Hard Candy Page #3

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And the drug was sweet

little 14-year-old flesh.

Look...

I'm a decent guy, ask anyone.

Go ahead. Call these models.

They'll tell you.

Of course they will.

You're not an idiot, Jeff.

You don't piss where you live.

Those girls were your work

and I, on the other hand was...

your play.

- You were coming on to me.

- Come on.

That's what they always say.

- Who?

- Who?

The pedophiles!

"She was so sexy.

She was asking for it. "

"She was only technically a girl.

She acted like a woman. "

It's just so easy

to blame a kid, isn't it?

Just because a girl

knows how to imitate a woman

does not mean she's ready to do

what a woman does.

I mean, you're the grown-up here.

If a kid is experimenting

and says something flirtatious,

you ignore it.

You don't encourage it.

If a kid says,

"Hey, let's make screwdrivers,"

you take the alcohol away

and you don't race them to the next drink!

Look, look.

I've been lonely, okay?

That makes me stupid

but I am not a pedophile.

- I am not lonely.

- This is some horrible mistake.

- And not stupid.

- Untie me. We'll forget this whole thing.

Just untie me now!

I might be a little peeved.

So when I am ready,

I'll call a cab and call another one

to let you loose.

- When will that be?

- I'm not sure yet.

Don't...

You can save yourself

so much time

by just dropping that word

from your vocabulary.

I'm gonna do

what I want, Jeff.

See, a guy as smooth

at seducing adolescents as you are

and takes those photographs...

I just figure he has something around

that he doesn't want seen,

and when I find that,

then maybe I'll know

what I'm dealing with.

What you're dealing with?

I mean, what kind

of pedophile are you?

Just a voyeur?

Again, not a pedophile.

Right. You're a photographer.

Takes a genius to get paid

for what you'd be happy to do for free.

Go into the living room.

Look in the grey cabinet.

Pull out the third drawer down.

You'll see prints of my work

for all kinds of environmental groups.

I've done shots of the Yukon Territory,

the Utah wilderness,

Inuit villages in Alaska...

So what?

You love nature, thus you must

be a nice guy?

I'm saying my modeling shots

are just part of my portfolio.

I've shot a lot of different subjects,

some of it very important work.

And it was so important

that you thought,

"Well, I can't possibly

hang it on the walls of my home.

I need to plaster my house

with pictures of underage nymphs

and just tuck the nature shots away. "

So... a voyeur

and a conservationist.

I'm not a voyeur!

Not just a voyeur.

Sometimes you kick it up

a notch to molestation.

I am not a molester!

I've no idea who you've confused me with.

Sometimes you molest someone

and they fight back

and you completely lose

control and you hurt them.

I have never hurt anyone!

We'll just see, won't we?

Those letters are mine.

Nothing's yours when you invite

a teenager into your home.

Don't love her anymore, huh?

That explains why you save these.

I thought about selling them

on e-Bay.

Excuse me?

Sorry. I couldn't hear you.

Maybe it was the music or...

I don't know.

Maybe it was the bullshit.

All right. Honestly...

Some day I thought about

sending them to her,

reminding her how much

of a b*tch she was.

A little angry, are we?

She broke your heart

and you haven't gotten over it?

You walk into somebody's house,

you start looking through their sh*t...

You're gonna find things

that embarrasses them.

It doesn't mean anything.

All right. Okay.

"Dear Jeff.

You have to stop.

I can't go where you wanna take me.

You're just not the person

I thought you were. "

You don't have to read it.

I know what it says.

I bet you do. How many times

did you read this?

None of your business.

What kind of person

did she find out you were, Jeff?

None of your business.

That kind of depends

on how you define business, actually.

So, what? Did you find her?

The girl you wanted? Is this what

your work is, some big search?

Are you the type of guy

who likes to save his outgoing e-mails?

Read them over and over again,

to think about what you said?

This is weird.

Your download manager says

you pulled some photos off the net,

but... I can't find them.

Gosh, that's strange.

Yeah. A smart guy

doesn't leave photos on his computer.

'Cause that's the first place

the cops are gonna look.

And then you're... into mementos.

So where do you put the stuff

that you pull off the net, hm?

Do you have a special

little hiding place or something?

I live alone.

Why would I need

a hiding place?

Just what I've been wondering.

I have looked through

your whole house.

Everything...

and I have found no porn.

I have not found

a single bit...

of porn.

Guys tend to have porn around

don't they?

Nothing against it,

nothing against them.

It's just the way they're brought up.

Seriously, if a guy knows

he can get away with it,

all guys, they have porn

at least somewhere in their crib.

- You've done studies on this of course.

- Then I was thinking...

that these photos on his wall,

maybe those are his porn.

But I bet they're not your stroke shots.

I bet whatever you have is so...

juicy,

it needs its own little cubbyhole.

Isn't that right, Jeff?

So what's the combination, Jeff?

Eat me.

Look at how he's sweating.

Does this worry you, Jeff?

I'm gonna figure it out,

so you might as well just tell me.

I am an honor student.

Take your time.

Oh, I will.

- Believe me, I've got plenty.

- No, not much.

Aren't mommy and daddy gonna worry

if you're not home before dinner?

I'm thinking no.

Oh, is that it?

What? They're too busy

to keep track of you,

so you reach out to somebody

who seems like he might care about you?

And you're so mad

because they ignore you?

They've always made the fuss

over your older sister

because she learned

to do everything first?

You're furious with them,

but they do love you

and they pay for your existence,

but you can't let them see

any of that anger.

- I'm not angry at them.

- No, no. Absolutely not.

That'd be too dangerous.

But you are angry,

and you gotta

let it out somehow.

So you find a guy...

an older guy...

Maybe he reminds you

a little of your dad.

Let me guess.

I look like him?

You don't look

anything like him.

If you say so.

But you gotta

let that anger out somehow.

- And I seem like a good target...

- Will you shut up?

Seriously, just shut up!

You know nothing about me.

No, you're right.

So sit down and tell me.

We'll talk.

- Yeah, right.

- We can sit on the sofa.

And I'll call a taxi for you.

If you want, I'll hold you.

If you don't want,

I'll keep my distance.

You can let it all out.

If you need to cry, if you need to scream.

Whatever you need, Hayley.

You wouldn't be mad at me?

I just want you

to look at what you're doing.

I just wanna ask, um...

Did you... Did you seriously think

that that was gonna work?

You're good at what you do, Jeff.

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