Thanks
This isn't right
ls everyone gone?
-lt is my business! This is my house! -lt is not!
-Get out of my room! -You abide by the laws I put down!
I am not gonna get out! I waited up for you. I want to know who you were with!
Don't give me your shit. You stayed up to drink
-I stayed up to catch you, you whore! -You should know
Try it again, I'll take you out, bitch
Carolee! You walk out that door, don't you bother coming back
Why the hell would I want to? I've been down this road with you before, Mom
Sorry, Davey. I can't go through this again
Carolee
You used to like it before you started doing that bitch. Admit it, bastard!
-You're screwing her! -You need to call your sponsor
-Screw my sponsor! -Go back to bed
I should've gotten rid of her. Know what I'm gonna do?
I'm gonna go in there and cash her check
Hey, Starr. Starr. Hey! Starr! Give me that gun
-What the hell is wrong with you? -Get off!
Starr! Starr!
Get off of me, goddamn it! Get off of me!
No, Ray! Goddamn it, Ray. Get off of me!
No, don't cry, We're not like that, We're the Vikings, remember?
Astrid? Can you talk to me? Astrid?
Astrid? Can you talk to me? Astrid. Talk to me. Can you talk to me?
She's coming around. This boy saved your life. lf he hadn't called 91 1 ¡­
-¡­you'd be dead. -Who did this to you, Astrid?
-Who shot you? -I don't know
Hey, watch your feet
-Okay, rug. -Got it
-Where's Ray, Davey? -He's gone. They're both gone
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I ruined it
Doesn't matter. Something would have
Bye, Astrid
Okay. One step
-Davey. -We got you, Astrid
Okay, step
We got her
lt's okay. We got you
We'd prefer to find a permanent place, but we have so many children right now
You need special attention, which you’ll get at McKinney Hall
They have all sorts of activities for kids
You're dead, bitch! You hear me? You're dead
Don't ever look at my boyfriend again. You hear me?
You look at my boyfriend, you're dead!
Next time you and your friends jump me, I'll cut your throats when you're sleeping
-What do you want? -I was looking at your picture
lt's good
Who is it?
-How come you chopped off your hair? -None of your business
-You're still beautiful. -Looks don't interest me
That's easy for you to say. You've never been ugly
Look. lt's the puta. She's so ugly now
You're not ugly
You write as if you're surprised to find me still beautiful even here,
Our beauty is our power, our strength,
We can't allow them to change us, to lessen us,
I will never grant them that satisfaction and neither should you,
So is this your first time in Mac?
Figured. You're so unfriendly
-Life's easier without friends. -Maybe. I like it here
lt's better than being in a foster home. lt's the floor you can't fall below
-What's that? -A letter
-From who? -My mother
-And where is she? -ln prison. For murder
-And your father? -Don't know the guy
How about you?
They were junkies
She OD'd when I was 6. He disappeared a couple years later
-I was born addicted to heroin. -Really? What was that like?
I don't know. I was out of rehab by the time I was six months old
So¡­.
-What's the deal? Are you gay? -What?
I don't know. I get this feeling from you, like you're not interested in guys
You're right. I'm not
You think that's funny? I'm sick of this. I'm not gonna let you do this again
Why don't you shut up? You're not even in this
-Cut it out. -She does this shit
I'll beat your ass. Wait until we get off the van
-Back off. -I'm gonna push you farther
-What if they catch us? -They'd put us in McKinney Hall
-Hurry. -Come on
Come on, come on
The guy's a genius
I started out copying his stuff, but no¡­.
I could never touch him
He's great. But you're better
You're insane
No, I'm not. I mean, he's a great cartoonist, but you're an artist
What's the difference?
Well, that's like asking why a joke is funny
Either it's funny or it's not. You're either an artist or you're not
You are
lt's hard because they keep moving. That's good
Don't look. I'm not done
-There's another one. Do you see it? -Yeah
The Lyrids shower is visible most of the night
The brightest star is Vega
But you can't look right at it or you’ll miss the fainter meteors
You can trace them back to Lyra
How do you know all that?
A kid I used to know
I used to have a foster home right over there
lt's nice living on the beach
Do you ever think about your father?
Not really. He was an asshole
I think about mine sometimes
That when I'm an artist¡­
¡­he'll read about me in the papers and he'll want to meet me
I'm not gay
I know that
I'll show you the one that he did of me
lt's right here
They're not bad, for what they are
For what they are? What are they?
Cartoons
No, they're not
They're so much more than that. I mean, he's really talented
-Don't do it again, Astrid. -Do what?
Attach yourself to anyone who shows you the least bit of attention¡­
¡­because you're lonely
Loneliness is the human condition. No one is ever going to fill that space
The best you can do is know yourself. Know what you want
And don't let the cattle get in the way
You're not talking about me. You're talking about yourself
Sometimes I get the feeling you don't even want me to be happy
Why wouldn't I want you to be happy?
-Where are they sending you? -I don't know
Look
The comic book store will hold letters for me
Wherever they take you, keep checking there
Why do we have to go to Mexico to buy this stuff?
lt isn't FDA approved
-What's it called? -DMSO
-What's it for? -All sorts of things
You'll like these people. She's an actress and he does something with television
-Do they have any kids? -No. They're looking to adopt
She's had an incredibly hard time
She's very smart. She's just missed a lot of school
-You don't have to decide immediately. -Okay
Just talk to her
lf you're uncomfortable in any way, just let me know
There you are
I'm really sorry Mark couldn't be here to meet you. He's filming in Nova Scotia
Well, this is it. I left it plain on purpose¡­
¡­because I thought that way, you know, you could put your own things up
-I like the D¨¹rer watercolor. -You know who D¨¹rer is?
-My mother's an artist. -Oh, that's right. Of course
Of course. They said that. Hey, listen. Do you want some tea or something?
Or Pepsi. I bought Pepsi. I didn't know what you'd drink. We have juice
I could make you a smoothie, if you like. Would you like a smoothie?
Tea is fine
Okay. I look, I look. Stop. Look¡­.
And now I die
-You were really good. -Do you know what a nightmare it is?
I mean, you spend all this time getting ready, ages getting ready¡­
¡­drag yourself to this audition. They look at you for two seconds¡­
¡­and tell you that you're too ethnic, or too classic, too something
Too ethnic?
lt means brunette. And too classic means old
And too small, breasts
-Why do you do it, then? -What? Give up show business?
Come on!
-Well, here. To your first run at the beach. -Never again
-How's your shoulder? You okay? -Yeah. Yeah, it's fine
No, you did really well. You did really, really well
What was¡­
¡­the best day of your life?
Today
-What should we do later? -I don't know. What do you want to do?
Swim?
Okay
Oh, my God!
He's back early
Mark
Hey
Hi
You must be Astrid
lt took us three hours to get him back
The whole film crew's in there. He still almost chickens out
I think he thought it was gonna come back and finish him off
-What would you have done if it had? -Ducked
Come on
Okay, here we go
Perfect. Just, just right there. Thanks
-Well, cheers. -Cheers
Cheers, Astrid
So we've got some catching up to do
Claire tells me you're quite an artist
-Not really¡­. -She's wonderful
ln fact, Tricia Day accepted Astrid for one of her watercolor classes
-At the museum? -She loves Astrid's work
You should show him
They're really, really beautiful
She's never even studied. She's self-taught
ls that right?
ls she all right?
-I know you're perfect, -I'm not perfect,
Of course you are, You're my daughter,
Hey
-Are you okay? -Yeah. Just thinking
-Are you getting my letters? -Yes
-I can never be sure. -I get them
Why doesn't she have any children?
She can't have them
You dress like her now
She takes me shopping
What's her husband like?
He's nice
He's gone a lot
So you spend most of your time with Claire?
Yeah
I'd like to meet her
Why?
Because you don't want me to
Who did this belong to?
That was my great aunt's on my father's side
She was a field nurse at Ypres. Very, very brave woman
lt's pretty, isn't it?
-And whose was this? -lt was my mother's
My father gave it to her. My parents were completely inseparable
Not at all like Mark and I
I hate it when he has to go away for so long
-Why don't you go with him? -He says it slows him down
-I think it's because he's having an affair. -He wouldn't have an affair
He loves you
Yeah, I know. lf he did, I would never know about it
You're just being paranoid
Yeah, that's what he says. That can be very negative
-Should I put this here? -Yeah, perfect
Everything ready inside?
-You're leaving tomorrow? -ln the morning
I bet Claire would love to go with you
Coordinating our schedules is difficult
She's not working. I mean, she could fit into yours
What about you? Doesn't she need to be here for you?
Yeah
How is she these days, when I'm gone? She okay?
She's fine
-Why do you ask? -No reason
You're back early
How long has my mother been writing you?
Not long. We've only written to each other a couple of times
-Why didn't you tell me? -She asked me not to
Well, she thought that you wouldn't like it
Her letter was so powerful
She's so strong
And God, she's talented
We'd like to meet
Whose idea was that?
Mine
I bet
-You know, I really love your work. -What have you seen?
Astrid showed me the collages¡­
¡­and some of your earlier work in the catalogues
Oh, I love the Polaroid installation
Really? Why?
I don't know
Well, because¡­.
Well, because it's great
-I'm actually very visual myself. -A kindred spirit
lt must be difficult for you to work here
lt is. I spend so much time fighting off sexual advances¡­
¡­I hardly have time to think
That was a joke
-Jailbird humor is hard to get sometimes. -Sorry
So, you're an actress
-So glamorous. -No, my career is a disaster
I think it's the process. lt, you know, may be too painful for me
You're such a sensitive person, it's¡­.
All that rejection has gotta be hard on your self-esteem
I'm a typical Pisces, but that's why Astrid and I get on so well
Scorpio and Pisces understand each other
You're into astrology?
She's not into astrology just because she knows our signs
Astrid and I used to understand each other
But she's become so secretive
Astrid isn't secretive at all. We talk about everything, all the time
We just love her
She's doing so well
She's on the honor roll¡­
¡­and we're just working to keep that old grade point average up
Put a pyramid over her desk. lt improves memory
-My memory's fine. -A pyramid? I hadn't thought of that
I do practice feng shui, though
You never mentioned that in your letters
How about your husband? ls he into feng shui as well?
No, he's into frequent flier miles
He's gone half the time
That's not so bad, you know? And now that I have Astrid¡­.
She must be a great comfort to you¡­
¡­not being able to have children of your own
Yeah. Yeah. She is
Would you mind letting us talk alone, sweetie?
Grown-up things
-Don't we have to go? -No, it's okay
We have time
Love humiliates you
Hatred cradles you
lt's soothing
What did you say to her?
She's having trouble with her husband
lt's not you, is it? I know you have an attraction for older men
No, it's not me
-You leave her alone. -But it's such fun
Easy, but fun
ln my present situation I have to get fun where I can
God, how can you stand to live with poor Claire?
Did you know there's an entire order called the Poor Clares?
She is a genuinely nice person
You don't know what it's been like
-lf you love me, you’ll help me. -Help you?
I would rather see you in the worst kind of foster hell than living with that woman
What can you possibly learn from her?
How to pine artistically?
Twenty-seven names for tears?
All I can say is¡­
¡­keep your bags packed
I don't feel like it. I'm a stranger in my own house
You live here and I stay here once in a while
-Maybe if you gave a little bit. -I give
Why can't I give to her, why can't I be here?
-Because I work! Because I have a job. -That's not fair
I give you everything you ask for and it's not enough
No, not everything. Not everything
You promised things would change
-Mark, I'm trying, you know I'm trying. -Trying's not good enough
You're falling apart. We are back to where we started
lt is not working out and I think we should send her back