A Good Life: The Joe Grushecky Story Page #3

She knows where he lives.

She said we should go over there.

Who's Tina?

His little sister.

Oh, God.

She said we should go f*** his car up.

He f***ing loves that thing.

No, it's all right.

"It's all right"?

Your face looks like a jar

of smashed a**holes,

and it's all right?

You're all set.

I topped it off at $12.

It's all right.

It's all right.

And for the first

time in a long time,

it was all right...

For about five hours.

Mom?

Mom?

You're lucky the baby's awake.

Can you just put Dana

on the phone, please?

Dana.

It's your uncle, yeah.

He probably wants to borrow money,

but we can't give him none,

'cause I'm saving to go see the boys play

at the Fiesta Bowl, aren't I?

Dana!

It's your brother.

Hey, I told Mom

we have a space heater.

I don't think you know

how cold it is in here.

Well, we can give you

a space heater,

some electric blankets, and $80.

$40.

You are not going to the Fiesta Bowl.

We don't have any electricity.

That's all we have.

I'm sorry.

But what about your moving fund?

It's gone.

Oh, yummy, yummy.

Would you just quit it?

What did you say?

Nothing.

I didn't say anything.

There's hairs on the nipple.

Oh, Jesus Christ, I got to go, okay?

I'm sorry.

I'll bring the stuff over tomorrow.

Where were you?

I was at Bushwhacker's.

What are you wearing?

Oh, that's my skirt.

For what?

I bought you a hamburger.

Why were you at Bushwhacker's?

Dancing.

With who?

Fred.

Who's Fred?

He's really nice.

I'm gonna bring him home,

and you can meet-

Where'd you get those boots?

These are nothing.

Everybody wears them

when they dance.

How much money

did you spend on them?

I didn't buy them.

Fred bought them for me.

He wanted to make me feel

part of his group,

and so he bought the boots

that I tried on.

He just wanted me to feel good

about myself.

If he really wants you

to feel good, Mom,

tell him to use the money

that he spent buying you that hamburger

and those boots on your feet

and help pay

for the $400 electric bill,

because I'm out of money.

$17, please.

Thank you.

I've worked here

for seven years, Max.

I'm just asking this one favor.

Look, you can take the full amount

out of my next check.

Because I don't have any heat

in my house.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah, yeah.

I understand.

Damn, it's cold.

Is Andy Hardy your son?

Well, I have heard something

to that effect.

Grandma always writes

about him.

Isn't this neighborhood

just so beautiful?

Look.

Look.

It would be fun

to have a family like that.

Your family's not like that?

No.

Holy sh*t.

What?

That's Frank Jones.

Do you like him?

Everybody around here likes him.

Do you like him?

I don't know.

Then why "holy sh*t"?

Because my brother-in-law,

at the beginning of the season,

stood for 50 hours

with one hand on a pickup truck

that that guy used to own.

It was some contest

to get people excited

about the idea of a new coach.

Did he win?

It was between him, a mom,

and someone else.

And when he thought

no one was looking,

he tried to knock

the mom's hand off the truck,

got caught,

and they disqualified him.

It was on the news.

Yeah, he talks about it all the time.

He says that if he would have won

that truck,

he could have sold it

for five times what it's worth

because of what Frank Jones

has done for football.

I hate football.

I hate that I don't love it.

I don't want to watch or talk about

anyone else's life anymore.

I just want to live ours.

Hold this bag.

I don't get what we're doing.

We're gonna pay your electric bill.

Okay, push when I tell you to, all right?

Okay, now.

Voil.

You can empty

the whole machine like that.

That's stealing.

It's surviving.

It's better than sitting

in a cold house, isn't it?

Push it.

That's how you make money?

This and other things.

Like what?

Push it.

Didn't you make money from singing?

Look, I was married

two years ago for one year,

and my therapist says

that I married a homosexual

because my father was one.

I never believed it,

and he's not alive anymore

for me to ask.

When you're famous,

people try to take everything from you.

And my husband took it all.

Can't you start singing again?

Who I was then and who I am now

are two totally different people.

I'll never sing again.

Maybe it was the Nembutal

or the Seconal

or the electroshock therapy.

I don't know.

Hey!

Sh*t, let's go.

When my neighbor died,

he asked his family to be cremated.

And his last wish was

to have his ashes

poured into the concrete

of the new stadium.

When I die,

I want to be cremated,

and I want my ashes

to be scattered in the ocean

far away from the fans.

He couldn't do that.

He couldn't do what?

To blow him back like that,

he should have a rifle.

It only takes a ten-pound weight

dropped from about an inch

to equal the impact

of the gun he's holding.

My dad's a-

my dad was a cop.

Is that how he died?

In the line of duty?

No.

He killed himself.

That's how I almost died.

I caught my husband in bed

with another man, and-

and, um, I couldn't-

I couldn't take it.

I scare you.

No.

Yes, and I'm not gonna

tell you any more,

because the less you know about me,

the less you're gonna hate me

in the end.

In the end of what?

When I said that you knew me,

you just didn't know you knew me.

It wasn't because I'm a famous singer.

It's because we're soul mates.

Don't.

Do.

No.

Yes.

Please.

Please.

I've lived in the

same house for 25 years,

and every Christmas,

the only thing I've ever wanted

was to be somewhere else

until now.

Oh-ho.

Awesome.

The Irony.

Shampoo.

I'll trade you me beautiful

pizza cutter and Q-tips

for your shampoo and soap.

Hey, man, I'll give you

my AA batteries and change purse

for your shampoo and soap.

I'll take Darryl's deal.

Right on.

Thank you.

Oh-ho.

Damn!

I hid that there.

I hid that there.

Whoa, whoa, whoa,

I had that first.

That ten bucks is mine.

Darryl, you didn't look for it.

That's your fault.

But it is your turn.

Oh, sh*t, a coffee mug.

I don't even drink coffee.

Hey, Jason, that old guy,

he likes coffee, doesn't he?

Yeah.

Trade me that coin purse

for the coffee mug.

If you put it that way.

Thank you.

Deal.

All right, dude, cough it up.

What, the money?

Yeah, what do you think

I'm talking about?

You don't get the money.

F*** that!

Sorry.

You traded the purse.

You don't get the money with it.

When I traded it,

you got the money.

Because you didn't find it.

Because he's retarded.

You know what?

You better watch

who you're calling retarded,

especially you, Terri.

You're not getting

the money, Darryl, again.

It's Jason's.

All right, Fred, it's your turn.

Darryl, I'll trade my turn to you

if you give me

the shampoo and soap.

Look, man, I know you're

all Lucky Charms and sh*t,

and you want to make

a good impression.

But, dude, I'm not gonna

take it easy on you.

I'm serious.

All right.

Hell, yeah.

Sh*t, I'll make that trade.

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