"Okay, Abrams." "Allende." "Bernstein." "Brown." "Come on, come on." "Attaboy, Todd." "Buckley." "Cohen." "Garcia." "Paul." "Take a seat, Lisa." "I just wanted to take a minute to talk to you about your test." "Sure." "Now, I know you had a little help." "Well, I mean, I didn't cheat, if that's what you mean." "I'm just saying I know you had a little help." "A lot of people did." "Well, be that as it may..." "I mean, I'll take it over again if you want, but, like, what would be the point?" "It's not like I'm ever gonna actually need to know this stuff in my daily life." "Well, that's just not necessarily true, Lisa." "Haven't you ever developed an interest in something that you didn't initially think you were gonna develop an interest in?" "Um..." "No, not really." "Haven't you ever..." "Haven't you ever been put in a new situation and found that after overcoming its difficulties, you had developed a new set of skills and new experiences along the way?" "No, I really haven't." "Okay." "Anyway, it was open-book." "So, what's the difference between using a book and, like, I don't know, using somebody else's mind who's really good at math?" "I mean, it's not like this person did the whole test for me." " Oh, no?" " No, I did some of it." "Well, next time I'd appreciate it if you did it all." "Okay?" "You are so fair." "What did he say to you?" "Nothing." "Mr. Aaron and I have an understanding about my math problem." "So the President of the United States, William B. McKinley, authorizes the use of private detectives to break the strike and they went out there and shot 'em down!" "Just like they did in Virginia, just like they did in Pennsylvania." "Because they didn't care!" "They did not care!" "And that's basically it." "That's basically all there is to say." "All right?" "Go ahead." " Uh, Becky." " Well..." "Mr. Klein!" "I mean, was there ever, like, a good president of the United States?" "I don't know, Becky." "I think that's a good question." "What do you think?" "You." "Lionel." "What do you think?" "Did we ever have a good president?" "Um..." "I don't know." "I guess most of them have just been, like, totally corrupt." "Lisa?" "Can I just say that I'm not necessarily, like, a big fan of all the presidents of the United States, especially the current one." "But I still don't think it's necessarily all that useful to categorize every president as universally corrupt, because that just seems really general to me." "Especially if you're gonna judge them by the standard of whatever they're supposed to traditionally be like in some mythical version of America that probably never existed to begin with." "Lisa has raised a salient point." "Tell him to be polite, tell him to answer the questions, and I'll arrange for his bail in the morning." "Yes." "Hey, how'd you do?" "Hey, Darren." "It was fine." "Thank you so much." "So he didn't give you a hard time or anything?" "Well, he knows I'm not planning to go into mathematics or anything." "He was totally cool about it." " He's so cool." " Oh, yeah, everybody loves Mr. Aaron." "What's that supposed to mean?" "Nothing." "The man is very lovable." "What are you doing now?" "I was gonna go look for a cowboy hat." "Why?" "Because my dad is supposed to take me and my brother to this ranch in New Mexico to go horseback riding and I don't think it would be right to appear on horseback in New Mexico without the appropriate equestrian paraphernalia, Darren." "You wouldn't understand these things." " That is a definite possibility." " Anyway, thanks again." "Well, before you venture forth on your bizarre quest for a cowboy hat..." " Yes, Darren?" " What are you up to later?" " Like tonight." " I don't know." "You wanna go to a movie?" "What, you mean, like on a date?" "No, not on a date, just go to a movie." "I don't know if it's a fucking date!" "All right." "Calm down." "What do you wanna see?" "I don't know, I don't even know what's playing." "I don't know if it's a date." "Let's just forget about it." "I hate the fuckin' movies anyway." "They're just bullshit." "They're all bullshit!" "Okay, take it easy." "I'm sorry." "I was just asking!" "What if it was a date, anyway?" "Would that be so horrendous?" "Oh, my God." "Are you like..." "Are you asking me out?" " I don't know." " Are you?" "Yeah." "I mean..." " I feel like we're already really close..." " Oh, my God." "...and I think we'd be a really good match." "Well, I would definitely have to think about this." "Absolutely." "Give it some thought." "Okay." "I will." "Okay." " Why do you look like that?" " Like what?" " What do you want from me?" " Not a thing!" "All right." "I'll see you later." "All right." "Hello!" "Hi." " Is Mom home?" " She went to the store." " Hey!" " What are you doing tonight?" "Nothing." "Darren wants me to go to the movies with him." "Oh, my God." "What's that about?" "I have no idea." "Becky, there is not a cowboy hat to be found in the entire Upper West Side." "And I am very depressed about it." "The Upper West Side is saving you from yourself because no one wants to see you in that hat." "Hey!" "Hey!" " Where'd you get..." " How you doin'?" "Your hat!" "What?" "Where'd you get your cowboy hat?" "What?" "What are you, crazy?" "Hi." "Where'd you get your cowboy hat?" " My hat?" " Yeah!" "Your cowboy hat!" "You like my cowboy hat?" "Really?" "Yes!" "Where did you get it?" "Somebody see what happen?" "Somebody call an ambulance!" "Call an ambulance." "Everybody just step back!" "I'm calling one right now!" "Can you hear me?" "Get an ambulance!" " Someone's calling one!" " Ma'am, can you hear me?" " Can you hear me?" " I don't know!" "Where am I?" "You're on Broadway and 75th Street in New York." "Between 75th and 74th Street." "You were in a bad accident." "Who are you?" " My name is Lisa." " What do you mean?" "Am I dead?" "No, you're not dead." "You were in a traffic accident, but you're gonna be..." "What do you mean?" "What happened?" " You were run over by a bus." " You've got to be kidding me." " A bus?" " Yeah." "Is there a doctor anywhere?" "Is it still happening?" " An ambulance is on its way." " The accident's over." " I think you're a little confused." " I'll say I'm confused." "Here." "Let me just try..." " No!" "Don't let go!" " Ma'am!" " Don't let go of me!" "Don't let go of me." " I won't." "I won't." "I'm not gonna let go." "Thank you." "Thank you, honey." "She needs a tourniquet or she's going to die." "Okay, let me just..." "Oh, my God!" "Jesus Christ!" "Help!" "God, what's happening to me!" "I'm sorry." "I'm trying to put a tourniquet on you." "Ma'am, we need to get a tourniquet on you." "Do you have a belt?" "You can use your belt." "I just can't see where to do it." "You're gonna be all right, so just hang on." "Thank you, honey." "Just don't let go of me." "They're gonna put a tourniquet on you." "What do you mean?" "Are they doctors?" "No, they're not doctors." "They were just passing by." " Well, get 'em the fuck away from me!" " Ma'am!" "Ma'am!" "We're only trying to help you!" "Never mind that!" "Just try putting it around..." "Do you wanna do it?" "You know how to do it." "You wanna do it?" "Are you kidding me!" "I can't see anything." "Are my eyes open or closed?" "They're open." "What do you mean?" "You were in a terrible accident." "But you're gonna be fine, so just hang on, okay?" "There's no place to put it." "I can't even find a..." "Will somebody call the fucking ambulance!" "Calm down!" "We already called them!" "They're obviously not coming fast enough, so maybe you should call them again!" "Why not call them again?" " You're gonna be..." " Could somebody..." "Could somebody call my daughter?" "Sure!" "We can call her." "What's her name?" "Just tell me her name and give me her number." "It's Lisa." "No, that's my name." "Is that your daughter's name?" "What?" "What are you talking about?" "I'm sorry." "I'm not trying to be confusing." "My name is Lisa." "Is that your daughter's name?" "Jesus Christ, just call her!" "Would you call her?" "I can't call her if you don't give me the number." "I got it." "I got it!" "Ma'am?" " You're gonna be okay." " You're gonna be okay!" "What's your daughter's number?" "Sweetie," " I don't think I'm gonna make it." " Oh, no!" "Please hang on." "The ambulance is gonna be here any minute!" "So just hang on, okay?" " Please!" " It's okay." " She's gone." " No!" "No!" " She's gone." " Please let go of me!" "Please, let go of me!" "Please, let go of me!" "Just hang on." "They're gonna be here any minute, okay?" "So just hang on!" "You're gonna be okay!" " You were going the speed limit?" " Yeah." "Lisa?" "You're Lisa?" "I just want to ask you a few questions, okay?" "Yeah, sure." "Now, just tell me everything you saw, even if you think it might not be important." "All right?" "Think of it like a movie." "Like you're watchin' a movie" " in your head..." " It was green as I came to the intersection." " Could somebody call my mother?" " We already called your mom, but I'll have 'em put another call in to your mother right now, okay?" "I know this is hard for you, but we gotta get this while it's still fresh in your mind, okay?" "Some of these questions might seem like they don't make a lot of sense to you." "They do make sense." "Just ask me!" "Okay, that's what I'm doin'." "All right?" "So now I'm gonna ask you, from where you were standing, could you see the traffic light?" "Could you tell me if it was red?" "Yellow?" "Green?" "She just came out of nowhere?" "What color was the light?" "Boy, I'm sorry..." "I..." " I guess it was green?" " Green?" "I think it was just an accident." " Where were you at?" " I was on Broadway." " What happened to you?" " Nothing." "Hello?" "So, does anybody know who she was?" "I don't know." "I guess she lived around here if she had all these Fairway grocery bags." " What did they do with her leg?" " I have no fucking idea." "Hey..." "Lisa?" "Are you sure you don't want me to call in?" "Oh, no, thanks." "I mean, thank you." "That's really sweet." "But I'm supposed to go see Becky anyway, and I don't really want to sit here thinking about it all night." "Go to work." "I'll be all right." "Hey." "Hey, Darren." "Hey." " Joan?" " Yeah?" " You got some flowers." " Can you bring 'em in?" "Oh, that's good." "I'm glad you guys liked it." "You were great." "Well, we have a lot of work to do, but it'll be good." "The critics are gonna love it." "They don't even know me anymore." " Hey, are you comin' out?" " Um..." "I don't know." "I'm not sure." " Come on." " Maybe I will." "I don't know if I'm going to." "But I might." " See you later." " Bye." " Goodnight." " See you later." "Hi, are you Ramon?" "Yes." "Hello." "You were wonderful again." "Oh, you're so sweet." "And thank you for the beautiful flowers." " You're very welcome." " And you've seen the show before?" "Yes, two times." "Gosh." "That's a lot!" "It's a beautiful performance." "I'm sure you will have a big success." "Well, right now, we're just trying to focus on what we're doing." "I don't know if you are busy, but would you allow me to buy you a drink?" "If you like to ask your friends..." " I'm sorry." "I can't." "I'm just on my way home." " Okay, that's no problem." "Tomorrow I'm going to London for a few days." "Perhaps when I come back." "Um..." " Yeah." " Okay." " I'm sorry." "I really have to go." " Okay." "That's no problem." "Anyway, thanks again for the beautiful flowers!" " It's a privilege to meet you." " It's nice to meet you, too." " Goodnight." " Goodnight." "Hey." " I thought you were at the movies." " Yeah, it wasn't very good." "I was doing a show in Detroit and this woman came backstage, and she's like, "Wanna come back to my place and do some cocaine?"" "I was like, "I know the kind of pussy... "" "Why you pop in at 4:00 in the morning?" "You'll get us thrown out." "Oh, oh." "Do the Shirley Temple!" "Come on, do the Shirley Temple." "Okay." "On the good ship Lollipop" "It's a sweet trip to the candy shop" "And there you are" "Happy landing on the chocolate bar" "If you eat too much" "Oh!" "Oh!" "You'll..." "Keep going!" "That's awesome!" "Wait, what's that one?" "Do the baby." " No, it's too weird." "You have to do the baby." "Some inspiration." " It's so disturbing." " I know." "It's too weird." " No, it's not." " Have another drink." "I think we can tell I've had enough." "Matthew, if you would read the role of France." "And, Anthony, why don't you read Burgundy?" "Ah, Burgundy." "And I guess I'm gonna hog the part of Lear again." "Okay, Anthony?" "Uh..." ""Royal Majesty, I crave no more than what your highness offered," ""nor will you tender less. "" ""Right, noble Burgundy," ""When she was dear to us, we did hold her so," ""But now her price is fall'n. "" "My family are from Colombia." "My father worked in the diplomatic service." "Really?" "Wow." "I grew up five years in Panama and nine years in Paris." "And what do you do, Ramon?" "I have a company." "We design computer software to help companies in South American countries that use an incompatible software, so the computers can talk to each other." "It's a big problem in South America where there is not so much coordination in computer communication." "Right now is a lot of opportunity for us because for the big software companies, we are still the backwoods." "That's changing quite fast." "Can I give you a lift?" "Oh, no, thank you, I'm just gonna grab a cab." "But thanks." "May I call you sometime?" "Okay." "Sure, that would be great." "May I have your telephone number?" " Mom?" " Just a minute!" " Can I come in?" " Just a second, please." "Hold on." "Come in." "Can I talk to you?" "Sure." "What's up?" "I'm supposed to go back to the police to confirm my statement the day after tomorrow." "So what do you think I should do?" "Well, I don't know, sweetie." "I mean, that bus driver probably has a family to support." "He could probably lose his job." "So I think you should really think about that before you say anything." "Okay?" "Yeah." "Think of the implications of what you're saying." "I'm saying what is the frame of reference for the average Arab on the street?" " Angie." " Yeah." "My mother's family is from Syria, and they're not exactly in love with the current regime." "And I definitely don't agree with a lot of their religious views, especially when it comes to the oppression of women." "But I just wanna say that Americans have no idea how much people hate them all over the world." "It's pretty clear to us now, Angie." "And all my relatives in Syria think what we did in Afghanistan was terrorism, okay?" " Anthony?" " Not to mention Iraq." " Syria is a theocratic military dictatorship." " No, it's not." "Sorry." "Syria is not a theocratic military dictatorship?" "I think we have a pretty good idea how much people hate us now, actually, Angie." "No, we don't." "They blew up our city, okay?" "So, yeah, I think we have a pretty good idea" " and personally, I don't give a shit." " You should." "The people who blew up the World Trade Center were a bunch of sick monsters." " Oh, they were monsters?" " Yes!" "Why, because they're Arabs?" "No, because they killed 3,000 people for no reason." "Maybe they think they had a reason!" " Like what?" " One at a time!" " Why did we drop bombs on them?" " What should we have done?" "Why did we invade Iraq?" "They declared war on us." "No, they didn't." "Iraq didn't declare war on anybody!" " They didn't do anything to us!" " Come on, guys, one at a time!" " Anthony." " They did have a reason." "Thank you." "They wanted to establish a medieval Islamic caliphate in the Middle East and destroy Western civilization." " Where did you read that?" " It's on their website." " Okay, forget it." " Angie!" " No!" "Forget it!" " Go ahead with what you were saying!" "No!" "Why should I?" "But why are you defending someone who murdered 3,000 people?" "I'm not!" "Why are you defending a country that unilaterally invaded two Muslim countries and supports the Israeli occupation of Palestine?" "Give me a break!" "And drops bombs on women and children and then calls other people terrorists for doing the exact same thing?" " Because it's not the same thing!" " Yes, it is!" "Come on, guys." "Lionel!" "Go ahead." "Yeah, I just want to ask why is it okay to drop bombs on men but it's not okay to drop bombs on women and children?" "I mean, isn't that just like reverse sexism?" "I don't know." "I agree it's a bullshit term." " This is totally stupid." " Monica!" "I think the whole class should apologize to Angie, actually, 'cause all she did was express her opinion about what her relatives in Syria think." " Thank you!" " And everyone started screaming at her like she was defending the Ku Klux Klan!" "They are the Ku Klux Klan!" "They throw acid in women's faces." " Who?" "Afghanistans?" " Why not drop bombs on the Ku Klux Klan!" "Because they're white?" "Six people raised their hands before you, Lisa." "Come on, guys." "The correct term is Afghans." "Okay, I'm not even saying I disagree with you." "I'm just saying it's pathetic the way people in this class treated Angie just for saying something they didn't happen to agree with." "Because that's censorship." "Right?" " Right?" " It's not censorship!" " Right on!" " This class is not the government." " It's censorship." " Oh, my God, no, it's not!" "We work out of Highway One out in the Bronx." "Near the Bronx Zoo." " Oh, okay." " But for a situation..." "Hey, how are you doin'?" "But for somethin' like this, we usually find a local precinct or an apartment." "Whatever will expediate the situation most effectively." "Have a seat wherever you want." "Just pull up a chair." "According to this statement, the light was green when the bus passed through the intersection." "Yes." "So you're saying she walked against the light?" "Yeah." "It's true." "Two years of college, two years at the magazine." "Two years with you." "I'm kind of a two-year gal!" "What's funny about that?" "What did you think of the play?" "It was okay." " Hello?" " Hi, Dad!" "Yeah!" "Hi!" " How are you?" " I'm okay." "I'm fine." "I'm just sitting here, looking at the ocean, tryin' to do a little work, listening to some music." " How are you?" " I'm okay." "Are you practicing your horseback riding?" "Oh, yeah, I've really been riding a lot." "I'm gettin' these really bad saddle sores." " Are you?" " No, I'm kidding." "Yeah." "Do you know" "Claremont Stables on 89th between Columbus and Amsterdam?" " Yeah." " Well, it might be really worth your while to go over there and maybe sign up for a couple of lessons." " No..." " I'd be happy to..." "I'm sorry, what?" "I was just saying I'd be very happy to spring for it if you want to take a couple of lessons." "I think it would pay off in the end." " Thanks." "I actually may take you up on that." " Yeah, just let me know." " I appreciate that." " So, how's school?" "School's okay." "I'm kind of fucking up in geometry." "But I assume you're not torpedoing your scholarship or anything like that?" " Nope." "The scholarship's on." " Okay, good." "Well, math was never my strong suit either, so..." "I guess I'm following in your footsteps in that regard." "Well, I'm proud to hear it." "So, how are you?" "Um..." "I'm okay." "Things are okay." "They're a little slow and a little frustrating." "But there's one or two projects we're going after that seem to look promising." "And I don't know, I think it's okay." "Okay." "How's the boyfriend situation?" "Oh." "The same." " Nobody..." " They're all kind of the same." "Well, I know this is not going to go anywhere, but our next workshop is comprised, for the most part, of strapping young men of about 17 years old who, for some peculiar reason, are interested in using their brains" "to get on with their lives." "Nobody really understands why or how this happened, but if you're interested in meeting any of them when you come out next time..." "Yeah, I don't really go for the California type, but thanks." "Well, I don't either, per se." "It depends on the person, obviously." "Hard to argue with." "I think I'll stop generalizing now." "Well, that's about it on my end, sweetie." "I'll give you a call in a week or two." " Give my love to Curtis." " Okay." "Well..." " I love you." " I love you, too." "Bye." " You do know I have two kids, right?" " Yes." "I would like to meet them." "You are really smooth." "I would love to meet your kids." "I have two boys myself." "I'm not smooth." "Would you like to have a nightcap?" "I just..." "I feel like we used to be really close, like, up until a few days ago, and I'm really not getting that from you anymore." "Becky, give me a break." "Now you wanna do the other nostril because you always want to be symmetrical." "Very important." "You are so funny." "Symmetry." "So, what do we do now?" " Now we make out." " Paul!" "What about your girlfriend?" "I'm sorry." "It just sounded like you asked me about my girlfriend." "Oh, never mind." "I don't know, man." "I don't wanna get into it." "You know I really love you, right?" "Not really." "I gotta go home." "I'm just gonna head out, too." "You need a little help, I take it?" "Joan, are you all right?" "Yes, fine." "I'll be out in a sec." "Okay, we're gonna start with a few simple stretches." "I want you all to watch me first, and then you'll follow." "All right, so left arm goes up." "And then all the way over to the side, you're gonna feel a long stretch along the side of your body." "All right." " Mr. Aaron?" " Yes, Becky..." "Lisa?" "Are you still mad at me about the test?" "What's going on, Lisa?" "Because maybe the bus driver is completely devastated as it is, and I'm just gonna be this rich girl who calls up the cops to ease her conscience." "What does your being rich have to do with anything?" " You know what I mean." " No, I don't." "I don't mean literally rich." "I mean rich compared to the bus driver." "Lionel?" "I'm going to need five minutes." "I just thought you wanted to know that there's a lot of people out here and it's kind of hard to breathe." "You better close that door now, Lionel." "I'm sorry, I gotta let these guys in." "I don't want to leave you hanging." "Look, if you're hurting," " we could get a cup of coffee after school." " I'd do that." "Hey, does this dress make me look fat?" "Um..." "A little." "Well, there's nothing I can do about it." "Where are you going?" "The opera." "Why are you going to the opera?" "Turns out he's a big opera fan." "Anyway, don't you think it sounds kind of fun?" "We should all go sometime." "No, thanks." " Why not?" "I bet you'd like it." " I don't like that kind of singing." "You like classical music." "Yes, that's true, but I don't like opera singing." " When have you ever..." " It's like their entire reason for existing is to prove how loud they can be." "I don't really find that all that interesting." "Yeah." "I know what you mean, but it's not all like that." "You like The Magic Flute." "Okay." "I guess I'm wrong." "I guess I do like opera singing." "I just didn't realize it." " What is the matter with you?" " Nothing at all." "Why are you pushing this?" "I don't want to go to the opera!" "Yes, okay." "I'm not pushing anything." "All you have say is, "No, thanks. "" "I did and then you were like, "Why not?"" "So then I told you, and then you started debating me, like you assumed that I've never thought this through for myself, which I have, many times!" "Okay, well that was a really contemptuous assumption on my part." "I don't actually like the opera that much myself, but I'm trying to expand my mind, maybe that's wrong." "I'm sorry." "I guess I'm a little nervous about you guys meeting Ramon." "Why?" "What's the big deal?" "Why are you so influenced by what Curtis and me what Curtis and I think?" "Hey, why does everything I say annoy you?" "Jesus Christ, I'm just sitting here." "Here, you be me, and say anything and I'll respond to you the way you've been responding to me this whole conversation." " Go ahead, you say something to me..." " No!" "I'm not gonna do that." " Why not?" " Because it's dumb!" "I'm horrible." "I get your point!" "Oh, okay." "Whatever." "Was that supposed to be an imitation of me?" "Mmm." "Okay, withdrawn." "Are you coming to my opening night?" "I will if I have to." " You're a little cunt, you know that?" " Yes." "You're a big cunt." "Okay, let's not start talking to each other that way." "You just called me a cunt, Mom." " I'm sorry I said that..." " Why?" "It's refreshing." "If you're saying you're not aware you've been really annoyed with me, or really irritable with me and it doesn't matter if I express it exactly accurately," " because you know what I'm trying to say." " Not really." "If you're really saying that you're completely unaware of that, then I have to say I don't think you're being honest about it." "Now, maybe I'm doing something horrible to you without being aware of it, but I have a show opening in two weeks, I'm really nervous about it," "I'm seeing a new person and I'm obviously anxious about you and Curtis liking him, you were involved in this horrible, traumatic accident, you're going on this crazy horseback riding trip with your father..." " Oh, my God!" " ... which sounds like a recipe for disaster." "And on top of everything else, Lisa, ever since I told you about Ramon, you have been treating me like I'm insane." " I think you're exaggerating." " Now, what am I supposed to do?" " What am I supposed to do?" " Just stop whining about everything!" "It doesn't matter." "None of it matters at all." "You've been in a million plays, you always get freaked out because of what some dumb critic is gonna say about your dumb play." "I don't frankly give a shit about Ramon or who you're going out with this week." "I never go out with anyone." " I don't care!" " Don't talk to me like that!" "I've barely had a date for the last two years!" "Yeah, but I don't care about any of it." "It doesn't matter." "Your boyfriend doesn't matter." "Your play doesn't matter, except to you." "I don't care about New Mexico, because to tell you the truth," "I'm probably not even going." " What do you mean?" " Want to know something else, Mom?" "There are more important problems in the world than our relationship." "There is a whole city out there full of people who are dying, so who gives a shit if I like your fucking boyfriend?" "It is so trivial." "Why are you bothering me with all this?" "It doesn't matter." "Well, should I have him come up now?" "Or should I have him wait downstairs?" "Do whatever you want." "I don't care." "Lisa, I don't even know what we're talking about." "I know you don't." "That's the problem." "Oh, give me a break." "Everything is all right?" "Oh, yeah." "Oh." "I'm so excited to be going to the opera." "I don't think I've really gone more than one or two times." "I wish it wasn't Norma, but still it's fun to go." "What if we went to see something else instead?" " You don't want to hear Norma?" " Oh, no, I don't mean that." "I just meant, wouldn't it be funny if we walked into one of the other events?" "Like, what if we just went to see the Daniel Goldfarb play instead?" "I think you will enjoy this." " It's beautiful." " Shh." "This is the dumbest book I've ever read." " Yo." " Hey, Paul." " Hey." " It's Lisa Cohen." "Yeah, how's it going?" "Okay." "What have you been up to?" "Seeing some questionable movies, and not deciding where to go to college." "Sounds good." "So, I was just thinking..." "This is gonna sound really queer, but by any chance would you want to meet somewhere and, like, take away my virginity?" "Um..." "All right." "Really?" "To what do I owe this inconceivable honor?" "Actually, it's because of my deep, passionate feelings for you, Paul." "That's pretty much what I figured." "Do you wanna give me your address?" "Oh, um..." "It's 252 West 85th Street." "Okay." "All right." "I'll be there in like a half hour," " or more." " Okay." " All right." "I'll see you." " Bye." " Hello?" "Hey." " What are you up to?" " Writing my Lear paper." "That's impressive." "Not really." "I've just never known you to be so devoted to your studies before." "So, what did you do tonight?" "Actually, Darren, I don't really feel like talking right now." "Okay." "Okay?" "Yeah." "I'll talk to you later." "Okay." " Bye." " Bye." " Hey." " Hey, come in." "I think I just alienated one of your neighbors by smoking in the elevator." "Really?" "What did they say?" "She basically said there was no smoking in the elevator." "That's original." "So, this is the living room." " Very livable." " We like it." "My mom hasn't read any of these books, by the way." "Have you?" "Some of them." "Not all of them." "This book is a very cool book." "Yeah, I think The Third Reich may be a little bit too much for me right now." "It's pretty hard to put down once you get started." "Do you want anything to drink?" "I'd take a beer." "Okay, that's in the kitchen." "This is my room." "Ta-da." "Very nice." "These are some drawings I did." "Not that I should be showing them to you, because" "I know you're like a really good artist, right?" "I would like to be a really good artist." "At this point, I think it would be more accurate to say I'm good at drawing." "Yeah, I just do it for fun." "But I've always really liked it." " So, can I ask you something?" " Yes?" "This is probably gonna sound very immature, but how can you be so relaxed, knowing what we're about to do?" "Or is it just like no big deal to you?" "Okay, that was a really stupid question, and I'm totally embarrassed right now." "I'm actually more embarrassed than I've ever been in my life." "If you wanna go home now, that's totally okay." "Easy there." "Don't be embarrassed." "It's basically, like, the world's greatest activity, but it's not actually worth getting nervous about." "Yeah, I don't usually get nervous because I think it's worth it," "I usually get nervous because I can't help the way I feel." "There is that philosophy." "You are so funny." "Do you have an ashtray?" "You can just chuck it out the window." "How would one just chuck it out the window?" "Oh, you just slide the little door..." "Like that?" "Yes." "Am I supposed to go really fast at the end or something?" "Yeah, but we're gonna move on before that." "Here." "Oh, oh." "You don't have to do that." "I know." "I want to." "But don't do that." "I'm just embarrassed." " Let me do it to you." " All right." "Uh..." "Um..." "Any general guidelines?" "Just be careful." "Okay." "Are you ready?" "Yeah." "Okay." "Now, this is a little tricky." "It's probably gonna hurt a little at first, but then it's gonna get better." "Just be patient." "There are certain technical difficulties on my end that have to be addressed, or it's not gonna happen." "Okay." "You sound insane." "Okay, ready?" "Yeah." "Okay." "Mmm-hmm." "Okay, hang on." "Okay, there we go." "Does it hurt now?" "Kind of, yeah." "Okay, just try to relax." "It'll get better in a second..." " Did you bring a condom?" " Uh-huh." " Shouldn't you put it on?" " I will in a second." " This is really kind of hurting." " Okay, one second." " I love you." " What?" "Nothing." "Okay." "Hold on." " Shit." " What?" "Okay, one second." "Oh!" "Sorry." "Sorry." "Oh!" "Sorry about that." "Kind of got away from me." " Did any of it get inside me?" " I don't know." "Yeah." "It definitely did." "Honest to God, it's probably okay." "The odds are overwhelmingly that it's okay." "That's my little brother." " Hey, Curtis." " Hi." "I loved it." "It was so exciting." "But how about those people yelling "bravi"and "brava"?" " How do you mean?" " Well, it's just so pretentious." ""Bravi, bravi. " Why can't they just say "bravo"?" "Well, it's the plural." "It's what they say to acknowledge the ensemble." "No, I know it's correct, but don't you think there's just something a little pretentious about some of those people?" " Pretentious?" " I don't mean they didn't really enjoy it, but you know how you can be enjoying something, but you're also kind of looking around, out of the corner of your eye, because you know people are watching you enjoy it?" "Yes, but I wouldn't say that it was pretentious." "In Italian you say "bravo"for the man and "brava"for the woman, and "bravi"for the whole company." "Uh-huh." "Okay, I see what you mean." "You use the masculine for the male singer and the feminine for the female singer." "Anyway, I really enjoyed it." "Thank you." "We'll have to go again." "It was so glamorous." "Accident Investigation, Detective Mitchell." "My name is Lisa Cohen." "I was a witness in a bus accident case a few weeks ago." "Yeah, hi, Lisa." "What can I do for you?" "Well, are you allowed to tell me how to get in touch with that woman's family?" "I really wanted to send some flowers or something, or is that like classified information?" "No, the family's been notified." "Let me see what I got." "She mentioned she had a daughter." "Just hold on a second." "How are you doing, okay?" "I'm okay." "All right, let me just..." "Okay, I don't have anything for a daughter." "The only contact I have is a cousin, Abigail Berwitz." " I got a phone number in Arizona." " Okay." " 520-5555." " Mmm-hmm." "I'm trying to reach Abigail Berwitz?" " This is Abigail." " Hi." "My name is Lisa Cohen." "You don't know me." "Yes?" "Hello?" "I'm actually calling about your cousin, Monica Patterson?" "Okay?" "Um..." "I was actually there when she had..." "During the accident, I didn't know her, but I was holding her hand at the time." "Yes?" "What can I do for you?" "Uh, um..." "Okay, well..." "I saw her obituary in the paper, but can you hold on one second?" "Can you shut up for five minutes?" "What am I supposed to do?" "I have to practice." "I don't give a shit!" "Sorry." "Um..." "I didn't see anything about a funeral." "I assume they had one." "As far as I know, they're doing something or other next week, but..." "I'm sorry, I was also wondering..." "She said something about her daughter?" " No." " She wanted someone to get in touch..." "No." "Her daughter's not alive." "She passed away quite a long time ago." "Oh, my God." " Was she sick?" "Or was it..." " She had leukemia." " Oh, my gosh." " Mmm-hmm." " And do you mind if I ask..." " Could I just interrupt?" "How did you get this number?" "This is harassment!" "I'm sorry." "I'm not trying to harass you." "I've been getting calls about this for three weeks, and I gotta tell you people," "I didn't have any kind of relationship with Monica whatsoever." "The person you should be calling is Emily Morrison, who was Monica's friend." "She's the person who's been dealing with all of this in New York." "It has nothing to do with me." "I'm sorry!" "I didn't really know who to contact." "Now, I can give you her number, but I would very much appreciate it if the calls would stop." "Yeah..." " Can you hold on while I get a pen?" " Yes." "All right." "Okay." " Hi, are you Lisa?" " Yes." "As most of you know," "Monica was not a religious woman." "Anybody who ever had to sit through a wedding or a funeral with her knows how she felt about formal occasions." "So Harry, Elise and I, we were talking about this, decided we would just have everyone over, and let anyone who wanted to talk about Monica, just talk about her." "Maybe share some remembrances." "Some of us know each other and some of us don't." "But we're all here..." "We're all here because we loved Monica and because we want to pay tribute to her in a way that might conceivably not enrage her." "Now, I don't wanna tell anyone what to think, or how to feel." "And I don't want to kid myself about the stupid, meaningless way that she died, because that would really make her throw up, but I don't want it to become the summation of her life," "because it's not." "When her Lisa died..." "When her Lisa died, I said to her, "How can you stand it?"" "And she said, "First of all, I can't." ""But I don't want to take away the 12 years she did have" ""and turn them all into leukemia, because they weren't. "" "And so I do think it's important to remember that despite the fact that she got ripped off, she was the most fully developed person I, personally, have ever known." "She was also impossible to get along with," "But that's another story." "So, now I've said my little piece." "And now I want to talk a bit about the first time we ever met." "She was 21." "It's okay, Emily." "I know." "I was 19." "Even though I realize it's impossible for my children to believe I was ever that young." "Hi, Dad." "Yeah, hi, how're you doing?" "Okay, how are you?" "I'm just sitting here listening to some music, having a delicious glass of beer." "That sounds pleasant." "Yeah." "How's everything going?" "How's the boyfriend situation?" "Well, there's this one guy I sort of had something going with, but..." " But he kind of has a girlfriend, so..." " Uh-huh." "I realize I'm incredibly enthralling." "You are." "You're very lucky." "You're a very beautiful girl, and you've got brains." " That makes you a little dangerous." " Don't forget mature." "Well, I hope you're not too mature." " No, don't worry." " Good." "That was a very good answer." "Anyway, I do think it's a pretty longstanding relationship." "Then you know what?" "You just do nothing." "Do absolutely nothing." "And I guarantee you one of two things will happen." "Either you're going to get the guy to start doing back flips to get your attention or you're going send him a crystal clear signal that if he doesn't do back flips," " he's not gonna get your attention." " I think he already knows I like him." "Uh-huh?" "Okay..." "I think I might have spilled the beans on that one." "That's okay, because now, if you stop acknowledging him, if you suddenly give him nothing," "I guarantee you, the guy is going to go berserk and forget his girlfriend, unless he's just not interested." "In which case, you just gotta take your lumps, which is tough." "Okay, thanks, Dad." "I'll be sure to try out the technique next time I see him." "Well, everything's okay here." " Things are a little slow, but..." " Actually, Dad?" "Yeah?" "I actually have something kind of serious I want to ask you about." "Okay." "I'm kind soliciting people I respect for their views on this." "Okay, what's up?" "Do you think I should go back to the police, or what?" "Well, first of all, I'm very glad you told me about this." "I want you to let me call my friend who's a lawyer, just so we can find out what some of the ramifications would be." "Maybe the three of us could talk on the phone and possibly..." " Hey." " Hey, babe." "Actually, Dad, please don't call anybody." " Did you get my message?" " Um..." "I got a message." " Hello?" " Sorry." "About the flowers for my mother?" "Just one second." "Annette just walked in." "I'm sorry." "That's okay." "Who are you talking to?" "I guess I would just like to know later that I would have done the right thing by myself, if you see what I mean, because I don't think I have so far." "Not that I'm trying to make this woman's horrible death into my own personal moral gymnasium..." "Right." "Well, that's that Shaw quote, right?" " What?" " The Shaw quote?" "That great Shaw quote." ""The Englishman sees the world as expressly" ""designed to be his own personal moral gymnasium. "" "I think it's in one of those wonderful prefaces." "I don't know where I read it." " Who is that?" " It's Lisa." "Oh, good." "Will you please ask her..." " Anyway..." " Hold on." "I'm sorry, Lisa." "Can you hold on one second?" "Yes?" "Please ask if there's anything we don't know about that she won't eat, for the trip." "I have to call the ranch because they do all the meals" " ahead of time." " Okay, I will." "I really will." "We're just in the middle of something." "Karl, I was supposed to call them last week." "You said you were going to call her." "If I hear about this fucking ranch one more time, I'm going to blow my brains out." "I'm just in the middle of something." "I don't..." "What do you want me to do?" "Fine, but if they put anything in the baskets she can't eat, well she's not going to have anything to eat." " I will ask her..." " The last time she came out here, we went to three different restaurants and she..." "I will ask her." "We're just right in the middle of something, okay?" "Okay." "Tell her I said, "Hi. "" "I will." "Okay." "Hello?" "Yes." "Hi." "Mom?" "Monica!" "There's somebody here to see you." "Hi." "I'm really sorry to bother you." "We never met." "I'm Lisa Cohen." "Yeah." "What can I do for you?" "Well, do you remember me from the bus accident?" "I don't know." "What's this about?" "Would it be okay if I talked to you for a minute?" "What do you want to talk about?" "I don't understand." "I just wanna talk about the accident for a minute." "I don't want anything, and I'm not here to do anything bad." "I just wanted to talk to you about it." "Where did you get my address?" "I called information." "I was gonna call first, but..." "It would have been better." "We're about to sit down." "I don't get what..." "All right." "Let's go outside." "I'm sorry." "Could I use your bathroom?" " No, let's just go outside." " Gerry, let her use the bathroom." "I don't want her to use the bathroom." "I don't understand what this is." "It's right down the hall, honey." "Hey, will you kids settle down, please?" "I'm not kidding!" " What's the matter with you?" " Who is she?" "Some girl that was at the accident." "Nothing is the matter." "I let her use the fucking bathroom." "Who is she?" " Honey, just do me a favor and wait inside." " No, I want to hear what this is." "Look, we're just..." "Okay." "What?" "Okay." "I hope this isn't going to insult you too much." "Insult me?" "I was just wondering if you felt bad at all about what happened." " About the accident?" " Yeah." "Honey?" "Are you just upset about the accident?" "Yes!" "I'm upset about the accident." "I'm very upset about the accident." "And I wanted to talk to you about it for a minute." "Why is that so strange?" " Gerry, why don't we all go inside?" " Could I please talk to you alone?" "Okay, what is going on here?" "Nothing's going on here." "So why don't you calm down?" "Look, go ahead inside." "Let me find out what this is." "In the meantime, why don't you make sure those kids aren't killing each other, all right?" "All right." "No, you know what?" "Let 'em kill each other." "Give us all a rest." "All right, Lisa." "What?" "I just..." " Well..." "I just want you to know..." " Yes?" "What?" "Speak." "Well, you probably already know, obviously, that" "I told the police, on the police report, that I thought the whole thing was an accident." "Uh-huh." "Right." "Because it was an accident." "Well, I mean..." "I know you didn't do it on purpose." " "On purpose"?" " But it wasn't like..." "What?" "What?" "Speak." "What?" "Well, I mean..." "We were looking at each other." "Who was looking at each other?" "You and me?" "Well, yeah." "I mean, not like romantically or anything." " Romantically?" " Scratch that." "That's not even relevant." "You're not coming through very clearly here." "If you could just let me..." "From my point of view, the way I remember the accident is you were wearing this cowboy hat, and I was out that day to buy a cowboy hat, so I was waving at you, because you were wearing one," "and you were kind of waving back." "And..." "I know I was distracting you, but I did see the bus go through the red light," "and that's when it hit that woman." "Okay." " I'm getting a little confused here." " Only nobody said that to them, and I wanted to acknowledge with you that that's what happened." "I don't know what you really mean by "waving at you. "" " Were you trying to catch the bus?" " No." "Yes." "But I wanted to" " ask you about your cowboy hat." " Maybe I was waving at you, like waving at you to say, "Step away from the bus. "" "Because if the bus was in motion," "I would be waving you away for your own safety, but that's all that would be." "You don't remember looking at me and waving at me?" "Not really." "No." "Well, I think we both remember something different." " Your brother's on the phone." " Tell him I'll call him back." "I'm not trying to get you in trouble." "I know you're not, because you can't, because I didn't do anything wrong." "There was no criminality found." "That's it." "The report is final." "So you're just gonna leave it?" "I'm gonna leave it because that's all it was." "If something else had happened, I'd take that to whatever that was." "It was tragic." "It's a tragedy." "But there's only a certain speed that those brakes can react." "That's the physical limitation of the machine." "I don't know what else to tell you." "It's shocking." "It was a shock." "But you can't bring her back." "You cannot bring her back." "I'm not talking about bringing her back." "I'm talking about telling the accident investigators what really happened." "You already talked to them!" " I know that." "But I lied." " You lied." "I can understand if you don't want to get in trouble, but..." "Why didn't you say that right then?" "Because when they were asking me what happened it seemed like you were looking at me like we were saying to each other," ""Let's not say anything about what happened. "" "Now, I really don't know what you're talkin' about." "I can't prove you were doing that." "What, did I say something to you?" "Did I threaten you?" "No!" "I am not blaming you for any of this!" "All I'm saying is I didn't really tell the cops what happened, and I didn't want to go back without having spoken to you first." "But you told 'em what you saw!" "And so did I!" "Only I'm the one driving the bus!" "I'm the one behind the wheel!" " All right, Gerry, calm down." " Leave it alone." "You wanna ruin my life?" "Start telling them about looks and you waved at me and I had my cowboy hat on." "Go ahead, but you're gonna go home and you're gonna do your homework, and I'm gonna lose my job." "And who's gonna take care of my family?" "You?" "Are you gonna do it?" "And for what?" "She's dead!" "Okay?" "She's dead!" "And there's nothing I can do to bring her back!" "I just want to say what really happened." "You do whatever you fuckin' want, lady!" "But those cops are gonna laugh in your fucking face because this was not my fault!" "It was both our fault." "Don't ever say that again unless you got a fuckin' lawyer." " What's your phone number?" " Why?" " Give me your number." " No!" "Why do you want it?" "You wanna show up at my house like some anonymous person" "I can't get in touch with?" "What's your fuckin' number, Lisa Cohen!" " Gerry, take it easy." " Fine!" "It's 212-5..." "Hold on!" "Go on." "555-0157." "Why do you need it?" "You do whatever you're gonna do." "I hope you get a good lawyer." "Why are you being like this?" "This was very traumatic for him!" "Yeah, it's almost as bad as getting your leg cut off!" "I don't understand." "I guess I was afraid." "I didn't know what to do." "You didn't know what to do?" " I know it doesn't sound very impressive." " Impressive!" "Okay, I know you're trying to do the right thing now." "What does your mother say?" "My mother hasn't really been that helpful." " What do you mean?" " She's got a lot going on right now and she hasn't been that interested, I guess." "What could she possibly have going on?" " Her show's opening." " What do you mean, "her show"?" "What show?" "She's in a play." "Okay." "Okay." "I'm gonna talk to a friend of mine who's a lawyer, and you're gonna go talk to the police." " Do you want me to go with you?" " No, thanks." "Do you think maybe you should ask your mother to go with you?" "I think I can handle this part myself." "She's been so suspicious lately." "I don't know how to get her into the office without..." "Now, what do you think?" "Hey!" "Let me tell you something, Eliot." "You want to fire me, go ahead and fire me." "Only don't tiptoe around me like some kind of deranged ballerina every time I see you in the fucking hall!" "Now, do you have anything to say to me, Eliot?" "Um..." "You're not fired?" "Oh." "So..." "What are you guys talking about?" "A suicide bomber attempted to set off a blast Wednesday in Jerusalem." "No, Lisa read it to me." "No." "I never read 'em unless I know for sure there's nothing bad in them." "Why, do you?" "Well, you're brave and stupid." "Um..." "Victor, I wish you wouldn't talk that way to me." "You know I'm..." "Spring and Fall, to a Young Child by Gerard Manley Hopkins." ""Margaret, are you grieving Over Goldengrove unleaving?" ""Leaves, like the things of man, you" ""With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?" ""Ah!" "As the heart grows older" ""It will come to such sights colder By and by, nor spare a sigh" ""Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie," ""And yet you will weep and know why." ""Now no matter, child, the name:" ""Sorrow's springs are the same." ""Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed" ""What heart heard of, ghost guessed:" ""It is the blight man was born for," ""It is Margaret you mourn for. "" "Any thoughts?" "Lisa?" "Could I help you?" "Yeah, is Detective Mitchell here?" " No, he's not." " Oh." "I talked to him on Monday and he said he'd be here after 3:00." "Yeah, he's not back yet." "Could I help you with something?" "Um..." "Well, do you know when you expect him?" "What's this about?" "I was involved in an accident a few weeks ago, and I filled out a report with Detective Mitchell, but I wanted to amend the report..." "What do you mean?" "How do you want to amend it?" "There was something I didn't tell him, and I wanted to tell him because..." "I don't understand." " You wanna change your statement?" " Yes!" "Yes, I want to change my statement." "Yes." "Well, you'd usually have to talk to the investigating detective on the case." "Yes, I know." "That's why I asked to see Detective Mitchell." "Who said he'd be here now, but he's not, so..." " Do you remember the case number?" " No, sorry." "It was that woman, Monica Patterson, who got run over by the bus on Broadway." " It was in a lot of the newspapers..." " Sure, okay, sit down." " Thank you." "I..." " You know the case is closed." "I assumed it was." "But part of the reason it's closed is because of my statement, and the statement I..." " Because of your statement?" " Yes." "What do you mean it was closed because of your statement?" " I mean, I was the..." " The DA's office closes the case." "You don't close the case." "The DA's office closes the case." "I'm sure it does." "I obviously didn't mean I personally closed it, like legally." "I meant what I said was probably instrumental in" " getting the case closed..." " What's your name, honey?" "Lisa Cohen." " Okay." " Don't call me "honey," okay?" "Okay." "Are you not gonna help me now that I've said that?" " Look, what's your name?" " Lisa Cohen!" "Okay, Lisa, first thing, you're gonna calm down." " I'm calm right now." " Okay." "Just checking." "Second thing..." "Oh." "Here he is, your knight in shining armor." " This guy giving' you a hard time?" " No." "So now you're sayin' he ran the light." "Yes." "He wasn't even looking at the road." "And I was definitely trying to get his attention." "Okay." "Well, before we do anything, Lisa, anybody will tell you that just because he ran a red light" " is not a criminal offense." " Even if he kills someone?" "Even if you cause an accidental death, that's right." "In order for it to be a criminal offense, the law says you need two aggravating circumstances." "Like he ran a red light and he was speeding." " Or he ran a red light and..." " So he's not liable to be prosecuted" " for manslaughter or 2nd degree murder?" " No." "He could be charged with reckless driving, or filling out a false police report," " which..." "That's no joke..." " That's unbelievable!" "What does he have to do?" "Kill her on purpose?" "Yes." "Because that's the definition of murder." "Killin' someone on purpose." "Now, you're not sayin' that he ran her over on purpose." "Are you?" "Are you?" "No." "Okay, look..." "Let me take another statement." " We'll look into it, okay?" " You're kidding." "No." "I'll talk it over with my sergeant, probably pull this guy in again." "Put a little pressure on him." "We'll see what he says." "Thank you!" "The Central Park Conservatory, or whatever it's called, put up about 500 miles of these cheap, shitty-looking fences all over the park, which is totally antithetical to what the park was originally designed for." "We are so gonna miss the game." " Oh, my God, it's John!" " Hi, John." "Hi, John." "You want some?" "Come on, guys." "Come on, you can't be smokin' a J on your way to a school soccer game!" " Now, come on!" " Sorry!" "We're really sorry." "So, how about how he was like, "smokin' a J"?" "Like, "You can't be smokin' a J."" "Like, "Everybody, let's go over to John's house and smoke a J."" " Hi, Mr. Aaron!" " Lisa, how are you?" "Pretty damn good." "How are you?" "I'm all right." "Tell me something." "Whatever happened with that situation?" "Oh, I'm working on it." "I'll tell you all about it sometime." " Hey, what kind of a bike is that?" " It's a Trek." "I'm supposed to take a horseback riding trip with my father over Christmas break and I was wondering, does it bear any resemblance to riding a bicycle?" "As far as I know, no." "But you must have ridden a lot of horses." "What makes you say that?" "Aren't you from Texas or Wyoming or some place like that?" " Some place like what?" " You know, not New York." "I'm actually from Indiana." "But don't let me overwhelm you with superfluous details." "God, so what are you doing at a New York private school teaching geometry to a bunch of over-privileged liberal Jews?" "Well..." "Um..." "I came here to be a teacher, and that's what I'm doing." "So, would you say you've reached the summit of your lifelong ambition?" "Is that a real question or is that a Lisa question?" "About half and half." " In that case..." " Before you go," "I'm actually thinking about getting one of these." "Can I try it?" "Just for a second?" " All right." " Thanks." " Here, I'll adjust the seat for you." " Thank you." " Watch my bag?" " Yeah." "Oh, hi." "Where've you been?" "I didn't know if you wanted dinner." "No, thanks." "I'll order something." "Someone named Emily called." "And Detective Mitchell called from the Accident Investigation Squad." "Is that that one we met?" "What's going on?" "Did you ever go back and see him?" "I'd rather not talk about it when you have one foot out the door, if that's okay." "All right." " I'm gonna go." " Have a good show." "Thank you." "Dave, Lisa." " Hi." " How are you?" "So..." "Lisa, Dave is one of my best friends." "He's a terrific lawyer, and if he doesn't know what to do himself, he'll certainly know someone we can talk to." "Okay, great." "When someone is killed, it's what's called a wrongful death suit, which is a statutory case, which means there's a statute passed by a legislature which gives you the right to bring the case." "As opposed to what?" "As opposed to common law, which is law passed by judges, which is why the damages are limited." " I don't understand." " Just skip that part." "We don't care about that." "I thought we were trying to get the police to arrest this guy." " No, the police are not gonna..." " Why not?" "They told me they were gonna look into it again." "I'm just telling you that even if they do, there is no way in this world the police are gonna recommend" " to the DA that they charge this guy." " So, what can we do?" " I'm getting to that." " Sorry." " That's okay." " That's okay, honey." "I'm just getting to that." "You can't do anything unless you're a relative..." "She didn't have any relatives, except for those idiots in Arizona." "Hang on a minute." "Or unless you're the executor of her estate..." " I am the executor of her estate." " Which is Emily." "I know." "Because the executor of her estate can bring a wrongful death suit, but the beneficiary has to be a relative." "So let me explain about that." "In a wrongful death suit you can sue for pain and suffering, pecuniary losses, loss of support or services." "Also what's called care, comfort and society." "It's like advice or counseling of the parent that the kids" " aren't gonna get anymore." " I don't understand." "Who are we suing?" "The bus driver?" "Well, no, because the bus driver wouldn't have any money." "You basically sue everybody and hope something sticks." "The person who pays will probably be the MTA's insurance company." "But do you think the driver would get fired?" "No." "Not necessarily." "Even if all the facts came out at the trial?" " Maybe." "I don't know." " But how much could they be liable for?" " It depends..." " How badly do you think we could ever hurt them?" "If she was alive, and in pain for an extended period of time, they give more money for that." "I'd say she was alive for 10 minutes." "Was she conscious?" "Was she awake the whole time?" "I'm sorry, Emily." "Yeah, awake." " It's okay." " Well..." "If she was in a lot of pain for that long," "I don't know, maybe 300,000, half a million dollars to get a sustainable verdict." "A brain damaged baby would be three million." "But the truth is, Lisa, when all is said and done," " it's not a very good case." " Why not?" "Because it's your word against his, and because you already lied on your first deposition." "A red light case is a 50-50 proposition already." "And with only one eyewitness, with two conflicting statements?" "I wouldn't take that case." "Nobody really cares about getting a lot of money here." "I understand that, but..." "We just want this prick to suffer, and we want the bus company to take responsibility for hiring this guy." "I understand that." "But no matter how you slice it, the fact that Lisa lied on her first statement is a disaster for your lawyer." "Can't I explain why I lied the first time?" "It's not like I'm trying to get any money for myself." "That's true." "She has no financial interest, she can't be impeached for bias." "Impeached for what?" "She can't have her credibility attacked on financial grounds because the jury knows you're not gonna get any money if you win." "So that's something, isn't it?" "But do you really think we know what that means?" "I'm sorry." "That's what it's called." "But who are you talking to?" "You know we don't know what that means." "It's like you're not really concentrating." "You're not concentrating." "I don't know." "I am concentrating." "I'm just thinking out loud." "Okay." "All right." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry!" "Okay." "All right." "He wasn't always a lawyer, you know." "He used to be a very nice, little boy." " Anyway..." " Anyway, the whole point of this" " is to get..." " To fucking get this guy!" "It was to get him out from behind the wheel of a bus!" "Did she know she was dying?" "I only ask because the terror of knowing you're dying raises the damages." "I think she had a pretty good idea." "If she had lived for a couple more days it would make the case better." "Thank you." "Thanks." "I know that sounds horrible, but that's what it comes down to." "We know, Dave." "It's okay." "I would just like somebody to take responsibility for what happened." ""As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods." ""They kill us for their sport. "" ""As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods." ""They kill us for their sport. "" "What do you make of that?" "Lisa?" "Lisa?" "I don't know." "You know what, Lisa?" "That's not good enough." "That's just not good enough." "Shakespeare wrote something." "What's your response?" "And don't tell me you don't have one, 'cause I don't buy it." "I don't really have a lot to say." "It seems pretty self-evident to me." "Matthew?" "I think it is self-evident." "I think he's saying that human beings don't mean any more to the gods than flies do to little boys who like to torture them for fun." "As far as the gods are concerned, we're just ants." "Nothing." "Darren?" "Thank you, Matthew." "Yeah, I agree." "Only it's not Shakespeare saying it, it's Gloucester." "Maybe another character would have a different point of view." "Okay." "That's a valid point." "Just because Shakespeare has one of his characters say something, doesn't mean he personally agrees with it." "Yes, David?" "Yeah, maybe Shakespeare isn't saying the gods don't care about us." "Maybe he's saying there's a higher consciousness that we can't see." "That the gods' perception of reality is so much more developed than ours that, compared to their perception, our perceptions are like comparing flies to boys." "Okay, I really don't think that that's what he's getting at." "What I think he's getting at here is a very dark view of the arbitrary nature of human suffering." "But maybe he's not." "Maybe he's comparing human consciousness to divine consciousness and that even though it seems to us that human suffering is just arbitrary, that's just because we're limited by our viewpoint." "Okay, I..." "I still don't think that's what he's saying." "No, like, if you say they kill us for their sport, when our perception of the gods is so meager that we can't even tell what they're doing, then how can we be so arrogant as to think they'd even bother to kill us for their sport?" "I don't know." "Uh..." "Monica?" "I don't think that's what he's saying at all." "I think he's saying the gods don't give a shit about human beings and that they just like to kill and torture us for fun." "But if the gods' consciousness is so much more developed than ours that we seem like flies to them, then how can we be sure what they have in mind for us or why they do anything?" "Okay, David, I think you've made your point." "But it's not what Shakespeare meant." "Scholarly opinion is pretty consistent that he's trying to say something..." " Scholarly opinion?" " ... about human suffering here." "What are you saying?" "A thousand Frenchmen can't be wrong?" "No, I'm not saying that." "But I would like to move on..." "Well, I think he is saying that." "Because he's comparing human consciousness to flies and he's saying we can't see the truth around us because our consciousness is undeveloped." "No, David, you're wrong." "That's not what Shakespeare meant." "He says it somewhere else in the play, but I don't want to get hung up on this, because that's not what Shakespeare meant." "I would really like to move on." ""Poor Tom's a-cold. "" "Detective Mitchell." "Oh, hi, it's Lisa Cohen calling." "Hi, Lisa, what can I do for you?" "I was just wondering whatever happened, if anything, with the case." "You said you might re-interview the bus driver." "Yes, we did." "We brought him back in." "You did?" "What happened?" "Well, he basically stuck by his original representation and that was pretty much it." "I brought it up with my sergeant, and he agreed with me that we still don't have enough to charge this guy, so there's not a lot more we can do at this point." "Well, I'm not trying to tell you how to do your job, but how did you ask the questions?" " Excuse me?" " He's obviously not gonna change his statement if you just ask him really politely." "Why would he?" " We already know he's a liar." " Hey, in the old days, Lisa, we'd just throw him in the back room with a rubber hose and get whatever answer we want out of him." "But, fortunately, we don't do that anymore." "Yeah, not to white people." "Excuse me?" "You don't do it to white people." "Anyway, I'm not saying you..." " Wait." "We don't do it to who?" "Shh!" " Oh, my God!" "First of all, I don't understand why you bring this guy's race into it." " There's 40,000 cops in this city..." " Yes..." "And I hate to disillusion you, but most of them are pretty good guys just tryin' to do their job." "Now, the bottom line is the DA is not gonna take this case." "Now, you could take it up with my sergeant if you want to, but he's..." " Yes, I would." " Well, I will patch you through, then." "The original decision was based on false information." "So what's the point of even bringing..." "So there's no way to appeal?" "But how do you know Detective Mitchell interrogated him aggressively enough" " if you weren't there?" " What's going on?" "My family is all there still, but Rodrigo is studying in London, and Hector is in Geneva." "Uh-huh." "I'm sure they will go back eventually because they will like to do something for their country." "But it's a worry." "It's very bad there now." "Yeah?" "I haven't really been following it." "It's a big mess." "Last year I helped to found an organization to work with children whose families have been killed or the parents have been kidnapped." "We try to find homes for them, preferably in Colombia, because if we lose our young people, that's it." "That's the future." "Yeah." "I wish I knew more about it." "You think Lisa would be interested in acting?" "No." "I don't." "I think she has a lot of contempt for it, actually." "Anyway, maybe it's the age." "She would prefer the world with no plays?" "No films?" "Oh." "Who knows?" "Would you like to see a picture of my mother?" "Sure." "These are all my aunts and uncles." " See?" "Big family." " Mmm." "So after I talked to you guys the other day," "I called this P.I. I know to see if he could..." "You called a what?" "A what?" "Private investigator, to see if he could find anything out about your bus driver." " Really?" " Yeah." " Dave!" "I can't believe you called..." " Wait, let me tell you what he said." "So he calls someone he knows who used to work as a cop at the MTA." "And you know the MTA have their own police?" "The MTA police?" " They have their own uniforms..." " Yeah?" "Yeah?" " Just a minute!" " Jesus Christ!" "What the fuck do we care about the MTA police and their uniforms?" "Okay, so this guy gets a look at your guy's file." "It turns out he's had two previous accidents less than two years apart." "What?" "But that he's never been disciplined or cited, just moved around to different shifts." " Are you kidding me?" " Why does this not shock me?" "If you read the papers, you'll know that they're going through a protracted labor dispute at the MTA right now." "And according to my P.I., management doesn't want to aggravate the situation by firing this guy." "This is making me sick." "I know, but what it means, Lisa, is that we have a case." " We do?" " We can now sue for what's called "negligent retention. "" "Which just means they should have known this guy was a bad risk, and they negligently retained him until, finally, he killed somebody." " You can prove that?" " Sure, because we can just subpoena their personnel records, which we already know contain damaging information." " But you wouldn't be our lawyer, right?" " No." "Why not?" " I'm not a personal injury litigator." " It's not his area." "I don't know enough about it." "I would lose." "But you could recommend someone?" "Sure, sure." "I know a very good guy." "His name is Russel Deutsch." "He's not a sleazebag." "Very, very experienced." "You gotta get that crazy cousin on board, she's gonna be your beneficiary." "She's not gonna want to come to New York." "I can tell you that right now." "If you win, she stands to get anywhere from $300,000 to $500,000." "She's coming to New York." "You're awesome!" "First thing we do is we file a summons and a complaint against the MTA." "They get days 20 to respond, and when they do, we can make our discovery requests." "Accident reports, personnel records, etcetera." "But now, you gotta realize, this is going to take some time." "The law says you have to have a court date within one year." "Usually it takes around six, depending." " Six years?" " Yes, depending." "Now, I mentioned to Dave," "I have a friend who writes for the Metro section of The Times." "Yes, now, if it could really happen, this changes everything in our favor." "If they think there's gonna be adverse publicity, especially in The New York Times, they're gonna want to settle right away, as soon as possible, and as quietly as possible." "So they'd make it a condition that we didn't..." "It usually works, you get the money, but you can't talk about it." "Nobody knows the terms." "So what good does that do?" "You get the money." "Is that bad?" "This is how our society punishes people for doing bad things." "By getting money from their employers' insurance companies?" "Yes." "It's called "punitive damages. "" "Could we insist they fire the driver?" "As part of the settlement?" " Sure, why not?" " Is that something people do?" "Sure." "It's one of your conditions." "And you think we're gonna win?" " They're gonna settle?" " Oh, they're gonna settle." "Oh." "Hi." "I want to talk to you." "I take it that's my report card?" "It sure is." "I had a friend who used to live on this block, at 262?" "Oh." "That's so nice." "Yeah, I don't know if you know her." "Cheryl Rowan?" "She's a physiotherapist?" "No, I don't know her." "I think about 1,000 people must..." "What?" "Nothing." " Lisa says you're in a play, Joan?" " Oh, yeah." "It's really good, you should go see it." "Well, the play is great, and it has this really nice cast." "She's being modest." "She's gonna win every award in New York." "Oh, all that stuff's a long way off." "I don't go to the theater very much." "No, it's just nice, because you can work a long time in the theater and play a lot of great parts and not get a lot of recognition." "And even though you don't necessarily do it for that as your primary motive, it is nice when people do notice something you've done." "I was on a television show a few years ago." "I'd been doing theater all my life, and suddenly all my relatives started calling to congratulate me because they thought I'd finally made it." "All it was was this dumb show that paid the bills for a while." "That show was so stupid." "Well, it wasn't that bad." "Anyway, I realize this is horribly embarrassing for Lisa, but I just really wanted to meet you, Emily, because you've frankly become such a big part of Lisa's life, and I don't want to be intrusive," "but this whole court case seems to be suddenly dominating everything and I can't get Lisa to tell me anything about it." " That's not true." " Well, I can't." "I want you to know, Lisa," "I'm very, very proud of you for pursuing this the way that you have." "But I can't let you pursue it to the point where it's taking over your life or interfering with your schoolwork." "See, it's come down to a question of homework." "Lisa's on a half scholarship at her school." "I know she feels a real sense of responsibility about what happened." "Yeah, I do." "I know you do." "I know you do." "But you can't not do your homework and you can't throw away your scholarship because of it." "I'm not." "My grades slipped a little." "They'll get better." "Anyone can do their homework." "You just sit down and do it." "I've been distracted." "I'll stop." " All right." " We didn't need a big conference about it." "It's not a big conference." "I just wanted to know what was going on." "And I wanted to meet Emily." "I know it's a little awkward." "Lisa?" "Do you think Emily would like to see the play?" "I thought you could both come, and then we could go out afterwards." "All right." "Let me ask her." "Okay." "Dig in everybody." "I was thinking about spending next year with Dad." " Oh?" " Yeah." "You're worried about my grades." "They have really good public schools in Santa Monica and if I officially lived with him, you wouldn't have to worry about my scholarship." " Have you talked to him about this?" " We've had some general discussions." " Do you want to go, too?" " Me?" " Yeah." "Do you want to move to LA, too?" " No." "Well, let me know if you do." "Why are you being like this?" " Why am I being like what?" " Why are you about to start crying?" "Because it's your intention to make me start crying!" "No, it's not." "You want to move to LA, move to LA." "Why can't this even be mentioned without you taking it personally?" "I'm just introducing a possibility!" "Here's a possibility, that you can make your own fucking dinner!" "Here's a possibility, that you can do whatever you want to do..." "Jesus Christ!" "What is with you?" "I don't care anymore, you heartless little fucking bitch!" "Keep it up!" "This really makes me want to stay here!" "You think you're so fucking perfect?" "No!" " Nice one." " Shut up!" "Let me tell you something, Eliot." "How would you describe the relationship overall?" "Did you talk on the phone a lot?" "Were there a lot of visits?" "I would say we talked on the phone a couple of times a month, at least." "Sometimes more than that." "I would call her, she would call me." "And what were the nature of the conversations?" "Oh, family stuff, mostly." "Her family, my kids." "She'd give you advice about your family?" "That kind of thing?" "Oh, I would say so, yes." "Do you have any phone records?" "I have all my phone bills, if that's what you mean." "I didn't record the actual conversations." "No, no." "You'll see we talked on the phone quite frequently." " Okay, terrific." "I see you came prepared." " Well, I wanted to bring everything." "Now, when they take your deposition, you're gonna say the same thing you just told me." "Just talk about the relationship." "Uh-huh." " Kind of advice she used to give." " Okay." "Now, Emily, where did you find this lawyer?" "He was recommended by my friend." "I'm asking because my husband knows a real good New York lawyer and I'm not entirely comfortable with someone no one's ever heard of." "My friend's heard of him." "He says he's very good." "Well, I'm sure he is." "But I have a responsibility in this situation and I would feel a whole lot more comfortable with someone who didn't just drop in out of the clear blue sky." "He didn't drop in out of the clear blue sky." "He was recommended by my friend." "But, Abigail, even if we switched lawyers, we'd still have to pay him." "It all comes out of the settlement, so it's really up to you." "No, if you all think he's good..." "I don't know whether he is or not." " My friend thinks he is." " All right." "Now, Lisa, what's your involvement in all this?" "What's your angle?" "I just wanted to..." "I was just there." "And that's you and Monica, obviously." "Mmm-hmm." "Oh, my God, is that you?" "That's me." "Oh, my God." "Is that her daughter?" "Mmm-hmm." "God..." "So, how old was she when she died?" "Twelve." "God, I can't even imagine." "Neither could we." "Do you know Monica asked about her when she was dying?" "No, I didn't." "Yeah, I think she was confused, like," "I think she thought I was her daughter for a minute." "Then she was asking me to call her, like, to tell her what happened, you know?" "Like she didn't remember she was dead." "But, then it got confusing, because I said, "Sure, what's her name?"" "And she said her name was Lisa." "And I said, "No, that's my name. "" "I didn't realize we had the same name." "And when I found out her daughter was dead, ever since then" "I've had this really strange feeling that, some way, for those last five minutes," "I kind of was her daughter." "You know, like in some weird way, this obviously amazing woman got to be with her daughter again for a few minutes, right before she died." "And is she still inhabiting your body?" "Or did she go right back to the spirit world after it was over?" "I didn't mean she was literally inhabiting my body." "I don't believe in all that stuff at all." "I don't give a fuck what you believe in." "Oh, my God!" "Why are you so mad at me?" "Because this is not an opera!" " What?" " I said this is not an opera!" "You think I think this is an opera?" " Yes!" " Because I think it's dramatic?" "I think you're very young." "What does that have to do with anything?" "If anything, I think it means I care more than someone who's older, because this kind of thing has never happened to me before!" "No, it means you care more easily." "There's a big difference." "Only it's not you that it's happening to." "Yes, it is!" "I know I'm not the one who was run over by a bus..." "That's right, you weren't." "And you're not the one who died of leukemia and you're not the one who just died in an earthquake in Algeria!" "But you will be." "Do you understand me?" "You will be." " And it's not dramatic." " I'm well aware of that!" "This first-blush, phony deepness of yours is worth nothing." " Oh, wow." " Do you understand?" "It's not worth anything!" "Because it'll all be troweled over in a month or two." "And when you get older and you don't have a big reaction every time a dog is run over, then we'll find out what kind of a person you are!" "I'm sorry, but I didn't start this conversation and I don't play these games." " I'm not playing games!" " And don't look so outraged!" "You have every right to falsify your own life, but you have no right to falsify anybody else's." "It's what makes people into Nazis!" "And I'm sorry, but it's just a little suspicious that you're making such a big fuss about this when you didn't even know her and you're having troubles with your own mother." "Oh, my God!" "But this is my life we're talking about, 'cause it's my real friend who got killed, who I'm never going to see again, who I've known since I was 19 years old myself." "And I don't want that sucked into some adolescent self-dramatization!" "I'm not fucking dramatizing anything!" "I was there and you weren't, and if I happen to express myself a little hyperbolically, Emily, that's just the way I talk!" "I can't help it if my mother's an actress!" "Why are you being so fucking strident?" " "Strident"?" " Yeah." "Okay." "You should leave." "Why?" "Because I called you strident?" "Yeah." "You should leave." "Okay, I will." " Now!" " Okay, let me get my bag!" "All I meant by saying you were strident is that you were being emphatic!" "I obviously misused the word." " Look it up when you get home." " Jesus Christ." "You're amazing." " Yes." "I'm amazing." " Why are you doing this?" "Lisa, I'm not doing anything." "I'm a human being." "Monica was a human being." "So was her daughter and so is your mother." "We are not supporting characters in the fascinating story of your life." "I never said or thought you were, and I really didn't mean to call you strident." "I totally misused the word." "I wasn't trying to insult you, Emily." "I really wasn't." "I feel so bad about what happened and I'm trying so hard to do something about it." "I don't understand why, if I say something wrong, you can't just give me a break." "Thanks for letting me come over." "I know you don't want me here." "It's all right." "But I didn't have anyone else to talk to." "You have always been very sympathetic to my craziness, and I may not show it all the time, but I actually really appreciate it." "It's no problem." "So..." "What's been going on?" "I just need to talk to somebody who doesn't completely misunderstand who I am." "Or not even who I am, but what's going on inside me, or all around me." " Sound confused enough?" " No, no." "Anyway, for whatever reason," "I always felt like we understood each other on some level." "Even though I'm like this mass of conflicting impulses, and you're basically the most grownup, rational man I know." "I doubt that's actually true, but thank you." "It's just a little hot." "A little warm." " Is this all right?" " Yeah, it's fine." "Do you allow smoking in your apartment?" "You can smoke." " I like your apartment." " Thanks." "It's a sublet, actually." " Sorry." " That's okay." "This is terrible." "What is?" "What's terrible?" "I just like you so much." " Sorry." "What a moron." " Hey, Lisa." "Lisa." "I'm your friend." "And that's not gonna change." "It's not gonna change." "Thanks." "I like you so, so much." "What's it like in Indiana?" "It's okay." "Please don't do that." "Don't do that." "I really wasn't expecting anything like this to happen." "I'm really not sure how I'm supposed to react." "Don't worry." "I'm not gonna tell anybody, if that's what you're worried about." "I totally initiated the whole thing." "Anyway, it's just sex." "You're acting like a little kid." "I'll see you in school." "You're a fuckin' idiot!" "I think teenagers should definitely rule the world because teenagers aren't corrupted by adult life yet and they're idealistic and they care." "And I know a lot of people feel that teenagers are really naive, which they are, many of them." "But they still haven't had a chance to get burned out by the disappointments and harsh realities of learning how to play the game." "So, yes, I would vote "yes. "" "All right." "Lisa?" "I'm not even gonna comment on the fact that you just compared a 19-year-old Palestinian to a member of the Hitler Youth!" "That's right, because they both like to kill Jews." " Lisa!" "Hey!" " Come on, guys." "It's not because they've been occupied and humiliated and bombed out of their homes for the last 50 years?" "That's partly why they like it." "It's not like killing civilians is their last resort." "It's their first resort because it's easy and they like it." "Raise your hands." " They like it?" "They're just bad people and they like it?" "Yes!" "There are bad people in the world." "I think they liked blowing up the World Trade Center!" "They kill their own sisters when they get raped!" " It's called barbarism!" " Who?" "It's practically all people do is kill each other." "If they didn't like it, they wouldn't do it." "You guys aren't the only ones in the class!" "You're not even Jewish, Lisa!" "The next person who opens their mouth without raising their hand..." "I'm fucking half Jewish, and who cares what I am?" "I'm anti-murder, not pro-Israel." "Lisa!" "You can leave!" "Fine." "Thank you." "I guess I lost my cool a little, but there is such a thing as..." "Who is running these discussions?" "But, Lisa, you have to remember, it's always easy for the dominant side to be content with the status quo." "How do you mean, Ramon?" "I mean the oppressor uses violence to maintain his position and calls it the rule of law." "But when the person underfoot uses violence to change his status, he's called a criminal and a terrorist." "And the violence of the state is called upon to put him down." "I see." "And what would you like them to do?" ""They" meaning?" "The Jew oppressors." "What would you like them to do?" "I didn't use that expression." " No, you didn't." " But since you ask..." "I spent the whole day arguing about this." "I didn't really mean to bring it up again." " Don't handle me." " I'm not handling you." " What did you think of the play?" " Don't bother, Mom." "And I think it's ironic in the extreme that the victims of Nazis" " find it essential..." " If Israelis were like Nazis" " there wouldn't be any Arabs left." " ... to use Nazi tactics..." " That's what I've been saying!" " And I'm leaving." "That seems excessive, Emily, come on." "That's the response." "That's the Jewish response." "It's the what?" "It's the Jewish response." "You don't like what I am saying or what I do, so you..." " Oh, my God!" " That's my Jewish response." "That's all right." "It's all right." "It's all right." "That's all right." "It's a perfect little encapsule." "It's the Jewish response." "Joan, I won't defend myself." "All what I meant was that was the typical response you will get from someone who will take that position that woman was taking." "If I would have said the word "Israeli" instead of the word "Jewish,"" "I don't think there would be a problem." "But if you want to break up with me because I used the wrong adjective..." "What I'm going to do?" "I'm not going to beg you." "Hello?" "Hi, Dad, how are you?" "Really?" "What's the matter?" "I never said I didn't want to go." "I can't get a straight answer from anybody about what they want to eat..." "Annette says she's called you four times and you haven't called her back." "The ranch seems to be putting some kind of intolerable pressure on her to choose five lunches for a 5-day trip that we're not taking for a month and a half." "I talk to Curtis about it and all I get is monosyllables." "So what is the point?" "I think he's really looking forward to it." "Well, that hasn't been my impression." "I also think, Lisa, it would be a good idea if we just tabled the notion of you coming out here next year." "Things look like they're gonna start picking up for me a little bit in the fall and that means I'm not gonna be around the house all that much, and since you and Annette detest each other," "I honestly don't think that's what I want to come home to after a 14-hour day." "We don't detest each other." "Well, I gotta tell you, it doesn't strike me as something you seem that serious about." "Okay." "So, just tell Curtis that New Mexico's off and I'll talk to you whenever." " Okay." " All right." "What's wrong?" "Mr. Deutsch?" " I'm right here." "I had the thought, if they're willing to settle so quickly, maybe we're better off waiting a little bit, you know, rattling' the saber a little more?" "Maybe we're cuttin' our own throats here." "They are responding to the story in the paper." "That's just common sense." "But what you gotta understand is they're offering to settle now because they want to get the story out of the paper." "That's why Russel thinks..." "Besides, the point is not to jack up the price." "I'm sorry?" " We didn't hear that last bit." " Ladies, let me just..." "Rob." "Abigail." "Let me just finish my thought." "They are jumping at the bait right now." "But if another six months goes by, we run a serious risk of losing our momentum." "You see what I mean?" "Now I'm gonna hit them very, very hard, I guarantee it." "That's why I wanted all of us together on the phone, so we could talk about your other terms, besides the damages." "I promise you, I am gonna be very, very aggressive." "What other terms would there be?" "What do you mean, like some kind of a fund?" " A what?" " Some kind of fund for the kids?" "I don't understand what you mean by a fund." "What does he mean, "Besides the damages?"" "Mr. Deutsch, do you mean some kind of trust fund?" "A fund that would be set up by the bus company for our kids?" "For tax purposes?" " What fucking fund?" " These people are retarded." "Because I have to tell you, we have just lived through that nightmare with Monica and our children, and it was not a pleasant experience." "We just want a clean, straight..." "Damages is fine." " Lisa, I'm really proud of you!" " Thank you." " Really, really proud!" " Thank you." "So, what happens now?" "They have to figure out the terms." "Hello?" "Yes?" " What do you mean!" " What's the matter?" "Yes?" "Yes." " Ramon's had a heart attack." " What?" " Is he gonna be okay?" " Quiet!" "Yes?" "Okay." "Okay, let me write that down." "Okay, I'm really not trying to be funny, but isn't this a Jewish funeral home?" "I guess they do both." "Excuse me." " Joan?" " Yes." "Oh, you must be Rodrigo." "Oh, my God, I'm so sorry." " Rodrigo, this..." " I want to tell you, Joan, my Dad talked about you all the time." " He did?" " Yes." "Thank you for telling me that." " And, I don't know if this is appropriate..." " No, it's okay." "But..." "He went out a lot." "Do you know, the last time I spoke to him, he told me, from the moment he met you," "he knew he wanted to marry you." "Because, for the first time since he lost my mother, he finally met a woman he could really connect with." "Well," " he was..." " Excuse me." "Thanks for coming with me today." "I really appreciate it." "Oh, you're welcome." "I don't want to be macabre, but..." "Ramon and I were supposed to go to hear The Tales of Hoffman the week after next and I still have the tickets." "Would you be interested in going?" "Or should I give them away?" "It's Monday night." "We can dress up." "I'll go." "What did you make of that?" "People don't relate to each other, Mom." "They're totally disconnected." "That's what I make of it." "Well..." "I think that's kind of unfortunate that you think that, because I feel like you and I used to relate to each other really well." "I'm not trying to hurt your feelings." "It's just a general observation." "Okay." "Hey, can I get a hug?" "Sure." "I just feel totally at sea." "Hi, Emily." "Hi, Lisa." " Hello." " Hi." "Hello." "I am very pleased to be able to inform you all that I had a long meeting with the lawyer from the bus company and they have agreed to settle for $350,000." "What?" "Fantastic!" "That is just great!" "I assume this is agreeable with everybody." "Yes!" "It's just fantastic!" "But, of course, I gotta bring the offer to you, and get your approval." " Mr. Deutsch?" " Now," "I know there was a concern after our last call that we were jumping the gun a little bit." " That's okay." " We're only..." "Abigail." "Rob." "Could we just listen to what Russel has to say and then talk about it once he's told us the whole story and given us his recommendation?" "Yeah." "Yes." "Sorry." "Fire away." "I was gonna say," "I know there was a concern after our last call that we were jumping the gun a little bit." "Well, that's okay." " Would you let him talk, please!" " It's okay." "We're sorry." "Sorry." "I want to tell you that I think it's a very good offer." "I think they're very anxious to settle." "But I also do think that at this moment, they are under the maximum amount of pressure that we can really bring to bear, and I don't believe they're gonna come up any higher." "Hey, $350,000, that's nothing to sneeze at." "Let me just..." "I just want to introduce the thought..." "Can you all hear me?" "Yes!" "Was that everybody?" "Okay." "Emily?" "What do you think?" "I think it sounds like we should do it." " But I'd like to be..." " Okay." "If that's the vote." "Unless you think there's something to be gained from holding out for more." "I think that would be a big mistake." "Robbie, what do you think?" " Sold!" " Sold!" "Okay." "Now, the only downside to this as it stands, and I know this may be a serious wrinkle for all of you, is that the bus company will absolutely not discuss the removal of the driver." " What?" " What do you mean?" " The driver?" " Then tell them to forget it." "What do you mean?" "They won't discuss the removal of the driver?" " Ladies." "Let me finish what I was saying." " It's just a blast in our ears." " Let him finish." " Finish what?" "Forget it!" "Thank you." "Lisa, I want you to understand, I pressed them very, very hard on this, but they will not discuss disciplining a company employee as part of the settlement because it could be seen as an admission of guilt on the part of the MTA." "What does giving us $300,000 mean?" "Settling out of court does not imply an admission of guilt." "It simply does not carry the same stigma." "On top of that, you may not know, Lisa, that they're currently involved in a very tricky labor dispute right now." "Yeah, we know about that!" "Just tell them to forget it." " I know that's your reaction..." " It's the only reason we're here." " Can I jump in here?" "Russel?" " It's really not your decision." " It's Emily's decision." " Hello?" " Are you still with us?" "Hello?" " No." " They're not listening, Robbie." " It's not?" " No!" " It's Abigail's decision, because she's the next of kin." "But she didn't even know about it!" "That doesn't matter." "Could we get back in this conversation, please?" "Yes." "I'm sorry." "Obviously there's some strong emotions going either way here." "Listen, Emily?" "I don't know what you're thinking, but Rob and I are thinking we should take Russel's recommendation while we can." "Because if they won't fire the guy, they're not gonna fire him." " And six months or a year from now..." "Exactly." "We're gonna be in a situation where we're begging them for half this much..." "The entire point of the lawsuit was to get the guy fired so he doesn't kill somebody else." "It was not to get you $350,000 you didn't know you were entitled to for somebody you didn't even like!" "And the only reason you're getting the money at all is because I started this whole fucking thing in motion!" "I'm sorry for swearing, but you should be willing to trade in all the money" " for getting this guy off the street!" " For getting him, Abigail!" "Well, I'm sorry, but I have a responsibility to Monica and I take that responsibility very seriously." "And rather than being cursed at over the telephone for having the courtesy to involve you in these discussions, Lisa," "I would hope you would be guided by our judgment." " Unless I'm wrong about that." " None of that matters." "Unless I'm wrong about that, just what is your interest in this?" "Because I'm the one who killed her!" "I'm the one who killed her, but at least I know I did it." "And that guy has no idea!" "He is wandering around blaming everybody else." "All I want is for somebody to let him know that what he did was wrong." "And if they don't fire him, and all you want is the money, and the police won't do anything, then how is he gonna know he's wrong?" "You can't take the deal, Abigail!" "It wasn't to get you any money, it was because we wanted to get him fired!" "Well, it may not matter to you, but where I come from, $350,000 is an awful lot of money and to my mind is a positive result of all this tragedy and not just negative." "Not just getting someone fired for one mistake, no matter how bad it was." "Shove it up your ass!" "Lisa!" "You sleazy fucking lawyer!" "And you're a moralistic cunt!" "At this point, I literally have a zero-tolerance Roger policy." "Good for you." "Glad to hear I'm not the only one." "Hey!" "Hey, Lisa." "What's up?" "Hey, did you guys know I had an abortion last week?" "No." "I didn't know that." "Yeah, it cost $400." "Um..." "Should I..." " No, no, don't go anywhere." " Yeah, don't go anywhere." "Do you want to tell us about it?" "Yeah, I do." "Okay." "Go ahead." "Well..." "Do your parents know about this, Lisa?" "Yes." "And have you told the father, honey?" "No." "There's a couple of people it could be." "Well, I think you better tell them, whoever they are." "No." "No." "Never mind, I mean, I'm sure he's sorry, anyway, whichever one he is." "I don't see how that makes any difference, at all, if he's sorry." "That doesn't matter." "I'm sorry." "I shouldn't have brought this up." "Please don't tell anyone." "We're not gonna tell anyone." "But you're gonna have to tell whoever it could be." "It's okay, I..." "I gotta go." "It doesn't matter about the father because the whole thing was my fault." "I'm sorry." "What was that?" " Mom's looking for you." " What for?" "She thinks you're going out with her tonight." "Where are we going?" "I don't know." "Don't get run over." " Wait." " What?" "I want to see if that's him." "It's him, Mom." "That's the one." "Hey." "Well, so far it's not the greatest opera I ever heard." "What do you mean?" "It's okay."