Flipped Page #5

[BONANZA THEME PLAYING]

BRYCE:
While Juli's acceptance of

my apology was not all that I'd hoped for...

...at least the eggs thing

was finally behind me.

The first time in months

I could truly enjoy Bonanza.

Where you going

and why you dressed like that?

Skyler's.

Matt and Mark are bringing over recording

stuff and they're gonna make a demo.

Demo? Like they know how

to make a demo.

- You don't even know them.

- I don't have to. I know the type.

- You don't know anything.

- Don't talk to me like that.

- I'm late.

- Be back by 11.

BRYCE:

Yep. Everything was back to normal.

Is that girl working you too hard?

That girl's name is Juli.

And, no, she isn't working me too hard.

You've developed

quite a soft spot for her, huh?

Steven.

No, Patsy. Just wanna find out

why your father has the energy...

...to befriend a complete stranger...

...when he won't throw a baseball around

with his own grandson.

- It's okay, Dad.

- No, it's not okay.

Juli reminds him of Grandma.

Of Renee? Heh.

That's ridiculous.

You know why the Bakers

haven't fixed their yard?

Yeah, because he's too busy

with his paint-by-numbers kit.

If you had a brother with a severe handicap,

what would you do?

What the hell

does that have to do with anything?

Juli's father has a retarded brother.

So what? He's not the gardener,

is he? Heh.

- Steven.

STEVEN:
Ha-ha-ha.

It was a joke.

You know,

other people have family troubles...

...and they manage

to mow their own lawns.

I don't know where their pride

in ownership is.

They don't own that house.

The landlord's supposed to maintain it.

Mr. Baker puts every extra penny he has

into caring for his brother.

Don't they have government facilities

for that sort of thing?

Maybe they thought that a private facility

would be better for him.

Either way, it's not our fault that their

family has some chromosomal abnormality.

It has nothing to do with chromosomes.

When Juli's uncle was born, he had

the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck.

If he'd had enough oxygen, he would've

been a perfect little baby, just like your son.

Goddamn it, Chet.

- Patsy? Patsy?

PATSY:
Leave me alone!

[DOOR SLAMS]

Sorry about that.

Why is Mom so upset?

Because...

...but for the grace of God...

...your mother could be standing

in Mr. Baker's shoes.

Did her brother have the cord

wrapped around his neck too?

You did.

Luckily, the doctor who delivered you

was on the ball and got it untangled...

...but it easily could've gone

the other way.

- Wanna go for a walk?

- Huh?

I find it helps clear the mind.

What would they have done with me?

You can't dwell on something

that might've been, Bryce.

The way my dad was talking, sounds like

he would've thrown me in a nuthouse.

No, no. Now, that's not fair.

You can't condemn him

for something he hasn't done.

[CHUCKLES]

This is where that tree was, wasn't it?

Yeah.

Must've been a spectacular view.

She's quite a girl.

Some of us get dipped in flat...

...some in satin...

...some in gloss.

But every once in a while...

...you find someone who's iridescent.

And when you do...

...nothing will ever compare.

BRYCE:

Flat, glossy, iridescent?

What the hell did that mean?

Juli Baker had always

just seemed plain to me.

Until now.

And the way she talked about

what it felt like to be up in that tree...

...to be held above the earth,

brushed by the wind.

Who in junior high talks like that?

This weird feeling started taking over

in the pit of my stomach...

...and I didn't like it.

I was slipping, man.

And it was time to get a grip.

JULl:
I'd never been embarrassed

by where we lived before.

I also never really thought about money.

I knew we weren't rich, but I didn't feel

like we were missing anything.

That is, until Bryce Loski

called our home a complete mess.

MARK [SINGING]:
What's your name?

- [SINGING] What's your name?

[IN UNISON]

Is it Mary or Sue?

What's your name?

Do I stand a chance with you?

It's so hard to find a personality

With charms like yours for me

Ooh-ee, ooh-ee, ooh-ee

JULl:
I had to do something

and I knew what it was.

[SINGING]

What's your name?

[BOTH SCATTING]

[ALL LAUGHING]

- Oh, you're sounding really good.

- Yeah.

We'll record it in Skyler's garage.

That's a wonderful project.

Speaking of projects, I was thinking

it might be cool to fix up the yard.

- What?

- I mean, how much can grass seed cost?

I could plant a lawn,

maybe some flowers.

I could even put up a fence.

Honey, that's a major undertaking.

- I could pay for it with my egg money.

- No. That's your money.

The landlord should be the one

taking care of all this.

But he doesn't. And we live here.

And it looks so bad.

Jules.

What's going on?

Nothing, Dad.

It's okay, sweetheart.

You can tell us.

The Loskis have been throwing away my

eggs because they're afraid of salmonella.

Because our yard is such a mess.

Did Patsy say that?

No. Bryce did.

But it must have been

a family discussion.

A boy doesn't come up with that

on his own.

- Who cares what they think?

- Yeah, who cares?

- I care.

RICHARD:
Trina.

Let's not get into this.

No, I'm tired of living like this, Richard.

I'm tired of having to take temp jobs

just to make ends meet.

I'm tired of having to push a chair up

against the washing machine...

...just to keep the door shut.

I'm tired of having to borrow

Mrs. Steuby's vacuum cleaner...

...every time ours breaks down.

Do you think this is the life

I pictured for us?

Sometimes you have to sacrifice

to do the right thing.

We always end up agreeing that Devonhurst

is the right thing for Daniel.

Well, maybe we should start thinking

about what's right for us.

Our daughter is suffering

because we won't fix up our own yard.

It's not our yard.

How can you say that, Richard? How?

We've lived here for 12 years...

...and for 12 years we've been saying

it's temporary, but it's not.

This is our home.

Is it wrong to wanna live somewhere

you can be proud of?

To have enough to send your kids

to college?

Maybe it's time

we considered government care.

We are not moving my brother.

He's more important

than your own children?

- Dad!

- How dare you!

Stop it, Dad! Please, just stop.

I'm sorry. Julianna, this is not your fault.

We'll work this out, I promise.

JULl:
That was the first time I ever heard

my parents really yell at each other.

I'm sorry about tonight.

JULl:

That night they each came into my room.

My father talked about his brother

and how much he loved him...

...and how he promised his parents

he'd always take care of him.

My mother talked about how much

she loved my father...

...for his strength and kind heart.

When she kissed me good night...

...she whispered that of all her

many blessings, I was her best.

I felt sorry for my father.

I felt sorry for my mother.

But most of all,

I felt lucky for me that they were mine.

I wanted to think the reason

I started working on my yard...

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