"My house, 7:30." "Good night, Iris." "See you." "Have a good weekend." "Hey, stop him!" "He's got my purse!" "Wait a minute!" "Ow!" "Oh!" "Oh!" "Give me my purse, god damn it!" "Give it to me!" "Give me my purse, you little bastard!" "Oh, god!" "Oh, god!" "Oh!" "Ow!" "Hey!" "You ok?" "Oh, oh, lady!" "Lady!" "Lady!" "Lady, hold it, I'm trying to help you." "Where'd he go?" "Why don't you go after him?" "He's in the next state by now." "We're not going to catch him." "He's got my paycheck..." "my whole week's paycheck." "Are you ok?" "My house keys were in there, my wallet, my credit cards my rosary, my kids' pictures." "That little bastard." "Wrong, lady." "That was a big bastard." "You're out of your head to run after somebody like that." "Let him have the purse." "Let him have it." "Give it to him." "Give it to him." "I'd like to give him a knee where he lives." "Jeez, he could have been high." "You're lucky." " How come I don't feel lucky, mister?" " It's only money." "Yeah, but it's my money." "When it's yours, you can be a philosopher." "Whew!" "Thank you." "You ok?" " Are you all right?" " It's ok." "I see you at work." "You work in the bakery?" "I'm in the canteen." "Behind the mashed potatoes." "Nobody ever looks at the cook." "Well, um..." "Thanks." "You were really nice to stick your neck out back there." "You could have gotten hurt." "I didn't." "Well, it's lucky you were on the bus." "I don't usually take the bus, but they stole my bike." "Thanks." "Um, would you take some money, and I don't know, have a beer on me?" "Lady, I don't want your money." " Anyway, you don't have any." " Yes, I do." "I keep a 5-dollar bill rolled up in my shoe." "Here." "No, no." "Keep it for the next time." "There's not going to be a next time." "I believe you." "I'm Stanley Cox." "Iris King." "Stay out of harm's way, Mrs. King." " I'll try, Mr. Cox." " Good." " Good night." " Good night." " What did the doctor say?" " They're going to do a scrape." " When?" " A couple of weeks." " You going to have to stay over?" " Nope." "In and out." "What's the matter with you?" "I'm not going to discuss my plumbing with everyone at this table." "There must have been 500 guys at the employment office today." "I saw everybody I know." "This one guy brought a broom and swept off the sidewalk out front, just for something to do." "Can you believe that?" "Too bad it wasn't you." " Did they have anything?" " An opening for a hairdresser." "I didn't do much better." "I can't run a computer, and I can't give a pedicure, and that's all there was, so, we won't be paying you anything this week or next." "I didn't ask." "No, but you're making us count every roll of toilet paper." "You're making us use the soap down to the last sliver." "You know, I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to be." "I'd be in my own house, with my own Drexel furniture and air conditioning." "We're all in the same lifeboat, Sharon." "Don't rock it." "Where did you get the money for beer?" "Huh?" "I'm asking you!" "Where did you get the money for beer?" "You stole my money!" "All right, I've been holding out on you." "I've been saving up to get my teeth fixed." "I'm not getting my face lifted to go to Hollywood." "And he stole it!" "You had my paycheck when I had one." "I needed a drink." "You took the money for my teeth, you bastard!" "I'm not a piece of garbage you can smell a block away." "I'm a man." "You bastard!" "You bastard!" "You..." "Out." "Out, kids." "Walk around the block." "Well, that's a first for this house." "Oh..." "How long do you think we'll have to stay out here?" "I don't know." "Until they cool off, I guess." "I cleaned up the kitchen." "I cleaned up my sister." "You should have called the cops on me." "I couldn't have made your bail." "We fight a hell of a lot, Sharon and me." "It started at city hall and never quit." "Why'd you marry her?" "She was cute." "None of us stay cute." "You and George had a hell of a marriage." "He wasn't even a good-looking guy." "Yes, he was." "He didn't make a big living." "He made enough." "But the guy was dying." "You slept on the floor by his bed." "You washed him." "You cleaned up his mess." "You held him up on the toilet." "Maybe I married the wrong sister." "Go to bed, Joe." "I bought a bunch of condoms yesterday." "From now on, nobody is getting in without one." "Yeah, well, you got rush-hour traffic." "I haven't got anybody to give one to." "I can fix you up with somebody, but he's a little older." "How old?" "He fought in World War II." "Too old." "Give me Korea, give me Vietnam." "How about The National Guard?" "I just want to get pregnant and get out of here." "You'll be back." "It takes 2 incomes." "Where's your husband, Bertha?" "Doing time, just like me." "Are they ready?" "Uh..." "Yeah." "I stretched them as far as they'd go." "Try them on." "Oh, they're still too tight." "Cheap shoes." "Actually, maybe they are a little better." "Oh, hi." "Hello." "Goodness." "Hello." "Hi." "Brown brogues." "Got a ticket?" "You didn't give me a ticket." "Nah, you got a ticket." "We don't take shoes without giving tickets." "You didn't give me one." "No, everybody gets a ticket." "I didn't." "You lost it." "No, I didn't get a ticket." "Everybody gets a ticket." "I didn't get a ticket." "You said it cost $2.00." "Here's the $2.00." "I didn't get a ticket." "Everybody gets a ticket." "Mister, I'm going to describe the shoes to you, ok?" "And then you can give them to me." "They're brown brogues." "They're right over there, right behind you." "Well, if you don't got a ticket, you got to sign for them." "Just give me the shoes." "Put your name down." "Just give me the shoes." "Write your name down." "Don't wrap them." "Just hand them to me." "Put your signature down... that guy's crazy." "He wanted his shoes, and he paid for them." "Hey, we've been waiting 15 minutes!" "Do you believe that?" "Might as well walk." "You can't even get a bus!" "What kind of service is this?" "I've been on my feet all day." "Bus out again?" "Yeah." "Third time this week." "Want a ride home?" "Well, guess it beats waiting around for another 30 minutes." "Ok." "Have fun." "Hey, honey, you got room for one more?" "I see you got your bike back." "No, I had to buy another one secondhand." "You don't drive a car?" "I like a bike better..." "cleaner, cheaper." "I'd take a new green chevy if I could make the payments." "This town's getting too big." "I'd like to move to the country, away from people." "Get some 'Rhode Island Reds', some cows for milk, maybe put a hex sign up on my barn." "How about some barbed wire?" "Oh, a mean dog would do." "Have you always been a cook?" "I'm a good cook." "I like to cook." "Oh, listen, excuse me, but the food in the canteen is lousy." "The boss is cheap." "He won't buy good stuff." "You got to buy good stuff for good food." "With me, it's got to come out of a box or a can, whatever's fast." "That's my house." "Hi, Stanley!" "Hi!" "And that's my father." "You still live at home with your father?" "I wasn't born until he was 50." "He likes to have me around." "Does he get along with your wife?" "I don't have one." "You live at home with your father, you do your own cooking, and you're not married." "Is that the whole story?" "I think that's about as much as I'm going to talk about." "All right." "What do you do with yourself after work?" "I go to the movies." "Alone?" "I take a bag of popcorn." "You don't mix much, do you?" "No." "You got something that's catching?" "I think I'm about out of small talk." "I didn't stick my thumb out, Mr. Cox." "You offered to give me a ride." "This is it, right here." "Thanks for the lift." "Yes, ma'am." "A guy broke into the house across the street and bashed an old lady over the head." "It wasn't you, was it?" "You don't have to be scared of me, lady." "I don't even kill mosquitoes." "I'm home." "Chicken and peas and potatoes, please." "Thanks." "I'll have the same." "Chicken..." "Peas..." "And potatoes." "Chicken." "Peas." " Peas." " Peas." "Bobby, you want to check the fruit for me?" "I'm on top of it!" "Uh, that shirt's going to run." "You ought to separate the whites from the color." "I wash everything together..." "Including my socks." "One load is four quarters." "You put in a pretty long day." "Oh, I don't mind." "Gets me out of the house." "Just sit here and watch the wash go round and round." "Read my magazine." "There's a chinese take-out next door." "Can I buy you an egg roll?" "You sure can." "How long since he passed away?" "My husband?" "Mm-hmm." "Forever." "8 months." "How are you getting along?" "It's a heavy load." "Sometimes my knees bend." "Did he leave you insurance?" "They canceled." "So money's tight." "Well, I'm not going to take any vacations in Bermuda this year." "If I'm lucky, I'll get a day in Boston." "Oh, I'd love to go to Boston for a day, stay in a hotel and have room service." "You know, where they charge you" "$2.50 for a cup of coffee and bring it to you in a little silver pot and put a chocolate on your pillow and turn your bed down for you." "I went to the Grand Canyon once." "I walked all the way down to the bottom." "Stayed there 6 days and 6 nights." "Slept in a bedroll." "Didn't see anybody." "Didn't say anything to anybody." "The best time I ever had." "6 days?" "Oh, god, it would drive me crazy." "You don't have to fight for anything." "You don't have to explain anything." "You don't have to dodge anything." "You just feed the whitetail deer, and you watch the sun go down." "You see, I like bright lights, and a lot of people." "I see you're feeling pretty good today." "You're wearing your pink sweater." "That's what you wear when you feel good." "When you feel bad, you wear the gray one." "I only have 2 sweaters." "Am I right or wrong?" "You're watching me." "You stand out." "Let's take a look at these fortune cookies." ""Make new friends and trust them. "" "Did you write this?" "No, but it seems like pretty good advice." "Ha!" "What did you get?" "Here." "Open it." "No, no point in opening mine." "I'm not lucky." "Oh." "I better go pick up my wash." "Ok." "We need a refill on shrink wrap!" "You were 15 minutes in the toilet." "You get a 5-minute break on this line." "I had cramps." "Have them in 5 minutes." "That's your limit." "And you, get your hair up inside your net!" "Fuck this factory and fuck him." "Oh, looks like we got ourselves a new flavor." "Back to the salt bagel mines." "Oh, god, the smell of chocolate chip cookies is giving me a headache." "We need a longer break." "You got a tylenol?" "No." "Yeah, yeah, look under the counter, right in front of you." "Got a bunch of stuff in there." "That's rolaids." "That's sine-aid." "Never mind." "Hey, Cox, somebody's ass is going in the meat grinder." "And don't tell me you're going to call your Union, because I'm going to call the cops." "$2,000 worth of purchase orders for this kitchen never got here." "What, do you think I'm upstairs chewing on a dead cigar?" "I got a bookkeeper, and maybe she's got bad breath, but she's got good eyes." "What happened to my mayonnaise?" "What happened to my 150 pounds of coffee?" "What happened to my tuna fish?" "Come on, who's getting fat off of me?" "It isn't Stanley Cox." "Who are you?" "What do you know?" "You know something I don't know?" "He can't read, and he can't write, so it isn't him." "Do you mind if I sit down?" "I don't feel much like company." "I gave you away, didn't I?" "Yes, ma'am, you did." "You were headed for trouble." "Lady, I'm always in trouble." "It's nothing to be ashamed of." "Is that right?" "You don't rob banks." "I can't open an account in one." "What do you do with your money?" "Keep it under my mattress like a skid-row bum." "I never thought what it would be like." "You're in a city." "You can't read the street signs." "You're lost." "You grab people." "You stop them." "You ask 3 people." "You ask 4 people." ""Which way?" "Where do I go?" "How do I get there?"" "You can't take a bus." "You can't read where it's going." "You can't drive a car because you can't get a license." "You ask yourself," ""have I got a name if I can't write it?" "Am I a human being if I can't read it?"" "Why don't you do something about it?" "Hey, Cox, could you shut off the water?" "I want to talk to you for a minute." "I got some bad news for you." "This is your last day." "Could you pick up your paycheck?" "You had some complaints?" "No, as a matter of fact, you make a pretty good stew." "So, what's the beef?" "Hey, listen, you can't read, you know?" "You could pick up the wrong box." "Try to pick up a box of salt and get a box of roach powder or something." "Hey, you're dangerous." "I could have a lot of sick people around here." "I could have a lot of lawsuits around here." "Hey, you know, you're a good man." "You show up on time for work and everything, but everybody sues nowadays, you know?" "All right, swab the toilets." "Make sure you do the seats, too, and around the base." "Sometimes they miss." "Any writing on the walls... off." "There's more telephone numbers in there than the city directory." "Hey, you sure you want this job?" "Yeah." "Ok." "Apple pickers." "You, you, you, and you." "That's all." "Let's go." "Let's go." "You're not, uh, currently employed, then?" "No." "The social worker says you don't have a place of residence anymore?" "I'm living in a garage." "We can't have your father there, can we?" "Ok, uh, just a few questions." "Can he manage the toilet all right?" "Yes." "Is he taking any medication?" "No." "Well, that's remarkable, for a man his age." "Any problem with his memory?" "It's clean." "He's smart, and he's broke." "There'll be 4 in his room." "We'll try to get him a window bed." "Dinner's at 5:00." "He can have an evening snack if he wants it, and we do have a television room." "I'll be all right here." "Good." "Good." "Let me see the view." "That's nice." "Ha!" "Look, they have a birdbath out there." "Oh, yeah." "If I get a good job, dad, you'll be out the next day." "Looks like a good bed." "I don't want you laying around in it." "I want you to stay up, go for a walk, find somebody to play cards with." "I'll find somebody." "If you need an extra blanket, you tell them, ok?" "I am not afraid to open my mouth." "If you don't like the food, you tell me." "I'll bring you something." "All right." "A deli sandwich, some fruit." "All right." "And I'll come every sunday." "I'll be glad to see you." "Ahem." "Uh..." "Yeah." "You've been a good father, pop." "I'm sorry." "Don't kill me off." "I'm still a good father." "You never laid a hand on me." "I'm going to now." "Eh..." "The doctor says you're pregnant." "Well, are you?" "If he says so, I guess I am." "This is all news to you?" "How was I supposed to know?" "I'm always missing." "You had to let me show up here and get slapped in the face with it." "I didn't know." "Who is it?" "I'm not telling you." "You always treat me like a little kid." "You know, do this, do that." "And I'm not a little kid anymore." "This is all to get at me?" "Maybe." "You're 5 months pregnant because I made you clean your closets and get in by 10:00?" "Maybe." "Who is it?" "I'll see you in hell first." "What do you think you're doing?" "She's my mother." "You two want to take this home and settle it there?" "How is she?" "I don't know." "We're not talking." "You're responsible for a baby." "You know that." "You got to plan for it, want it, take care of it, feed it, raise it, get it through diaper rash, get it through measles." "It's not just a jolt of semen." "It's a human being." "It needs clothes, it needs shots, it needs to go to school." "And I'll tell you something else." "Look at me." "I'm not going to look after it." "I've got to keep my job and take care of my own family, and you got to take care of yours." "I'll manage." "You'll manage?" "You're still sleeping with your teddy bear." "I'll stay with a friend if you don't want me." "A girl's best friend is her mama." "At least that's what it says on the greeting cards." "Thanks." "It's sweet, isn't it?" "Good." "Mr. Cox, I'm sorry." "We tried to call you a number of times." "We sent a telegram." "He went peacefully in the night." "The truth is, when they come into a place like this, they tend to go downhill pretty fast." "Well, you'll want these." "There are a few things for the death certificate." "Leonides Cox." "It's Leonides?" "That's an unusual name." "How do you spell it?" "Mr. Cox." "I don't know." "Oh, god." "Mrs. King!" "Hello." "Haven't seen you around." "I'm working in the car wash now." "How's it going?" "It's just work." "Can I ask you something?" "Sure, yeah, go ahead." "You don't have an umbrella." "No, no, I'm ok." "What is it?" "Uh, I've been thinking..." "Yeah?" "And, uh, do you have any spare time?" "Not much, but what's on your mind?" "I thought maybe..." "I'll talk to you some other time." "Hey, you've come out now." "Let it go, let it go." "Ok." "I have to, because I'm going to miss my bus." "What is it?" "Come on, what is it?" "I wanted to ask you if, uh, if you could do something." "I shouldn't have started this." "I'll be around." "Oh, wait!" "Teach me to read." "What does that say?" ""Man builds no structure which outlives a book. "" "I'm making too late a start." "You're making a start, Mr. Cox." "Excuse me." "Do you have..." "It's a questionnaire." "It's supposed to break the ice between us, help us to get to know each other." "Let's get it over with." "Student name?" "Stanley Everett Cox." "Everett?" "My grandmother's brother." ""Interviewed by... " That's me, Iris King." "Ok, number one." ""Name something you enjoy doing. "" "What are they getting at?" "They want to find out about you." "I don't see the point." "They just want to know the kind of things you like to do..." "you know..." "Hunting, fishing, stuff like that." "This is not going in an FBI file." "I make contraptions." "I invent them." "Why do you enjoy doing that?" "I'm good at it." "Did you ever go to school?" "50 schools." "One for every state of the Union." ""Where were you born?"" "Hillside, New Jersey." ""Name 3 things you wish you could read. "" "I don't know." "I wouldn't know what to pick." "Well, I suppose the daily newspaper." "I'd like to read a baseball scoreboard." "I like the game." ""Name something you wish you could write. "" "That's easy." "A big check." ""Finish this sentence." "I hope that... "" "I hope I don't make a damn fool of myself." ""Finish this question." "I wonder if... "" "I wonder if I'm smart enough." ""Finish this sentence." "I'm good at... "" "I'm good at getting the right teacher." "It's a seiko!" "Thanks, mom." "That's for making your bed and graduating grammar school... and putting the toilet seat down for us ladies." "All right, mine's next." "Hey." "Most of the time, that is." "You look just like your old man." "You walk like him." "You act like him." "He's a hard act to follow, Richard." "You're going to do him proud." "Honey." "Honey." "Oh, I've got to quit this." "Oh, listen, go ahead, have a good cry." "Why do they call it a good cry?" "All it does is make you look like hell." "And what's missing is still missing." "Now, listen, you've got your kids." "You've got your family." "I got a lot of days and nights ahead of me." "You like to garden." "You like to cook." "I like to make love is what I like." "3 times a week like clockwork." "Sunday morning with the door locked, sent the kids to McDonald's, ate lunch in bed afterwards, whatever was in the refrigerator... pot roast, potato salad." "Well, listen, maybe you'll meet somebody else." "I don't want to meet anybody else." "I want my old man back... in his baggy pants, looking at me over the top of his bifocals." "You can't hold on forever." "Why not?" "Because I want you to be happy again." "You know something, Sharon?" "I'm sorry sometimes that I stole your add-a-pearl necklace." "Oh, you are, are you?" "I haven't thought about that in 22 years, but I'll never forgive you." "Good evening, Mrs. King." "Um..." "Um..." "I'm a little drunk." "No kidding." "Come on in." "There seems to be something in the way here." "Just your feet." "Oops-a-daisy, Mr. Cox." "I needed a little courage tonight." "Think you can make it to the bathroom?" "Where is it?" "One flight up." "And I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't throw up on my carpet." "Um..." "I may be drunk, Mrs. King, but I'm housebroken." "Ok?" "It's right up there." "How do you feel now?" "Foolish." "You're getting my floor all wet." "I'll mop it up." "I'm going to go down and make a lot of coffee." "Well, sit down." "You want a cookie?" "I made them myself." "No, thanks." "Well, why don't we just wade in?" "No." "I want to know how this happened to you." "Did you drop out of school?" "Were you smoking dope or what?" "Where was your family?" "Where were your teachers?" "Well..." "My father was a tableware salesman... silver plate stuff, not real sterling." "He went all over the country, and I went with him." "Lived in motels, went to a different school every month." "Most of the time I didn't even know what state of the Union I was in." "Oh, I'd stay up late looking at old westerns with John Wayne or playing 2-handed poker with my father or... listening to people fighting in the next room." "And in the morning, I'd eat a cold doughnut and find a seat in the last row of the classroom and slide down on my tail bone and just sleep." "Somebody would say, "Hey, you!"" "I'd open up an eye, and they'd say," ""Where's the mouth of the Mississippi?"" "And I'd scratch my head, and they'd say, "Next!"" "And I'd go back to sleep." "And when I woke up, I'd be in a different school." "That's how it went." "It just all went by me." "I've been..." "A big dummy ever since." "This is a bird with a long tail and a round body." " Say "bird"." " Bird." "This looks like a bird with a long tail and a round body." "Say "bird"." "Bird." "This is the word "bird. "" "Read "bird. "" ""Bird. "" "Bird starts with the sound "buh. "" "Say "buh. "" " Buh." " Again." "Buh." " Again." " Buh." "Yeah." "I know what you mean." "And this letter." "Fuh." "This letter." "Guh." "Ok, word." "Don't make it too tough on me, now." "What's this word?" ""Hand. "" "What's this word?" ""Hand. "" "This sentence tells what the girl has in her hand." "Read it." ""The girl has a... "" ""Fish in her hand. "" "Good." "It's not exactly a cliffhanger." "Excuse me." "Hello?" "Phil." "Kelly, get off the line." "It's for me." "Fine, and yourself?" "Good." "I... nothing much." "I'm just slogging along." "Well, nobody's been seeing much of me, Phil." "I don't think I'm ready to go dancing, Phil." "Ok." "Yeah." "Thanks for calling." "What's this word?" "How long since you been out with a man?" "The last time was to take one to the hospital." "What's this word?" ""Bird. "" "This is a yellow birch." "Latin name, Betula lutea." "Its leaves taste like mint." "Taste it." "Mmm." "This is a basswood." "Latin name, Tilia cordata." "It's a nice shade tree." "What do you think?" "Do you want it?" "This is a Norway maple." "Latin name, Acer platinoides." "Turns red in the fall." "Very, very pretty." "Red?" "You know, the red leaves in the fall." "Very, very pretty." "How did you find out about all that?" "I asked." "I took the leaves to a Japanese nursery, said I liked trees." "They said, "We like trees, too. "" "So we sat on a manure sack and talked about it for a couple of hours." "This is a red oak." "Latin name, Quercus rubra." "It'll outlive us both." " That one?" " Mm-hmm." "How old do you think it is now?" "I'd say it's about 300 years old." "Let's go sit down over here." "Mmm." "I lost my dad, too, not too long ago." "My dad was sick for a long time." "The thing of it is, see, I, uh..." "I had to put him in a home." "I couldn't read, so I couldn't hold down a job." "I couldn't take care of him." "If I'd been able to read, he might still be alive." "I'm..." "I'm afraid of the dark." "When my dad let me," "I'd leave the light on all night." "My dad was the light." "We have to leave it on about another 15 minutes." "I don't know what I'm doing this for." "So you'll look pretty." "Nothing in a bottle's going to do that." "You know, you're not so bad looking if you'd use a little more eye make-up." "This is as far as I go." "I wish this baby was born already." "It will be." "I don't want it." "I didn't want you, either." "You were an accident." "Your daddy and me were cleaning the car." "Remember the old blue Pontiac?" "And he squirted me, and I took my shirt off, and..." "We got playful." "We didn't even make it up the stairs." "But when they brought you in to me," "I almost said, "Take it away." "It's not mine. "" "That's how I felt about you." "You'd nuzzle me, and I'd stare at you." "How was I going to take you home and take care of you?" "I didn't feel anything for you." "And then one day I was changing your diapers, and I found blood on the cloth, and I knew in my heart that you had a terrible disease, that I was..." "that I was being punished." "And I showed it to the nurse, and she said, "Oh, it's nothing." "It's just all your hormones getting across to her. "" "And I said, "You mean it's nothing to worry about?"" "And she said, "No." "It's nothing. "" "And I held you in my arms, and at that very minute, you belonged to me." "My daughter." "Am I your daughter?" "Yes." ""Don says... "" "Dan." "Dan." "Dan." ""Dan says, thank you for the... "" " Dish." " Dish." "Uh-huh." "Go on." ""Ed. "" ""Ed." "Ed says, thank you for the fffffffff... "" "Fish." "Fish." "Fish." "Put it together." ""Ed says, thank you for the fish. "" "Go on." ""Fff..." "Fred... "" "Fran." ""Fran says, thank you for the eee... "" "You didn't do your homework, did you?" "No." "I watched the welterweight fights." "Terrific." "Either you're serious, or you're not." "I'm a fight fan." "You're gonna have one with me because I don't like to waste my time." "I'll just come back when you cool off." "It may be a while." "I'm in a bad mood." "Maybe you ate something that didn't agree with you." "My whole life doesn't agree with me." "I'm gaining weight." "I yell at my kids." "I need a sex life." "I've been wanting to go to bed with you ever since I first saw you." ""A," I don't know why..." "And "B," forget it." "Take a wild guess." "You know?" "No." "It's going to happen." "Listen, you," "I don't just hop in bed with strangers." "I ask a lot of questions." "I do a lot of talking." "I got to know about a guy." "Ask." "I don't even know if you're healthy." "I'll get a blood test." "I'd want one." "Excuse me." "You're tough." "Well, this has not been a perfect day." "I got a back-tax bill." "I ran into a girl I went to high school with." "She said she wouldn't have recognized me." "That was food for thought." "Also my feet hurt." "Sit down." "I'll iron." "You'll iron." "I do it all the time." "Sit down." "Sit down." "Ahh." ""Fran says, thank you for the... "" ""Egg!"" "God damn it." "Egg." " Right." " Egg." "Don't scorch the shirts." "Coming right up." "Guh." ""G. Girl. "" "Ok, down." "All the way down below the guideline." "Up and around and then down." "That's right." "That's right." "That's good." "You don't ever pick your pencil up when you're doing Ps." "Down." "Up." "Yeah." "Keep your pencil on the paper." "Up and around." "Ok." "You're here at 'Ash and Tyler'." "Meet me at Washington and Post Road." "Give me 15 minutes." "Find me." "Can you tell me how to get to..." "Where do you want to go?" "Forget it." "Thanks, anyway." "Where's Washington and Post?" "Oh." "You're not even close." " You got to go down to Morrison." " Yeah." " Then left to grand." " Uh-huh." "Then right to Comstock." "Are there any tall buildings or bridges, churches, anything?" "You'll see the street signs." "All right." "Thanks." "Where the hell have you been?" "I said 15 minutes." "I thought you'd been hit by a car." "Are you listening to me?" "I haven't seen you." "No." "Am I going to see you?" "No." "Can I come in?" "Well, you're a hard man to find." "I moved." "I only got one seat." "So I see." "No dishes in the sink." "I eat mostly take-out." "Where are you working now?" "Same place." "Maybe it was... it was me." "You know, maybe I blew it." "They've got a program over at the high school." "Maybe you could try that." "It came too hard." "I'm not a kid anymore." "So, that's it?" "That's it." "God, I hate to bomb out." "It took me 2 years to toilet train Richard, but he finally went to the bathroom." "That's not my problem." "What is this?" "It's what I do from midnight till 4:00 in the morning, sometimes till 5:00 or 6:00." "What does it do?" "Cools cakes fast." "Does a good job." "Stanley." "Maybe you should show this to somebody." "I already have." "A couple of guys from the tool and die plant came nosing around." "They offered me a job." "How can you make something like this when you can't read?" "When you put a man in jail or you put him in solitary, sometimes he'll draw pictures on the wall with a spoon, sometimes he'll train cockroaches." "This is what I made in my prison." "You sure kept it quiet." "Hmm." "Everybody around here just gets up and goes to work and eats and sleeps and gets up the next day and just works and eats and sleeps." "God, I'd like to see somebody go past that." "Hello, Richard." "Mr. Cox." "Is your mother home?" "Yeah." "She's in the kitchen." "What have you been up to?" "Oh, reading." "Reading?" "What are you reading?" "Comics." "Who are you talking to, Richard?" "It's me." "Come on out in the kitchen." "Well, it's still your seat." "Your hair looks different." "Yeah." "I liked it better the other way." "It's too late now." "You been keeping up?" "Trying to." "You had your dinner?" "I ate." "You want to get at it?" "That's what I'm here for." "Let's see." "We can review." "Those are new." "You begin to admit you need things..." "One at a time." "Page 13." ""This is... "" ""A river. "" ""This is... "" ""A..." "Sss..." "Snake. "" "Mm-hmm." ""This is... "" ""A..." "Tent. "" "Good." ""This is... "" ""Woman. "" "What are you doing here?" "I thought I'd sit with you if you want me to." "I was feeling pretty much on my own tonight." "How's she doing?" "It's going to be any minute." "She almost had it on the way here." "How do you feel about being a grandmother?" "Calm." "You don't look like a grandmother." "That's why I'm calm." "It was nice of you to come." "Not much of a favor." "You know what I think?" "What?" "I think you and me are getting to be friends." "We are." "Do you want me to call her Iris?" "No." "I never liked my name." "How about your middle name?" "Estelle?" "Oh, god, that's worse." "Well, I want it to be one or the other." "She's going to hate it." "Well." "Well, good evening." "Hello." "Iris." "Go wash your hands and sit down." "I cooked." "White or dark?" "I'll have a leg and a piece of white." "White or dark?" "Either." "Hi." "Hi." "White or dark?" "Um, leg." "Leg." "Here you go." "Take that." "Hi." "This is good." "No, no." "It's not a capital "I. "" "Remember." "A lower-case "I"" "just is straight down to the bottom guideline, with no..." "not that cross line." "Ok." "Next letter." "Uh... "D. "" "Mm-hmm." "That's right." "Circle around at the midguideline to the bottom guideline, and straight up..." "And down." "Oop!" "That's ok." "It's looking better." "That's right." "And "R. "" "That jacket." "Something wrong with it?" "It's had it." "It's coming out at the elbows." "It's old." "It's too old." "Come upstairs." "What's upstairs?" "I don't know what I'm keeping these for." "They're just going to get moths." "Try this on." "Come on." "That's pretty good." "Iris, I'm glad to have the clothes, but I want to tell you something." "There's a different man in them." "Not so very." "Are we going to walk around each other?" "Is that what we're going to do, Iris?" "Is that what 2 grown-up people do?" "It's what one nervous woman does." "I'll tell you what." "I'm going to spend some time and money on you and see if we can't put a match to this fire." "Don't go crazy." "You're not a rich man." "I feel like one." "Look like one." "Isn't that..." "I don't like this." "I quit school." "I couldn't stand it." "Don't you know this line doesn't go anywhere?" "Three people in bed are one too many for me." "Mom!" " Mom!" " What's the matter?" "There's a man outside, and he's walking back and forth looking at our house." "He's been there for 20 minutes." "Hey!" "What are you doing out there?" "Oh, god." "You scared us to death." "What are you doing walking back and forth out here?" "I'm thinking." "Well, can you think inside?" "Can you come in and sit down and have a cup of coffee?" "Can you come out of the cold?" "Come on." "Would you please come inside?" "Have a cup of coffee." "It's ok, kids." "Hello, Richard." "Hello, Mr. Cox." "Kelly." "How's the baby?" "I'd like a little privacy around here if I can get any." "Take Estelle upstairs." "Homework." "Oh, my god." " How have you been?" " How have you been?" " I've had colitis." " Hmm." " You ok now?" " Yeah." "I'm better." "You're not supposed to drink coffee." "I do, anyway." "Then it's going to come back." "It has." "You're smart, but you're not sensible." "God knows that's true." "No." "You're not sensible, or I'd have heard from you." "I want to tell you something." "Go ahead." "I haven't been to the cemetery in 3 weeks." "I'm not going anymore." "Why does it have to be all or nothing with you?" "If you want to go, that's fine." "Just don't bury yourself there." "Burn your gray sweater." "It cost $30." "I'll buy you 5 more, all different colors, like a rainbow." "Red." "I like red." " Red, blue, green, pink..." " Stop." "No." "I don't want to stop." "I want to go on." "I carried a bunch of quarters around in my pocket... in case I got up the nerve to call you at work." "You didn't use them." "No." "I wrote you a letter, too." "It's been sitting around for about 3 weeks." "It's got gravy on it." "It's got ketchup on it." "It's got the baby's bananas on it." "Here." ""Dear Stanley." ""Give... me... a..." ""second chance." ""I've got a whole lot saved up." ""You won't be sorry." ""Let's try again." "Iris. "" ""And the lid, lead," ""lead storage battery" ""is the chief unit of an" ""automobile ignition system." ""It consists of 2 or more cells" ""connected..." "connected to each other in a hard r..." "rubber case. "" "Yeah." ""A strawberry bed" ""should have a large amount" " of fertil... fertilizer... "" " Quiet." ""And organic matters" ""such as peat," ""leaf mold, compost, or rooted..." "rotted manure. "" "I think you've got it, Stanley." ""And though spirit..." ""and the spirit of God" ""hovered over the face of the waters," ""and God said let there be light, and there was light"!" "Amen." "Oh!" "Whoo!" "Shh!" "Shh!" "What's the matter with you?" "This is a library." "I know it's a library, lady." "It's my library." "You can't afford this hotel." "On this occasion, yes, I can." "Is that everything, sir?" "That's fine." "Thank you." "How much did you give him?" "Too much, but I'm feeling generous." "You like this room?" "This room is where I'm going to die." "Want to try room service?" "Oh, yes." "What can we have?" "Anything you want." "Um, coffee and..." "2 chocolate eclairs." "Coffee, 2 chocolate eclairs." "We've even got a scale in there." "I'm not getting on it." "Oh, no." "It's got a hole in it." "Wouldn't you know?" "I brought old pajamas, too." "Maybe I won't wear it." "Maybe I won't wear mine, either." "You know, I've never had an affair before." "I was married when I was young." "I was pregnant when I was young." "I expected to always have the same man in my life." "Let me tell you about us." "I'm going to need a working woman." "That's you." "You're going to need a broad shoulder." "That's me." "I like you, Iris, just about as much as I love you, and you know what?" "We're going to do just fine together..." "And a man could drown in your blue eyes." "You're all set." "Are they going to feed you a meal?" "Oh, I forgot to ask." "You know, I listened to the weather report, and I heard it's foggy in Detroit." "They wouldn't fly unless it's safe." "American Airlines flight 601, nonstop to Detroit, now boarding through gate 2." "That's your flight." "We have a few minutes." "They're giving me an office." "You better start wearing neckties." "And they're going to get me a patent." "Get a lawyer." "I can read the fine print." "Get a lawyer anyway." "Oh, lord." "Stanley, have you gone and gotten handsome?" "Nah." "Same old road map." "What am I going to do in that empty bed?" "I'm going to have to put my feet on the cat to stay warm." "I'm going to have to hug a pillow." "I might have to come back rich." "How would you like that?" "I'd like to tear your ticket up is what I'd like." "I wish there was a 7-point earthquake right now." "I'll be back, Iris." "Maybe you will, and maybe you won't." "American Airlines announces the final boarding call for flight 601, nonstop service to Detroit Metropolitan Airport, now boarding through gate two." "Buckle your seat belt up as soon as you sit down and keep it buckled up the whole time." "It's safer that way." "I'll call you." "No, Stanley." "Write to me." "I'll write to you." "Dear Iris." "Well, I'm settled in." "I've got an office about as big as a closet." "It's next to the men's room and hasn't got a window, but my name's on the door." "Small letters, but it's there." "I like my boss." "He wears cowboy boots and calls me by my first name." "He didn't graduate high school, either, so we've got a lot in common." "There are lots of pretty women in this town, but I don't see them for dirt." "I keep thinking about the one who sleeps with her arms above her head and has a little mole, never mind where." "Now, I want to say something to you, and I want to say it right and spell it right." "Thank you." "Not just from the bottom of my heart, but from my head, where ideas and dreams come from." "I'm very grateful to you, Iris, and that will be till the last day of my life." "So don't catch cold." "Lock your doors at night." "Don't slip in the bathtub." "I love you." "Stanley." "Iris." "Stanley?" "What are you doing here?" "I came to see you." "Did you get fired?" "No." "In fact, I got a raise." "Climb in." "I'm..." "I'm really glad to see you." "I'm happy to see you." "Is this your car?" "After 24 payments, it'll be my car." "Did you get the letters?" "15 letters and a Christmas card, a get-well card, a joyous Easter, and 2 Valentines." "That's about right." "Iris, I..." "Just got me a comprehensive health plan and 3 different kinds of credit cards." "I got my eye on a house in Detroit." "It's old." "It needs paint." "It's got about 6 bedrooms." "It's got only one bathroom." "You listening?" "To every word." "I'd like you and the kids to live there." "Stanley, are you proposing to me?" "I suppose I am." "You know what you're taking on?" "There were 7 visits to the doctor last year, 5 to the dentist, and winter coats, summer coats, tennis shoes." "We're a noisy family, Stanley." "We've got a lot of arguments..." "Baby crying, a lot of TV." "You sure you want to take this on?" "I'm here." "Oh." "Come here." " Is there a school?" " 2 blocks away." "One bathroom for five people?" "That's not enough." "You think we could knock down a wall?" "Iris, anything is possible."