Permission By Emberlynn Pendergraft
EXT. SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOOD - DAY 1 A school bus pulls into frame from the right, leaving the door obscured. The bus stops for approximately ten seconds before lurching back into drive. As it leaves the frame, the bus reveals a child waiting on the opposite side of the street. ADAM is somewhere around 11 or 12 and holds himself with the confidence of a middle-aged used car salesman. As he begins crossing the street, he slows down, and his back straightens out. His eyes light up as he takes off one strap of his Transformers backpack and begins digging around in it one-handed, eyes never leaving his target while his pace picks back up. ADAM Hey! Mr. Louis! JACOB comes into view over Adam’s shoulder, where the Transformers backpack is being hastily put back on. Jacob sits under an overgrown magnolia tree in a dilapidated Flyers lawn chair. He looks over the top of his cheap-looking sunglasses at Adam, taking a sip of his beer before hollering back. JACOB What do you want, kid? Adam stops in front of him and holds out a piece of paper, inches from Jacob’s face. ADAM Sign this for me. Jacob plucks the paper from Adam’s hand and pulls it away from his face to read it. JACOB This is a permission slip. Adam’s shit-eating grin falters for a fraction of a second before he picks it back up. ADAM (hand on his hip, scratching his head) Really? I didn’t even notice. JACOB (unamused) Cut the shit, kid. 196
