" Come." " No." "Stay!" "No." "Hello?" "Hi." "What?" "Really?" "Okay." "Fuck." "My mother's dead." "I'll be fine, don't worry." "Just a little bump." "When did she die?" "She just did." "What happened?" "I don't really know." "You didn't ask?" "Not really." "Want to talk about it?" "No." "What for?" "It won't bring her back." "That's all in the past." "Maybe I should stay a while longer." "What would that change?" "We stick to the plan." "Like you decided, right?" "Like we decided." "But after what's happened, I can't just leave you." "We can't keep questioning things." "Fine." "You're right." "Don't question anything." "Martin-style." "So long." "You look really tired." "Get inside!" "Want something to drink?" "No, thanks." "I got you a steak, the kind you like." "Come on." "Listen, you need to sell her apartment." "That's your field" "It shouldn't be too hard." "It's not the same market at all." "I'm sure your agency has a contact over there." " I don't like to fly." " Cut it out." "You have an American passport." "You don't even need a stamp." "I'm not an American." "Quit moaning and groaning!" "She's your mother, not mine." "You know, I'd love to help, but I can't do the paperwork for you." "You're her son." "You need to go and sign all the stuff." "Plus, you need to repatriate the body." "She wanted to be buried in Vendee, believe it or not." "She didn't talk to me." "Never did, even when we lived together." "Wouldn't say a thing." "At least not to me." "What could I do?" "She was clinically depressed." "I don't remember that." "And your girlfriend?" " Claire." " Right." "How's that going?" "Not so great." "She keeps talking about having a baby." "That's normal at her age." "So what do you say?" "Well, we're talking about it." "We talked about it but..." "But what?" "I don't know." "We don't agree." "Good for you." "Kids are a pain in the ass!" "You're here." "Yeah." "See?" "I'm leaving tomorrow." "You can stay here a few days." "I'm leaving for L.A. tomorrow." "To sell my mother's apartment." "Do you know California well?" "Not really." "My folks split up right after we moved there." "She kept me there a few years, then I came back here to live with my dad." "How old were you?" "I don't remember." "I don't have many memories." "Seven or eight years old, I guess." "Didn't you like it?" "Why do you say that?" "When you don't remember..." "I don't know." "That's weird." "I have memories from when I was three." "Well, I don't." "That's all." "You know Owl?" "Remember that book about Owl?" "Yes, I read it to you." "He made tear water tea." "Right." "He'd think real sad thoughts, and he'd cry into a teapot." "Yes." "Well, I know something that would make me cry a real big cup of tears." "A King Kong cup of tears." "For real!" "Because if you died, there'd be a King Kong cup." "Don't say that." "Martin, it's terrible." "I know, Linda." "I'm so sorry." "Oh, sorry." "We were so close." "I understand, Linda." "I understand English too." "Let's get your luggage" "I don't have any." "No luggage?" "Poor little thing with no luggage." "You look just like her." "You look just like her!" "Emilie." "I don't look like her." "I've known you since you were a kid." "We had great times with your mom." "She was a hoot!" "We even lived together." "When you first moved here, remember?" "We've been close ever since." "We stayed friends." "'Til the end." "It was me who came every day for her shot." "In the end, her arm was such a mess it was hard to find a spot that wasn't infected." "I had to press to make the veins come out." "I can't listen to this." "Sorry." "It wasn't easy." "It really wasn't easy." "I'm sure." "This isn't how I remember it." "You haven't been here in five years." "Since my place is so small, this is like my second home." "Well, I'll make some coffee." "I need to rest for a bit." "No, we've got a lot to do." "There's the consulate, and the morgue." "Your dad wants the funeral on Sunday." "We need to repatriate the body." "Yeah, whatever." " I'm meeting someone at noon." " Who?" "Someone from the real estate agency." "Right, you should see someone from around here first!" "I need your keys." "I have a friend who's a lawyer." "Can I introduce you?" "Sure." "I'll come back later." "Bye, now." "I was starting to get worried." "Don't worry." "How'd it go?" "Venice is nice, isn't it?" "We need to get going to the morgue." "It's going to close." "Do you know who Lola was?" "What Lola?" " My mother's friend?" " She wasn't her friend!" "She saw a lot of someone named" "Lola, right." "But she's no one!" "Who stayed at your mother's bedside?" "Who gave her her shot every day?" "When her arms were all full of pus?" "Not Lola!" "Lola wasn't around, conveniently." "She was just gone." "She doesn't even know the news." "Calm down." "I'm the one who sacrificed myself!" "I know." "Lola was some... little Mexican who hung around, and your mom liked her." "She liked her because you were gone." "That's right." "I don't believe it." "That's fucking outrageous!" "Hello!" "Martin?" "It's Linda." "All this is for you." "They're pretty good, considering she was a beginner, as you know." "No, I don't." "I didn't know!" "I know nothing about painting." "She wasn't a real painter." "She painted for fun." "Their only value is sentimental." "She thought you'd want them." "Yeah, I got that." " Was she involved with anyone?" " No." "Some guy from Venice had a thing for her, but she wasn't into it." "What do you mean?" "She wasn't interested." "Who was it?" "Just some pseudo writer." "You don't know him." "Maybe he wasn't interested in depression." "Would you cut it out?" "Your mom wasn't depressed at all." "You might not remember, but she was very joyful, before." "It's not her fault she changed." "I went back to France because she wasn't well." "It's the other way around." "She became sad when your father left." "Later, when he took you back to France, she couldn't deal with it." "She's nice, isn't she?" "Mark, the Thanatos practitioner, he's adorable." "The what?" "Thanatos practitioner." "He's the one who embalmed your mother." "He washed her, cut her nails, put on her makeup." "Sorry." "Who the hell are you?" "Did you fuck my mom, too?" "I just wanted to touch base." "Everything okay?" "It's not too painful?" "It's okay." "It's okay." "Things are coming along." "But I miss you." "Are you drunk?" "Not at all." "You never say things like that." "I'm glad we got a chance to talk." "I just called to say hi." "I don't know what you want." "I have to go." "Call back later." "I can't sleep." "Go back to bed, Martin." "I want to sleep with you." "I've got a tiny little mattress." "And I'm just a tiny little mosquito." "I don't take up much room." "No, Martin." "Go back to your bed." "Where's my car?" "I speak French." "What's he saying?" "Bullshit." "He's German." "Been here for 20 years." "Does nothing but drink." ""To forget," he says." "Forget what?" "His father came here after World War ll." "To hide." "He created a beer that became very famous in Mexico." "He was supposed to run the brewery, but he couldn't take it." "Let's cut your nails." "Come on." "Don't make me wait." "You made me wait today!" "Come now, it's the first time." " Come on." " It's wasn't fun!" " No nails!" " Fine, no nails." "Think it's fun being left alone?" "To come home and you're not around?" "That's unfair." "It's one time." "And you got in." "You had your key, and you play fine by yourself." "But..." "I don't want you to leave me!" "I'll never leave you." "But sometimes I have work or private things." "You need to understand." "I didn't like it without you." "Martin..." "Why'd you leave her?" "What are you saying?" "What are you up to?" "We've been worried to death." "Nothing." "Answer me!" "Linda keeps calling about her car." "What about the apartment?" "I don't care about her car." "And I don't want the apartment." "You're totally irresponsible." "Just like your mother!" "You didn't even know her." "You left her." "You know nothing about her life, asshole!" "Stop that!" "Why'd you take me from her?" "She was totally out of it." "You called once in the middle of the night to say you'd come home, that she was gone who knows where!" "Now she's gone for good, and you don't care." "It's your fault." "You didn't help her." "We were separated." "Don't you get that?" "Besides, that was our business!" "Get a handle on your teenage crisis and come back to Paris." "I pushed back the funeral a day." "I'm not coming back." "Look, I did an internet search." "I think you're suffering from reactive depression." "It's a common disorder triggered by grief" "Fuck you!" "You sure took me for a ride." "What happened?" "It burned down." "No, to him?" "He fell asleep." "He said he lost his car and Lola." "I know where his car is." "Hello?" "It's me." "What happened?" "You disappeared." "I'm coming back." "I don't know what to say." "You received a letter." "From your mother." "Keep it." "Give it to me in Paris." "I went with your father." "You missed it." "I know." "It took..." "It took longer than I thought." "I had to make a detour." "What are you going to do?" "I don't know." "I'm by the ocean." "Wait for me." "I'm here." "I'm not far." "Wait for me." "I'm coming."