"As a girl, you see the world like a giant candy store filled with sweet candy and such." "But one day you look around and see a prison." "And you're on death row." "You want to run or scream or cry." "But something's locking you up." "Are other folks' cows chewing cud till the hour come when their heads roll?" "Or are theyjust keeping quiet, like you planning their escape?" "On your left, honey." "What's that cashier's name?" "Can't say." "When did he start working here?" "Don't know." "Yesterday?" "Who is he?" "Don't know." "Can't say." "What are you doing?" "It's called work, princess." "Kind of fun." "You might want to give it a go someday." "Attention, shoppers." "There's a retail Rodeo special on aisle three." "Liquid Drain cleaner, two cans for 5 dollars." "Liquid Drain cleaner has churning power and will churn through your pipes." "Ladies, shove something clean and new up your filthy pipes." "That's Liquid Drain cleaner, on aisle three." "Have a good day, and thank you for shopping at retail Rodeo." "Hey, Justine?" "Can I talk to you for a second?" "I was just curious." "Have you ever been to a bible study?" "We got a good one every Wednesday at the 1 st Church of Nazarene." "Rodney comes, Benita comes." "You got any interest in reading the bible?" "I have my own, you know, beliefs." "We don't preach fire and brimstone." "Ten Commandments, gotta live by those." "We're not interested in scaring people." "We're about loving Jesus." "I kind of like my nights to myself." "Maybe you'II have eternal hellfire all to yourself." "Just kidding." "Drive safe." "Bye-bye." "Hey, Justine." "Hey, Teeny." "How was your day?" "The same." "How's yours?" "Wind was flipping up paint in our eyes." "Paint stings." "I feel like I've been attacked by hornets in my eyeballs." "Bubba, stand up." "Why?" "For Christ's sakes." "Look at that couch, phil." "Y'aII got paint all over it." "This ain't gonna come off." "Damn it, phil." "I think we got most of it up." "You two were stoned." "Keep doing that, you'II slip off the ladder and crack open your head." "You do stupid things when you're high." "Like what?" "Like sitting on my couch with your big blue ass." "Everything turns to shit." "We finally get nice things and everything just gets messed up." "Why is this TV buzzing?" "It's the wind doing that." "They say the wind's different lately." "Different from what?" "What you reading?" "Catcher in the Rye." "I'm named after it." "What's your name, Catcher?" "holden." "After holden caulfield." "He's the main character." "What's he do?" "He's put upon by society." "The hypocrisy of the world." "I notice that you're not very social." "I'm a writer, so...." "What do you write?" "novels, plays, screenplays, stories, poetry." "Justine'II be right over with you." "I better go." "What happens at the end of your book?" "He has a nervous breakdown, goes to a mental hospital." "You don't get paid to pick your crack." "You get paid to work." "I'm not sure I can do makeovers." "Come on." "little Pan-Cake, eyeliner, mascara, rouge and powder it up." "Then you take a moist tissue, roll it in a ball and toss it in their face." "I'm talking to a tree stump." "Where are you?" "Sorry, I'm just a little tired." "It's the food you eat." "Look at me." "I'm 1 0 years older than you and I've got 1 0 times your energy." "Because I don't eat meat, and I don't eat dairy." "probably why you can't get pregnant and why you have that hung-jaw look." "It's the cheese and the chicken." "The doctor says I'm fertile." "I couId re-popuIate the planet." "Then, what's the deal?" "Did he say you were getting enough vitamins?" "He didn't say." "Or you could make a paint where, at different angles the house is different colors." "Like, you stand at the front door and the house is red." "You stand at the street, the house is green." "Or you could make an invisible paint and make the whole house disappear." "What would be neat is a paint that could change the molecular structure of a house." "Like a chemicaI-acid deal." "What do you think, Teeny?" "I think you two are a pair of potheads." "Are you getting a whole one or a half?" "I'm getting that right there." "You didn't bring this in with you?" "Then I'II charge you for it." "This is a hand lotion so don't put it on any other part of your body." "We try to keep lawsuits to a minimum, unless the customer's at fault." "Do you always wear makeup?" "Not very often." "Here's your change." "Fuck you very much." "Excuse me?" "Thank you very much." "Good as new, I tell you." "Good as new." "You might be interested in purchasing some of the products" "I'm not buying anything today." "That'd be a mistake." "These are bargain prices." "I didn't bring my purse." "I hate my job." "That makes two of us." "I hate everybody here." "I hate Gwen." "I don't know what the hell she's so happy about." "I'm starting to understand why maniacs shoot everybody to pieces." "Maybe you're a maniac." "Maybe so." "You know, your lips are real pouty, Iike a woman." "Your eyes always look sad, the way they droop." "How old are you?" "22." "I'm an old lady next to you." "How old are you?" "How old do you think?" "I don't know." "I'm 30 years old." "How long have you been working here?" "Forever and a day." "You don't have a car?" "I Iive down the street." "You can ride in here." "Do you want to come in?" "I don't know." "I'm in a funk." "well, I'm not gonna beg you." "Be in my room." "Okay, Tom." "They call you "Tom"?" "It's my slave name." "holden is what I call myself." "This is my room." "Not a Iot to look at." "What are your folks like?" "They're okay." "They don't get me." "I mean, they're all right, I just...." "My husband doesn't get me." "Since when do you have a husband?" "Since seven years." "He's a painter." "What's he paint?" "Houses." "He's a pig." "He talks, but he doesn't think." "I'm sick of it." "Do you go to college?" "I had to drop out." "I had a problem with drinking." "But I'II go back." "I just gotta prove to my folks I can fly straight." "Did you go to college?" "I was afraid I'd lose phil if I went." "Now that'd be reason enough to go." "I was looking at you in the store, and I liked how you kept to yourself." "I saw in your eyes that you hate the world." "I hate it too." "You know what I'm talking about?" "After living in the dark for so long, a glimpse of light can make you giddy." "Strange thoughts come into your head and you better think them." "Has a special fate been calling you and you not listening?" "Is there a secret message in front of you and you're not reading it?" "Is this your last, best chance?" "Are you gonna take it?" "Or are you going to the grave with unlived lives in your veins?" "Notifying your wife?" "If you had a wife." "Teeny, you're pretty." "Bubba, isn't Teeny pretty?" "I've seen better, I've seen worse." "No, that's why I ain't never married." "You got yourself the best fish in the sea." "I wonder what it'd be like to be a woman." "AII that smooth skin." "Long hair." "If I was a woman, I'd be a slut." "A lesbian slut." "Gwen says smoking marijuana lowers your sperm." "Lowers it to where?" "Maybe you're the infertile one around here." "Maybe every time you smoke a doobie, you're killing our unborn children." "Okay, close." "Why are you limping?" "I twisted up my ankle." "On the stairs." "I was wondering, maybe you'd give me a ride home?" "Yeah, sure." "Okay." "I'II talk to you about it later." "AII I know is, every woman should have one beau before any woman has two beaus." "He's not my beau, he's my friend." "Happy halloween, retail Rodeo shoppers." "There's a retail Rodeo special on all bulk candy on aisle four." "GhouIs, goblins, witches and warlocks wandering these aisles day after day I put a halloween curse on your hellish heads." "Goodnight, Corny." "Happy halloween." "I'm not a pagan but thanks all the same." "Which ankle did you twist, holden?" "My left." "You should put some cold water on it so it doesn't swell up and inflame." "You're a writer, so you have a goal, I guess." "I used to, you know, Iie in bed and imagine other cities." "Other jobs I couId have." "Other husbands." "Now I don't even know what to imagine anymore." "holden, I have a husband." "I thought you said he was a pig." "well...." "HoIden" "I don't want to hurt anybody." "I've been thinking about what you were saying about my sperm being low." "I mean, I know I've got good sperm." "Baby-making sperm." "I suppose it couldn't hurt to have it confirmed by an expert." "Who gives a shit?" "Who needs a fucking baby, anyway?" "Why don't you get that goddamn TV fixed?" "What the hell?" "It sounds like a helicopter is landing." "You want a blackberry?" "A man was selling them on the road." "No, thank you." "They're real sweet." "This is for you." "From holden." "Where is he?" "He's got the day off." "He came by this morning with it." "Thanks." "Don't mention it." "Hey, Gwen." "Hi, sugar." "Dear Justine:" "Because of you I'll be quitting the Retail Rodeo." "The last two days have been the most God-awful of my life." "I've not been able to get rid of you in my head." "I've never wanted anything so bad, and I have wanted many things." "I'd given up long ago on being gotten by someone else, and then you came along." "The idea that I could be gotten and never will is the worst feeling I've ever felt, and I've felt many bad feelings." "I'm sorry I can never see you again, Justine." "Forgive me for being so weak but that is who I am." "Goodbye." "Holden Worther." "If, for some reason, you could change your mind and want to be with me, body and soul meet me after work." "I will be waiting for you at 5 p.m. outside Chuck E. Cheese." "If you're not there at 5, you will never see me again in your lifetime." "Gwen?" "What's wrong?" "I'm okay." "I feel a little sick." "Gwen?" "Okay." "You're okay." "What's going on in here?" "Jesus." "Gwen, are you sick?" "We gotta get her to a hospital." "Justine, drive her to St. Catherine's." "What time is it?" "Quarter to five." "Gotta be somewhere?" "Gwen." "I had a dream." "I had a dream I was sprouting a beard made of bean sprouts." "I'm going to let you off here, okay?" "Okay." "You'II meet me inside?" "well...." "I'm gonna park the car and then I'II come in and meet you." "You're a doll." "I'm really glad you came." "I just ditched Gwen at the hospital." "Thank God." "Where are we going?" "My house." "No, with your folks there?" "Let's park somewhere." "This isn't weII-pIanned." "I don't know." "Wherever you want, I just want to hold you." "That's $45 even." "And I need you to fill this out for me." "Stay here!" "I can't do it." "We'II be back here before you know it." "I don't want to...." "I don't want to go." "I'm yours." "I'm all yours." "Hey." "Hey." "Where you been?" "Gwen got real sick." "She was throwing up all over the store." "I had to take her to the hospital and sat with her." "Did she sick up on you?" "No." "Did she sick up on anybody?" "It's not funny, phil." "It's serious." "I'II go by there after work tomorrow." "And the next day." "Justine?" "What happened to you?" "What?" "I went to check on Gwen." "I Iooked all over for you." "She asked for you." "How is she?" "She was heaving up until nothing was left." "Doctor said she ate something with a parasite or bacteria." "I bet it was those blackberries." "They'II keep her till she's better." "So you're going to have to supervise cosmetics." "Stop it, somebody's gonna see." "I don't care." "I crave you." "I want to know everything about you." "Who are you?" "I'm just this woman." "We moved to Texas when I was 1 1 ." "My daddy was in the Air Force." "I want to knock your head open and see what's inside." "I've had so much bad in my Iife." "I can see you have too." "Holden gave me two of his stories to read." "It was more like the story of what a story would be." "It was about a boy who was put upon." "Whose mother is cold and selfish and whose father wanted him to play football." "Other people didn't get him, especially girls." "The boy comes to believe that no one can ever really know him." "He starts acting out, drinking and taking all kinds of drugs." "At the end, the boy kills himself byjumping over a bridge." "The second story was pretty much the same as the first." "Except at the end, the boy kills himself by drinking bug poison." "Your stories are intense." "I just want to leave some kind of legacy." "Something great." "After that, I don't care what happens to me." "Don't say that." "I wish there was a story about me." "I don't know who'd read it, though." "I would." "I Iike this." "I Iike having a secret." "Are you gonna be a secret, holden?" "See?" "Now that you've met me, you're mysterious." "And dark and twisted." "I'm doomed to hell, aren't I?" "Yes, you are." "What is it?" "That's Bubba's truck." "Get in the car." "phil takes that truck to work every day." "Bubba picks him up and drops him off." "Why would that truck be parked there?" "I don't know." "If he finds out about us...." "I won't let him hurt you." "He's big, holden." "He'II kill you." "He'II beat me, but he will kill you." "You can't worry about something that hasn't even happened." "I gotta go to the hospital." "Don't!" "He could be following us." "Justine." "Poor lady." "She just passed." "What?" "Who did?" "Gwen." "She passed away." "What?" "I thought she had a stomachache." "She got worse." "She was on life support all day." "I don't understand." "It's God's will, Justine." "No one can understand it." "No point trying." "It was just Gwen's time to fly away home." "Gwen died today." "What?" "Are you kidding?" "What for?" "Parasite." "Bacteria." "Something she ate." "Are you okay?" "Where were you this afternoon?" "Painting on Bovary." "Why?" "What time did Bubba bring you home?" "We knocked off early, about 4." "Bubba had a date with a stewardess." "Why?" "I can't believe she's dead." "I wasn't a very good friend to her." "Don't say that." "Of course you were." "Of course you were." "retail Rodeo employees, this is Jack field, your store manager." "Before we open, I have terrible and shocking news." "One of our best employees, Gwen Jackson, died yesterday." "Gwen was a real class act." "She had a good attitude she had ideas." "And we're all gonna miss her." "If any of you need to collect your thoughts and remember glenn..." "Gwen." "...then today's the day." "You'II be excused from work, and we'II just have to do without you." "Gwen, this one's for you." "Holden had the notion to spend the day skinny-dipping and making love." "He said we'd be like Adam and Eve, rolling in the dirt and being one with the wilderness." "He was so fixed on the idea that, even when the clouds were coming in and the sky was getting dark, he kept on swimming." "All my thoughts turned to death." "I thought of Gwen's body, rotting away." "I thought about what a nice person she was so full of life and goodwill." "If there is a heaven, Gwen would be there giving makeovers and offering up helpful advice." "I thought, "If I died today, what would happen to me?"" "A hateful girl." "A selfish girl." "An adulteress." "A liar." "What are we doing?" "Making one out of two." "I haven't thought this through." "You leave him." "And go where?" "With you on my arm, my folks will think I've changed." "They'II stop thinking I'm such a loner." "I have a girlfriend, a pretty one, who knows me and likes me." "They'II be so happy, they'II give me money to write my novel." "But where will we go?" "It'II be like...." "Catcher in the Rye." "But by me." "I'II be immortal and then, Iike J.D. SaIinger, I'II just vanish." "Hey, Teeny." "We've been up to no good." "We got the day off on account of the rain." "I thought you might." "Say, I heard about your friend being dead and all." "I'm sorry." "Yeah." "She was real healthy too." "well, at Ieast you were with her when she went." "Isn't that right?" "You were with her when she went." "I wish it wouId rain every day from here on out never have to paint again." "Hey, Justine." "How you holding up?" "Fine." "It's a real shocker." "I'm moving CheryI to cosmetics." "She got too creative on the PA." "Maybe she'II watch herself here." "If she don't, she's out on her butt." "Listen to Justine, sister." "Do you want me to help you get stuff out of storage?" "No, maybe later." "Are you gonna give me a ride home?" "My ankle sure is acting up." "I gotta get home." "But maybe CheryI can." "What, you need a ride?" "Forget it." "I think we gotta take a breather." "I'm nervous." "I feel guilty." "Can't we go to the motel?" "Not today." "well, Iet's go to the storeroom." "Just be patient, holden." "I was wondering, what time was that bible study?" "It's tomorrow night at 8:00." "We'd sure love to have you." "Can I bring my husband?" "Of course." "The couple that prays together stays together." "What's this?" "The holy bible." "There's one for you and one for me." "Not very light, is it?" "We're going to bible study." "The couple that prays together stays together." "I heard it was the couple that lays together stays together." "well, you heard wrong." "cheryl, think you could take this one?" "Sure." "Sit right here, we're gonna make you pretty." "How do you Iike your hair?" "You're gonna do my hair?" "I need to know if you usually wear it all big and high." "If so, I'II put more makeup on your chin to offset it." "You'II want a whole bottle of this." "It's got lots of ingredients so it's a good deal." "It's got gingko extract." "Do you know it?" "It's extract of the gingko." "It makes your skin slick." "Any liquid will roll right off you, be it water, lemon juice or urine." "I'II put it in a bag for you." "phil, what are you doing?" "What?" "We're gonna be late for bible study." "You're stoned, you got paint in your hair." "would you get in the shower?" "I completely forgot." "Get in the shower." "Working on your spiritual life?" "Yeah, I guess." "Ain't that a hoot and a holler?" "What do you mean?" "I saw you, Justine." "You saw me what?" "I saw you." "We got some things to talk about, you and me." "You come by my house tomorrow after work if you know what's good for you." "Where's Bubba?" "He left." "well, I'm ready." "Let's go." "I don't know what to say about Jesus." "I'm stoned." "Just let the other people do the talking." "We forgot the bibles, Justine." "That's all right." "They'II forgive us." "Howdy and welcome." "Hey there, people." "glad you could make it." "Hi, Corny." "This is my husband." "Howdy, phil." "You're in for a treat." "We got a good discussion planned." "If man is made in God's image, what does that say about God?" "That sounds like a good one." "phil, come with me to the car." "I gotta get something." "What are you doing?" "Just get in the car, phil." "What the hell?" "I don't want to go to bible study." "Why not?" "I don't want to." "Let's get out of here." "This is embarrassing." "We're running away like a couple of deviI-worshipers." "I don't care." "I'm not in the mood." "You are freaking me out, man." "Why?" "Why?" "Because we forgot our bibles is why." "You just said two seconds ago they'd forgive us." "well, they may not." "So can we please get the shit out of here?" "I'm never going to bible study again." "I don't care." "Fine by me." "Let's just go." "I Iook too white, don't you think?" "Not at all." "I'm just trying to match your face with your hair." "I think I Iook kind of weird." "In fashion, you have to look weird." "What I'm doing has come straight from France." "It's called cirque du face meaning "circus of the face." It's all the rage with the Frenchies." "well, you're the professional." "That's right." "You're in good hands." "What happened to you?" "I saw you two driving off like vampires in the night." "We forgot our bibles." "You can look on with your neighbor." "It's a church." "You can't make water without bumping your nut on a bible." "We felt bad." "What in bIazes--?" "Do you Iike it?" "I can't go." "What?" "I can't go today." "There's something important I have to tend to." "I thought you said we'd go today." "Something came up." "What came up?" "Okay, look." "I think, maybe somebody has found out about us." "I'm starting to wonder if you even want to go." "I'm starting to think you don't get me." "Maybe I don't get you." "You do." "You just don't want to because I'm too intensified for you." "Who cares if someone found out?" "We don't have to live like this." "I know what it's like to go home and feel like you're hiding." "We can leave all this behind." "You are not married." "Are you going to go crawling back?" "You're gonna get us caught." "You're so fucking afraid it makes me sick." "Wait." "Don't give up on us." "I won't." "I'II see you tomorrow, okay?" "Okay?" "Good luck on your important thing." "Thanks." "Easy, Bits." "Easy." "Back in your corner!" "Back in your corner, Bits!" "Come on in." "I want to show you something." "Sit." "You get in your corner!" "I mean it!" "In your corner!" "I'm in shock." "Why?" "You know why." "Bubba sat like that for what seemed like 10 years before he began to speak." "When he opened his mouth, he talked about the sad ruin that was his life." "He talked about how he loved Phil and me and how he always wanted a girlfriend like me, and to be like Phil to this imaginary girl like me who he'd never found." "Then he talked about giving up dreams, and how it's part of getting older." "Bubba had given up his dream of being Phil." "He had accepted his fate of being Bubba, always and forever." "Then last week, a door that had always been shut swung wide open." "Bubba felt this was no chance coincidence." "A cosmic force was at work." "The sounds of me making love to a man who wasn't Phil was like a shout in Bubba's ear from the creator himself." "What it meant or what to do or why, Bubba didn't know." "All he knew was that he hated me for poisoning the well of idealism from which he had drunk for so long." "I was no longer Bubba's image of perfection." "I was just a liar and a whore, and that sickened him." "But on the other hand, he loved me for releasing him from the chains of bitter envy that bound him to Phil." "Phil was no Superman, just a cuckold and a fool, and that was beautiful." "Bubba felt there was one thing left for us to do." "Something that would solve both of our problems and end this tragic saga." "I'm not gonna sleep with you." "But don't you see?" "This is my chance for liberation." "One person's, you know, liberation is another person's badness." "There's just no way." "I'm gonna have to tell phil then." "He's my friend." "I can't keep him in the dark about something this big." "He's a cuckold." "And you want to cuckold him." "That's different." "That's not about him." "That's about my salvation." "Look, you got your choice to make." "Destroy your marriage and break your husband's heart or have sex with me right now." "In your corner, Bits!" "Down!" "In your corner!" "Justine...." "Oh, God!" "Someone was at the window." "Did you see?" "You're paranoid." "I gotta go." "phil is never gonna find out about any of this." "Don't fret." "Get this dog away from me." "You're looking at a free man." "Great." "Good for you." "Thank you." "Bits!" "I'm nervous." "You're nervous?" "Why?" "Because I gotta go to that doctor tomorrow and jism into a cup." "What if I can't do it?" "You can do it." "If you said you'd help me, I'd feel a Iot less nervous." "It's gonna be on your lunch hour anyway." "Okay." "You didn't even say nothing about the TV being fixed." "Is it?" "Thanks." "You're welcome." "well, aren't you a fright?" "You heard from holden?" "He didn't show up for work today." "I know you two are friends." "We're not friends." "You eat lunch together every day." "No, we don't." "If you see him, tell him Jack field is looking for him." "Oh, my God!" "What are you doing?" "You're a hooker." "You hooker!" "I saw you." "You followed me." "How many guys are you getting with?" "This is all because of you." "If I didn't sleep with him, he was gonna tell phil about us." "I'm so alone." "holden, you gotta get ahold of yourself." "Are you drunk?" "Yes." "And I will be until the day I die." "What do you care?" "You jump on any pecker in front of you." "It's not what you think." "I saw everything." "Go home, sober up, meet me after work and we will talk about this." "Where are you going?" "I gotta help phil with his sperm." "Just go!" "Go on!" "I can't share you, Justine." "Maybe with one man, but not with a whole bunch of them." "Great." "Mr. Last, would you come with me?" "Wish me luck." "Good luck, honey." "Knock 'em dead, partner." "You look nice." "No, I don't." "I know you're angry but from where I stand what happened yesterday was a wonderful thing." "Nothing happened yesterday, so drop it." "I'm awful grateful to you, Justine." "Bubba, I mean it." "Let me just ask you one thing." "How do I stack up against phil?" "You know?" "How do I stack up where it counts?" "Ma'am?" "Your husband has made a request for your presence." "Who's there?" "It's Justine." "Come on." "I can't do this on my own." "I need help." "You've never done it on your own?" "Not in a place like this." "Not when I have to hand over the results." "Let me hold your boob." "Here." "They're sore." "What's wrong with you?" "You look like death." "My stomach's cramping." "And I feel sore." "Is it your period?" "No, it's just stress." "I know." "This job's stressful." "I'm breaking out." "You're breaking out because you put so much makeup on." "Maybe you're pregnant." "What?" "No." "Sometimes I think to myself, "At least it can't get any worse."" "But it can." "It could get worse." "If you can say you've hit rock bottom, you haven't." "Oh, my God." "BIackberries." "A blind man can go deaf, a widow could lose her children...." "Babies starve and they never get food." "They never get any food." "They just come into the world and die." "calm down, all right?" "I can't calm down!" "It'd be easy if I was a hooker like you." "I'd calm down all over town." "I am not a hooker." "I know you're not." "I'm in agony." "Why?" "Why?" "I thought you hated your life?" "I do." "I mean, I'm depressed, but...." "But you are really depressed." "I'II kill him in his sleep." "I'II kill my parents, steal their money." "Whatever." "Whatever you want, as long as it's you and me." "please don't forsake me." "I couldn't take it." "AII right, I won't." "I promise." "I promise, okay?" "I realized then that Holden was at best a child and at worst a demon." "If I was ever gonna go straight, I'd have to ditch him." "Sometimes to get back on the road to redemption, you have to make pit stops." "How much are the blackberries?" "A tin for $2.00, miss." "Have a blackberry." "We need a plan." "We can't keep living day to day" "Have a blackberry, holden." "They're dirty." "They're sweet." "If I couId only could get my hands on some money if someone could just tell me the answer." "I gotta do." "But I never do anything because I end up thinking about it instead." "I gotta do." "But do what?" "What was that for?" "They looked dirty." "I saw a bug in them or something." "I understood your history." "Your father called me, I gave you a job." "I even let you use that name, and I never do that with other people." "I'm worried about holden." "Tom." "I'm worried about Tom." "I just befriended Tom recently and now I think he's mentally ill." "He's got this idea in his head that we've had some sort of affair which is crazy because I'm married." "And he said" " He's been saying all sorts of strange things and making threats." "And drinking." "And I just think he would be better off someplace where peopIe" "professionals could take care of him." "Otherwise, he's gonna get himself into trouble." "What are you doing in there?" "What's that?" "It's a home pregnancy test." "Why are you taking it?" "Because I still haven't gotten my period." "What's it say?" "I haven't taken it yet." "could you give me a minute, please?" "I wanna be here when you find out, Teeny." "The little plastic doohickey's turning blue." "What's that mean?" "blue?" "Bright blue." "It means I'm pregnant." "AII right!" "I knew it!" "Waste of time going to that sperm doctor." "We did it!" "We're gonna have ourselves a baby." "Maybe." "Tomorrow we're gonna celebrate at Señor Tuna." "Yes, we are." "I'm gonna bring Bubba." "You could bring some friends from work." "The bible study guy." "Whoever." "Too bad Gwen's dead." "The test could be wrong, phil." "It's a little early to be having a party." "Let's do it mellow, then." "You sure don't seem too excited." "I'm excited." "It's just, a Iot of worries come along with having a baby." "Don't think negative." "Think positive." "We could have ourselves a tiny phil." "Or a tiny Teeny." "Teeny's gonna have a teeny-weeny Teeny." "Do you think anything's gonna change, having a baby?" "What do you mean?" "Everything's gonna change." "But, I mean, do you think anything's really gonna change?" "What do you mean?" "This is Dr. Williamson returning the call of Jean Worther." "I'm calling from the Howard County Psychiatric Hospital." "Who was it, Tom?" "It was a wrong number." "Either of you seen holden?" "That boy is out on his ass." "Justine, something's going on." "Something is definitely happening." "Go find out." "What is it?" "What's happening?" "It's big." "It's very big." "cheryl, come on!" "I'm gonna kill you." "Somebody stole $1 5,000 from the safe." "They blew the thing open with a gun." "Oh, my God." "Not only that, the cops know who did it." "Who?" "Somebody who works here." "cheryl!" "holden did it." "fool left his cashier key in the door." "They can't find him." "They say he robbed his folks too, took off." "You in on it?" "What?" "No!" "I know you two played hooky in the storeroom." "I'd never rat on you." "Just tell me, you in on it?" "I don't know what you mean." "Suit yourself." "Justine, can we talk to you for a second?" "Come in." "Hi, Justine." "Go ahead and have a seat." "Justine, you Iike working at the retail Rodeo, don't you?" "You like the company, you Iike the people." "You wouldn't want to jeopardize all that by making some silly error in judgment." "holden stole $1 5,000 from the safe last night." "Did you have anything to do with it?" "No." "I don't know anything." "We know you're very tight with holden." "I hardly know him." "I've seen you in the storeroom with him, Justine." "On many an occasion." "I think you know him pretty well." "I don't know anything." "Justine!" "Justine!" "I did it." "I finally did something." "The police are looking for you." "Who cares?" "I'm proud of myself." "Fuck them." "Fuck all of them." "They think I'm in on it." "Corny has a camera in that storeroom." "That pervert has been watching us." "well, we're out of here!" "I've got over $20,000, I got a gun." "What else?" "Oh, God." "I'm getting all goosy." "I think I'm gonna crash." "I'm pregnant, holden." "It's my baby." "Not necessarily." "Yes, it is." "You know it is." "Even if it is, you cannot raise a baby on the run." "Yes, you can." "You can't raise a baby here, you know that." "You hate your husband, you hate your job, you love me." "Let's go." "I can't go tonight." "I've gotta pack my things and get more money." "Then tomorrow." "I'II wait for you at the motel." "Just be there by noon." "This is going too fast." "Justine, what do you have to lose?" "Nothing." "Then be there by noon." "Okay." "I Iove you." "This is all gonna work out, I know it." "Wait, I almost forgot." "Here's the story of your life." "You inspired me." "Hey, Teeny." "Hi." "We've been worried about you." "Justine, this is FIoberta." "FIoberta, this is Justine." "congratulations on your expectation." "Thanks." "Do you think it's a girl or a boy?" "As long as it plays quarterback for the Cowboys." "well, I hear Señor Tuna calling." "hello?" "Yeah." "well, that's not right." "What's that supposed to mean?" "Look." "No, you look." "You don't know shit, okay?" "Justine's pregnant." "You got that?" "well, you better check your records again, pal, and then you call me." "That dumb doctor says my sperm's no good." "Does that mean Justine's not pregnant?" "It just means they messed up, is all." "They don't know everything." "They just got it wrong, is all." "Looks like that wind's picking up again." "How it all came down to this, only the devil knows." "Retail Rodeo was at the corner on my left the motel was down the road to my right." "I closed my eyes and tried to peer into the future." "On my left I saw days upon days of lipstick and ticking clocks dirty looks and quiet whisperings." "And burning secrets thatjust won't ever die away." "And on my right, what could I picture?" "The blue sky, the desert earth stretching out into the eerie infinity." "A beautiful, never-ending nothing." "Hey, Justine." "I know where you can find him." "He's at the motel glen Capri." "He'II be there till noon." "You done good." "You're a good girl." "Hey." "Hi." "What's going on in the bedroom?" "Looks like a twister hit it." "I was doing laundry." "I thought we'd been robbed." "Why aren't you at work?" "They gave me the day off." "This is Ken Rudulph at the Glen Capri Motel where a standoff between police and a local man ended in bloodshed." "Police got a tip that a suspect in the burglary at Retail Rodeo had been staying at the motel." "He was an employee named Thomas Worther." "He allegedly brandished a handgun then fired one shot, taking his own life." "Inside the motel room police say they found $ 15,000 and a handgun...." "retail Rodeo?" "You know that guy?" "Thomas Worther was 22 years old." "That's all the information we have." "A spokesperson from the Sheriff's office will bejoining me with an update." "Attention, retail Rodeo employees, this is Jack field, your store manager." "As most of y'aII know by now, we lost another employee yesterday." "holden was a thief and a disturbed young man." "What happened was a sad thing." "Let's learn a lesson from this, Iike:" "Don't steal and don't be disturbed." "The important thing is to move on." "Life does, and so should we." "This one's for you, holden." "I thought we were gonna get a day to grieve and go to the movies." "What?" "What is it?" "I was at your house and the mail came." "phil was opening letters, and he opened this bill from a credit card company." "And, fuck!" "please don't tell him about us, Justine." "please?" "please, I Iove phil." "I Iove him more than myself." "please have mercy on me." "Hey, phil." "Have you been sleeping around behind my back?" "What?" "I said, have you been sleeping around behind my back?" "Yes." "Why?" "Why?" "I don't know why." "Don't you love me?" "Don't you love me at all?" "You're the only man alive that I Iove." "Oh, God!" "please don't tell me it's not my baby." "It's your baby." "Are you sure?" "It is." "I swear, I swear to God." "Who was he?" "It doesn't matter." "Yeah, it does." "Was it someone from work?" "I know who it was." "It was that bible study guy, wasn't it?" "The Nazarene." "That's why you were acting so spooked." "Yeah." "It was him." "I'm gonna beat his ass." "phil, don't." "You're getting all swollen." "I'm sorry I hit you, baby." "I'm sorry, phil." "I need to get stoned." "Okay." "Get stoned." "I just gotta escape, you know?" "You ever feel like that?" "Like you gotta escape?" "Yeah, I do." "What are those?" "Fake eyelashes, extra long." "Just do it normal, for once." "Want me to make the other cheek purple to even it out?" "No." "Did you hear about Corny?" "He was going home after bible study last night and two beefy guys with painted faces pulled up in a truck and jumped him." "That's terrible." "That day I read the story Holden wrote for me." "It was kind of different from the other ones but kind of the same." "It was about a girl who was put upon, whosejob is like a prison and whose life has lost all meaning." "Other people don't get her." "Especially her husband." "One day she meets a boy who's also put upon and they fall in love." "After spending their whole lives never getting got with one look, they get each other completely." "In the end, the girl and the boy run away together into the wilderness never to be heard from again." "[ENGLISH]"