Dunk Deleted Scenes

[Director's comments: This was one of the hardest scenes for me to cut. It takes place right when we first see Chad and Jason on the boardwalk. Jason was especially good here, but he'd already established his character in the gift shop, and I needed to get them to the scene of the action.]

We walked past the first pier, Sea Squall Mall. There were five piers on the boardwalk. Three were big ones with lots of rides -- Wild Willy's, Panic Pier, and Thrillville. The other two piers were smaller. One was a public area with benches, but no rides or anything. The other -- the one we were passing -- just had shops on it and a couple kiddie rides.

"Want to...?" Jason asked.

I stepped over to the entrance and sniffed. "Nope. Still smells."

We never could figure out exactly what it smelled like, or even why it smelled. Somehow, despite being out in the open air and despite being washed over by the ocean breeze, the place had its own special odor. Not real strong, but just enough so you noticed.

"It's vomit," I said, taking a deep whiff and then wishing I hadn't.

Jason sniffed and shook his head. "No. Not puke. Paint." He sniffed again. "And bait. That's it. Paint and bait. Squid, if you want to get specific. With just a hint of clams. And maybe a dash of fish guts."

"Whatever, let's get out of here."

Jason turned and scanned the passing crowd. "Excuse me, sir," he said as an older guy in a white sport coat and long pants walked by. "Could you help me and my friend for just a second?"

The man stared at us suspiciously.

"It will just take one second. We're trying to figure out what this place smells like. Come here. Just take a quick sniff. Okay?"

I couldn't believe it. If I'd asked him, I'm sure he'd have yelled at me and walked off, or called the cops. But the guy stepped over next to Jason and took a sniff. "Sweat," he said. "Like a gym locker."

"Not paint?" Jason asked.

"No," the man said, shaking his head. "Definitely not paint. It's sweat. And maybe a bit of vomit."

"Thanks," Jason told him. "We appreciate it."

"Any time, young man," the guy said as he strolled away.

"Are you finished?" I asked.

"Yeah. No, wait." Jason stared past my shoulder. I followed his gaze. Oh man. He was looking right at a cop who was headed toward us.

"Don't," I said.

Jason grinned.

"Please don't."

Jason waited until the cop reached us, then said, "Excuse me, officer. Do you smell anything?"

I wanted to sink down through the cracks between the boards. At least it wasn't one of the cops who'd almost busted me earlier. But I sure didn't want more attention from anyone carrying a gun and a club.

"Garbage," the cop said, taking a sniff. "I think someone dumps garbage under here. Really stinks." He stepped away from us.

"Hey," Jason said, calling after the cop, "are you sure it's not a body? Maybe someone dumped a body down there."

The cop came back, sniffed again, frowned, then shook his head. "No. Not even close. That's one smell you never forget." He left.

"You're insane," I told Jason as we moved on.

He grinned. "I have to be insane. It's the only way I can keep from going crazy around here."

2. Shingle Minded

[Director's comments: The roofing scene has a couple nice moments, but it doesn't advance the story, and the roofing excursion is already a bit of a side trip, so it had to go.]

We got started before 6:30. I think roofers enjoy waking people up. They didn't even ring the bell to warn anyone. They just slapped a ladder against the gutter, climbed up, and started clomping around in their work boots, ripping off the old shingles. From the way they smiled at each other, I could tell they enjoyed being human alarm clocks.

Troy, the head of the crew, didn't have any problem ordering us up the ladders. Unlike Jason's dad, Troy didn't seem to feel responsible for our safety. That was fine. Mike, Ellie, and I climbed right up. The job was on a ranch house, so the roof wasn't all that far off the ground. Even if I fell, I figured I wouldn't get hurt.

"Hey, you think we're here to cut the grass?" Troy called down to Corey who was still standing by the truck.

"I'm on the ground crew," Corey said.

Troy gave him a disgusted look and ignored him for the rest of the day.

"Fun," Mike said as he frisbeed a hunk of old shingles in the general direction of the large green dumpster that filled a quarter of the driveway. "I could get used to this."

He was right. The ripping part wasn't bad. It's always easier, and usually faster, to tear something down than to build it up. It doesn't take much skill to tear down a roof, or a building, or a person. But that was just the start of our work.

Before long, I discovered how brutal roofing could be. It made working at the Bozo tank seem like a vacation. The sun came out with a vengeance. Reflecting off the black tar paper, it felt like it was 700 degrees. Of course, there wasn't any shade on a roof. I'd have traded my left arm for a chance to plunge into a tank of water.

Troy and the other guy, Derek, worked nonstop except for a lunch break. The rest of us did our best. Mike's a hard worker. Ellie is used being in the sun all day, and she swims for miles, so she held up pretty well. Corey did what he could to help out from the ground.

I even got to use a nail gun for a while, but I was so tired I could harldy lift it.

By quitting time, when Jason's dad came back for us, I felt I'd been run through a meat grinder. Or maybe a furnace. We didn't even knock off until it got too dark to see. At least we finished the job.

3. Hard to Swallow

[Director's comments: This scene takes place right before Jason gets into trouble. Originally, I wanted to give Chad a reason to suspect Jason was taking some kind of drugs. But the story didn't need that complication.]

He shrugged. "Got my rhythm. I'm in the zone. Can't complain. I think we're going to be in good shape for the tournament. We have a real shot at placing in the top three. Maybe even number one."

He reached into his shorts and pulled out a small bottle, opened it with one hand, and spilled a couple pills into his other hand.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Vitamins. Minerals. Good stuff. Want some?" He held out the bottle.

"No thanks."

"I'll leave it here if you change your mind," he said, tossing the bottle into the sand at my feet. He swallowed the pills, then went back for his next game.

4. Title Fight

[Director's comments: I had chapter titles in the original version. Bowing to editorial pressure, I removed them. I wish I hadn't. But if you print out this list, you can snip out each title and glue it where it belongs. I guess that would make it a director's cut.]

ONE: I KNOW WHY THE CAGED CLOWN SINGS

TWO: ANOTHER WAY TO SURF THE NET

THREE: ONE NASTY ROOMER AFTER ANOTHER

FOUR: WHATEVER WORKS FOR YOU

FIVE: GETTING BURNED BY THE SHADES

SIX: A DIP IN THE TANK

SEVEN: CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE?

EIGHT: ROUND TRIP

NINE: ACTING RATHER STRANGE

TEN: A MOVING EXPERIENCE

ELEVEN: A CRASH COURSE

TWELVE: BASKET CASES

THIRTEEN: BUSINESS IS PICKING UP

FOURTEEN: IT'S ALL THE WAGE

FIFTEEN: LIFE'S A BEACH

SIXTEEN: LIFE'S A PITCH

SEVENTEEN: DUNK AND DISORDERLY

EIGHTEEN: NO MORE CLOWNING AROUND

NINETEEN: LOVE AND MADNESS

TWENTY: CELL CULTURES

TWENTY ONE: NOT AS APPARENT AS IT SEEMS

TWENTY TWO: DROWNING IN SORROW

TWENTY THREE: PATIENT ENOUGH

TWENTY FOUR: SHINGLED OUT

TWENTY FIVE: SELF DESTRUCTION

TWENTY SIX: PARDON ME?

TWENTY SEVEN: GIVE UP?

TWENTY EIGHT: THE SON ALSO RISES

TWENTY NINE: THE BALCONY SCENE

THIRTY: LAUGH YOURSELF SICK

THIRTY ONE: FIRST IMPRESSIONS

THIRTY TWO: OLD BOZOS NEVER DIE

THIRTY THREE: THE WRONG PARTY

THIRTY FOUR: ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT

THIRTY FIVE: TRUE CONFESSIONS

THIRTY SIX: SHOWTIME

THIRTY SEVEN: TANKS FOR THE MEMORIES

THIRTY EIGHT: HE WHO LAUGHS LASTS