Kids Green the World Page #4

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And now with Trish sick again...

There's this lady

over in Branford.

Off the bed.

Come on, baby.

Go, go, go, go, go.

They didn't find my pot.

Sorry about your computer.

Oh, my God - your book.

You'll get it back.

Maybe.

You know, you got

to go easier on Trish.

People...

People say things that

they don't mean sometimes.

Well, it's what she means

that I wonder about.

She's not the problem.

I know.

Come here.

Oh, f***.

I was your student.

You were in your 20s.

We both were.

It's totally different.

I was your T.A. In college.

You think what

they're saying is true.

No...

No, I don't.

No.

I...

You know what?

I understand if you

have to get your own lawyer.

No, no, no, no, no.

Wait, wait. No.

Come back here.

Don't leave.

Philip thinks that

he's out of his league.

He wants to call in an expert.

Yep.

Yeah, I know where that is.

Uh-huh.

Hang on a sec.

We will see you there.

Thank you.

That was the lawyer.

Philip briefed her on the case,

and she wants to

meet this afternoon.

- Oh.

- What?

Nothing. It's...

I mean, I just...

I just didn't get a chance

to think about it yet.

What is there to think about?

I see gay people.

Hmm?

Hey, there.

Sorry to keep you guys waiting.

Come on in.

Come on!

This room is so stuffy.

This house belonged to

Jennifer's grandmother,

and apparently the entire family

was allergic to fresh air.

We'll just do this.

Have a seat.

Um, Michael? Michael?

Uh, Michael. Daniel.

Well, thank you for seeing us

on such short notice.

Oh, no worries.

I actually didn't have any

appointments today.

It's our, um...

it's our anniversary.

Aww. Congratulations.

Thanks.

You guys married?

Uh, no.

How come?

Uh, we've lived together

for almost 15 years, so...

Wow. You got us beat.

Not all of them

here, though, right?

No, we just moved here from

New York a few years ago.

Us too... After 9/11.

The whole idea filled me

with the heebie-jeebies,

quite frankly.

You know, especially with Noah

and two mommies.

All of that just...

Anyway, Jennifer didn't feel

safe in the city anymore.

What made you move?

We... I wanted to see green.

Bet you wish you stayed now.

So, um...

All right...

Here is how I see things.

Without the kid having

made a statement,

they can frame this

any way they want.

And that's not good for us.

The kid's just not talking.

Well, that's 'cause

nothing happened.

Then why isn't he denying it?

I mean, that's what I've been

trying to work out all morning.

And the social worker's report

says he's exhibiting

signs of trauma,

but she doesn't make any

connection with the bullying.

Brenda Laughlin...

she's pretty much incompetent.

- Dan.

- No, he's right.

I mean, having the boyfriend

in the room for the interview?

That's pretty f***ed up.

And, of course, we'll argue

that her report is inadmissible

because of that.

We'll also argue hearsay,

but I wouldn't rely on that.

Great.

And all of this

is beside the point.

You're a teacher, Mr. Gavin...

a gay teacher.

There's been an accusation,

and that's all that matters.

Anything that we can

remove from the equation

because of procedure,

it isn't gonna do anything

to change the fact

that as far as

anyone around here

is concerned, you're guilty.

My job, if they decide to

move forward with this,

is to make sure that

you're not convicted.

Great.

All right?

All right?

Now, before we go any further,

you're all right with Daniel

being in the room?

Yeah, of course.

All right.

Is there anything

I need to know?

Uh...

Did you ever put an arm

around his shoulder,

give him a pat on the back,

give him a present, anything,

anything at all that could

somehow have been misconstrued?

Yes. Yes...

He needed that.

He needed encouragement.

Kay, uh, you need to see this!

Jason Williams ran away

this morning!

I mean, me and his mom are

really broken up about this.

The family released

this picture

of the 17-year-old

Yardley Academy student

at the center of the

sex scandal with...

Noah, sweetie, go upstairs

to do your homework.

...yesterday afternoon

wearing a dark,

hooded sweatshirt and jeans.

Did he leave a note

before he ran away?

No, but I think it's pretty

clear what's going on here.

I mean,

a fancy school like that

that let something

like this go on...

And for how long?

I've seen them sweep stuff

under the carpet before.

That's why they tried

to kick him out.

Why else?

He was honor roll...

before all this talk about him

and that teacher.

Kids started pickin' on him,

and...

Look, all I'm sayin' is that

someone's got to be

held responsible.

In other news...

Thank you.

They always reveal their motives

in the front yard.

What do you mean?

This is a shakedown.

It's all about money.

Michael, what do you

know about the mother?

Alcohol? Drug use?

Tell her.

She's a cokehead.

She is not...

she drinks... drank.

Jason was in foster care.

Dan!

Okay, well, her credibility

is halfway shot to sh*t,

and now he's run away.

She had a problem,

which she apparently got over,

and then she and Leo met

in A.A., recovery, whatever.

We have to expose her

as a mercenary

profiting from the

fabricated abuse of her kid.

I'm gonna go check on Noah.

Okay.

So, what does

this mean for Michael?

Well, I'm getting the sense

that you're not comfortable

with a lot of this.

So, if we're all

on the same page...

that what these people

are after is money...

even if it does mean throwing

your reputation under the bus,

our other option is to approach

them with a settlement.

It happens all the time.

Isn't that an

admission of guilt?

That's not a possibility.

Guys, I wish I could give you

an ideal option.

It is settle or strike back.

- What do we do about press?

- Nothing.

Don't talk to anyone.

It'll force them to find the

story someplace else.

And if I'm right

about this, eventually,

they'll start to

follow the money.

He doesn't know, does he?

About the arrest in '98?

I'll see what I can do,

but I think you

need to tell him, Michael.

Just out of curiosity,

can you name a single drug

you haven't tried...

I mean, designer or otherwise?

I mean, do you

remember your 20s?

- 'Cause I do.

- What are you talking about?

Just this whole approach -

dragging up a person's past.

I told you those things

about Janette in confidence.

Jason trusted me.

I mean, if we go this way,

are we really any better

off than they are,

just slandering someone to get

out of an untenable situation?

Untenable?

Is that the best you can do?

These people are trying

to destroy you,

probably for money,

and we're not making sh*t up

like they are.

So, we get out of this by

destroying Janette's credibility

so much that no one believes

a word that she says anymore?

It's an ugly world, Michael.

You got to expect

to get a little dirty

if you're gonna

dig out of a dirt pile.

What?

I know what I saw, okay?

You were there.

We don't know what

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