"Ben." "There he is." "How're you doin', Chuck?" "I can't decide if you look better in person or on those commercials." "Smoke and mirrors, doc." "What can I tell you?" "Hey." "I got a new dealership." "Right across the bridge." "I cannot keep them on the lot." "Nancy was there for the grand opening, you know." "It's a tradition we've had since, well, since, I guess she was pregnant with Susan, our, our second dealership." "Wow." "She just shook so many hands, you know, after we cut the ribbon?" "Uh-huh." "And she sold three cars herself." "And she asked me for a commission, right?" "I mean, I thought she was joking." "She was serious." "So, I paid her." "And you know what she did?" "She went out and she bought me three suits." "Said I should look like a businessman, not a car dealer." "Well, some things you can't change." "Which reminds me." "That lease comes up on your wheelbarrow, you call me." "I'm gonna give you a ride make you look like a Madison Avenue doctor, okay?" "We have to do this." "Lay it on me, Chuck." "Let's go." "Okay." "Okay." "I'll see you in a year, chuck, huh?" "Better yet, why don't we get a round of eighteen in before the summer?" "Uh, before that, I think." "I, I don't love your EKG." "You don't love it?" "There's an irregularity." "Could be serious so we, we need a better look." "Uh, I'm gonna set you up for this, uh, diagnostic sixty-four slice." "A new kind of, uh, CAT Scan." "It'll give us a peek of what's really going on in there." "Melinda was mine, till the time that I found her, holdin' Jim and loving him." "Then Sue came along, loved me strong, that's what I thought." "Me and Sue." "But that died, too." "Don't know that I will but until I can find me a girl who will stay and won't play games behind me" "I'll be what I am, a solitary man." "A solitary man." "I've had it to here, being where love's a small word, a part time thing, a paper ring." "I know it's been done havin' one girl who loved me, right or wrong, weak or strong." "Don't know that I will but until I can find me, the girl who will stay and won't play games behind me, I'll be what I am." "A solitary man." "There he is." "Dad!" "Hey, Grandpa!" "Dad!" "Grandpa!" "Dad?" "Don't call me that." "What?" "Don't call me Dad." "And you, you don't call me Grandpa." "Not now." "What should I call you?" "You, you can call me Dad." "No." "That's what I call my Dad." "Well, then, I don't know." "Call me Captain Ben." "Where's this one?" "Do, don't look, don't look." "You'll screw things up." "The Miami blonde?" "," "Yeah, she was checking me out on my way in." "Hey, give me a hug." "Maybe she'll think we're married." "Yuck." "Dad!" "I told you." "Don't call me that." "Oh, yeah." "She's gonna be really happy to see me." "My favorite grandson." "Hi, sweetie." "Mom." "And, you, I can't believe you have the time for us." "What happened to all the divorcees on the eastside?" "That's not fair, Nance." "No, that's true." "I left out the widows." "Why is it still so good to see him?" "Why is it still so good to see you?" "Because you're not married to me anymore." "That's why." "Why don't you sit down." "Join us?" "Uh, maybe I can stay for a couple of minutes." "Benny, you're too old for her." "I don't know what you're talking about." "Oh, deny, deny, deny, all the time, deny." "How are you, folks?" "Great, thank you." "May I take your order?" "Yeah." "Uh, yeah, I'll have a, uh, cheeseburger." "Have the turkey burger." "A cheeseburger." "Well, it's just a matter of time before I get that phone call." "You've been waiting for that phone call for thirty years." "All right." "I'll have the chicken paillard with a little salad." "Very good." "Uh, tuna on toast, please." "Okay." "Young man?" "Uh, grilled cheese, please." "Grilled cheese?" "Be right back, folks." "Oh, dad, I'm gonna take Scotty to the natural history museum this weekend." "Gary has to work." "You wanna come?" "I can't." "Oooh." "Why not?" "I'm sorry, Scotty." "Oh, you're gonna love this one." "What?" "I'm going up to our old alma mater this weekend." "No." "Oh, my gosh." "What, did they finally, uh, convince you to see the Kalmen Library?" "No." "Jordan and I are taking her daughter up for her college interview." "Doesn't she have her own father?" "Well, apparently he's got a life." "Why can't she take the kid herself?" "Because of my relationship with the dean." "Oh, do you even like this Jordan person?" "Dad, you're a sixty year old man." "I am not." "Almost." "And you are dating a woman because of her father's connections." "No, I'm not going up there alone." "I'm not going." "You promised." "I promised to go with you." "Well, I'm sick." "I can't go." "Well... reschedule." "Allyson can't reschedule her college interview just because I have the flu." "I told you, you should have taken the shots." "I hate shots." "Now you got the flu." "Mom, it's fine." "I'll fly up there myself." "In fact, I'd prefer that." "See that?" "She doesn't want me going with her." "I'd cramp her style." "That's exactly why I want an adult up there with her." "Her style could use a little cramping." "Otherwise she might come home pickled." "Mom, I stopped getting drunk in eighth grade." "It doesn't matter." "You're not going up there alone." "Can I have a moment with Benjamin, please?" "I don't think this is a good idea." "Didn't you retire from thinking?" "Why, why can't she go with her father?" "He's in McLaughlin in some factory or something." "Before I forget, I just got the confirmation e-mailed to me." "I printed it out for you." "So it's all set." "It is." "So, think of this as a family weekend." "First you'll go to the meeting my father had arranged for you." "Then you'll take my daughter on her college interview." "This is a hell of an open point." "Nice traffic pattern." "Nice?" "It's outstanding." "With my banking relationships, we'll be up and rolling in no time." "And this zip code, it spends." "Daughter graduates from high school, SUV, six airbags." "Son moves into his own house, little two-seater with a lot of zip." "Your, uh, old flagship." "It was north of here, about, uh, twenty five miles." "But the, uh, family name is good here in the community." "Yeah, well, the research certainly shows that the name is known in the community." "But, uh, the negative numbers." "Pete, I paid my fine." "Okay?" "Full restitution." "And you think that's painful." "You should try it sometime." "You know, I'll sponsor the little league, football team, uh, school carwash." "Negatives will disappear." "Mr. Kalmen, I'm gonna speak freely, okay, out of respect." "I'm recommending you get the dealership because the numbers make sense, because my first job was in the finance department at one of your old places." "I grew up watching your commercials on TV." ""I'm Ben Kalmen, New York's finest car dealer."" "You know, you probably inspired me to go into this business in the first place." "Pete, I am honored." "But, I, I don't think my recommendation's gonna do any good." "You know, the dealership development committee's not in the habit of handing out open points to people who have caused the kind of public embarrassment in the industry you have." "You put the recommendation before the committee," "I'll make sure about it getting signed off." "Okay." "Fair enough." "All right." "Let me show you the service area now." "You're gonna like this." "No, no, I think it went as well as it could but, but Jordan." "Please, you gotta have your dad talk to the three guys from Munich." "The three younger guys, you know were, weren't there when I had my, uh." "Shall I lay out his clothes out from him, too?" "Or do you think you can handle it?" "Yes, sir... roger, I got that, colonel, yeah." "Good." "Dismissed." "Hey, I like this." "So, uh, about this weekend." "Yves?" "Would you turn the sauna up as high it'll go, please?" "I wanna sweat this thing out." "Yeah?" "Uh." "Look, I don't really think Allyson wants me up there with her, all right?" "Oh, yes, she does." "Just like my father wants to squander fifty years of goodwill and connections as well as his position on a board of directors just to get an admitted grifter a new dealership after he almost tanked an entire company's reputation." "Okay, Boston here I come." "I'd feel a whole lot better if you would just turn and leave." "I can see how bad you want to." "Go to Foxes for the weekend or the Hamptons, you know, wherever." "Stay out of sight." "Come on." "That's what you were hoping for the whole time." "Just try not to catch anything you might give to my mother later because I don't wanna have to take care of her." "I don't lie to your mother." "I call bullshit, Ben." "You call what?" "That means ask me where I was for drinks the other night." "I thought you said you don't drink." "I said I don't get drunk." "Okay." "Where were you for drinks the other night?" "The bar at the Warwick." "And what night was that?" "The night you hope it wasn't." "Cause you were in the back booth with that Eastern European web special." "That was my cousin Eva." "She was in town on business." "I don't know, why didn't you just come by and say hello?" "I was on my way over to." "And that's when I saw you slip your hand under her skirt." "I thought maybe you dropped something." "But then she started squirming in such a way I thought," "I don't think he dropped anything." "So that's gin." "Yeah?" "Means that you won that hand." "I don't play cards." "Well, at least you didn't sell me out." "Thank you." "I'd cheat on her if she was my girlfriend." "Have a good weekend, Ben." "Okay." "I'm gonna do this for you." "Not for your mother, for you." "I know the school." "I know the dean." "I always regretted never going to Susan's college interview," "I was always too busy." "Hmm." "Yeah, momma said you used to always be on MSNBC and CNN." "And that you had dealerships in every town in Long Island and New Jersey and Connecticut." "That's a slight exaggeration." "She also said you fucked it up six ways to Sunday." "No exaggeration there." "Look, I promise I will not ruin your weekend." "You know, I'll give you a tour of the campus, take you over to meet the dean, you know, for your interview." "Smooth things out." "Shake hands." "And then I'll go back and crash at the hotel and you can do whatever the hell you want to." "And this time I won't say anything." "And you won't treat me like a kid, right?" "Well, you're not a kid, are you?" "Some guy's supposed to meet us." "I don't know where the hell he is." "You know, I thought you were an involved alumni." "Alumnus." "Just means I write the big checks." "How do you know the dean of this place?" "Uh, he comes visits me, or he used to." "And he'd always leave my office with an endowed chair in the English Department or enough funding to break ground on the library." "And what about now?" "Courtesy calls when he's in town." "That's nice." "Insurance, for when I can write the big checks again." "Look out!" "Hey, asshole." "Let the big dog hunt." "Let the big dog hunt." "Let the what?" "Let the bi..." "look, put the frisbee down." "We're frolfing." "That was my drive." "You called me an asshole, I'm gonna earn it." "Dickwad." "Oh, my god." "Ben!" "Ben!" "Easy." "Easy, easy." "Ben, stop it." "Hey, hey, hey!" "Stop all this." "Officer." "Uh, Ben Kalmen." "Uh, here to see dean Gittleson." "I.D.S." "Someone wanna tell me what happened here?" "We had a little misunderstanding." "I'm willing to forgive it if he is." "I'm willing." "Good." "Get outta here." "Not so fast." "I wanna know what you're doing on my campus." "He's escorting me for my interview." "She your daughter?" "He goes out with my mother." "He tell you to say that?" "No." "All right, let's see it." "Eighteen." "Kalmen." "You're the donor of the, the library and all that, right?" "Support the college any way I can, officer." "So you're also the guy that sold my cousin in Connecticut the leased jeep, turned out to be financed." "Cost him nine grand on the backend." "We did have some unscrupulous agents." "I take full responsibility." "Yeah, well, you do anything else unscrupulous on my campus, you'll take more than the blame." "Yes, sir." "Wow." "Smooth." "Mr. Kalmen." "Uh, yes, that's me." "Hey, I'm, uh, Daniel Cheston." "I'm the vice president of the student senate." "Uh, dean Gittleson sent me to find you." "Are you, you okay?" "No, I'm, I'm fine, Cheston." "I couldn't be better." "Hi, Edward, how are you?" "Good, good." "Rough, uh, rough morning?" "Uh." "This is, uh, Allyson Karsch." "Hello, Allyson." "Hi." "Allyson has my highest recommendation." "Oh, well, I can scarcely imagine a greater endorsement." "Uh-huh." "Here's what we're gonna do." "Mr. Cheston has agreed to get you reacquainted with the grounds." "I thought you might to see the Kalmen Library." "And then you can come back and, uh, meet Allyson at freeman hall." "Good." "All right." "Look, Cheston, you got anything else to do besides show me around, do it." "You don't wanna see the library?" "Why, because my name is on it?" "Yeah." "No." "You know, you're walking kinda funny." "You wanna go to the school clinic and get it checked out?" "I don't do doctors, not anymore." "You wanna at least clean yourself up a little bit?" "You can use my room." "Hi." "Cheston, you got a girl?" "Cheston is actually my last name." "My, my first name is Daniel." "Ah, that's a shame." "There are a million Daniels in the world." "Anybody can be Daniel." "But you get to be Cheston." "Okay." "Anyway, about that girl." "Uh, yeah, I'm kind of exploring that." "Can't get laid, huh?" "I didn't say that." "Everything about you says it." "I mean, look at your side of the room." "Anyone who's got the time to put hospital corners on his college bed is not spending his days the right way." "I didn't even think I did that today." "You had a girlfriend in high school, right?" "Yeah." "Right." "You met her in, what, uh, Model U.N. Program?" "We were assistant directors of the community outreach service." "Right." "Then she went away to college." "She met some junior, stormed the administration building, the provost's office." "Yeah, how did you know he was a junior?" "They're always juniors." "And then you're stuck trying to figure out how you lost, uh..." "Laurie." "Diana." "Diana." "Let me tell you something." "Out there is nothing but possibilities." "Hey, Cheston." "Come here." "What about that one?" "Or that one?" "What's wrong with them?" "Nothing they're probably just not interested." "Well, that's because you don't know how to talk to them." "Wait we have to get... okay." "What the hell did you say?" "We're hanging out with 'em." "Tonight?" "No, I, I can't do that." "Uh, uh, tonight we're gonna go to a party where they're gonna be and girls just like them." "Cheston, someday you're gonna be my age." "You do not wanna regret a night like this." "Hey, hold up." "Yeah." "I didn't say anything." "No, I know." "Only saps really love this shit." "Anyway, it's nice the bench is still here, you know." "Onward." "I'll take care of you, don't worry." "I'll show you, I'll show you the ropes." "Sorry we're late." "I tried to call you on the, uh, cell phone." "Uh, couldn't get an answer." "No problem." "This is Ted." "He gave the tour." "Ted Loof." "Right." "I was telling Allyson she should come by the house tonight." "We're having a party, uh, figured it'd give a good idea of the social culture we have here on campus." "Oh." "Great." "Great." "That sounds like, uh, it sounds like fun." "I told you those girls were not gonna show up here." "Well, what does it matter?" "Huh?" "I mean, look, look at that one, huh?" "And, and this one over here." "Well, we're mixing', man." "We re, we're in here mixing." "No." "Well, we're standing by a keg pouring for, pouring." "And I know you wanna be right over there, don't you?" "No." "No, no, no, no, your eyes are wandering over there." "Go on." "Go on over and talk to her." "No, she..." "She's not the kind of person you'd go up to at a party, all right?" "She's serious." "She's studious." "She's here, isn't she?" "She's got a drink in her hand." "Yeah, because her brother is a member of the house, nobody hooks up with her." "If you're not gonna go over there and see her then I'm gonna tell you a story." "Okay." "Now, this is a little raw, but it's all true so I'm gonna have to ask for your indulgence, okay?" "All right, granted." "My first year, when I was here" "I wasn't exactly what you'd call one of the elite." "I mean, I never would have been invited to a place, uh, like this." "Uh, I actually had a job." "I was working my way through school." "Yeah, me too." "No, I know." "I sa, I saw your wardrobe." "Um, so I wasn't exactly what you'd call, uh, an innocent but I was intimidated by a lot of what I saw, you know." "Especially the girls." "So, there was this one girl who sat in front of me in, uh" "English Composition." "Her name was Jennifer Angel." "Really." "And every day I'd stare at the back of this girl's neck." "And once in awhile, you know, she'd turn her head and I could see her face." "And she was beautiful, you know." "She was so smart and clean and, Cheston, I wanted her in the worst way possible." "But I couldn't figure it out." "I just couldn't screw up the courage, you know, to ask her out." "To me, she was like, uh, an untouchable." "Yeah." "Untouchable." "Yeah." "So, anyway, a few days later, uh, I'm working." "I'm tending bar, you know, at some college event." "And this prickass member of the squash team he comes up and he asks me for a jack because his back is hurting." "So I said, what happened?" "And he says to me, Jennifer Angel." "I said, how?" "And Cheston, his answer was like a Joe Frazier left right to the belly." "He says, I'm fucking her, right, hard." "And she's begging me to go harder and harder." "Finally, I'm banging her so fucking hard my bed breaks and it falls down and I twist my back." "Jesus Christ." "So, I mean, I lost my breath, right there in front of the guy, you know." "I blushed and I'm not the kind of guy that gets embarrassed." "But you know what?" "It was the best thing that ever happened to me." "Knowing how she liked it and that she liked it freed me up to talk with her." "And the next week it was my bed that was almost broken." "We close in five minutes, so if you want anything, it's to go." "Used to be I'd come in Jimmy Marino's joint," "I could stay in here all night." "Well, that's when my father ran the place." "Jimmy senior must have liked you for some reason." "Some reason could have been that I saved your ass in every math class you ever took?" "Oh, I seem to remember the asssaving, but I was doing it." "Maybe not in class." "Yeah, I think you're right." "Yeah." "Yeah... you know, I called you when you got in all that trouble." "But I couldn't get past your secretary." "Oh, you know, she had her orders." "But I, I got the message." "I appreciated it, Jimmy." "I... well, I didn't expect a call back." "I just, uh," "I just figured I wanted you to know that I called you." "No, no, I knew." "And I hope that you understand." "No, it's important that I tell you this because, uh, there were a lot of unreturned phone calls and I'm sorry about that." "If it was anybody I wanted to see in this town, it would have been you, you know, when I was gone." "Yeah, you always said you'd never come back." "Yeah." "And like you always said, I'd never leave." "Well, you, yeah, you got the, uh, the place here." "Yeah." "And now you're here." "Now I'm here." "Is there something you need?" "Can I get a sandwich to stay?" "The usual?" "Yeah." "Give me the usual after thirty-five years, yeah." "The usual." "Ok, I gotta do this, but I gotta make it without hair." "Okay?" "Looks good though." "Looks good." "You?" "Really?" "Lacrosse has been my passion lately." "And, uh coach says to me, you know, I want you to play defense." "Yeah." "Yeah, so I told the Lacrosse coach" "I played attack in junior high." "I was all county attack in high school." "And there's no way that I'm playing defense." "So you're playing in the front line now or?" "No, no, no." "He cut me." "But that's not the point of the story." "The point of the story is that I stood up for myself." "I went after what I wanted." "And, uh, you know, that's what I always do." "I see what I want and I take a run at it." "Are you regaling her, young man?" "It sure sounds like it." "Allyson?" "Yeah, you look regaled." "Stories of what?" "Glory." "Or its punitive compatriot, noble failure." "Now, I say punitive because, you know, and this, this comes from a man who's failed in starburst colors." "There is nothing noble in failure." "Don't you agree, Tom?" "Ted." "Ted." "Ted." "My parents named me after Theodore Roosevelt and, uh, it was he that said" ""It's not the critic that counts, but the man who fails while daring greatly."" "But, yeah, he, he succeeded." "I mean, that's why we know the quote and he became president." "He bumped up against failure, but he became a success." "That's not quite what I gleamed from your Lacrosse story." "Can I get you anything?" "Hi." "Can I get a Dewar's on the rocks, please?" "Sure." "I'm gonna go to the bathroom." "I'll be right back." "Well, he, he seemed like one thing, you know, on campus, turns out he's something else." "Well he's not from the city." "I think he's cute." "Why?" "You gonna stop me?" "No, no." "I m not stopping you." "You go ahead." "Do whatever you want." "You going to report it in to my mother?" "I told you that I wouldn't, Allyson." "I don't even care what she thinks." "I care what you think." "What do you think?" "Well, I think it's a waste of time." "I think you're gonna put in a lot of effort with very little reward." "Well, you, you mean up in the room?" "I don't think I gotta draw a map for you." "I mean, a guy like that with a, um, girl who looks like you." "He's gonna go simple." "He's gonna get up there." "He's gonna go through the process." "And he's gonna, whrip, you know, he's gonna be gone." "And then what are you gonna get out of the transaction?" "Transaction?" "Uh-huh." "I mean, that's what it is, isn't it?" "I mean, I know, I know what he's gonna get." "But what do you get?" "I don't know." "I need another drink." "Shh, shh!" "Shit, here he comes." "What do I do?" "You've got the information." "You've gotta decide." "What you said about what would have happened in the room?" "You know, it's right." "I would have ended up staring at the ceiling all night while he slept like a log." "At least in New York I could go home." "Has it always been like that?" "Okay." "I'll say it." "My first time, I was fourteen." "And it was, it was okay." "But it wasn't, like, incredible." "You know, it's never really incredible." "And none of the guys I've been with really know what they're doing, I guess." "Well, why don't you just tell 'em?" "You really don't have to say much, you know." "You just have to kind of take control of the situation move them the way you want them to move." "Take their hands and put them where you want them." "And if that doesn't work, then show them, you know, yourself." "I promise you, they're never gonna forget it." "Ya, but it will make me seem like a whore." "Well, you're thinking about it the wrong way." "When you're with somebody that you like, don't you wanna know what makes them feel good?" "Well, does my mother know what to do?" "Allyson." "No, come on, tell me." "Yes, she knows what to do." "But, um... but not like the Russian, right?" "Well, it's not her fault, you know." "She, she's older." "And, um, your body changes." "There's a, uh, a, a thickness when you." "Thickness?" "She's stick thin." "No one over forty's stick thin, not really." "Trust me." "But she can get you off?" "Yes, she can get me off." "That's it!" "That's it." "That's it!" "You show me." "Show me." "Allyson?" "Hello?" "Allyson." "That was ahh... it was fun." "We had a fun night." "Thanks for coming up there with me." "I'll just tell my mother that I had to go back before you cause" "I had some work to catch up on." "Well, when we see each other back at the apartment." "What, you think I never cheated with anybody at school and had to see their girlfriends?" "Don't sweat it." "Don't worry about a thing." "I'm cool." "You sure you never played cards?" "Well, the committee has met." "The official vote will be next week." "But I wanted to give you a head start on getting the zoning in order." "Yes, ah!" "Yes." "That's great, Pete." "That's really, really great." "Kalmen motors on the uptick." "Yeah." "You suddenly had a lot of friends in the right places." "Well, thank you." "Looking forward to working together, Pete." "As am I. You have found a heck of a location." "I mean, it needs just the kind of dealership you propose." "In fact, if they hadn't approved you" "I probably would have recommended getting another dealer to open in that very spot." "If you don't mind, let me show you, uh..." "Sure, yeah." "How many cars we're expecting you to floor plan into the first couple of months." "It's Ben Kalmen and we have a lot of confidence." "So, this is a celebration all around, isn't it?" "Getting your dealership on track." "Fantastic news." "About Allyson." "I can't believe you were able to get the information so quickly." "It's fantastic." "Just fantastic." "Well, the dean, he reached out." "I mean, he telephoned me." "How sweet of you to say that." "I'm sure you did quite a bit of lobbying." "Really, mom?" "You think he had to pull on the strings that hard to get me in?" "You know how those things are." "You're a suitable candidate, but without Ben's help..." "We're so lucky to have you in our lives, right, Al?" "Sure." "How about an after dinner drink?" "Let's go out on the terrace." "Nice evening." "Allyson, you can have a soda." "Or, actually, since you're going to be a college girl, a little wine if you like." "No, it's okay." "I'm going out." "I'll see you later." "One drink first." "Allyson, come on." "I'll get that." "Did you get my messages?" "Are you crazy?" "It's so hard to talk here." "Yeah." "That's right." "We can't talk." "Come on, Ben." "You know what it was in Boston." "It was, it was a kick." "It was really, really fun." "But, you know, now I can check two things off my list." "Despite the end of daddy thing." "The daddy thing?" "Yeah." "And I didn't even know it was on my list." "Or I had a list." "Now I know." "Come on." "I thought it was gonna be, you know, the difference between you and the guys my age." "You wouldn't go simple, you know." "Be all clingy and stuff." "I'm not hanging onto you." "I just thought maybe we'd spend a little time together, that's all." "Ben." "You need to forget about it." "You know, I appreciate the time you took to make me up to the school and and you spoke to the dean on my behalf." "And I appreciate the advice you gave me." "It's already worked." "What advice?" "Well, you taught me to ask for what I want." "You know, last guy I was with, easy." "I just gave him a blow job first before anything else." "And then another one so he could last when we finally did it." "And then I got on top of him and I told him exactly what to do." "And... it was awesome." "Awesome." "Hey, you're making this up." "Why would I make it up?" "To put me off." "To put distance between us." "I mean, I use that trick all the time." "But usually it's because I actually care about someone and I. Yeah, well, I'm not." "I just said what you told me to do when you were trying to get me up to the room." "I wasn't trying to get you up to the room." "It happened." "I've got to go." "Mom, I'm going out." "Allyson." "Not yet." "Now, I'm a pretty cool customer." "You know what I do most nights?" "Try to find somebody to take home and never see 'em again." "Yeah, most nights you're not with her." "That's beside the point." "I can't stop replaying our time together." "Not just in the room." "When I was talking to you, um, listening, we were connecting." "I forgot you were eighteen." "You forgot no." "That I..." "No, I didn't." "Everything all right?" "No, of course." "Of course." "We slept together, mom." "In Boston." "Yeah." "We did." "Isn't that fantastic?" "Oh, dad, you didn't." "Ask me was it worth it." "What?" "Just ask me if it was worth it." "No." "Well, it was." "You're actually gonna gloat about?" "I'm not gloating about it." "I'm just stating something, which is, as I sit here now, it was worth it." "Suse, it was a night and a half." "I mean, the way an eighteen year old body responds." "No." "No." "No way, Ben." "You can't keep dragging her into this nonsense." "Did we wake you, honey?" "I'm sorry." "No." "Forget about that." "I can't have you listen to this crap anymore." "I told you it was unhealthy." "Your shrink told you it was unhealthy." "Gary, will you stay out of my relationship with my daughter?" "My wife." "Well, I'm both." "Sure." "Now you are." "Because you're what he has." "But before he blew up his life, what were you to him?" "Gary." "That is a ballsy thing to say, Gary." "Logical, but bitter and, uh, a little small." "I would have hoped my daughter would have been with a bigger, bigger man." "You know what, Ben?" "I take care of her." "I'm here for her, always." "You're a great provider, Gary." "But she and I, we've got something special." "We bleed the same." "Susan, let's go back to bed." "I'll be in, in a minute." "Honey." "He's right about a lot of that stuff, you know." "Guys like Gary are right about everything." "That's why he's got clients bringing him 450 an hour and partners fast tracking him and all that crap." "I mean, I, I never said your husband wasn't a smart man." "It s, just he, uh, doesn't take any risks." "I gotta hand it to him though." "You know, he had the balls to come at me, you know, and go toe-to-toe with me." "That took balls." "But he didn't... stay there." "You didn't used to talk like this." "Well, you know, I used to shield you." "Now I don't bother shielding anybody anymore." "There's no point to it." "I learned that when I was in jail." "You weren't in jail." "You paid a fine and settled." "I know." "Well, I was in jail for a night." "And before I made the deal I used to think about it, a lot." "We can have this conversation another time." "But you came over this late for a reason." "Yeah, it's about my, uh, rent." "Uh, you know how close I am to getting the dealership and rolling up." "It hasn't happened and my, uh, income stream is short." "Um..." "Gary handles the checkbook." "I mean, I handle it, but he goes over it." "It's his money." "The money he earns by not taking risks." "Um... here." "Mom gave this as a gift." "Half her commission on a classic six." "I was gonna cash it tomorrow." "It should cover two months or so." "That's all I can do." "It won't be long." "Ben, this is Pete Hartofilias." "BMW." "Uh, no easy way to say this." "You didn't get the dealership." "Someone, uh, moved the board to vote seven to zero against you." "Seven to zero." "So, that's that." "So the gal's three down from the one who looks like an Eskimo." "Tan bag." "I'm gonna say, uh, divorced three years." "Kids are with the dad tonight and, uh, she's looking to play for all its worth." "FBI should hire you out as a profiler." "If they were smart they, they would but it's not that difficult." "Look, she's got no wedding ring on." "She's showing her pictures in her phone to the bartender." "By his reaction, they gotta be of her kids." "This is why I was so good on the lot." "I know exactly what kind of car to put her in." "And I know what she's looking for." "I imagine you do." "Listen, Ben, I've always enjoyed our dinners, but" "I can't let you out of here without turning the conversation into a different direction." "We will." "We will." "Uh, the lady at the bar with the tan bag, can you get two of whatever she's drinking and, uh, tell her I'll be over there in just a second." "Yes, Mr. Kalmen." "You've been a private banking client for... one sec, let me just see this." "Sorry." "Okay." "So I can concentrate now." "The reason institutions like ours have private banking clients in the first place is so that our highest net worth individuals don't have to deal with financial minutia." "You're kicking me out of the bank." "After all these years." "Must have been why you didn't eat your lobster cobb." "Bank usually sends a letter." "I wanted to tell you in person." "Well, I'm gonna try to say this nicely." "Fuck you, Steve." "I don't expect your sympathy." "But I have earned your faith." "I've been successful in business since I was twenty two years old." "You had my belief." "That's why when New York's honest car dealer decided to engage in a scam for planting phantom cars to rip off the manufacturer and got caught, we continued to keep you and your family in the bank." "Continued to steer deals your way." "I call bullshit." "I'm sorry, you call what?" "That's what they say." "Bullshit!" "The point is, you pretend to defend your clients when they're going through tough times when in fact you're just waiting to write off the debits." "We're not the ones who changed." "You used to stay up 'til three O'clock in the morning reviewing business plans and sales reports." "Now you can't even get through a meal without jumping up and." "I was yanking you, okay?" "I know the lady." "She's the mother of one of Scotty's friends in school." "Carol Salomonde." "I wasn't planning to take a roll with her." "I wanted to say hi." "You were yanking me?" "Steve, come on." "Just give me a year to get this together." "This is gonna cripple me." "We have to do this." "We're finished." "Jason." "Yes, Mr. Kalmen." "Can I get a check, please?" "About your house account." "All right." "He'll pay for it." "It's the least he can fucking do." "Baby aspirin, huh?" "Uh-huh." "Did you have an incident or are you, uh, just cautious?" "Do I seem the cautious type to you?" "Not the first word I'd use, no." "Yeah, no, I don't really know for sure." "Some doctor said he saw something on an EKG, he wanted me to get some tests." "What did he see?" "I never went there." "God, I couldn't live like that." "If you were my husband." "No, thank God for all of us involved." "I mean, what do I wanna know for anyway?" "I just wanted to do the things I wanted to do and only the things I wanted to do until it happens." "Whatever, you know, it is." "You seem to have infected me with a little bit of that spirit." "Oh, shit." "How did I even end up here with the grandfather of my son's friend?" "Because you're in your late thirties, Carol." "And if you were in your late twenties you would have ended up with a dissatisfied father of one of your son's friends." "Who even talks like that?" "Everybody." "They just say that shit to themselves." "I let it fly." "And you think that's a good thing." "I think that conversation is not our long suit." "So maybe you ought to get dressed." "Fine by me." "And I know, for sure, that you're not gonna share this with Susan, right?" "Believe me, that is the last thing I want." "Can you do me a favor?" "Can you just check on the time on the clock?" "The clock?" "Yeah, it's in the, uh, in the drawer." "I threw it there last night so the alarm wouldn't wake us." "Isn't that the idea?" "I was drunk, you know, what do you want?" "It's early." "Well, that's good." "Yeah, I don't have to get the kids 'til two." "I've got another three hours." "It's eleven?" "Thirty." "Oh, shit." "Oh, great." "Hey." "Happy birthday, Scotty." "You missed the party, Captain Ben." "I know, buddy." "I, you know, I had a business meeting came up." "But, hey, I'm here now, huh?" "Yeah." "But the party's over." "You didn't get to sing happy birthday." "You didn't get any cake." "Capital work there, Ben." "Every time I lower the bar of expectation, you limbo right under it." "Thanks, Gare." "You know what?" "We'll have an after party party." "It'll even be better than your birthday party." "I promise." "We will?" "Definitely." "You going back to the apartment?" "Come on, Scotty." "Let's go, Susan." "Can he come over?" "Please, mom?" "No, there's no room in the cab, sweetie." "Suse, just put the presents in the trunk." "I can ride there." "If you wanna come, get yourself there." "And you better have a cake and presents with you." "Yes, all right." "Good job." "Oh, we're gonna save that for after dinner." "But it's my cake." "You already had cake." "Oh, come on." "It's his birthday." "Let him have a bite." "At least let me see it, right?" "Okay." "Prevent defense never works." "No, you keep throwing those Hail Mary passes." "I mean, that's a short term strategy." "Nice." "My ball." "This is, uh, this is the last quarter, guys." "We just started on this game." "No way." "How many games have you already played?" "Well, this is the last game of the regular season." "But we're only playing three minute quarters, so we'll be done really soon." "Half hour more, you two." "That's it." "We have to go to your other grandparents house." "But I wanna stay with grandpa." "He said I can call him that in private." "Well, daddy's parents are expecting us, so we have to go." "Touchdown!" "Hey, no fair." "I was talking to my mom." "Hey, you snooze, you lose, buddy." "I love ya." "Love you, too." "Okay." "Happy birthday." "I'm gonna say goodbye to grandpa." "You go get ready." "Okay." "I'm glad we got a moment here alone." "I need another small loan from you." "Oh, you're out of your mind." "Gary's right." "You've totally lost it." "What?" "I'm not gonna give you anymore money, especially not after today's performance." "Uh, didn't Scotty have a great time?" "He has a better time with you than anyone." "That's the problem." "He thinks you're magic." "That's how he should think of his grandfather." "No, he should think of his grandfather as consistent and reliable." "Consistent is boring." "His other grandparents are consistent." "He doesn't wanna go to their house." "But when he needs them, he knows they'll come running and that makes him feel safe." "Oh, that's illusion and you know it." "No one can protect anyone." "Look what happened to me." "You know, all of my high end friends I cultivated over the years and they run for the hills." "I'm not gonna go back and forth with you on this." "You missed his party." "He had a smile on his face cause that's the kind of kid he is." "But I know him." "He kept looking at the elevator every time it opened hoping you were gonna come walking out." "Mom and I must have tried your cell phone six times." "I'm sorry I missed the party, my alarm didn't go off." "I know you're sorry." "I know." "See, this is what you do." "And you know whose fault it really is?" "Mine." "If this happens again, that's it." "I'm not gonna keep putting him in a position to get hurt when you can totally prevent it from happening." "What are you telling me?" "You're not gonna let me see my grandson?" "You see the way he looks at me?" "Come on, I love that boy." "Either be in his life or don't." "Antioxidants." "Good for you." "As important as the future of my circulatory system is, Nance it's, uh, on the top of my list right now." "Truth is, I can't write you another check, not now." "Uh-huh." "I need you to float me some cash." "Well, Benny, I'm not gonna let you starve." "You know that." "Well, that's very thoughtful of you considering how many meals I've given you, how much cash has flown from me to you..." "Oh, stop." "No." "Come on." "You are not that guy." "Don't do that." "Yeah, you never even made me take you to court." "You put in the years." "What was I gonna do?" "Ah, what am I gonna do, huh?" "What everybody else does." "What I did." "Things change, you move on." "I mean, who thought I would be selling real estate?" "And it turns that, uh, I'm good at it and I love it." "And I love my wine classes and I love my poker games on Wednesday nights with my friends and I love going to see the Mets and the Rangers and I love my view." "Look at this view." "Yeah, I know." "You got the best view in the city." "Absolutely." "That's why I never sold it." "Uh-huh." "What do you mean, uh-huh?" "Oh." "I know that look." "What do you think, I'm holding a vigil for your return?" "I want everything exactly the way it was for our reunion?" "No, no, no." "You made that very clear when you shacked up with that, uh mark, the orthodontist." "Look, he was a good guy and, you know you won't be satisfied 'til I go into a nunnery." "I just find it interesting that you never changed the furniture." "Not a chair, couch, even the cushions." "Is that couch still comfy?" "Most comfortable couch you ever sat on." "Well, I don't change things when they're still working." "That's your move." "So what d I tell you, Pete?" "Is this a kickass location or what?" "Ben, hi." "Hi, Ben Kalmen." "I know who you are." "Ben Kalmen, New York's honest car dealer." "This is Bill Rallye." "It's his dealership." "Welcome to Rallye motors." "Rallye motors." "I like that." "It's got a nice to ring to it, yeah." "Now, Ben, I told you I love this spot." "No, look, I'm not here to protest." "I'm here looking for a job." "You wanna come work for me?" "I can sell the hell out of any car." "Always could." "There's no question about that." "Uh, Bill, do you mind just, uh, stepping away, give me a moment with Mr. Kalmen?" "Not at all." "My pleasure." "I'll catch up with you, Bill." "Thanks." "Ben, I'm not sure corporate would even let you buy a car from us." "You really crapped the bed on this one." "It's like, uh, I've never seen anyone turn friends to enemies so fast." "I mean, understand." "I saw the paperwork." "It was prepared." "You were in." "I don't know what you did exactly." "But, uh, it, th, now there's no way." "No way." "Pete, come on." "Come on, Pete, Pete, Pete, come on." "Let me into the house." "I promise you a really nice parting gift." "I can't do it." "Mr. Kalmen?" "Todd." "Hello." "Mr. Kalmen, you're three weeks late." "You've only been here two months." "Now, when I let you move in with your questionable financials, you remember?" "I remember." "You convinced me that I could trust you." "You can, Todd." "Okay, well, then I need a check, okay?" "Or else I have to start removal proceedings." "By tomorrow morning my sense of honor is not gonna allow." "Carol Salomonde." "You had to fuck a friend of mine." "Someone I see at school every day." "And then mock her in the morning, never call her, never return her calls." "You had to put me in that position." "You're priceless, dad." "Ho, ho, hold on here, hold on." "I just dropped Scotty at Sean's house for a play date." "That's Carol's son." "When I get there she stops me and tells me the story." "Says her nanny's gonna bring Sean to the next play date because it's just too awkward otherwise." "Well, what does she expect?" "That I should pin her, take her to the prom?" "Just tell her to grow up." "It's not what she expects, it's what I expect." "Expect that I should be chaste, never have any sex now that I divorced your mother?" "I expect you to not fuck my friends." "Todd, e-e-excuse me." "Uh, maybe?" "All right." "Well, I want it by tomorrow." "Okay?" "Cashier's or certified or you're gone." "Okay." "Pumpkin, come on, come on inside." "You're not a kid anymore." "You have to realize you can't change your daddy." "I'm still your child." "It's time you realized you're my father." "How, what, what do you want me to do?" "I want you to get some help." "I don't know." "See someone, maybe try medication." "Just something to get your balance back." "Now, I, I'm not gonna do that." "Do it for me, dad." "For Scotty?" "I never complained about any of it, did i?" "When you left mom, when you blew up your franchises when you spent all your money trying to stay out of prison?" "I didn't say anything." "You used to be someone I could look up to and now you're just slutting around Lexington Avenue." "I turn on the news, I see you in handcuffs." "Well, you, as bad as it may have been for you, it was worse for me." "Come on." "I mean, what was it?" "Was it one thing?" "What hit the switch?" "Uh, what do you want me to tell you?" "Actually, nothing." "Don't tell me anything." "Because you're just gonna say whatever you think I need to hear and then you're gonna do whatever you want anyway." "Suse, come on, Suse." "No." "If you're not gonna help yourself, then just leave me, my friends and my family alone." "I'm sorry to hear that." "But not sorry enough to do something about it." "You're really gonna let us just walk out of your life?" "Well, you're making the choice, not me." "Fine." "If that's the way you need to hear it then, yes, I'm making it." "Stay away from us." "Ben." "Hey, Jimmy." "Come on in." "Annie's sleepin'." "I gotta serve breakfast early in the morning tomorrow, so..." "No, go, go." "You can stay in, in this playroom." "It's got a really good sofa." "And, uh, there's some linens in the closet and pillows." "Good night." "Good night." "Uh, Jimmy, um listen, how do you, uh how are you fixed for help at the deli?" "Really?" "I don't know how you get any work done here with all these distractions." "I look and go right back to what I'm doing." "Uh-huh." "You've been married how many years?" "Thirty-four years this April." "And you never once took one of these girls out for a picnic?" "I'm married to Annie." "I know, you said that." "But not once, not even once?" "It's not like these girls are throwing themselves at me." "These girls are into economics, micro, macro." "They are, they don't know what 58k a year gives ya." "They're looking to find somebody their own age or some rich asshole." "No offense." "Why would I be offended?" "All right." "You want me to tell you why it doesn't bother me?" "Yeah." "All right." "When my father gave me this place years ago" "I used to dream about these girls." "Every night, dreams, all kinds of dreams about 'em." "But then I'd see 'em coming back after graduation." "They'd come to homecomings, ballgames." "They'd sit at the same tables, eat the same food." "And I look at them and I notice, they don't stay like this." "None of 'em." "They put on years and pounds and wrinkles." "And I got one like that at home." "So." "And we can talk to each other." "I know her and I'll always know her." "There you are." "Five, six, seven." "Cheston." "Mr. Kalmen." "Hey." "Great to see you." "Nice to see you." "I heard you were, uh, working here." "Uh, I wanted to come bring you your shirt back." "Ah." "Even washed it." "Yeah." "Thank you." "Oh." "De nada." "Oh." "De nada?" "Looks like you're doing fine." "Yeah, I told you I was a good student." "Hey, uh, this is, uh, Maureen." "Hey." "Hello, Maureen." "How are you?" "Nice to meet you." "Nice to meet you." "What would you like?" "Um, can I have a black and white shake, please?" "You got it." "Uh, actually, uh, make it dos." "Dos?" "Yeah." "Dos, huh?" "These are on the house." "Hey, uh, Mr. Kalmen, we are having a, uh, little house party on Thursday night." "We were wondering if you, would come." "You're having a party?" "Don't you have classes the next day?" "Uh, yeah." "So I won't sleep late and miss a class?" "That really such a big deal?" "Not if you're sleeping late at Maureen s, it's not." "I'd love to come." "Yeah, that'd be great." "Um, mucho gracias por la invitación." "Uh, yeah." "Speaks Spanish." "Okay." "Here you go." "Ben." "This is weird." "I didn't chase you up here." "Okay?" "I don't, uh," "I don't know what to say." "Well, there's really nothing to say, you know." "This is weird." "I had to get out of the city." "Jimmy offered me a job and, uh, that's why I'm here." "And this is the best job you could get." "It's a job." "You had to have other options." "Well, your mom was pretty effective about eliminating all of them." "You must be so mad at me." "Not really." "No." "You know, you had an opening." "You took it." "Got a good clean shot in at your mom." "Boxing glove can't get mad at the fist." "So, you're okay?" "It's what it is, yeah." "Hello?" "Gary, I wanna talk to my grandson." "He went, went to sleep, like, six hours ago." "Ben, do you know what time it is?" "I know, I know, it's late." "It's late." "Just, just wake, wake him." "He's gonna wanna talk to me." "Your father." "Dad, you can't do this." "I, I gotta talk to him." "There's things I gotta tell him, Suse, you know." "No." "I, this is important stuff." "I'm not gonna be around here forever, you know." "And who's gonna show him?" "This is hard for me, but I'm hanging up now, dad." "No, no, no, no, no, okay." "I, I, look." "It's..." "I'm sorry I called late." "Past his bed time, but..." "I'm sitting here on the bench where I met your mom." "I gotta pass this fucking bench three times a day, you know." "I'm sorry." "No." "I'll call back in the morning." "He won't be available then either." "He thinks you're on a long trip where there are no phones." "Which you are." "Yeah." "I'm going to speak quickly and clearly so that we don't misunderstand one another, Benjamin." "That would be fine." "It has been explained to me that you are on Allyson's campus?" "I am at the school." "Yeah." "I got a job here." "You are to leave that campus immediately." "I will not have my daughter's environment threatened." "This is her college experience." "I want her to remember it fondly." "Has she complained to you?" "That's an irrelevant question." "I've never approached her." "Never tried." "Well, you're mistaking this for a conversation." "I don't wanna have to tell Allyson's father about everything that's transpired, but I will." "And as you know, he has a wide ranging group of contacts and a far reach." "I'm sure he does." "Can't we move on?" "I have moved on." "The moment you put your hands on my daughter, you ceased to exist to me." "It is now as if you never existed." "I believe" "I've shown remarkable restraint in taking this approach." "I take a great measure of pride in it, actually to be able to transcend the influence of a life form such as yours." "But hear this." "It certainly isn't the only approach available to me." "Tomorrow, Ben, you get going." "Or this file moves from my desk to Allyson's father s." "So I'm thinking, yeah, Allyson was trying to get a rise from her mother who was trying to get my attention to her mother." "Right." "You see, see, see what I mean." "Yeah, yeah, dude." "You're trying to understand her behavior through, through Jungian archetypes." "That's, that's a slippery slope, Ben." "Well, you did some homework today, didn't you?" "I did do some homework." "Yeah." "I still have to do well." "Don't worry." "I told her I was, um, crashing out after." "In the morning, wake me." "Yeah." "Well played, man." "Well played." "But, anyway, getting back to Allyson." "I think she's, she's trying to give me some kind of message, you know?" "Yeah." "Yeah, I think you, you got caught up in her." "I did, yeah." "Yeah, you did." "Which is interesting, actually." "Because, um, your counsel to me was, uh." "I say a whole bunch of shit, you know." "Some of it's even the truth." "Oh, yeah." "That's good." "Yeah?" "Yeah." "Is this new?" "Um, no." "No, it's old." "It's really, actually, I think it's from when I was in eleventh grade or something." "Hmm." "It's still good though." "Thank you." "Well done, huh, young man?" "Well done." "Thank you." "All the way around." "Yeah, well, getting into an eclectic house was, was really great." "But, um, being junior is just really different than being a sophomore." "Yeah." "But being a sophomore is a hell of a lot better than being a senior because you've got it all in front of you." "Lumberjack." "What?" "You're Sunday breakfast." "Lumberjack special." "The two, the two, the two." "The cakes, the eggs, bacon." "You're the guy from Marino's." "I kept trying to figure out who you were." "And I remember you for two reasons." "One, you got the hair of Bancroft, Mrs. Robinson." "She used to drive me nuts." "And I love the way that you eat." "You know, you don't give a fuck what anybody thinks." "You just, you know, you just go for it." "Wow." "I never thought about it that much." "I just like pancakes." "Yeah." "That's cool." "Right." "So, um, I'll see you at Marino's." "Okay." "You'll see me at Marino's." "Hey." "Hi." "Hi." "You want a drink?" "No." "Just some more ice." "Yeah." "Cheston, he s, he's terrific, isn't he?" "He's super." "He loves you." "He thinks you're some sort of arch Dr. Phil." "Dr. Phil." "Yeah." "No, no, no." "He's a bozo." "When I give advice, it's target specific." "And what advice did you give him exactly?" "He's very tightlipped about it." "Oh, well, I can't reveal all my confidences." "But you ought to know this because I would never tell him anything that you said you know, or what I saw or, you know what might gonna happen." "What's gonna happen, Ben?" "Well, it's not really the question of the moment, is it?" "No." "No." "No." "The question of the moment is what are you getting out of the transaction?" "What transaction?" "Well, you know what I mean." "Between the, uh, the two of you." "I mean you got your little jokes, you know, the Spanish thing, interests are the same, and the studying." "But, um, are you getting it, you know, where it counts?" "Oh, Ben." "Cheston thinks you care about him." "This has nothing to do with him." "He's never gonna know about this." "Never." "Aren't you a little old for all this?" "You're still standing here, aren't you?" "Yeah, cause I'm contemplating throwing this drink in your face." "But I'm not going to because I don't want Cheston to know what you just tried." "So you can just walk away." "Please." "Nothing personal." "Hey." "That is it, actually." "Since you asked, that's what I get from him." "Something personal." "Besides getting it done where it counts, which he does" "Cheston and I reach each other." "He's tender and sweet and smart and funny, a million things that you aren't." "I was once, honey." "It doesn't last." "I'm gonna tell you a few things." "Then I'm gonna do a few things." "Huh?" "First, you're not getting robbed." "Just stay there." "Second." "My name is Nascarella." "Now, I'm giving you my particulars so you understand you can forget about going to the cops with this." "I was on the job thirty years." "They give me a nice gold shield." "There's no help there for you, my friend." "Plus, I squared it with campus security." "Seems, uh, you've thrown the first punch before, huh?" "Just like tonight?" "The fu, fuck you want from me, huh?" "I picked up all my debts in Vegas, AC, you now." "That's damn good, pal." "But It's got nothing to do with me." "I run security for Allyson Karsch's father." "And the third thing I wanna tell you is, leave." "I mean, as soon as you can." "You were warned once before but you ignored it." "Now, are you gonna ignore me?" "No." "No." "Uh, I'm gonna go." "You mean that?" "It is a promise?" "I'm gonna go, I m gonna go in the morning, first thing, I'm gonna go." "Not sure you'll be able to get on your way that quickly." "What?" "Come on, you can get up." "Come on." "Let me help you." "That's it." "Good." "Good." "That's good." "Hey, you okay?" "Yeah." "Okay." "Do not ignore me." "No broad is worth it." "We gotta go to the hospital." "No, no, no hospitals." "I just, oh, I wanna lie down." "I won't let you close your eyes until we get this looked at." "You won't let me." "No." "I mean, you could have internal injuries." "You hit your head." "I mean, we need a doctor." "I don't need a doctor." "Jesus Christ, you're too fucking good to be true." "What the fuck you care about whether I get looked at or not?" "You know, don't start all that, that friend bullshit." "Well, well, we are friends." "I haven't seen you in thirty years, all right?" "That has nothing to do with this." "See, that's where you and I, you know, are a little different." "I don't exactly have, uh, faith in that racket." "What, the friendship racket?" "Yeah." "You know, you had a lot of friends when you were here, Ben." "A lot of friends." "Yeah, uh, I'll tell you where there's a place for friends." "You know where it's in that, that, that, that midrange you know, where everything is comfortable, we're all the same." "Right there in the middle." "Huh?" "But at your highest moments and your lowest, you're alone." "I'm on the cover of Forbes magazine, right?" "I'm by myself." "I'm on the, uh, the front of the Times Business, uh, section In Handcuffs." "I'm, I'm there by myself." "That is not true." "Please, please." "They pull at you." "They smile at you." "All they wanna do is kill ya." "Listen, they'd fucking kill ya to take your place." "And I'm, I'm walking on my, my way to court thinking anybody's asking, hey, wonder what's going on in, in" "Ben's mind, you know?" "I couldn't give a shit." "Hey, I remember Nancy." "She would never treat you that way." "Never." "Cause Nancy was legit." "And I was legit to Nancy." "And when I couldn't be anymore, you know, I left." "If it means anything when you were on the cover of Forbes magazine" "I was on the cover of Forbes magazine." "I saved it and everything." "I believe you." "Good." "I just, I don't how to be like you, Jimmy." "I don't really know where to start." "Go start tomorrow." "Let's go inside." "Aarg!" "Shit." "Oh, I think, I think I cracked a couple of ribs." "Suse?" "Hey, dad." "At least I can understand myself now." "They lowered the painkillers." "They had to keep it high at first so you wouldn't move and cause more internal damage." "You're gonna be okay." "You came to see me?" "Yeah." "You're gold, Suse." "You're pure gold." "How long can you stay?" "For now." "Then I have to take off, but I'll sit with you 'til then." "I'm sorry about Carol Salomonde." "I shouldn't... don't think about that now." "Just rest." "Thanks, pumpkin." "Here, let me help you." "You're feeling quite nicely?" "Yeah, well, it hurts like a beast." "Well, it's gonna be sore for sometime still." "The doctors will be in after their rounds." "Now, I know that they spoke to your doctor back in New York." "While you were under sedation they ran a series of tests." "I know that we're not supposed to discuss results with you." "Well, what, what kind of tests?" "Who, who, who told 'em?" "You did." "And you signed consent forms when you came in." "I don't remember that." "Yeah, you wouldn t." "You know, the alcohol and shock to your system was pretty extreme." "So, what kind of tests?" "They ran a series concentrating on your heart." "Am I hooked up here to anything else?" "Just to the I.V." "You wanna take this out, please?" "Oooh." "That's against doctor's orders." "Well, if you don't take it out, I'm gonna take this with me, because I'm leaving." "Ben." "I did you wrong, kid." "I'm here to make it right." "Really." "Yeah, you know, you gave me back my shirt and I never gave you back the one I borrowed." "So." "Uh, this isn't my shirt." "No, no that particular shirt's in some storage box in New York, so I bought you a new one." "And, you know, thought it would look good on you." "All right." "Thanks." "Also, it appears I might have done you wrong a couple of other ways, too." "Yeah." "Yeah, I know." "I know." "She told me." "She didn't want to, but I saw that something was bothering her." "She said that, that you were drunk... that I shouldn't be mad, that it was just kinda sad." "That that's who you are." "See, she might be a good one." "I forgot to tell you about the good ones." "You know, they re, they're different than all the others." "And, um... you know, they're rare." "And when you get a good one you don't wanna fuck it up." "Yeah, I know." "I, I figured that out myself." "Figured you would." "You're a good one, too." "Okay." "Hey." "Thanks for the shirt." "De nada." "Okay, Nance." "When was the first time that a doctor sent you for a heart scan?" "Hospital called you." "Called your daughter." "Uh, Dr. Steinberg ordered up that test about six and a half years ago." "And how long after that did you start cheating?" "That day." "And you never went back to have the test done, did you?" "No." "Can't use that as an excuse though." "It was a factor." "But, uh, you know, things were building up." "Building up?" "Yeah." "I was becoming invisible." "Invisible?" "Look, thirty years ago I would walk into a room, that room would change just because I was there." "It was, you know, I was a graduate, self made man, great shape." "I had the TV commercials, all that stuff." "I remember." "I was right next to the camera when you shot them." "You know what it was like back then." "I was a lion." "That's how people looked at me." "But then, you know, things started to change." "And over the, uh, past ten or twelve years, I'd walk into a room and the only old people noticed me." "They knew who I am." "And to everybody else I'm invisible." "You were never invisible to me." "Well, that doesn't count because you were my wife." "Oh." "Well." "You know what, Benny?" "If you're lucky, that's what happens." "You get old." "No, I, I accept it's biological." "I just don't accept that it happened to me." "So, when, uh, Steinberg said he thought he saw something on the" "EKG, I got nervous." "And when he called up the heart scan, uh, to see if there was any blockage..." "I had every intention of walking out of his office and going right there to check on it." "But instead?" "Instead I went into a bar and grill on Lexington Avenue had a couple of pops to calm down and, uh" "I picked up the first young girl who said yes and took her back to a suite at the Carlyle." "And what did that do for you?" "The truth?" "Did plenty." "See, I figured you'd see it on my face, you'd know straight off." "But you didn't." "You didn't say anything, you know." "So, I kept right on going." "And then, uh, you know, awhile after that I'm up in my shop at white plains looking at the books." "And I say to myself, why should I be New York's honest car dealer?" "Then again, nobody said anything." "Nothing for years." "But you know, I, I still don't understand why you... you didn't go back and have the test just to make sure." "I'm gonna go to a doctor and give him that kind of power?" "The, the when, the where and the how?" "There's no, there's no way." "You know what it's like when we get our age." "The best thing a doctor can say is, uh, well, oh, the survival rate is high... or, uh, it's a good cancer, or... uh, hey, you know, no problem." "We got it early." "I don't wanna hear any of that." "And I wasn't gonna go get some of those, uh... those, those beta blockers and all that crap that slow you down and level you out." "I was gonna live my life the way I wanted to until the fucking thing in my heart exploded." "But you can't cheat death, Benny." "Nobody can and no matter how many 19 year olds you talk into your bed." "I know that." "I know that now." "Well... my car's parked over there." "And I'd be happy to drive you back to New York City... if you're ready." "Take a few minutes and... you decide what you really want."