"You got $40 for the cab?" "Look." "It's for your front porch." "They wanted $7, but I got them down to $2.50." "So did you and Frank enjoy Mexico?" "Oh, yes." "It was nice to go back to the old stomping ground." "You know, we all hid out there for a year when my father was facing arrest." "Where the heck is Bill?" "It's two hours to get home, and we got to get on the road." "Bill!" "It's time to go!" "Wanda's gonna have that baby if you don't hurry up." "Bill!" "Yeah, fax came through." "Thanks, Lee." "Don't worry about me." "Best behavior, like a boy scout." "Look at all those houses." "Who do you suppose lives in all those houses?" "Don't know." "Good night." "You're awful quiet, Bill." "Mom, can I take you into my confidence?" "I need your help." "What is it?" "Take a look at this." "Tell me who you know." "On the UEB council?" "Bill?" "Just anyone who's a holdover from grandpa's days." "I thought you and Roman settled things." "It's become personal now." "Roman blocked the sale of the land on the third store." "Drop it." "Is there someone whose loyalties aren't firm, who might be just willing to talk?" "I set you down six years ago." "I warned you when you married Nicki" ""Don't you get into bed with that family," but you wouldn't listen." "What exactly are you up to?" "I want eyes on the UEB council." "A mole?" "You know, that is playing with fire." "I know." "Henricksons." "Who, may I ask, is calling?" "You tell me first." "Oh, hi, aunt Cindy." "Yes, it's Teenie." "Okay." " Tell her I'm outside." " Aunt Cindy is visiting." "Hi, Cindy." "What are you doing here?" "Oh, general conference was last month." "Oh, no." "No law against it." "I'm just used to it being once year." "No, twice is great." "It's great." "No, really great." "Mm-hmm." "No, it's just ice." "No, I know" " I know it will." "No." "No, I know you do." "I'm sorry." "Yeah." "No, down--downtown's fine." "Yeah." "Okay." "All right, I'll see you then." "Student-teacher conference." "Okay, number one" " Teenie's baptism, saturday." " We need to clean the pool." " Benny'll do that." "Uh, and we need Bill's white shoes and pants and nice white shirt starched and pressed." "Margie, would you like to run with that?" "Washing and readying Bill's whites?" "Sure." "Uh, we need to go grocery shopping for the party." "There's a party?" "What kind of party?" "It's like a birthday party, but it's a baptism reception." " Do you mind?" " Just make out a list." "And most important of all, I want to get her her own bible as a gift." "Would you care to do that, Margene?" "Is that all?" "That's all." "Okay." "I have things to do then." "Did you see that?" "I tried to make her feel included, to feel important." "It's just a show for that two-one vote issue." "I mean, how much longer is this gonna go on?" ""Do Bill's whites, Margene."" ""This is very important, Margene."" ""We couldn't do this without you, Margene."" "They think mommy's a moron." "Joseph finally got his varsity patch for cross-country." "And Jennifer is the shortstop on the JV softball team." "A freshman on the JV team is really really good." "She was disappointed, and I said, "sweetheart... doesn't mean you can't make an olympic team one day."" "But look, our golden lion" " Kim-Ly." "She's eight now." "Such beautiful skin-- like a doll." "And her accent's almost completely gone." "She's gonna be saying "y'all" by the time she's in the sixth grade I think." "Oh, she's so good in music and math." "Wow." "Oh, asian children are just more talented in certain areas." "So show me yours." "Uh, I don't know what I have here." " What's that one?" " Uh, that's of everybody." "Oh, okay." "Here we go." "Oh my goodness." "They've grown up to be so good-looking." "Sarah's making straight A's." "Uh, Ben is team captain in baseball, and Teenie is a handful, but that's to be expected from a child in the gate program-- gifted and talented-- a handful." "Teenie turned eight and she's getting baptized this weekend." "And who's baptizing her?" "Bill..." "like the other two." "And where is she gonna be baptized?" "In our backyard." "Oh, mom would love to see this picture, Barbie." "I wish you knew how badly mom feels about this estrangement." "I mean, she prays every night that she'll have you back in her life again." "Me too." "Birthdays, baptisms, if Ben wins a game" "I just want to call and tell her." "She misses Ben and Sarah." "And-and she hardly knows Teenie outside of little clues like this." "I think everyone feels that this lack of communication has just gone on way way way too long." "Well, I haven't had my family since I left that hospital bed" "For seven years." "When you survive something like that and you want your family with you more than anything in the whole world, and then they're gone..." "Let's talk straight for a second." "You didn't just leave that hospital." "You left that hospital and you followed Bill into polygamy." "I mean, you couldn't have shocked us more if you'd put a towel on your head and converted to islam." "It's" "Do you really think it might be time for me to come by?" "How about we start with the kids?" "Oh, just the children?" "I don't know if she's ready to see you just yet." "She takes things slow." "You know, it's mom." "I'll think about it." "Okay." "Here." "Open it." "Christ, Ben, did you make this?" "That's why I stayed late the past couple of days." "I still want to sand off some of glue drips, you know, restain it." "What are you doing?" "Stop." "Just stop it." "We've had eight real go-out dates, Ben, and school together, and back and forth from school almost every day for a couple of months." "But we're stuck." "We're going backwards." "Could we go to your room and talk?" "Yeah, but I don't want to talk." "Benny, I'm ready and so are you." "Seriously, why can't we just wait?" "Do you know what it feels like to have a guy say no to that?" "It feels like shit." "You need to date somebody that wants what you want." "No, I really really like you." "Please don't do this." "Hi, Benny." "Well, come in." " I got raspberry crispies." " He's leaving, mom." "It'll be all right." "We can still be friends." "Okay?" "Disaster mode." "Serious disaster." " Material, personal or hygienic?" " I don't know, crayons." " Where?" " In the dryer." "Goof be gone-spray it on, stains come right off." "Aisle six at fields." " And I have one for you." " What?" " It's about your neighbor." " Mm-Hmm." "Barb?" "No, Barb's sweet." "The other one, "the braid."" "The missionaries I referred to her" " She's fundamentalist, polygamist." "Right on our street." "Isn't that terrible?" "They're like cockroaches." "No, I don't mean that in a harsh way." "I mean that they come in and try to hide." "They're secretive probably because of the shame of it all." "It's so sad." "And that's exactly what she does, poor thing." "Poor thing." "I'm gonna mention her to the neighborhood crime watch, just to keep an extra set of eyes out." "They can be ruthless-- kidnapping and all kinds of unspeakable things when they fight with each other." "Are you all right?" "Oh, no, I'm-I'm okay, thanks." "Uh, I guess that's what we should do-- crime watch on "the braid."" "Did we miss it?" " Just breathe, all right?" " Oh." "No, not yet." "We're eight hours in and no sign of the bundle of joy." " You made it." " Heck yeah." " Hi." " Oh, I brought gifts." " Wow, thanks." " Wanda, I brought you a pot!" "Mom circled these three names." "Lucas Milford?" "Don't go there." "Two of his wives are Jacobsons." "Two or three of Roman's wives are Jacobsons too." "They'll rat you out faster than he does." "Sam Tilson?" "He seems all right, but I don't know who all he's married to, so..." "Maybe you could look at the genealogy records in the library." "Bill, Roman's wives run that place." "And it's not like I'm a big reader." "They'll notice me." "Tell them you want to look at the records for your baby." "Look up Tilson and-and this other guy Holloway." "See who their wives are, who they're married to." "I want no connection to Roman." "Look, if you don't want to be involved, I understand." "I do." "But I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't trust that you could do it without drawing attention." "Joey!" "Get in here." "And get that Adaleen and her grandchildren out." " Joey!" " Coming!" "I knew that's who it was." "It's so obvious, Barb." "I saw you leave, and I thought," ""who else but Cindy would you wear a scarf like that with anymore?"" "Well, you're certainly not gonna give in to such a horrid request." "It's their aunt and grandma." "It's a ridiculous thing to ask." "Where's the phone?" "Teenie!" "It's only dad." "H ello?" "No." "No no no." "I understand." "Shouldn't be much longer, but I'm clearly not getting home tonight." "And Joey wants me to stay for the blessing after all this." "So..." "Okay." "I love you." "I love you too." "Okay." "Good night." "What, is your boyfriend calling?" "No, is yours?" "Teenie." "Don't let your sister near those kids, Barb." "She's judgmental, and she only makes you feel bad about yourself." "You don't have to let her back in." "I can't stand her either." "Is he all right?" "Perfect." "He is just perfect." "This one's gonna live." "Well, go on, papa." "You won't break him." "You're gonna be all right, little man." "I'm gonna make sure of it." "I'll think of it as a first step." "Right." "A first step in the healing process, yes." "Uh, well, all right, how about 3:30?" "No, I'll have them home from school by then if you wanna pick them up." "I love you too." "It's just crayon, okay?" "I've got it under control." "See? "Removes crayon with ease."" " Back away from the dryer." " What?" "Cleaning a dryer with flammable liquids?" "!" "You could have blown up the whole house." " Can I go inside now?" " No, wait for Nicki." " God." " Hey, watch your language." "Margie, I swear-- worse than a child." "You want equality, and we'd love to give it, but you've gotta earn it." "All right, Nicki, I think you're going" "Barb, trying to get us all killed is not exactly batting 1000." " Please show some responsibility." " I'll fix it." " No, don't touch it." " I'll fix it tomorrow." "I got them." "Adaleen kept coming in and out." "I didn't have time to write stuff down without her seeing what I was looking at, so I just" " I just took them." "Joey, don't ignore your guests." "Come bless that baby." "We were just going over the prayer." "Oh, please." "What do you two have?" "Move." "You stole these from the library?" "She didn't see." "You know what they'll do if they find out what you're up to?" "They will rub us out." "Mom, I asked her to photocopy the family tree, then I stuffed them inside my shirt when she was gone, okay?" "Hey, look." "These are Tilson's wives." "Any connection to Roman?" "Nanette Henley." "She's only 18 years old." "Tilson's impotent and Roman still gives him young wives." "An impotent man in his 70s is not gonna be jumping to rat out the man who put him in bed with a teenager." "What about Holloway?" "He ran the physical fitness program at the academy until it was shut down." "A little off in the noggin." "Had shingles and went stark raving mad for a few years." "Huh." "He's only got one new wife in 10 years." "Either he's gotten his fill or he's been cut off." "Hi, Cindy." "What are you doing?" "Well, hello, Nicki." "Picking up Barb's kids." "I'm running early like always." "Well, come in." "I'll give you a tour around the new places till they get home." "Oh, no, thank you." "I'm fine right here." "Of course you are." "But it'd really be my pleasure." "Wayne, Raymond." "Get down and say hello to your aunt Cindy." " Hi, aunt Cindy." " Hi." "You should really come around more often." "Family is so important." "Don't you agree?" "Certainly" "Must be so hard to leave your kids when you travel." "Oh, we have a terrific nanny." "Oh, I can't imagine not raising my own kids." "So this is the backyard." "Look how big." "You should bring your boy out." "He and Ben could toss around the football, and without the fences, it's almost a regulation field." "Oh, most certainly is." "So it goes me, Margene, and Barb at the far end." "Three sisterwives in a row." "No fences-- kind of a metaphor for sisterhood" "Working together, bringing down the walls, acceptance, love." "My goodness, stop me." "I sound like a greeting card." "But you know what I mean." "Well, of course you do." "You're her real sister, right?" " Hmm, obviously." " Of course." "So this is Margie's." " Have you met Margene yet?" " No, not yet." "Well, you know, number three is always such a dear blessing." " We'll stop in." " This last one's Barbie's?" "Hey." "Oh, you've grown so big." "Look at you." " Hi, Barb." " Hello, Nicki." " Hi, aunt Cindy." " Oh, look how big you are." " Hi." " Hi, Sarah." "You weren't gonna fill me in?" " It's a first step." " It's a terrible idea." "She'll try and put things in their heads about us." "If you think for one second I'll sit idly by and let that woman walk all over you and us and them, you're wrong." "They'll be fine, Nicki." "Do we seriously have to go?" "Just play nice on this trip, okay?" "All righty." "Let's go, Sarah." "Bye, Barb." "I'll have them back safe and sound by tonight." "Uh, no, I'll pick them up." "Oh no." "I can drive them both ways." "Small steps, Barb." "Small steps." "Okay, let's go." "Assert yourself, Barb." "You can't straddle this fence if it's not who you are." "It will drive you crazy." "I know." "I'm sorry, Nicki." "Not to me." "It's those poor kids who have to be with her in the car for an hour." "I personally enjoy watching her mouth get all pouty." "We're gonna run away." "We can't live here anymore." "We're gonna go far far away... to a place where there's no neighborhood watches." "I said I'd drive them back." "I can't keep doing this." "I wanna see mom." "Please, can you go inside and just tell her that I'm coming in?" " She's taking a nap." " Then wake her up." "Selfish, Barbie." "This isn't about you." "If anything happened to you, your babies would be my responsibility and I am trying to do everything in my power to have a relationship with them." "What's between you and our mother-- that goes much deeper." "Those were your choices." "Bye." "Oh, bye, Teenie." "Bye, Sarah." " Ben." " Bye, aunt Cindy." "Think about what we talked about, Benny." "What does she want you to think about?" "Moving out to Texas for the summer." "I left my Game Boy in there." "We'll get a new one." "Do we really have to live with her if something happens to you?" "Nothing's gonna happen to me." "Just take a nap." "It's a long way home." "We need these exact brands in these exact same sizes by tomorrow." "Don't tell your mom I screwed up, okay?" "Don't worry, you're good." "Sarah, do you think of yourself as a polygamist?" "No." "Well, kind of." "For the longest time I thought I wasn't." "I mean, "my family may be and my parents may be, but I'm not."" "But then I was like, "well, I mean, I'm living here, so whether I like it or not, I kind of am."" "Yeah, that's the weird part." "I never did." "And now I kind of do, and now I don't know what I think about it all." "I mean, I fell in love with your dad, and I love your mom and Nicki and you guys, but I never really thought of myself that way, you know?" "And then..." "I woke up and I suddenly realize..." ""I'm 23." "I'm a polygamist." "Whoa!" "What's going on?" "Did I choose this or did it just happen to me?"" "I think you chose it." "Yeah, I guess so." "At first, we were all just living together in one house and I just thought we were sort of like roommates." "Are you gonna leave?" "No!" "Why did you ask that?" "Before you married dad, Nicki bet my mom that you would leave within six months." "I guess she was wrong." "Yeah, she was wrong." "These don't have any tags on them." "What size do you want?" "I don't even know his sizes." "I am a terrible wife." "I should have never married your father." "And your mother." " And Nicki." " Especially Nicki." "Hi, Brynn." "Um, can you please call me back?" "I just need to talk for a minute." "Okay?" "Just one minute." "Good night." " Ernest Holloway, right?" " Yeah." "How may I help you two?" "I'm Bill Henrickson." "This is my brother Joey." "We're Orville Henrickson's grandsons." "We were hoping that maybe we could have a word with you." "Dick Francis." "Borrow it." "I consider it one of his best." "I'll take a look." "Oh, here." "Let me help you with that." " Thank you." " Sure." "It pleases me that you share an interest in the academy." "The boys and girls who call this place home need good physical education." "It killed me when the council voted PE out of the academy." " I understand, brother Holloway." " We had a full gymnasium." "I spoke before councilmember Dorothy "dot" Campbell" "President's council on physical fitness." "I'd like to help you, Ernest." "One more time?" "I'd like to help." "I came from here." "Now I've made some success in life and I feel it's time to give something back." "I wanna make a donation, seed money to help you start new program." "And I think it best that we, well, keep these donations anonymous." "We'll do this with a handshake." "Trust among brothers." "You always travel with so very much cash?" "There's something I need as well." "We hardly know each other, Bill." "Uh, ladies..." "I need to know what Roman's up to on the council." " What kinds of things?" " His business dealings, any and all of them, particularly the ones that have to do with me." "I think it's time for both of you to leave." "The man you hope to harm is the one true prophet of our most holy church." "May our heavenly father forgive you for this trespass." "May the Lord be with you both." "They left that phone off the hook." "I know." "I'm sorry, Joey." "I need to get you back to your family." "Henricksons." "Who, may I ask, is calling?" "Hi, this is Patty Lane from Farley Elementary." "Can I speak to Barbara Henrickson?" "I'm sorry, Mrs. Henrickson's still out of town." "May I take a message?" " Is this Tancy?" " No." "May I take a message?" "Tancy, I know this is you." "Please" "Whatcha got there?" "Teenie?" "Teenie!" "No running by the pool, young lady!" "Stop it!" "Stop!" "You want to sit down?" "Teenie, sit down." "You don't want to tell me what's in that?" "It's a secret." "Looks like a bad secret, right?" "Maybe." "I have a bad secret too." "Look." "I bought this whole carton of cigarettes and I've been smoking them." "I haven't told anybody about it except for you." "You know what?" "I feel better since I told you." " You won't be mad at me?" " Promise." "It was a class project." "We had to write an essay on why our mom deserved to be mother of the year." ""Statewide finalist for best mother of the year."" "You put your mom up for Utah mother of the year?" "She's a finalist, and I don't know what to do." "Uh, you just tell her?" "No, not her." "You and Nicki." "You're our moms, too, right?" "I don't want to hurt your feelings." " Do you see me like a mom?" " Yeah." "Oh, Teenie." "You didn't do anything wrong." "Teenie, go home." "What?" "What kind of an example are you setting?" "Margene, you're grounded." " Excuse me?" " Or you're on probation." "I mean, you do not involve our kids in your filthy habits." "No." "No way." "You have no authority over me." "Authority?" "You wait just one minute." "I'm second, you're third." "Get it?" "Second's not first." "It's nothing." "If you have a problem, you can talk to our husband about it." "Oh, you listen to me, Margie." "I'm no cream puff like Barb." "I don't like a lot of people, but I liked you." "And eventually I wanted you in this family because I grew to love you." "But in the last three years, I have never known you to make a single adult decision." "Okay, Nicki, it was great talking to you." "See you later, right?" "Your wife and your beautiful new baby could use your attention, Joey." "No more playing dirty." "All right, Bill?" "You get home to your family safely." "Just try to tell her how you really feel." "Sincerity counts." "Brynn, you have a guest." " She's lucky to have you." " Thank you, Mrs. Barry." "Hi." "What are you doing here?" "I don't have anything to talk to you about." "I don't want to talk anymore either." " Shut those." " Okay." "You first." "Keep--keep going." "Slow." "Did it happen?" "Yeah." "Catch." "That looks great." " Oh, hi." " Hi." "What a surprise." "Come on in." "I wanted to bring by Teenie's Game Boy before I head back to the airport." "She left it in mom's bedroom." "My game!" " Is that your new baptism dress?" " Yes, it is." "Thank you, aunt Cindy." "Barbie?" "Really, baptism in the swimming pool is just the silliest thing I've ever heard of." "Now I talked to mom and she said that she would be more than happy to baptize Teenie in their ward's vault." "The children are innocent." "You shouldn't involve them in this." "There's nothing wrong with our backyard." "Any body of water is just as righteous as the next." "What kind of example are you setting for them?" "Sarah is so overtly independent and headstrong now." "She said she might become a southern baptist, Barb." "It was a joke." "Well, that only reinforces my point." "And Teenie is following right in her footsteps." "And poor Ben-- he's the only one who shows any signs of redemption" "Hello, Cindy." "Not staying for my punch?" "No." " Then please leave our house." " This is not your house." "Oh, shush it." "There's nothing wrong with our children." "They are perfectly strong-minded, independent works of art, much like their mothers." "And I would hazard" " Excuse me!" "Barb" " I said shush it!" "Our children are at least three times as cared for, and Barb is 10 times the mother." "Where are your children when you skip off every week on business?" "Family first, right?" "Then how about you go home to yours and leave us to our own?" "My dear, polygamy 100 years ago was quaint." "Polygamy today is foul." "That's just the way it is." "God forbid" "You should go, Cindy." "God forbid something should happen to my sister, and those children are my responsibility, not yours." "And I will do everything in my power to ensure that they grow up to be good, strong, moral young people." "God forbid." "Now get out!" "Benny, choose the right always." "I just can't stand by and watch somebody hurt you." "Oh, no!" "Oh, it works great on walls." "Oh, honey, I am so sorry." "No, it's fine." "It's fine." "But, Pam, I don't think I can be friends with you anymore." "No." "No no." "I'll pay for the clothes that got ruined, Margie." "Oh, no, it's not the clothes." "Then why?" "Well, I am who I am, and you are who you are, and I can't be me when I'm with you, not 100% me." "Of course you can." "No, I can't." "Because I'm only barely starting to understand the real me and maybe I just need a little alone time to figure that out for a while." "You can try and do that with me." "Oh, I don't think so." "And, Pam..." "Nicki is a good person." "She's not a cockroach." "And I'd never do anything to hurt her." "I'm sorry if I led you to believe that I would." "Goodbye, Pam." "Goodbye, Margie." "We need to talk about the children." "A big talk or a little talk?" "Kind of big, I guess." "Well, are you sure this is the time?" "Yes." "If anything ever happened to us," "I don't want them going to my sister anymore." "I want them to stay here with their family." "I wanna look at the will." "Oh, Barb." "Honey... it gives me a great deal of joy to hear you say that, a great deal." "Dad, there's someone in a van out front." "Compound people." "Is there something I can help you with?" "Can you provide for my protection, Bill?" "I believe I can." "I'm prepared to do... as you ask of me." "Why?" "Your grandfather's death sat very high on my mind last night, Bill." "Orville and Roman were not alone on their final trip." "Our heavenly father was in that truck when your grandfather died and he saw how Roman wrestled his way to where he is now." "And mighty his wrath will be come judgment day." "Brother Holloway, in my world such allegations need substantiation." "I'm a man of faith, Bill, willing to risk blood atonement for the truth." "Your heart knows if you should trust me." "This was your grandfather's." "And you should know, young man, that he saw something very special in you." "And he was not at all shy about that." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Tancy Henrickson, having been commissioned of Jesus Christ," "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the son and of the holy ghost, amen." "I wanna be the first to welcome you as an adult member of our family for all eternity, with all the responsibilities and privileges of family and faith." "Margie?" "Me next." "I need to be baptized." "Right now." "Right this minute." "I'm sorry, Teenie." "Bill, when I married into this family," "I guess I must have thought I was just marrying you." "And now I realize I was marrying all of you." "I was marrying sisters-- my sisters." "That was my choice, and I'd make that choice all over again right now." "And I know, I know I've made a lot of mistakes... lately and-- all right, maybe always, but I can get better." "I will, because-- because I wanna be with you guys forever too." "'Cause I love you guys, and I need you guys." "And I never ever wanted to not be in this family, here or in heaven." "Now." "I'm ready." "Margene Heffman, having been commissioned of Jesus Christ," "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the son and of the holy ghost, amen." "Hold your nose." "Dear heavenly Father, I have knowingly sinned against you." "Please, I will follow your path wherever you want me to go if you'll tell me a prayer or a way to have back my virtue, my virginity." "Please, dear Lord, I need you with me now."