"Hey, Marita." "No, I'm working." "Another half hour and I gotta go feed a cat off Mulholland." "What kind of party?" "All right, I'll call you when I get home." "Oh, shit." "You should see this hill." "No, I'm on my rollerblades." "I should really take them off and walk down." "It's really steep." "Really really steep." "Call you right back." "Come on, pup, come on!" "Whoo!" "All right!" "Oh my God!" "Now we're safe." "I need some help out here!" "I need some help!" "Did I tell you Nate's dragging me to a Quaker church service tonight?" " No." "Huh!" " Yeah." "He thinks couples therapy is a waste of time, so this is his solution." "I thought you were already going to therapy." "Oh yeah, we went once, but he thought that the therapist and I were ganging up on him, so that was that." "Well, who knows, maybe a little spirituality will help, you know?" "Quakerism?" "Yeah, right." "I wish he'd take half as much interest in his own baby." "Hey, if it was important to you to have him here, you should have made that clear to him." "I didn't tell him." "Nate and I, we're 100 miles apart on this baby." "On everything, really." "I didn't want him here." "I mean, it's not good for me." "It's certainly not good for the baby." "Huh." " Thanks for coming." " Yeah." " Hello, Brenda." " Hey, Dr. Melnick." "How are you feeling today?" "Okay." "Yeah." " Would you lie back for me please?" " Mm-hmm." " No husband today?" " No, he couldn't get away from work." "This is my friend Jackie." "There's your fetus." "Oh." "Nice heartbeat." "Size looks good." "Yeah." "Everything seems to be developing normally at this point." "So the baby's healthy?" "I'd still like to do an amnio." "No." "No." "Do you want to know the baby's sex?" "Here's my work number, my cell number..." "I know those numbers, David." "Yes, but sometimes in the panic of an emergency it's helpful to have them written down." "I'll be driving Roger's limo all day, so here's that number." "This is too many numbers, honestly." "We really appreciate you watching the boys." "Durrell didn't tell us until last night that" " it was Teacher Development Day." " You didn't ask me." "I'm glad to finally have some time with my new grandchildren." "You've been hiding them from me." "We've been trying to keep them to a regular schedule." "Well, we'll have fun today." "I brought the makings for chocolate chip cookies." " I thought I'd bake." " I like chocolate chip cookies." "All boys do." " I don't." " You'll like mine." "Oh, we'll see about that." "Durrell, you do whatever Mrs. Fisher tells you to do." "What if she tells me to jump out the window?" "They're allowed one hour of TV, one hour of Playstation and they can take their soccer ball down to the courtyard." "But they'd better not be kicking the ball against the building." " Or you'll whup us." " I did not say that." "We'll be fine, really." "You two go now." "Have a good day." "I'll be home by 5:00." "You look like a witch." "I assure you I'm not." "I didn't say you were." "I said you look like one." "This is what they made very efficient." "This is why the Republicans rely so much on this base." "This is a corporatized Christian cult situation where it's about personal empowerment which is part of the Republican agenda... the neo-contact cult agenda." "What Ray was talking about..." "Ray is obviously a different type of Christian who I offended..." "Oh God." "Jesus." "Usted decidiro sobre la Señora de Guadalupe." "Sí." "Pero con manguillos de cobre." "Amarillo pulido." "¿ Qué?" "El cobre pulido." "Pulido..." "pulido what?" "Pulido..." "qué pulido?" "Con en el interior en seda rosada, en vez de marrón." "Polished." "Pulido, polished." "Polished what?" "I don't know what you're talking about." "Qué Dio." "Por favor, un momento." "If you knew they didn't speak English, then why did you even try to handle the intake?" "I'm trying to learn Spanish." "By using our clients as a classroom?" "I didn't plan this." "It was a walk-in." "I was the only one available." "What am I supposed do with this body now?" "You wanna take over for me?" "Oh, that's right." "You can't." "I already did most of the work." "Great." "I'm really in the mood for dealing with a grieving widower." "It's her parents." "She's married, then her parents don't have the right" " to make these decisions." " I think she was divorced." " You think?" " Yes, Rico, I think." " Gracias." " Gracias." "Uh, are you really sure about all this?" "What?" "Didn't you overdo it on the merchandise?" "What are you talking about?" "You sold them a casket for $4,000, you added another $600 just to switch handles, three grand for the monument, another $400 for doves." "It just goes on." "This is their youngest daughter they're burying." "The guy works in a machine shop." "He can't afford this." "Besides learning to mangle a few words in Spanish, maybe you should learn something about Latin culture as well." "We honor our dead, Nate." " And end up broke because of it." " That is so racist." "How am I being racist?" "!" "You're the one who said it's cultural." "Every single member of the family pitches in at moments like this." "Everyone." "We take care of each other." "No one's left broke." "I've got work to do." "As you can see we've got a top of the line retort to the primary and secondary chambers... just relined last year." "Feel free to look over everything." " You're asking 340,000?" " Mm-hmm." "Oh, it's worth every penny, David." "I get over 300 cases a year." "I could handle more if I added another retort which is exactly what I would do if I were 20 years younger." "Cremation is a growing business, you know that." "Yes, I do." "You don't want Fisher  Sons to get left behind." "Uh, Fisher  Diaz." "Pfft." "I've got another prospective buyer stopping by in the morning." " I see." " I'm not trying to push you, but I've had this place since 1972." "It's been good to me." "I'd be pleased to pass it on to the sons of Nathaniel Fisher." "I'll talk to my partners." "Regular non-fat latte." "Oh!" "Steal us a bunch of Splendas." " Like a whole bunch." " Splenda." "Yeah." "A large mocha ice-blended please." "I want a regular soy pomegranate blueberry tea latte but in a large cup and could you just fill up the rest with soy?" "Isn't that just a large soy pomegranate blueberry tea latte?" "No, it's a regular in a large cup." "Oh, and also... a reduced-fat... wholesome morning muffin." "Claire?" "Hey, Anita." "Well, someone's very thirsty." "And on her way to Bible class, I'm guessing." "Oh yeah." "It's pretty awful, isn't it?" "I'm kind of temping at this place." "Oh, is that where you've been?" "Shit, I've left you 100 messages." "I thought you were dead." "Sorry." "You were like my best friend and then suddenly you were gone." "Well, how've you been?" "Fabulous." "You know... school, sex, drugs, creating art." " Well, that's good." " Yeah." "I'm kind of on the clock, so I should probably go." "All right." "Uh, here, let me give you this." "LAC-Arts Junior show." " I got a piece in it." " Oh, wow." "Please promise you'll come." "Everybody'll be there." "Yeah, okay." "Great." "Good." "Boys, the first batch is ready!" "Anthony, Durrell, the cookies are ready!" "I really appreciate you doing this for me." "Sure." "Come on, a Quaker church service." "At the very least it'll be interesting." "I'm trying to keep an open mind." "There's no sermon or anything." "People just sit silently and wait to be filled with the presence of God." "Maggie says we can say something if we feel like it, but you don't have to." "It's not like a requirement." "Is there anything else Maggie thinks we should know?" "Melnick says the baby's looking really good." " When was this?" " This morning." "I had a sonogram." "What?" "Why didn't you tell me about it?" "Because I wanted to spare you the grief." "I'm sorry, but this is one of the things we talked about." "It pisses me off when you do stuff like this without telling me." "So why don't you sit there and allow yourself to be filled with the presence of God?" "So what did she say?" "She said that the baby was developing normally." "There's no sign of any irregularities, all of which is very very encouraging." "So it's perfectly healthy." "Well, you know, there are some things that the sonogram can't tell." "What, so it could have Down's or spina bifida?" "Probably not Downs because we did this neck measurement test and that looked really good." "Wow." "So, great!" "We get to maybe check this one thing off the list and it could still have a million other things wrong with it." "The baby's not an it, Nate, it's a girl." "We're having another daughter." "Mom, how could you let them take off like that?" "I had no idea they'd left." "Why weren't you watching them?" "I was making cookies." "You said they could play in the courtyard." "You never thought once to check on them?" "Don't talk to me like I'm an imbecile." " I've raised three children." " That's why I expected a little more from you." "This just can't happen." "Then you can take me off your list of babysitters." "I'm taking my cookies." "You can wipe that smirk right off your face." "You are grounded, mister." "And you cannot tell Keith about this." "You can't just shuffle through the process and pretend I don't exist." "It's nerve-racking enough for me without you being..." "What, the voice of reason?" "Wow, you look great." "Are we going out tonight?" "I am." "I'm going to dinner with Angelica and some of her friends." "We might go to a party afterwards so don't wait up." "Oh." "Boys eaten?" "This is Wednesday." "It's your night to take care of dinner." " Oh, right right." " Don't give me that look." "You have one night a week, I have six." "Order some pizza if that's the best you can do." "I can cook something." "Don't forget to clean up." "That's not my job." "Okay, I get it." "And do not make me the bad guy here, please?" "Vanessa..." "I'm fine." "Just... just go." "I am." "So, friends... with the doctor saying everything's in remission," "Kathy and I are feeling very... very blessed right now." "Friends..." "I have been dizzy all week and I had to take the bus here." "I need someone to give me a ride home." "Oh..." "thank you." "I just wanted to say how good it feels to be here." "All day long I deal with death... and stress... and it's nice to be in a place of peace." "That's all." "Is it okay if I take some of those cookies to work?" "You made so many." " Take as many as you'd like." " Thanks." "Do you want some help?" "No." "I think I've already made a mess of it." "I don't know why I try and cut my own hair." "Pamper yourself." "Go to a salon." "It's not like we're living on the prairie." "You want to give Quaker Church another chance tomorrow?" " Not really." " One, two, three, five." " Okay." " Why?" "Well, Maggie's car is in the shop and I offered to give her a ride, so..." "It's 8:30 in the morning and you've already talked to Maggie?" " She needed a ride." " Mmm." "That place looked like it was full of friends who'd just love to be her ride." "Do you want to come or not?" "Are you really buying into this?" "I'm not buying into anything." "So, when you went into that church last night, you really believed you were in the presence of God?" "What I said was that it felt like a place of peace." "Which it isn't here." " Not a lot lately, no." " One, two, three, four, five." "Hey, sweetie." "Can you get your shoes for me, then I'll get you ready for daycare, okay?" "Thank you." "It was just nice, Brenda." "It was really nice to be around some people who didn't think they know everything and who thought there might be something more to life than what they can see and feel and be right about." "Well, I feel sorry for you that you have such emptiness inside you that you need to fill it with something so... ridiculous." "You really don't believe in anything?" " You know I don't." " Well, I feel sorry for you then." "And I don't understand where you draw the line." "The service is basically silent meditation." "You meditate." "Yes, but I'm not waiting for some mythical, historical ghost with his shaming, blood-sacrifice bullshit to come and save my soul." "I meditate to see the world as it is... to accept the world, to feel alive." "And you can't do that with other people?" "Not with those people, no." "So if I get involved with Quakerism or whatever because it makes sense to me, because it means something to me, you can't..." "You're using this as a way to distance yourself from me and your baby, because you're scared and you don't know what to do." "How could I be distancing myself?" "!" "I'm here every night!" "Not tomorrow night!" "Apparently you'd rather be with that sappy," " little ferret, Maggie." " Hey!" " She is a deeply kind person." " Oh." "Is that what you're looking for now?" "A deeply kind person?" "Well, I know I don't want someone who makes me feel like shit every second of the day." "If I'm so awful, why don't you leave?" "Will you stop threatening me?" "It's like you think you can win every argument by giving me some fucking ultimatum!" "No, it was a genuine question!" "Yeah?" "Well, I'm not leaving!" "Maybe you want to leave, but I'm here!" "I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere!" "I gotta go to work." "Hey, Benny." "What's up?" "Can you tell me what this is?" "A side mirror." "Can you tell me what it's doing in my hand?" " You got me." " It's in my hand because it's no longer attached to my car." "And it's no longer attached to my car because your kid knocked it off with your gianormous truck" " trying to park last week." " What, Durrell?" "He's 12 years old, man." "Oh, fucking kid." "All right, I'll pay you for it." "$280.00" "I'll..." "I'll write you a check." "Okay." "So, was that you I saw crawling out of a lime-green hearse yesterday?" "Uh, it's actually more of an avocado." "Ah." "You don't seem particularly Goth and..." "I don't think you have your own band, so..." " My dad was a funeral director." " Ah." " Really?" " Yeah." "I grew up in a funeral home." " I still live in a funeral home." " Wow." "With dead bodies and everything?" " Yep." " Isn't that kind of scary?" "Not compared to this." ""LAC-Arts Junior Show."" " Tonight." "You going?" " I don't know." "I said I would, but I think I might become conveniently sick." "Not into it?" "No, it's just these friends from school who I don't see anymore." "No way?" "I got the same thing... this get-together with all my old fraternity brothers." "I'm the only one who's not married or in a serious relationship, so I end up looking like a loser." " Which you are." " Beside the point." "How about I go with you to your thing," " and you come with me to mine?" " Are you serious?" "Yeah." "We'll take my car." "Cool." " Just going to..." " Please." "I think it's an opportunity we can't afford to pass up." "Did you start without me?" "No, I am just reading David's proposal while we waited for you." "Proposal?" "What proposal?" "This." "I think now at the end of our corporate year instead of taking our traditional bonuses, we should think about reinvesting in the company." " I'm all for that." " So I suggest we buy a crematory." "What?" "No." "No." "No way." "You haven't even read it yet." "People who want their loved ones cremated are people who don't wanna spend anything." "There's no money to be made in cremation." "Of course there is." "There's no overhead if we own our own." "Yeah, just a $340,000 mortgage." "No, here's another number to think about... 35%%% ." "Do you know what that number is?" "That is the percentage of our clientele that was Latino last year." "Do you know why it was so high?" "I'm not saying anything." "I've already been called a racist once this week." "Because the name Diaz went up on our sign." "That's why we have all this extra money, because I'm bringing in the Latino community." "And there's no way that I'm voting that we get a crematory." "So what is it you want?" "Well, another Spanish-speaking employee to work exclusively in community outreach." "Fisher  Diaz needs to be a visible member in our community." "We should be sponsoring soccer teams..." "Rico, I'm gonna stop you right there." "We can't think of all the fun things we'd like to do." " We have to plan for our future." " This is our future!" "I don't think it's the future of Fisher  Diaz." "Oh, I get it." "The Fisher boys are ganging up because you're afraid of losing a little control, huh?" "Wait, don't include me in this." " Ruth Fisher." " Hello, Hiram." "Have a seat, I'll be with you in a moment." "Or if you'd prefer one of our other stylists..." "No, I'm here to see you." "I think the last thing we need to do is buy a crematory." " Thank you." " But I don't agree with you either." "God, this whole business is so screwed up." "Death used to be something that happened at home, it was taken care of by family and all the undertaker did was build the caskets." "We were cabinetmakers." "Okay, I'm not sure I know how to build a cabinet." "It wasn't until the Civil War that they needed to transport bodies back home without them decomposing that they started embalming them." "Of course, some asshole figured out a way to make money off of it." "There is no real reason for most of what we do." "We don't need to embalm bodies." " There is a little problem of smell." " So what?" "That's a part of death." "And I think that's where this business went wrong." "We tried to disguise it, make it look pretty, neat, and someone else's problem." "Nate, do you actually have a proposal or is this just more of a general lecture?" " Green funerals." " Oh, brother." "No caskets, no toxic chemicals to leach into the soil." "And we make money on this how?" "This isn't about making money." "This is about making a better world." "I'm sorry, but a world that I'm broke in doesn't seem better to me." "All right, look, we find a natural setting that's worth preserving." "We get a conservation easement so that it's protected from being developed in the future." "Look who's doing his homework all of a sudden." "I just know that when I die, please, wrap me in a shroud, plant me next to a beautiful tree so that nobody could build a mini-mall there." "According to your Pre-Need you wanna be cremated." " So I'll change it." " Nate." "Really, I understand and it all sounds very wonderful, but we don't have that kind of money." "So we'll get some investors!" "Jesus, David, can you just try to be optimistic instead of always coming up with reasons to never change?" "If you want to pursue this, you have my blessing, but I'm not putting any of our money into it." "Yeah, uh, great meeting, guys." " Hey, man!" " Jesus." "Hey, man." " How are you doing?" " Did you meet Claire?" "No." "Hey, I'm Lauderback." "Thanks." "Claire here is just visiting." "She's actually the biggest soap opera star in all of Holland." "Cool." "Welcome to America." "Danke." "It's good to see you." "Good to meet you." "Lauderback invented this game where we'd all put diapers on under our pants, go to a strip club and the first one who could take a shit while getting a lap dance won." "Ugh." " What was the point of that?" " We were in college and idiots and drunk." " I never won." " Good." "Strange to think that these were my best friends for four years." "I have nothing in common with them anymore." "They're all BMWs and baby strollers and golf on the weekends." "I'm not ready to be my dad just yet." "So what made you decide to become a lawyer?" "That's what my dad is." "I know, I'm a complete hypocrite." "It's actually pretty good, though." "Maybe not my dream come true, but..." "I like it." "I knew he did it once." "I didn't know it was a regular thing." "Why the hell didn't you tell me?" "Because I took care of it." "You've got to stop babying him, David." "Grab the vegetables, please." "You are grounded, my man." "I'm already grounded." "But I wasn't supposed to tell you." "So are you gonna pay for that mirror?" "It was $280." "I'm not paying for nothing." "You pay for it." "You don't talk to me that way, you hear?" "I'll talk to you anyway I want to, bitch." "That's it." "Come on, big man." "Try me!" "What's wrong with you?" "Let go!" "Come on!" "This is Jimmy's." "He's sort of the star of our class." "Why?" "Well... his use of gigantism... sculpting his little cultural tokens but on such heroic scale." "It sort of forces us to look differently at the things that... surround us." "Sounds pretty stupid, doesn't it?" " I like this one." " Really?" " Yeah." " Yeah, this is Anita's." "It's funny." "We always thought her work was kind of surfacy." "I like it." "Russell, hey." "Claire, shit, hi." "Russell, this is Ted." " Hey." " Hey." "You her Secret Service agent?" "Yes, actually I am." "Claire and I went out for a very long time." " Ah." " Yup." "It ended horribly." " How have you been?" " I've been..." "I've been good." "I've been really really good." "My work has gone to some amazing places since I got hit by a car." "Oh my God." "You were hit by a car?" " What happened?" " Um... to be honest, I prefer to... process those emotions through my art." "Oh." "But you're okay?" "I hope to be..." "one day... okay, yes." " Good." " And you?" "Oh, I'm good." "You know?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "So..." "I'm gonna go find Jimmy, because I think he's looking for me." " Okay." " And, um..." "I think I saw some evil ninjas down that hallway." " I'll check it out." " Okay." "So, you dated him?" "He was sort of my boyfriend for a while, yeah." "And then he went gay." "And then he ended up with Anita and I switched to Jimmy, I think." "It gets kind of confusing." "You probably think I'm a freak." "I once dated a girl who had a pet donkey, so far be it for me..." "Let's get some wine or something." "Well well well." "If it isn't the queen of disappearance." "These are my friends Jimmy and Anita." "This is Ted." "Nice to meet you." "Hi." "Are you rich?" "Please buy my stuff." "Actually, Ted was just admiring your photograph." "Oh really?" "I got a whole box of them in the car." "Really." "Please, buy them." "I need clothes and drugs and shampoo." "So did you see the big review" " of our show in "LA Weekly"?" " Oh, no, I guess I missed it." "They said the way Jimmy's sculptures clashed with reality caused a frisson." "Oh!" "Russell was just looking for you." "Oh Jesus!" "I gotta hide." "If he comes anywhere near me, please tackle him and beat him unconscious." " Mm-hmm." " Bye." "What's with him and Russell?" "It's so great." "Jimmy got drunk and let Russell blow him." " Now Russell's majorly in love." " Oh God." "Yeah, it's my new favorite story." "I can't believe what idiots you have to work with." "Tell me about it." "They don't listen to me." "They don't respect me." "You sure you're not talking about someone else, baby?" "Vanessa treats you like a dog." "She's never going to forgive you." "Yeah, well, I fucked up." "That's what men do." "They can't help it." "I'd forgive you." "I'd even forgive you a second time." "You need a nice Mexican girl." "Not one of those Puerto Rican bitches." "They all got razor-blades in their pussies." " Whoa." " You know it's true." "A girl like me," "I'd let you be the man of the house." "I'd let you do anything you wanted, Rico." "Anything." "Did you find Jimmy yet?" "I'm such a mess, I guess." "I'm always falling in love with people who hate me." "Not always." "Thing is, I'm not even in love with Jimmy." "I want to be Jimmy." "And the paradoxical thing is underneath all of that..." "I hate Jimmy." "He's... he's so self-absorbed." "He builds a seven-foot sculpture of his penis." "It's a lollipop." "It's subliminal, Claire." "Hey, I'm sorry, you know?" "About the collage stuff and taking all the credit." "It was part yours." "It's good seeing you, Claire." "You too." "Avoid the shrimp rolls." "They seem to be covered with fecal matter." " Olivier." " Claire." "One of my most brilliant students." "And the smartest." "Which, of course you know, is not the same thing." "God, shut up." "She smiles." "Do you know how long it's been since I saw that smile?" "Where's your self-righteousness?" "I guess I lost it." "So, who's this young man you're with tonight?" "I'd introduce you to him, but I don't want you to fuck him." "There's your self- righteousness, Claire." "Speaking of ex-boyfriends of mine whom you've had sex with," "I heard Billy quit." "Yeah, well, apparently you crushed him." "So you got anything hanging on the wall?" "Nada." "I still paint, but it's all shit." "And the only person who buys my art is my rich patron of a mistress." "Do you know the humiliation involved in that?" "I'm sorry." "We all go through fallow periods when we must let the soil rest to prepare for new growth." "Really?" "You think that's true?" "Oh God, please let it be true, otherwise I'm doomed." "I'd have to stop teaching and start driving a cab." "You don't drive." "Oh, well, then I'm really fucked, aren't I?" "What about you?" "I haven't taken a photograph in months." "Oh, fuck art." "I mean what have you been doing?" "Uh, working at a shitty job." "Feeling sorry for myself." "Going home every night pretty much hating my life." "It sucks, doesn't it?" "Ah, he's indestructible." "He's fucking indestructible." "Fucking bitch!" "I'll kill you." "Ah, theater." "Don't touch me!" "This is going to be pretty inconvenient when I want to butter my toast in the morning." "Use a spoon." "Chopsticks?" "You can kill a man with a chopstick, David." "Don't you think this is a little drastic?" " He pulled a knife on me." " You scared him." "Gotta get a stronger lock for his bedroom door." "That way we know when we put him in there he stays in there." " What if there's a fire?" " Let him burn." "I was nervous about seeing everyone tonight." "Like they were all moving forward with their lives and all doing amazing things while I was going nowhere, but..." "God, they're all exactly where I left them." "And that makes you feel?" "Really good." "I had a lot of fun tonight." "Yeah, me too." "So, I'll see you tomorrow." "9:00." "Yeah." "I had no idea eating dinner on a pillow could be so much fun." "It makes me want to throw away every chair in the house." "If you want the full experience, you'll have to let me take you to Morocco." "Where would you like to enjoy our aperitif?" "Your sun porch?" "I was thinking we could take it upstairs to the bedroom." "What?" "All the way back I was practicing how to say that." "It sounded so silly." "I should have just done this." "He won't even consider that what I'm saying might actually be valid." "He just wants me to agree with him and say, "Wow, Nate!" "Gee, yeah." "Quakers." "I never thought of it like that."" "He hates the fact that I'm questioning why he's being drawn to something that he knows we can't possibly share." "Brenda, please shut the fuck up." "I can't do this anymore." "All day long I have to listen to my students complain about their problems, and when I finally get a break, I have to listen to you go on about yours." "Okay." "Honestly, I should tape one of your monologues because you say the same fucking thing every time." "If you want to change the dynamic of your relationship, then you need to change." "If you want him to open up to you, you need to open up to him." "There, I've said it." "Thank God." "Now can we please talk about something meaningless like last night's episode of "American Idol"?" "Thank you." "I've never watched "American Idol."" "Well, let me know when you have, okay?" "That was delicious, Hiram." "What a treat." "My pleasure." "I'll clean up, then I should probably get going." "Let's go camping." "Today?" "Right now." "Okay." "You don't have to make us lunch." "Of course I'm gonna make you lunches." "I don't want you eating that awful cafeteria food." "I mean, if you're mad at us..." "I'm not mad at you." "I'm mad at Durrell." "He only does bad stuff because he wants to have fun." "Yeah, well, that's not a very good reason." "You know, when you give us back." "What?" "Everybody always gives us back." "Who?" "Our foster parents." "So Durrell wants to have fun while we're here." "Señor." "Muchas gracias, Padre." "Gracias." "Ah, there you are." "$400 for 50 doves." "I'm throwing in an extra 20 doves." " We appreciate your business." " Thank you very much." "Thank you." " Gracias." " Por favor." "Hey, uh, can you help me with something?" "I need a new cartridge for my printer." "Supply closet." "I think they're stacked up here." " You're here." " Yeah, sorry I'm a little early." "It's okay." "Come on in." "Had to get out of the office." "Sometimes it's just... too fucking depressing, you know?" " Rough day?" " Yeah." " You want something to drink?" " Water, thanks." "Okay." "Make yourself at home." "So what happened?" "Uh, nothing." "Here." "Sit down." "It's..." "Brenda and I lately, it just feels like we're fighting even when we're not." "There's always this underlying layer of tension, resentment, whatever." "Well, being married isn't easy." "I know that." "Yeah, we just see the world in such completely different ways, you know?" "Yeah?" "I guess I conveniently ignored that fact when we got married." "I'm sorry." "I come in here, I start unloading all my shit." "It's okay." "It'll be nice tonight just to... go to the meeting and be quiet." "Yeah, I think of it as my landing strip." "You know, no matter how weird the day gets or how much goes wrong," "I can always go to a Friends meeting and land." " So how are you?" " Oh God." "You adjusting to L. A?" "Well, I, uh," "I look out my window every morning and I wonder how I got here." "And then I think I was on my way out, and my dad begged me to stay." "That is exactly how I wound up back here." "After my dad died my mother asked me to stick around." "Any regrets?" "That becoming the one thing I never wanted to be." "Oh yeah." "Or not." "I don't know." "For a while I was thinking I was really helping people." "Lately the whole business just seems unnecessary." "I just feel useless." "Nate, you are far from useless." "I don't just mean at work." "I mean everywhere." "We may have this handicapped child, right?" "And there is not a damned thing I can do about it." "I can't make the baby healthy." "I can't make myself feel any more ready to deal with it." "I can't even make myself want to deal with it." "I can't do anything." "You're allowed to be scared." "Life is scary." "Yeah, it's fucking terrifying." "Nate." "No, this is..." "Where are the boys?" "They're at your mother's." "You can pick them up tomorrow morning." "This used to be our pizza night." "Yeah, well, there's a lot of things that used to be." "You couldn't even wait to have dinner with me?" "Here." "Finish it." "Vanessa..." "I can't do this anymore." "Do what?" "I feel like..." "I feel like I'm just the guy who mows the lawn and takes out the trash and occasionally gets to have sex with you while you lay there looking bored out of your mind." "I don't know what you expected when you came back." "I was expecting you to try to make this work." "You know, if we're gonna be married, then let's be married." "But if you can't do that and you don't love me anymore, then I don't want to be here." "I'll move out." "Rico, I do love you." "I really do, but I cannot..." "I can't get over this." "Ever?" " You can't ever get over this?" " Hopefully... eventually." "But why?" "Why?" "You know I'll never do anything like that again." "I know, but... don't ask me to explain." "It's not a mental thing." "It's just..." "this is how I feel." "So what do we do now?" "I don't know." "It has too much salt." "I know, it's really bad." "You want to go out and get something to eat?" "Yeah." "My knife broke." "That's okay, Anthony." "We have a whole box of them." "I told Roger I'm gonna want a couple of weeks off" " as soon as school's out." " Oh?" "I was thinking we'd go on vacation." "You know, go down to Mexico." "Go swimming in the ocean." "But who's gonna take care of us?" "You're coming with us." "I don't want to swim." "I want to go to the mountains and learn to snowboard." "We can do that in the winter." "All four of us." "We'll go all kinds of places." "Yes, we will!" "It smells so good up here." "This is the way the world is supposed to smell." " And listen." " What?" "Did you hear it?" "There's a river about a half mile down." "We can go fishing in the morning." "Oh, this is wonderful!" "I feel so completely free!" "There's no one waiting for me or expecting me to do anything!" "You can do anything you please." "Exactly." "I guess we missed the church service, huh?" " Are you crying?" " No." "No, I'm okay." "You should get going." " Are you sure you're all right?" " I'm fine." "You should go." "This wasn't planned, you know." "I know." "What?" "My arm is numb." "Numb arm." "Numb arm, numb..." "Nate!" "What's the matter?" "Oh my God."