"Simon, Lucy, Matt and Mary are gone... and I have another year before Ruthie, so tell me why you're involved in my business?" "Yes, well, uh, you know, with our children we usually felt that dealing with the vice-principal was enough, but, uh, I got involved when one of the parents in my neighborhood called me, and, uh," "well, asked me to intervene." "And they asked that I deal directly with you." "The Millers understand why there's a "no visitor" policy on the campus." "But it's just their older son coming to pick up their daughter after basketball practice, and he's a family member, so surely something could be worked out." "So I take it you've sided with the Millers, and you'd like me to change a school policy to better suit their daughter?" "Well, I'm not sure I would've put it that way but... yeah, I thought there might be a compromise." "In this case, um, I don't think so." "So... is there anybody else who's unhappy that you'd like to make happy?" "Perhaps I could help you bring about justice for some other student." "Principal Jones, I don't mean any offense, but you've hardly allowed me to speak." "I don't mean any offense either, Reverend Camden, but I'm a very busy woman, and I've already spent a lot of time and effort talking to the student, and the brother of the student," "and the parents that you're representing, and I have explained ad nauseam that this visitor policy is not my personal policy." "This is a district-wide policy." "And frankly, I'm annoyed that they don't want to take no for an answer and just play by the rules." "But, you know, rules are made to be broken, are they not?" "What about the Ten Commandments?" "They meant to be broken?" "What about the Golden Rule?" "Forgive me," "I'll stop wasting your time and I'm going to get back to work." "I have a teacher out sick and a substitute who hasn't arrived, and I have to go to class." "(indistinct conversation)" "What are you doing here?" "Oh, I had a meeting with Ms. Jones." "Ah, isn't she great?" "Sure, but she's a bit of a stickler for the rules, isn't she?" "Yeah, you know she is." "She's absolutely fair to everyone." "There's no guessing what's allowed and not allowed." "The athletes aren't favored over the other students, so no one resents us." "And everyone is treated the same." "Do all the students feel the way you do?" "I don't know, and I don't really care." "Bottom line, this is the highest-rated school academically in the whole district." "And I don't feel like I'm going to get stabbed" "(bell rings) by another student every time I go around a corner." "I gotta get to class." "See ya." "Hey, come by for dinner tonight." "You're that reverend guy, aren't you?" "Simon Camden's dad?" "Yeah, Eric Camden." "Bet I know why you're here." "'Cause that new guy and the principal are a little too close, if you know what I mean." "I heard he's not really a student, he's a spy." "She's always trying to get information." "Get rid of her enemies before they get rid of her, know what I mean?" "* 7th Heaven *" "* When I see their happy faces *" "* Smiling back at me * 7th Heaven *" "* I know there's no greater feeling *" "* Than the love of family" "* Where can you go" "* When the world don't treat you right?" "*" "* The answer is home" "* That's the one place that you'll find * * 7th Heaven *" "* Mmm, 7th Heaven *" "* 7th Heaven. *" "(barks)" "(dishes clink)" "(clunk)" "That's enough." "Don't want to raise the bar too high." "I've been working to keep it at a reasonable level for years." "Sorry." "Military training." "And how is your dad?" "He's in Iraq." "He's hot and he's tired." "And he's ready to come home, but not before the job's done." "I got an e-mail from him this afternoon." "Oh, so you were home this afternoon?" "No, I just ran by the house to check my e-mail before I came over to help Annie with dinner." "And before that?" "Uh, before that?" "Uh, baseball." "Why?" "No reason, just asking." "I'll see you soon." "Are you going out with Martin?" "No, I have homework to do, too." "You're not avoiding him because of what people at school are saying about him, are you?" "No." "He doesn't know what people are saying." "Are you sure?" "I mean, most of the time, people eventually hear what's going around." "CECILIA:" "You're not going to tell him are you?" "No, but maybe you should." "Why?" "Because you think he may not be who he says he is." "I didn't say that." "But you're thinking it." "Ruthie, do me a favor." "Can we just forget I ever confided in you?" "Sure." "Sorry." "Forget it." "Good night." "Did your dad seem a little off at dinner tonight?" "Well, he started his day by going to see that witch over at the high school." "Witch?" "What witch?" "The principal." "What did he see her about?" "You know the Millers, they live in the yellow house down the street?" "Their daughter's always in the driveway shooting baskets?" "She's all-state in girls' basketball." "And they have an older son." "Graduated last year, always sits in his car in the front of the house." "Always looks asleep." "His name's Griffith." "I know the yellow house with the backboard over the garage." "I don't know any of these people." "The brother wants to pick up the sister from school and the witch won't let him." "So they asked Dad to give it a shot before they go to the school board." "Is this straight?" "Yeah." "Good." "Does the brother just want to pick her up in front of the school, or does he want to drive on the school property and wait in the parking lot?" "I don't know." "They don't let anyone other than students from the same school drive onto the school parking lot." "Even parents have to park and wait at the sidewalk, off school property." "Well... before you call this woman a witch, shouldn't you know if she is a witch?" "And that's the story of Mushkil Gusha." "I liked it." "It was very good." "But I feel bad for the daddy when he took the daughter away from him." "Yeah, he didn't do anything wrong." "And neither did she." "She didn't steal the necklace." "But, you know, in the end, everybody found out the truth and they all liked the man." "And they liked his daughter." "And their lives were never difficult again." "Good night." "Good night." "ERIC:" "Good night." "(Happy barks gently, then pants)" "So you in the mood for what is probably gossip?" "Not really." "It involves Martin." "And Cecilia?" "No, and Ms. Jones, the high school principal." "Where did you hear it?" "From a student?" "I think I'll pass." "You're right." "Maybe we should slow down." "I mean, you are just 16, right?" "Right. 16." "Hello." "Hey..." "You both go to Kennedy High School, right?" "Right." "Right." "What do you think of the principal there" " Ms. Jones?" "She's a witch." "She's great." "You hardly know her." "You just started going to school there." "And I think she's great." "You want to know why?" "Because I did just start going to school there." "And she seems to know how hard it is to be the new guy." "And she's gone out of her way to help me." "She sat in with the counselor when I registered so she'd make sure I got the right classes and the nicest teachers." "And she got my last coach to call" "Coach Hardwood so he'd know where I am with my game." "And she even came to my house and met with my aunt." "Hey, who died and made him the president of Ms. Jones' fan club?" "Hi." "Oh!" "Oh, it's just you." "(chuckles)" "I just had an interesting discussion with Cecilia and Martin about the principal you met with today-- Ms. Jones." "Ah..." "I had a very interesting discussion with another student about Ms. Jones." "(phone rings)" "Hello?" "Yeah, but I'm not a member of the school board." "Okay, but, you know, why don't you let me talk to her again?" "Okay." "But let me meet with the other parents first." "And if that doesn't work then," "I'll be there, if it's that important to you." "How come no one in this family says "good-bye"?" "They just finish what they're saying and hang up." "Now I've started doing it." "People outside the family think I'm nuts." "It's a bad habit." "Save me a bite of that, will you?" "That was our friend from the board of education." "You know, the preacher's kid who helped Simon get into college early?" "The, uh, the Harvard bum." "I'm sorry, did I say that out loud?" "Anyway, there's a school board meeting about Ms. Jones." "Seems she's upset a number of people." "He suggested I be there, sort of as a moral compass." "Ever stopped a lynching before?" "On occasion." "Why?" "Something's not right here." "You're not interested in that guy, are you?" "He's a loser." "Ms. Jones just transferred him here so he can help out the baseball team." "He's not really a sophomore." "He's a senior." "He's just claiming to be a sophomore so he can play for three years." "See, she's pushing Coach Hardwick to get into the state championships, and if he doesn't, he's going to get fired." "Fired!" "After what, ten years here?" "First of all, the new guy's name is Martin, and he's really 16." "I've seen his driver's license." "And secondly, he had to transfer here because his only parent is a marine stationed in Iraq." "Love is blind and apparently also deaf." "How do you know it's his real license?" "And I don't guess that you've met the father." "I've seen pictures." "Yeah, 'cause there aren't pictures of marines floating around, are there?" "Hey, I'm making a snack for the boys." "Fruit salad." "You want some?" "No thanks." "Sure." "Oh, good." "Have you seen Cecilia?" "It's a little early." "Maybe she'll be around later." "If you want to play a game with the boys while I start dinner, that would be a great help." "I'll go get a game." "Candyland maybe?" "If we win, could we have candy instead of fruit?" "Yeah, we love candy." "Yeah, but fruit is much better for you than candy." "Come on, guys." "Let's go get a game." "I don't want fruit." "I don't like fruit." "Really?" "I love it." "Then I love it." "Me, too." "Yesterday, Cecilia told me something that was being said at school about Martin that was really stupid." "And?" "And I told her" "I thought she believed it and I hurt her feelings." "I know I did." "Well, at least you know when you've done something wrong and you want to make amends, so don't be so hard on yourself." "The thing is, once you say something that you shouldn't, it's out there and you can't get it back." "Again, good for you." "Hard lesson to learn-- really, it is." "KEVIN:" "Over there." "Everything okay here?" "Well, everything is fine, Officer." "Um, I was just telling this young man that he cannot park here while he waits for his sister to get out of basketball practice." "It's sort of an ongoing conversation." "We like to chat every day about this time." "You want to move along?" "Am I breaking any law?" "Maybe." "Well, I'll risk it." "No, really, Officer, I-- i-it's okay." "I-I think Griffith was about to leave anyway." "Weren't you, son?" "I'm not your son." "But yeah, I'll leave." "I'm Officer Kinkirk." "I'm also Reverend Camden's son-in-law." "Married to Lucy." "Ah." "Thanks for checking up on me." "(typing rapidly, computer beeping)" "I'm running a check on the car for you." "What are you hoping to find?" "Parking tickets, moving violations, that kind of thing." "People who don't like rules don't just break one rule." "She's impossible to talk to." "Is that about everything or just one particular subject?" "My son has a speech problem." "He has every right not to meet the foreign language requirement, and the counselor agreed." "All we needed was one letter from Ms. Jones to make it official." "And you know what she said?" ""Talk to me after he's tried this Mr. Sanborn's class for one month."" "And?" "And now he's skipping a class a day and he's in detention for it, and if he gets enough detentions, he's going to get suspended and eventually tossed out of there and for no good reason." "Why don't you... tell me what's going on with your son or daughter?" "It's my daughter." "She's hypoglycemic and she needs to leave school every day for lunch, but Ms. Jones won't allow it." "Okay." "My daughter is friends with this woman's daughter, and since she doesn't drive, my daughter is willing to take her, but no..." "My son didn't make the baseball team because she's brought in some new kid from another district, and he's heard that this kid is actually some kind of spy, like a narc or something, who's been brought in" "to get information on the other kids for her." "Is he a good player?" "Yes, he's a good player, but he's probably 20 years old or something." "Um..." "she's so cheap she gets her hair cut at the barbershop." "And this is a problem because...?" "Well, um, men get their hair cut at barbershops." "Women are supposed to get their hair cut at salons." "She's just not setting a very good example." "Okay." "We need to talk about you and about me." "There's some rumors going on around school about you and Ms. Jones." "Yeah, I know, I heard." "Last night, I came up to say good-bye to Ruthie." "That's why I said we better slow it down." "But I was willing to get to know you a little better before I just called it quits because I don't want to judge you unfairly." "Know what I mean?" "Like the way people judge Ms. Jones?" "A lot of people are judged unfairly." "Why does it bother you so much that people don't like Ms. Jones?" "Hi." "Is this a good time?" "I saw you talking with Martin and I didn't want to interrupt." "It didn't go so well." "He overheard us last night." "I'm sorry." "What you said was the truth." "I have let what other people say affect what I'm thinking." "No, I cannot come down there." "No, I don't wish to come down there." "I can't imagine what good would come of it if I did come down there." "Can I come to you?" "You were just here yesterday." "Yesterday was about one student." "Today it's a lot of students." "I don't care." "Do you hear?" "I-I don't care." "You might care if they keep pressing for a meeting with the school board." "Considering the current climate," "I don't think that would work out in your favor." "I know who you met with and I know what they're claiming." "The, the Spanish teacher has a learning disability, and I thought that Mr. Smith's son might be inspired to at least try to learn a second language." "And these two students who want to leave for lunch, they... they just want to leave campus to meet guys." "And I don't know why where I get my haircut is a problem." "I'm on your side" " I am-- but regardless of how lame their complaints are," "I get the feeling you're about to be trampled by a herd of disgruntled parents, and I'm trying to help you." "I can't take the time to worry about myself right now, okay?" "I have other worries, hundreds of them." "They're called students." "Are you worried about one student in particular?" "Alice Miller maybe?" "Stay out of it, okay, Reverend Camden?" "If that's what you want." "But how are you going to help anyone if the school board removes you?" "I am not a victim, okay?" "And I don't need rescuing." "Thanks anyway." "He's not out there-- my brother Griffith" "I looked everywhere for him." "He's not out there." "So now's our chance." "Talk to me." "Tell me what's really going on." "You can trust me, Alice, whatever it is." "You can trust me." "Alice, I just want to tell you again, you did the right thing." "You're very brave, coming forward." "No one has a right to do what he did to you." "No one." "You did nothing wrong, okay?" "It's not your fault." "Thank you for trusting me." "Yeah, well, I want to thank you for believing me." "Uh, I have to go." "Um, I'll see you tomorrow?" "Yeah." "Uh, Lucy." "Uh, Lucy Camden." "(sighs)" "Oh." "Hello." "I-I thought it was you, but I wasn't sure." "Did you want something?" "Yes, I do want something." "Would you be willing to forget that you just saw me if you thought that it would make a big difference in the life of a young woman, maybe even save her life?" "I have to have more information than that." "I can't give you more information than that." "Look, I-I know you're studying to be a minister, and this may be the first time you've been put in this situation, but it won't be the last." "Please help me." "Don't say anything to anyone, especially your husband." "I need a little time." "I don't know if I can do that, not without knowing what you're up to." "I-I can't tell you, Lucy, really, I can't." "Can you tell me anything?" "I'm in trouble?" "No, no, I am not in trouble." "You are in trouble." "You have 35 outstanding parking tickets and you've got two moving violations in the past six months and you haven't showed up in court or paid your fines." "And I'm in trouble?" "May I see you a minute?" "We have a problem." "Griffith's attorney-- his father's attorney, that is-- is on the way down here and he's not too happy." "Seems Griffith's dad is one of the largest contributors to the police chief's campaign fund, and he claims that they were told the tickets were taken care of." "The chief's fixing parking tickets and moving violations?" "I doubt it, even for campaign funds." "You want to ask him?" "No." "I don't either." "I have an update on our problem." "Griffith's dad can't find Griffith's sister." "She's not at school, she hasn't come home, and we were holding Griffith, so he's threatening to hold us responsible." "Is Mr. Miller here?" "No, he's in the chief's office." "They're setting up an AMBER Alert." "So they know who the daughter's with, what car she's in?" "They're looking for Ms. Jones." "RUTHIE:" "The school board called." "I told them you were resting, and they told me to tell you there's a meeting tomorrow regarding Ms. Jones." "They think you should be there." "(groaning) They?" "That Harvard bum who got Simon into school." "Sorry." "I just miss Simon." "It's okay." "Me too." "Thanks for the message." "Maybe I should try calling Ms. Jones again." "Maybe you should go and talk to Ms. Jones again." "I tried to see her this afternoon and she refused to see me." "And when did that ever stop you?" "Fine." "Thank goodness you're here." "I went home, but before I could even get out of the car," "I turned around and came back." "Because..." "I have to talk to someone." "I think Martin's upset with me, because I let some rumors at school bother me." "Rumors about him." "Well, I don't know if I really want to hear anything bad about Martin;" "I like him." "I do too." "But... a lot of people don't." "They think he's involved with Ms. Jones and spying for her." "In order to find out what?" "I don't know." "Who's using drugs, or who's late for school, or who skips lunch period, or which teachers and coaches aren't doing so great." "She fired Coach Hardwick." "People think Martin had something to do with it." "Oh, well, I can help you with that one." "Coach Hardwick's mother was just put in a nursing home." "Ms. Jones let him have the week off." "I know because he called me for information about Alzheimer's, and some advice because we're both going through the same thing." "Oh." "You don't really think Martin is a spy for Ms. Jones, do you?" "No." "It's just that it is easier to believe bad things about people than good things." "And he is really defensive of Ms. Jones when no one else is." "That's because Martin has judged Ms. Jones on his experience with her, not anyone else's." "And I also think he judges you on his own experience with you, not on what anyone else says about you." "And I think, maybe, Cecilia, you could do the same for Martin." "I hope so." "I'll let you two talk." "I'm sorry about before." "No, it was my fault." "I was rude to walk away and not answer your question." "I'm not her spy." "We've never talked about anything other than my dad, my family, my classes and my game." "I'm sorry if I ever believed anything else." "Me, too." "Hi." "How is everything?" "Great, now that I've been completely honest with myself." "You really do give good advice Ruthie, even though you're 13." "I have a lot of experience." "You guys never believed I was a spy, did you?" "Never." "People make up bad stuff all the time, just for the heck of it." "Then you start worrying if anyone will believe you when someone really does do something wrong." "What's going on?" "My daughter didn't come home from school today." "Evidently Ms. Jones has taken off with her someplace." "God knows where." "Now, of course, if your, uh... if your lousy son-in-law hadn't had Griffith in police custody, over a couple of stupid parking tickets, she'd be home right now." "I knew something like this was going to happen." "I had no idea you thought Ms. Jones would take off with your daughter." "Are we sure that's what happened?" "We're sure." "See..." "Alice isn't, uh, she's not well." "Your daughter Alice isn't well?" "No, uh, she looks like a normal girl, but she isn't." "She got an early acceptance from a school back east, along with a basketball scholarship." "We were very excited, but... we had hoped that she would stay at home and go to school somewhere around here." "This isn't because we were selfish or mean, or anything like that." "It's just that we know Alice;" "we know she wasn't ready to just go out and live on her own." "Well, she got so angry, that she started threatening to run away." "And that's why we had Griffith watch over her the way that he did;" "make sure she wouldn't go where couldn't watch her." "And that's why the kid is sleeping in his own car, just to make sure that she doesn't run off while her mother and I are asleep." "I don't know what's wrong with her." "She's becoming a different person, a very angry person;" "a very angry person who would do anything to get away from us." "Anything, like...?" "I don't know..." "Make up something about us, or Griffith." "I thought that was why Ms. Jones was so crazy about keeping him out of the parking lot." "Did she say anything about Griffith or about us?" "No, nothing." "Well, I mean, I'm not trying to accuse you of anything." "I just thought that... that if Alice had made up some horrible story just to get away from the family, that you and your son-in-law might be helping" "Ms. Jones to help her and... not knowing that she's not..." "Not well?" "Yeah." "I guarantee that the reverend knows more than he's willing to tell me." "Why don't you give it a shot?" "I'll see what I can do." "He's lying." "You know that, don't you?" "Yep." "But we don't want to let him know that." "What are you doing home so early?" "Roxanne and I were dismissed, and we were both warned to stay away from the Millers." "Evidentially, you may have been right about Ms. Jones." "No, I wasn't." "She's taken off with Mr. Miller's daughter, and it seems that this happened while Roxanne and I were questioning his son down at the station." "I wasn't right about her." "By the way, when you were telling me all about the Millers, maybe you should have mentioned that Mr. Miller spends a lot of his money supporting our local politicians, including our police chief." "I-I didn't know." "But..." "I was wrong about Ms. Jones." "What?" "I may have misjudged her." "I just said she took off with a student." "There's an Amber Alert out for her car." "She's not in her car." "She's, uh... up in our apartment" " Ms Jones." "If she were in her car, the police would find her, and she needed some more time, so..." "I gave her a ride." "First of all, don't forget I am the police." "And secondly, she needed some time?" "All I know is Alice Miller is in the custody of Child Protection Services." "(whimpers)" "(sighs)" "Mr. Miller has been calling up the parents, trying to stir up trouble for Ms. Jones, 'cause he wants her out of the school, I guess." "And he sort of kind of offered a reward for anybody who would come forward with a complaint about her." "A hundred bucks wasn't much, but I needed it on account of my son doesn't have a decent pair of shoes." "So anyway..." "Well, I-I-I couldn't come up with much." "I mean, I know Ms. Jones gets her hair cut at the barbershop, so I tried to make that sound bad, but it really isn't, 'cause it's one of the students who went to Kennedy High School" "and then he went on to barber school, and he's the one who cuts her hair, so she's just trying to support his business." "I mean, I really like the woman." "She's tough, but she's fair, and she's funny and... evidently she's gone a little overboard by committing a felony, so I just wanted to admit, right now, that Mr. Miller is" "the one who stirred up all the trouble, in case we're called in to court to testify on related matters." "I-I just wanted to volunteer to tell the truth here and now." "I'll tell you what." "I keep an extra hundred-dollar bill in my wallet for emergencies." "Buy your son some shoes." "And, uh, thanks for setting the record straight." "Although, I'm not sure we got the full story on Ms. Jones yet." "It was on the news." "You can't believe everything you see on TV, or... read in the newspapers, or even hear from people." "That's true." "Okay, my son..." "doesn't need new shoes." "I need new shoes." "(embarrassed chuckle)" "I need to go to the dentist?" "The doctor?" "You knew I was lying all along, didn't you?" "I suspected." "If people will tell one lie, generally, they'll tell another." "Wow, you're only the associate pastor, huh?" "You're good!" "I better be going too." "I told my attorney to find my wife." "I haven't heard from either one of them." "I'm just hoping that Ms. Jones and Alice will show up, that it's all some kind of mistake." "It's not a mistake." "Who are you?" "I'm from Child Protection Services." "(nervous chuckle) You're not gonna... arrest me or anything crazy like that?" "I'm here to interview you, for the purpose of having you arrested, yes." "You got to help me out here." "I mean, I told you..." "Alice is sick." "She makes things up." "I think only God can help you now." "No." "No." "I know people." "You can't make these charges stick." "I know people." "People like me." "People rely on me." "Alice will be back home tomorrow night." "Yeah, maybe Alice will..." "but you won't." "Not if I can help it." "I didn't know." "I was in my car because I didn't want him to do anything to me again." "That's why I'm always out there." "That's why I never go in the house when he's there." "I thought it was just me." "He told me it was just me." "He told me if I let Alice near anyone... that she would tell people about me." "Only no one would believe her." "And then we'd both be in trouble, right?" "I didn't know Alice had stories of her own to tell." "I never knew." "I want to kill you!" "(sobbing):" "I really want to kill you." "But you know what?" "This is better." "Seeing you go to jail... seeing you revealed for what you really are..." "Yeah, this is better." "They've been in there a long time." "Well, there's a lot to talk about." "I was feeling pretty brave this afternoon." "Now, I..." "I just feel ashamed." "It's embarrassing." "Humiliating even." "Everyone's going to know about this." "It's going to be in the news." "In all the papers." "First of all, you did nothing wrong." "It-It's his shame." "Let it belong to him." "Don't-Don't claim it for yourself." "You're the victim." "And I know that's difficult, Griffith, you know, not to feel embarrassed or ashamed, but, uh," "I'll help you work on that." "I'll get a counselor who specializes in working with victims of sexual abuse." "I know that if you're strong enough to break the silence, that you're strong enough to work through this." "It's just going to take some time." "A lot of time and a lot of work." "I don't want anybody to know what happened to me." "I never wanted anyone to know." "I understand." "Male victims of sexual abuse don't often come forward for that very reason, but you did the right thing... for yourself and for every son or daughter of abusive parents." "And maybe other victims will be encouraged to come forward, if-if they know that there's help for them and serious consequences for the person who abused them." "But what if my father gets away with it?" "What if there are no consequences for him?" "I-I don't think anyone's going to sympathize with your father, once the truth is known." "Well, what if he convinces people it was me?" "That I asked for it somehow?" "No." "No, you didn't." "Just keep reminding yourself you didn't do anything wrong." "But he told me that I deserved it." "He told me that I was, I was nothing, that I was worthless." "He told me I was stupid." "Just a stupid mistake." "Well, that's another form of abuse-- emotional abuse." "And that, too, is wrong in and of itself, or when it was used as a way of controlling you in this situation." "I don't know." "Maybe I am stupid." "How could I have let this go on for so long?" "How could you, or how could he?" "You're the one who stopped this." "(sniffles)" "You stopped him, you and your sister." "You didn't do anything wrong." "I just don't know." "You don't know what, Mother?" "If you can go through with this?" "Yes, you can, Mrs. Miller." "If you don't, it's your life all over again." "This is what happened to you, isn't it?" "Your father abused you." "Or an uncle or someone." "Someone abused you." "Yes." "My father." "WRIGHT:" "So let's break the cycle right now." "There are going to be two cases made." "One in children's court and one in criminal court." "You're going to have to go along with the court orders, whatever those are." "What will they ask me to do?" "More than likely, they'll state that you cannot have any contact with your husband, and you cannot allow him to have any contact with your children." "You'll have to commit to counseling, and you're going to have to get into an alcohol treatment program." "We're going to monitor all this, to make sure that you stick to the rules." "ALICE:" "Wait a minute." "Wait a minute," "You're not saying that you're going to send me home with her,are you?" "WRIGHT:" "No, I'm not." "Reverend Camden has a licensed foster family who goes to his church that we can have you stay with." "Your other choices are staying with a relative, if you have a relative that we think can provide a safe and nurturing environment." "I'll take foster care." "The family that Reverend Camden recommended." "I don't think I have any relatives I can trust." "Oh, Alice, you don't mean that." "A foster home with a family you don't know?" "What?" "Something worse is going to happen to me than what happened in our home?" "How could you even think that I would want to come back?" "You knew." "(voice breaking):" "You let it happen." "You drank yourself into a stupor every night, so you could pretend you didn't have anything to do with it." "You had everything to do with it!" "You could have stopped it." "I hate you." "(crying quietly)" "(voice breaking):" "I want to be put in a foster home." "MRS. MILLER:" "Maybe you and Griffith could rent an apartment maybe." "Maybe that would be better." "We could consider that possibility at some point." "Maybe... at some point." "But not right now." "Not until I know that my father is going to stay in jail." "I wouldn't feel safe." "I know" "Griffith probably didn't know, but I just wouldn't feel safe." "Hi." "I thought I'd come by and see if there's anything I can do." "Oh." "And I also wanted to apologize, um, if I seemed short yesterday." "I've had a feeling something was terribly wrong, and I've been hoping and waiting for Alice or her brother to tell me what was going on." "And I didn't want you or anyone else getting in the way." "I know I can be abrupt, and a lot of people don't like me, but even those who don't know that they can trust me." "It's obvious that you care a lot more about your students than your popularity." "I respect you for that." "Respect and admire." "I thought you'd understand." "Your job isn't exactly a walk in the park, either." "Are you coming home?" "Is Alice?" "(deep sighing)" "No." "Then I'm not, either." "But you don't have anyplace to go." "Well, as a matter of fact, I do." "Reverend Camden helped me find something, and I can stay there until I figure something out." "But you don't have a job." "You don't have any money." "He'll help me find a job." "Until then, I'll get by." "(sighs and sniffles)" "So, uh... (sniffles) ...when am I going to see you again?" "In court, Mother." "You'll see me in court." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry this happened to you." "I'm sorry it happened to both of us." "I love you." "I love you, too." "But... this is my fault." "Your fault?" "How do you get that?" "I knew... what he did to you." "I was too afraid to say anything until he started to do it to me." "And then, I just couldn't stand it." "Especially once I had no hope of leaving for school next year." "No, Grif, it wasn't your fault." "It was his fault, and it was her fault." "But I'm not going to let what he did, or what she let him do, stop me from living my life." "And you shouldn't, either." "(sighs)" "Today was horrible, but it's better than tonight would have been." "And we have got horrible days ahead of us." "Weeks or months of court proceedings." "Years of therapy and hard work." "But nothing in our future is going to be as bad as any night with him." "I'm going back to school." "I'm going to finish the season, and I'm going to graduate." "And then I'm going to go to college." "I don't care what the other students say." "I can't let our father take anything else from me." "Don't let anything happen to Ms. Jones, okay?" "Don't let the stupid school board fire her or anything." "I need her." "We all do." "'Cause there are other houses and other families just like yours."