A CROWDED ROOM by James Cameron FADE IN: We don't know what we're looking at. It's an abstract mass -- swirling lines in constant motion -- but we're too close to see any form. As WE PULL BACK, we can now make out that they are what seem like animated streaks of charcoal -- forming and reforming into a series of drawings: First, a small girl, clutching a rag doll. She stares plaintively into the lens as around the edges of the frame, a male figure with a thick, black moustache, cradles her protectively in his arms. But this image quickly changes to a landscape -- evil and foreboding. A desolate farmhouse against an overcast sky. Leafless trees with spiky tentacles for branches sprout like eruptions from the very bowels of hell. It's every shade of gray -- ominous, depraved. Now we start to close in on this landscape's heart of darkness -- a constricted old corn crib -- but before we get close enough to see inside it, the scene shifts. A pale, sad-eyed teenage girl looking straight at us. Then we move to a line drawing of the rag doll that the little girl had clutched earlier -- only now it hangs from a noose, surrounded by long, shattered lines that recall the farmhouse branches. The last shift leads us to a dark haired little boy, scared into impenetrable silence, as he is approached from behind by the immense, leering presence of an adult male. Finally, this Rotoscope animated picture transform itself into reality -- an actual oil painting, wet and glistening on a canvas. It's the first image we've seen that has dimension or texture. In a moment, a paint-stained hand enters the frame and feverishly smears the adult figure beyond all recognition with its fingers, leaving the little boy alone in the F.G. Then, the hand leaves, returning with a paint brush. It re-does the area surrounding the child in a wash of midnight blue. As it does, we hear: DONNA (V.O.) He had some kind of stain or something on his hands. KLEBERG (V.O.) Stain? What, like dirt? BOXERBAUM (V.O.) Oil? DONNA (V.O.) No. They were blue. Dark blue. All over his fingers. KLEBERG (V.O.) Ink? DONNA (V.O.) No. I don't know what it was. But it had a funny smell to it. INT. POLICE STATION - NIGHT DONNA WEST is a short, plump woman in her twenties, eyes red from crying, hair in her face, talking to POLICE CHIEF KLEBERG and DETECTIVE BOXERBAUM. She's huddled across a table from them in a blanket. Beside her stands a FEMALE POLICE OFFICER. A LEGEND COMES UP ON SCREEN: OCTOBER 22, 1977 DONNA Oh, God, I don't know. I can't think. BOXERBAUM Alright, don't worry about his hands. Just try and tell us whatever you remember so that we can get a statement. DONNA It was about eight A.M. and I was getting out of my car in the parking lot. KLEBERG This is at Ohio State? DONNA Yes, I'm an optometry student there. EXT. PARKING LOT - MORNING DONNA WEST is getting out of her beat up Toyota. We see what she describes. DONNA (V.O.) I had gone around to the passenger side to pick up some books, and as I was leaning in... BILLY MILLIGAN, a regular looking guy, maybe a little burlier than average, with a full mustache and brown tinted sunglasses, enters frame. He holds a small revolver, which he presses against DONNA'S arm. BILLY Would you please get in the car? Frightened, she does. BILLY goes around to the driver's side and gets in. He takes out a pair of handcuffs and cuffs her to the inside of the door. He goes through her bag and pulls out her car keys. He starts the car and drives off. INT. CAR As they drive away from the campus. DONNA Where are we going? But BILLY is muttering to himself, oblivious to her question. DONNA I know this is gonna sound ridiculous, but I have an optometry test today... He looks at her suddenly. BILLY You can study for it if you want. This won't take long. Go on. She picks up a text book with her trembling free hand and feigns studying. EXT. ROAD As the car drives through a deserted stretch of countryside. INT. CAR DONNA is "studying" stealing glances at BILLY. Suddenly, BILLY grabs her bag and pulls out her address book. As he rips out pages. BILLY I'm taking these addresses and phone numbers. If you say anything to the police, I'll send someone from my brotherhood after you. INT. POLICE STATION KLEBERG and BOXERBAUM. KLEBERG His "brotherhood"? ANGLE But now we see they're not talking to DONNA WEST, they're talking to CARRIE DRYER -- a prettier GIRL also in her twenties, also very upset. There's a sketch artist there. CARRIE That's what he said. He belonged to a brotherhood and they'd send someone after me if I said anything. BOXERBAUM Was he high? Could you tell? CARRIE It's weird. There was liquor on his breath... I mean he reeked... but he drove perfectly. In fact, he didn't act drunk at all, except when he would talk to himself. SKETCH ARTIST (holds up a sketch of Billy) How's this? CARRIE He didn't have a moustache. He was clean shaven. INT. CAR BILLY is now clean shaven, driving through the woods. Handcuffed to the passenger door is CARRIE DRYER. BILLY is muttering to himself. He wears sunglasses. EXT. CAR As it bumps over train tracks. INT. CAR The jostling seems to jar him back to reality. He turns on CARRIE. BILLY Take off your pants. CARRIE What? BILLY Take your fucking pants off! She does the best she can with only one hand. BILLY You won't run away without any pants on. EXT. WOODS The car is parked. BILLY and CARRIE stand beside it -- she is in a blouse and underwear. BILLY (gently) Are you cold? She shakes her head "no". BILLY lays CARRIE'S buckskin jacket down on the muddy ground. BILLY (awkwardly, not looking at her) Take off your underwear and lay down. CARRIE dissolves in tears. INT. POLICE STATION KLEBERG and BOXERBAUM. BOXERBAUM (offers Kleenex) It's O.K. You want to stop for a while? ANGLE A different WOMAN is there, taking the Kleenex to wipe her eyes. It is POLLY NEWTON, a little younger than the other two. POLLY No. I'm all right. KLEBERG Did he hit you or push you or hurt you in any way? POLLY No. He wrote me a poem. BOXERBAUM A poem? POLLY (nods) A love poem. He never showed it to me because he was afraid you'd trace his handwriting. EXT. WOODS POLLY lies on the ground, naked from the waist down. BILLY crumples up a piece of paper, then slides next to her and holds her gently like one would a lover. BILLY Do you know what it's like to be lonely? Not to be held by anyone? Not to know the meaning of love? He looks at her and takes off his sunglasses. His eyes repeatedly drift slowly to one side, then dart back to center. INT. POLICE STATION DONNA WEST and the two cops. DONNA It's called nystagmus. I'm an optometry student. I recognized it immediately. An involuntary oscillation of the eyeballs. INT. POLICE STATION CARRIE DRYER and the two cops. CARRIE He never took off his glasses. I don't know. KLEBERG Then what happened? CARRIE breaks down. CARRIE He... raped... me... EXT. WOODS BILLY on top of CARRIE. We don't see much, but it's obvious what is going on. INT. POLICE STATION DONNA WEST staring straight off into space. EXT. WOODS BILLY on top of DONNA. She stares off exactly as she had in the police station. INT. POLICE STATION The FEMALE POLICE OFFICER holding POLLY, who is crying uncontrollably. EXT. WOODS BILLY holding POLLY tightly after the rape. They are both standing half-dressed. BILLY I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances. I really love you. His eyes drift and dart. He puts on his sunglasses. INT. POLICE STATION POLLY NEWTON and the OFFICERS. POLLY Then he drove me back into town and made me cash him a check at my bank. KLEBERG (to Boxerbaum) Same as the others. POLLY Then he took me to Wendy's. BOXERBAUM Wendy's? POLLY For a burger. The COPS give each other a look. INT. POLICE STATION DONNA WEST and the OFFICERS. DONNA Then we finally went back to the campus and he left. Oh yeah -- he said his name was Phil. THREE TRAYS OF MUG SHOTS thud down onto the table ANGLE to include CARRIE DRYER and the OFFICERS. CARRIE There's this many criminals around here? BOXERBAUM That's just the young, white male sex offenders. And only the ones who've been arrested. CARRIE starts going through the photos. POLLY going through photos. She comes to one of BILLY, wearing mutton chops. She stops. The OFFICERS react. POLLY It sure looks like him... but I can't be sure. DONNA, KLEBERG and BOXERBAUM. DONNA (jumps up, knocking over her chair) That's him. No doubt about it. I'm positive. KLEBERG picks it up and WE PRESS IN on a name: WILLIAM STANLEY MILLIGAN. EXT. OHIO STATE CAMPUS - NIGHT A SERIES OF CUTS It looks like an embassy under siege. Uniformed COPS with dogs comb the area. Armed COPS keep watch from every roof top. Flashlights dart everywhere -- occasionally illuminating posters of the police sketch of BILLY on campus walls and windows. In their dorm rooms, frightened GIRLS watch from their windows, while below MALE CO-EDS travel in packs with baseball bats. A newspaper vending machine shows the Columbus Dispatch headline: CAMPUS RAPIST MANHUNT CONTINUES - POLICE URGE CURFEW. EXT. CHANNINGWAY APARTMENTS A two story apartment complex. Three unmarked police cars pull up in front. INT. CAR BOXERBAUM driving, a young PLAIN CLOTHES OFFICER in the passenger seat. BOXERBAUM 5673 Old Livingston. That's his current address. The YOUNG OFFICER checks his weapon, puts it back in the waistband of his pants, then puts on a Domino Pizza hat and grabs a pizza box from the back seat. EXT. REAR OF BUILDING TWO OFFICERS carefully approach the rear of BILLY'S ground floor apartment. One looks in a window. He can't see anyone, but the floor of the living room is covered with kids toys: blocks, trucks, etc. Then we hear voices. We can't make out what they're saying, but It's some kind of argument between three men: one with an English accent, one with some sort of Eastern European accent, and one American mid-west. FIRST OFFICER Shit. He's not alone. EXT. FRONT DOOR As the YOUNG OFFICER rings the bell. In a moment, BILLY answers the door. YOUNG OFFICER Pizza. You Billy Milligan? BILLY Who? YOUNG OFFICER Billy Milligan? 5673 Old Livingston? BILLY I'm not Billy Milligan and I didn't order any pizza. INT. CAR As BOXERBAUM watches from a distance -- his hand on his gun. EXT. FRONT DOOR YOUNG OFFICER You're sure you're not William Stanley Milligan? BILLY Huh? The YOUNG OFFICER throws the pizza up into BILLY'S face and pulls out his gun, holding it against his head. YOUNG OFFICER Freeze. Police Officer. BILLY What's going on? COPS are suddenly everywhere. Bursting in through the back door, piling out of cars, all with guns drawn. INT. REAR OF APARTMENT Where the TWO OFFICERS who heard voices are barreling through, expecting an ambush. FIRST OFFICER He's not alone! SECOND OFFICER Alright, motherfuckers, come on out! THE YOUNG OFFICER grabs BILLY and turns him around. Using BILLY'S body as a shield, he drags him through the apartment, looking for accomplices. THE COPS kick the closet door, then the bathroom door -- all empty. ONE COP steps on a LEGGO fort -- crushing it. ANOTHER COP grabs a Smith and Wesson nine millimeter from under a chair in the living room. YOUNG OFFICER Where are they? BILLY Who? There's no one here. A COP finds several paintings. He moves one and reveals the picture of the little boy we saw being worked on earlier. BOXERBAUM enters frame. It clicks. He goes over to BILLY and yanks his fingers open. They're completely paint stained. ANOTHER COP finds wallets, cash and I.D.'s on top of a dresser. He picks up two credit cards and a drivers license belonging to Carrie Dryer. Donna West and Polly Newton, respectively. YOUNG OFFICER (as he cuffs Billy) William Milligan, you're under arrest. You have the right to remain silent... (etc.) As we PRESS IN on BILLY. EXT. THE FRANKLIN COUNTY JAIL As a police truck pulls up. TWO GUARDS open the rear doors and out steps a group of PRISONERS, all handcuffed to each other -- except for BILLY, who pops out free as a bird, giving the GUARDS the finger. The BLACK PRISONER who had been cuffed to him is panicked. BLACK PRISONER I didn't do nothin' I swear I didn't do nothin' ONE GUARD holds BILLY while the other re-cuffs him. INT. POLICE STATION TV CAMERAS and REPORTERS everywhere, demanding information. POLICE CHIEF KLEBERG makes his way through the chaos without answering them. We FOLLOW him into a room where TWO OFFICERS are unloading a carton onto a table. It is filled with every make weapon imaginable. KLEBERG Jesus Christ. It's a fucking arsenal. INT. CELL BILLY sits in the middle of the floor drawing a picture. It's simple, childish. TWO GUARDS watch him from the other side of the bars. One holds a cup. The other bangs the bars with his nightstick. FIRST GUARD Hey, Jew Boy. SECOND GUARD What do you know -- we have a goddamn Rembrandt on our hands. FIRST GUARD Maybe he can draw himself a new asshole after the cons at Lima get through humpin' the one he's got. They don't look too kindly on rapists over there. SECOND GUARD They sent you down some Kool-Aid. You want it? BILLY looks up. SECOND GUARD Is that a no? The GUARD starts to turn away, but BILLY gets up. He comes to the bars and reaches for the cup. The GUARD grabs his wrist and pulls. SECOND GUARD Hey, you think we oughta tattoo this Jew Boy? FIRST GUARD Yeah. Put some numbers right there. BILLY pulls his arm free as the GUARDS laugh. SECOND GUARD Here ya go, Rembrandt. He throws the drink onto BILLY'S picture, ruining it. Instantly, BILLY changes. His eyes, his gait. His chest expands and his adrenaline flows a mile a minute as he gets up and walks over to the toilet bowl. He squats and grabs hold of it. The GUARDS give each other a look, then eye him warily. Sweat pours down as he focuses his strength till it's like the pinpoint of a laser. Then, with a mighty heave he rips the toilet from the wall, stands and hurls it at the GUARDS in one impossible motion. It smashes into a million pieces -- porcelain shards fly into the GUARD'S faces, cutting them to ribbons. INT. CELL BILLY being beaten senseless by SIX GUARDS as they put him into a straitjacket. INT. CORRIDOR BILLY is nearly unconscious as the GUARDS drag him down the narrow hallway -- laying into him the entire way. INT. SOLITARY CONFINEMENT They throw BILLY in. His head hits the cement hard as the cell door slams shut behind him with a thunderous echo. INT. PRESS CONFERENCE KLEBERG in front of a phalanx of microphones, reading a statement. KLEBERG We do have a suspect in custody. His name is William Stanley Milligan. He has one prior conviction from a run-in with a prostitute. INT. CORRIDOR A GUARD carries a tray of food toward BILLY'S cell. KLEBERG (V.O.) We continue to treat this investigation very carefully and very thoroughly but with the evidence we've already gathered, we feel extremely confident. The GUARD reaches the cell door. As he opens it. GUARD O.K., rapist, chow time. We all took turns spitting in your food before I brought it down, but you can ignore that, can't ya? Just pretend it's soup... His eyes suddenly go wide. GUARD Jesus H. Christ. ANGLE BILLY is fast asleep in the middle of his cell. He is out of the straitjacket and is using it as a pillow. And he's sucking his thumb. INT. PRESS CONFERENCE KLEBERG Open and shut. A textbook investigation. INT. A DRAB WHITE ROOM DR. ADAM FINK, a clinical psychologist, sits across a table from BILLY. TIGHT ON A PAGE OF NOTES At the top of the page, beside BILLY'S vital statistics, DR. FINK fills in his name. Underneath, he writes: PRELIMINARY REPORT. ANGLE on them both, DR. FINK just watches for a moment. BILLY is withdrawn and out of it, like a boxer who's taken one too many left hooks. There's a wall between him and the world. DR. FINK Do you know why you're here, Billy? No response. TIGHT ON THE FORM Under COMMENTS, the DOCTOR writes: eyes completely normal. No evidence of nystagmus. ANGLE DR. FINK Billy? BILLY (snaps back slightly) Oh. DR. FINK Do you know why you're here? BILLY No. DR. FINK Did you understand what the police officers said when you were arrested? BILLY The... what? DR. FINK Do you know why you've been arrested? Billy? He just stares blankly. DR. FINK writes. TIGHT ON THE NOTES DR. FINK is adding: SULLEN; NON-COMMUNICATIVE; TOTALLY DISORIENTED. BILLY suddenly energetic, even hyper -- night and day to the way we've just seen him. BILLY (laughing) You should have seen their fuckin' faces when them van doors opened and BOOM!. There I am, out of the cuffs and givin' them the finger. Shit... Whassamatter, Doc, not actin' crazy enough for ya? How's this? He rubs his lips up and down with his finger and makes a "crazy" sound. As he does: ANGLE to reveal he's talking to DR. RICHARD EDMUNDS, in the same room, some time later. EDMUNDS holds DR. FINK'S report and is completely confused. BILLY laughs. Then: BILLY Who do you have to fuck to get somethin' to eat around here? I'm starving. And a lawyer might be nice. What do you say? TIGHT AS BILLY CONTINUES Next to DR. FINK'S report, we see DR. EDMUNDS' hand fill in his own report. He's already put down his name, BILLY'S name and underneath written: FOLLOW UP REPORT. Now we see him writing: OUTGOING, OBNOXIOUS, TOTALLY COHERENT AND AWARE. EYES NORMAL. BILLY The novelty's wearin' thin, you know what I mean? I been in places worse than this in my life, and I'll tell you something... there isn't a box on Earth can hold me. Certainly not this two bit, rinky dink drunk tank. DR. EDMUNDS I'd like to talk to you about the attacks. BILLY Hey, I wasn't there. I don't know what they're talkin' about because I didn't do a fuckin' thing they accused me of. And I don't lie. Using his right hand. BILLY starts doodling a sketch of a landscape on the table with a marker. EDMUNDS looks at him quizzically. DR. EDMUNDS I want to play a little game. Write down the first thing that comes into your mind. He moves a pen and a piece of paper toward BILLY, who writes with his right hand. EDMUNDS looks at the information on his form. TIGHT ON THE REPORT Scan down BILLY'S listed vital statistics -- Hair: Brown; Eyes: Brown; Height: six feet; Weight: 175; Birthdate: 2- 14-55; etc. until he gets to: Left Handed. BACK TO BILLY - FINISHING He hands back the paper. It says: I AM INNOCENT. TIGHT ON THE PREVIOUS TWO REPORTS On DR. EDMUNDS, "Left Handed" has been crossed out and "Right Handed" written in. Next to them is a third form, with the NAME: DR. CLAIRE HUBBARD and SUPERVISOR'S REPORT written underneath. ANGLE The same room. DR. HUBBARD, hopelessly confused, and BILLY, who now appears to be a frightened child. Fragile. Near tears. Knees drawn up into a fetal position in the chair. DR. HUBBARD Are you alright? You look like you're about to fall apart. BILL I'm scared. DR. HUBBARD There's nothing to be scared of. I'm Dr. Hubbard from the Southwest Community Mental Health Center and I'm here to ask you a few questions. Where are you currently living? BILLY Here. DR. HUBBARD What's your Social Security number? BILLY I don't know. DR. HUBBARD Is it 126-44-6218? BILLY I don't know. DR. HUBBARD Billy, if I'm going to help you, you're going to have to try and... BILLY Billy's asleep. DR. HUBBARD What? BILLY Billy's asleep. And the others don't want me to wake him up. DR. HUBBARD What others? BILLY The other people. They want Billy to stay asleep. DR. HUBBARD Who are these other people? BILLY I can't talk about it. I made a mistake telling you. Promise you won't say anything to anyone. DR. HUBBARD I promise. But you have to tell me... BILLY (upset) I can't... DR. HUBBARD Alright, you don't have to say anything else, but would you do me a favor? BILLY What? DR. HUBBARD Would you sign your name for me? BILLY O.K. She gives him a pen and paper. He takes it into his left hand and scrawls in a child's penmanship: DANNY. INT. HALL OUTSIDE OF SAME DRAB WHITE ROOM Through the door, we see BILLY, alone, waiting. Outside, DR. HUBBARD and JUDY STEVENSON, a public defense attorney, are talking. JUDY Multiple personality disorder? You mean like Sybil? DR. HUBBARD Worse -- if one of the personalities is a violent criminal. JUDY With all respect, Doctor, if you were a rapist, caught dead to rights with a ton of evidence in your apartment, wouldn't you try and make up a story, too? Trust me, this is a guy who read a bestseller and got a brainstorm. DR. HUBBARD Maybe, but I don't think so. He's already been seen by three separate doctors because no one could make head of tails of him. JUDY Well, I thought I'd seen it all, but I have to admit "I didn't do it, he did" "No I didn't" "Yes he did" -- that's a new one even to me. DR. HUBBARD Just come in and talk to him with me -- then decide. JUDY We'll represent him no matter what. We have to. But fine-- (as they go in) I only have a caseload that high sitting on my desk while I waste a whole afternoon here... INT. GARY SCHWEICKART'S PUBLIC DEFENDERS OFFICE The first thing we hear is reggae music: Bob Marley's "Jammin", with a male voice that can't really sing, singing along. Then we PAN along the office -- a royal mess -- books, papers everywhere -- a poster of the BILL OF RIGHTS with "NULL AND VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW" stamped across it in red letters. We finally come to a big, bear-like figure in an ex-hippie's khaki shirt and jeans -- late thirties, with a beard and an oversized stogie, skankin' around the office. This is GARY SCHWEICKART. GARY (in a Jamaican accent) Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client, Jah Skank Irie, is innocent. For it is not the ganja weed that is on trial here today, only the man... mon. JUDY burst in. JUDY Gary, put down what you're doing and get your ass down to Franklin with me. GARY (Jamaican accent) Whoa -- don't get your knickers in a twist -- you'll give yourself one of them aneurisms. JUDY I'm serious, Gary. I think you should see this. She dumps her notes on his desk. GARY (drops the accent) Billy Milligan? JUDY Yes. GARY Uh uh. Sorry, Judy, one of the perks of getting to be the boss is you don't have to give up all your free time representing the Campus Rapist if you don't want to. And I don't want to. Besides, I already met him before I ordered the psychiatric evaluation, and he specifically asked for a female lawyer. JUDY (smiles, she knows he's gonna like this) He's not guilty. GARY (he does, his eyes twinkle, he loves a challenge) Not guilty? They got enough hard evidence to lock him up till doomsday. JUDY (leans in) I'm telling you, Billy Milligan did not commit those rapes. At least come down and talk to him. A beat. GARY leaps up, grabs his beret to leave. INT. THAT SAME DRAB WHITE ROOM JUDY, GARY and BILLY. BILLY has withdrawn completely into himself -- eyes half-closed, his lips moving in some internal conversation. JUDY looks at GARY, who just sits there -- skeptical and impassive. Finally, BILLY opens his eyes and is suddenly infused with the same belligerent energy he had while talking to DR. EDMUNDS. BILLY (to Judy) Who's Ranger Bob? JUDY This is Gary Schweickart. He works with me in the Public Defenders office. BILLY Howdy, Bob. GARY smiles tightly. He doesn't like him right off. JUDY You don't remember meeting him briefly when you first came in? BILLY (shakes his head) That's not a face you forget. JUDY I know that you requested a female attorney, but Gary's the most qualified... BILLY I didn't request nothin' JUDY Well, Billy did. BILLY Billy's asleep. GARY (getting annoyed) Well, someone did. BILLY (imitates Gary) Well, someone ain't me. JUDY Who are you? BILLY Tommy. JUDY And have we met before? BILLY Yeah. You came in with one of the headshrinkers. JUDY And at that time you answered to the name Billy? BILLY We all do. Saves time. But that don't mean we like it. GARY Alright... Tommy... we'd like to ask you a few questions. How old are you? BILLY Sixteen. GARY How much time do you spend as Billy? Were you there when he got out of the straitjacket? BILLY (laughs) Yeah, that was me. Billy couldn't get out of a wet paper bag. I can dislocate my shoulder to slip it down to where I can loosen the ties. GARY Where'd you learn to do that? BILLY looks away. JUDY Tommy? BILLY You got somethin' else you wanna know or can I leave? JUDY No. Please. How many of you live there with Billy? BILLY smiles. JUDY More than three? More than five? BILLY I'm not really sure. A lot. GARY Were you there when... whoever you were at the time was arrested? BILLY No. That was Danny. JUDY The little boy. BILLY Danny's the keeper of pain. GARY What does that mean? BILLY College man, Bob? Ivy League? GARY steams. BILLY It means whenever Billy's in any pain, Danny comes onto the spot to take it. JUDY The spot? What's that? BILLY Jesus Christ... it's not my job to answer all these questions. I'm outta here. JUDY No, wait... Tommy... But BILLY has retreated into himself once again. Eyes glazed and half-closed -- lips moving silently. GARY This is what you dragged me here for in the middle of the day? JUDY Wait. In a moment, BILLY "returns" -- but now he sits with impeccable posture, his fingertips pressed together in front of him. He speaks in clipped, precise tones with a perfect Knightsbridge English accent. BILLY I must apologize for Tommy's impudence. He gets frustrated from being locked up. My name is Arthur. How do you do? JUDY and GARY exchange a look. He ain't buying it. JUDY How do you do? JUDY looks again at GARY, who half rolls his eyes. GARY (mutters) Yeah, how are ya... BILLY Well, understandably, I've been better. But Tommy said you have some questions. JUDY Yes. Gary was asking about the arrest. GARY The police found an arsenal of weapons in your apartment. BILLY I have nothing to do with those. The only one permitted to handle guns is Ragen. He's the Keeper of Rage. GARY He used those guns when he kidnapped and raped those three women. BILLY (icily calm) Ragen never raped anyone. He committed the robberies because we were skint, but he denies, absolutely, having anything to do sexually with those women. And of the many things he undoubtedly is, a liar is not among them. All our lives people have accused us of being liars. It's become a point of honor never to tell a falsehood. JUDY But if you don't always volunteer the truth, then that's lying by omission. BILLY Oh come now. As an attorney, you know very well a witness is under no compulsion to volunteer information he hasn't been asked for. You would be the first one to tell a client not to elaborate unless it was in his best interest. But why don't you meet Ragen and ask him yourself? JUDY Isn't Ragen the one who pulled the toilet from the wall and threw it at the guards? BILLY He's learned to control his flow of adrenaline. It gives him unnatural strength. (playfully) But don't worry -- he won't hurt you. Unless, of course, he feels threatened. GARY Alright... Arthur -- I'd like to meet him. BILLY smiles -- then gets up and moves his chair to the far side of the room -- putting as much distance between himself and them as possible. He sites back down and then retreats once more. Eyes look down -- lips move. GARY How much education has he had? JUDY Not much. Some high school. D average. I.Q.'s a hundred. He paints, though. GARY Paints? JUDY Portraits, landscapes. He's good. Then, BILLY'S back. He seems bigger -- hulking -- crouched like a wary fighter. The tension in his facial muscles change his appearance. His eyes squint narrowly, giving them a piercing quality -- his brow beetles. And he speaks in a thick, Slavic accent. BILLY Who called me a liar? GARY (a little unnerved) I said the evidence indicated that someone in there raped those three woman. BILLY I admit three robberies near university. But other things you say I do is a lie. And if we go to jail, I'll kill the children. Jail is no place for little ones. JUDY What little ones? There are children there with you? GARY If you killed the little ones... wouldn't that also mean your own death? BILLY (coolly) We are all different people. GARY But when you get hurt... BILLY I feel nothing. JUDY Because Danny is the Keeper of Pain? BILLY Exactly. Danny is empath. JUDY And Billy knows nothing about you? BILLY He has amnesia. Arthur and I keep him asleep to protect him. Depending on circumstances, either I rule or Arthur does. In prison, I control spot because is dangerous place. As protector, I have complete command. In situations where is no danger, and where intelligence and logic are more important, then Arthur controls spot. GARY Do you know Tommy? BILLY Of course. GARY He mentioned the spot, too. Can you describe to us just what that means. Billy?... Uh... (he looks to Judy for help) JUDY Ragen. GARY Ragen. But suddenly, RAGEN is gone. JUDY and GARY look at each other. There is none of the usual lips moving and quasi R.E.M. state. He's just blank. Then, in a moment, he "returns". He seems tentative, frightened, softer. JUDY Hello. No reply. JUDY Have we met? My name is Judy Stevenson. This is Gary Schweickart. We're your attorneys. Do you have a name? GARY Judy. She looks at GARY. GARY His eyes. She looks back to BILLY. His eyes seem to wander and dart back and forth of their own volition, like an ocular pendulum. INT. CORRIDOR As GARY and JUDY come out. GARY immediately lights a cigarette. GARY Either he's a multiple, or else he's the greatest liar anybody's ever seen. JUDY Right. GARY The question is which is it? JUDY (convinced) Gary... As they talk, WE CUT TO: BILLY alone in his empty cell, eyes half-closed, lips moving silently. GARY (O.C.) He's facing hard time. JUDY (O.C.) He's got one right handed personality. GARY (O.C.) Lots of people are ambidextrous. JUDY (O.C.) Ragen speaks and writes prefect Serbo-Croation. GARY (O.C.) So do ten million Serbs. JUDY (O.C.) Apparently, Arthur's fluent in Arabic and Swahili. GARY (O.C.) Having a facility for languages doesn't automatically make you one hand short for bridge. JUDY (O.C.) The escape artist, the wandering eyes, the electronics expert... GARY and JUDY. GARY All of that can be mastered. JUDY All by one person? With a hundred I.Q.? From a small farm in Ohio? You're looking for some kind of miraculous, inexplicable "thing" to prove this to you beyond a shadow of a doubt. Well, it's an illness, Gary... not a magic trick. And I believe him. GARY (sighs heavily) I do, too. And I feel like I can convince my wife of it when she asks me why I came down here for fifteen minutes, and came back five hours later. But how in hell am I ever gonna convince a judge? Or a prosecutor? No one's ever been acquitted of a crime before by blaming it on another personality. JUDY You won't have to. He will. INT. ISOLATION CELL BILLY sits on his cot in a cold sweat. Something is clearly terrifying him. He looks across the cell toward a piece of steel over the sink shiny enough to serve as a mirror. He is frozen. INT. OUTSIDE THE ISOLATION CELL It's a big, opaque, steel door with a small opening two thirds up in the middle. A GUARD approaches with keys. There's a loud rumbling coming from inside. GUARD Alright, Milligan. Exercise time. As he turns the key: GUARD One hour in the yard, all to yourself. As he opens the door: GUARD Come on... Milligan... Now we see BILLY lying in a pool of blood on the floor. The sink is smashed into a million pieces and his wrists have been slashed lengthwise with a shard of porcelain. Hot water shoots from the blood-stained sink like a firehose gone haywire. He meant business. He's fainted and landed on his own arm, which is saving his life. The GUARD runs in. GUARD Help! We got an emergency! Quick! INT. HOSPITAL WARD - NIGHT BILLY lies in bed, staring off blankly, while GARY and JUDY talk to him. GARY How ya feelin', Billy? You were out for quite some time. JUDY Do you know where you are? You're in the hospital, but you're gonna be just fine. Your hearing is going to go ahead as scheduled. GARY Well, why don't you get some rest. We'll check in with you tomorrow. JUDY Goodnight, Billy. He remains motionless. They leave and we follow them into the hall. JUDY What do you think? GARY I don't know. But there were no hammers or crowbars in that cell with him. He broke that sink with his bare fist. INT. HEARING ROOM MEMBERS OF THE ADULT PAROLE AUTHORITY, JUDY, BILLY and A PROSECUTOR, along with a COURT STENOGRAPHER and TWO POLICE OFFICERS. BILLY'S wrists are bandaged. GARY enters, obviously agitated. JUDY (to Gary) What's wrong? GARY I just found out they're gonna try and send him to jail for a parole violation and keep him there till the trial. We need him in a hospital with doctors for those ninety days to build a case. JUDY Parole violation? GARY But there's a statute of limitations and this is the last day they can nail him on it. JUDY What are you gonna do? GARY Wing it. CHAIRMAN (nods to the Prosecutor) Mr. Yavitch? Shall we begin? PROSECUTOR Mr. Chairman, members of the Adult Parole Authority, the state moves that possession of an unregistered firearm is a direct violation of the defendant's parole, and he should therefore be remanded to Lebanon State Prison until trial date. GARY Objection, Mr. Chairman. MR. CHAIRMAN Mr. Schweickart -- don't you own a tie? GARY (disheveled as usual) I do, your honor, but I like to save it for funerals. CHAIRMAN What is your objection? GARY Are these the weapons that were found in the defendant's home? PROSECUTOR Mr. Chairman, Mr. Schweickart knows damn well that they are. GARY Mr. Chairman, Mr. Schweickart does not know damn well that they are because Mr. Schweickart has yet to see any ballistics report. PROSECUTOR The weapons have not been test fired yet, you honor, so the report has not been completed. But I fail to see in what way that is prescient to the decision at hand. GARY (winging it) It is "prescient" counsel, because without any proof of it's ability to propel a ballistic, this... "thing" is not a gun, your honor. PROSECUTOR Oh come on, Schweickart, of course it's a gun. (to the Chairman) It's a gun. Obviously it's a gun. GARY grabs it and holds it to his head. JUDGE Mr. Schweickart... JUDY and BILLY duck -- the PROSECUTOR finches -- but GARY pulls the trigger. It's unloaded. GARY Legally, until it shoots a bullet it's as much a gun as it is a zucchini. And having zucchinis found in your apartment is not a violation of Mr. Milligan's or anybody else's parole. Mr. Chairman, gentlemen, since the statute of limitations of Mr. Milligan's alleged parole violation is up today. I move that the defendant be allowed to stay at Harding Hospital, under the supervision of a trained psychiatric staff until it is time for him to stand trial. PROSECUTOR Mr. Chairman... The CHAIRMAN raps his gavel. CHAIRMAN So be it. Next time get your shit together, counsel. Shakes his head, chuckling. CHAIRMAN Zucchinis... EXT. HARDING HOSPITAL - DAY BILLY is escorted from a police car by TWO UNIFORMED OFFICERS. He is handcuffed. INT. HARDING HOSPITAL An admitting nurse signs a release form, accepting delivery of BILLY with a big ORDERLY. NURSE Take those off him. FIRST OFFICER Not while he's still ours. She finishes, they uncuff him. To the nurse: FIRST OFFICER Can I give you a little advice? Keep him away from the toilets. Let him piss in a bucket. INT. CORRIDOR BILLY, the NURSE and the ORDERLY walking down the hall. NURSE Doctor Harding's not here right now, but he'll look in on you as soon as he arrives. As they walk, they pass people who are obviously deeply disturbed, as well as TWO FEMALE PSYCH-TECHS. FIRST PSYCH-TECH (after they've passed) I'm not gonna stand for it. SECOND PSYCH-TECH Jean... FIRST PSYCH-TECH It's a con. It's a lousy con. And I'm not gonna treat him. INT. HOSPITAL ROOM BILLY is alone. He looks at the door. An eye is watching him through the peephole. INT. CORRIDOR A PSYCH-TECH sits on a stool, watching him and taking notes. THE NOTES: 5:00 Sitting cross legged on bed, quiet. 5:15 Sitting cross legged on bed, staring. 5:32 Standing, looking out the window. INT. DAY ROOM - DAY BILLY sits, alone and sullen, while other PATIENTS either smoke, play cards or stare into space. Another YOUNG MALE PATIENT sits next to him. He's got a tin of peanut brittle. PATIENT Want some? My folks bring it. Your folks come visit you? BILLY My folks are divorced. Leave me alone. PATIENT What's your name? Come on, what's your name? BILLY Allen. PATIENT (sympathetic) Only they call you Billy, right? But that's not your name, is it? I understand. BILLY (softening) You do? PATIENT They do that all the time here. (offers his hand) Natalie Wood. How do you do? BILLY shakes it. INT. EXAMINING ROOM - DAY At Harding Hospital. BILLY attached to an EEG, while a TECHNICIAN looks at the results. He's obviously confused. TIGHT on the print out. INT. OFFICE - DAY At Harding. The TECHNICIAN is showing the printout to a DOCTOR. DOCTOR It's got to be a mistake. A glitch in the machine. TECHNICIAN I've never had a problem before. DOCTOR Well, what do you want me to say? Adults do not emit spiked Theta waves on their EEG's. Only children do. Try changing the electrode. INT. EXAMINING ROOM - DAY The TWO DOCTORS are administering another EEG to BILLY. They seem satisfied with the results this time. DOCTOR See? Completely normal. Those electrodes are for shit. TECHNICIAN But I didn't change the electrode. I had to order it. INT. CORRIDOR DOCTOR HARDING approaches BILLY'S peephole and peers in. Beside him is the ADMITTING NURSE. INT. ROOM BILLY is on the floor, drawing. He's made a very disturbing picture of a tombstone that's inscribed: DO NOT R.I.P. INT. CORRIDOR NURSE I think he's looking forward to meeting you, Doctor. DR. HARDING (gulps a little) I'll see him in my office. Lots of coffee, please. He heads off down the hall. INT. OUTSIDE HARDING'S OFFICE BILLY is dropped off by an ORDERLY. HARDING (rises to greet him) Ah, Billy, come on in. Sit down. Coffee? The ORDERLY leaves, closing the door and shutting us out. INT. HEARING ROOM It's small and sterile. The JUDGE, PROSECUTOR, STENOGRAPHER, DR. HARDING, GARY, JUDY and BILLY are present. HARDING Your honor, based on my interviews with the defendant, it is my opinion that, William S. Milligan suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder and has fragmented into ten separate personality manifestations. At the time of the acts in question, I believe he was mentally ill and unable to distinguish between right and wrong. Further, he did not have the ability to refrain from committing these acts. These findings are consistent with a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, and I would, therefore, recommend that he be remanded to Athens State Hospital for suitable treatment. JUDGE Mr. Yavitch, do you contest these findings? PROSECUTOR No, your honor. The prosecution does not. JUDGE Then, lacking any evidence to the contrary, this court has no alternative than to find the defendant not guilty by reason of insanity. He raps his gavel three times. EXT. COURTHOUSE BILLY is led, handcuffed, by TWO POLICEMEN, out a back entrance, but they still collide with a handful of REPORTERS. REPORTER How do you feel now that you've been found not guilty? BILLY I feel better now that it's all over with and I finally have come back to a reality that I've missed for so long. SECOND REPORTER Do you have any recollection of the crimes your other personalities have been charged with? BILLY Very little. Certain things come to me in forms of dreams that you could call memories, but I can't really distinct between memories -- the realities... REPORTER (aside to another Reporter) Yeah, right. And I'm Doris Day. BILLY ... because my emotions split so far apart -- love, hate and fear... SECOND REPORTER Billy, what do you want to do with your life? BILLY Become a citizen again. The COPS lead him away. INT. POLICE CAR BILLY sits in back, flanked by the TWO POLICEMEN. It's freezing cold. They're bundled up -- BILLY wears just a suit. One POLICEMAN drinks hot coffee. FIRST POLICEMAN Well, you got away with it, didn't ya? You must be pretty proud of yourself. BILLY shivers silently. FIRST POLICEMAN You turn my stomach. I've got two daughters. Come on, you can tell me -- you're fakin', right? SECOND POLICEMAN Ray... (to Billy) You look cold. You want some hot coffee? Here. The SECOND POLICEMAN, who wears thick gloves, purposely shoves the cup at BILLY'S handcuffed hands so that the coffee spills all over his lap, scalding him. The POLICEMEN laugh. Out the window, BILLY realizes they're passing by a turn off on the road marked by a covered bridge. He gets upset. WE PRESS IN on BILLY. Then: TYMPANI ROLL INT. THE SHOWROOM AT THE EDEN ROC HOTEL IN MIAMI BEACH It's 1958, and filled with middle aged JEWISH COUPLES out for the resort's Saturday night entertainment. The MEN are in suits and the WOMEN are dressed to the teeth -- falls attached to over-teased hair, false eyelashes and stiff, heavy gowns. Minks draped over chairbacks. Spotlights roam the stage and the audience. ANNOUNCER (O.C.) Ladies and gentlemen. The Eden Roc Hotel welcomes you to the Grand Ballroom. Have we got a show for you tonight! PRESS IN on BILLY, AGE THREE. He's in a suit and bowtie, on a stool next to the kitchen entrance, watching the stage in rapt fascination. WAITERS and BUSBOYS rush past him loaded down with trays full of drinks. ANNOUNCER (O.C.) Claire and Myrna -- the Barry Sisters... (applause) The dancing stylings of Tanya and Briaggi... (applause) And now, please welcome the adults only comedy of Johnny Morrison. THE STAGE Over applause, the band plays JOHNNY'S lead-in music. He bounds on stage, all sweat and smiles -- his old shirt collar too tight for his extra chin. But the spotlights keep roaming -- leaving him in the dark. He gives a "can you believe this shit?" face and the audience reluctantly plays along. This is the oldest shtick in the book. Once again, the band plays his little intro. Once again the audience applauds -- but less than before. And this time, instead of the spots landing on him at the music cut-off, they focus on an empty spot across the stage. Scattered laughter. More groans. BILLY laughing hard. THE STAGE JOHNNY Now you know why it's cheaper here than the Fountainbleu. Nothing. No response. Just chairs scuffling and forks on dessert plates. INTERCUT Between BILLY and the SPOTLIGHT, as JOHNNY continues with his act. BILLY is fascinated by it: it's sharp, defined glow, lighting up just one perfect circle while all around it is darkness. JOHNNY Two women at the Fountainbleu are looking through a hole in the wall into the men's steam room. They see one poor shnook, naked as a jaybird with a towel over his face. The first woman says: "Ciel... would you look at that? He's not Jewish." The other woman says "Jewish? He's not even a guest here." Rimshot. THE STAGE JOHNNY (flop sweat now) Alright, already. He whistles at the spot through his two fingers and motions it towards him. It moves maybe a foot in his direction. He commits the comic's cardinal sin -- he laughs when the audience doesn't. He's the joke now. BILLY oblivious. Laughing -- deliriously happy. Suddenly, a BUSBOY with a tray full of glasses bangs into him and everything smashes to the ground. BUSBOY (cleaning) Goddammit! BILLY I'm sorry. BUSBOY Get out of the goddamn aisle. I been just missin' you all night. BILLY I couldn't see before. BUSBOY Well, that's too bad -- what the hell are you doin' in here all alone, anyway? BILLY (points to Johnny) That's my Daddy. BUSBOY Yeah? Well, he stinks. That steam room joke is as old as my Aunt Bessie's ass. He goes to lift BILLY off the stool. BUSBOY Now sit someplace else, before I have you thrown out. BILLY No! TWO BIG HANDS -- more like paws -- enter frame and lift the BUSBOY off the ground. They belong to a second BUSBOY, huge and mustachioed. He speaks with a thick Slavic accent. SECOND BUSBOY Leave him alone. BUSBOY (scared) Hey, buddy, I was only... SECOND BUSBOY Just leave him alone. He tosses the FIRST BUSBOY aside like a piece of crumpled up paper and gives his attention to BILLY. BILLY I couldn't see before. That's my Daddy. He lifts BILLY up onto his shoulders. SECOND BUSBOY There. Now you see everything. THE STAGE as JOHNNY finally walks over to the spot and steps inside it. A couple of people applaud. BILLY on the BUSBOY'S shoulders -- eyes glued to his FATHER -- all lit up against the blackness. INT. KITCHEN - DAY BILLY'S MOTHER, DOROTHY, is coming, watching a soap opera and talking on the phone all at the same time. BILLY, still three, has a toy ambulance that he's running all over with -- rolling it over everything, making siren noises, "vrooming" at the top of his lungs. Finally: DOROTHY Billy, please -- can't you see I'm tryin' to watch the TV? Now take that someplace else. He takes the car down the hall -- vrooming slightly quieter. WE HOLD on a framed photo of JOHNNY MORRISON and JIMMY DURANTE. Baby BILLY sits on DURANTE'S knee. BILLY arrives at a door leading to the garage. He opens it and immediately starts coughing. It's filled with fumes. He looks inside the car, which is running, and sees his FATHER, slumped over on the front seat. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY It's filled with people, all in black, all eating. BILLY is in a black suit and bowtie, getting underneath everybody's feet, still carrying his ambulance. He vrooms very quietly. He looks over at his MOTHER, red-eyed from crying, on a sofa with another WOMAN. DOROTHY breaks down. DOROTHY My God, he looks just like him. I can't look at him. I can't... THE OTHER WOMAN quickly bustles BILLY away. WOMAN Come on, son. Your Mother's very upset. INT. BILLY'S BEDROOM It's empty as the WOMAN brings BILLY inside. WOMAN Now you just sit up here and play for a while, alright? That's all grown up stuff goin' on downstairs. And soon your Mama's gonna take you back home with her to Ohio. Won't that be fun? She leaves and closes the door. He sits alone in the middle of the floor. He spins the wheels of his ambulance against the worn out rug. BILLY (softly, a siren) Wooooo... woooo... And he rolls it slowly out of frame. Beat... beat... beat... it rolls back to him. And it's been turned around to face him. BILLY looks up and smiles. ANGLE to reveal a three year old GIRL, all in white. She's the girl from the painting with the rag doll. GIRL Vrooom... vrooom... BILLY He rolls it back to her. INT. BOWLING ALLEY There's a piano bar and DOROTHY is in a ratty, red sequined dress, singing "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You." As she does, WE SEE BILLY, age eight, not really watching, just sitting sullenly -- blowing air bubbles in his Coke. Someone's watching though. CHALMER MILLIGAN sits at the bar, smiling at DOROTHY. She starts performing just to him. BILLY realizes what's going on and watches carefully. CHALMER catches BILLY'S look and feels exposed. He turns his attention back to DOROTHY. LATER CHALMER and DOROTHY, laughing in a booth over drinks. PAN OVER to the next booth -- BILLY is fast asleep. EXT. CARNIVAL - NIGHT Lots of people and rides. BILLY, DOROTHY and CHALMER are in line for one ride, but as they get to the gate: ATTENDANT Sorry, he's too little. There's a height requirement. BILLY is stricken. CHALMER (to Billy) Well, tell ya what -- you wait here and we'll meet you right after. It's a short one, this one. He ushers DOROTHY onto the ride as BILLY steps aside -- watching and waiting. INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY CHALMER watches from the sofa as BILLY sits with crayons and a pad on the floor. BILLY reaches for the red one, but CHALMER'S foot comes down on it. A beat as BILLY looks up at him. Finally, CHALMER lifts his foot and BILLY takes it. INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT DOROTHY is shaking BILLY out of a deep sleep. She's breathless with excitement. DOROTHY Billy, wake up. Look. She shows him an engagement ring on her finger. DOROTHY He asked me to marry him. We're not going to be alone anymore. She hugs him tight. INT. KITCHEN - DAY BILLY and DOROTHY doing the dishes together. BILLY I don't know what to call him. DOROTHY Chalmer is your Daddy, now. You call him Daddy Chal. BILLY looks into the living room at CHALMER, asleep in front of the TV, a beer in his hand. CHALMER opens his eyes unexpectedly, startling BILLY. CHALMER What are you doin' in there? Only sissies help their Mama's do dishes. You come in here with me and watch some TV. BILLY is nervous. DOROTHY (privately) Go on. He's you Daddy, now. You mind him. He loves you. BILLY goes inside. INT. KITCHEN - EVENING The three of them at the dinner table. No talking -- just quiet eating. DOROTHY Billy, would you please pass the salt? He grabs it and goes to hand it to his MOTHER, but CHALMER grabs his other wrist. CHALMER Salt gets passed clockwise. BILLY What? CHALMER Everything at the table gets passed clockwise. BILLY Why? CHALMER Because that's how we did it when I was growin' up. It learned me manners -- you don't have everybody reachin' all over the table for everything -- gettin' in everybody's food. BILLY passes it clockwise, via CHALMER, who gives it to DOROTHY. DOROTHY Thank you. CHALMER It's just like when I taught you to sit with your hands on your knees and your feet flat on the floor when you're not eatin'. And you don't have to know the reason for everything, anyway. If I say to do something, then that's enough. Right? BILLY Yes. CHALMER Yes, what? BILLY Yes, Daddy Chal. INT. LIVING ROOM - EVENING CHALMER, BILLY and DOROTHY watching TV. Ed Sullivan. CHALMER'S got a beer in one hand and his other arm is around DOROTHY as he starts fondling her breast. DOROTHY (smiling awkwardly, pulling away) Chalmer... CHALMER (a hoarse whisper) What...? He leans in to kiss her neck. BILLY watches. CHALMER looks right at him, then nuzzles her. DOROTHY (still mindful of decorum) No... CHALMER (climbing on her now, but not really threatening) Don't tell me no -- we're married now. He thinks he's being playful. A hand inside her blouse. BILLY still watches in silence. DOROTHY (catches Billy's look to Chalmer) Billy... CHALMER So? He looks at BILLY once more, then, never taking his eyes off him, slides his tongue into DOROTHY'S ear. DOROTHY (gets up) We can go in the bedroom. She leaves and goes upstairs. BILLY looks at CHALMER. CHALMER What are you looking at? (an icy hiss) You bend them eyes while I'm talkin' to you, boy. BILLY looks down. CHALMER drains his beer and tosses the empty can at him, then heads upstairs. In a moment, we hear a hit. DOROTHY screams. Another hit. BILLY sits closer to the TV -- turns up the volume. A plate spinner on Ed Sullivan. As the beating continues upstairs. BILLY changes the channel, landing on an old Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes movie. He stare hard as Holmes performs some miraculous demonstration of deduction. BILLY turns up the volume till it drowns everything else out. INT. KITCHEN - EVENING BILLY sits drawing at the table while his MOTHER does the ironing. The drawing is a landscape, and remarkably good for a nine year old. DOROTHY Is it that late? God, I don't know where the time went. She leaves the room and heads upstairs. As BILLY looks up, he sees CHALMER standing in the next room, staring at him. BILLY goes back to drawing, but is unnerved. He looks up again -- CHALMER is gone. He tentatively leaves the kitchen and pads very slowly into the living room. No one there. BILLY sits on the sofa and looks up -- there's CHALMER, leaning against the wall next to the entrance way. BILLY is startled. BILLY Hello, Daddy Chal... No response. CHALMER'S eyes bore a hole right through the boy. BILLY picks up a magazine. He leaf's through a couple of pages, consumed with fright, then puts it back carefully -- perfectly -- in the center of the coffee table. He glances up. CHALMER hasn't moved. He's still staring. BILLY puts his hands on his knees and his feet flat on the floor. Then he gets up and exits the room from the opposite side where CHALMER is. EXT. BACK PORCH As BILLY comes out of the house. He goes into the yard and wanders restlessly -- tosses a stick. He gathers all his courage and looks back towards the house. There is CHALMER, watching him from the window. Terrified, BILLY starts to cry silently. Suddenly, his MOTHER'S voice startles him. DOROTHY Billy! She's at the upstairs window. DOROTHY Come on to bed! INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT BILLY lies awake. He's exhausted, but more scared. Every time he starts to nod off, he forces his eyes back open with a start. He pinches his arm and twists hard to keep himself up. INT. KITCHEN - MORNING BILLY, eyes puffy from lack of sleep, sits opposite CHALMER and DOROTHY. CHALMER doesn't look like he's slept much, either. DOROTHY Look what I made for my two men this morning. Pancakes and bacon and fresh squeezed juice... CHALMER We're going to the farm today, Billy. There's a lot to be done. BILLY is gripped by fear. INT. CAR BILLY and CHALMER moving down a long, lonely road. Neither one says a word. They both just stare straight ahead. EXT. CAR As it turns off one road and onto another -- this one containing the covered bridge. It's the same one that adult BILLY passed in the police car. A farm can be seen in the distance amongst the spindly, leafless trees. EXT. FARM - DAY CHALMER sits on the ground, drinking beer and staring. ANGLE to include the corn crib from the charcoal animation. BILLY is locked inside, trying to ignore his step-father's stare. INT. CORN CRIB BILLY sees a cardinal on a tree branch. He has some paints with him and starts to sketch out the bird on a piece of slate. Suddenly CHALMER pops up in front of him, carrying a shovel. He unlocks the corn crib. CHALMER Come on... He leads BILLY out and they walk off into a field as the cardinal flies away to freedom. EXT. FIELD BILLY is digging a long hole that's already knee deep. CHALMER sits and watches. He holds a rusty, hollow, metal pipe in his hand -- about a foot long and four inches wide. CHALMER Six feet. You hear me? BILLY continues digging. EXT. FIELD CHALMER pushes a rototiller, churning up the ground for the coming season. WE FOLLOW him as he goes. Finally, he passes the pipe he was holding earlier -- only now it sticks up six inches from the ground. As CHALMER rides out of frame we hear the amplified sound of shallow breathing. INT. BARN We see BILLY only from the naked torso up. Through a window, we can see CHALMER outside, drinking under a tree. His pants are undone. BILLY'S back is to us. He's tied to the rototiller -- straddling it. His eyes are wet from crying. He struggles against the rope, but it's no use. Then, his eyes fix into the middle distance. He stares so hard, it hurts. A BRIGHT, WHITE LIGHT shining straight into our eyes. At first it has no form, no perimeters. BILLY staring. THE LIGHT feels like a birth as we PULL BACK from its center, gathering velocity. It rumbles, then roars, until we finally get to it's outer edge. Now it has a shape. It's a spotlight -- sharp, defined. Surrounded by darkness. Like the spot that shone on Johnny Morrison at the Eden Roc. BILLY staring even harder. THE SPOT as a form emerges from it's deepest recesses. It's human. A teenage boy. The figure stretches out it's hand. BILLY Suddenly, he blinks -- like we've seen the adult BILLY do. His entire face seems to change. He's not terrified anymore, merely confused. He reaches his face over to his constrained hand and touches his cheek with his fingers. He has no idea why he's been crying. He looks around the barn -- then out at CHALMER, who is oblivious. BILLY looks at the rope around his wrists. They are tied to each other, close together, but there's still some slack. He takes a beat, then uses one hand to push the thumb of his other hand far across it palm. His eyes are clenched in concentration. His hand turns beet red. Suddenly, there's a snap and his thumb is successfully dislocated. With his thumb pulled out of its socket and draped across his palm, the thickest part of his hand is now thinner than his wrist, enabling him to slide it out from the rope. He snaps it back in place and undoes his other wrist. Outside the window, CHALMER is now passed out drunk. INT. BARN THE CARDINAL painted on the piece of slate. It's been signed: BILLY. BILLY is fully dressed now, rubbing his still red thumb, when he stumbles upon it. He picks up the paintbrush next to it and adds some touches. Satisfied, he signs a second name beneath the one that's already there: TOMMY. EXT. STREET It's a brilliant Fall day. BILLY, age nine, is walking to school past an apple orchard. He carries a big, shiny red apple -- polishing it as he goes. He never sees the car that suddenly rounds the bend and heads straight for him. We hear a MAN and a WOMAN giggling drunkenly from inside -- completely oblivious. It is virtually upon him, when, as if shoved from behind by an invisible force, BILLY is thrown clear of the automobile. It crushes the apple into sauce and disappears around the next bend, but BILLY lands safely. He starts to cry. Then we hear a voice. It has a thick East European accent. RAGEN'S VOICE Christene... BILLY looks up. RAGEN'S VOICE Please... don't cry... I get you another apple. TIGHT on a adult pair of hands as they shimmy up a tree trunk and grab an apple. EXT. STREET BILLY, holding this new apple, walking happily to school once more. RAGEN'S FACE against a dark and indistinct background. He's inspired by the Eden Roc busboy -- intense, olive-skinned, with a full black moustache. RAGEN I will always be here to protect you. INT. BILLY'S APARTMENT BILLY, age twenty one, is working out with a set of nunchuks. He handles them like an expert, like a killer. Sweat covers his bare chest. His hands are a blur. He punctuates each move with a throaty war cry, still in the thick Yugoslavian accent, as he uses a mannequin's face and torso to simulate the disarming and vicious pummeling of an attacker. He ends with a fierce, sustained scream of a warrior. When he comes back to himself, he looks down: the mannequin is in shreds. He opens the refrigerator. It's empty. He grabs his wallet from his pocket and opens it. It's empty. He throws it angrily to the floor. He goes to the sink and sticks his head under, to wash the sweat off the get a drink, when the doorbell rings. BILLY approaches it warily. He keeps his accent all through this. BILLY Who is it? GORDY (O.C.) Gordy. BILLY grabs an M-16 from under a chair, reaches high on a shelf for a clip and pops it in, then holds it to his side as he opens the door a few inches. GORDY is eighteen, thin, pale and high as a kite. GORDY Shit, it's cold. You got any scotch? He starts to enter, but BILLY blocks his way. GORDY What's wrong? We gonna do this in front of the neighbors? I've got the money. GORDY takes out sixty bucks in crumpled bills. BILLY looks at it, then lets him in. GORDY walks past him into the living room. BILLY Where are you going? GORDY (not looking back, imitates him) Where am I going? GORDY pulls out a dresser drawer and put it on the floor. BILLY Hey. GORDY reaches in and BILLY moves right for him, the gun barrel coming to rest on his back. GORDY pulls out a cellophane bag that's been duck taped to the back of the dresser. It's got several smaller bags inside, each stocked with a different supply of pills. GORDY Whoa. Jackpot. He turns and sees the gun pointed straight at him. GORDY What's wrong? I showed you the money. He tosses it to BILLY. GORDY Cool it. But BILLY is stunned. He's never seen the pills before. He lowers his gun and grabs the bag. As he opens it and pulls out its contents: GORDY What are you gettin' all excited for? Have I ever ripped you off? Never. Wow, you got the reds. BILLY drops the bag to the floor. BILLY How did you know this was there? GORDY (picking them up) That's where you always keep 'em. Oh no. Are you gonna get all weird again? I hate when you do this shit. GORDY pockets sixty dollars worth of speed, then sees the nunchuks and a set of free weights. GORDY I didn't know you were so into that stuff. He picks up the nunchuks -- does a few comically inane moves. BILLY Put them down. GORDY (he does) Boy, who put the bug up your ass today? And what's with the commie accent? You know, the guy I work for is looking for a bodyguard. Someone to drive the car to the pick-ups and look like an animal so no one pulls any shit. You wanna meet him? The pay is good. BILLY How much? GORDY I don't know -- ask him. The sumbitch is made of money. I'm goin' over there now. You wanna come? BILLY We need money. GORDY So come on. His name's Foley. BILLY grabs a sweatshirt and they leave. EXT. HOOVER RESERVOIR - DAY As the water roars below, BILLY sits alone in his parked car. Thirty yards away is a parked MERCEDES. TWO MEN sit in the front seat, while GORDY leans in the back window talking to FOLEY. BILLY is tense, but stoic. In a moment, GORDY turns. He gets out of the car. GORDY He wants to talk to you. BILLY gets out of the car. The other THREE MEN get out of theirs. BILLY takes the long walk over, but upon reaching them one MAN spins him around to face the car while holding an automatic to his head and the OTHER starts to frisk him. Immediately, BILLY elbows the MAN WITH THE GUN in the throat, delivers a quick flurry of knifehand karate strikes to his face, breaking his nose, then holds him in front of his own body. BILLY grabs the MAN'S hand, wrapping his finger around the finger that was already guarding the trigger, and straightens the henchman's arm, using it to point the gun directly at FOLEY. BILLY It is not good to move. I put three bullets between your eyes before you take step. FOLEY puts his hands up. BILLY turns to the SECOND FLUNKIE. BILLY You. Take gun from under jacket with two fingers and put on ground. The MAN hesitates. BILLY Do it now or you will be smiling out of your sleeve. He does as BILLY says. BILLY pushes the FIRST MAN away, holding onto the gun. BILLY I would say you need better bodyguard than these two. FOLEY (to the two men) Go over there. I'm going to have a talk with Mr. Milligan. INT. MERCEDES FOLEY presses a button and a bar opens. FOLEY What do you drink? BILLY Vodka. FOLEY No shit. Where'd you get a name like Milligan? BILLY Names mean nothing. I am Yugoslavian. FOLEY Well, Billy. I'm in the shipping business, and my drivers need protection. BILLY I am a protector. You have job. I do it. I need money. FOLEY Oh, don't worry, you'll make money. BILLY Except one thing. I do not hurt people unless my life is in danger, and I do not harm womans. FOLEY It's a deal. They shake hands. INT. BILLY'S APARTMENT GORDY'S taking a hit of speed and washing it down with a swig of vodka. GORDY Where'd you learn karate? Who are you really? Ex-C.I.A.? Mercenary? But BILLY has drawn into himself -- lips moving silently. GORDY You O.K.? (holds out the speed) Here, you want a B.B.? BILLY "returns". He quickly checks out the scene -- where he is and who he's with. BILLY (almost relieved) Gordy. BILLY smiles and takes a pill. After he swallows it, GORDY offers him the vodka. BILLY reaches past him for a beer. GORDY shrugs and picks up a volume of poetry by Emily Dickinson. GORDY (laughs) Poetry? You read this shit? Or you got a girlfriend I don't know about? BILLY has never seen it before. GORDY reads: GORDY Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words And never stops at all. BILLY grabs it and throws it across the room. BILLY I've never seen it before. GORDY No? Then who the hell's it belong to? The book has landed in front of a painting of the withdrawn, teenage girl with long pair parted in the middle. As we PRESS IN on BILLY, we CROSSFADE to: INT. BILLY'S BEDROOM - MORNING He's nine years old. DOROTHY'S approaching voice wakes him up. DOROTHY Billy! you're gonna be late for school! She opens the door. DOROTHY Billy, come on. He looks at her, confused. DOROTHY Let's go. I'm making blueberry pancakes. INT. SPOT The bright, white light, surrounded by darkness. PHIL is there, tucking a napkin into his collar. He's a tough looking twenty year old with bad skin and three days of growth of beard. INT. KITCHEN BILLY, still age nine, tucking a napkin into his collar. He's smothering his pancakes in a ton of syrup and wolfing them down in huge, convict size bites. DOROTHY I'm not going to show this report card to Daddy Chal. One D, all the rest F's... What's wrong, Billy? I know you're bright. You go to school every day. Why don't you learn? It's like there's two Billy's. And one of them I don't care for very much at all. Now you're going to have to try and do better, and that's all there is to it. Understand? BILLY Do you have any black coffee? INT. THIRD GRADE CLASSROOM It's very Eisenhower fifties mid-west. Thanksgiving turkey cut-outs on the windows; Autumn leaf displays, etc. The CHILDREN are all taking their seats. BILLY doesn't know were he belongs. He finally sits, but immediately, a GIRL approaches. GIRL That's my seat. BILLY Go to hell. GIRL Miss Haworth, Billy Milligan just swore at me and he's sitting in my seat. BILLY (under his breath) Jesus... BILLY stands and the GIRL sits. MISS HAWORTH What's the matter, Billy? Don't you remember where your seat it? He shakes his head no. MISS HAWORTH I'm getting very tired of this little game, Billy. Now take your seat. By this time, there's only one seat left unoccupied. BILLY sits. MISS HAWORTH Thank you. Now maybe we can get on with our arithmetic test. As MISS HAWORTH passes out the mimeographed quiz sheets, BILLY is gripped with fear. He looks at the sheet. It's like hieroglyphics to him. MISS HAWORTH Alright class, you may begin. The KIDS start work -- BILLY freezes. A beat then: TIGHT on an adult hand, holding a pencil, poised over the test. We hear an English accent: ARTHUR (O.C.) Oh, dear, really. You must be joking. ANGLE on the classroom. MISS HAWORTH Ssh! BILLY sits with a completely different posture and demeanor. He looks down his nose at the test and races through it. He's done almost immediately and puts down his pencil. MISS HAWORTH looks up from her desk. MISS HAWORTH Done already? ANGLE to include BILLY. He's back to being himself -- scared and confused. He has no idea how he got to school. MISS HAWORTH (approaching) Aren't you even going to check your work? He doesn't respond. She takes the paper and looks at it. Then: MISS HAWORTH Let me see your arms. He rolls up his sleeves. Then she looks all around his desk. BILLY What's wrong? MISS HAWORTH (extremely suspicious) They're all correct. EXT. SCHOOL - DAY It's a Saturday and there's no one around, except for BILLY, now age fourteen. He's throwing rocks from about thirty yards away -- trying to break windows. We're behind him as he hears PHIL'S twenty year old voice. PHIL (O.C.) Hey. VERY QUICK CUTS. FIRST: An ANGLE on BILLY'S face, speaking as PHIL, with a thick New York accent. BILLY What are you doing? Another ANGLE on BILLY'S face, answering as KEVIN -- also twenty. BILLY Bustin' windows. An adult hand, picking up a rock. PHIL (O.C.) Cool. Let me. BILLY throwing a rock and shattering a window. INT. SPOT PHIL, in the light, wiping the dirt off his hands. EXT. THE SCHOOL BILLY is baffled, looking around. BILLY (as Kevin) Where are you? PHIL (O.C.) Where are you? BILLY (as Kevin) I'm standing on the hill -- behind the school. PHIL (O.C.) Yeah? Me too. INT. SPOT KEVIN, now in the light. He's twenty, blonde hair, green eyes -- a tough guy like PHIL. KEVIN What's your name? PHIL (O.C.) Philip, what's yours? KEVIN Kevin. ANGLE In the distance, KEVIN is lit in the spot. In the F.G., PHIL in semi-darkness, is unaware of him. PHIL That's a funny name. KEVIN Yeah? I'd bust you if I could see you. PHIL Where ya live? EXT. THE SCHOOL BILLY casually throws rocks at the school, breaking windows as he speaks. BILLY (as Kevin) On Spring Street. Where you from? PHIL (O.C.) I'm from Brooklyn, New York, but now I live on Spring Street, too. INT. SPOT KEVIN KEVIN It's 933 Spring. A white house. Owned by some guy named Chalmer Milligan. He calls me Billy. KEVIN reaches down. EXT. SCHOOL - BILLY'S HAND picking up a rock. BILLY (O.C.) Jeez -- that's where I live. I know the same guy. He calls me Billy, too. I play along for the pancakes. BILLY throws the rock -- then turns around. INT. SPOT KEVIN turns, as BILLY just did, and comes face to face with PHILIP. PHIL I ain't never seen you there. KEVIN I ain't never seen you there, either. PHIL (popping open a Zippo) Well, shit, pal, let's go down to the woods and light fires. KEVIN Cool. EXT. SCHOOL BILLY runs off towards the woods, Zippo in hand. INT. BILLY'S APARTMENT BILLY, age twenty one, has discovered drugs stashed behind the dresser drawer. He checks them out, then speaks with Arthur's British accent. BILLY L.S.D. Kevin and Philip have become undesirables. Something must be done to banish them from the spot. BANG! MUSIC blasts. Elton John's "Madman Across the Water". The screen is filled with a wash of deep blue. BILLY enters frame, silhouetted against it, paintbrush in hand. He attacks the blue with whites and yellows. In a SERIES OF CUTS: The painting is incredibly detailed -- fine, delicate lines forming eyes and strands of hair -- but his manner is frenetic. He paces the floor, staring at the canvas the way a matador sizes up a bull, then hurls himself at it -- always reigning himself in to achieve the controlled, meticulous tension that the painting demands. THE SPOT ALLEN painting. Cigarette dangling from his mouth. THE PAINTING further along. It's like a story unfolding. Symbols, clocks, faces -- all corresponding to some private vision of BILLY'S. INT. APARTMENT TIME CUT. BILLY is drenched now. He paints a section, then steps back to look at it. Dissatisfied he takes a can of red paint and flings it across the canvas. He stops a moment to catch his breath, then starts all over again. In a moment, he "blinks". His demeanor changes, his posture, the way he holds the brush. He goes from looking like an artist in complete command of his craft, to looking like some guy holding a paintbrush. He sees the bag of drugs ARTHUR had left out earlier and picks them up, hungrily. From out of an envelope, he shakes out a small piece of paper with a stamp of a loopy cartoon horse on it. He smiles wickedly, then puts it to his tongue and licks the purple microdot off the tip of its muzzle. BILLY painting -- tripping out of his mind. BILLY - LATER now ALLEN, the personality who had originally started the painting. He's looking aghast. HIS POV PHIL has turned it into some sixties psychedelic nightmare and signed it. BILLY lights a cigarette, then starts painting over it -- starting again. BILLY painting in detail once more. His neck is sore. His fingers are sore. It's pitch black outside. BILLY - DAWN finally finished. Ashtray overflowing. He's looking at the result. It is a major work -- complicated -- probably over-complicated -- full of the confusion and enormity of what's inside him. He signs it: ALLEN. He wipes the sweat off his face, walks to the sofa and lies down. He's asleep in seconds. INT. APARTMENT - LATER BILLY wakes up. A beat. He walks over to the painting. He looks at it, then reaches for a handful of crayons. INT. SPOT Three year old CHRISTENE picking up crayons. INT. APARTMENT - LATER BILLY stands stunned. There are childish squiggles and drawings all over the canvas. It's completely ruined. His eyes fill with tears. INT. DARKENED AREA There is a male figure moving through the shadows, though we can hardly discern any activity. ANGLE to include the spot in the distance. RAGEN is in it. In the foreground, now, the lurking male figure enters the frame. We see him, only partially and from behind, watching RAGEN. EXT. WOODS Fourteen year old BILLY is practicing pulling a knife from his boot and chucking it at a tree with lightning speed and accuracy. INT. SPOT ARTHUR'S VOICE Ragen Vadascovinich. RAGEN turns quickly. EXT. WOODS BILLY has his knife out in a defense stance. INT. SPOT RAGEN is in the same position. RAGEN Where are you? ARTHUR'S VOICE I'm right here. EXT. WOODS BILLY is all alone, talking to himself in the woods. BILLY (English accent) We are in the same body. We share it. You are in my head and I am in yours. And there are others as well, but most of them don't know about each other. INT. SPOT ARTHUR stands just outside the spot, talking to RAGEN. He's twenty two, with a patrician air and John Lennon glasses. RAGEN Is true -- I have heard voices before -- but how can you be same place I am? Is not possible. ARTHUR It's simple, really. Whoever is on the spot holds the consciousness. Right now, it's you. When it's someone else, we are very often unaware. RAGEN eyes him warily. ARTHUR Do you play chess? RAGEN Of course. INT. BILLY'S MIND RAGEN and ARTHUR in a limbo-like space, playing chess. Though they are obviously sitting, we can see not chairs. It's like they are sitting in blackness. In the background, we can see CHRISTENE, all of three years old, sitting in the spot, drawing happily. ARTHUR If we are to survive in the world, we will have to bring some order out of this chaos. Billy wanders around, oblivious, starting things and not finishing them -- getting into all kinds of ridiculous scrapes -- switching in front of people. And some, like Philip and Kevin are quite destructive and need to be carefully monitored. INT. CLASSROOM Fourteen year old BILLY and his class are taking a math test, but BILLY, currently occupied by CHRISTENE'S personality, is drawing pictures all over the test sheet. A GIRL sitting next to him is watching him incredulously. ARTHUR AND RAGEN playing chess. CHRISTENE drawing in the spot in the background. ARTHUR Ah, an Indian defense. Very good. RAGEN Who is that? He indicates a four year boy sitting alone, staring blankly. ARTHUR That is Shawn. He's completely deaf. He takes the spot to block out his mother's cries. We've got all kinds here. But there's got to be a way of controlling things. RAGEN Does Billy know about us? ARTHUR No. RAGEN Should he be told? ARTHUR I think it would drive him insane. RAGEN Then how can things be controlled? ARTHUR We'll make rules. Everyone will have specific duties that are tailored toward their particular talents. Tommy is an electronics genius, as well as an escape artist. Several of us are painters. I excel at foreign languages and dabble in medicine and biochemistry. The girls do domestic chores. RAGEN There are women here? ARTHUR Oh yes. April and Adalana. They do the cooking, the shopping, the cleaning... checkmate. RAGEN What about me? ARTHUR You shall continue your role as protector... EXT. ROAD Fourteen year old BILLY jogging -- sweat pours down. ARTHUR (V.O.) ... developing yourself physically... learning the martial arts -- weaponry -- being able to step into a dangerous situation at a moments notice. He speeds up -- running harder and harder. The intensity in his face is enormous -- as if every fiber of his being were perfectly focused on this one activity. INT. CLASSROOM - DAY A TEACHER is droning on, writing endlessly at the blackboard. She has lost control of the class, which is chatting away, paying little or no attention. TEACHER The War of the Roses was a series of wars fought by two English families in the late 15th Century for the rule of the country. As she speaks, the class gets quieter and quieter in the background, until there's just the TEACHER and a strange whispering. TEACHER The House of Lancaster had a red rose as its emblem while the House of York had a white rose. The forces of the House of Lancaster won and their leader, Henry Tudor, father of the future Henry VII, became king... Finally, she turns around and stops speaking. ANGLE to include class. They are all staring at BILLY, age fourteen, who sits at his desk, eyes glazed and half rolled into his head -- lips moving a mile a minute -- whispering in a strange gibberish. INT. SCHOOL COUNSELOR'S OFFICE A sign on his desk identifies him as such. He faces BILLY. COUNSELOR Do you know why you're here, Billy? Do you want to talk about it? BILLY looks away. The COUNSELOR comes around his desk and sits close to BILLY. COUNSELOR You can say anything here. Go on. What are your feelings? BILLY It's like a dream that comes and goes. My step-dad hates me. I hear him screaming. I hear other voices, too. I get blamed for stuff I didn't do. People call me a liar. I never know what time it is -- or what day it is. Sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy. I don't know what's in my pockets. And I see lots of things that aren't real. There's a locked door and someone's pounding to get out. I see a woman falling down and suddenly she's turning into a pile of metal and I can't reach her and I'm so scared and lonely and I'm afraid to ask for help. I need help. Oh God... (self-conscious, through sniffles) Hey, I'm the only kid who can take a trip without LSD. COUNSELOR It's all right, Billy. We're going to get you some help. INT. DOCTOR'S OFFICE - DAY BILLY being examined by a G.P. -- while his MOTHER looks on. After a bit: DOCTOR Ears normal, eyes normal, throat O.K. -- I don't see anything yet. Alright, Billy, take off your pants. His face crumbles. He's overcome by fear. DOROTHY Go on, Billy, you mind the doctor. The DOCTOR reaches for BILLY'S belt, and BILLY screams in terror. BILLY Nooo!!! It echoes into eternity as WE CUT TO: INT. COLUMBUS STATE HOSPITAL BILLY walking down a corridor with a different DOCTOR, leaving his MOTHER behind. As they go, they pass all manner of disturbed children. DOCTOR Don't worry, Billy. No one's going to hurt you. We're here to help you. INT. EXAMINING ROOM - DAY The DOCTOR gives BILLY two pills in a small, paper container. BILLY puts them in his mouth. QUICK CUTS: BILLY taking different pills on a different day. The same day. And again. Now he washes them down with water. INT. DOCTOR'S CONSULTATION OFFICE BILLY, DOROTHY and CHALMER, across the desk from the DOCTOR. DOCTOR He certainly seems high strung, and his mood swings are unpredictable. He also likes to pretend or role play quite a bit. But I don't really see that there's anything more we can do for him here. Try changing his diet. He seems to do better on Jello day. INT. SCHOOL HALLWAY As BILLY walks through with his books, other KIDS point and whisper to each other. Some laugh. As he passes one little GIRL, she yells from behind. GIRL Billy Milligan is a psycho! He was in the loony bin! The KIDS laugh. EXT. THE ROOF OF THE HIGH SCHOOL It's windy as all hell as BILLY inches his way towards the edge. He's a million miles away -- his eyes fixed in the middle distance. INT. SPOT BILLY, with the very same expression, inside the spotlight. We hear voices from around the periphery. RAGEN'S VOICE We must do something. We must act now. ARTHUR'S VOICE Push him off the spot or he'll jump. EXT. THE ROOF BILLY still moving forward -- ever closer. INT. SPOT He appears to be walking -- but he doesn't move. It's as if he's on a treadmill. TOMMY'S VOICE Oh let him jump. Who needs him around, anyway? Always embarrassing us -- always getting us into trouble... ARTHUR'S VOICE No. It's our responsibility to keep him safe. EXT. ROOF BILLY'S picking up speed now. This is the final push. INT. SPOT BILLY going fast -- still gaining no ground. RAGEN'S VOICE Take spot. Quickly. ARTHUR'S VOICE (he's trying) I can't. TOMMY'S VOICE The hell with him. Loser... EXT. ROOF BILLY at the edge -- about to jump. INT. SPOT RAGEN'S VOICE No! And now RAGEN emerges from the darkness, running full speed. He tackles BILLY. EXT. ROOF BILLY suddenly throwing himself to the ground just a step before going over. INT. SPOT RAGEN and BILLY on the ground. RAGEN (after catching his breath) We must put him to sleep, is too dangerous otherwise. ARTHUR emerges close enough to the light to be visible. ARTHUR I agree. He can no longer function for himself. He shall relinquish the spot indefinitely. Even if it means he never wakes up again. EXT. ROOF BILLY, on the ground, eyelids heavy, lips moving. Suddenly, he is still. Then, his eyes open fully. He gets up. He's completely confused at being on the roof. INT. SPOT Which is now occupied by ALLEN, the fourteen year old, all alone in the light. His confused expression is an exact duplicate of BILLY'S on the roof. Somewhere in the B.G., a small girl laughs softly. WE PAN OVER into the surrounding semi-darkness, where RAGEN kneels before CHRISTENE, a finger to his lips. RAGEN Ssh. Billy is sleeping. WE CONTINUE TO PAN as RAGEN indicates BILLY, lying in what we can only assume is a bed -- but the darkness is too thick to see below his body. He is fast asleep. THIS IMAGE TRANSFORMS INTO ROTOSCOPE ANIMATION which segues into a series of fluid images: PAINTINGS done by BILLY. Portraits, still lifes, landscapes -- done and signed by different personalities, ending with a portrait of SHAWN. INT. LANCASTER ELECTROPLATING It looks like something out of Dante's Inferno. Gigantic machinery, churning out sparks and steam, motored by propane and hydraulics. The noise is deafening as huge, hook-covered ladders roll on suspended tracks and dip an endless supply of metal parts into a succession of electrified acid baths. MEN duck and weave in goggles and huge, rubber gloves, narrowly avoiding decapitation or electrocution as they do their routines. WE TRACK TO BILLY standing at the operator's control panel. It's a mystifying series of buttons, levers and speakers -- and BILLY is completely dumbfounded. BILLY POV He sees everything, but hears nothing. Silence. He is deaf. ANGLE - SOUND NORMAL as suddenly there's a zinc stack up in one of the acetone rinses. The parts keep rolling along on the overhead conveyor track -- compounding the jam. WORKER Power off! Power off! BILLY IN SILENCE knows he's yelling at him, but hasn't any idea what he's supposed to do. He sees the WORKER'S lips move. WORKER Milligan! The FOREMAN runs up and pulls the power switch. The entire apparatus grinds to a halt. FOREMAN (we lip read only) What the hell is wrong with you? ANGLE - SOUND NORMAL FOREMAN Don't you hear him? Billy? Knock knock... BILLY "blinks". He's confused. He knows where he is, but not how he got there. FOREMAN What's going on? BILLY Nothin', Ted. We got a problem? FOREMAN Yeah, we got a problem. I got a train wreck over there and you're sittin' here pullin' your pud. You do good work when you do it, but I can't run my factory at your convenience. BILLY What are you talkin' about? (calls out) Hey, Willie, you got a traffic jam? FOREMAN I'm sorry, Billy. You have to leave. BILLY What? FOREMAN You're fired. BILLY Fired? FOREMAN Come up front. I'll pay you off for the week. INT. CAFETERIA RESTAURANT - DAY BILLY is at the cashier with a tray full of food. He's still got grease stained hands from work. CASHIER That's $2.85, please. BILLY reaches into his wallet -- but it's empty. He's completely confused. He checks his other pockets as the line gets impatient behind him, but pulls out fists full of candy. He looks at the CASHIER in embarrassment -- then bolts out of the restaurant, leaving his food behind. INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT BILLY lies in bed, eyes half closed, lips moving. All we can make out is a vague muttering. INT. SOMEBODY'S APARTMENT - NIGHT Right smack in the middle of a party. Lots of people dancing, drinking, making small talk. We pick out BILLY, sitting on a sofa next to FRANCINE. She's unselfconsciously beautiful. Her edge is tough. Unpampered. But not without its sweetness. BILLY looks lost beside her. FRANCINE You O.K.? BILLY Yeah, fine. FRANCINE I kept sayin' "Billy". Did you hear me? BILLY I was just thinking. Sorry. FRANCINE (flirting a little) What about? Somethin' I made you think about? BILLY Uh... who's party is this? FRANCINE I know, me too. I know he works at the same plant as my friend Liz. But she told me you used to work there, too. BILLY I, uh... I'm embarrassed. I forgot your name. FRANCINE (playful) I didn't tell you yet. It's Francine... And I know you're Billy. I asked Liz right when I came in and seen ya. God, that must sound so slutty. BILLY I like girls to be a little slutty. FRANCINE (laughs) I bet you do. BILLY I don't like the stuck up kind. FRANCINE I know -- me either. Walkin' around all perfect like they don't have no dark part. But you know they do, 'cause everybody does. That's my favorite part -- the dark part. How about you? BILLY I don't know. I guess I've never run into it. FRANCINE Sure you have. People just don't like you knowin' that's what you ran into. Hey, do that trick with your eyes again. BILLY What trick? FRANCINE Where you make your eyes go funny. BILLY How much have you had to drink? FRANCINE Me? What about you? He looks at the beer in his hand, not knowing how it got there, and not feeling the least bit drunk. FRANCINE One minute you're fallin' down drunk, the next you're sober. You gotta teach me that one. So, are we going to your place? He looks at her -- suddenly brightened. FRANCINE You said you'd show me your paintings. Come on, I wanna see 'em. I'll just say goodnight to Liz. She gets up and crosses to her girlfriend. BILLY sits there and fades away into himself. Immediately, he's back -- drunk and cocky. He downs the rest of his beer and walks toward FRANCINE, deftly grabbing a joint out from behind some guy's ear as he passes. He puts an arm around her waist and leads her out. INT. CAR Parked on the street -- BILLY and FRANCINE inside. She's busy looking in her compact. FRANCINE Are you O.K. to drive? You downed at least two sixes that I saw. BILLY "leaves" a moment, then "returns" -- he has changed. FRANCINE Huh? Are you O.K.? BILLY (English accent) I'm perfectly fine. FRANCINE (laughing, and doing an English accent) Oh, well then, home, William. He starts the car and pulls out. EXT. STREET As BILLY and FRANCINE drive off. FRANCINE (V.O.) You're on the wrong side of the road! And, indeed, he is. An oncoming car narrowly misses them. He pulls back to the right side and they continue out of frame. PAINTINGS four or five, one after the other. Landscapes, portraits... FRANCINE looking at them with BILLY. FRANCINE Hey, you're really good. I mean it. The trees look like trees -- the people look like people... I couldn't do that. BILLY (he's Allen now) Thanks. FRANCINE You sure must like kids. Several of the portraits are of the "children". BILLY (he feels this deeply) Kids are very important. But you have to be careful how you paint them -- they're so easy to mess up... She leans over and kisses him tenderly. They separate. She leads him to the bed. They kiss again. Their eyes are closed -- but he opens his mid-kiss. His eyeballs drift with nystagmus and a tear emerges -- rolling down his cheek. He closes them again as he lays her down. INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT BILLY is naked, fast asleep. ANGLE to include FRANCINE, in his oversized tee shirt, silently looking around the apartment. It's fairly run down and cheaply furnished. There is a conspicuous absence of photographs. She approaches BILLY'S desk. In one area, it is stacked with medical texts and biology primers. In another, tools, wires and electronic parts lie scattered. She opens a drawer, checking to make sure she's not waking him, and, inside, finds a few children's books: Dr. Seuss "Green Eggs and Ham", "Little Red Riding Hood", etc. She closes it and opens another. Inside are papers in hand written Arabic. Pages and pages of it. She puts them back and closes the drawer. She moves to his closet, goes inside and closes the door behind her. She pulls a string and the light goes on. There among his clothes, she finds a .38 pistol inside a shoe box. She smiles. She's found the dark part. She closes the box, turns off the light and opens the door. There stands BILLY, scaring the shit out of her. BILLY (sharply) What are you doing in there? FRANCINE I got cold. I was looking for pajamas or a sweater. A beat, as he scrutinizes her. She smiles privately. He grabs a robe off a chair and puts it around her shoulders. He holds her to him. BILLY What happened? Last thing I remember we laid down on the bed -- did I fall asleep for a minute? FRANCINE A minute? It's almost dawn. Come on back to bed. She leads him. As they lie down, she kisses him. She pulls away. FRANCINE You're not tired, are you? Once just ain't enough for me tonight. She looks at him -- eyes twinkling. He has absolutely no memory of their having made love. INT. BILLY'S APARTMENT - DAY He sits at his desk, translating Arabic from a thick hardcover. As he moves the book closer, a note falls out. It says: You have hidden talents. - F. BILLY crumples it up angrily, then feels something in his pocket. He reaches in and pulls out an empty condom wrapper. He throws it in the trash. BILLY (English accent) She spent the night. Bloody hell. INT. SHOWER BILLY scrubs himself, singing, feeling good. INT. APARTMENT BILLY, in his jacket, grabs his lunch pail and heads out the door. INT. CAR BILLY driving, singing along with the radio. EXT. LANCASTER ELECTROPLATING As BILLY pulls up. INT. LANCASTER ELECTROPLATING In full operation. The belly of the beast. BILLY walks in, happy as a clam. A couple of GUYS look at him funny. BILLY (nods) Roy. Leaky. He makes his way to the makeshift locker area: there are boxes in rows attached to a wall, facing out. Each one has a name written on masking tape. Several GUYS are there, getting their goggles and gloves. BILLY ambles up to what should be his box, but someone's in front of it. He looks at the tape. There's a second piece of tape over what obviously was once his. It now says JACK DECKER. DECKER turns around. DECKER Yeah? BILLY is confused, but consumed with an all too familiar feeling of dread. He starts to back up. Another GUY walks past him. GUY Hey, Billy. Long time, no see... BILLY turns and bolts. He nearly knocks over the FOREMAN as he heads for the door. EXT. ELECTROPLATING FACTORY - MORNING BILLY runs out of the building and leans against the chain link fence. A beat, then he changes. His confusion and panic replaced by RAGEN'S predatory glare. EXT. BAIT SHOP - NIGHT We're in back. Crates of worms have been delivered and await unpacking tomorrow. ANGLE GORDY and BILLY in GORDY'S car as they pull up... BILLY (Slavic accent) I do not like this. GORDY Calm down. BILLY They are early. GORDY So they're early. The merchandise won't have a chance to get stale. He pats the merchandise on the back seat: fourteen pounds of marijuana, divided into bricks. GORDY Go on. Take the stash bag. BILLY grabs a small satchel with a couple ounces in plastic bags inside, and gets out, leaving the door open. STACKS OF CRATES filled with worms. BILLY and the CONNECTION meet in their shadows. CONNECTION Well, well. The Russky. BILLY is completely humorless. He gives up the taste. The CONNECTION smells it. Feels it. CONNECTION Sticky. Green. Good. Bring out the rest. BILLY Where are the guns? The CONNECTION motions behind him. ANGLE A SECOND CONNECTION is standing by the car. Beside him, on the ground, is a crate covered by a canvas tarp. BILLY and THE CONNECTION. BILLY Bring over here. CONNECTION Dope first. BILLY No. CONNECTION Look man, we're cuttin' you a ridiculous deal as it is. BILLY during the following, looks over at the canvas covered crate. From underneath the bottom, he sees several worms crawl out. CONNECTION (O.C.) You take advantage of my good nature and I'm gonna take my toys and go home. BILLY and CONNECTION. BILLY knows he's being stung. BILLY We do not do business. He turns and walks back toward GORDY and the car. In an moment, there is gunfire at his back. As the TWO CONNECTIONS empty their clips, BILLY tears ass between columns of stacked bait. Bullets splinter the wood, blowing holes wide enough for tangled masses of worms to squirm out of. BILLY returns some fire but GORDY has no gun and can't cover him. BILLY reaches the car and dives through the open window of the wide open door. He uses the car chassis for protection, but it's too dangerous for him to lift himself high enough to see where he's shooting. BILLY lays on the ground and sees his attackers from their feet to the bottoms of their thighs. He opens fire -- knee capping one, and ripping a hole in the other's ankles. They both hit the ground. Now BILLY can see their faces under the car. He smiles and waves. GORDY has started the engine by now and BILLY hauls himself into the passenger seat. They take off, leaving the two wounded CONNECTIONS writhing in the exhaust amongst the swarms of escaped worms. INT. APARTMENT BILLY stands in the middle of the living room talking to himself in an English accent. BILLY It's getting harder and harder to keep control. The mix-up times are happening far too frequently. The undesirable personalities have been stealing. And today I found this. He's holding a bail receipt. BILLY (Slavic accent) Someone is doing drugs. No one can hold a job. BILLY (English accent) It's all slipping away... INT. APARTMENT Press in on BILLY'S face -- lost, empty. He closes his eyes and the screen blacks out. A second later: BILLY'S POV separating from kissing FRANCINE. She's sweating. They have been making love. Blackout. A SECOND LATER: In a restaurant, facing people who are eating at other tables. Blackout. A SECOND LATER: BILLY looking in the medicine cabinet mirror in his bathroom. It's morning and he's going to shave. He opens the cabinet, reaches for the shaving cream, then stops. He can't figure out why there's a box of Tampax in there. Blackout. A SECOND LATER: MEN working on a factory assembly line. Blackout. A SECOND LATER: Facing a MAN from the assembly line in a bar. He's laughing at a joke BILLY told saying "You're a funny guy" -- so his response is directly to camera. Blackout. A SECOND LATER: FRANCINE cooking in BILLY'S kitchen. We see her at the stove from behind. Blackout. A SECOND LATER: FRANCINE, holding a new box of tampons and a wastepaper basket, talking directly to camera. FRANCINE (peeved) Why do you keep throwing out my tampons? My toothbrush and my hairspray, too. You know, if you don't want me to keep stuff here, just tell me. A SECOND LATER: A FOREMAN -- angry, veins bulging in his forehead. FOREMAN (to camera) What do you call this? He holds up a wrongly put together piece of machinery. FOREMAN My six year old could put this together. Go home, Milligan. You're fired. Blackout. A SECOND LATER: BILLY'S hands shaking out a Tuinal and a Quaalude from two separate bottles. He lifts his hands toward the lens. Blackout. A SECOND LATER: Painting on a canvas. Blackout. A SECOND LATER: FRANCINE, naked, sitting up in bed. She's upset. FRANCINE (to camera) I don't understand it. You're so gentle when you make love. BILLY sweating, sitting opposite her in bed. The camera continues pressing in on his face as it did at the start of this section. EXT. GAS STATION - NIGHT It's a roadside stop on the highway -- empty and quiet. BILLY is outside his car with the ATTENDANT, who's finishing filling the tank. BILLY pays him and gets back in the car. INT. CAR As BILLY sits. His eyes close a moment. When they re- open, they are filled with fear and confusion. He sits immobilized for a long moment, looking around for help. He moves his hands toward the steering wheel. TIGHT on the steering wheel. Two small child's hands reach into frame and grab it. INT. CAR BILLY with his adult hands on the steering wheel. He looks down. TIGHT on the gas pedal as a small child's foot tries vainly to reach it. He's way too short. INT. CAR BILLY, trying not to panic. He rubs his nose with his sleeve. Finally, he moves over to the passenger seat and waits for an adult to drive him home. LATER Same situation, only now he has to go to the bathroom. He holds his crotch like a little kid. He gets out of the car and sees the "MENS" sign. All is quiet as he walks past three or four parked cars and enters the bathroom. INT. BATHROOM It's very dimly lit and BILLY'S eyes need a second to adjust. The lightbulb's been removed from the overhead fixture. The stall door is closed. A middle aged MAN in a sweater and glasses is washing his hands. There are two urinals, one low for children. That's the one BILLY goes to. The MAN at the sink looks at BILLY in the mirror. The stall door opens and a SECOND MAN steps out. He's a big, working class kind of guy in a porkpie hat and leather jacket. Instead of leaving, he just stands against one wall. In a moment, a WOMAN comes out of the same stall. She's tall and flamboyant. She sashays over to the urinal beside BILLY and glances over. Now we get our first real look at her. It's immediately clear that she is a man in drag. BILLY, more confused than frightened, looks at the transvestite, who smiles. Now the other two men go into the toilet stall and close the door. TRANSVESTITE Hey sweetheart, got somethin' there for me? The TRANSVESTITE reaches down to touch BILLY'S penis. ANGLE BILLY opening his eyes. There's fire in them. BILLY grabs the TRANSVESTITE by the blouse, lifts him off the ground and throws him into the side of the toilet stall, leaving a big dent in the metal. He/she slides down, quivering, to the floor. The TWO MEN come out of the stall. One gets away, but one runs smack into BILLY who punches him hard in the face. His ring cuts open the MAN'S lip. He turns back to the TRANSVESTITE, who has gotten up and is shrieking at him, waving a knife. TRANSVESTITE You bastard! I'll cut your heart out, motherfucker! In a flash, BILLY does a quick flurry of karate hits and kicks that leave the TRANSVESTITE unconscious under the sink. BILLY looks over to the SECOND MAN. BILLY (Slavic accent) He will live. I am very careful about what bones I break. Suddenly, BILLY blinks hard -- shakes his head -- looks around, quickly surveying the situation. He picks up the TRANSVESTITE'S purse up off the floor and empties it -- nothing valuable. He turns back to the SECOND MAN. SECOND MAN No... please... BILLY takes the MAN'S watch off his wrist. The MAN offers his wallet, which BILLY takes. He now has a New York accent. BILLY The jacket. He takes it off the BILLY grabs it. BILLY Don't breath a word, you hear me? You hear me? SECOND MAN (breathless) Yes... BILLY (holds up wallet) I know where you live, now. And BILLY leaves. INT. BEDROOM - DAY From the bathroom we hear the shower running while FRANCINE, sorting dirty laundry on the bed, has found something that's stopped her dead in her tracks. The MAN from the gas station's wallet lies in front of her, and in her hands she holds credit cards with this stranger's name. She looks over to the dresser. There's the watch. Over the back of the chair is the leather jacket. On the desk is a fistful of money. The shower is turned off. She freezes. She quickly puts the things back in the wallet and the wallet back in BILLY'S pocket. BILLY emerges from the bathroom in a towel and kisses her on the head as he passes. INT. GRILLI'S TAKEOUT ITALIAN - NIGHT GRILLI is making BILLY a hero: sausage, provolone, tomato sauce. He puts it, steaming hot, into a white paper bag. INT. BILLY'S APARTMENT BILLY enters, tosses the keys