Plot

A down-and-out waitress questions her choices.

A waitress, Toni, has a dead-end job in her dead-end life, in a dead-end town. But an encounter with a mysterious stranger, Alex, shows Toni a way to escape her dead-end life and start a new one. All she has to do is sacrifice the one person she holds dear.—Gislef

A man drowns a woman in a lake, takes off her face, puts inside a box, stores in the trunk of his station wagon and drives away. Meanwhile, in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, the down on luck waitress Toni is a single mother raising her daughter Jack, who has special needs, but she does not have money to leave Jack at a nursery and work. When the man stumbles upon the diner where Toni works, he introduces himself as Alex and offers US$ 100.00 to her to talk with him. Later he returns to the diner and asks the waitress Jasmine where Toni lives. Out of the blue, Alex knocks at Toni's home in the middle of the night and offers US$ 1,000.00 to spend the night at her house and park his car in her garage. She accepts the offer, but is curious with the boxes in the trunk of the station wagon. Toni has one night stand with Alex and she steals his car keys to check the trunk, but he surprises her with the open trunk. He asks her to open a box and tells a weird story. When Toni wakes up on the next morning, she sees a woman at home preparing the coffee, and she tells that she is Alex.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

A man, Alex, holds a woman, Crystina Harris, in the water and drowns her. Once he does, Alex drags Crystina's body to a nearby beach. and takes keys from her pocket. He takes out a knife and cuts off her face, and then takes a box with her name on it and puts in the back of his station wagon along with other boxes labeled with other women's names.

Alex gets in his car and notices a scratch on his right cheek. He takes fishing line out of a tackle box and calmly sews the scratch shut, then turns classical music on his car's CD player.

Later in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, Toni tries to give her daughter Jack a bath. Jack yells and screams, and Toni finally gets her into the wading pool in the back and gives Jack a bath. As Toni braids Jack's hair, they watch a newscast about an abducted girl who is still missing. Toni takes Jack to her day care provider, Denise. Once they're alone, Denise tells Toni that her husband Derek has concerned about Jack and Toni should take her daughter somewhere else. Toni doesn't have money to take Jack anywhere else, but Denise doesn't care. Denise says that Jack can stay until the next Friday, and Toni tells her that it's all right before leaving.

Toni arrives at the Kajun Diner where she works, and apologizes to the other waitress Janine for arriving late. Janine disinterestedly acts if Jack is okay, and Toni curses at her as she goes to work. Toni asks to do the floor work to get the tips, and Janine agrees but tells her that she'll have to serve one of their customers, Lee, in return.

Alex drives into Port Fourchon and pulls over at a gas station. He gets out and pumps his gas, then goes inside to pay. Alex asks if there is a hotel in town, and the attendant directs him to the only motel in town but it's occupied. Alex asks where the attendant where he sleeps, and the attendant says that he sleeps in his house. He tells Alex that there's a diner that serves hot meals, and Alex leaves.

Toni and Janine watch a newscast about the missing girl, Crystina Harris. The killer, who the authorities have nicknamed "The Blind Butcher", because he always leaves his victims cut open like meat. A mousetrap goes off, catching one of the diner's many rats, and Janine tosses it in a mop bucket. Toni goes over and watches the rat drown in the water.

The Past

At her home, Toni greets Donny when he arrives. Jack asks if Donny is her father. He goes inside and they have a birthday celebration for Jack. Toni goes to get a knife to cut the cake, and Donny gives Jack a present. When Toni comes back, Donny says that he thought Jack was a boy and got her a present accordingly. Donny asks how Toni's grandmother is, and Jack and Toni both say that she died. He asks if she left Toni any money, and Tony says that she asked Donny over because Jack was asking about him.

Later, Jack watches TV and Toni and Donny sit with her. He puts his hand on Toni's knee, and after a moment Toni tells Jack that it's bedtime. Jack argues, demanding a bath, and Donny watches her and drinks beer. In the kitchen, Toni puts the rest of the birthday cake away and hears Jack screaming. Toni runs into the bathroom and finds Donny trying to wash Jack's hair. The girl shoots Donny with a water soaker in the bathtub, and he tells the girl to stop and slaps her. When Toni tries to intervene, Donny knocks her to the floor, unconscious.

After Donny walks out, Toni wakes up and finds Jack unconscious, drowned in the bathtub. Toni pulls her out and tries to revive her. Jack finally draws in breath, coughing, and Toni hugs her in relief.

Now

Toni stares at the drowning rat and remembers how Jack almost drowned. She takes the garbage out, and Alex drives past in his station wagon.

Back inside, Toni asks the owner, Pedro, if his daughter could watch Jack a few days the next week. Pedro says that she's busy taking care of her three grandchildren. Janine tells Toni that she has a table, and Toni goes to it and finds Alex there. Alex finally places his order, and tells Toni to sit down so they can have a conversation. He assures her it's talk only, but she doesn't believe him and walks off.

Toni serves Alex the hamburger he ordered and sits down with him. Alex introduces himself and only says that he's from "nearby". Toni figures that he's lying because of his lack of accent, and Alex says that he's there doing a job. He assures her that he's no trouble, but Toni doesn't believe him. Alex asks her why she's not afraid of him if she thinks he's trouble, and Toni jokingly suggests that she might have a death wish.

Alex says that he likes Toni, and Toni figures that he wants something from her but she doesn't know what yet. He asks who she would be if she could be anyone else in the world. Toni says that life doesn't work like that, and talks about when someone is born, they could be anyone. Then they make choices and those other visions die. Finally someone ends up as who they are. Alex asks if she really believes that philosophy, then if she lives around the diner.

Jack is in the back, screaming and covered in blood, and Toni runs back and asks her daughter if she's hurt. She goes out to where Denise is leaving and asks what happened, and Denise says that Jack bit the mailman. Toni figures that the mailman must have done something, but Denise insists that he didn't. Denise finally says that something is seriously wrong with Jack and she's sorry, and walks off.

Toni screams in frustration, then takes Jack home and rinses her off with a garden hose in the wading pool. Back inside, Toni watches Jack eat a microwave dinner. Jack complains that it's cold but Toni doesn't care.

The Past

A young and pregnant Toni tries to buy an abortifacient from two of her friends, Meredith and Sunny. When they can't get it, they perform an abortion on one girl's bedroom floor. Meredith holds Toni's hand, and Sunny warns Toni that it's going to hurt but she shouldn't move. Toni flinches and gasps, but doesn't move. and finally tells Sunny to stop.

Now

Toni asks Jack if she wants a sandwich, and Jack eagerly agrees.

That night, Janine is cleaning up at the diner after it closes. Alex comes in and Janine figures he's there to rob the place. He says that he doesn't want the money but where Toni lives.

Toni tucks Jack into bed and lies down next to her.

After getting Toni's address, Alex drives to the house.

Toni and Jack make shadow puppets on the ceiling, using a flashlight. Meanwhile, Alex pulls up outside the house.

Once Jack dozes off, Toni goes out and hears someone outside. Alex finally knocks at the door and Toni answers it. He offers her $1,000 for a place to stay for one night, and to get his car off the road. When Toni says that it's her house, Alex assures her that he won't hurt and just needs to get off the road, and there's no catch.

Toni agrees and lets Alex park his car in her garage. She asks what he has in the back of his car, but Alex just closes the garage door without saying. The power is out, and when they go inside, Toni directs Alex to the bathroom and gives him a blanket. Alex gives her the $1,000, and she asks him who he's running from. He leaves without answering, and sees Jack watching him from the stairs.

Jack calls to Toni, who comes in and picks up Jack. When Toni says that Jack doesn't do good with men, Alex assures Toni that he doesn't bite. Jack asks him what happened to his face. He says that he got into a fight and had to sew it up. After putting Jack back to bed, Toni goes to her bedroom and undresses. She wipes off her makeup and hears Alex run the water in the bathroom. Toni remembers Donny fondling her knee,. then goes into the bathroom.

Toni goes into the shower with Alex and hesitantly touches his back. He turns to face her and Toni draws her hand back, and she touches his chest. Alex stares at her, and Toni kisses him. They end up in bed, and afterward Alex asks what Toni wants to be when she grows up. She says that she once felt that something was coming and she'd have a life. Then Jack came and that messed up Toni's life. Toni admits that Jack has fits, and Toni figures Jack has them because she's mad at the whole world for making her be born.

Alex figures that Toni is trapped, and Toni angrily wonders if he's a shrink. She asks what's in the back of his car, and Alex says that he can't tell her. Toni calls him a liar and rolls away from him.

Once Alex dozes off, Toni goes to the garage and checks the car. She finds the boxes with the women's names on them. Alex comes up behind Toni and tells her to pick one of the boxes if she wants Alex to show her what's in it. Toni does so and sets it on the driveway, and Alex tells her to open it. She gags at what she sees inside, and Alex closes the box.

Alex draws a knife, then cuts his own face off. Toni stares at him in horror as he pulls his face off.

The next morning, Toni is sleeping on the couch. Jack wakes her up, and there's a woman standing in the doorway. She tells Toni that she had to borrow some clothes, and offers to make coffee without saying who she is. Toni has Jack stay on the couch and watch TV, and goes out to the kitchen with the woman. The woman invites Toni to sit down, and only says that she's a friend.

Toni wonders where Alex is, and the Woman tells Toni that Alex is a sales clerk. When Toni demands answers, the Woman says that she likes Toni and knows Alex because she is him. The Woman explains that she takes alternatives--"skin suits"-- from her victims, and acquires their lives. Toni wonders if the Woman wants to take her skin, and the Woman says that she just wants to tell Toni anything she wants to know.

When Toni asks if it hurts, the Woman says that it hurts less every time and she's done it eighteen times. She says that she's running from a Mr. Grey, who looks like a man but is some kind of monster. He goes out for night, finding victims and seducing them. Grey has infinite appetite for pain and pleasure, and is obsessed with humanity. He picked Alex as an accomplice because Grey could tell Alex wanted to shed his skin.

Eventually Grey killed the 15-year-old Crystina, and the Woman figured that Grey had lost control. He killed her and became her, and the Woman couldn't bear to see such a young life lost and been a part of it. The Woman figured that it had to stop, and drowned Grey/Crystina. She doesn't know if she killed him permanently, and suspects that she saw him in one form or another. The Woman figures that if Grey is alive, he'll want his stuff back, and he won't stop.

The Woman says that she was trapped in a small town in a crap job, but now she can feel everything and take a new life whenever she wants. She says that Toni showed her that. When Toni points out that she's killed people, the Woman tells her that in order to live, sometimes a person killing has to live with what they've done.

Later, the Woman drives off in the station wagon. Toni looks at Jack, and watches her daughter scratch up the furniture with her toy cars. Later, Toni drives away with Jack and says that they're going to someplace new. She says that they'll get a new house and new lives, and even new names. They stop at a diner and get hamburgers, and introduce themselves to the waitress by their new names. A woman asks Toni for directions, and Toni says that they're just there seeing friends. She claims that she's a nurse from Denver.

Later as Toni gets back in her car, Jack screams and kicks at the back of the front seat, as they park in a lot. Toni sees a woman park nearby in a Mercedes, then go inside. She looks in the back and sees Jack sleeping, and remembers her past when she was a teenager. Toni gets out, picks up the sleeping Jack, puts her daughter in the back seat, and places Alex's $1,000 in her hands. She gently closes the door and goes back to her car, then watches as the woman returns. Toni then drives off, crying at first and then smiling.