INT. DEN - NIGHT
HEAVY RAIN. THUNDER CLAP.
Windowless. Leather recliner and lamp on small table in a corner near loaded bookshelf, the top shelf of which supports three framed photographs of three different soldiers in field of action, all looking at the camera, In one, black and white, a 19-year-rold United States Marine in World War Two Pacific Theater gear gives a thumbs-up where he stands near two other Marines in a jeep on a beach, a Navy Fletcher-class Destroyer on the horizon behind him.
In the middle photograph, color, a Marine recognizable as Gil at 19, gives a thumbs-up from where he crouches in a jungle, M-16 rifle at the ready.
In the other color photograph, a Marine in Afghan-War desert gear sits on an M1A1 Abrams tank, near the barrel, thumbs-up to the camera. His mile reveals pearl-white teeth. His sunglasses are reflective
A large framed color photograph on the wall above these features these three men together on the bench where Gil and Hunter were in the ATV. The man in the beach photo is 60-something, Gil is 40-something, the soldier on the tank is 20-something. Each in shorts, sandals, short-sleeve shirts with sunglasses in pockets, bottles of Victoria beer in hand, the hills under cloudless sky behind them.
Old leather sofa under framed reproduction of the José María Velasco painting, The Metlac Ravine. Lamp and bible on stand at one end of sofa, boots on floor at the other end.
Hat rack near open door to hall holds sombrero, two cowboy hats - one straw, the other felt - and a black Vietnam Veteran ballcap. Turntable and speaker on a crate of vinyl albums.
On a wall six same-size framed photographs show the house in stages of development from beginning to end, early framing to last piece put in place. In each photograph the same four men are at work, all wearing hard-hats. In the photo that captures the last stage, a man sits on the roof near the chimney, smoking a cigarette. The first in the timeline includes two mid-70s pickup trucks loaded with timber, parked under shade of oak.
On another wall a MENDOZA RD street sign above a photograph of the same four men, one of whom is Gil, dressed in suits on the sidewalk in front of the glass doors of a brick building with a MENDOZA BUILDERS sign.
On another wall an arrangement of two rifles, one above the other. Top, a World War 2 M1 Garand. Vietnam-issue M40 below. Both with bayonets.
A mini-fridge near an old wooden desk on which four framed photographs share space with a Marine-green canvas photo album marked with a red V, a half-empty bottle of tequila, empty shot glass, a half-smoked cigar in a glass ash tray, and a bronze desk plate with GUILLERMO engraved.
One photograph shows Gil at 20-something on his wedding day, at the cake with his same-age bride with long black hair. They smile the height of happoiness at each other. Behind them a mirror reflects the crowd in front of them, a few with cameras aimed.
Another photo shows Gil at 40-something with the same woman in an old-school selfie that she has taken of them cheek to cheek where they stand in pool towels and sunglasses on the high-up balcony of a room with a view to other hoteks along the Acapulco beach. Her robe is open enough to reveal ample cleavage.
Another photo shows Gil at 30-something, his wife, and an 8-year-old boy in Gil's lap, at the wheel of runabout boat on calm green water. A rust-colored canyon wall rises out of frame behind them.
Another photo shows Gil at 50-something and the boy in his lap at 30, standing next to each other in the same hands-on-hips pose in a barn, their attention on the (late-70s) Porsche 911 before them. View through open barn door to desert and old pickup and older listing windmill.
[ADD PHOTO BOYS.]
TOILET FLUSH followed by FLOOR CREAK before Gil enters in old jeans and sleeveless tee that reveals Marine Anchor, Globe and Eagle tattoo on a shoulder. He sist at desk, downs remainder of shot, pours another, opens photo album to page marked by pencil.
Over his shoulder we see four 3" x 5" photographs - two on each page - featuring Gil and Tom in shorts, sandals and tropical shirts, smiling at the camera.
In one the Wat Arun Buddhist temple is behind them on the other side of the Chao Phraya River.
In the photo below that, their shirts are unbuttoned and sandals off where they stand in the water off a crescent-shaped beach.
In the top photo on the opposite page Gil takes a selfie that includes Tom next to him and, in the background, two young Thai women dressed to attract stand next to each other look at the camera from where they stand next to two Triumph motorcycles in an alley.
In the photo below this, Tom and Gil stand with cocktails in hand near the entrance of a hotel signage makes clear is The Miami. They bookend the two Tahi women between them, also holding cocktails. All smile at the camera.
Gil sips his tequila, sets it down. NEARING FOOTSTEPS, then FLOOR CREAK before the boys arrive in the doorway. Gil closes album.
ROBERTO: Knock knock.
GIL: Who's there?
to be continued.
