Marvin's Room Page #5

and cannot be considered an asset.

Lower?

What do they buy?

Most buy very elaborate

tombstones.

I'm gonna wait in the car.

Do you have something

that I can take with me?

Of course.

Bet the boys are hungry.

Want me to make lunch?

Why can't you take Dad and Ruth?

I don't think so.

You could move down here.

You could have the house!

No. I got Hank to think about.

He's very unhappy there.

Of course he's unhappy.

If he were happy, he wouldn't be there.

You could have him transferred. You

could find a very nice place for him here.

You could have the whole house!

You could have the sunshine.

You could find work down here, Lee.

No.

Why not?

Just... no.

Give me one good reason. 'Cause I don't

want to! I made this decision once already.

Hen Daddy had his first stroke, I made this decision the

I was not gonna waste my life.

You think I've wasted my life?

God, of course not.

I can't imagine a better way

to have spent my life.

Then we both made the right decision.

What decision?

Dad got sick and I came down to help out

for a little while. You didn't.

I had plans, I had a husband.

I couldn't come down.

You didn't come down!

What makes you think for a second

I didn't have plans?

You know, you're just the most...

Come on, say it.

Say it, say it!

You've been saying it a million

different ways since I came down here.

Leave her alone!

What are you yelling at her for?

She wants to tell you

what a terrible person I am.

I have bent over backwards to be nice to

you from the moment you walked in that door.

That's right. You are nice to me

when you want something.

What are you talking about? Come on, Hank.

You think Aunt Bessie's being nice to you...

all of a sudden because she...

what, felt an urge?

What? Shut up.

Come on, come on.

Listen, did you ever get a birthday

present from your Aunt Bessie?

I thought about my nephews.

I thought about you all the time.

It's just...

How 'bout a card?

Did you ever get a card from your Aunt

Bessie? We were not close. We were...

You didn't speak to me

for 20 years!

You're supposed to take care of your

family. I took care of my family!

I raised two kids all by myself.

Never even heard from you people.

I am finally getting my life together.

Nobody's gonna take it away from me.

I can't wait to get out of here!

Thanks a lot

for helping me out, Charlie.

It's a lot to ask of someone

to donate their bone marrow.

I think it sounds neat.

Could I have your

medical history card, please?

Bob. Bob!

Could I have your

medical history card, please?

What grade are you in now, Hank?

Oh, I'm Charlie.

I'm Dr. Wally.

Um, you have

to fill out one too.

Oh, no, he's not here to get the test.

Okay.

Hank, am I reading

your medical card correctly?

Uh, are you currently on lithium?

Yeah.

It's a great drug,

isn't it?

Uh...

Can I ask you something?

Did you find you put on

a lot of weight since?

No.

No.

Hmm.

Nervous?

No.

Uh, thank you.

Thank you.

You know, these offices

used to be infested with bugs.

Well, bugs don't bother me.

No?

Well, you know.

They crawl out of the drain

in the boys shower.

Sometimes they, like, hide

in the junk pile in the auto shop.

They, like, float around in the soap

basin in the sink. You get used to 'em.

I wouldn't.

There's this one dude in my room...

There's 12 of us in this one room,

right? This one dude,

he catches bugs and he puts them

on, like, this little leash.

A leash?

Yeah, it's a hair leash.

He takes out a strand of his hair,

he ties it around the bug.

The other end he tacks down

under his bunk. One time...

he had this whole zoo of bugs walkin'

around in circles all over the place. Hank.

My friend, he grabbed the back of his

cafeteria tray, and he smashed them all!

That was funny.

Why are you making up these stories?

What do you mean?

These stories:

Razors under the tongue, hair leashes.

I'm not makin' anything up. Why did

you pretend you weren't going to tested?

Oh, you, you think

I'm lyin' about that too?

Okay, fine, you win!

I'm lying!

Hank, I...

I haven't told you sh*t, all right?

You don't know anything about shere they've

got me now. Then, tell me if you want.

No, you don't know. Okay?

Tell me, Hank.

You don't know!

Tell me!

I was in the hospital

I hated it. I was scared.

You know, there's this one dude...

If this is another tall tale,

I'm not interested in this.

I'm going inside.

I'm gonna see if Charlie's done.

I played in a pool tournament

in my ward.

Mom tell you that?

No.

I came in fourth.

It's true.

She doesn't think it's

such a big deal, though.

Well, that's... great.

Got my toe broken in there.

How?

This guy threw this garbage can.

It landed right on my foot.

Why'd he do that?

No reason I know of.

There's a lot of drugs

that float around in there.

Do you take them?

Most of the time I just keep to myself.

Mm-hmm.

I think, like, what it would

be like to be... someone else.

Like, I could have this house

with all this land around it.

Have a bunch of dogs runnin' around wild

and build, like, a go-cart track.

Man, those places make so much money.

We'd be rakin' that stuff in.

And nobody would know where I was.

Yeah.

Just be gone.

Most of the time I just think about...

bein' someplace else.

Then why aren't you?

Hmm?

Why aren't you someplace else?

What do you mean?

You're the one that told me

people only do what they want.

Yeah?

So?

You must want to be there.

No, no way!

Then show them you don't need to be

there, Hank. It's not easy like that.

I don't want you wasting your life

in there, Hank. Well, neither do I.

Then why are you still there?

Because they put me there!

Why did they put you there?

'Cause I burned down the house.

Why did you

burn down the house?

Hank, you wanna come inside?

We can get you started...

while we're getting some orange juice

for little Charlie.

Would you come back there

with me?

Sure, I would.

If-forgot my coffee.

Why are you drinking coffee

so late?

I don't know. I... like it.

You have a way with Hank.

Oh! I don't.

Yeah, you do.

He's a good boy.

Is he?

Sure, he is.

I wish I knew your secret.

I don't know.

I just talk to him.

You saying I don't?

I'm tired, and we've got

Disney World tomorrow.

I can fix that wig

for you, you know.

Does it look bad?

No.

But if you have a wig, you should

try, uh, to have fun with it.

You should try different looks.

Uh... huh.

You know,

maybe something sporty.

Maybe out-on-the-town,

evening kind of... thing.

Well, I just brush it now and then.

Uh... huh.

I also have my whole makeup kit

down here. You wanna see?

Now this is a really great

night cream, Bessie. This is...

Oh. Well, I don't know. I never

bother much with... makeup.

Hmm. You should.

Because it's fun.

And you never know

when you might meet somebody.

Oh, my goodness.

I haven't thought about a man in years!

Oh... you're lying!

Lee?

I'm sorry if we haven't

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