"Do I look gross?" "No, I just don't need to see you half-naked." "Mom, you need to get dressed." "I can't." "You can't what?" "Go." "I can't go." "This trip was your idea, though." "I don't know what else to say." "I'm sorry, Clark." "I'm sorry I'm always failing you." "It's okay." "I..." "I'm sorry." "I don't know, what are we gonna tell Dad?" "Tell him to come upstairs?" "Okay." "Clark." "Thank you for your sensitivity." "Hey, Dad?" "Yeah." "Mom needs you." "What?" "She doesn't wanna go." "Wait here." "You're not ready?" "It's too much for me right now." "Shit, May." "I'm sorry, Roger, I can't do it." "This weekend was your idea." "No teaming up." "Look, he was looking forward to this!" "Well, then, you go together!" "W-without you?" "What, just the two of us?" "Dad, can you take me to Etta's?" "Couldn't you see her when we get back?" "Just leave Mom here?" "Shoot." "Gosh." "I just realized we have dinner with the Friedlanders tomorrow." "And Shira's gonna be there." "I knew we had something." "Yeah, I'm not going to that." "I'd rather not go either, May." "Come on, I'll take you." "Wait." "Can I..." "Can I drive Clark?" "I really..." "I'd really like to spend some time with you." "So... tell me, is Etta's family anything like ours?" "In what way?" "You know, close, open, full of love." "Well, her parents are getting a divorce, so..." "Well..." "I do think you'll find it easier to date someone with a strong family foundation." "We're just friends." "I knew that." "I just..." "It was just a... an unrelated thought that I was having." "But you should experiment." "I had a lot of boyfriends before Dad." "Mom, keep your focus on the road." "My planner's in my purse." "Okay, just focus on the road." "No, if you're not going to the restaurant, then I have to let them know." "Okay." "I just..." "I just..." "Can I have the planner, please?" "I need the planner now." "Yeah, yeah, sorry." "Okay, where's my page?" "Boy, I am just, you know, I am busy." "Mom, you need to take a left up here." "Busy, busy." "Where is it, dammit?" "There it is." "Clark!" "Baby!" "Sweetie?" "Are you okay?" "Can you respond to me, Clark?" "Please, can you say something?" "Answer me, please!" "Are you okay?" "Are you okay, Clark?" "Are you okay, baby?" "Clark!" "Clarky, where are you going?" "Come on back!" "Clarky?" "Where are you going?" "Please." "Clark?" "Who are you calling?" "!" "No." "No, no, no, please." "Please, Clark." "Let's just keep this between you and me." "I'm just so tired." "I just need to go home and rest." "I'd like to report a car accident, in the Presidio." "Please?" "Please, please, please." "Please hang up." "Still there?" "I'd like to report an accident." "Please." "Come on." "I'll be good." "Central and Washington." "I'll just lie down." "Please." "Come on, please." "Clark?" "Clark?" "!" "QUITTERS Subrip:" "Pix" "Hello, Mr. Rayman." "I have your paperwork." "If you could just initial here." "Here." "Here and... here." "Roger, benzodiazepine withdrawal can feature a range of symptoms." "Insomnia, irritability, depersonalization, derealization... psychosis." "I think you missed one." "In order to alleviate the severity of those symptoms, we need to perform a gradual withdrawal tailored to the individual patient." "Chemically, this involves... delivering a dose of diazepam equivalent to the quantity of benzodiazepines May was taking, and then reducing it by 10% every two to three weeks." "What is derealization?" "Feeling like the world isn't real." "The acute withdrawal phase generally lasts about two months." "She needs to be here for the entirety of that." "But... symptoms can persist for a year or more and we recommend she make regular visits during that period." "Our goal is not just to take May off of her medication, but... to find a more appropriate way to treat the disorder that made her seek help in the first place." "Roger... it can very painful for a parent to admit to herself that being away from her loved ones is what's best for everyone." "But you can help with that, by reminding her how brave she is, how proud of her you are." "And that during this difficult time, she can have absolute confidence in you as a husband and as a father." "Hey." "Look at this view." "Not bad." "Are you leaving?" "They're gonna take really good care of you, I promise." "So you're going home?" "I got a hotel nearby, in case you need anything." "So Pinky's with Clark, okay?" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah." "C'mere." "Come on." "Is he okay?" "Yes, yeah, he's fine." "Come on now." "Come on now." "Hey." "Come on now." "It's okay." "It's okay." "Okay?" "Yeah." "Alright." "I love you." "Me, too." "How did you know when the revolution was over?" "When they couldn't fire on their own people." "That's amazing." "Is there a more traditional name for this dish?" "Pork adobo, with rice." "Okay, great." "Guess I can take it from here." "I just make myself a bowl?" "No, no, no, I'll bring it up." "Okay." "Should I get the door?" "No, I got it." "Hey." "What's up?" "Hey." "Nothin'." "Okay, just come on in." "I'm finishing up in the kitchen." "Alright." "Have a seat here?" "I never heard your house so quiet." "Yeah, it's kind of nice?" "Yeah." "Are you doing alright?" "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." "I'm sorry to cancel on you the other day." "Things in my world got a bit hectic." "No, no, no, that's okay." "So how are things at your house?" "Well, my sister caught my dad jerking off last night." "With porn?" "No, she said he was just hunched over." "God, I wonder what he was thinking about." "Hope at the age I still have a good sex life." "Alright, I'm gonna run this up to Pinky." "Okay." "Tell her I said hey?" "Yeah, yeah." "And then wait." "Alright." "D'you mind keeping it down on the TV?" "Yeah, hello?" "Hey, bud." "Just wanna let you know everything's okay." "Okay, cool." "Etta's here." "I don't wanna keep you, but if you could just... for now, you know, if we could just, respect Mom's or our family's privacy." "What you tell Etta, Etta might tell her parents, and her parents might tell..." "God knows who." "Not because they're malicious, but people get curious and..." "So if you could just say, Mom's travelling for work." "What would I say she does?" "Don't be..." "Let's just... let's just get through this quietly." "Okay?" "Okay." "Okay." "Knock 'em dead, bud." "Thanks." "Jesus, you're so tight." "That feels good." "It's nice to be finally settled." "Yeah." "How'd I do?" "It's great." "So can you take me through it play-by-play?" "The divorce talk." "Well, my sister picked me up from volleyball and then we went home and sat in the living room with my parents." "That's where your dad's been sleeping?" "Yeah, and whacking off." "Right." "And then they said..." "Take your time." "It's fine." "They said..." ""Guys... obviously things..."" "Wait, your mom said this?" "Yeah." "My dad couldn't really speak." "So your mom said, "Obviously things..."" "Yeah." ""Obviously things..." "aren't really... working."" "Nothing more needed to be said." "I dunno, sounds like a lot more needed to be said." "Do you have any idea who's gonna come out on top?" "No." "Do you have any alcohol?" "Maybe we shouldn't if you're upset." "No, it's... it's fine." "I'm fine." "Okay." "You wanna watch a movie after dinner?" "I'd love to, but I can't." "I've gotta go to Liam's party later." "His parties are always more fun drunk." "You're going out?" "Yeah." "Sorry." "Thanks." "Welcome." "Clark." "What?" "We can't just casually hook up." "I don't want it to be casual." "I know that and..." "I'm not ready for something more intense." "Well, I-I just think we have to learn how to embrace intensity now, or we run the risk of ending up just like your parents." "I'm sorry." "Clark!" "I'll get you a Band-Aid." "Fuck." "You guys see Etta?" "You seen Etta anywhere?" "Chug, chug, chug, chug!" "Hey." "Hey, dude." "You okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine." "What happened?" "Nothing." "You know, I..." "I..." "I'd really like to try and be there for one another." "You need to go away." "Okay, can we just..." "Dude." "Alright, I'm gonna go get a drink." "Are you good?" "Great." "You probably shouldn't." "Hey, hey, you and I play volleyball together, right?" "Yeah." "Cool, cool." "Is her depression slowing her down?" "You think she's depressed?" "Yeah, I do." "She's always laughing." "That's true." "But, you know, like... bigger the smile, the deeper the frown." "She told me to keep an eye on her." "It's like she's... putting me in an awkward position." "I think she's gonna be fine." "Alright, I'm gonna go home." "Did you take a cab?" "No, I drove." "Why?" "Think you can give me a ride home?" "Left.!" "That party was pretty lame." "I was having a good time." "I'm supposed to call my boyfriend." "It's morning where he is." "Who, who's your boyfriend?" "His name's Lassë." "He lives in Germany." "He lives in..." "So he's German." "Danish." "What's he doing in Germany?" "He's studying to be an architect." "He should've stayed in Denmark." "Did you meet him on the Internet?" "No, actually, at a lecture my stepdad gave in Berlin." "So you just asked him questions in the QA?" "He made a comment." "Was he like, "This is actually more of a comment?"" "Yeah... just like that." "Yes, exactly like that." "Thanks for the ride." "No problem." ""Dear Etta," ""I'm disappointed in myself for falling for you." ""I'm disappointed in the part of myself that is attracted to you." ""Most of all, I'm disappointed in you." ""You have so much potential, Etta," ""but you have a deep fear of intimacy" ""and an unwillingness" ""to confront the emotional complexities of your life." ""I can no longer be there to shoulder the burden for you." ""I can no longer waste my time trying to help someone who refuses help."" "Hey." "I'm gonna go drop Dad off at his hotel." "You should come." "I have to write an essay." "We should make it clear that we're not taking sides." "I really have to work." "I think your teacher will understand." "Etta, don't be a selfish bitch." ""For that reason, I recommend we put an end to our friendship." "Sincerely, Clark."" "As you filter out..." "I'm gonna play a song that always reminds me of Raskolnikov sitting in his cell." "Alright, please be sure to grab your essays on Benjamin's The Storyteller on your way out." "Mr." "Becker?" "Yeah." "I'm really sorry, I didn't get to finish my essay." "I've got some stuff going on at home." "No problem." "Have it in by Friday." "Okay, thanks." "Mr. Becker?" "Mr. Becker?" "Yeah." "You... you have a minute?" "What's up?" "I was just wondering, out of curiosity, what I could've done differently to get an A." "I only gave two As." "A minuses." "Okay, so you're not..." "grading on a curve." "No." "Do you have a rubric?" "C is satisfactory, B is good, A is exceptional." "And a B+ is?" "Better than good, but not exceptional." "So what makes an essay exceptional?" "If it makes me feel something." "And mine..." "mine didn't do that." "Correct." "So I feel like, if you explained your grading criteria to the class, it, you know, might help us improve." "You mean it might help you get an A." "Obviously, that's the goal." "For some." "You know, for others, the goal is to have an encounter with a work of literature." "And those students who surrender themselves to that experience are the one who are awarded the As." "You mean A minuses." "Right." "Tsk." "Here, Clark." "Ahem." "Thank you." "So the place where Mom is is full of addicts, right?" "No, it's nothing like..." "Your mother's not an addict." "Ahem." "She has a dependency." "What's the difference?" "Well, actually, it's pretty interesting." "They explained to me that..." "Mom was taking what she was prescribed, but Dr. Willner was over-prescribing." "So... if anyone's really to blame, it's Dr. Willner." "Technically... we could sue." "Maybe it'd be useful if... to talk to somebody about all this." "What, instead of us..." "just talking now?" "No." "I don't want it to sound like... this conversation has to stop." "This... this should..." "this should keep going." "But maybe somebody who's... who's less involved, who's more objective, would be a good... outlet... in addition." "I-I didn't mean to..." "to end this conversation." "No, I know." "It's just kind of hard to watch you eat." "Mom's, withdrawal is... gonna be bad, right?" "I'm gonna go visit her in a couple of weeks." "You know, when it gets..." "it'll get really brutal." "That'll be nice." "Nice job, Coach." "Hey, thanks." "He was great." "I'll see you at practice, Clark." "Can we stop at the grocery store on the way home?" "What for?" "Groceries." "To give Pinky the night off." "Hello?" "Hi, Roger." "How's it going?" "Good." "I'm at the market." "Going home to cook for Clark." "I've been trying to reach him." "How is he doing?" "Gonna try my hand at, miso... halibut mushrooms." "Sounds good." "Yeah, I'm excited to see you." "Well, I just think it might be best if we... if we just kept it really quiet around here for the moment." "If you hold off visiting." "Can you understand?" "What..." "I just..." "I mean, I had some, meetings..." "Okay." "scheduled in the area." "I'm sorry," "No, no, no." "I get it." "Hey, Rog!" "Shit." "Bradley Friedlander spotted me, so I gotta go." "Bye." "How the hell are ya?" "You know, we never got dinner back on the books." "I know." "I-I..." "Hey, Shira." "It worked out." "I mean, Shira's been having some problems." "What... what's going on?" "It'll be fine." "Well, it's these college acceptance letters." "They keep coming in, and these kids can be so cruel." "Just when Shira needs her friends to help her pick a school, they get resentful." "And why?" "Why?" "Why?" "I..." "Because, well, she got accepted to all of them." "That sounds hard." "I'm just worried about balancing hard work and happiness." "Hey, hey, hey, I just got a Chris-Craft." "Old wooden thing." "Gosh." "What... what year?" "'74." "New engine, old cut." "You know, my grandpa had a, a '50-something." "It was..." "Wisconsin." "No shit." "Yeah, we'd get up early every morning, before everybody else." "I was his favourite." "And..." "and we'd motor into town, say hi to his old buddies, Irv and Al..." "Yeah, the lines on this thing are just boom." "I'm telling you, mwah!" "I got it here at Richardson Bay." "Gosh, man, I'd love to get out on the water." "You know what water gives you, right?" "Perspective." "Right." "Yeah." "If your boat's got the pull, I got the skis." "Why don't you talk to Clark, then the four of us can do a double date?" "That sounds..." "that sounds great." "I mean, I..." "I'll run that by him." "He would just..." "he would love that." "What can I get for you?" "No, I'm..." "I..." "I'm..." "I'm good." "Okay, well, it's..." "Good luck with the..." "The fish looked funky." "Let's get Mexican." "Hey, what's Body Garden?" "What?" "It says Body Garden." "You were there the day before yesterday?" "It's a spa." "What do you go for?" "I think I had a..." "a manicure." "Mom wants you to call her." "No, from the car." "Yeah, hi." "Do you have manicures?" "No." "Okay." "Just massages." "I see." "How much are those?" "Got it." "Thank you." "What... what happened to that masseuse you and Mom liked?" "Dina talks too much." "So, what, you just wanna be touched in silence?" "She's overpriced." "You know, they... they said,... a 30-minute costs $30." "Bradley's on his..." "And an hour long costs $50." "And you paid 100." "Two hours." "Isn't it degrading?" "I feel better after." "For the women, I mean." "Bradley and Shira are on their way out." "Let's not do this here." "You can go." "What about dinner?" "Yeah, go ahead and eat." "I..." "I cleared my night!" "Hey... is there any chance you guys would give me a ride to Clement St.?" "Sure, Clark, yeah." "Let me help you guys." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "Thanks, Clark." "Clark?" "Hey." "What's... going on?" "Just browsing." "You ready, Nat?" "Mom, this is Clark." "He's the boy who drove me home the other night." "Hello." "Veronica." "Nice to meet you." "Likewise, yeah." "Are you guys cooking?" "Do you wanna join us?" "No, I didn't mean to invite myself." "I just invited you." "Well, thanks." "I just haven't showered since cross-country." "We have running water, but, of course, no pressure." "Was that a pun?" "Never mind." "Sorry." "It-it's okay." "So, I mean, if it's not an imposition..." "I think he's saying yes." "Yes." "Yes, I'm saying yes." "Here you go." "Thanks." "Natalia's always singing Mr. Becker's praises." "Do you like him, Clark?" "He's clearly smart, but," "I don't know, he seems to get off on feeling like he's tricked us into believing that he's brilliant, even though he actually might be." "I don't know if that makes any sense." "I think he actually is." "At his age, I wanted people to think I had talent." "Whether we had it or not was a secondary concern." "But you were talented, Todd." "How did you two meet?" "He found me under a tank." "What?" "First, when we met, it was 1986..." "Come on." "She thought it prudent to lay down in the middle of a street right in front of one of Marcos's tanks." "I thought it would stop." "Did it?" "No." "God, no!" "So it just..." "Rolling and rolling and rolling." "So what'd you do?" "I got up and ran." "My God." "Made for one hell of a photograph." "I was there taking pictures for Time and I tried to sell my editor on putting this great photo on the cover." "Young British girl engaging in a failed act of civil disobedience." "It's incredible." "Here it is." "He says his editor didn't go for it." "I couldn't tell if it was a... good photo or if I just loved the girl in it." "Well, we stayed in touch." "She met Patrick and they had Natalia." "And later, after Patrick passed, rest his soul... you know, well, after an appropriate interval... it comes time to take what's yours." "So... so you were both in the Philippines for People Power." "Exactly." "A friend of mine, Pinky Lapeira - she's a family friend, friend of the family..." "told me about it." "What happened..." "No, please let me help you." "We got it." "You go and join Natty." "No, you go on." "Okay." "Thanks for dinner, you guys." "Hey." "What a dinner." "You have fun?" "Yeah, I did." "Here." "Thank you." "You alright there, champ?" "Yeah." "I was wondering where your boyfriend is." "Another beautiful day in Germany." "I should probably leave before I build the courage to kiss you." "It's giving you a lot of confidence, isn't it?" "Sto..." "Sorry to keep you waiting." "Hi." "If a suite becomes available?" "We will let you know." "And, in the meantime, if there's anything else..." "Clark?" "!" "Yeah?" "!" "How was your night?" "Good, good." "I'm gonna visit Mom... in a couple of weeks." "Nice!" "It'd be easy to get... get an adjoining room if you wanna see her." "Sorry." "I gotta go do homework." "Can I help?" "No, no, no, I'm okay." "Get it, get it, get it!" "Hey." "Good game." "Thanks." "I'm, happy you're seeing Natalia." "She's awesome." "Thank you." "Thanks." "Does that mean we can be friends again?" "No, I don't think so." "Why not?" "can we just not talk about this now?" "I miss you." "Hey." "Hi!" "You killed it, girl." "Thanks." "Am I interrupting something or...?" "No." "I told Todd and your mom that we're gonna feed Gus when they go out to dinner with the Owens, so..." "Okay." "Okay, have a good night, guys." "You, too." "Hey, look who's here." "Hey." "Look at you, girl." "You did so great." "Great game, Natty." "I don't wanna finish." "Why?" "I'm just nervous." "You're doing great." "It's just, you know, seeing Etta after your game," "I kinda got... hard." "Not in a good way, though." "Like..." "I was really uncomfortable." "But... you know," "I really like you, I just don't... want you to finish something she started." "Won't it hurt if you don't come?" "No, it'll be fine." "Looks sort of... puffy." "Yeah, yeah, I think if we just stop looking at it, it'll go away." "Were you and your dad close?" "Yeah, but he didn't really like to hug or touch." "Even with your mom?" "He could be warm with her." "She and Todd seem pretty affectionate." "I was actually surprised they've only been together for a few years." "She was seeing Todd before that." "When your dad was sick?" "Yeah." "Did your dad know?" "I told him." "Did he have long enough to fix things with your mom or find somebody else?" "He was pretty sick at that point." "Guess it was the right thing to do." "I think I told because..." "I was mad at my mom, 'cause she wouldn't let me go to Tahoe with my cousins or something." "Did it work?" "I went to Tahoe, but..." "I probably should've been hanging out with my dad instead of getting drunk and making out with all my cousins' friends!" "Kind of hard to imagine you having a promiscuous phase." "I think that's giving my 13-year-old self a little too much credit." "Okay." "When do I get to see your house?" "There's nothing there." "What about your parents?" "They're not really around." "Where are they?" "My dad is visiting my mom at rehab." "What's she there for?" "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." "She just has, like, problems." "I'm sorry." "You got lucky with the way things turned out here at the Abernathy residence." "Williams." "I didn't take Todd's name." "When I get outta here," "I'll make it up to them and I'm bringing my girls on the most amazing trip of a lifetime." "'Cause you don't get that a whole lot with your girls." "Once they're grown up, they're outta there." "It's, you know, it's the way it goes." "Hi." "Roger." "Hi." "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." "Is everything okay?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "No, no, no, no, it's..." "it's fine." "Well... my God..." "Roger..." "Wh-wh-why don't you guys finish up here and I'll wait for you in your room?" "Okay?" "Go ahead." "Hi." "Hi, Roger." "What's going on?" "I had a meeting nearby." "So you just came to...?" "To see you." "You can't just show up." "Well, you know, I wanted to see what we're spending our money on." "I..." "I..." "I thought we could have a night together." "I booked a room at a bed-and-breakfast." "R-R-Roger, I'm..." "I'm in the middle of rehab." "You can take a night off." "Who's with Clark?" "I could call Pinky." "You could call Pinky?" "I could call Pinky." "You're not the only one who needs a vacation." "This is not a vacation!" "When I'm out of here, you can do whatever you want, but right now, I need you to be a father to our son." "What the fuck do you think I've been doing?" "Roger..." "Why can't we just have... fun together?" "'Cause it doesn't sound like fun right now." "Okay." "I need more time here." "I'm getting better." "I-I'm feeling better." "But when you show up out of the blue and... and I see what kind of state you're in and how this is affecting you," "I feel terrible for leaving Clark alone with you." "Okay." "Okay." "I'd like to cancel the room I booked for tonight." "We do have a 24-hour cancellation fee." "Okay." "How much?" "$462." "What, to... to cancel?" "We'll have to charge you for a night." "Okay." "We have a card on file." "That's fine." "I can go ahead and run that." "It's a little steep, but..." "I'm sorry, sir." "No, fine." "We have a VISA that ends in 8446." "I'll go ahead and charge $462..." "Okay." "I'm gonna go ahead and run that now." "Okay, thanks." "Here you go." "Thank you." "So you all set?" "Yeah, I'm good." "Okay, good night." "Good night." "Clark?" "Clark?" "Good morning, Mr. Rayman." "Hi, Pinky." "Should I go wake Mr. Clark?" "He's not there." "He must've slept out." "They do grow up so fast." "My son is applying to high school." "He's been asking about Seneca." "Goddammit." "I understand Seneca is sort of political." "It can be sometimes." "Despite his good grades and strong sense of humor, his application might be ignored." "I think their admissions process actually is pretty thorough." "If you'd be willing to say something to the administration, it would go a very long way." "Clark?" "Yeah?" "Can you come in here, please?" "Can I make you breakfast?" "No, I'm okay." "Can you show Francis around Seneca?" "Who?" "My son." "Pinky's son." "Yeah, sure." "She's afraid, without a proper introduction, his application might fall through the cracks." "Yeah, of course." "Thank you." "Hey, c-can I make you breakfast, Clark?" "I wanna..." "I wanna tell you about my visit with Mom." "She blames me for you not having called her." "What would I say?" "Tell her you miss her, that you're excited for her to come home, that you can't wait for us to be a family again." "That would be selfish." "Why?" "If she's getting better there," "I don't know why she'd come back here." "Well, she can't stay there forever." "Yeah, but maybe she'd be happier somewhere else." "We talked about buying that loft by the ballpark." "No, no, I mean like a divorce." "What I'm trying to say, Clark, is that I'm judged not only as a husband, but also as a father, and I can only be as good of a father as you are a son." "Well, if I'm honest, I don't think I can be a very good son right now." "I never wanted to be the kind of dad to make a lot of rules, but when I see start to lose your way," "I have a responsibility to get you back on track." "What makes you think I'm off-track?" "Where were you last night?" "At my girlfriend's." "What, they just let you sleep over?" "Yeah, when I told them about you and Mom," "I think they kinda felt bad." "You're a mean-spirited little shit, you know that?" "I know you feel that way." "Yeah..." "Think I found two people who don't." "I got a feeling that when they figure you out, they're not gonna want you around anymore." "Mr. Becker?" "Hi, Etta." "Hi." "Do you know why you're here?" "Not really." "The essay you handed in you didn't write." "What do you mean?" "You plagiarized it from the Internet." "Did you think I didn't know about the Internet?" "I thought maybe you just wouldn't care." "What does that mean?" "Y... you know, you're..." "like a cool young guy." "So I wouldn't care if you cheated?" "I thought that since the whole theme of your class is that nothing external can inflict as much pain on a person as a person inflicts on themself, it... it might be enough that I feel bad." "If I don't report this, I could lose my job." "My parents are getting divorced." "So did mine." "And I took it as an opportunity to get lost in literature." "Where would you read?" "At the library." "Right, but by the time volleyball's over, the library's closed." "Then go to a cafe." "I don't know of any good ones." "That's not my problem, Etta." "Look, I'm having a really hard time." "Just... please give me another chance." "You didn't hand this in." "Thank you." "Kelly's Cafe in Selma is open 24 hours." "Okay." "So I'm there writing most nights." "Alright, thank you." "try and finalize the deal." "We're having some people over on the 4th, so I hope you can make it." "Okay, love." "Bye." "Here you go." "If I'm in your way, let me know." "You're fine here for now." "So, guys, in order for me to feel comfortable with this arrangement, I'm going to need you to stay down here and you to stay up there after, say," "10 p.m. Totally understand." "Yeah." "Natty?" "Me, too." "Thanks, Veronica." "At approximately 7:15 a.m. on Tuesday, September 14, 1999," "Barnabas Q. entered Control Room B of the Oceanside Waste Water" "Treatment Plant and sat at his desk and turned on his computer." "It was his three-thousandth day at the job and today was supposed to be the day that he quit." "Nothing theatrical, no fireworks." "He would spare his colleagues his honest feelings about the quality of their work and character, and so spare himself their honest feelings about the quality of his work and his character." ""It is just time for me, in my own life, to move on to other things," he was going to say." "But by 7:24 a.m., Barnabas Q. Had not only failed to quit, he had accepted an assignment his boss emailed, which Q thought would only take him the morning, but ended up taking him the rest of his life." "Hi." "Hey." "Mind if I sit here?" "how about one of these?" "Okay." "Thank you." "No problem." "She know you're living here?" "I don't know." "When did you talk to her last?" "Not since she left." "Maybe you should take it?" "Hello." "Hey!" "How are you?" "Natty?" "Yeah." "I'm sorry." "Bedtime." "Are you there?" "Yep." "What's been going on?" "Nothing, just school." "How are things with Etta?" "Good." "They're good." "Yeah?" "So..." "lots of interesting people here." "I think that you would find their stories fascinating." "Very different experiences, different from the people that I find at home." "Clark?" "Yeah." "Where are you?" "I'm at home." "I miss you." "So much." "Okay, bye." "Okay, I've got one." "Yeah." "I'll take this." "Do you want me to?" "No, no, I got it." "Come on, Gus." "Come on, Gus." "Todd, would you bring me a glass of water on your way back up, please?" "Yeah." "scattered quickly, each to his own house, while the suitors strolled back to King Odysseus' palace." "Telemachus, walking the beach now, far from others, washed his hands in the foaming surf" ""Dear god, hear me!"" "Clark?" "Yeah." "Do you know where Gus is?" "I have him." "You have to let somebody know if you're going to take him." "I thought..." "I thought he could use a walk." "I, also wanted to get some stuff for the house." "When's your flight?" "Midnight." "What's the book about?" "If you don't mind me asking." "Malaysia, mostly." "Natalia told me that your last book was about Burma." "Friday should be fun." "You know, the party?" "Shit, I have to get wine." "No, no, I can..." "I can pick up something for you while you're away." "In what world, darling?" "I'll just go now." "Can I come with you?" "Natalia will be home any second." "No, it's fine." "I should probably give her some space after practice anyways." "Clark, honey?" "Can I pitch in?" "No, when somebody's paying for something, it's rude to stand so close." "Well, don't be ashamed." "I think it's nice that you splurge on your guests." "Have a good night." "You, too." "Have you read this yet?" "No, but your parents' books are much better than the ones Mr. Becker's been assigning." "Babe?" "Yeah?" "Better get going if you're gonna make your flight." "Okay." "Todd talked to your dad today." "Todd wouldn't have invited him to the party, would he?" "I don't know." "I really hope not." "That would be embarrassing for him in front of your parents' friends." "Bye, guys." "Be right back." "If the dancing girls come, tell them I said go ahead and start a bath." "Hey, Todd?" "Yeah." "You wouldn't have happened to invite my dad to your cocktail party, would you?" "It didn't occur to me." "Okay, just checking." "I did tell him Natalia had a tournament this weekend, so he should be expecting you." "You didn't tell me that." "Bye, Natty." "Bye, Mom." "I love you." "Love you." "Bye, Clark." "Safe travels." "Come on." "Okay, guys." "Let's go, let's go." "Behave, you two." "Be back in a few, guys!" "So..." "I've been thinking more about sex." "Would you mind if I stayed here while you're away?" "Could you ask your mom if that's okay?" "Maybe when she gets back." "It'll be hectic with the party." "I could call her tomorrow, but she doesn't usually respond well to me being pushy." "so do you think you're ready?" "Yeah, I think so." "Are you?" "Yeah." "It'll feel good to be that close to each other." "Yeah." "I will get a condom." "Will that fit?" "Why wouldn't it?" "Clark?" "Yeah?" "Were you planning on coming back up?" "I promised your mom we weren't gonna share a bed." "Todd wouldn't say anything." "I'm just kind of towing a very delicate line here." "I'm just trying to understand..." "Natalia, I love you, okay?" "I just don't wanna fuck anything up." "Hey, Todd?" "I've been meaning to ask." "I'd love to buy one of your prints." "I'd be happy to give you one." "Really?" "Thank you." "Hey, did you call your dad?" "No." "Is it too late?" "Yeah." "You know, I was thinking on the ride home it might be nice to invite him to the party." "Or dinner?" "Or to something?" "Yeah, I was thinking about the same thing, but I sort of came to the opposite conclusion." "You know, I don't have all the facts, but, from my conversation with him, it seems like he wants to be a part of your life." "Yeah, but he's really never found a healthy way to be a part of anybody's life." "Alright, buddy." "I'm gonna enjoy a little quiet time now." "Come on." "I can take the next eight in line." "Next." "I'm..." "I'm actually still waiting on my guest." "I can only give one ticket to each person in line." "any chance you'd be willing to part with your ticket?" "I've been looking forward to this all year." "Sorry." "It was worth a shot." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Am I too late?" "It's sold out." "Sorry, I got held up at the hotel." "My sister got rejected from Sarah Lawrence and is freaking out because she thinks it's the only place she can be comfortably lesbian." "So are we going to Kelly's?" "I'm trying to get some distance from the manuscript." "okay." "Well, I think I might just head there anyway." "Maybe you could give me a ride?" "Are you a big fan of Eggers?" "Yeah, he's not my favourite." "Veronica." "Thank you." "Veronica?" "Hon?" "Hey." "Hey." "You look nice." "Thanks." "Gonna get outta your way so you can go talk to your mom." "Mom?" "Yeah." "How do you feel about Clark staying the weekend?" "With you away?" "Yeah." "We've been very generous, but I can't in good conscience explain to Clark's father that his son is staying with us while you're out of town." "Do we actually owe his dad an explanation?" "As to the whereabouts of his child?" "Yes, Natalia, we do." "Mo..." "Tell him he's happy here." "Is he?" "I think so." "Are you?" "Yeah." "Perhaps you should think on that before picking a fight you may not want to win." "I'm not picking a fight." "It feels awfully soon for you to be living with your boyfriend." "How long after Dad died were you and Todd living together?" "Excuse me?" "Five weeks?" "It was not five weeks." "Eight?" "Twelve?" "Within three months, he was living here." "All I'm asking is for you to be a decent host to my boyfriend for two nights." "Russia has been around for millennia." "We know who we are." "Middle East's as old as it gets and there's no more unstable place in the world." "I'm gonna have to agree with Todd on this one." "Age doesn't bring wisdom, just stretch marks and cellulite." "How old are you, Daria?" "Let me get you a drink, Daria." "What brings you to the States?" "I am visiting artist friend." "Cool." "What medium does he work in?" "Flesh." "What?" "She explores the stigma surrounding plastic surgery and prostheses." "My mom always wanted a new nose." "Have you had any work done?" "'Cause... 'cause you look..." "really great." "Veronica, the boy wants to know if my tits are fake." "He's a very verbal boy." "Come in for a drink." "Hey, it's Clark." "Leave a message." "I hate that building." "I knew it." "Did you get enough to eat?" "Yeah, I'm fine." "and the whole building will turn green." "I guess it'll look like shit until then." "Exactly." "What are they talking about?" "You wanna go upstairs?" "It'd be kind of rude to just sneak off." "I don't think anyone really cares." "She's become quite a pretentious snob." "Clark?" "Clark." "Did you invite him?" "What are you doing here?" "It's time to come home." "You weren't even invited." "Yes, I was." "Yeah?" "By who?" "Pack your stuff." "I think you should go." "Pack your shit, Clark." "Please keep your voice down." "I'll give you two minutes to say your goodbyes and let these people know it's time to come home!" "Don't embarrass yourself." "You're coming home." "Tomorrow I'm taking you to visit your mother!" "Don't you fucking shush me!" "You're pathetic." "You look pathetic." "You're coming home with your father right this fucking minute!" "That place is not my home and you're not my father." "You don't even know how to live." "You don't know shit about shit!" "And I hope to God someday you are cursed with a little cunt son like yourself!" "Are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine." "Clark..." "What?" "I'm sorry." "No, don't be." "Really, it's cool." "Sh-should we call your mom?" "About what?" "I mean..." "When does she come home?" "I-I don't know." "What sane person would go home to that?" "Well, where else could she go?" "She'll find something." "Maybe you should just..." "I'm not really looking for advice, okay?" "Only trying to help." "I..." "I know you are." "It's just, being here's enough." "What are you gonna do about this weekend?" "well, I thought it was okay with your mom if I stayed here." "That's what I'll do." "I mean..." "Nat?" ".." "Todd didn't invite him, did he?" "I think he did." "Why would he do that?" "I don't think he or my mom really want you here." "What can't he do to your mom when I'm around?" "I just think there's..." "Like, I'm pretty low-maintenance." "Maybe you shouldn't be here." "I'll sleep on the couch tonight, and we can talk about this in the morning." "I'm leaving in the morning." "When you get back." "I don't... wanna come home to you." "Why?" "It just doesn't..." "doesn't sound very nice and..." "I don't think you're very nice." "Hello?" "Hey." "What's going on?" "I just wanted to see how you were doing." "How are you?" "I'm okay." "Where are you?" "At a cafe." "Could I, come and see you?" "I'm on my way out." "No, no, just let me come and see you first." "Actually, what's the address?" "My phone's about to die." "Kelly's Cafe." "Between 6th and Brannan." "Okay, cool." "Thanks." "Hey!" "Declined." "Just try again." "Hey, I'm so sorry." "Can you spot me 20 bucks for the taxi?" "I think my card was cancelled." "Great." "Can you look at my stuff?" "Thanks." "Sorry." "Am I holding you up?" "Sort of." "You have to be up early tomorrow, right, for your tournament?" "I was crashing at Natalia's... but it was... it was time." "Where're you headed?" "Mr. Becker said I could spend the night." "He lives nearby." "So why are you here?" "'Cause I wasn't sure if it was a good idea." "But?" "But then I got pretty tired." "Wh-why don't you just go home?" "My parents sold their house." "I've been sharing a hotel room with my sister." "But she's pretty much taken it over." "I'm sorry." "It's okay." "Is there... is there something you wanted to talk to me about?" "Just wanted to see you." "Well?" "That's it." "Any chance I could come with you?" "That's a lot of books." "Yeah, it's, it's for a story I'm writing." "What are you writing about?" "How... how would you describe it?" "It's a love story?" "about late capitalism." "Don't you wish you had the patience to read all of those?" "Yeah, well, the stuff worth reading is usually a slog." "Yeah, but what you assign is pretty fun." "Those are the hits." "I figure if I can hook you guys early that maybe you'll dig for the deep cuts later." "So just you here?" "It's just me." "Did you decorate it yourself?" "yeah." "It's good." "You did a good job." "What do you think?" "Yeah, I like it." "Reminds me of you." "It's... feels like, you know, all your stuff." "Could I get you a glass of water?" "Sure, yeah." "Actually, you know..." "I could do with a drink, if that's okay with you." "sure, yeah." "Awesome." "Do you want any?" "No." "No, thank you." "Etta?" "I'm okay." "So have you been here for a while?" "A few years." "Where's the bathroom, Jake?" "It's just..." "it's right around..." "Okay." "Ahem-hem." "She needed a place to stay." "No, it's nice that you offered." "If you're not careful with this information," "I could be fired." "Yeah, no, of course." "I'm gonna..." "Okay." "I'm gonna get some work done, but you guys can hang out in here." "That's cool." "Okay." "Hey, Jake?" "Can I crash on your couch?" "I guess so." "Thank you." "And... and I guess I'll sleep in your bed." "Yeah, okay." "You sure you don't want a drink?" "No, I don't wanna be tired at my tournament tomorrow." "Right." "Well, thanks for making this happen, anyways." "Good night, Clark." "Good night." "I'm sorry..." "Hello?" "Hi." "Clark!" "Are you okay?" "Yeah." "I've been trying to reach you." "Where are you, sweetie?" "I'm at Mr. Becker's apartment with Etta." "Mr. Becker, your teacher?" "Tell me what's going on." "I..." "I don't really know what's going on." "they're in bed together, so..." "Should you call her parents?" "Well, should you..." "should you knock?" "She likes it." "Honey, no." "You... you go there and you knock and you see if she's okay." "Clark?" "Clark?" "Yeah, no, I-I'm still here." "I'm happy to be hearing your voice." "Does your dad know you're there?" "Shit." "Clark?" "Everything okay?" "Yeah." "Okay." "She's sleeping." "Are you okay?" "Yeah." "I think I'm gonna head out." "Do you wanna come?" "No." "He's home." "So your call last night scared me." "Yeah, sorry." "No, I-I'm glad you called." "But you scared me." "Yeah, you, kinda sounded like you were out of breath, like I just woke you up from a bad dream." "Well... it was a long night for everybody." "Yeah." "Where in the process are you?" "Near the end." "Yeah?" "It's kind of scary to think about coming home?" "I'm..." "I'm gonna wait in the car." "Well, it seems like you..." "you like it here." "It's helping." "I've missed you." "You want me to time you around the block?" "I'm okay." "Come on, what was your best time?" "A little over four minutes when I was, like, 13." "Well, you think you can beat that?" "I dunno." "Probably." "Give it a shot." "On your mark... get set... go!"