"So I say to this guy, "I can't do anything unless you give me an order number." "And I don't appreciate your taking that tone of voice with me. "" "He says he doesn't have an order number." "And I say, "Well, you should always write down the order number. "" "Then he gets all pissy." "Says he wants to speak to the person he ordered the Astoria floor lamp from." "And I say, "Well, do you remember his or her... "" "Right, you know? "... name?"" "And he says, "Of course not. "" "And I say, "Then I'm sorry, I can't help you. "" "He says this isn't the first time he had a problem ordering from us." "Last Christmas he bought a CD holder, and it arrived all broken." "When we told him, "Send it back" he couldn't because he'd thrown away the box it came in." "So I say..." "I say, "Boo-hoo, mister." "Ain't you got it bad. "" "And he says, "I wanna talk to your supervisor. "" "And I say, "Of course you can talk to him but unfortunately, his hours are only 8:30... "" "So now the wife's in jail, according to the cousin who arranged the funeral." "I bet he was abusing her." "Maybe he had some sick sexual thing he made her do." "Please, stop." "And you're wrong." "All she told the police was that he was boring." "That's it?" "That's all she said?" " The sick part is, I understand it." " I do too." " Sometimes I'm boring." " I am too." "I should be at both intakes with you this morning but you'll have to do the casket meeting because I'm really backed up down here." "David, maybe we need to think about finding a replacement for Rico." "Why?" "We're doing just fine without him." "It's saving money, thank you very much." "Is there something you'd like to say about my work?" "Look, you do a great job when it comes to people who had peaceful farewells." "But the big reconstructions, you're out of your league." "I see, so those who can't do, criticize?" "We've got a body that's a page-one rewrite." "We got two more coming in from that nightclub fire in Valencia." " How bad was that fire?" " Well, this is where they ended up." "Maybe the families want..." "Open caskets." "They already put in the requests." " I'll put an ad in the paper today." " It's taken care of." "I've scheduled some interviews for this afternoon." "As you can see from my résumé, I've had the good fortune to study under a variety of gifted restorative artists." "Oh, you worked over at Hope Valley." "I've known P.T. For years." "Look, that lawsuit about the unembalmed arm was not my fault." "I took the fall for some bitch that was supposed to cover me for leaving early." "Sometimes I wake up with a feeling of panic like my heart's gonna beat right out of my chest." "You know what I'm talking about." "But after I spend a few extra hours in bed and do my chanting, the dark time usually passes." "I know it sounds funny, but the first time I embalmed someone it felt like I was coming home." "I just knew that this is what I was meant to do." "That doesn't sound funny at all." "There's something very intimate about it." "I'm the last person on earth who gets to know these people." "Anyway, I guess I take what I do very seriously." "Well, I have no further questions." "Me neither." "Thanks for coming in, Angela." "We'll be in touch." "Great." "It was very nice to meet you." " It was nice to meet you." " Yeah." "Okay." "I'll wait an hour before I call her." "We don't wanna look desperate." "Just find out if she can start tomorrow." "David." "David!" "David!" "Why are you standing there like that?" "I was thinking." "Isn't a person allowed to think?" "You're gonna wish you'd gotten high with me." "I told you, I'm never getting high again." "Oh, doesn't Billy look great?" "So handsome and confident." "Yo, Billy!" "Would you excuse me for one moment?" "Thanks for coming." "I really appreciate it." "Thank God you're here." "My mouth is really dry, and is my breath bad?" "No, it's fine." "So truth." "Is this show good, or is it just pretentious bullshit?" "There're so many people, it's hard to see the pictures." "This is Billy's best work ever, very disturbing." " Really?" " I'm so proud of you, God!" "Why is my mother here?" "Oh, God." "I invited her as part of my ongoing campaign to get her to like me." "I didn't think she'd actually turn up." "You know that some stranger just rubbed my ass?" "Isn't this fabulous?" "Oh, Billy, darling." "Thanks, Mom." "You can't keep him to yourself all the time." "Okay, no offense, but your family is fucked up beyond comprehension." "She's completely tanked." "I brought someone." "I hope that's okay." " Hey, Nikolai." " Hello, Nate, how are you?" " This is Brenda." " Good evening." " Hello, dear." " It's good to see you, Mrs. Fisher." " Where's Hiram?" " He's visiting his son in Portland." "I'm serious, darling, this new stuff is really visceral." "Not at all left-brained like your father." "Yeah." "Hey, so where is Dad?" "Oh, honey, Bern sends his regrets." "He's just heartsick." "Unfortunately, he's treating one of his patients who's undergoing a complete psychotic break at the moment." "That always seems to happen whenever there's something important in my life." "I guess that's just typical Bernard..." "I'm sorry, Bernard Chenowith behavior." "Pretentious dick." "Now, you just hush." "I thought this would be paintings." "I could take photographs." "That doesn't mean they'd be any good." "Mrs. Fisher, I've never seen you having this much fun." "Oh, no, no, no, it's great." "I am having fun just watching you." "Hey, Mr. Seattle co-op hippie boy." "Oh, Margaret Chenowith." "Who are you?" " Ruth Fisher." " Nate's mother." "That explains why you're looking at me like I just took a giant dump on your lawn." "If I knew you were putting on a show tonight I would've bought tickets for all my friends." "Goody, there's Dr. Feinberg." " Hi." " What is he doing here?" "I invited him." "Gareth Feinberg, the guy who wrote the book?" "Yeah, he wrote Charlotte- fucking-Light and Dark." "He's a fucking evil dead fish of a fucking Nazi fuck." "Darling, try not to act so adolescent." "It only makes you look bad." "As opposed to being drunk and slobbering all over my boyfriend who, by the way, is completely not interested." "Isn't this fun?" "Billy, Billy, Billy." "It's quite powerful stuff." "It's..." "It's potent." "That's a word Dr. Feinberg likes to use a lot." "Brenda, I see a lot of you in these photographs." "Hello, Gareth." "Margaret." "Does this have a theme?" "I know you like your things to have a theme." "Mother, nothing is more tedious than when you look for meaning in my work." "I don't need your fucking approval." "Excuse me." " Isn't that beautiful?" " Yeah, it is." "He's good." "Yeah, he is really good." "I only wish he'd believe that." "This one's got real attitude." " Oh, my God." " The light's spectacular." "Brenda, that is a picture of me urinating on a wall." " I realize that." " Hey, what do you think?" "So now you're stalking me?" "No, I just saw you one day when I was taking pictures so I followed you." " You were just out taking pictures?" "You live in Venice!" "There's no reason for you to be in my neighborhood." "You think the world revolves around you." "Bren, would you tell him, please, this isn't about him?" "It's what Billy does." "He takes pictures of people when they're off guard." " He's got a talent." "It's art." " No, it's fucked!" "Thanks a lot." "Look." "That's your son pissing against a wall." "So I should let him humiliate me whenever he wants?" "Oh, God, Nate, don't make this about you." "Why the fuck not?" "This is about me." "You make enough stuff all about you." "So what?" "There's a picture of you pissing on a wall." "Who got hurt?" "Who died?" "You don't think I have a right to not be spied upon?" "You're talking to someone who was spied on her whole life." "God, Billy is severely fucked up, Bren." "I don't like being stalked by a psycho." "Billy is not psychotic." "He has a disease." "He's fine when he takes his meds." "Yeah, well, when the fuck is that?" "Look, has he ever done anything weird?" "Yeah, he's bipolar." "His whole life he's been weird." "Has he ever done anything dangerous?" "Oh, God." "Nate, no." "The only person Billy would ever be a threat to is himself." " Has he ever tried to...?" " Yes." "When I was 18." "I went to Europe for three months." "It was this big reward for me winning a scholarship to Yale." "When I got back to L.A., my mother was at the airport." "She told me that Billy had committed suicide." "My whole life just collapsed in on itself in that moment." "Of course, she meant to say that Billy had tried to commit suicide." "She was drunk, or else it was a Freudian slip." "You never went to Yale." "Billy was in a hospital in Pasadena." "I took some classes at UCLA in the spring." "Then in the fall, he was diagnosed manic-depressive which kicks in in adolescence so it probably had nothing to do with me getting the scholarship." "I can't believe they pressured you into sacrificing your life for your brother." "Nobody pressured me." "I wanted to stay." " Morning." " Morning." "Pee on any walls lately?" "Shut up." "So, Mom, what's with you and Nikolai?" "I don't know what you're talking about." "And Dave, what'd you do last night?" "Nothing." "Saturday night, what happened to that...?" "Person you're seeing?" "That person is no longer in the picture." "Sorry to hear it." "What about you?" " You dating anybody?" " No." "If you are, you don't need to hide him from us like we're lepers." "I'm not dating anyone." "I've just been hanging out a lot with somebody." "Who is this person?" "Nobody." "David, I'm ready to go to church." "Thanks, guys." " Hey, Joey, the kid's ready." " So am I." "This is the most terrifying shower scene since Psycho." "That football game used to make this obnoxious noise when you scored a touchdown." "Do you wanna show me how to play it?" "No." "You know, there's this..." "There's this little kid next door and the only toy he's got is this stupid Mousetrap game from when his mom was a kid." "Maybe, you know, he'd want some of these." "It's a beautiful day." "Why would you waste your Sunday in here watching TV?" "What are you doing?" "I thought that Tony Rechner next door might want some of these." "Just keep your hands off them." "She doesn't even look me in the eyes anymore." "Come on, I wanna show you something funny." "Come on." "Come on." "We're going on a field trip?" "This is like the first day of school." "I am so excited." "Oh, and I just wanna apologize in advance because I had calamari last night for dinner." " What do you mean?" " Let's just say this is one time where the strong smell of formaldehyde really comes in handy." "So then I said, "I don't care if you have a low sperm count." "I mean, I'll just shove a turkey baster up there if I have to. "" "I mean, I wanna have a child before I turn 40." "That's fair, right?" "Hello, everyone." "Hi." "How was church?" "Nate told me you're a deacon." "That's adorable." "I see you've made yourself at home." "Angela doesn't like to feel constrained." "Well, you know, my glands go double-time." "I find if I wear too much while I work, I get all pitted." "Angela, we're sort of used to a more professional appearance around here." "Give me a break, David, they're just nipples." "I mean, we've all seen them." "We've all touched them." "We've all sucked on them." "It's not like this guy will be lying in the casket and people will be saying, "Oh, my God, the embalmer's nipples were hard. "" "They'll be saying, "How did they put his face back together after he went through the goddamn windshield?"" "I told Father Jack I'd help with the food distribution downtown." "I just wanted to make sure that your first day was going okay." "Well, thanks." "I'm all gassy, but that's not your fault." "Angela had calamari last night." "Boy, he's a barrel of laughs." "It's hard when a new person comes into a situation." "It throws everything off balance." "Bren, I am not threatened by your boyfriend." "Oh, yeah?" "Your behavior consistently communicates otherwise." "You want the picture out of the show, fine." "But don't spout psychobabble at me like fucking Margaret and Bernard." " You're, like, becoming them." " Fuck you!" "You know what you did was wrong." "That's why you didn't show it to me." " Why are you making it such a big deal?" " Because I love him!" "You're fucking with my life, Billy, and it's not fair." "You have to stop." " Or what?" " Goddamn it, Billy, what is it with you?" "You like fucking with my brain like Feinberg?" " Thank you." " You're welcome." "Can I get you anything else?" "I can always use a good blowjob." "Hey, do I get my fucking lunch or not?" " I'm going to get a drink of water." " Yeah, sure." "Melinda Daner, Mark Whitman Darryl Heinz, Keith Charles." "Okay, well, just tell them we'll meet them at the usual corner on Tuesday." "Okay." " Hi, Tracy." " Oh, hi, David." " How have you been?" " Fine." "I love your new hair." "What are you working on?" "St. Stephen's is sending over some volunteers to help out next week." "Someone told me that you used to go to St. Stephen's." "Not that I've been asking around about you." "It just came up naturally." "So did you?" "Go there, I mean." " Yeah, just for a few months last year." " They're a very progressive church." "Yes, they are." "The guy who took these is a total psycho." "It's good." "Well, we should probably get going if we wanna see that movie." "I should probably get home and check on my mom." "I'm sure she's doing fine." "I'm sorry." "It's not like I was dying to see a movie." "That's not what I'm talking about." "I'm sorry about what happened between us." "I never meant for those assholes to write shit on your car." "I shouldn't have told Andy about us." "I was just being stupid." "That was me being really, really, really stupid and I'm sorry." "Well, thank you." "Look, I don't wanna make a big deal out of this." "All I'm saying is, I sat around last week in that stupid getup you wanted me to wear and had to say all this, you know, "Daddy this" and "Daddy that" bullshit." "When I tell you I keep reading articles about having this one-hour orgasm well, the least you could do is try to help me have one." "I'm sorry men can't have it." "Since you guys get everything else on the planet it seems like a fair tradeoff." "Fine." "Goodbye." "You know, Angela, my brother likes a certain decorum when you're working with someone's loved one." "Yeah?" "Well, the personal calls are probably a little uncool." "Oh, right, got it." "I won't do it when he's around." "Hello." "Hey." "Really?" "Why don't you want me to come over?" "Damn it, Brenda, you always do this." "You're shutting me out." "Look, the pissing thing is no longer an issue, I swear." "Look, maybe you'd feel better if I came over." "All right, fine, whatever." "Fine." " Girlfriend trouble?" " Not really trouble." "Tell me what the fight was about, and I'll tell you what to say to fix it." "I mean, trust me, this is my thing." "We didn't have a fight." "She just pulls away from me at the weirdest times." "Well, maybe she senses that you're pulling away so she just does it first." "Maybe you should mind your own business." "Shoot." "I guess this means I can't ask about the pissing?" "Because I had an ex who wanted to pee on me, and I wasn't grossed out." "I mean, I just thought it was kind of silly." "But that's me." "Thank you for taking me to the art gallery last night." "I thought you hated those pictures." "No, no, it's just that I don't like them, that's all." "But it was nice to be spending time with you." "I mean, outside of working together." "Would you like to go to dinner sometime?" " Is that like a date?" " Of course not." "Good, I pick you up tomorrow night, 8:00." "I don't wanna go, okay?" "Just stop asking me." "Okay, fine." "I was only inviting you to be nice." "Nobody even wants you there because you've been acting so weird lately." "Gabe?" " We have to be someplace." " Get lost, Morticia." "Shut up, peanut-testicle." "Fuck off, the both of you." "What's his problem?" "Nothing." "He wants me to go to this party tomorrow." "I'm just not in the mood." "We can do something if you want." "Actually, I gotta go to Barstow tomorrow and spend the night at my dad's." "I gotta ask him for money for my mom." "Not that he's gonna give it to me, but..." "Well, do you want company?" "Claire, you don't have to keep taking care of me." "I'm not." "I just like hanging out." "We could just go for the drive." "Then you go see your dad and I'll stay in some, like, creepy motel and read a Stephen King book." "Okay." "Meet me after fifth period tomorrow by the gym." "Oh, this is just what I need today." "I see this is payback time for my missing your opening." "Just shut up!" "Both of you, for once, just shut your fucking mouths." "All that comes out of you is garbage, garbage, garbage!" "Okay." "Good, we have a dialogue." " Where did you get this?" " From his office." "It's all the data Feinberg has on Brenda." "It's all destroyed." "He can go to where he came from before he fucked her up." "You're off the hook." "Obviously, this has nothing to do with you missing his show." "Don't fucking talk about me like I'm not here!" "Even though I'm not and never have been." "Son, what's wrong?" "Just tell us." "There's nothing wrong with me." "I didn't sell my daughter to some smug, star-fucking psychiatrist so he could pick her apart like a goddamn cadaver and turn her into shit and garbage just like everything you touch!" " Billy, sweetheart..." " You bitch!" "You're the fucking nurse." "You wanna tie us up, lock us in a room, leave us to die." "Well, you're the one that should die, you and him!" "You don't get to touch the children." "I refuse to be an audience for this." "Oh, boy." "You can juice her, but you better let me take care of that skin." "This guy has a really sinewy neck." "Sinewy." "I love saying that word, don't you?" " I don't know." " I went out with this guy once he had a really sinewy neck." "He was a total animal in bed." "I mean, the things he could do with his tongue." "He thought he was God's gift to women." "I guess in that one respect he was." " So do you like sinewy necks, David?" " I never really thought about it." "Hey, I'm just trying to figure out your type." "Believe me, I can tell you're single." "And I know about a million people I can set you up with." "So, what kind of guys do you like?" "What makes you think that I like men?" "Oh, please, let's not play that game." " I think we should fire her." " I'm thinking the same thing." " Has she made a lot of mistakes?" " No." "She's a little hard to take." "She's a lot hard to take." "Sometimes people are hard to take but only because the first side they present is annoying or aggressive because they're nervous." "After you spend some time with them you realize maybe there's another side to them that's worth knowing." "Or not." "I have no idea what I'm talking about." "Sorry I'm late." "By the way, I won't be here for dinner tomorrow, so everyone's on their own." "Actually, I'm going to be volunteering with the food distribution." "Well, that leaves you and me, Claire." "You wanna go to the Apple Pan?" "Can't." "I have to do this astronomy overnight thing at the observatory for school." " I didn't hear about this." "I told you." "You probably weren't listening." "That's the type of thing I would listen to." "David and Nate did it when they went to Bonaventure." "David, you did this?" " Yeah, I had to." " You too, Nate?" "Back then we thought Pluto was a planet." " When did Pluto stop being a planet?" " A few months ago." "Well, I suppose it's okay for you to go." "Luckily, Gareth isn't going to press charges." "But I did promise him that steps would be taken to remedy the situation." "I wish I'd been there to see the look on Feinberg's face." "I'm sure he started with his whole blinking thing." "Brenda, we have a serious problem." "Okay, I'll talk to Billy's doctor, see if he needs to be on different medication." "We were thinking of something a little more involved." "Your mother and I feel that he needs to go away for intensive therapy." "There's a very good facility in Colorado." "You wanna put Billy in an institution?" "Oh, please, let's not turn this into a 1950s B-movie." "This place is run by excellent psychiatric specialists who may have some creative solution to help Billy." "You wanna give him shock treatment." "Darling, really, this dramatic streak, aren't you a little old for it?" "And just for the record, electroconvulsive therapy's had a real resurgence in the last 10 years with very impressive results." " You can't do this." " We think it's best." "It certainly makes your lives easier." "God forbid Billy should embarrass you in front of your stupid celebrity friends." "Unfortunately, he's an adult which means you can't have him committed unless he does something dangerous." "Darling?" "We were thinking if you talked to him, explained how it would help him..." "Fuck you both." "You're out of your minds." "Hi, I'm Angela." "You must be Ruth." "Yes." "I spilled some beet salad on someone's wig so David said I should eat up here." "I got the stains out." "Everyone in my family gets cancer, so I know tons about taking care of wigs." "Is that yours?" "The hair, I mean." "As far as I know." "It's beautiful." "Thank you." "I don't wanna be one of those menopausal women that goes all dykey with the butch haircut." "So Nate says that you're dating a hairdresser." "That is so lucky." "If he's good, I'd love to know if he can do anything with this mop." "Does your boyfriend come around?" "He's not exactly my boyfriend." "Oh, come on, you're blushing." "Must be pretty serious." "Is it?" "Is it serious, or is it just hot sex?" "I'm really not in the mood to discuss my personal life." "You have one new message." "Hey, it's me." "Look, it's better if I just go by myself." "You should probably just not worry about it, okay?" "Thank you for trying to..." "To..." "Look, just..." "Thank you." "So that's..." "That's it, I guess." "Goodbye, Claire." "This is disgusting." "You have crap in here from the '80s." "Billy, I'll get a plumber, somebody who actually knows what they're doing." "Would you look at me?" "I'd really like to talk to you." "I take it you spoke to Mom and Dad." "Look, I don't know what happened that day." "You know, I was on new meds." "They weren't working." "It wasn't my fault." "But don't worry." "I've already been to my doctor and changed my dosage." "And I already feel more even." "Billy, I need to know if I should be worried about you." "You shouldn't." "I swear." " Yeah?" " Yeah." "My God, you could eat off this skin." "Angela does her job perfectly." "What about the hairs in her mole?" "Rico would've never left those there." "Angela had a long philosophical debate about it and decided the nieces would wanna remember her exactly how she was." "I'd like to know the meaning of this." "Nikolai is picking me up to go to dinner and I was planning to serve him sherry beforehand." "I wanted to use the goblets I got from my cousin Hannah's trip to Dresden." "Now I can't because someone broke this and hoped I wouldn't notice it." " Which one of you did this?" " It wasn't me." "Well, it wasn't me." " It was Angela." " Oh, it was definitely Angela." "Hi." "David." "What are you doing here?" "I volunteer with these guys a couple times a week." "Oh, I just started." " You need some help?" " Yeah, sure." "David." "David!" " David." " I'm dying." "No, you can't, not before we make love one last time." "Okay." "I thought you were gonna help." " So how've you been?" " Good." "You?" "I'm okay." "I've driven by hundreds of times, but I never knew this place existed." "Is best restaurant in all of Los Angeles, and not outrageous prices too." " Lotte, Irina." " What a surprise this is." "You usually do not come in on Tuesday night." " Well, I..." " Can we join you?" "Please." "Maybe another time." "No, no, she says it's okay." "So you must be Nicky's special friend we all keep hearing about." "You must be thinking of someone else." "No." "You lost your husband." "You work for Nicky." "You used to fix dead people." "Oh, I suppose that is me." "This is Ruth." "So that guy I saw you with at the club, is that a serious thing?" "Eddie?" "Not really." "Not yet." "Those drugs I saw you taking, is that a serious thing?" "No, no." "I just tried them once." "I don't think I'll be trying them again." "I'm glad to hear you say that." "You know what that shit has done to my sister." "It can seriously fuck up your life, David." "I'd hate to see that happen." "It was stupid, I know." "I was just..." "You know, Rico left." "It was just Nate and me." "Not that it's an excuse." "What's up with that kid I saw you with at the club?" "Let's just say it was a learning experience." "Everyone else has gone home." "I don't know what you two are waiting for." "David, this isn't one of your regular shifts." "Is there any special reason you showed up here tonight?" "No." "Oh, well..." "Well, good night, you two." "Good night." "You hungry?" "I'm always hungry." "You fucking bitch!" "I would like to tear your heart out like you have torn out mine." "There's supposed to be a picture of Nate peeing on a wall." " I see it." " I don't." "Four from the left." "Oh, my God." "What'd your mom say when she saw that?" "She was kind of horrified, I think." "How is your mom?" "She's dating." "It's weird." " Why?" " Because she's my mother." "She's not supposed to date." "People should be with people." "Yeah, sometimes people are just too stupid to know it." "How's your taco?" "Disgusting." "I had no idea about you and Nikolai." "For six years, every Saturday night, I cook for him dinner." "And then he take me to a $2.50 movie on Fairfax." "Then you come along, and he stop calling." "I have to see every goddamn film this Freddie Prinze Jr." "Does and what do I have to show for it?" "I'm sorry." "Do you want to marry Nicky or not?" "Marriage is the last thing I would ever want again." "Maybe I have an amusing flirtation with Nikolai but he scares me." "Best of all, I have this job something I never would have predicted for myself." "And I love it because it's mine." "And I would never do anything to jeopardize that which means I should probably just finish dinner with Nikolai and go home." "Thank you." "I've had the best time coming to this funny restaurant and having you yell at me in the bathroom." "Do you realize the whole time we were going out I was never in your bedroom at night?" " Well you're here now, aren't you?" "Whoa, this is not the David I know." "Maybe this is the real me." " I'm not sure we should..." " Why not?" "Well, I'm kind of seeing somebody right now." " I don't care." " Well, I do." "Come on, David!" "Why'd you come up here, if you weren't into something happening?" "To talk to you, to see how you were doing, to be friends." " I don't wanna be friends." "I wanna fuck." " Well, I'm not into that." "Can't we just have sex?" "It doesn't have to mean anything." "It's getting late." "I should just go." "You take care of yourself." "Claire, what are you doing here?" "I thought David and I covered for you, so you could be out having fun." "What's wrong?" "Shit, there's this really big hole in my sock." " Maybe Gabe just wanted to be alone." " I know." " Is he your boyfriend?" " No." "It's just he needs me." "For the first time in my life, I felt important, like someone needed me you know, like, not just like some annoying extra person just lumped in with everyone else." "No one's ever needed me." "I need you." "Right." "I felt this really intense connection." "Now it's just gone." "And I want it back." "I want him back." "Is there something wrong with me?" "Is there something about me that makes me deserve something like this?" "Deserve what?" "Just feeling really close to someone then having them just disappear like I mean nothing." "Claire, Gabe just went to visit his father for a day." "I think you're talking about Dad." "Look, we never talk about him." "And that's okay, if that's what you want." "But at some point you're gonna have to deal with how you feel." "Oh, God, can't I just get upset without having to focus on what's really making me upset?" "Well, it worked for me for 34 years." "Hey." "Hey, who's this?" "Jim." "Who's this?" "Steve." "So, what do you look like?" "I'm 6'2", 190 pounds." "I'm a professional boxer." " Yeah?" "What's your dick like?" " Nine and a half inches, uncut." " So, what are you looking for?" " A nasty top to fuck my brains out." "Found him." "Now, get on your knees and suck my cock, boy." "Oh, fuck." "Yes, sir." "Oh, yes." "I don't care what time it is." "I need to be with someone." "Someone, that's comforting." "Okay, I wanna talk to you." "If this is about Billy, I can't." "I've done nothing but talk about Billy for two days." "Well, what's happening with him?" "Look I know this is really hard for you." "I've had some time to calm down about the picture so you can just spill your guts to me, okay?" "I promise not to make it about me." "I'm too tired." "You know what?" "I love you, and I need you." "And it's okay for you to need me too." "I want you to need me." "I'm doing the best I can." "Rough night, stud?" "You're fired." "Fuck." "Yoo-hoo, Brenda!" "Brenda, I know you're home." "Your car's out front." "I don't know what's so strange about a spontaneous brunch." "I think it's fun." "It's weird." "You don't do things like this." "You pay people to do things like this." " Oh, hello, Nate." " Hey." "Now I see why you're so upset that I'm here." "My mother's come over to see if I talked Billy into committing himself." "She just loves saying that." "It makes her father and I sound more like monsters." "Well, I didn't do it, and I'm not going to." "Goddamn it!" "I asked for chives, and they give me this veggie crap." "Brenda there's something you don't know about Billy." "Oh, here we go." "You know when you were in Europe that summer?" "Billy didn't try to kill himself." "What?" "Your father and I had gotten back from a conference to find our house on fire." "It started right below the family room." "Remember, we had it redone when you were away?" "Yeah, but Billy was..." "I went to visit him in the hospital." "He was there all summer." "Your father and I put him there." "We had no choice." "That fire wasn't accidental, Brenda." "He was making a bomb." "This is getting really fucking desperate." "What, now Billy's the Unabomber?" "He had written things." "Ugly, violent things about your father and me about you." "He was dangerous." "You let me believe for all these years that Billy tried to kill himself." "We were only trying to protect you, honey." "Get out of my house." "Get out of my house, you fucking lunatic!" " It's a wonder I'm even alive." " Hello?" " You're like fucking Medea!" " Dave, this is a really bad time." "You know what the really sick thing is, Mother?" "You have no idea what you've done to me." "Brenda." " Brenda, hang on." " I'll call you later, Nate when that asshole's out of my house." "Dave, I gotta go." "What, you fired her already?" "Oh, for chrissake." "You should've lined up somebody." "Why are you whispering?" "I'm hiding up here until she finishes Mrs. Sarno." "So which of those other people did you like best?" "Look, let's not make any quick decisions." "I guess I could probably live with the panic-attack guy." "I've got a better idea." "Hey, Rico." "Bad time?" "No, everyone's at lunch except me and Pam." "You're one of the Fishers, aren't you?" "Cigarette break." "But I gotta be back in 10 because I told Gilardi I'd have this one done when he got back." "The subscriber you've called is outside the service..." "Oh, great." "Fucking hell." "Here, let me help you." "Shit." "I don't know why I brought so much stuff here." "I guess I'm just a nester." "I should've told you that I broke the goblet." " It was a gift from my cousin." " Yeah, trip to Dresden." "I heard." "I don't know why I didn't just tell you." "It's totally unlike me." "I usually just say whatever I'm thinking." "I noticed." "But I saw that broken glass and I just was overcome with this feeling that it was better to just ignore it just pretend that it didn't happen." "I get that feeling from all of you here." "Everyone is so fragile and can't bear to hear anything." "Is that everything?" "I mean, all I did was try to fix David up with this guy and I thought he was gonna kill me." "I never met anyone who was so uptight about being gay." "Thanks." "You know something?" "I never worked in a funeral home that was this depressing." "Tell me you're happier here, and I'll go." "It's not perfect." "These body farms are a fucking assembly line." "And I've got like 12 idiots breathing down my neck." "At Fisher  Sons you only get two of those at the most." "And Gilardi lied to me." "My hours are nothing like he said they'd be." "And the work here is not even as challenging, you know?" "Nate it was Kroehner who burned down the house across the street." "Gilardi's told people that he's not done trying to drive you guys out of business." "Does that mean it doesn't make sense for you to come back?" "No, but if I do, you have to match what I'm making here plus guarantee me flexible hours for picking up Julio and helping when the baby comes." " Done." "And if I do decide to come back it's not for good." "I'm never gonna become a partner, am I?" "I can't offer you that unless you wanna marry Claire." "No, thank you." "Okay, I can start in a couple of days." "Thank you." "That makes me very happy, and it will make David very happy." "Yeah." "Hey, I heard there's some picture of you in a gallery peeing." "Is that true?" "I just wanted to get Gabe's father's number, so I could talk to him." "Well, why would Gabe's stepfather know where Gabe was?" "No, his father, the one who lives in Barstow." "Yeah, Gabe's father died when he was 4." "Yeah." "Oh, if you should run into Gabe would you tell him I really don't appreciate his staying out all night?" "So that's..." "That's it, I guess." "Goodbye, Claire." "Mrs. Dimas?" "Mrs. Dimas?" "Mrs. Dimas?"