Lamb

[soft instrumental music playing]

[indistinct chatter on radio]

Christ, it stinks in here, Dad.

Didn't I call someone last

week to clean this place up?

Are you sleeping down here?

The stairs are giving me a pain in the ass.

Yeah. Well, I told you you could call me.

We could bring the bed in here if you want.

- Did you get fired?

- No, I didn't get fired.

- Where's Cathy?

- She's not coming today.

Did she leave you?

Cathy's fine.

Your mother said she was fine, too.

Didn't stop her from walking off on us.

You can make yourself

somethin' decent to eat.

Something healthy.

Meatloaf.

And a little bit of gin.

Gin too much to ask for

a man dying alone here?

Hey, Dad.

I need to ask you something.

Leave me alone.

I got no answers.

[telephone ringing]

- [woman over phone] David.

- Hey, Linny.

[whispering] Listen, I

can't really talk very loudly

'cause Cathy's downstairs.

I heard at the office that Cathy kicked

you out and you're living in a motel.

Who said that?

That's not true. Who said that?

Wilson.

He's out of his mind. That is not true.

Hey.

- Guess what?

- What?

I'm lying here naked.

Come on, David.

[shushing]

Tell me what you're wearing.

Do that thing that you do.

[Linny scoffs]

Okay.

- Mm.

- One day, we go away together.

Keep talking.

Tell me. And?

There's sand.

A beach.

And we've made love all day long.

Mm.

Say that thing that we do.

This is what we do.

Yeah. Say it again.

- It's okay. This is what we do.

- Hm.

[instrumental music playing]

[speaking indistinctly]

Okay.

Hi.

I'm supposed to ask you for a cigarette.

What was it, some kind of dare?

What grade are you in?

- Seven.

- They don't teach you anything?

This your idea?

- Whose was it?

- Syd's.

The tall one?

She in seventh grade, too?

We all are.

She looks older.

I know.

She always put you up to things like this?

I guess.

All right. Put it in your mouth.

A lady doesn't light her own cigarette.

What's in the purse?

Makeup.

I don't have any money.

I just buried my father.

You ever been to a wake?

You know, your friends are

over there, laughing at you.

You know that, don't you?

I'm gonna give you a little tip.

Something that you can hold on to forever.

- What?

- I'll even give you this whole pack of cigarettes.

In exchange, you let me play a

little trick on your friend, Syd.

Teach her a lesson for doing this to you.

What kind of trick?

Let's scare them.

Let's pretend I'm kidnapping you, okay?

I'm gonna march you over to my truck.

And you're not gonna scream.

You're just gonna look back at them

so they know you're afraid.

- What? No, I...

- I'm just gonna play a trick on your friends, okay?

- I'm not gonna hurt you. Come on.

- What...

Teaching a little bit of a lesson, right?

Come on.

Get up.

You should know better.

I could be taking you

somewhere to kill you right now.

Your friend should know better.

It was a very dumb thing for you to

do to be coming up to me like that.

Which way? Where do you live?

...Terrace.

Look, I'm sorry.

I'm not a bad guy, but I could've been.

Maybe we should go inside and

tell your parents what happened.

Nobody's home.

You have any brothers or sisters?

You think your friends went into one of

the stores and told people what happened?

[sighs]

No.

Yeah. Me neither.

Purse.

[man] Knock, knock.

Coffee?

Thanks.

I'm really sorry about your dad.

He was a good guy.

A real son of a b*tch.

You kinda made a mess of things here.

There's a great position for Linny.

I mean, don't wreck her career.

You put me in a hell of a spot.

Look, I'm sorry. I am.

This is all beyond what I'm used

to, dad dying and everything.

Look, I'm gonna insist you take some time.

Clear out, let the dust settle.

Okay?

You didn't tell her you're

getting divorced, either?

- David.

- Hi.

Are you going somewhere?

I was just gonna make some calls

today, so I thought I'd do it from home.

Mm.

[both moaning and gasping]

So, this is what we do.

Is this what we do?

You know, it hurts me to say this,

but you should let one of those

university guys take you out to dinner.

Buy you dessert, put his arms around you.

Don't.

I'm not stupid, you know.

I know I don't deserve you.

I know I'm lucky to have you.

So, come over and spend the night tonight.

I can't.

I'm just doing all the things I have to

do so we can spend a few days together,

free and clear.

Did you come back for cigarettes?

'Cause I quit since

yesterday. I'm on a new plan.

Glad to see you covered yourself up.

You know, I thought about you

a lot since yesterday. Yeah.

I was worried I hurt you.

None of them even called me.

To see if you'd killed me or what.

Sorry about your friends.

Not friends anymore.

Tell your mom about yesterday?

- No way.

- Are you too embarrassed to say anything?

You lived around here your whole life?

Probably gonna die here.

I'm sorry to hear that.

What's your name?

Tommie.

That's a beautiful name.

So, let me buy you lunch.

I won't drag you this time. It'll

just be my way of apologizing to you

if I scared you yesterday.

Well, it was pretty stupid.

- You or me?

- Both.

What's your name, anyway?

Gary.

Good thing it's not Tom.

- That'd be weird.

- We couldn't be friends.

[paper rustling]

Here you are.

Grilled cheese with nothing on it for you.

Thanks.

You know, my grandmother used to make

grilled cheese sandwiches with a slice of pear

when we went camping down by the river.

- With pear?

- Yup.

- Yuck.

- Don't knock it till you try it.

I was actually thinking about

taking a sort of camping trip soon.

Good luck finding a river.

I know plenty of rivers.

Well, I could give you

my email or something.

Why? Are we gonna see each other again?

I don't know.

I don't really have that

many friends around here.

[piano music playing]

Higher. Throw higher.

- You get it?

- Yeah.

Yes!

[David] Imagine a place

way better than this.

Acres of pale grass.

Slash of green

down where the tamaracks and the

cottonwoods grow by the river.

You see all that?

Well... sort of.

Okay, go.

There's only one road to

get in, El Rancho Road.

It's still unpaved.

It's locked in by a cattle gate. You

need a little black key to open it.

Mountains taller than your eyes can see.

Off to the side of the

cabin there's a shop.

Inside of it, there's a little wood stove.

A little AM radio and a bunch

of my father's old tools.

On the work bench there's

a bunch of old pickle jars

with rusted nails and

half packs of cigarettes.

You're not allowed to

have any of those, okay?

Beyond the shop there's a set of bunk beds.

Looking out at the river and the

old, brown ragged horses that we keep.

I love horses.

[train chugging]

Maybe this should be our

last outing for a while.

Why?

'Cause it's weird?

Yeah, 'cause it's weird.

[music on TV]

That's a lot of fish.

[man speaking indistinctly on TV]

[door unlocks]

Oh, eight grand. Eight grand in two weeks.

- [woman] That's a lot of money.

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