Freddy’s dead – Final Nightmare
The sign pulls away to reveal a middle-aged man with an angry expression: MR. HOPKINS
MR. HOPKINS Clean up your act somewhere else!
He walks along as we PULL BACK TO SEE
EXT. ROSEDALE FOSTER HOME – DAY
It’s a nice-looking two-story house in the middle of a usually quiet neighborhood. Today the home is surrounded by about a dozen townsfolk carrying picket signs: NO HALFWAY HOUSES IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD!, DON’T LOWER OUR PROPERTY VALUES!, and GO BACK TO JUVENILE HALL! The crowd mumbles amongst itself, occasionally bursting out with a chant in protest.
ON JACOB
We catch him walking down the sidewalk. He tramps along with his hands stuffed in his pockets and his eyes on the pavement. He looks like he hasn’t slept in days. The sound of the crowd ahead of him finally grabs his attention.
Jacob approaches the disturbance and comes across a young girl standing behind a bush holding a BAG OF GROCERIES. She is KAREN MILLER, dark hair, sixteen, very pretty, but with a faraway look in her eyes.
Jacob stands next to her and stares at the crowd like a zombie. She doesn’t turn to look at him as he speaks:
JACOB What’s going on?
KAREN Free speech. The right of assembly.
JACOB What is this place?
KAREN It’s a home. A foster home. For teenagers. It’s where you go when things get bad. It’s the place to figure out what to do next. It’s a home for kids that no one else wants. (beat) It’s MY home.
Karen hasn’t looked at Jacob once. She suddenly seems to steel herself and walks away from the bush, towards the house. Jacob is befuddled.
JACOB Oh…
He stands there and watches.
IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE
Karen quickly makes her way into the crowd of people, head up, eyes staring forward. The crowd parts ever so slightly as the irked townsfolk start to heat up. They have an actual human to vent their anger on now. Mr. Hopkins lays in on her as she passes him.
MR. HOPKINS Why can’t you find somewhere else to shack up?
Karen turns to him, still walking, flustered and hurt.
KAREN What have we ever done to you?
MR. HOPKINS Nothing…YET.
Karen turns quickly away from him and trips over a sprinkler head. Her groceries tumble onto the grass. A hand reaches down to help her. It’s Jacob’s.
He quietly helps her re-bag her groceries as Mr. Hopkins looms above them. Both angry and embarrassed now.
MR. HOPKINS (cont’d) Look, we’ve been here for years. This is a quiet street. We’d just like to keep it that way.
Jacob can’t take this guy anymore. He stands up and faces the older man with a scowl.
JACOB Lighten up, mister.
MR. HOPKINS (smirks) And what gutter did you crawl out from, kid? (frowns) We don’t want your kind here.
JACOB My kind? What kind is that?
MR. HOPKINS Drug addicts. Dope pushers. We have stand up and take charge.
JACOB Swell. I’ve just got a couple of questions for you…Do you love your parents?
MR. HOPKINS Of course I do…
JACOB Are they alive?
MR. HOPKINS My mother is.
JACOB What’s it like?
Jacob stares at Hopkins. He doesn’t answer. He just huffs and puffs as Karen grabs Jacob and pulls him up to the front porch of the home, then into the floor.
INT. FOSTER HOME – FRONT HALLWAY – DAY
Karen slams the door and takes a deep breath.
KAREN Assholes.
JACOB I can think of a stronger word. Are you okay?
KAREN Yeah. Thanks. I’m Karen.
JACOB Jacob.
Jacob suddenly gets a little light-headed and has to use a wall to hold himself up. Karen looks concerned.
KAREN Are YOU okay?
JACOB Yeah. I just haven’t had much to eat lately.
KAREN Then come help me unpack.
She smiles and leads him further into the house.
INT. FOSTER HOME – KITCHEN – DAY
Jacob is feverishly eating a sandwich at the table while Karen finishes putting the rest of the food away.
KAREN I guess the sandwich is alright, huh?
JACOB It’s incredible. Best I’ve ever had.
KAREN You’re not from around here, are you?
JACOB No. I’ve been on the road for a couple of days.
KAREN Do you need a place to stay?
FOOTSTEPS are heard from below and a couple in their mid- thirties enter from the basement door. They’re DAVID and MARY ROSS, both greasy and frustrated.
MARY So, we have to get it fixed.
DAVID We don’t have the money to get it fixed.
They both start washing up at the sink, not really noticing the teenagers in the room. Karen speaks up.
KAREN What’s wrong?
DAVID Our plumbing has a bad case of hardening of the arteries. Who’s your friend?
David gives Jacob a wary glance as the boy stands shakily.
KAREN This is Jacob.
JACOB Jacob Johnson.
DAVID David Ross. My wife, Mary.
KAREN They run this house. They’re helping me and three other ids get a footing in reality before they kick us out of the nest to make room for the next batch.
David is looking out the window at the now dissipating crowd. He lets out a weary sigh.
DAVID If there is a next batch. I see the welcome wagon is back. Was there any trouble?
KAREN A little. Jacob came to my rescue.
MARY (pleasant) Where you from, Jacob?
JACOB Springwood.
MARY Springwood? Where’s that?
JACOB Upstate about a hundred miles.
DAVID (suspicious) I know this state like the back of my hand. I’ve never heard of Springwood.
There is an uncomfortable pause. Then Karen suddenly breaks in.
KAREN Jacob’s a little down on his luck. I told him he could stay here a few days.
Jacob gives here a surprised look.
MARY Are your parents in Springwood?
JACOB My father died before I was born. My mother, she’s dead, too.
DAVID You have a legal guardian?
JACOB No.
DAVID Been in any state or federal program?
JACOB No.
KAREN Just for a little while. So he can get his bearings.
DAVID Got any ID?
Jacob reaches for his back pocket – it’s empty. He shakes his head “no”.
MARY (to David) I think we can help him out, honey. The budget’s tight, but we can’t turn down someone in need.
David doesn’t acknowledge his wife, he just stares at Jacob sternly. Karen bites her nails. Then David sits down and starts to lecture.
DAVID Okay. You got three, maybe four days to rest up while we try and find a more permanent arrangement for you. But his isn’t going to be a free ride. We’re part of a community summer work project and eighty percent of the money you make goes to the house. Everybody works – and that includes you. Are you on drugs?
JACOB No.
DAVID Good. If I catch anything stronger then an aspirin on you, you’re outta here. No arguments. You got that straight?
