Wonderful World Page #4

Dad, I think the needle's on empty.

That means there's

a half gallon left in the tank.

They just do that so you'll

buy more than you need.

It's a conspiracy between

the car companies

and the oil companies.

What kind of neighborhood

doesn't have a gas station?

Residential ones, I guess.

I'm sorry.

I really wanted you to

have a good time tonight.

It's okay, dad.

It's an adventure...

Sort of.

God damn it.

Okay, now move the pot sideways.

Yes, and then the other side.

Yes, like that.

What do you do in Dakar?

I--

I work in hotel.

I don't mean to be

ethnocentric or anything,

but do you get paid

below-subsistence wages,

like $5 a day or anything?

My life is one of misery and pain.

Does that make you feel better?

I'm sorry.

I was being shallow and stupid.

I was being a total a**hole American.

My country is very different from yours,

but we have fun too.

There are clubs, we have music.

We listen to a lot of music.

We Senegalese love to dance.

Go on, try it.

I'm so inept at dancing.

There ought to be

a special ring in hell

for the guy who invented

the air mattress.

You are being ethnocentric.

Come on.

I'm a total klutz!

Try it.

I know. It's genetic.

You are making her self-conscious.

You want me to leave?

Okay.

Okay, yes!

Yes!

You wore her out.

Here.

That was fun.

Bye.

This is mistake.

I did not want to do this again.

Why?

I do not want to be--

How you say?

Your mistress.

My mistress?

There is no time for anything else.

I have 2 weeks left on my visa.

To stay here,

I would need green card.

But you-- We do not

know each other enough.

It is impossible.

We are like different species.

We are like lion and

hippo trying to mate.

Which one is the hippo?

You.

Do I look

like a hippo?

So you don't think there's

any hope for us at all?

None...

whatsoever.

I am bad.

I see something I like

and I must have it.

I am greedy.

There's nothing bad about you.

You do not know every part of me.

What part don't I know?

Right here...

And here...

And here.

I know it a little.

Get to know it better.

How come you quit singing

for children, Ben?

The record company said

that they'd produce

an acoustic solo album

if I went on

a national children's tour.

And the record company

went back on its word?

No, they produced it,

but they dumped it.

They didn't promote it.

They didn't advertise.

They said it wasn't accessible.

Bottom line.

Yeah. Bottom line.

You have C.D.?

The one the record company

did not want to promote?

You don't want to hear that.

I would like to hear it.

You're probably one of 10 people

who's heard this.

I see why you got angry.

It is maybe too quiet for the world.

All rise.

Be seated.

You guys multiply like Amoebas.

How could the tow-truck driver know

That towing Mr. Singer's car

would lead to Mr. Nidia's--

N'Diyae.

Mr. N'Diyae going into

a diabetic coma?

I mean, is he a doctor?

Is he a trained nurse?

The fact is, Ben Singer

was parked illegally

and the tow-truck driver

simply did his job.

Your honor, this is a no-brainer.

I know I'm just a--

a joke to you,

and you only decided to hear my case

because you were amused.

Some crackpot acting

as his own attorney

accusing the city

of depraved indifference.

You know what the most crowded

room is in the getty museum?

It's the room with

Van Gogh's "Irises."

Why? Because someone bought

the painting for $54 million.

There's a reverential silence

in the Iris room.

Mr. and Mrs. Museum-goer

might as well be looking

at a framed pile of cash.

Newspapers publish

movie grosses.

If a movie earns over

$100 million,

we assume it must be good.

There's no God.

There's no beauty.

If a painting or a C.D.

doesn't sell, throw it out.

The 910 freeway has

a very sharp turn

as it winds into the valley

from the hills,

and every year 4 or 5 motorists

are killed on this spot.

The city conducted

a cost-and-effect study,

and the study concluded that

the cost in terms of human life

was not equal to the cost

of rebuilding the highway.

And so this deadly spot

on the highway remains,

and in 5 years

Well, if this isn't

depraved indifference,

I don't know what is.

Ibu N'Diyae came here from Senegal.

He worked as a guard

at an outlet store in Carson.

He's a great chess player.

He's my friend...

and he was thrown away.

Well, what kind of a world

do we live in that his life

is worth less than this

nobody's ability to get quickly

into a parking space

or the city impound's need for revenue,

so that each one of these Amoebas

can have a beach house in Miami?

Is that really the kind of

world we want to live in?

All rise.

My sympathy is with Mr. N'Diyae

And I wish him a speedy recovery.

However,

a tow-truck driver is not

a trained medical diagnostician

and should not be expected

to behave like one.

Bottom line--

You were parked in the wrong place

at the wrong time.

I rule in favor of the defense.

I hope the western world survives.

Can't we just agree to disagree?

F*** you.

I think we made a connection, yes.

Do you think he will marry you?

Yes, I think he will marry me.

Get green card then.

You get green card, there is

more opportunity for you.

That is all good, Khadi.

Are you feeling okay?

Okay, sir, we're gonna get you

up in the wheelchair now.

Here you go.

Did you really think

that you'd get away with it?

What are you

talking about, Ben?

Did you really think that I was

gonna walk down the aisle with you

While you were picking

my f***ing pocket?

Jesus, you're

really something

with your bullshit African dancing

And your "I'm gonna

cook you a Wolof meal."

The whole time,

you're nothing but a con artist.

I-- I do not know why you

are saying these things.

Don't give me that innocence crap.

The whole time you've been playing me.

You've been prostituting yourself

for an American citizenship.

Remember that slap.

It's the last time we touch.

The angry man?

It's good to see you

back in the land of the living.

Maybe I go back into coma...?

Is she here?

Khadi went back to Dakar.

You know, Ben,

she was not only

after your green card.

It is possible to love someone

and to also want

something from them.

Game theory.

Ideally, we'd keep you

a couple more days,

but Medicaid stops paying

once your vitals are normal.

Any pain, any dizziness

or pain here, you call, okay?

Okay, doctor.

Well, it's all about liability.

They'll release you when

your life is still in danger,

but you gotta be in a wheelchair.

You know, has anyone

ever told you that

maybe you are a bit

too negative, Ben?

So do you remember

anything from the coma?

It-- It-- It was like

the world went away;

like the whole world was

on vacation, yeah?

It-- It was much quieter

without the world.

And-- And then I missed it.

And now that the world is back,

it is kind of like

your child that

you have not seen in a while.

You know?

Listen.

Do you hear?

That-- That there--

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