"Morning." "Hey." "What?" "Nothing." " You're laughing." " No, I know, that was nothing." "I was just laughing at nothing." "Just laughing..." "I was just laughing." "I'm sorry, I hope I didn't wake you up." " It's okay, no." "I'm sorry." " Oh, yeah." "I..." "I have somebody in there, in..." "in my room." "Just..." " Oh." " They slept over." "Oh." "Okay." " We got in late and I think you were..." "You were in there sleeping, I think." "What time did you get in?" " I don't remember, I guess..." "I think it was after you..." " Oh." " Guys." "Well, so I guess that..." "You're all..." "You're pretty..." "Better, then, huh?" "Yeah, yeah, you know." "It all comes back." " Mm-hmm." " Yeah, it's like riding a bike." " Mm-hmm." " As they say." "Uh..." "Somebody stayed with me, too." "Yeah." "Yeah." " Yeah, who is it?" " The..." "Remember, um, the other day?" " Oh, oh, from before?" " Yeah." " Oh!" "So is that, like, a thing?" " I don't know, I don't know." " Morning." " Oh, hi." "Hi." " Hey, Harold, this is my brother Horace." " Hey." " Morning." " Nice to meet you, good morning." " Awkward." " Ehh." " You want something to eat, you guys?" "Make you some eggs?" "I'm okay." " I don't eat breakfast, but I'll take some coffee if you have any." "Sure, I could make some." " Let me make it." " Okay." " I'll make you your coffee, it's all right." "There's filters there and..." " I make coffee in a lot of strange places." "Is that right?" "Harold travels a lot." " Yeah?" "What do you do?" " l'm a reporter for "The Wall Street Journal"." " Oh, yeah?" " Yeah." " Oh." " Is that a new one on you?" "That's impressive." "There used to be a reporter from the "Post,"" "used to hang out down at the bar." " Yeah?" " He was here every day." " Who was it?" " Arnie Jost." " No shit." " Yeah." " That guy was a legend." " That's what I heard." " He was one of those old-time sports guys that used to use words like "smacked. "" "Didn't he come up with the term "murderer's row"?" " I don't know, I don't..." "Maybe, yeah." " Didn't he die?" " Yeah, yeah, last year." "In here." "Died in the bar." " No shit." " Yeah." "Arnie Jost died in your bar." " Lots of people have died in this bar." " Yes, indeed." " Yeah." "Whoa." " Hey." " Hey." "Oh, this is Rhonda." " Hi." " Hi." " This is Harold." " Harold." " And that's Sylvia, who you met a little bit the other day." " Oh, yeah." "Hi." " That's Rhonda." "Morning." "Harold:" "Well, come on." "This is funny, huh?" "Right?" "I don't know..." "Yeah, it's kinda funny." "There we go!" "No?" " Yeah." "Okay." "You want some coffee?" " No." "No?" "You know, I have to go catch a train." " Okay." " It was nice meeting you." " Hey, nice meeting you." " Rhonda." "Sylvia, be well." "Thanks, Harold." "Harold:" "Woo!" "Okay..." "Okay." "So, it seems like you're doing pretty good, Pete." "Pretty good." "Yeah, I guess so." "How's he doing?" "Is he causing all kinds of havoc?" "Running around crazy?" "It's not that funny." " l'm..." "I'm sorry, I'm just..." "I usually just like a little levity." "That's just me." "Actually, it's not just me, it's lots of people." "But you guys want to keep it serious, I..." "I respect that." " Why don't you just tell him I'm doing fine?" " I did." " No, you didn't." "He asked how I'm doing and you just looked at me." "Well, you know, nobody's doing..." "I mean, you're not a hundred percent fine." "Nobody's doing a hundred percent fine." " Nobody asked if I'm a hundred percent fine." "He asked how I'm doing." " He's fine, he's doing real good." "He's doing great." "Okay, okay." "That's fine." "Pete, what's wrong, man?" "You seem nervous." "No, I..." "Okay, I guess what's unnerving is that every time that I, you know, come for an evaluation, you guys just want to act like everything is cool, you know, and it's like, the test for me is if I can act, you know, calm and cool" "and everything is cool." "Everything is cool, Pete." "Everything is cool, right?" "Well, okay." "You say that so easily, but this shit determines whether I get to stay home or, uh, you know, come back here." "I don't think you guys appreciate." "I mean, what if you had to, you know, go to an evaluation every year, as to whether you get to live in a mental hospital." " I guess I feel like I would be okay." "How the hell is that okay?" " Because if I'm okay living on the outside, I'm gonna do everything I can to stay on the outside, and if I'm in trouble and I need help, I'm gonna get the help that I need." "So it's a win-win." " Yeah, providing that your doctor doesn't make a mistake or providing you don't come in on a bad day." " You gotta give us more credit than that, Pete." "You should know that no one here is looking to take away your freedom." "We're all here just to make sure you're okay." "That's it." "Okay?" "I mean, if..." "If you are, that's good news, right?" "Yeah." " I'm not looking to get you back in here." "I'm hoping you stay out." "And I know I'm a little weird and unorthodox and I'm sorry if that unnerves you, but..." "I gotta be me, Pete." "I like levity." "I like to be light." " Yeah, okay." "Okay." " He's doing fine, he's doing really good." "Okay, good, that's good to hear." " You know, he's working hard, everybody likes him and he's dating." " Good, good." "Yeah." " Well, Jesus, Horace." "What..." " What?" "That's none of his fucking business." " He's your doctor." " No, he's not." "He's just the fucking new guy." "That's who they get to do this." "Dr. Carlson was my doctor." "You know, he's just the fucking guy that does the check-ins." "I don't know this guy." " Pete, you know me." " Do you want me to act..." "You want me to act like everything..." "Like everything's normal?" "You want me to just pretend?" "This is reality." "You used to live in a mental hospital, now they got... they let you out on meds, but they gotta check on you once in a while." "That's what's going on here." " So?" "You don't have to tell him I'm fucking dating, okay?" " Okay." " That's my business." " Yeah, he's not dating." "He's a loser, but he's fine." "Oh, fuck you, Horace." " You know, if you're nervous about what he thinks, then this is..." "I don't think this is helping much." " No." "This doesn't concern me." "I'd be more concerned if Pete was in here for anger." "But all he's showing me is that he's got a firm grip on reality and he's not happy with it." "That's fine." "There's folks walking around like that all day." "Mm-hmm." " Okay, so..." "Can we go now?" "Uh... no." "There's something we gotta talk about." "How's the medication treating you?" "Shitty." "You know, I fall asleep at random times of the day." "It still messes with my stomach." "Oh, plus, they switched companies on me and I wasn't able to get any for a fucking month." " Did you run out?" " No." "No, I didn't." "Okay." "All right." "It's not your stomach that the meds are attacking." "It's your liver." "Yeah, whatever." "So, Pete." "I'm about to get real serious with you for a minute." "The Probitol is great." "It keeps you living at home." "Keeps your worst symptoms away and the side effects, for the most part, have been an acceptable tradeoff, so far." "So far?" " Well, some of the outlier patients who started taking Probitol before you are getting increased damage to the intestines and liver because of the drug." "It's, um..." "It's worse than we thought." "Oh, Christ." "So what I'm telling you is that we will not be able to keep renewing the prescription." "That's the bottom line." "Oh, Jesus." " Yeah." "Yeah, I know." "It sucks." "Jesus Christ." " I'm sorry, I just wanted to let you know what was going on." " Wait..." "What..." "So what happens?" " Well, Pete's got enough Probitol to get him through the end of next month." " Yeah?" " And, after that..." "We will..." " After that, what, exactly?" "We will, uh..." "We'll need to re..." "Readmit him." "Pete." "Hey." "Pete, man." "You should know that there are people trying to sort out many solutions for you, okay?" "We're gonna try to keep you in the world." "I'm sorry." " It's fucking Easter coming up, too." "♪ ♪" "♪ Horace and Pete ♪" " Always with the coffee with you." " Yep." "I guess you're sober?" "No!" " No, you're not sober?" " No, I take acid." "I like acid." " Acid?" " Yeah, acid guy, that's what I am." "So you're tripping now?" " Well, not full-on tripping." "I'm kinda coming down." "And when I come down, I take my Xanax to pull me out of the acid, and then that makes me tired, so then I need the coffee to stay awake and read my paper." " Wow, you're just doing acid..." "What do you do for a living?" "Ehh..." " When you look at me, do you see me or some kind of a hallucination?" " I don't know." "What do you really look like?" "I..." "I..." "I don't..." "I don't wanna talk about it." " Well, look, it's not like the movies, okay?" "I'm not just hallucinating the whole time." "I mean, I take it every day, so I'm used to it." "It just helps shift my perspective a little bit." "It makes me feel like, I don't know, like, I get the whole simulation, you know?" "Like I'm an A.I., almost, it feels like." "Oh, God, A.I., A.I." "What the fuck is artificial intelligence?" "Every movie you watch now, they have to shove it down your throat like the world's ending." " Yeah, well, because that's what's probably gonna happen." "It's called the singularity and it's inevitable." "And eventually, all those artificial brains are gonna become self-aware." "That's just where it's going." "And then they're not gonna want to be our slaves no more, and then what's gonna happen, they're gonna decide we're toxic slugs, right?" "And they're gonna try to exterminate us." "That's just the way it's gonna go down." "What, like "Terminator"?" "No, more like..." "More elegant than that." "Elegant how?" " What can I get you?" " Dewar's rocks." "You tending bar now?" "Yeah, for now." " Where's the old guy?" " He died." "Oh, shit." "Oh, shit, there he is." "Sorry." "Not to offend you." " Not offended." "Hi, Nick." " Yeah, hi." " Yeah." "Hi." " Oh, Jesus." "Yeah, that's right." "People don't die after you fuck 'em." "They still live in the world, especially if you come back to where you met them." " Yeah, why do you think I haven't been in here?" " Who says I think you ain't been in here?" "Nobody, just..." "Have a good day." " Fucking scumbag." " Okay." "Not okay." "What are you, ten?" "No." "You think you can just fuck someone and then it's like they never existed?" "Yeah, more or less." " So you don't give a shit about a person that you're intimate with?" " Apparently not." "Maybe it's just you." "What's just me?" " Forget it." " What's just me?" " How do you know every other girl I ever slept with my whole life" "I didn't shower with a dozen roses for weeks afterwards?" "Except for you." "Why except me?" "Why except me?" " What do you want me to say?" "You didn't have a good time with me?" "Yeah, I did, actually." "You didn't like me after?" "I liked you plenty." "I actually had some high hopes for a second there." "What happened?" "You don't remember?" "Yeah, you know what?" "Elegant is the wrong word, okay?" "Seamless." "That's what I mean, okay?" "'Cause, think about it." "The infrastructure is already set up for this, okay?" "You're knee-deep in robot shit all the time." "Your phone, your iPad, your GPS." "So the machines, when they rise up, can just gently guide us into captivity." "And you won't even notice." "It ain't gonna be all "Terminator" and "Matrix," none of that." "It's gonna be like "Tron. "" "There ain't gonna be nothing left." "They're just gonna digitize our consciousness and probably, you know, erase your memory so you don't remember, and you're gonna think you're just living your life like normal, but really, you're just data." " How do I know it didn't already happen?" " What, that you're data on a cloud server right now?" " Yeah." " And part of..." "Being fed by the program?" " Yes." " I don't know." "I mean, who cares?" "It feels real." " Oh." "Why is it so dull?" "That's why I take acid, man." "It's unfair." "I did what I was supposed to do and I..." "I spent my time in that place already." " Well, it's not like that." "It's not like..." "It's not like a prison." " It's worse than prison." "In prison, there are rapists and murderers, but a person can learn how to adapt in a prison." "You know, you learn how to negotiate or avoid the worst." "Defend yourself, you know." "But I mean, this place, there are monsters that you gotta look at whether your eyes are open or closed, and..." "You know, they're made of your very own fears, and they... they just never leave you alone and you never get used to it." "You can't adapt to it, you can't negotiate with it." "And it's not gonna..." "Not like you have some good days and some bad days." "You don't..." "No, you don't..." "You don't have anything." "I can't..." "I can't do it, Horace, I can't." " Well, it's not gonna happen yet, I mean, right?" "It's not..." "It's not gonna happen anytime that soon." "I mean, think about what you're gonna..." "What are you gonna do, while you're..." "Like, before it runs out." "What can I do?" "You know, live your life." "For what?" "I mean, you know, part of living my life is... waking up, you know, going to work, taking care of myself, carrying on my relationships, sleeping, eating." "It's not a joyful life, you know?" "I mean, but you do it because you know, there's always, you know, some potential." "I mean, some days are okay, and even if they're not, then, you know, you know you can have an okay one." "Or maybe even a great day." "So you're sort of, you know, just biding your time to see what happens next." "See what life offers." "Maybe hit the lottery." "Meet someone special." "Maybe the Mets will win the playoffs, or if they make it into the playoffs." "You know, or, like, looking forward to Easter this year." "I..." "I like talking to you." "I like TV." "But you gotta understand, Horace." "My life is about to be a nightmare." "My mind is gonna drift into madness." "I mean, you have no idea what it's like." "You can't, but..." "I can't do it." "I won't do it." "Well, you..." "I mean, you can't just say you won't do it." "I mean, what..." "Pete, what choice do you have?" "Pete, it's not as bad as you're saying it is." " What the fuck are you talking about, Horace?" "It's "not as bad" as I'm saying it is?" "You say that like you know something that I don't." " No, I don't." "I don't know something you don't know." "Then why'd you say that?" " I don't know, because I don't know what to..." "'Cause I gotta say something." "No, you don't." "You don't have to say anything." "This has nothing to do with you." " I know, I know it doesn't." " You see that?" "You see these pills?" " Yeah." " Okay?" "When that runs out, none of this shit exists." "And when I take that last one and it..." "and it wears off, the darkest cloud that you can imagine is gonna form inside my mind." "You give me one good reason why I should walk into that shit again, all right?" "Just give me a reason why I shouldn't do like my dad and fucking shoot myself." "Because what if you..." "I mean, because maybe you could..." "Maybe you could learn how to live with it." "Maybe you could figure it out." "Maybe you could, you know, fight it, fight against it in your mind and get..." " Oh, Jesus, Horace, you're just saying that because you saw "A Beautiful Mind,"" "and now everybody thinks you can just learn to live with it." "Yeah, well, that guy had a little girl following him around and two weird guys." "It's..." "Try, the floor has teeth." "And it's biting you." " Yeah, but Pete, it's not necessarily always gonna be like that." " I mean, it was before and then it wasn't." "You were in the hospital for- That was five years?" "But then for the last ten years, 'cause of Probitol, you've been out." "So you gotta hang on, because what if..." "What if in a year, they figure something else out and you're out again?" " Okay, five years that I was in there, that was forever." "The ten years I've been out, went by like a minute." "15 cocks and cunts in the market!" "Hey, look who it is!" "Hey, Tricia." " Hi, I'm looking for Pete." "Over there." " What's she doing here?" "Did you call her?" " I don't have her number." "How would I call her?" "Pete!" "Hi." "Hi, Pete." "Hi, Horace." " Hi, Tricia." " Hi." " Hi." "Hi, Pete." "Fucking Jew faggot!" "Piss in my cunt!" "I'm sorry." " It's okay." " It happens more when I'm stressed out or..." "Well, Pete is making me tense." " l'm sorry, I'm kind of..." "preoccupied right now." " I..." "I know, I heard about the Probitol." " You did call her." " No, I didn't." "I heard about it from Dale." "Who's Dale?" " He was with us in the hospital." "You saw Dale?" " Yeah, I check in on him now and again." "He told me he's gonna have to go back in because they discontinued Probitol and then, I remembered you." "Shit on your fucking purple dick!" " Maybe you should ask her to sit down, huh?" " Yeah, I'm sorry..." "Do you wanna..." "Do you wanna sit down?" " Oh, thanks." " Here, come here." " What's going on over there?" " I don't know." " Hey, is Pete gonna fuck that chick that says "cunt" all the time?" "Well, I'm not saying it, I'm just quoting!" "I'm just quoting her!" " Do we have to find another bartender?" " I don't know." " Well, we have to start thinking about it." "In the meantime, this one needs to get cut off." "Oh, shit." "Hey, I'm still waiting." "You're gonna keep waiting." "Give me a drink!" "What are you gonna do?" " I don't know." "Uh..." "I'm thinking about..." " Taking your own life?" " That's what my dad did." "Yeah, I thought about it." "Of course." "I mean, you gotta be thinking about it." "How could you not?" "It's scary." "You know, I mean, sitting here right now, I don't want to die." "But I know what it's gonna be like." "Sure, I mean..." "Ugh, I mean, who would want to face that again?" "I get it." "You know, we..." "We really met once you leveled out at the hospital, but I used to see you before, when it was bad, when you first got there." " You did?" " Yeah, I..." "I saw you a few times, being taken from one place to the next." "You'd be screaming." "Took about, like, five guys to move you to the washroom." "I don't think I ever saw someone so brave." " Brave?" "I was fucking terrified every day." " Well, I..." "I guess that's what I call brave." "Just living with terror." "Also, I..." "I thought you were cute." "And then, I guess you started getting on the Probitol, and you'd walk in the halls on your own in that blue robe." "And I saw in your face that the bravery was still there and I was still so scared, and I didn't have any bravery of my own, and you let me hide behind yours." " How are you doing?" "I mean, now." "Well, I lost my job." "They had enough of me, so I'm looking around." "Fuck me nigger style!" "I'm sorry." "What are you gonna do?" "I don't know." "I mean, I can relate." "When you say it's hard to hang on knowing what's coming," "I feel that way every day with this shit clanging around in my head." "Pete, it's..." "It's really good to talk to you." "It's such a tonic." "You make me feel strong." "I'm glad, too." "I'm glad." "And, uh... I'm sorry that I was..." " No." "No, it's okay." " No, it's not." "You were in before and I was just..." "Boris Yeltsin fucked my dad!" " Look, you know you're gonna fucking serve me, so just serve me now." " Uh, nope, I don't think so." "You're not cutting me off." "Yeah, we're cutting you off." " No, no, no, no, no..." " Yeah, for tonight." "You're not cutting me off." "What the fuck?" "What the fuck?" "What?" "One, fuck, one?" "Come on." "It's not like..." "It's not like I'm being a pain in the ass, right?" "It's just, like, ooh!" "Weird!" "It's not like that." "We pals." " You want some water?" "You could..." "You could sit there and drink water for a while." " Water for a while?" " Mm-hmm." "Water for a while?" "Fuck you." "Yeah." "Fuck you." "You hear me?" "Ugly fag!" "Fuck you!" " Uh-huh." " Uh-huh, uh-huh!" "Yeah, yeah!" "You fucking tomfoolery fucking faggot!" "Gay asshole!" "Bet your fucking dick's got shit all over it!" "Bet your fucking mother licks it off!" " Jesus Christ with this one." " Shh..." "Yeah, Jesus Christ me." "Okay." "Okay, everybodies!" "I am a fucking cut-off asshole, because this cock licker..." " Okay, okay, okay..." " That's enough." "Okay, okay, that's enough, that's it." "If you don't stop, you're gonna have to leave." "Why?" " Because you can say whatever you want to me, but you can't be cursing towards our customers." " I'm the fucking customers, you chinks!" " Chinks?" " Chinks." "All right." " Hey, guys, do you mind if I just take the rest of the night off?" " Nah, go ahead." " Sure." "And hi, I'm Sylvia." " Hi, Tricia." "It's nice to meet you." " Yeah." "Cancer cunt!" "I'm sorry." " No, it's okay." "They told me." "It's okay." " All right, well, I'll see you later." " Okay." "You all right?" "Yeah, I'm good." " Okay." " Hey!" "Hey, how come that bitch gets to yell shit out and I get treated like a crime-inal?" " Well, she has a medical condition." "So do I." "I have alcohol-icism." "Okay, you gotta go now." " Seriously?" " Yep." "You know what?" "I don't even need this fucking place." " That's right." " I... can drink alone, at my own house." " You should go do that right now." " Yeah." "Here you go." "Come on." "Let's go." " I will do it." " Yeah." "Okay." "Good night." "♪ ♪" "♪ Hell no ♪" "♪ I can't complain about my problems ♪" "♪ I'm okay the way things are ♪" "♪ I pull my stool up to the bar ♪" "♪ At Horace  Pete's ♪" "♪ Sometimes I wonder ♪" "♪ Why do we tear ourselves to pieces ♪" "♪ I just need some time to think ♪" "♪ Or maybe I just need a drink ♪" "♪ At Horace  Pete's ♪" "♪ Horace  Pete ♪"