The United States of Leland Page #6

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guardian angel, right?

I can count on you.

- Do you love this guy?

- No.

You don't have to be

afraid to tell me the truth.

I don't know.

You don't know?

No. I...

Look, I'm sorry, OK?

I just...

I'm confused and I don't...

I don't really mean...

Maybe we shouldn't talk.

We should talk tomorrow, you know?

It's just I really wanted to see you

because you're so good to me.

But that's not enough.

No, it's not like that.

Please.

I need you, OK?

I need you really badly.

You don't have anything to worry about, OK?

Just... trust me.

I'm sorry, honey.

Is everything OK?

Sh*t!

Sh*t...

Hello?

I didn't hear the phone ring.

Oh, yeah, erm...

No, he's in the shower.

Can I...?

Hello?

Hello?

Calm down.

If you calm down, I can explain it.

But I can't explain it if...

Mira...

No, I'm not gonna lie to you.

I'm not gonna lie to you,

I wanna talk.

But I wanna talk like, you know,

two normal, rational...

You know, you've been gone

for three f***ing months, OK?

Mira...

If you'd just let

me f***ing explain.

- Did you f*** her?

- Come on, Leland, come on.

I just wanna know if

you f***ed her.

That's not relevant to

what we're doing here.

- Well, what are we doing here?

- We're talking.

- Mostly, I'm talking.

- I'm trying to help you.

Maybe I'm trying to help you.

I'm not the one who did

something wrong to get here.

Just because what I did is wrong

doesn't make what you're doing right.

No, I never said right.

I never made that distinction.

Right.

You only said you were human.

- That explains it.

- OK, I'm a bastard. Does that do it?

- I did it cos I'm a bastard, OK?

- And you wanted to.

I mean, you wanted

to f*** that other girl.

Yeah, I wanted to.

I wanted to.

I don't see what's wrong

with me asking you that.

Just talking, right?

We went to my place.

And er...

There was a message on

the machine from Miranda.

There was just this

earthquake in LA.

And she woke up scared,

just terrified.

And instead of calling her back,

instead of calling

my girlfriend back,

I f***ed some other chick.

I knew it was wrong but...

...I did it anyway.

You know what the funny thing

about earthquakes is?

After an earthquake, you see people pulling

other people out of broken-down buildings,

people hugging and junk,

because

they saw a little girl's shoe in

the road and no little girl around.

Then, a couple of days later,

they forget all about it.

It still shows you that

there's goodness in people.

Well, during earthquakes, at least.

People make mistakes.

People are fallible.

We are fallible, Leland.

Even with the best intentions,

most people don't have the inner strength

it takes to do good all the time.

I guess.

Look, what happened with Becky?

I don't blame Becky.

I know you think that's why, but it isn't.

It's not about why.

Look, I just hurt somebody.

I feel terrible, I f***ed up.

I'd feel better knowing that I'm sitting

with somebody who fucks up, too.

Well, you know what happened.

She broke up with me for that other guy.

I don't wanna hurt you, OK?

So, don't.

Sometimes, things don't work out.

It's nobody's fault.

That's bullshit.

That's bullshit!

It's her fault.

She lied to you.

- I don't see it that way.

- But, at some point, you did.

I'm sorry, I get...

confused, you know?

I'm not like you.

You say it's hurting you, but it doesn't

seem like it matters one way or another.

- It matters.

- At some point, you got angry.

- Prove it to me. Show it to me.

- How do I show it?

You said things and you did things that

it didn't make any sense to say and do.

It didn't change anything,

but you did them anyway.

Yell at you?

Should I scream at you?

Hit you?

Is that how I show you it matters?

If I hit you, it matters?

I love you.

What else can I say?

Nothing I say is gonna

change anything.

Cos you love somebody else.

I didn't like being the kind

of person that did that.

What kind of person?

Like everybody else?

I didn't like the way it felt.

But you liked how it felt when

you were in love with her, right?

It's all part of the trade-off, man.

Love's only...

such a great thing because you know

what it feels like to get your heart broken,

what it feels like to be alone.

There was...

...something I said before,

something that was kind of a lie.

About what?

It's about how it doesn't make me

feel much of anything.

Mostly, I keep it out, but...

When you can't?

I don't know.

It covers my eyes.

It's just all I can see.

Say, there's some

kids playing baseball.

All I see is the one kid they won't let

play because he tells corny jokes.

No-one thinks they're funny.

Or I see a boy and a girl in love,

and kissing, you know...

I just see that they're gonna be one

of those sad, old couples one day,

who just cheat on each other and

can't even look each other in the eye.

And I feel it.

I feel all of their sadness.

I feel it probably even worse

than that sad old couple or that...

corny kid will ever feel it.

Do you feel like that now?

Well, mostly, I keep it out.

Did you feel like that

after you fought with Becky?

I don't know, maybe.

After you got back from New York?

It doesn't matter.

Cos telling you about it

and getting you all sad and junk...

...well, it never changes anything.

Cos nothing can make

what happened unhappen.

Excuse me, Mr Pollard, sir?

Oh, please, this isn't the time.

We were hoping

that you might just...

I'm asking you aa

a favour, please...

- Sir, I respect your situation.

- Well, thank you for that.

- But we were hoping that you might...

- Hoping I might what?

Hoping I might what?

We're in grief here.

- How is that a story?

- Harry...

How is my daughter

crying a story?

We didn't do anything

wrong, all right?

We just...

We lost a child.

And we wanna be left alone.

How difficult is that to understand?

I apologise.

If you want a f***ing story,

you go talk to that kid's parents.

Harass them! Ask them

how they raised a monster!

They're the ones who did

something wrong, not us.

I'm sorry..

I want it to be over.

I know.

But it's never gonna be over!

It's never gonna be over.

You ever think the whole

thing doesn't make sense?

I mean, they take all this

stuff away from you.

Freedom, girls and sunshine.

Because it's supposed to make it

so when you get back on the outs,

you never wanna

screw up again.

All it really does is get you to thinking

that you're so small, you know.

Like you're this small thing

that doesn't matter for anything.

By the time you do get out,

you don't even feel like

a human person any more.

Damn, devil boy,

they can't even make a lay-up out there.

It's important to me

that she knows that I didn't know.

Promise me you'll

tell her I didn't know.

I promise.

When you get a moment,

Elden wants to see you.

Look...

...I know I'm the

bastard here, OK?

That's as close to an apology

as I'm gonna get, isn't it?

Excuse me.

Hey, that 2002 finally give

up the ghost on you?

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