Being Flynn

JONATHAN:
America has produced

only three classic writers,

Mark Twain, J.D. Salinger,

and me.

I'm Jonathan Flynn.

Everything I write

is a masterpiece.

And soon, very soon,

I shall be known.

At this point of the story,

let's call it the present,

I am an upstanding citizen

of these United States.

I have a job,

a roof over my head.

I have sustenance.

Perhaps I'll let you

read my masterpiece someday.

The Button Man, also known as The

Confessions of Christopher Cobb.

It's classic.

NICK:
This isn't his story.

Well, it is,

but he is not telling it,

I am.

I'm Nick Flynn, his son, and I am

sort of trying to be a writer.

I mean, not at

this very moment.

At this moment

I'm trying to...

Wake up.

(CLEARS THROAT)

Hey, wake up.

All my life, my father has

been manifest as an absence.

A non-presence.

A name without a body.

What if he

doesn't show up?

He's gonna show up.

How do you know?

Because if he doesn't

show up this time,

I'm going

to kill him.

How will you find

him to kill him?

I have ways.

Can we get ice cream

if he doesn't show up?

Here is the bus.

Here he is.

JODY:
No, that

is not him.

He must be

in the back.

(SNIFFLES)

What kind of ice cream

do you want to get?

Chocolate.

NICK:
Some part of me knew

he would show up someday.

If I stayed in one place long

enough, he would find me,

like you are taught to

do when you are lost.

But what do you do if

both of you are lost

and you both end up in

the same place, waiting?

Hey, sweetie.

Hey.

I'm exhausted.

How was your flight?

Non-stop turbulence.

Nick, what is the ashtray

doing by the bed?

Sorry.

Lipstick?

You are a f***ing a**hole.

Look, you are the one who said

you didn't see a future for us.

I wonder why?

This is yours!

This is yours.

And this is yours!

All right.

And this is yours.

All right.

My book.

And Yates.

Oh, more Yates.

All right.

Wow! You are

so well-read.

All right.

All right!

I'll pay

for the mirror.

As soon as

I get a job.

Sorry.

For what, your complete

inadequacy as a human being?

Yes.

(SCOFFS)

Well, you warned me.

JONATHAN:
Don't

worry, you're back.

Hello.

Back in the hands of

a master storyteller.

(WOMAN SPEAKING IN SPANISH)

Yeah, yeah,

go f*** yourself.

I like kids and

small animals.

What I don't like

is queers and blacks

who try and f*** you up the

ass all day and all night.

But more on that later.

What I am, always have

been, is an artist.

(ROCK MUSIC BLARING)

Shut the f*** up.

Shut up. Shut up.

(MUSIC CONTINUES)

(MUSIC STOPS)

(MUSIC BLARING)

Shut the f*** up!

Shut up!

Shut up!

NICK:
A friend of a friend

knew a couple of guys

who were renting

an entire building,

a former strip joint

called "Good Times."

Unfortunately, the good

times were not had by all,

like that Harvard student

who was found

stabbed to death in the

doorway three years before.

(SIREN WAILING)

(DOORBELL BUZZES)

IVAN:
I don't know

what to tell you.

That's something you

got to figure out, man.

So, what appeals to you

about living here?

Low rent. IVAN:
Yeah,

hold on one second.

Do you have a job?

Uh, no. I have some

money saved up.

I was working as

an electrician,

but now I'm looking

for a new line of work.

IVAN:
An electrician?

Can you wire this place up

to look like a spaceship?

(WHISPERS) Ivan.

Yes.

And what field of employment

are you interested in?

Something different,

something more meaningful.

"More meaningful,"

what does that mean?

I don't know.

Are those, like,

the names of strippers?

Yeah. The landlord's Mafia, so he just

left all this sh*t the way it was

when the FBI

shut him down.

RICHARD:
Any family?

Stop interrogating

the guy.

I'm sorry, Ivan, but

my last roommate had

his entire family from Cambodia

sleeping in the living room.

No, my mom's dead, and my dad, I

haven't heard from in 18 years, so...

Perfect.

Done.

So, are you guys like...

No.

No. Okay.

So, Denise, didn't you say they

were hiring people at your work?

They usually are.

Good. 'Cause I think Nick

here is looking for a job.

Give him a break, man.

Where do you work?

Harbor Street Inn.

You heard of it?

No.

It's a homeless shelter.

That sounds intense. So

are you like a do-gooder?

No, I'm a do-badder,

but I work at Harbor Street.

What makes

you a do-badder?

I bet you would

like to know.

I would.

JONATHAN:
Upon occasion,

rare occasion, but still,

I'll pick up a female fare and we

will strike up a conversation.

WOMAN:
Oh, Jonathan.

Oh, Jonathan.

(MOANING)

Jonathan.

Yeah.

Let's be a little

realistic here.

All right.

(PANTING)

Still, we are having fun,

aren't we, Buttercup?

Absolutely.

Who is this?

That is my wife and kid.

Will you listen to this sh*t.

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

You are married?

Divorced,

a long time ago.

Well, I had better

get you home.

I left the meter running.

That'll be $240.

(LAUGHING)

Quiet!

Quiet!

I can't even

think anymore!

Excuse me.

(MUSIC CONTINUES)

Open up!

A**hole.

(CRASHING)

(INDISTINCT SCREAMING)

(CRASHING)

NICK:
Hey.

Hey.

I was hoping

you'd be here.

Why is that?

Well, so I know somebody.

We don't exactly know

each other, do we?

I guess not.

I'm not interested

in a relationship.

What?

I'm not interested

in a relationship.

Okay, I can cope.

Okay.

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Phone call.

Who is it?

Your father.

Who?

Your father, who you supposedly

hadn't seen in 18 years.

This is Nick.

JONATHAN:
Is this

Nicholas Flynn?

Yes.

Nicholas, this is your

father, Jonathan Flynn.

It is?

It is. I have a

question for you.

Do you have a truck?

A pickup truck?

Yeah, as a matter

of fact, I do.

I heard as much.

From who?

Your grandmother, she

mentioned it a few years ago.

You do remember your

grandmother, don't you?

I do.

Good.

Now I want you to get in your

truck and drive over here.

I'm sorry, you say

you are my father?

That is correct.

I was evicted and I need

you to get over here

and help me move

my stuff, Nicholas.

How did you

get this number?

Information. Now listen

to me carefully.

I am sitting behind

a door with a shotgun.

I'm waiting for

the knob to turn.

Get over here right now.

That is an appealing offer.

You are damn right it is.

It's all yours. You are

my sole heir, Nicholas.

I want you to

have everything.

You have a pen

or a pencil?

Because I want you to

write this address down.

What am I doing here?

What are you doing here?

What are we doing here?

Thanks for coming.

Sure. Should we just wait here?

Or do you want us...

JONATHAN:
Who is it?

It's Nick. Nicholas.

Come on in, the door is open.

Come in.

I'll be with you

in a minute.

I appreciate you

coming over, Nicholas.

We're put on this Earth

to help other people.

Yeah.

JONATHAN:
We were put on this Earth

to help other people, Nicholas.

I regret our mutual loss.

I am a born writer,

so are you.

Get this in your head at once. I am a

classic storyteller. A great writer.

I think I want to

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