Cardinals Page #4

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Are you can alcoholic?

I don't know. Are you?

Showtime.

Why are you staring

at the ground?

[Zoe] I think someone maybe buried

that bird that hit the window.

Do you think Mom did that?

How would I know?

What happened this morning?

I just... I don't think

that we should underestimate

how angry Mark might be.

We shouldn't

underestimate him?

Do you think that, like,

pretending he doesn't exist

is gonna like,

pacify him or something?

No, but I think it's okay

that she asked you

what you guys talked about.

Okay, cool.

I'm not gonna, like,

beg for answers here.

But just let me know

whenever you think

I can handle whatever

you're not telling me.

[Mark] Sorry, I don't

exactly know what to say.

Uh, didn't get a lot

of sleep last night.

Was kind of counting on a cup

of coffee to get me through,

but, uh, I guess somebody

thought it would be a good idea

to put on a pot of decaf.

[laughter]

[clears throat] Um...

so I started drinking

after my mom, um,

took her own life.

She didn't cope well

with my father's death.

And he was, uh,

run over

in front of our house

by a friend of his

who was drunk.

So, uh, my mom waited

until I was 18.

Until I was a an adult,

I guess, and, uh...

[chuckles softly]

well,

she decided to clock out.

Drinking seemed like the adult

way to handle that, I guess.

And, uh...

[clears throat]

I don't really

talk about it a lot,

but I would like to start.

So I guess that's...

what I have to say.

[Karen] Well,

that's a fine first go.

Your story of loss was not

only heard...

but listened to.

Well, I'll be honest.

I'm thinking a Band-Aid

ripping type situation

might be best here,

i.e., newbie number two

having her first kick

at the can.

How about it?

Not right now, I don't think.

[Karen]

Oh, okay. Anybody else?

Liam.

[door opens, closes]

- [knock on door]

- Yep.

Jonah is here.

I-I put him

at the dining room table.

Tomorrow morning,

I think you should come

to the other house.

- To your house?

- Yeah.

No, I'm gonna stay here,

I think.

Okay, if you're

concerned about me

getting the wrong idea,

don't be.

I'll go to a hotel.

[Valerie]

No, I'm gonna stay here.

I'll tell him

you'll be down in a sec.

["door ajar" alarm beeping]

[Jonah] I dropped my daughter off

at her mother's on the way here,

and she had

some colleagues over,

and she offered me

some of the finger foods.

Okay.

Jim, help yourself

to any of these.

I can't even eat most of them

on account of the fact

that I can't eat lactose,

there's...

Thanks. Appetite's

been promised elsewhere.

Going out to get some Chinese,

give you guys some privacy.

- Girls?

- Chinese is a great choice.

[Jim] Valerie,

I'll pick something up for you.

Sure.

You want some, Jonah?

Uh, no, no.

Thanks, though.

[Jim] Positive?

What are the chances they have

a beef and black bean sauce?

Yeah, yeah, they got that.

It's one of my faves.

Yes, I'll have it.

Thank you.

- Okay, good.

- You know, what? Uh, no.

I don't know if I'll be here

when you get back.

- Thank you, though.

- Okay, suit yourself.

[car engine starts]

I don't need to explain to you

why I'm here, I don't think.

Yes I know.

It won't happen again.

You see, um,

you told me that alcohol

wouldn't be a problem,

but I classify leaving

a meeting as a problem.

You need to understand

that this is technically

a violation of your terms.

[knock on door]

- May I?

- It's fine.

- Did the group leader...

- Karen?

Did she tell you

what happened?

She told me you got up

and left.

Do you remember

the man that I hit?

Uh, Michael Loekner.

Right.

His son was there.

- His son was...

- At the meeting.

- [knock on door]

- Oh.

I'll be right back.

I came to apologize.

I-I... I crossed the line.

I should have left

as soon as I saw you there.

And I didn't, and I'm sorry.

I do want to talk to you

about what's appropriate

and what's not.

But right now's

not a good time.

Oh, uh, well, Jim and your

daughters just drove by me

so I thought now would

be a a good time.

No, it's not a good time.

[Jonah] If I may...

I couldn't help but overhear.

You must be Michael's son.

My name's Jonah.

Mark, how are you?

[Jonah] My condolences.

Thanks?

Mark, this is my parole officer,

if you hadn't already guessed.

I heard about the meeting.

Yeah, unfortunate,

um, overlap there.

I'll say.

You know,

this is a good opportunity.

Address this thing head on,

and while your life, Mark,

is none of my business,

the parts that now intersect

with this case,

with Valerie...

they become it.

- They become it?

- Become part of my business.

What... what I'm saying is

if you two are gonna have

a discussion about boundaries,

let's do it the right way.

I can mediate.

That's a seafood puff pastry,

and that is a homemade

spanakopita,

which my ex-wife's

girlfriend Carey described

earlier to me, as divine.

- Great.

- Yes.

So, uh, Mark, tell...

tell me about today.

Were you aware that Valerie

was gonna be at the meeting?

Because if you were there

for the sake of sobriety,

of course, I'm all for that,

but looking at it

from another way

could easily point

to a catastrophic invasion

of privacy.

Well, I did want

to go to the meeting.

But I also did have an idea

that Valerie might be there.

I've been holding

onto a lot anger.

As soon as she left,

I realized

I'd made a big mistake

in how to go about handling it.

Okay. So what are we

gonna do about it?

My opinion is we need

more information,

more transparency.

Can I suggest a topic

for us to discuss,

- or is there a...

- In a way.

These things

tend to work better

with fewer

personal elements at play.

If you'll indulge me,

I'm gonna give you these cards.

If you have a question

that you're struggling

to ask out loud,

you write it on the card,

and I'll read it out,

and, uh... like a buffer.

Then we can discuss calmly.

Does that sound...

[telephone ringing]

"How did you feel

about my father?"

Uh, I'm speaking on

Mark's behalf, obviously.

I wouldn't expect you to have

feelings about my father.

Not many people do.

Can I, um... yeah.

Michael was great.

He was funny.

He had a very dry

sense of humor.

He was very polite to me.

He was a warm man.

You weren't at the funeral.

Well, I thought it would

be selfish to show my face.

That makes sense.

I'm guessing you remember

Wendy Barnes?

- You guys were friends, right?

- Yeah.

She she didn't show up either.

Everyone else

from the plant was there.

Was that some kind of

a solidarity thing or...

I don't know.

[chuckles]

Then she quit like

two weeks after.

I'm just... I guess I hope

she handled everything okay.

[telephone ringing]

- Have you seen her yet?

- Yeah.

Did you want to get that?

I'll be right back.

[telephone beeps]

[female voice]

You have one new voice...

- [beep]

- First voice message.

[Wendy] Val, um...

Mark came to my house.

He asked if you had

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