"Daddy?" "Daddy'll be there in a minute." "Spring is officially here." "The baby asparagus are out." "I think we should put in corn this year." "It'd be great for the kids." "They could play hide-and-seek in the corn patch, and we could make a scarecrow." " Mommy?" " Julia..." "Hey, Thomas, what are you..." "Grace, can you save the..." "the toilet paper?" "Earth to Grace?" "Does this look like the abductor?" "I don't remember." "Ooh!" "Hey, let's make a big building." " Daddy's home!" " How's my two rug rats?" "How you doing, baby?" "Mwah." "Take it off of my arm." "How was your day?" "Good." "Good." "This march is gonna be amazing." "These people are really inspiring." "They're so organized, and there's lots of professors and college grads." "You wouldn't believe the great people out there fighting the good fight." "Two toddlers at the march." "Sounds like hell to me." "So we'll stick 'em in their strollers." "We're gonna march all the way from Roxbury... to the Boston Common, as a family, and there'll be thousands of people just like us." " Back me up here, Grace." " I can stay here with them." "Do you think those pictures might be too much for the kids?" "Come here, little guy." "Come here." "I will say this, Grace." "You are talented." "Little back breaker." "I must be losing my touch." "No, you still got it." "What is this about?" "Grace?" "In the last few weeks, everything she draws is aliens and the abduction." "She's obsessed." "It's all she ever talks about." "Something you never talk about at all." "Everybody processes things differently." "Grace is just trying to work through... what they did to her in her own way." "No." "She's dwelling on the past... because she's unhappy in the present." "You need to spend more time with her." "We're not on a schedule, Alma." "I'm not punching a time clock." "We're just trying to do what comes natural." "She needs you, Kit." "Go to her." "You're up late." "Had to get it down on paper before it disappears from my head." "Is this how you remember it?" "I guess so." "I'm not doing it for me." "It's for our children, Kit." "They need to know where they came from." "Alma's worried." "She wants to forget the past." "But those are not the memories I'm scared of." "Memories of that black night." "Those feelings..." "when I lost control of myself." "That's what makes me afraid." "You're a different person now." "Kit?" "Kit!" "Kit!" "Kit, they've come for us!" "Kit!" " Don't let them take me!" " Help me with the babies." " Shit!" "You got it?" " Yeah." "Those bastards!" "I know who tried to burn down my house." "It was Billy and his friends." "Billy Marshall." "I thought you said you were inside when it happened." "Did you see him?" "Not exactly, but it was his truck." "There are lots of trucks, Mr. Walker." "I know he did it." "If you don't arrest him, I'm gonna do whatever it takes to protect my family." "I heard about your family." "You're the father of two children." "One Caucasian, one Negro." "What's that got to do with anything?" "You know polygamy is illegal in the state of Massachusetts." "Police are gonna be no help." "Where's Alma?" "She's crying in her room." "She thought it was the creatures coming back for her." "She's inconsolable." "You okay?" "I'm strong, remember?" "I better go to her." "That's what I was thinking." "Go." "Oui!" "Good!" "Don't worry about it." "Okay." " All right." " What's wrong with you?" "Is it because Kit has been spending more time with me?" "That was my idea, remember?" "Ever since those boys attacked us..." "I don't care about those boys." "So it's me." "I'm done with the alien talk." "It was the worst thing that ever happened to me, and you act like it was a religious experience." "Because it was." "Alma, they brought me back to life." "They gave us these amazing children." "How can you not be grateful?" "Grateful?" "They snatched me from this house, stripped me down, threw me on a metal slab... and stuck metal probes inside of me." "Hey, this is good." "You need to talk about it." "Maybe together we can understand what it meant." "It meant nothing, Grace." "It was senseless cruelty." "They were like little boys plucking wings off a butterfly." "No, I don't believe that for a second." "They're so far ahead of us." "These children are our living proof." "Some day, they'll come back for them." "No." "Listen, Grace." "I don't want them to come back." "And these children have nothing to do with them." "If you do anything to try and call them back here..." "Of course they'll come back." "For Kit." "They chose him because his mind is so open, because he has incredible empathy for every living thing." "Do not talk to me about Kit." "I married him." "Remember?" "Before all of this madness, we lived together in this house as husband and wife." "You really think your life was so much better before?" "Before my husband brought home an ax murderer?" "Yes." "They locked you away for a reason, Grace." "Well, at least I wasn't the one locking myself away." "Is this the way you want Julia to grow up?" "Ashamed of who she is?" "Grace, I am so sorry." "I've never done that before." "What's going on?" " Let's have a family meeting." " No, I'm done." "No more meetings." "Mommy?" "Yeah." "Grace." "Do you ever sleep?" "Not if I can help it." "I've spent my whole life asleep... and locked away." "So much time already wasted." "I won't waste another moment." "I understand." "I know you do." "I love you, Kit." "And Alma." "And our sweet, beautiful miracle babies." "Our life here has been more precious than I could have dreamed." "But something's changed." "I won't live in fear and isolation." "Not anymore." "Not again." "The future is coming, Kit, no matter what." "We can't hide from it." "We have to engage with it." "We have to embrace it." "Locked doors and shuttered windows won't keep it out." "Alma needs to understand that." "We have to open our..." "Alma!" "What are you doing?" "Alma!" "What have you done?" "She wanted to bring them back into our home!" "I couldn't let her." "We have to..." "We have to hide." "We have to hide." "Kit, we have to hide." "We have to hide, Kit." "Daddy?" "Daddy'll be there in a minute." "Could you just put those down?" "Those are Bob's." "Yes, they are." "Your move, boss." "We interrupt this program to bring you... an emergency broadcast from President Johnson." "Snake eyes." "Gum Drop Mountain is mine, chickens." "America is shocked and saddened... by the brutal slaying tonight of Dr. Martin Luther King." "If you want to get through Peppermint Stick Forest, you gotta go through me." "I ask every citizen..." "to reject the blind violence..." "Percy, knock it off." "...who lived by nonviolence." "His lithium levels are way too high." "Dr. Miller should check 'em." "Okay?" "I pray that his family can find comfort in the memory... of all he tried to do for the land he loved so well." "Martha." "Your move." "Jude." "May I have a word, please?" " Do you hear something?" " Hmm?" "Hmph." "He couldn't mean me." "Jude is dead." "I was renamed..." "What was it?" "Betty Drake." "Yeah." "Betty Drake." "Please, Jude, don't be childish." "Childish?" "Hell, I'm the queen of Candy Land." "A short audience, Your Majesty." "You're leaving Briarcliff?" "But you're not leaving the Church." "On the contrary." "I've been appointed cardinal... of New York." "Well, good for you." "You had a dream." "You made it come true." "You should also know that the Church is relinquishing ownership of Briarcliff." "We've donated it to the state." "They'll use it as an overflow facility." "Jude," "I cannot leave here knowing I've left you behind to rot." "I'm arranging for your release." "I'm gonna get you out." "The cruelty ends here." "The cruelest thing of all, Timothy, is false hope." "I promise." "I will make you a believer, Jude." "It's your move, boss." "All right, ladies, you know the drill." "What are you doing here?" "Me and my girls just got transferred in from County." "I didn't call for you." "What, I need an appointment to see Your Highness?" "Get her." "Royalty." "Queen bee, or so I hear." "You don't belong here." "Yeah, that's what I told the judge." "He disagreed." "Hell, most of my so-called victims... were living off government checks anyway." "Spongers." "They'd spend their dole on liquor and gambling... before I'd ever see a rent check." "I thought I was doing the taxpayer a service." "I know who you are." "My reputation precedes me." "Good." "Then you know how things are gonna go around here." "You get one chance to be a part of this with me." "What?" "I hear you're the gal to talk to... when it comes to the way things run around here." "You can either rule this roost with me... or just be one more dumb cluck." "Think it over." "Storm clouds are gathering, Pepper." "I can see them coming on the horizon." "I hope the monsignor is true to his promise and acts quickly." "You know you can't put stock into his promises, Jude." "No, you're being too harsh." "I saw something in his eyes." "There's nothing there." "All right, single file." "Let's move it through." "Let's go." "Come on." "Here you go." "More souls to take care of." "God help us all." "I'll say a prayer for your mother's speedy recovery, Jorge." "Yeah, but you should pray too." "Thanks, Betty." "I'll do that." "Yeah." "Lights out in 10 minutes." "Hello, gorgeous." "I'm on top." "What's she doing here?" "She's your new roommate." "Everyone doubles up, Betty." "No." "No." "I don't know what song was playing in your head, but I don't want you here." "I'm not ready." "You lose something, honey?" "Yeah." "My cigarettes." "You took 'em." "Everything in this cell belongs to me." "That includes you." "Why are you doing this?" "Why now?" "I'm so close to getting out." "What are you talking about?" "Everyone knows there's only one way out of Briarcliff, and it ain't the front door." "You're toying with me." "Babycakes, I'm only just starting to toy with you." "When I get going, you'll be begging for more." "You'll be shaking and moaning." "You stay away from me." "Aw." "Don't be that way." "Here." "Drag." "Calm your frazzled nerves." "You stay away from me." "You just stay away from me." "I don't want anything to do with you." "You'll change your tune." "You okay, boss?" "You look a little green around the gills." "Trouble sleeping." "They gave me a roommate." "Stacking us up like cord wood." "My, my, my." "What you doing over here all by your lonesome?" "Don't go hopping off too far, my little chocolate bunny." "Hey, rummy." "Marge here says you ain't been cooperating." "She says you've been taking your meds." "My meds." "Yes, I took them." "Down the hatch." "Just 12 pills... 12 pills a day, it keeps the doctor away." "No, see, you weren't supposed to take 'em." "You were supposed to squirrel 'em away." "I told you how." "Remember, rummy?" "I also told you what would happen if you didn't do as I said." "Everyone can see you're challenging me, rummy." "We can't have that." "Hey!" "Hey!" "You all right?" " Go get somebody." " All right." "I'll get help." "Get out of my way!" "Move!" "Give me a kiss, sweetheart." "No." "Get off of me." "I don't wanna die." "She tried to kiss me!" "She's death!" "I've seen her before!" " I've seen her before!" " Crazy goddamn bitch!" "I ain't rooming with her." "She tried to kill me!" "This is wrong." "It's all wrong." "Betty Drake." "What are we going to do with you?" "Betty." "Do you know where you are?" "In my o..." "In your office." " And do you know who I am?" " Uh..." "Dr. Crump?" "Correct." "I hear you've had a bit of a dustup with your new roommate." "I was..." "I..." "I thought she..." "I don't like her." "You haven't liked any of the women you've roomed with." "That's five in two months." "What?" "There are no single rooms here at Briarcliff, Betty." "You know that." "Unless you wanna go back to solitary." "I know you spent quite a bit of time there when you first arrived." "But you don't want to go back there, do you, Betty?" "No." "Good." "Then I can count on you to make more of an effort... to get along with your roommate." " Has the monsignor left any word?" " The monsignor?" "I need to speak to him." "I need to speak to the monsignor." " You mean the hospital chaplain." " No." "No." "No." "I mean Monsignor Timothy Howard." "I spoke to him right before he left for New York." "He's working on my release." "I need to speak to him." "You mean Cardinal Timothy Howard." "Yeah." "Cardinal." "He..." "He told me... that he had been appointed cardinal of New York." "Two and a half years ago." "What?" "Timothy Howard was appointed cardinal of New York... shortly after the Church donated Briarcliff to the state... two and a half years ago." "No." "No, I just..." "I..." "I just talked to him on Monday." "You're confused, Betty." "I am not!" "I am not confused." "Ask Pepper." "She was there." " Pepper?" " Pepper." "Yeah." "The pinhead." "She's a friend of mine." "Oh, yes, that poor microcephalic creature." "You were very upset when she passed." "Passed?" "Pepper died, Betty." "The winter of '66." "Shortly after we took over." "Don't you remember?" "It's all right, Betty." "I'll talk to Dr. Crayden about upping your chlorpromazine levels." "Everything's going to be all right." "Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor... to welcome to Newman's Books... the writer of Maniac..." "One Woman's Story of Survival." "It's been on The New York Times best-seller list for... 10 weeks now." "The book is a sensation." "And after devouring it in one sitting," "I can honestly say she's my hero." "Please welcome my new favorite author, Lana Winters." "Thank you." "Thank you." "You're so welcome." "Thank you for coming." "I've been asked to do a small reading before the signing." "So here goes." ""How long had it been?" "Twenty minutes?" "Twenty hours?" "Twenty days?" "In a windowless room without a clock, time felt like a luxury I couldn't afford." "I reminded myself, any moment now my time could end." "And all the minutes I extracted with my lies... with the show of affections and empathy... could slip from my grasp like sand through my fingers." "Click, click, click." "The fluorescent lights flickered on." "Adrenaline coursed through my body." "My muscles tensed." "My heart pounded through my chest." "His appearance was always unexpected." "I came to believe he was always watching me, waiting to catch me off guard." "But this time, there was more than one coming down the basement steps." "Another woman, her hands tied behind her back, staggered in front of him." "She stumbled down the stairs, landing hard on the tile floor." "And she looked up at me, and it was as if I was looking in a mirror... and saw my own despair." "That's when he turned to me and said," "'Say hi to our new toy."'" "That's bullshit." "That never happened." "You told me that that's what you were going to do." "Tortured me with the idea that somehow I would be responsible for another victim." "I suggested it." "I never did it." "Because I escaped before you could." "It's still a lie, Lana." "You put it in your book just so you could sell more copies." "You sold out." "I'm a writer." "It's my job to tell the essence of truth." "Is that why you called me your roommate?" "I was your lover, but in your book," "I was covered in a cloak of asexuality." "Our life together disappeared." "That part of my life wasn't pertinent to the book." "It would have distracted the reader from the central theme." "Oh, your theme?" "Face it, Lana." "You're only interested in one thing... fame." "Miss Winters?" "I'm sorry." "I must have lost my place." "No." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry you had to go through that again." "You're so incredibly brave." "Thank you." "I couldn't find any snacks." "Didn't I ask you to pack almonds?" "This Tab is warm." "Jesus." "Uh, they don't have any ice here." "So then hightail it to the HoJo's across the street." "Okay." "So, who do I make it out to?" "Kit." "Kit Walker." "Oh, my God." "Kit." "Oh, sweetheart." "I was so sorry to hear about Grace." "I wanted to write to you." "Well, it would've been nice to hear from you." "Can't lie." "No, yes, I know." "It's just..." "It's been so crazy." "I just sold the film rights to Hollywood." "Can you believe it?" "Wow." "Yeah." "What do you think of Tuesday Weld as me?" "Well, a girl can dream, right?" "She'd be a great you." "Great you." "So, uh, you got time for a cup of coffee?" "Did you see me on Cavett?" "I was so nervous, but I think I did well." "He was very complimentary during the commercials." "I'm sure you knocked 'em dead." "Anyway, you been back to Briarcliff?" "Oh, my God, Kit, you are not gonna believe what I'm doing next." "A book about Lee Emerson and his crime spree... after he escaped from Briarcliff." "That psycho who nailed the monsignor to the cross?" "Do you know he killed seven nuns?" "Seven." "I thought of calling it Santa and the Seven Nuns." "Too campy?" "Why are you writing about him?" "Jesus!" "He's just another maniac." "That's my canvas, Kit." "I've found my voice... the way Capote did with In Cold Blood." "I have a perspective on the stunted male psyche that no one else has." "I lived it." "You swore you were gonna take down Briarcliff, expose it to the world." "You promised Jude." "You were gonna be a reporter, not a cheap celebrity." "Things change." "People change." "I built a life for myself, Kit... a really substantial life... and I did it by spinning straw into gold." "It could've gone very differently." "Hmm." "I would've thought you of all people would understand that." "I do." "And I respect you." "But this is..." "Believe me," "I know all too well that I could still be in there, drooling in the bread dough with all the other lunatics." "Careful when you talk about those lunatics." "You're talking about my wife." "Thomas, he loves to build things." "I bought him a train set the other day, and next thing I know, he put the track together by himself." "Julia is a little dancer." "She loves to dance, just like her mother." "I miss them so much." "They miss you too." "No, they don't even know me." "Every night at dinner," "Julia makes me make an extra plate in case you come home hungry." "I'd give anything to see them again." "Could you bring them next time, even if only for a few minutes?" "No, forget it." "You can't bring them here." "I'm so sorry, Alma." "I don't know how you survived this place." "Jesus." "I had no idea she was there." "Not anymore." "There was no warning..." "no sign at all." "Her heart just stopped." "I'm sorry, Alma." "I'm such a fool." "All my crazy plans." "And look where they got us." "I completely failed you." "And Grace." "And those kids." "I'm gonna try to make it right." "My God." "Everyone's gone but us." "Well, there is one person left." "Toughest one of all." "What do you mean?" "Jude." "She's still there." "That's not possible." "I saw her death certificate." "And I saw her." "Any instructions on how you'd like us to deal with her body?" "I'll take her home." "She'll be buried on our land." "Move." "Move." "Move." "Move." "Move." " Move." "Move, move, move." "Time for my story." "Every can of Sani-Flush has more active cleaning ingredients... than the other leading brands." "And it both deodorizes and kills germs too." "Sani-Flush..." "More active cleaning ingredients than the other leading brands." "Sister Jude?" "In six days, you have managed... to totally disrupt the Convent San Tanco." "Sister Jude." "First, those ridiculous costumes you made." " It's me." "Kit Walker." " It is unbecoming for girls to wear shorts." "Girls wear dresses." "Boys wear trousers." "Gray trousers..." "They said you were dead." "Not dotted polkas." "I know they did." "Because they stole the rights." "The rights to my story." "Do you realize how much attention you attracted?" "It's based on my life, every word of it." "I'll notify you the moment that Sister Bertrille..." "lands." "Sister Bertrille." "She's got the devil in her." "She stole my hat." "Your hat?" "That's how she did it... how she managed to fly out of this place." "They don't know, but I don't need the hat." "I can fly without it." "One of these days," "I'm gonna fly my ass right out of here!" "Watch and see." "First, there is the question of money." "I am sorry, Sister Bertrille." "I don't doubt it." "You see, even with the money, we wouldn't have any land to build on." "I know the land you speak of." "It is owned by a man named Carlos Ramirez." "Refuses to sell." "I didn't know." "I couldn't know." "I went back there, Kit." "I did try." "The monsignor told me she'd hanged herself." "He lied to you." "She's been there this whole time." "I don't know what you expect me to do about that now." "What you said you'd do..." "get the place shut down." "The world has to know what's going on at Briarcliff." "The place is a snake pit." "And it always has been." "And I'm sorry to hear about Jude." "It's heartbreaking." "But let's be real here." "Every bed in that place, she made." "Her choice, not ours." "Can you really be that hard?" "I'm as hard as I have to be." "It's what's kept me alive." "I'm sorry." "But there's a dozen more people waiting to get their books signed." "It really was good to see you again, Kit." "Yeah, sure." "Good luck out there." "Everything with a white dot is 25% off." "Books with orange dots, 50%." "I'm not looking for bargains." "I'm looking for a particular title." "It's a really old book." "I'm a connoisseur of the... first printing." "You mean first edition?" "Yeah, that's it." "First edition." "Well, you're in the wrong place." "All we have left is the crap we haven't sold in the last 44 years." "If you noticed, we're going out of business." "No, it's here." "The computer says that you're the only store around with an autographed copy." "Maniac:" "One Woman's Story of Survival." "By Lana Winters?" "That's not for sale." "I've been looking for it for a long time." "It's my mother's personal copy." "She credited that book with giving her enough courage... to finally leave my father." "She said he was her own version of Bloody Face." "Name your price." "I'm related to her." "The writer." "She's my mother." "Listen." "I was a women's studies major." "I've read every one of her books." "The only baby she ever had was by rape with Bloody Face, and he died at birth." "Can I see it?" "I just wanna see her name." "That's her signature." "That's as close as I ever got to her in person." "Okay." "We're done." "Bye-bye." "I gave you a chance to name your price." "Now I'll tell you mine." "There's nothing you could say to make me change my mind." "You're gonna give me that book... because it's my fate to have it." "You see, I have a plan to meet my mother." "And when I see her, I'm gonna greet her... with a polite, "Hello, Ms. Winters." "Do you know who I am?"" "And she'll shake her head in ignorance." "And then I'll present this book of lies." "And then I'll say," ""I'm in your book, except I didn't die." "I'm the piece of trash you threw away 48 years ago." "I'm your son."" "And when she fully understands... who it is standing in front of her," "I'll take out my nine-millimeter handgun, point it at her face... and pull the trigger." "And finally," "I will have completed my father's work."