The 15:17 to Paris Page #3

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which would you choose?

- Which what?

- Which branch?

I mean, would you still go

with the Marines?

Or was there something else?

Oh, I can't say I ever thought

about that before.

So, you'd still go

with the Marines, then?

Well, that's hard to say, too.

I love what I do,

but I always wanted

to be part of

the Air Force Pararescue.

And their sole purpose

is saving people's lives.

- (BLENDER WHIRRING)

- Pretty badass.

Yeah. Yeah, that is badass.

Can you imagine

putting your hands

on a man in his most

frightening moment?

And drawing him back to life?

Yeah. Yeah, I can.

Well, here you go.

Thanks. How much?

On the house.

Thanks for your service.

MARINE:
Happy to do it.

Thank you.

Appreciate that. You have

a good rest of your day.

You too.

Wow. With that tip he left you,

you're just about

able to cover

the smoothie

you now get to pay for.

Totally worth it.

- (CELL PHONE VIBRATING)

- PROFESSOR:
They're analyzing

statistics of populations,

they're analyzing

intelligence scores.

There's all kinds

of applications

for data analysis.

This is a big first down.

They need this right here.

I know. They better

give it to Marshawn, man.

He's like their best player.

He's been having

a monster game, too.

- I know. He's a beast, man.

- (TV PLAYING INDISTINCTLY)

COMMENTATOR:

Chambers was saying

we play a lot of players.

- ANTHONY:
Come on, baby.

- There you go.

ANTHONY:
Break that.

There you go.

SPENCER:

Keep going, keep going.

- There you go.

- ANTHONY:
Oh! Run!

- Boom. There you go, baby.

- And he ran them over.

- (CELL PHONE VIBRATES)

- That was a good play.

COMMENTATOR 2:
And he's got

a first down for California.

- At the 31.

- SPENCER:
Wow.

Only a full day later.

What happened?

Alek, man.

I texted him some big news,

like, eight hours ago,

and he's just

getting back to me

with this lukewarm response.

What was the big news?

Oh, I'm gonna try out

for the Air Force Pararescue.

Oh. Man, that's, uh...

That's great. For real?

You're gonna join

the Air Force now, huh?

Okay.

So what's that about?

What's what about?

How come no one's hearing this

as life-changing information?

I don't know, man. Maybe...

Maybe 'cause it's you.

What does that even mean?

I mean, not to say anything

against you or anything,

but you kind of

got to be in shape

to be in the military,

you know?

Come on. So I gotta lose

some weight. So what?

I mean, it's not just that.

What about your motivation?

You quit football

to play basketball.

Then you quit basketball

because you weren't getting

enough playing time.

Okay. So you don't think

I can do it, then?

(SIGHS)

Spencer, man,

no one thinks you can't do it.

We just don't think you will.

Okay.

Guess we'll see about that.

Forsett was a yard short

of 1,000 yards...

MAN 1:
Once you begin

to discover who you are,

then you really realize

how you have been given

authority over your life.

But you can only do that

through the struggle of life.

And most people

avoid the struggle.

Most people go through life

avoiding pain.

When you're working

on a dream,

at some point in time

a transition takes place.

Something in you

that you never activated

lies dormant in there.

- (BLENDER WHIRRING)

- You learn how to leap higher.

You start challenging yourself

to dig deeper.

You don't need anybody

to approve your dream.

Do what you know is right.

Don't try and take

any shortcuts.

Pay your dues.

We've been chosen

for this great work.

MAN 2:
Let's go!

Is that all you got? Let's go!

RECRUITER:
Nine minutes,

14 seconds.

Damn, Stone...

I didn't know a big guy

like you could run that fast.

- (CHUCKLES)

- Thank you, sir.

(PANTING)

Ninety-six.

You did it.

You passed. Congratulations.

Thank you, sir. Appreciate it.

Whoo!

All right, that's very good.

All right, now,

just step over here.

Okay.

Head against the bar.

And which circle is different?

Uh, let me see.

Is this a trick question?

Um...

Number three is different.

MAN:
Stone.

Here is a list

of specialty codes

that you have qualified for.

Please review the list

and choose your top three.

- Turner?

- TURNER:
Sir.

Hey, sir, sorry.

The, uh, the job I wanted

is not on here.

I don't see Pararescue.

Looks like you didn't qualify.

What do you mean,

I didn't qualify?

I passed the stamina test,

I got a good ASVAB score.

The doctors didn't say

anything was wrong with me.

Looks like

you were disqualified

for lack of depth perception.

What?

You don't have

depth perception.

You can't be a PJ without it.

Are you serious?

Choose three jobs from the

list in order of preference.

Pick quickly or you might

not get anything.

We're only open

for another 30 minutes.

Turner.

Here's a list of jobs

that you have qualified for.

Please review the list

and choose your top three.

SPENCER:
A year I punish

myself and for what?

Because of depth perception?

You gotta be kidding me.

Okay. Is there something

that you can do?

Someone we can appeal to?

Maybe we can write a letter.

No. It's not something

you can appeal.

Okay, okay.

Honey, here, sit down.

Honey, it's gonna be okay.

It'll be okay.

No, it's not gonna be okay.

That's the thing.

Why did I even work so hard

in the first place?

Baby, listen, it's you, okay?

When you were a kid,

if you heard the word

"war" on the television,

you would practically jump

inside the TV screen

to get involved.

Exactly.

I just wanted to help.

I don't get why they won't

just let me go do it.

You know, I haven't really

accomplished much with my life.

At least before I could say

it's because

I hadn't really tried.

Now I can't even say that.

I tried and I failed.

This is worse.

(DOOR SLAMS SHUT)

COMMENTATOR:
(ON TV)

...to McLemore. Wow!

He still finishes!

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Saw that one coming.

That's the second alley-oop

he's converted on.

Hey, what's going on, man?

- What's up, man?

- Glad you made it.

- How you doing?

- Good. Just watching the game.

Come on in.

Man, I hope San Jose State

upsets Kansas, too.

We need this.

Oh, yep, yep, yep. (SIGHS)

Saw this guy

dunk on this fool earlier.

Reminded me when I dunked

on your ass.

Ah, you ain't never

dunked on me.

You want a beer?

Actually, yeah.

I had to come see you before you

dipped out of here, you know.

You must be nervous, right?

Ah, it's all good. I'm just

going to Texas for basic.

Yeah, but not a lot of people

make it this far

in the process, you know.

That's a commitment.

- Cheers.

- Cheers.

So you're about to get up

out of here, man.

You excited or what?

Yeah, but... (SIGHS)

I don't know, man.

Remember when I brought

this up a long time ago?

How could I forget?

You were about

30 pounds heavier

and nobody thought

you would get here.

Yeah, man.

Well, it ended up being that

you were right.

Right about what?

Well, I went to MEPS

and I got disqualified

for depth perception,

so I can't even go be a PJ.

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