Before and After Page #4

If you don't like me now,

what are you gonna say when I have to

get up in front of that jury,

and argue that your son is not guilty

by reason of diminished mental capacity.

- That he was drunk, stoned...

- Hey, hey.

- Wait a minute!

- Bombed out of his skull on crack.

- My son does not do drugs.

- He may be your son, and my client.

And I will not ask for your permission

for how I choose to defend him.

I'm gonna have to do whatever it takes.

And if you don't like my style,

wait till you hear the prosecution.

Listen, Dr. Ryan, you wanna jump

in the trenches with me?

You better muscle up.

And lose your bedside manner,

and trust me to be as good

at my job as you are at yours.

Will you do it, Mr. Demeris?

Will you take our case?

For your son, yeah.

I'll defend Jacob.

Jake?

I know you don't want to talk.

But I just need to see you.

Can I come up? Please?

Can I just ask you one question?

Did you ever really go anywhere, Jake?

Okay.

That's cool. I understand.

But just so you know,

when you were in that jail,

I tried to come.

They wouldn't let me.

Jake, I really wanted to see you.

They act like they have

to protect me from all of this.

Sure, they can't even protect themselves.

And I hear plenty, I know what's going on.

Like... Mom's had to close her office.

She says it's just temporary.

Sure, give me a break.

Well, anyway, that's all.

I just wanted to ask about the postcards.

No big deal.

Jude, wait.

Don't go.

Once or twice a week,

I'd take the train out to Logan Airport.

Then I'd find a flight

that was going where I wanted to go.

I'd find somebody that wouldn't mind

mailing a card for me when they got there.

And I said, "I'm home from vacation

and I forgot to send this.

"I don't want my parents

to think I don't miss them. "

I'd sit in one of those chairs, you know,

in the waiting area at the airport.

I'd shut my eyes like this.

And sit.

I went there with them.

I went to all those places, Jude.

You won't say anything, will you?

Nobody else'd understand.

Wait.

Hello.

Yes, sir, I see.

Oh, that's very biblical.

And I take it you would like

to cast the first one.

I want you listen very carefully.

No, you listen.

I want you to know, you good citizen,

that my son is innocent.

He's a free young man,

legally here on bond.

Nothing has been...

No, no, you're wrong.

Unless he's convicted in a court of law,

he is no more guilty than you are.

So, sleep tight, pal.

Hey, have a wonderful time in church.

Yeah, Dad, you're so cool.

Do you really believe that?

Well, of course I do.

Our whole system for justice...

I don't mean our system,

I mean about me.

Do you believe that I'm not guilty?

Jacob, I don't know, but...

Now that you're here

we can talk about that.

Whatever the truth is,

we're standing by you absolutely.

That's just a bunch of sentimental bullshit.

Hey, not so fast.

Sentimental bullshit?

- Everybody's parents say stuff like that.

- Do they, do they really?

And do they hide the weapon

and destroy evidence?

And lie to the police? Do they indeed?

You know this, for a fact.

How am I supposed to just sit here

and talk about killing somebody?

Jake, stop running, please.

You're home now. Stop running.

If I tell you what happened...

It wasn't me.

It wasn't me, all right?

We hung out a lot this year.

I kept meaning to tell you guys.

I wanted you to know, but...

I told Martha you guys were cool,

but the idea of having to meet you,

having to converse with you,

it just spooked her somehow.

That day we had a terrible argument.

From the moment I picked her up

at the ice cream shop, at Jacey's,

she was on my case about not having

a rental car for the winter dance.

And she was saying it's your way,

ours, of finally saying

she's not good enough for me.

And I tried to explain to her,

but she just kept yelling at me

as I was trying to drive.

So then she said, "Pull over right here. "

And it turns out,

I'm not the one she's mad at really.

She's mad at everyone and everything.

God especially for letting this

happen to her, 'cause it turns out...

I'm pregnant.

It gets even more complicated.

'Cause she didn't think it was ours.

She wouldn't say whose it might be,

but obviously she's been, you know...

getting around.

I never even had a clue.

She figured it wasn't ours

because we were always so careful.

So, she's getting all wound up.

"I hate you.

I never wanna see you again. "

She's even mocking me for, like,

taking care with her, for using...

Like only a wimp

would think ahead like that.

I said, "That's it. Let's go.

"You can have your baby or not.

You can stay with your caveman or not.

"I don't care. "

So, then she got all sort of...

Jake, wait. Don't go yet.

Need any help?

We're all right!

Look...

I didn't mean what I said.

I'm sorry. I really am.

Come here, I'll show you.

We stayed for a while longer.

We sort of made up, and...

It was nice, but...

by now we were both so tired,

so wiped out, and it was

beginning to get late.

So I finally started up the car.

And that was that.

Tried rocking it, pushing it.

First me, then both of us.

We even tried putting floor mats

under the wheels.

See, we just ended up

digging ourselves in deeper.

So finally she says, "Get the jack.

"Pack some snow under the ruts

and jack it up. "

That didn't even work.

- This is the reason I can't be with you.

- Now we're both really pissed off.

- You always let sh*t like this happen.

- Just shut up, all right?

If I were with Kevin or Matt,

I'd be home by now.

- What the hell? Why are you such a...

- I said, shut up, all right?

Rich kid. F***in' p*ssy.

- P*ssy, rich...

- I said shut up!!

I did it.

I slapped her.

I just lost it.

Do I have to do this? Please?

Yes. You have to.

She still had the crowbar.

Why, you!

She just missed me by one inch.

I swear, just one inch.

Just that one word, "murder, "

that sounds so impossible to imagine.

It wasn't even something I was trying to do.

It wasn't even me.

If I had just missed her by one inch.

One inch, just like...

like she did me.

My biggest problem would be

do I say hello to her

when I see her in the school hall.

Here, darling.

Well, now we know.

At least that's something, Ben.

If he tells it that way in court,

the same way he told it to us...

He wouldn't be telling it

to people who love him.

They'll believe him.

They'll see that it was just an accident.

Are you prepared

to bet his freedom on that?

What's the answer then?

Of course, he has to tell them.

Ben... of course he has to tell them.

Let him tell Panos first, okay?

We're not lawyers, Carolyn.

There might be a certain way...

I don't know, presented.

I'll take him in tomorrow morning, okay?

You're up pretty early.

I wasn't going anywhere.

They kept the car.

But it's clean. At least I hope to God.

I don't understand.

Mom said something too, last night.

Oh, Jake, it's not important,

all that stuff.

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