Het Diner Page #5

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- So what would you call it, Claire?

- An accident.

Wake up. This is an ATM. Get up.

Goddammit. Get lost!

It's just a b*tch.

An accident.

Think a judge will see it that way?

After what Babette told me,

I think it's an accident.

- An unfortunate chain of events.

- I'm stunned.

- You watched Most Wanted.

- Claire didn't recognize the boys.

Neither did you, did you?

You watched it after Rick told us.

No one in their right mind could think...

that the boys went out to intentionally

kill a homeless person.

You little bastards...

Stop that, man.

But they aren't.

It looks like that on the surveillance tape

and that's what everyone saw.

Fine, if you don't want to call it murder,

call it manslaughter.

But that woman didn't do anything.

They throw a lamp, a chair,

a jerry can at her. In that order.

- What was she doing in that ATM?

- Who cares?

The homeless are

all over the place, sadly.

They sleep where it's warm and dry.

But she was in the way.

What if she's been in your hallway?

- Can we try to stick to the main issues?

- These are the main issues.

I'm sorry, but Serge makes her sound

like she's some a sad little bird...

that fell from the nest.

We're talking about an adult

who chose to sleep in an ATM.

I'm just trying to put myself

in someone else's shoes.

Not in that homeless woman's shoes,

but in Michel and Rick's. Our sons.

They weren't drunk or using drugs.

They wanted to get some money.

But there's a some stinko crashing

at an ATM cursing you.

Your first response would be:

Goddammit. Get lost.

That wouldn't be my response,

nor would it be most people.

- What would your response be?

- Find another ATM.

Such a depressing acronym ATM?

Find another one. Yes, of course.

We can always give everything

a wide berth. I mean...

What would you do, Serge?

You open your front door somebody's

sleeping on the step. What do you do?

Creep back inside?

Or someone's pissing

against your front door.

What do you do, Serge, dear Serge?

Gently close the door,

go and live somewhere else?

That would be weak.

A:
Your examples are absurd.

B:
And any event I'd call the police.

I Googled it.

She had a choice of three or four

shelters she could have gone to.

Do you mean that?

You researched it?

Dude, she's just a b*tch.

I believe that the fact

that it was a woman...

enraged my son and his cousin.

As if an dirty, stinking bag lady...

clashed with their image of women.

But that doesn't mean you can just

set fire to that poor woman?

Poor woman, poor woman.

Michel said she sounded posh.

Why are you so fixated on this idea that

she wasn't just a normal homeless person?

As if such a thing even exists.

I don't care if she'd been the Duchess

of So-and-So. What does it matter?

- How far along are the police, you think?

- The police are quiet.

That usually means

they know more than we think.

And that terrifies me.

The police know nothing.

The boys are unrecognizable.

I studied it in-depth.

Unfortunately.

I became a regular visitor

at internet cafs.

I watched it at least 30 times,

but miraculously...

they were and remained

unrecognizable.

I don't think you can live with

this kind of secret in the long run.

It's already tearing Rick apart.

And me.

- Babette, you can't smoke here.

- F*** off, Serge.

Anyway, I based my conclusions

on my son's future.

When all this is over,

he has to move on.

I want to emphasize

that the decision is mine alone.

Babette doesn't agree with it.

- I only told her this afternoon.

- Decision?

I'm withdrawing as a candidate

in the interest of my son.

You can't decide that on your own.

Do you have any idea

for how long I played hostess...

to your retarded constituents?

Hello, Serge Lohman!

For 20 years, OK?

- How much fun is that?

- That's not the point.

That's why I wanted to discuss

how we're going to do this.

You're not discussing anything.

You're issuing a communiqu.

At this crucial moment

when I had be so alert...

I felt my concentration slip.

I wanted to go home. To bed.

To bed with the Kardashians.

Something in me began to whisper that my

thoughts were running away with me again.

I knew I had to stop thinking

but I never could.

Maybe meditation would work,

but I didn't think myself the man for that.

I wondered about time.

Time passing.

And I thought about happiness.

Its fragility.

Your decision just happens

to wreck my son's future.

Come on, Claire! Whatever happens,

that future is already wrecked.

It has nothing to do with

whatever I decide.

Do you like anal sex?

What kind of ridiculous thing

is that to say?

- Or rather, does Rick like anal sex?

- That's what happens in jail.

Especially to a gentle boy like Rick.

It won't happen to Michel that readily,

but to Rick...

The two of you are so awful.

Nonsense! That's sheer nonsense.

This isn't America.

I was in Prison Health Care for 8 months.

It doesn't happen anymore.

Oh, well then,

you've really put me at ease.

Babette, Serge told me that he personally

got rid of those kinds of practices.

Perhaps he had a premonition.

Be assured that Rick...

will be returned to you in the

same perfect shape he left in.

That's such a relief, Serge!

The same for Michel too, right?

Oh, I venture Michel will

experience jail differently from Rick.

- Rick can stand up for himself.

- Sure. And he does.

But it's not as if they'll put

the privileged boys in a different section.

I have to say something

to your husband.

What is your objective here Serge?

Punishment?

Atonement? It won't bring

that bag lady back.

That they can redeem themselves

and move on with their lives.

I see. Redeem themselves in jail? Gosh.

Even though you were

on the Commission...

which I remember as being called

"Healthcare and Incarceration"...

I don't think jail is the place to find,

in your words, redemption.

To learn to smoke crack through a toilet

roll, now you're in the perfect place.

No one's going to prison. No one.

These sorts of things blow over.

It's already starting to happen.

People get all up in arms,

but life goes on.

They'll have forgotten

all about it in two months.

- We just have to hope for a Dutch 9/11.

- That won't be possible.

I'll be announcing my resignation

at a press conference tomorrow.

It will be broadcast live at noon.

I think you'll regret it.

I'm going to call Michel.

What time is it?

I don't want to wake him up.

A quarter past eleven.

Hi, sweetie. Were you asleep?

Yes, I thought so.

We'll be home in an hour.

You had dinner, right?

It was obvious we were

watching some kind of act.

Didn't we just meet our son outside?

I bet anything he wasn't even at home.

- Would you like some coffee?

- The check, please.

- I'd like an espresso.

- Won't that keep you awake?

- No never bothers me. And a grappa.

- Same here.

We have seven varieties

from aged to cherry wood.

- The ordinary transparent variety.

- Two espressos, two transparent...

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