or as many times as you want.
     
    She puts her arms around him and gently kisses him.
    DISSOLVE TO:
     
    -- ==+== --
     
    Ruby Bee was almost hidden behind the stack of towels in her arms, but she was eager to make her guests feel right at home. She couldn't precisely remember who all was staying where, so she decided to start at #2 and work her way around.
    Since she couldn't knock, she kicked the door smartly, and when she heard it open, said, "I'm Ruby Bee. I brought you all some fresh linens."
    "Put them on the bed," she heard Carlotta say in a distracted voice. "Fuzzy's telling everybody he saw it, damn it. He even mentioned the butterfly tattoo on her butt."
    Ruby Bee blinked into the terry-cloth barrier. "I beg your pardon, but I'm not -- "
    "He wouldn't know a butt from a butterfly," a male voice interrupted, relieving her of the necessity of further response. "You, put the towels down and pop on out of here like a champagne cork. Listen, baby, did you ask Fuzzy if -- "
    "Hal," Carlotta said, "this is Ruby Bee Hanks, the owner of the motel and the adjoining restaurant. She's agreed to do breakfast and dinner whenever we want, and to pack sandwiches for lunch. Ruby Bee, this is Hal Desmond, the producer and director of Wild Cherry Wine, and the CEO of Glittertown Productions, Inc."
    "Oh, right, yeah," Hal said in an unconvincing attempt at contriteness. "Glad to have you on the team, Aunt Bea."
    Ruby Bee put down the towels and opened her mouth to correct him. However, she couldn't get it out (or much of anything beyond a gurgle) when she looked at the man on the bed and determined real fast that he was bucknaked.
    Carlotta took the top towel and tossed it at him. "Cover yourself up, for pity's sake," she said. "She's going to think we're making a documentary about walruses."
    Once he'd covered his privates with the towel, Ruby Bee took a better look at the fellow who was so all-fired important. He did bear a passing resemblance to a walrus, she thought with a wince. His face, on the other hand, made her think of Marjorie, what with his squinty little eyes and thick, wet lips. Raz would have been offended by the comparison.
    "I'm real pleased to meet you," she said from a safe distance.
    "Join the club. Now, if you'll excuse us, Carlotta and I are discussing the distribution of the last flick."
    Before she could catch herself, Ruby Bee heard herself blurt, "Does it have a name yet?"
    "At wrap it was Prickly Passion, but now -- who the hell knows?" Hal curled his lip at Carlotta, and his crackle of laughter could have sliced a ripe tomato. "Or cares?"
    He began to toy with the towel. Ruby Bee snatched up most of the pile and fled out the door before he -- well, exposed himself like -- well, not like anyone she'd met before. Of course, she amended as she stopped to catch her breath, there was Burl Buchanon and his raincoat shenanigans, but everybody kind of got used to it, and before too long his family remembered a conveniently distant cousin in the Canadian wilderness.
    She went on to #3 and knocked on the door, but no