"This is the most amazing I've ever seen." " I've been with some good schools." " All of them!" "All of the best." "One right after another." "You've also been with the Lucky Erin Bar and Grill." " Pittsburgh." "Bartender." " And a disc jockey." "In Oklahoma." "I used to broadcast in sign language." " You've covered the map, Mr Leeds." " I've got a lot of energy." "I'm sure you do have energy and new ideas." "I did, too, when..." "But nobody's trying to change the world here." "Just trying to help a few deaf kids get along a little better." "Everything else is razzle-dazzle." "Am I making myself clear?" "Yes, I believe that you are." "Are we being punished?" "Hi!" "I'm James Leeds." "My signing is rusty, so how many of you can read lips?" "No one?" "OK." "Class dismissed." "No, no, no!" "Just testing." "Sit down." "Lydia and Tony, good lip-readers." "Would you mind closing your notebook?" "Thank you." "Give me one good reason why we should learn to speak?" " Tony." " To pick up hearing girls." "To pick up hearing girls." "Let's work on this." "You, you, you." "Here are two beautiful hearing girls." "You two guys want to pick them up." "What is the first thing you want to say?" "Danny." " Are you rich?" " Are you ri-i-ich?" "Say it." " Rich." " Good." " Lydia?" " I'm very rich." "Good!" "Tony?" "Let's go somewhere and do it." "No, thank you." " Let's go somewhere and do it." " I'd rather do it with her." "Cute." "How about you guys?" "Do you want to join us?" " They don't talk." " Fair enough." "OK, reasons to talk." "Right." "If your hands are occupied." "For example." "Some guy owes you money." "He comes by." "But you just happen to be in a handstand." "How will you tell him to give you your money?" "You can't use your hands." "You've got to speak." ""Give me my money, you bum."" ""Don't call me names." "I don't have to take that." "Do you want to fight?"" ""Put up your feet and fight like a man!"" "See." ""Take your pots..."" ""...and your lousy food, and shove..."" "She doesn't mince words." "Mr Leeds!" "Mr Leeds!" "Leeds?" "Leeds!" " Join us." " Sir, OK." "Sorry." " It's good you're out of my classroom." " Sit down, James." "Mary Lee Ochs, Assistant Superintendent." "Orin Dennis, Math and Social Studies." "James Leeds." "Did I hear Miss Ochs say that you were one of her students?" " Yes." "I started here at five." " Really?" " That's great." "I'm impressed." " For still being here?" " No, what I meant..." " Excuse me." "See you all later." "Bye." " Who is that?" " That's Sarah." "Never mind her." "She's a pain in the ass." "Always has been." " What does she do?" " She works here." "Orin, how about the kids making pot-holders for Mother's Day?" "But they don't sell." "We've got hundreds left from last year." "Sarah came here at five, too." "We grew up together." "Is she a teacher, too?" "She was one of the brightest students we've ever had." "Some water, please." "Thank you." "Leeds, you're a genius." "You will work!" "Ooh, yeah." "Mr Bach!" "Hear that, cat?" "Ba-boo-ma-rang-rang-rang." " Again." "Faster." " Ba-boo-ma-rang-rang-rang." " Once more." "Faster." " Ba-boo-ma-rang-rang-rang." "Great!" "Great." "That's great." "Oh, Lydia, my Lydia." "Come here, Lydia." "Put your hands on the speaker." "Come on." "Can you feel that?" "Good." "Feel it." "Like a boomerang, baby Like a boomerang-rang-rang" "Two, three, four, ba-boo-ma-rang-rang-rang." " Use your voice." " Ba-boo-ma-rang-rang-rang." "A drip." "Drip." "What a drip!" "Sorry." "No, no, no!" "No, that's not what I meant." "I just wanted to introduce myself." "I'm James Leeds." "It's Sarah, isn't it?" "Would you like to sit down?" "Right here." "OK, we'll both stand up." "Oh, I see." "Very good." "You got me there." "Look at me, please." "If you don't look at me, I can't..." "So, Doctor Franklin tells me that you've been here since you were five." "When did you graduate?" "And now you work here?" "Are you reading my lips?" "I don't think that you are reading my lips." "Gee, that was quick of me, wasn't it?" "You could have told me." "Why?" "How about common courtesy?" "How about me leaving so you can mop the floor?" "Man!" "If you let me, I bet I could teach you how to speak." "And you could teach me..." "But I don't want to mop the floor." "That was quick." "And you don't want to speak." "Brilliant." "Schmuck." " It's a damn shame." " Costly, too." "Re-sodding is damn costly." " No, I'm talking about Sarah Norman." " Right, Sarah." " Look at this." "What a mess!" " Has she ever tried to use her voice?" "Sarah's not hard-of-hearing." "She was born totally deaf." " Yeah, that makes it tough." " The rain is lousing up the fields." "It's a shame that a bright woman is cleaning toilets." "It doesn't bother her." "Look, hotshot, not everyone wants to be a star." "Sarah is content." "She had a rotten time as a kid." "She was diagnosed as retarded until she was seven." "We educated her." " For what?" " She's productive, pays taxes." "If you want to try, I'll talk to her." "I'll talk to her." "Look at this, will you?" "Damn!" " This will cost 2-3,000 dollars." " Oh, brother!" " Sat." " Sat." "All right!" "That's really good." "You have to work on the "S's", though." "Go." "Out." "James?" "Sarah has agreed to give you an hour, and she's looking forward to it." "You're looking forward to it, aren't you, Sarah?" "What did I tell you?" "Well, have fun, Jim." "As usual." "Well, Sarah..." "Yeah, I do mind actually." "Fire laws and all that." "But you go right ahead." "Listen..." "How would you like to fake out Franklin?" "Make me look real good?" "I'm sorry, I didn't get that." "If I don't sign faster, the hour will be over before I finish my opening speech." "No, I'm all out of jokes." "Good." "I'm not funny." "Oh, yeah?" "If you could hear, you'd think I was a scream." "You're deaf." "I'll try to remember that." "I'll forget." "No, I won't." "Listen, why don't we get this thing started?" "Well, thank you for stopping by." "Pleasure...was mine." "God." " My mama." " Your mama." "Great, go." "Glen, who is your favourite person?" " Twisted Sister?" "The Twisted Sister?" " It's the name of a rock group." "Try saying that." "Twisted Sister." "Glen, it takes courage." "I know." "Just give me one sound." "One "T"." "Try! "T"." "That's great, great." "Yeah, out of here." "Go." "Great!" "Johnny?" "Who's your favourite person?" "Princess Di?" "Benji?" "Terminator?" "Hey!" "Do you want to play "stand up, sit down" again?" "Careful, you almost smiled." "That's the girl!" "That's the Sarah Norman we all know and love." "If my jokes are terrible, and my signing is boring, what are you doing here?" "There's a whole empty beach!" "Unbelievable." "I tried to call your mother." "Hold it, hold it." "Come on, wait, wait!" "I can't..." "I didn't even talk to her." "OK?" "Can we stop this?" "I mean, why can't we..." "I mean, why can't we just..." "Why don't we..." "Why don't we go out and have dinner tonight?" "Just give me a "yes" or a "no"." "Yes." "Good." "I think." "OK." "I will meet you behind the girls' dormitory, 8 o'clock." "I will whisper your name." "Hey!" "I know that sign." "That's the first sign I ever learned!" "It's in Italian." "Can I suggest something?" "Will you give me a break?" "My Italian is worse than my signing." "The Veal Piccata is very good." "Look." "I'm sorry." "V-E-A-L P-l-C-C-A-T-A." "You see, by the time I finish, they may be out of it." "It's veal." "It's saut¨¦ed in lemon and butter." "What's veal?" "God." "What the hell is veal?" "Good evening." "Something to drink this evening?" "Do you want something to drink?" " Our house wine is very nice." " Wine?" "Yeah, it's OK." "White wine." "I'll take a carafe, please." "He doesn't think you're stupid." "He thinks you're deaf." "No, only stupid hearing people think that deaf people are stupid." "Do you really like being a cleaning woman?" "Why?" "Yeah, but there are other jobs where people can work alone in silence." "Not with toilet bowl cleaner." "You should have told me that was the attraction." "You're smart as hell!" "You want to dance?" "Can you feel it?" "Vibrations through your nose!" "I'm not good at this." "And you are." "Great." "I don't know why I became a speech teacher." "OK?" "Let's dance." "It's too hard to dance and talk." "Well, maybe I like to hear myself talk." "I am a really good teacher." "You should let me help you." "What is that?" "Lydia does not talk like that." "Don't you want to get along in the world?" "No one wants my help." "That's your opinion." "Fine." "You don't do anything you can't do well." "Well, I would like to walk with you." "It's..." "My pleasure." "Mrs Norman?" "I'm James Leeds." "I didn't call again, because..." "..." "I would have hung up again." " It's 60 miles here and back." " Please, just five minutes." " I just got home from work." "This is my time to relax." "Discussing Sarah is hardly relaxing." "Five minutes." "Well?" "Well, you haven't seen Sarah in eight years?" "Sarah doesn't want to see me." " Has she said why?" " We don't communicate very well." "Did you ever learn to sign?" "Some of the parents..." "I'm sick of you people coming every two years, asking the same questions." " Blaming me." " No one's blaming you." "Of course they are." "They can't blame themselves, so it's my fault." "Fine." "I don't give a damn any more." "I came to ask you one question." "What happened when Sarah tried to speak?" "What happened?" "She looked awful." "She sounded awful." " People made fun of her." " Who made fun of her?" "Other kids." "Her sister's friends." "Then she stopped trying to talk." "She's very pretty, you know." "Her sister Ruth had boys hanging around, and they started asking Sarah out when she came home on weekends." "It was wonderful for her." "Boys really liked her." "They treated her just like they treated Ruth." "With respect." "If you didn't know there was a problem, you'd have thought she was normal." "Hi!" "It's true, I'm early today." "No, don't go." "I wanted to talk to you anyway." "No, I want to work with you." "I understand that you're scared." "I understand nothing." "Sarah, come back here." "Sarah..." "Yelling at the back of a deaf person." "Very good." "He's been to all the best schools." "Why did you stop going home?" "Did your sister's friends, those boys you were going out with, have anything to do with it?" "Yes, I talked to your mother." "Please let me help you, damn it!" "How?" "By showing you the joys of sex with a hearing man." "I think that that is one language that you don't speak!" "Yeah, I'm so..." "Come on, I can take it." "You have enough communication skills." "I don't." "They never did?" "Hey!" "Who is "they"?" "Hearing boys." "They wouldn't try to learn my language." "I was expected to learn to speak." "Well, I don't speak." "Sex was something I could do as well as hearing girls." "Better." "At first, I let them have me because they wanted to." "Before long the boys were lined up on a waiting list my sister kept for me." "No introduction, no talk." "We just went to a dark place and..." "They didn't even take me out for a Coke first." "No, that is not what I wanted to know about you." "I thought I was such a big deal, coming on to the deaf girl, giving her a thrill." "No!" "And all the time you were laughing at me." "I was thinking, "Poor little deaf virgin, who'll spread her legs for every..."" "Do you think I'm threatened by that?" "Do you think I give a goddamn that you fucked every pimply-faced teenager?" "I don't." "I don't give a shit!" "Sarah, please listen to me." "I'm not going away." "I did the wrong thing." "I'm sorry." "I don't know what to say." "Tell me what to say." "Sarah you are the most mysterious, beautiful, angry person I have ever met." "I'm falling in lo..." "Sarah?" "Sarah, I am falling into the pool with you!" "God, what a fellow has to go through." " How are things going?" " Great." "Good!" "Glad to hear it." " We must have you over soon." " I'd like that." " I warn you, I'm a keen poker player." " So I've heard." " Are you a card player?" " Not really." "Tic-tac-toe is my game." "So much the better?" "Well, thanks for coming in, Jim." "We really are happy to have you with us." "Thank you." " Your size?" " Yeah." " Be careful, Jimbo." " Right." "Don't fight it." "Relax." "Daphne, you're leading again." "I've got a funny sensation in my toes." "Like someone was barbecuing them over a slow flame." "Let's put another log on that fire." "You are the nicest person" "I've ever met." "Who, me?" "I'm the nicest person you ever met?" "That's the craziest thing I ever heard." "You thought that after what you told me, that you'd never see me again." "Here I am." "Yeah, I was in love, but she broke my heart." "God, no!" "Please don't break my heart." "Did anyone ever break yours?" "You never hurt from other people?" "That's not true." "Sarah, I know people have hurt you." "I know." "Suppose you admitted that you hurt." "I'd shrivel up and..." "I'll take care of you, Sarah." "I'll take care of you." "What do you mean that was my foul?" "You moved into me." "You want to call me an asshole?" "Say it!" "Say it out loud." "Watch my lips." "Asshole." " Ahole." " Asshole." " Asshole." " Great!" " Asshole!" " Good." "It was still your foul." "Asshole!" "Did you know that waves strike the average beach about 750,000 times a day?" "That's true." "I just made it up." "You do?" "What do waves sound like?" "That is what they sound like." "How did you get to be so brilliant and beautiful?" "And pig-headed?" "You're the most stubborn person." "You." "You're not stubborn?" "OK." "Hi, beautiful." "What am I saying?" "Wait." "That was a joke." "It wasn't funny." "OK, I won't do it again." "I promise." "Sarah..." "I promise." "Mr Harrison!" "How are you?" "Couldn't be better, Curtis." "She's doing wonderfully." "Jim Harrison." "He donated the chemistry lab." " Glen is really coming along." "A fine lad." " Get him to change that idiotic hair cut?" "No, I like to give the kids leeway." " Asshole!" "Shit-for-brains!" " Look at those shingles." "They'll have to be replaced." "Thank you, Mr Jones' class, for your demonstration of the four food groups." "And now, Mr Leeds' 1 1th-grade speech and language class has a treat for us." "Glen is singing!" " It's a stupid song, but he's singing." " He's wonderful!" " I'm very impressed, Doctor." " Anything that works, Edward." "Just a cut?" "It's five stitches." "You stupid son-of-a..." "She could've seriously hurt herself." "In front of a parent, too." "It's going to stop!" " I don't know what made her so upset." " I'm not letting you mess her up!" " She's not messed up." " I don't want to discuss this." " Nobody fucks with my students." " She's a 25-year-old woman!" "Nor with my employees." "It's going to stop!" " She's quitting." " What?" "She's quitting her job." "She's moving in with me." "I see, she's going to be your maid now." " Jesus Christ, Franklin." " James, James!" "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry, that wasn't fair." "Not to Sarah, either." " This kind of thing just doesn't work!" " It's not like that." "This is us." "This is Sarah and me!" "I love her!" "Sure, the kids made me happy." "Is that against the law?" "I don't hate you for not learning how to speak." "Sarah." "I love you." "I need you." "Where are your suitcases?" "It's your suitcase." "You are moving in with me today." "Here." "I'm packing your clothes." "You'll need some clothes." "Now it's your turn." "Screw your job." "I've got mine." "You can do whatever you want." "Sarah, what do you want?" "Me?" "You've got me." "What else?" "Children." "You want deaf children?" "What do you want me to say?" "That I want deaf children?" "No, I don't." "But if they were, that would be fine." "Could you get me some more, too?" "I don't think she heard me." "Mr Leeds!" "I don't think you're an asshole any more." "No." "I think you're a dick-brain." "A dick-brain?" "That's fantastic." "I got it right away." " Yeah." "Dick-brain!" " Excellent." "Good work!" "Freeze!" " Favourite candy, Tony?" " Chunky." "Good." "Go!" " Freeze!" "Favourite animal, Lydia?" " Arnold Schwarzenegger." "A fine actor." "Go!" "Freeze!" "Favourite football player." "Johnny?" "Thank you, Johnny." "And favourite football hero." " Cheryl?" " Billy "White Shoes" Johnston." "Great choice." "Go!" "Are you ready?" "No, Franklin will not expect you to speak." "My God, you look so gorgeous." "I'll get it." "That must be James." "James?" "And Sarah!" "Come in, please." "Martha, Sarah's here, too." " Did you teach her how to play poker?" " No, she learned it out of a book." "About that time." "Sarah, it's good to see you again." "You look...!" "Here." "Right next to me." "No, no, no." "No couples together." "Come on, let's break it up." "Sarah, no cheating." "Don't start." "I've seen deaf people cheat like bandits." "Oh, yes." "Those little signs that no one will see." " Very funny, Franklin." " Don't listen to him." "With Jim, of course!" "Together you can clean up." "Jim won't cheat." "He's not deaf." "That's very good!" "Very good, Sarah." "High card deals." " Nine." " Ten." "You're high, you deal." " A nickel, dime and quarter." " All of them?" "Yes." "Ante up, everybody." "Out of a book?" "Five card draw." "One-eyed Jacks wild." "One-eyed Jacks wild?" " You're doing great with her." " Yeah, what a change." "Pretty impressive, James." "What about the poor guys who lost?" " You want these here or in the kitchen?" " No, I'll clean up." "I can't believe how well she played." "There goes my mad money." "James?" "Where can I get a copy of that book?" "You are smart." "She bluffed me." "I had three of a kind, and I folded." "Did you teach her that?" "Quite a coup, James." "A lesson for us all." "God." "I can't ever get close enough." "Say my name." "Just once, say my name." "No, no, I'm sorry." "I needed..." "I know I promised." "I'm sorry." "I forgot." "I'm not lying." "I don't want you to speak." "It just came out, Sarah!" "I'm sorry." "Hike!" "No." "No!" " Can we have some soda?" " Yes." " The phone is ringing." " What?" " The phone." " What phone?" "The phone you can't hear because it's so noisy in here." "Turn it down." "Good grief!" "What?" "The phone is ringing, the TV is blasting." "The kettle." "Now, if someone would just fire a bazooka through the window." "Could you hold on?" "Water's boiling." "Hello." "What?" "Can you ask him to hang on for a second?" "It's for you." "It's one of the dorm counsellors." "She's translating a call from Deaf Man." "It's Orin." "Lydia, Danny, for God's sake!" " Over." "Bye." " Thank God for small favours." "Are you still there?" "Are you both ready?" "We're both ready." "This is Sarah speaking to Orin." "Hi!" "Why are you calling?" "I'm having a small dinner party." "I want you to come, please." "How about me, please?" "Don't translate that to Orin." "Please." "No, I'm not saying please." "Wait a minute." "That was Orin saying please." "It's my fault." "I probably sounded like myself instead of like the dorm counsellor sounding like Orin." "Anyway, he wants you to come to a party for  Marian Loesser." "Please." "Great." "She is dying to see you." "Bring James!" "Friday, at seven." "OK, fine, we'll be there." "Yeah." "Thank you." "My God!" "Either I just went deaf, or it is suddenly quiet in here." "I do not make everything into a joke." "I possibly obscure." "How the hell would you sign "obscure"?" "Obscure." "I'm going to rest my hands and my eyes, and listen to 20 minutes of Bach." "You know, I haven't turned on my hi-fi since you..." "Hold it." "That sounds like I'm blaming you for me not listening to music." "Thank you." "I will rest my hands and listen to something beautiful." "I can't enjoy it." "I can't because you can't." "Show you the music?" "I can't." "Don't be sad for you." "All right, I won't." "What should you wear to the party?" "I don't know." "Have I ever heard of who?" "Marian, the lady the party's for?" "No." "Should I have?" "She's very famous in the deaf community." "Nice catch!" "She has two PhDs, and she doesn't speak." " Take a look at these." " Hungry?" "I can't communicate when my mind is amusing itself." "You're right." "I'm sorry." "What do you hear?" "I mean, is it just silence?" "No one has ever gotten in there to find out." "Will you ever let me in?" " She's something, isn't she?" " Is she a lawyer or something?" "An economist in Washington." "A real math whiz!" " How thrilling." " Yeah, it is." "I feel like everyone is talking in some foreign northern Hungarian dialect." "I know the feeling." "Just because I wanted to leave, doesn't mean that you wanted to leave." "All right." "Sarah, what the hell is wrong with you tonight?" "I'll wait." "Sure, Marian's great." "So what?" "She has an education, great job, money." "Well, I'll tell you one thing that she has not got: me!" "We're not talking about me, for once." "That's true." "Let's crawl under the covers, sweetheart, and pretend we're in some romantic, distant place." "We're not, we're here." "Right." "OK." "Let's deal with it." "What is making you so miserable?" "Let's go to sleep?" "!" "No!" "You can't start a bonfire and then say night-night." "And you can't start a bonfire and then run away either." "You can do anything you want." "Yeah, like what?" "Nothing." "I can do nothing." "I'm equipped for nothing, trained for nothing." "You feel like an idiot." "I treat you like an idiot." "I pity you." "Wait a second!" "And now you see Marian." "What about Marian?" "Let you be you." "I don't?" "I want you to be deaf so I can change you into a hearing person?" "!" "I don't want to help anybody." "I want to change them and contro..." "Goodnight." "No." "You think that I want you to speak." "And you just want to be you." "Well, who the hell are you?" "Right." "What?" "You want to make love now?" "Fuck you, lady!" "Oh, that's what you want." "You understood that." "Then do it." "That didn't help much." "It helped you." "Great!" "That's really wonderful." "Makes me happy." "What a night." "I think that helped." "Yeah?" "What have you just decided?" "No one's ever going to speak for you again." "Come on!" "How are you going to manage?" "Everyone's always told me who I am, and I let them. "She wants, she thinks."" "Usually they were wrong." "They had no idea what I said, wanted, thought." "And now they will." "That's all right." "I'll buy that." "No, I won't." "How could I?" "Because I love you." "Love has nothing to do with it?" "!" "That's wonderful." "Then what the hell have we been doing?" "Watch your hands." "It's hard to avoid them." "This sign, to connect, simple." "But it means so much more when I do this." "Now it means to be joined in a relationship, separate but one." "That's what I want." "But you think for me, think for Sarah, as though there were no l." "She will be with me." "Quit her job, learn how to play poker," "leave Orin's party, learn how to speak." "That's all you, not me." "Until you let me be an l, the way you are, you can never come inside my silence and know me." "And I won't let myself know you." "Until that time, we can't be like this." "Joined." "Well, that's all very moving but how are you going to manage?" "You can lock yourself back in your precious silent castle." "I heard." "I heard every word, goddamit!" "I translated for myself." "It went from your hands, into my brain and out my mouth." "And you know what?" "I think you are lying." "I don't think that you think being deaf is so goddamn wonderful." "I think that you're scared to try." "I think that it's nothing but stupid pride that's keeping you from speaking right!" "You want to be on your own." "You don't want to be pitied." "Then you learn to read my lips, and use that little mouth for something besides showing me that you're better than hearing girls in bed." "Read my lips." "What am I saying?" "What..." "You want to talk to me, then you learn my language!" "Did you understand that?" "You've probably been reading lips for years, but that's the control game." "I'm the controller." "What a fucking joke!" "Now, come on." "Speak to me." "Speak!" "Speak to me!" "Hear my voice!" "I'm such a freak!" "Hot chocolate." "Your favourite." "Have you come home to stay?" "Of course you can." "As long as you like." "Me...need a job, but there's nothing." "I'll help." "I never helped." "Don't hurt me now." "The last time you..." "We sent you away, because I didn't know how to take care of you." "Your father couldn't accept you." "He felt he'd failed." "You're right." "I hated you for driving him away." "Please forgive me." "Telephone." "What do I say?" "Hello." "No." "I'm sorry, James." "No, she's not." "All right, I'll tell her that if I see her." " Favourite books." " Favourite books." "Good." "Do you have any favourite books, Glen?" ""Skull"." "I'll put that on my summer reading list." "I have to see her." " I know she doesn't want to see me." " She's made that clear." "But I have to see her." "She'll let you know when she wants to see you." "She's working now." "She's saving her money." "She wants to go to college." "That's fine." "That's wonderful." "I've looked all over, Mrs Norman." "Please?" "Spring-cleaning." "How was your day?" "Are you OK?" "No." "You're not fine." "You're lonely." "He was here." "He misses you." "You don't know what to do." "I think maybe you do." "Have a good summer, William." "Language skills can be dangerous." "Use a little common sense, OK?" "I will, Mr Leeds." "So long, William." "So long, fuck-face!" "You look beautiful." "You wanted to see me." "It was a shock seeing you in there." "I didn't know what to do." "You were scared, too." "I hear that "Boomerang" song." ""Oh, my love can't catch ya."" "You've been angry since you were a little girl." "You didn't want to hurt again, so you used your anger to push me away." "You're sorry." "I'm sorry for hurting you." "But you learned from me." "You learned that you can hurt." "And you won't shrivel up and blow away." "Come on." "I don't want to be without you, either." "Do you think that we could find a place where we can meet?" "Not in silence, and not in sound." "" Children.of.a.Lesser.God. " The End" "This is the most amazing I've ever seen." " I've been with some good schools." " All of them!" "All of the best." "One right after another." "You've also been with the Lucky Erin Bar and Grill." " Pittsburgh." "Bartender." " And a disc jockey." "In Oklahoma." "I used to broadcast in sign language." " You've covered the map, Mr Leeds." " I've got a lot of energy." "I'm sure you do have energy and new ideas." "I did, too, when..." "But nobody's trying to change the world here." "Just trying to help a few deaf kids get along a little better." "Everything else is razzle-dazzle." "Am I making myself clear?" "Yes, I believe that you are." "Are we being punished?" "Hi!" "I'm James Leeds." "My signing is rusty, so how many of you can read lips?" "No one?" "OK." "Class dismissed." "No, no, no!" "Just testing." "Sit down." "Lydia and Tony, good lip-readers." "Would you mind closing your notebook?" "Thank you." "Give me one good reason why we should learn to speak?" " Tony." " To pick up hearing girls." "To pick up hearing girls." "Let's work on this." "You, you, you." "Here are two beautiful hearing girls." "You two guys want to pick them up." "What is the first thing you want to say?" "Danny." " Are you rich?" " Are you ri-i-ich?" "Say it." " Rich." " Good." " Lydia?" " I'm very rich." "Good!" "Tony?" "Let's go somewhere and do it." "No, thank you." " Let's go somewhere and do it." " I'd rather do it with her." "Cute." "How about you guys?" "Do you want to join us?" " They don't talk." " Fair enough." "OK, reasons to talk." "Right." "If your hands are occupied." "For example." "Some guy owes you money." "He comes by." "But you just happen to be in a handstand." "How will you tell him to give you your money?" "You can't use your hands." "You've got to speak." ""Give me my money, you bum."" ""Don't call me names." "I don't have to take that." "Do you want to fight?"" ""Put up your feet and fight like a man!"" "See." ""Take your pots..."" ""...and your lousy food, and shove..."" "She doesn't mince words." "Mr Leeds!" "Mr Leeds!" "Leeds?" "Leeds!" " Join us." " Sir, OK." "Sorry." " It's good you're out of my classroom." " Sit down, James." "Mary Lee Ochs, Assistant Superintendent." "Orin Dennis, Math and Social Studies." "James Leeds." "Did I hear Miss Ochs say that you were one of her students?" " Yes." "I started here at five." " Really?" " That's great." "I'm impressed." " For still being here?" " No, what I meant..." " Excuse me." "See you all later." "Bye." " Who is that?" " That's Sarah." "Never mind her." "She's a pain in the ass." "Always has been." " What does she do?" " She works here." "Orin, how about the kids making pot-holders for Mother's Day?" "But they don't sell." "We've got hundreds left from last year." "Sarah came here at five, too." "We grew up together." "Is she a teacher, too?" "She was one of the brightest students we've ever had." "Some water, please." "Thank you." "Leeds, you're a genius." "You will work!" "Ooh, yeah." "Mr Bach!" "Hear that, cat?" "Ba-boo-ma-rang-rang-rang." " Again." "Faster." " Ba-boo-ma-rang-rang-rang." " Once more." "Faster." " Ba-boo-ma-rang-rang-rang." "Great!" "Great." "That's great." "Oh, Lydia, my Lydia." "Come here, Lydia." "Put your hands on the speaker." "Come on." "Can you feel that?" "Good." "Feel it." "Like a boomerang, baby Like a boomerang-rang-rang" "Two, three, four, ba-boo-ma-rang-rang-rang." " Use your voice." " Ba-boo-ma-rang-rang-rang." "A drip." "Drip." "What a drip!" "Sorry." "No, no, no!" "No, that's not what I meant." "I just wanted to introduce myself." "I'm James Leeds." "It's Sarah, isn't it?" "Would you like to sit down?" "Right here." "OK, we'll both stand up." "Oh, I see." "Very good." "You got me there." "Look at me, please." "If you don't look at me, I can't..." "So, Doctor Franklin tells me that you've been here since you were five." "When did you graduate?" "And now you work here?" "Are you reading my lips?" "I don't think that you are reading my lips." "Gee, that was quick of me, wasn't it?" "You could have told me." "Why?" "How about common courtesy?" "How about me leaving so you can mop the floor?" "Man!" "If you let me, I bet I could teach you how to speak." "And you could teach me..." "But I don't want to mop the floor." "That was quick." "And you don't want to speak." "Brilliant." "Schmuck." " It's a damn shame." " Costly, too." "Re-sodding is damn costly." " No, I'm talking about Sarah Norman." " Right, Sarah." " Look at this." "What a mess!" " Has she ever tried to use her voice?" "Sarah's not hard-of-hearing." "She was born totally deaf." " Yeah, that makes it tough." " The rain is lousing up the fields." "It's a shame that a bright woman is cleaning toilets." "It doesn't bother her." "Look, hotshot, not everyone wants to be a star." "Sarah is content." "She had a rotten time as a kid." "She was diagnosed as retarded until she was seven." "We educated her." " For what?" " She's productive, pays taxes." "If you want to try, I'll talk to her." "I'll talk to her." "Look at this, will you?" "Damn!" " This will cost 2-3,000 dollars." " Oh, brother!" " Sat." " Sat." "All right!" "That's really good." "You have to work on the "S's", though." "Go." "Out." "James?" "Sarah has agreed to give you an hour, and she's looking forward to it." "You're looking forward to it, aren't you, Sarah?" "What did I tell you?" "Well, have fun, Jim." "As usual." "Well, Sarah..." "Yeah, I do mind actually." "Fire laws and all that." "But you go right ahead." "Listen..." "How would you like to fake out Franklin?" "Make me look real good?" "I'm sorry, I didn't get that." "If I don't sign faster, the hour will be over before I finish my opening speech." "No, I'm all out of jokes." "Good." "I'm not funny." "Oh, yeah?" "If you could hear, you'd think I was a scream." "You're deaf." "I'll try to remember that." "I'll forget." "No, I won't." "Listen, why don't we get this thing started?" "Well, thank you for stopping by." "Pleasure...was mine." "God." " My mama." " Your mama." "Great, go." "Glen, who is your favourite person?" " Twisted Sister?" "The Twisted Sister?" " It's the name of a rock group." "Try saying that." "Twisted Sister." "Glen, it takes courage." "I know." "Just give me one sound." "One "T"." "Try! "T"." "That's great, great." "Yeah, out of here." "Go." "Great!" "Johnny?" "Who's your favourite person?" "Princess Di?" "Benji?" "Terminator?" "Hey!" "Do you want to play "stand up, sit down" again?" "Careful, you almost smiled." "That's the girl!" "That's the Sarah Norman we all know and love." "If my jokes are terrible, and my signing is boring, what are you doing here?" "There's a whole empty beach!" "Unbelievable." "I tried to call your mother." "Hold it, hold it." "Come on, wait, wait!" "I can't..." "I didn't even talk to her." "OK?" "Can we stop this?" "I mean, why can't we..." "I mean, why can't we just..." "Why don't we..." "Why don't we go out and have dinner tonight?" "Just give me a "yes" or a "no"." "Yes." "Good." "I think." "OK." "I will meet you behind the girls' dormitory, 8 o'clock." "I will whisper your name." "Hey!" "I know that sign." "That's the first sign I ever learned!" "It's in Italian." "Can I suggest something?" "Will you give me a break?" "My Italian is worse than my signing." "The Veal Piccata is very good." "Look." "I'm sorry." "V-E-A-L P-l-C-C-A-T-A." "You see, by the time I finish, they may be out of it." "It's veal." "It's saut¨¦ed in lemon and butter." "What's veal?" "God." "What the hell is veal?" "Good evening." "Something to drink this evening?" "Do you want something to drink?" " Our house wine is very nice." " Wine?" "Yeah, it's OK." "White wine." "I'll take a carafe, please." "He doesn't think you're stupid." "He thinks you're deaf." "No, only stupid hearing people think that deaf people are stupid." "Do you really like being a cleaning woman?" "Why?" "Yeah, but there are other jobs where people can work alone in silence." "Not with toilet bowl cleaner." "You should have told me that was the attraction." "You're smart as hell!" "You want to dance?" "Can you feel it?" "Vibrations through your nose!" "I'm not good at this." "And you are." "Great." "I don't know why I became a speech teacher." "OK?" "Let's dance." "It's too hard to dance and talk." "Well, maybe I like to hear myself talk." "I am a really good teacher." "You should let me help you." "What is that?" "Lydia does not talk like that." "Don't you want to get along in the world?" "No one wants my help." "That's your opinion." "Fine." "You don't do anything you can't do well." "Well, I would like to walk with you." "It's..." "My pleasure." "Mrs Norman?" "I'm James Leeds." "I didn't call again, because..." "..." "I would have hung up again." " It's 60 miles here and back." " Please, just five minutes." " I just got home from work." "This is my time to relax." "Discussing Sarah is hardly relaxing." "Five minutes." "Well?" "Well, you haven't seen Sarah in eight years?" "Sarah doesn't want to see me." " Has she said why?" " We don't communicate very well." "Did you ever learn to sign?" "Some of the parents..." "I'm sick of you people coming every two years, asking the same questions." " Blaming me." " No one's blaming you." "Of course they are." "They can't blame themselves, so it's my fault." "Fine." "I don't give a damn any more." "I came to ask you one question." "What happened when Sarah tried to speak?" "What happened?" "She looked awful." "She sounded awful." " People made fun of her." " Who made fun of her?" "Other kids." "Her sister's friends." "Then she stopped trying to talk." "She's very pretty, you know." "Her sister Ruth had boys hanging around, and they started asking Sarah out when she came home on weekends." "It was wonderful for her." "Boys really liked her." "They treated her just like they treated Ruth." "With respect." "If you didn't know there was a problem, you'd have thought she was normal." "Hi!" "It's true, I'm early today." "No, don't go." "I wanted to talk to you anyway." "No, I want to work with you." "I understand that you're scared." "I understand nothing." "Sarah, come back here." "Sarah..." "Yelling at the back of a deaf person." "Very good." "He's been to all the best schools." "Why did you stop going home?" "Did your sister's friends, those boys you were going out with, have anything to do with it?" "Yes, I talked to your mother." "Please let me help you, damn it!" "How?" "By showing you the joys of sex with a hearing man." "I think that that is one language that you don't speak!" "Yeah, I'm so..." "Come on, I can take it." "You have enough communication skills." "I don't." "They never did?" "Hey!" "Who is "they"?" "Hearing boys." "They wouldn't try to learn my language." "I was expected to learn to speak." "Well, I don't speak." "Sex was something I could do as well as hearing girls." "Better." "At first, I let them have me because they wanted to." "Before long the boys were lined up on a waiting list my sister kept for me." "No introduction, no talk." "We just went to a dark place and..." "They didn't even take me out for a Coke first." "No, that is not what I wanted to know about you." "I thought I was such a big deal, coming on to the deaf girl, giving her a thrill." "No!" "And all the time you were laughing at me." "I was thinking, "Poor little deaf virgin, who'll spread her legs for every..."" "Do you think I'm threatened by that?" "Do you think I give a goddamn that you fucked every pimply-faced teenager?" "I don't." "I don't give a shit!" "Sarah, please listen to me." "I'm not going away." "I did the wrong thing." "I'm sorry." "I don't know what to say." "Tell me what to say." "Sarah you are the most mysterious, beautiful, angry person I have ever met." "I'm falling in lo..." "Sarah?" "Sarah, I am falling into the pool with you!" "God, what a fellow has to go through." " How are things going?" " Great." "Good!" "Glad to hear it." " We must have you over soon." " I'd like that." " I warn you, I'm a keen poker player." " So I've heard." " Are you a card player?" " Not really." "Tic-tac-toe is my game." "So much the better?" "Well, thanks for coming in, Jim." "We really are happy to have you with us." "Thank you." " Your size?" " Yeah." " Be careful, Jimbo." " Right." "Don't fight it." "Relax." "Daphne, you're leading again." "I've got a funny sensation in my toes." "Like someone was barbecuing them over a slow flame." "Let's put another log on that fire." "You are the nicest person" "I've ever met." "Who, me?" "I'm the nicest person you ever met?" "That's the craziest thing I ever heard." "You thought that after what you told me, that you'd never see me again." "Here I am." "Yeah, I was in love, but she broke my heart." "God, no!" "Please don't break my heart." "Did anyone ever break yours?" "You never hurt from other people?" "That's not true." "Sarah, I know people have hurt you." "I know." "Suppose you admitted that you hurt." "I'd shrivel up and..." "I'll take care of you, Sarah." "I'll take care of you." "What do you mean that was my foul?" "You moved into me." "You want to call me an asshole?" "Say it!" "Say it out loud." "Watch my lips." "Asshole." " Ahole." " Asshole." " Asshole." " Great!" " Asshole!" " Good." "It was still your foul." "Asshole!" "Did you know that waves strike the average beach about 750,000 times a day?" "That's true." "I just made it up." "You do?" "What do waves sound like?" "That is what they sound like." "How did you get to be so brilliant and beautiful?" "And pig-headed?" "You're the most stubborn person." "You." "You're not stubborn?" "OK." "Hi, beautiful." "What am I saying?" "Wait." "That was a joke." "It wasn't funny." "OK, I won't do it again." "I promise." "Sarah..." "I promise." "Mr Harrison!" "How are you?" "Couldn't be better, Curtis." "She's doing wonderfully." "Jim Harrison." "He donated the chemistry lab." " Glen is really coming along." "A fine lad." " Get him to change that idiotic hair cut?" "No, I like to give the kids leeway." " Asshole!" "Shit-for-brains!" " Look at those shingles." "They'll have to be replaced." "Thank you, Mr Jones' class, for your demonstration of the four food groups." "And now, Mr Leeds' 1 1th-grade speech and language class has a treat for us." "Glen is singing!" " It's a stupid song, but he's singing." " He's wonderful!" " I'm very impressed, Doctor." " Anything that works, Edward." "Just a cut?" "It's five stitches." "You stupid son-of-a..." "She could've seriously hurt herself." "In front of a parent, too." "It's going to stop!" " I don't know what made her so upset." " I'm not letting you mess her up!" " She's not messed up." " I don't want to discuss this." " Nobody fucks with my students." " She's a 25-year-old woman!" "Nor with my employees." "It's going to stop!" " She's quitting." " What?" "She's quitting her job." "She's moving in with me." "I see, she's going to be your maid now." " Jesus Christ, Franklin." " James, James!" "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry, that wasn't fair." "Not to Sarah, either." " This kind of thing just doesn't work!" " It's not like that." "This is us." "This is Sarah and me!" "I love her!" "Sure, the kids made me happy." "Is that against the law?" "I don't hate you for not learning how to speak." "Sarah." "I love you." "I need you." "Where are your suitcases?" "It's your suitcase." "You are moving in with me today." "Here." "I'm packing your clothes." "You'll need some clothes." "Now it's your turn." "Screw your job." "I've got mine." "You can do whatever you want." "Sarah, what do you want?" "Me?" "You've got me." "What else?" "Children." "You want deaf children?" "What do you want me to say?" "That I want deaf children?" "No, I don't." "But if they were, that would be fine." "Could you get me some more, too?" "I don't think she heard me." "Mr Leeds!" "I don't think you're an asshole any more." "No." "I think you're a dick-brain." "A dick-brain?" "That's fantastic." "I got it right away." " Yeah." "Dick-brain!" " Excellent." "Good work!" "Freeze!" " Favourite candy, Tony?" " Chunky." "Good." "Go!" " Freeze!" "Favourite animal, Lydia?" " Arnold Schwarzenegger." "A fine actor." "Go!" "Freeze!" "Favourite football player." "Johnny?" "Thank you, Johnny." "And favourite football hero." " Cheryl?" " Billy "White Shoes" Johnston." "Great choice." "Go!" "Are you ready?" "No, Franklin will not expect you to speak." "My God, you look so gorgeous." "I'll get it." "That must be James." "James?" "And Sarah!" "Come in, please." "Martha, Sarah's here, too." " Did you teach her how to play poker?" " No, she learned it out of a book." "About that time." "Sarah, it's good to see you again." "You look...!" "Here." "Right next to me." "No, no, no." "No couples together." "Come on, let's break it up." "Sarah, no cheating." "Don't start." "I've seen deaf people cheat like bandits." "Oh, yes." "Those little signs that no one will see." " Very funny, Franklin." " Don't listen to him." "With Jim, of course!" "Together you can clean up." "Jim won't cheat." "He's not deaf." "That's very good!" "Very good, Sarah." "High card deals." " Nine." " Ten." "You're high, you deal." " A nickel, dime and quarter." " All of them?" "Yes." "Ante up, everybody." "Out of a book?" "Five card draw." "One-eyed Jacks wild." "One-eyed Jacks wild?" " You're doing great with her." " Yeah, what a change." "Pretty impressive, James." "What about the poor guys who lost?" " You want these here or in the kitchen?" " No, I'll clean up." "I can't believe how well she played." "There goes my mad money." "James?" "Where can I get a copy of that book?" "You are smart." "She bluffed me." "I had three of a kind, and I folded." "Did you teach her that?" "Quite a coup, James." "A lesson for us all." "God." "I can't ever get close enough." "Say my name." "Just once, say my name." "No, no, I'm sorry." "I needed..." "I know I promised." "I'm sorry." "I forgot." "I'm not lying." "I don't want you to speak." "It just came out, Sarah!" "I'm sorry." "Hike!" "No." "No!" " Can we have some soda?" " Yes." " The phone is ringing." " What?" " The phone." " What phone?" "The phone you can't hear because it's so noisy in here." "Turn it down." "Good grief!" "What?" "The phone is ringing, the TV is blasting." "The kettle." "Now, if someone would just fire a bazooka through the window." "Could you hold on?" "Water's boiling." "Hello." "What?" "Can you ask him to hang on for a second?" "It's for you." "It's one of the dorm counsellors." "She's translating a call from Deaf Man." "It's Orin." "Lydia, Danny, for God's sake!" " Over." "Bye." " Thank God for small favours." "Are you still there?" "Are you both ready?" "We're both ready." "This is Sarah speaking to Orin." "Hi!" "Why are you calling?" "I'm having a small dinner party." "I want you to come, please." "How about me, please?" "Don't translate that to Orin." "Please." "No, I'm not saying please." "Wait a minute." "That was Orin saying please." "It's my fault." "I probably sounded like myself instead of like the dorm counsellor sounding like Orin." "Anyway, he wants you to come to a party for  Marian Loesser." "Please." "Great." "She is dying to see you." "Bring James!" "Friday, at seven." "OK, fine, we'll be there." "Yeah." "Thank you." "My God!" "Either I just went deaf, or it is suddenly quiet in here." "I do not make everything into a joke." "I possibly obscure." "How the hell would you sign "obscure"?" "Obscure." "I'm going to rest my hands and my eyes, and listen to 20 minutes of Bach." "You know, I haven't turned on my hi-fi since you..." "Hold it." "That sounds like I'm blaming you for me not listening to music." "Thank you." "I will rest my hands and listen to something beautiful." "I can't enjoy it." "I can't because you can't." "Show you the music?" "I can't." "Don't be sad for you." "All right, I won't." "What should you wear to the party?" "I don't know." "Have I ever heard of who?" "Marian, the lady the party's for?" "No." "Should I have?" "She's very famous in the deaf community." "Nice catch!" "She has two PhDs, and she doesn't speak." " Take a look at these." " Hungry?" "I can't communicate when my mind is amusing itself." "You're right." "I'm sorry." "What do you hear?" "I mean, is it just silence?" "No one has ever gotten in there to find out." "Will you ever let me in?" " She's something, isn't she?" " Is she a lawyer or something?" "An economist in Washington." "A real math whiz!" " How thrilling." " Yeah, it is." "I feel like everyone is talking in some foreign northern Hungarian dialect." "I know the feeling." "Just because I wanted to leave, doesn't mean that you wanted to leave." "All right." "Sarah, what the hell is wrong with you tonight?" "I'll wait." "Sure, Marian's great." "So what?" "She has an education, great job, money." "Well, I'll tell you one thing that she has not got: me!" "We're not talking about me, for once." "That's true." "Let's crawl under the covers, sweetheart, and pretend we're in some romantic, distant place." "We're not, we're here." "Right." "OK." "Let's deal with it." "What is making you so miserable?" "Let's go to sleep?" "!" "No!" "You can't start a bonfire and then say night-night." "And you can't start a bonfire and then run away either." "You can do anything you want." "Yeah, like what?" "Nothing." "I can do nothing." "I'm equipped for nothing, trained for nothing." "You feel like an idiot." "I treat you like an idiot." "I pity you." "Wait a second!" "And now you see Marian." "What about Marian?" "Let you be you." "I don't?" "I want you to be deaf so I can change you into a hearing person?" "!" "I don't want to help anybody." "I want to change them and contro..." "Goodnight." "No." "You think that I want you to speak." "And you just want to be you." "Well, who the hell are you?" "Right." "What?" "You want to make love now?" "Fuck you, lady!" "Oh, that's what you want." "You understood that." "Then do it." "That didn't help much." "It helped you." "Great!" "That's really wonderful." "Makes me happy." "What a night." "I think that helped." "Yeah?" "What have you just decided?" "No one's ever going to speak for you again." "Come on!" "How are you going to manage?" "Everyone's always told me who I am, and I let them. "She wants, she thinks."" "Usually they were wrong." "They had no idea what I said, wanted, thought." "And now they will." "That's all right." "I'll buy that." "No, I won't." "How could I?" "Because I love you." "Love has nothing to do with it?" "!" "That's wonderful." "Then what the hell have we been doing?" "Watch your hands." "It's hard to avoid them." "This sign, to connect, simple." "But it means so much more when I do this." "Now it means to be joined in a relationship, separate but one." "That's what I want." "But you think for me, think for Sarah, as though there were no l." "She will be with me." "Quit her job, learn how to play poker," "leave Orin's party, learn how to speak." "That's all you, not me." "Until you let me be an l, the way you are, you can never come inside my silence and know me." "And I won't let myself know you." "Until that time, we can't be like this." "Joined." "Well, that's all very moving but how are you going to manage?" "You can lock yourself back in your precious silent castle." "I heard." "I heard every word, goddamit!" "I translated for myself." "It went from your hands, into my brain and out my mouth." "And you know what?" "I think you are lying." "I don't think that you think being deaf is so goddamn wonderful." "I think that you're scared to try." "I think that it's nothing but stupid pride that's keeping you from speaking right!" "You want to be on your own." "You don't want to be pitied." "Then you learn to read my lips, and use that little mouth for something besides showing me that you're better than hearing girls in bed." "Read my lips." "What am I saying?" "What..." "You want to talk to me, then you learn my language!" "Did you understand that?" "You've probably been reading lips for years, but that's the control game." "I'm the controller." "What a fucking joke!" "Now, come on." "Speak to me." "Speak!" "Speak to me!" "Hear my voice!" "I'm such a freak!" "Hot chocolate." "Your favourite." "Have you come home to stay?" "Of course you can." "As long as you like." "Me...need a job, but there's nothing." "I'll help." "I never helped." "Don't hurt me now." "The last time you..." "We sent you away, because I didn't know how to take care of you." "Your father couldn't accept you." "He felt he'd failed." "You're right." "I hated you for driving him away." "Please forgive me." "Telephone." "What do I say?" "Hello." "No." "I'm sorry, James." "No, she's not." "All right, I'll tell her that if I see her." " Favourite books." " Favourite books." "Good." "Do you have any favourite books, Glen?" ""Skull"." "I'll put that on my summer reading list." "I have to see her." " I know she doesn't want to see me." " She's made that clear." "But I have to see her." "She'll let you know when she wants to see you." "She's working now." "She's saving her money." "She wants to go to college." "That's fine." "That's wonderful." "I've looked all over, Mrs Norman." "Please?" "Spring-cleaning." "How was your day?" "Are you OK?" "No." "You're not fine." "You're lonely." "He was here." "He misses you." "You don't know what to do." "I think maybe you do." "Have a good summer, William." "Language skills can be dangerous." "Use a little common sense, OK?" "I will, Mr Leeds." "So long, William." "So long, fuck-face!" "You look beautiful." "You wanted to see me." "It was a shock seeing you in there." "I didn't know what to do." "You were scared, too." "I hear that "Boomerang" song." ""Oh, my love can't catch ya."" "You've been angry since you were a little girl." "You didn't want to hurt again, so you used your anger to push me away." "You're sorry." "I'm sorry for hurting you." "But you learned from me." "You learned that you can hurt." "And you won't shrivel up and blow away." "Come on." "I don't want to be without you, either." "Do you think that we could find a place where we can meet?" "Not in silence, and not in sound."