CRABTREE
Oh my goodness. Do you see what I see?
GRADY follows Crabtree’s glance and finds Oola again, but
it’s not Oola CRABTREE is eyeing, it’s her CUSTOMER.
GRADY
President of the James Brown Hair Club For
Men.
Sitting alone in the dark booth is a SMALL BLACK MAN with
big hands, a face peppered with scar tissue, and–most
noticeably–a tsunami of hair sprouting from his scalp.
GRADY
(initiating an old game)
He’s a boxer. A flyweight…
CRABTREE
no… A jockey. His name’s, um, Curtis…
Curtis Hardapple.
GRADY
Not Curtis.
CRABTREE
Vernon, then. Vernon Hardapple. The scar’s are
from a–from a horse. He fell during a race and
got trampled.
GRADY
And now he’s addicted to painkillers.
CRABTREE
He can’t piss standing up anymore.
GRADY
He lives with his mother.
CRABTREE
And he had a younger brother who . . .was . .
. a. . .
GRADY
Groom. Named Claudell. And his mother blames
Vernon for his death.
CRABTREE
(stumped)
Because. . .because. . .
JAMES LEER
(sleepily)
.. .he was killed, when a gangster named
Freddie Nostrils tried to shoot his favorite
horse. He took the bullet himself.
GRADY and Crabtree turn to look at James Leer, who opens
one bloodshot eye to regard them.
JAMES LEER
Vernon, over there, was in on the hit.
James’ eye closes. CRABTREE looks over at Grady.
CRABTREE
That was good.
(GT)He said some things that led me to believe the car was his
(Crabs)Like what?
(GT)Thats my car motherfucker.
(JL)Your mad at me arent you? Your mad I shot your girlfriends dog?
(GT)It wasnt her dog it was her husbands dog and who ever said anything about a girlfriend.
(Look at each other)
(GT) ok james Im mad that you shot my girlfriends dog. eventhough me and poe werent exactly what you might call simpatico thats no reason he should have taken two to the chest
1)You’re not like my other teachers, professor trip.
2)You’re not like my other students, James
finally the door opened. It was a shock to see him shuffling into the room like an aging prizefighter, limping, beaten, but it was later when the great man squinted into the bitter glow of twilight and muttered simply, it means nothing, all of it nothing. that the true shock came it was then that the boy understood that his hero’s true injuries lay hidden in a darker place, his heart.
His heart once capable of inspiring others so completely, could no longer inspire so much as itself. It beat now only out of habit, it beat now only because it could.
Grady Tripp: She’s a transvestite.
Terry Crabtree: You’re stoned.
Grady Tripp: She’s still a transvestite.
I need a ride home 1) I’m your man!
I’m a teacher, not a Holiday Inn.
I’ve got tenure.
James-Ohh your bleeding Professor Trip..Pro- No shit James!
James: Somebody jumped on your car with their butt. Pfr. Tripp: How can you tell? James: Because you can see the outline of his butt.
James: These donuts are Incredible! Incredible!! Pfr. Tripp: James, you smoke the rest of that joint and you’ll be chewing on the box.
Things have changed.
TOm is a gay fag
TRAXLER: Say, Professor Tripp, is all that stuff true about Errol Flynn? How he used to put coke on his dick. To make himself, you know, like, last longer?
GRADY: Christ, Traxler. How the hell should I know?
TRAXLER: Well, jeez, you’re reading his biography, aren’t you?
(TRAXLER points and GRADY glances at the knapsack riding on
the seat between him and Sam. A BOOK’-bearing ERROL FLYNN’S
PICTURE– is tucked into the side pouch).
GRADY: Oh, right. Yeah, that’s true. He used to rub all kinds of things on it… Paprika… Ground lamb…
You carry firearms?
Page Topic: Movie Quotes from ‘Wonder Boys’: Quotes from the movie ‘Wonder Boys’