The Human Stain Page #3

and I can't tell you

what it's done to me.

I think I have

a pretty good idea.

When this stuff comes back

so late in life

completely unexpected

completely unwanted

it comes back

with such force

there's nothing

you can do about it.

There's nothing

to dilute it.

And when

she's thirty-four?

And ignitable, Nathan.

Ignitable.

Ever hear of something

called Viagra?

Well, without Viagra

I could continue into

my declining years

and still draw profound

philosophical conclusions

and still have a steadying

moral influence on the young.

Without Viagra

I would not be doing something

that makes no sense at all

something that

is ill-considered

and potentially disastrous

for all concerned.

Just where exactly did you

find this astounding woman?

- We're closing.

- Two minutes, that's all I need.

- I said we're closing.

- Two minutes, I promise.

It's okay. Thank you.

Couldn't wait until tomorrow, huh?

No, it's my sister's birthday.

Good. Thank you.

Hi, Phil.

Are you telling me, Mr. Starr,

you believe the President of

the United States was lying?

You know as a witness

when you take an oath,

it's a sacred obligation

if you are a believer,

that you're going to tell the truth,

and you say, "So help me, God."

I mean, this is

very serious business.

- You got car trouble?

- Every other day.

Can I give you a lift?

- Where can I drop you?

- Uh, Nickerson's.

- That's the dairy farm.

- Yeah.

- You mind if I smoke?

- No. Go ahead.

Yeah, two dykes run it.

They give me a room in exchange

for doing the milking.

So you work at the post office

and the dairy farm?

And the college.

Faunia Farley

custodial staff.

It says so on my name tag.

Like to keep busy, huh?

Action is the enemy of thought.

Who said that?

- Thanks for the lift.

- Okay.

Want to come in?

- You mean now?

- Mm-hm.

I haven't been

this close to a woman for

Since your wife died.

I know.

Listen, um, we should

get something straight.

If you're looking for sympathy,

you've come to the wrong place.

I'm...

I don't do sympathy.

Uh-huh.

Hey...

Whatever.

- Thanks for the ride.

- Okay. Take care.

Oh, God.

- Hi.

- Hi.

It's nothing personal, but,

uh, you got to go.

I just...

I don't want to wake up

in the morning and have you here, so

- Like I said, it's nothing personal.

- Okay.

Will I see you again?

You can't much miss me.

What's that?

The question is

will I see you again?

What are you thinking?

- I'm thinking you're going to ruin it.

- No, I'm not.

Yes, you are.

Just leave it alone.

Don't try and get inside my head.

Why do we have to talk?

All right. All right,

have it your way.

- I was thinking I'm a crow.

- A crow, why a crow?

- Mm-mm.

- Your turn.

- I was wondering what it's like making love

- F***ing.

All right. What's it like

f***ing an old man?

It's perfect.

No surprises.

What's it like

being out of a job?

It's lonely.

Like you, I guess.

My turn, huh?

Aside from that wreck of a car,

you don't seem to have any possessions.

No books, no pictures

Action is the enemy of thought.

All right. My life story.

Is that what you want?

Fine.

I grew up with a lot of possessions.

My father was rich.

Real rich. Lots of servants.

The whole nine yards.

Don't you believe me?

- Mm-hm, yeah, I believe you.

- Then my parents got divorced

and my mother remarried.

The thing is, this one

couldn't keep his hands off me.

Bedtime stories were his specialty.

Hey, sweetheart, let me read you a story.

Next thing you know,

fingers in me.

- You don't have to tell me this

- Hey, you asked.

Told my mother. She didn't believe me.

Nobody believed me.

When I was fourteen,

he tried to f*** me.

That's when I split.

I went to Florida.

Did a little of this and that.

I don't know. You know,

girl like me always get by.

No possessions.

Travel light.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

Real nice.

- Did you hear something?

- Hear what? I don't hear anything.

- What is it? What

- No-No-No, shh.

- What could it be?

- Shhh!

- It's Les.

- Who's Les?

Oh, sh*t!

He's my ex-husband.

Huh?

He follows me around. I can feel him.

He's out there somewhere.

I can handle him.

I used to be a pretty good boxer.

Listen to me. I'm not kidding.

He's out of his f***ing mind.

He was in Nam. He did two tours of duty.

He used to beat me up.

One time it was so bad

he put me in a coma for two days.

Hey. There's nobody there.

Did you ever kill anyone

in Vietnam, Mr. Farley?

- Did I kill anyone?

- Uh-huh.

Isn't that

what I was supposed to do

when I was sent to f***ing Vietnam?

F***ing kill gooks?

They said, "Everything goes,"

so everything went.

Look, let's get something

straight right from the start.

- I never hurt her. Okay?

- Mm-hm.

Never.

And I never hurt the kids.

That was all lies.

That blue-blooded whore

Her parents are rich and she wouldn't

ask for a dime to help me with the kids

She never cared about

anybody but herself.

I should have never let her

go off with the kids.

- You sure it's all right if I smoke?

- Yeah.

She waited until I was in rehab.

That's why she wanted me

in re-hab to start with,

so she could take the kids.

She used the whole thing against me

to get the kids away.

She had no right to steal my kids.

Now she's f***ing this old Jew.

I should have killed her back then.

This is nice.

I'm sorry, madam. Smoking is prohibited

in the restaurant. Thank you.

- Sorry.

- Thank you.

- I'm sorry about that.

- Oh, no, that's fine.

They seem to have banned

smoking everywhere now.

Is this okay for you?

Sure.

Coleman?

I don't know if this is

such a good idea, you know.

It's fine

It's a fine restaurant.

They specialize in

fish and all that stuff.

- Sorry I'm late.

- Oh, hi. Hi, Nathan.

This is, uh, this is Faunia.

Uh, this is my friend

Nathan Zuckerman.

- Hi.

- Nathan is a writer

a good writer,

and uh What was that

prize you almost won?

Oh, never mind, never mind.

I've been, uh, I've been teaching

Coleman how to play gin rummy.

You're full of surprises, aren't you?

Okay? I just wanted

you to meet a friend of mine,

So, Coleman's told me

so much about you.

Really? He hasn't

told me sh*t about you.

What did he tell you?

That he's f***ing

a cleaning lady?

Why are you doing

this to me?

- Doing what?

- Why are you doing this?

You know exactly

what you're doing.

You want somebody to talk to?

You have a good time.

I'm out of here.

I'm sorry about that.

- Coleman.

- Later. Excuse me.

Well, you've really come down

in the world, haven't you? Huh?

Dean of the college,

professor of Classics

Look what you ended up with.

So what did you

tell him about me?

Nathan's my friend, that's all.

Just my friend.

Did you tell him

I was your little whore?

The thing is, you can't

handle f***ing someone

that you can't take

to a fancy restaurant.

Let's just end it, you know?

Just end it, end it

right now.

Hey.

You don't get it, do you?

I can't.

I simply can't.

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