Orphan Page #2

Babe?

- She really did seem to open up with us.

- Yeah.

ABIGAIL:
I thought she more

than opened up with you.

You seem to have made

quite a connection.

I could get the paperwork together

and see you back here in three weeks.

All right.

Okey-dokey.

ABIGAIL:

Call me if you need anything.

Bye. Okay, thank you.

Oh, that's T-H.

T-H. Yeah.

And "Max" is like this?

KATE:

Yeah.

Good.

- Is this your house?

JOHN:
Now it's your house too.

KATE:

Hi, sweetie. Hi. Look who's here.

Hello, Max. My name is Esther.

She's been practicing the whole way.

- Can she hear?

KATE:
A little.

She was born almost completely deaf.

That just allows her to hear enough

to read lips.

JOHN:

That's all right, I got it.

[ DOOR OPENS ]

JOHN:
I'd like to introduce you

to Grandma Barbara.

It's a pleasure to meet you.

That's precious.

It's a pleasure to meet you too.

Danny.

This is Esther.

Hello, Daniel.

Hey.

[ WHISPERS ]

Why does she dress like that?

- Come on. Stop it.

- I'm just asking a question.

Oh!

- You have a piano?

- Yeah.

- Would you like to learn how to play?

- I would love to.

Do you like it?

- It's perfect.

KATE:
Good.

Thank you.

How do you say "thank you"?

Thank you.

[ SIGNING ]

[ ROCK MUSIC PLAYING

OVER SPEAKERS ]

JOHN:

Wow, look at that.

What? What? What?

DANIEL:

Dad, look.

- Dad.

JOHN:
Where did you get that?

DANIEL:
Dad, look, I'm killing Trevor.

JOHN:
Great.

Yes.

[ GASPS ]

ESTHER:

Thank you.

Come on, Dad. My solo's gonna end.

Hurry, look.

Wow, cool.

DANIEL:
Trevor, you suck.

TREVOR:
Shut up.

KATE:

That's fabulous.

Come on, guys. This is lame.

I was just about to beat you.

I'm glad you like it, honey.

Come on, guys.

TREVOR:

Hurry up, I'm freezing my ass off.

DANIEL:
Dude, it's all in here.

BOY:
Oh, God. My hands are freezing.

DANIEL:

Oh, man, she's hot.

- Move over, man.

- Page 34 will change your life.

Whoa.

This looks like your mom.

[ LAUGHING ]

No.

Esther and Maxine

seem to be getting along well.

Yeah.

BARBARA:

How's she doing, Kate?

Esther's fitting right in.

I meant Maxine.

She's playing by the pond

like nothing ever happened.

She doesn't remember, does she?

No. She's fine.

So, what are your plans?

KATE:
You know,

probably get Esther settled...

...then go back to teaching.

Thought they weren't gonna

take you back.

No, I'm not talking about Yale.

I'll just... I'll probably give lessons

from home.

That's too bad.

That was a very good job.

Well, I didn't quit because I wanted to.

I know.

You had to have your moment of clarity.

That is an A.A. term.

And I didn't go to A.A.

I just stopped drinking.

Same difference.

We all need a wake-up call sometimes.

[ MOANING ]

Hi.

KATE:
Hi.

- Come here.

[ KNOCKING ]

KATE:

Yeah?

- Oh, hey.

- We're scared of the lightning.

Oh, come in.

- I wanna sleep next to Daddy.

- Hang on.

Okay.

JOHN:
I'm gonna call later,

make sure everything's okay.

Okay. They're gonna love your design.

- You gonna pick up the phone?

- Yeah.

All right.

KATE:

Esther?

Esther?

Come on.

Esther, come on, we gotta go!

You gotta be kidding me.

KATE:

Wow. Uh...

- Will you please go wait in the car?

- Come on.

Sweetheart,

this isn't really a school dress.

But I like it.

Don't you think it's pretty?

Yes, it's so beautiful...

...but I just don't think

you're gonna be comfortable in it.

What about those jeans?

You're afraid the other children

will laugh at me.

I thought you said there wasn't

anything wrong with being different.

Yes, you're right.

You're absolutely right.

Okay. Have fun.

Take a seat, please. Take a seat.

Don't make me ask again, please.

Okay, this is our new student.

Her name's Esther Coleman.

And I'd like you all

to make her feel very welcome today.

Oh, look. Little Bo Peep texted me.

She wants her outfit back.

[ LAUGHING ]

TEACHER:

Okay, go take a seat.

Okay, if everybody could turn

to Page 27...

KATE:

No!

No! Esther, what are you doing?

Get away from there! No!

You don't play near the water!

You know that!

Come on, get out!

ESTHER:

Max.

[ PAINTBALL GUN SHOOTING ]

Sweet. Bull's-eye.

Got you.

ESTHER:
Did you kill it?

- I didn't think it would hurt him.

Put it out of its misery.

- It's in pain, and it's your responsibility.

- It was just an accident.

If you walk away now,

it'll starve to death.

Is that what you want?

I'm not doing it.

It's all right.

- It's in heaven now.

- What's wrong with you?

KATE:
Is the water warm enough?

ESTHER:
Yes, thank you.

KATE:

Okay. Call me if you need anything.

Esther?

Esther.

Open this door.

- What are you doing?

- I always lock the door.

No, we don't lock doors in this house.

But what if someone comes in

and sees me?

Nobody's gonna come in.

Look, I'm gonna stand right here,

if that's what you want.

ESTHER:

I could sing for you.

I used to sing for the sisters

so they would know I was all right.

Okay.

All right. But you know what?

This is just for tonight.

[ ESTHER SINGING "GLORY OF LOVE" ]

[ BELL RINGS ]

Your parents must have gone

to a lot of retard camps to find her.

Watch it.

[ KIDS LAUGHING ]

GIRL:

Are you okay?

Is this a Bible?

Jesus Freak brought a Bible

to school today.

GIRL 1:

Hey, wanna come over?

GIRL 2:
Good one.

- Your sister's a total spaz.

She's not my sister.

GIRL 2:

I can't believe you did that.

Oh, little doggy.

Is this your collar, little doggy?

[ SCREAMING ]

Not A. A, B.

You did really good.

No, I didn't. I made like 11 mistakes.

I'll do better next time.

Your teacher told me

what happened today.

Don't you want to talk about it?

There's nothing to talk about.

You know I'm here for you, right?

You know that, right?

I got something I wanna show you.

I have one just like this

that I use as a diary.

And I thought that maybe you

and I could use this one...

...for a scrapbook.

That's Mommy and Daddy

on their wedding day.

That's Daniel, Christmas morning.

Here's Max.

And there's you.

Who's Jessica?

Max talks about her.

KATE:

"I never held you, but I feel you.

You never spoke, but I hear you.

I never knew you, but I love you."

What happened to her?

She died

while she was still in my tummy.

But we scattered her ashes here.

And as long as this plant grows...

...then part of her

will be alive inside it.

She would have been lucky.

You're a great mommy.

Thank you, sweetheart.

Thank you. It means a lot.

JOHN:
How are you?

KATE:
I'm good.

It's very interesting.

Esther started to open up today.

JOHN:

That's very interesting.

KATE:
I'm starting to feel

like there's a real connection.

Me too.

[ LAUGHING ]

KATE:
No, honey, not here.

- Shh.

They're sleeping.

Baby, come here,

you'll like it, believe me.

- Okay, let's get down to business.

- No, no, no.

Okay, just for a second, then.

Yeah.

- No, no, no.

- Come on.

I have to. Wait, wait, wait.

Yeah.

[ MOANING ]

- Ow!

- Oh, sorry.

Oh, Jesus.

Jesus, honey. Damn it.

[ KNOCKING ]

Esther?

We have to talk about last night.

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