Men of a Certain Age s01e05 Episode Script
Powerless
Hey.
Hey.
Sprinkler's busted again.
What? The thing.
Oh.
Look at that.
Well, I was wondering why it was turning brown.
Yeah, the plastic ones they always break, and then the whole system it's gonna go nuts on you.
You know, I'll pick up a couple parts.
I'll come by and fix it.
No, it's all right.
I know how busy you are.
It's 10 minutes.
Right.
Well, I'll get a handyman, then.
No.
Why a handyman? I'll come on a Saturday Joe, I didn't come out here to talk about the sprinklers! Okay.
I'm sorry.
That's all right.
Go ahead.
What's going on? It's Lucy.
There's a boy who's been bothering her.
Who? The kid with the hair? No, a different one Travis.
Travis? Yeah, I thought he was nice, but I guess it didn't work out, and now he keeps calling her and texting and of course, she won't say anything to me, but, you know, you hear about these kids these days who go off the deep end, and Okay.
All right.
Yeah.
But, I mean, come on.
They're 17.
This is what happens.
It's just some drama.
No.
Joe, Joe, this feels really aggressive to me, okay? Okay.
All right.
Travis.
Not crazy about the name.
Oh, my God, Joe.
Anyway, I'll just talk to her.
I'll ask her.
No! Oh, my God, no! That would make her clam up even more.
All right, I won't talk to her.
Yeah, well, just pay attention to her and, you know, let her know you're there for her, that we're there for her.
Just monitor the situation, okay? And I'll do the same.
- Albert! Come on! - Okay? Just All right.
I got it.
- All right.
Thanks.
- Don't worry.
Don't bring anything up unless she says something to you first.
I got it.
I got it.
I got it.
I got it.
Okay.
Thanks.
All right.
And just a warning she's been really moody.
Bye, mom.
Have a great day, you guys! Bye! Hi.
Your hair looks nice.
No, it doesn't.
When I grow up to be a man Will I dig the same things that turn me on as a kid? Will I look back and say that I wish I hadn't done what I did? Will I joke around? Will I still joke around? And still dig those sounds? And still dig those sounds? When I grow up to be a man.
300 bucks, my ass.
Come on! Did you break my wave machine? No.
I set it.
I thought it only made rainforest sounds.
Those make you go to sleep.
They don't wake you up.
Exactly.
This is a much better way to wake up.
Oh.
No, sorry, pal.
Nope.
I've got to go to work.
You got time.
No.
Don't you start at 10:00? Uh, 10:00, 11:00.
Mm Tomorrow.
Oh, must be nice.
Mmm-hmm.
Hmm.
Do you want to have dinner? Sure.
What time? I don't know.
Uh Why don't I just swing by your work later on and we'll figure it out? Okay.
I get off at 6:00.
Yeah, we'll figure it out.
Okay.
I'm done at 6:00.
I fixed it.
Got you! Got you! No, you didn't! You got my shirt! Boys! Sit down, or I will eat this breakfast myself! Did you, uh, blow a fuse or something? Mnh-mnh.
The electricians are running power to the addition.
And apparently, to do that, they had to disconnect the whole house from the main line.
Come on.
Wait the addition is getting power? As we speak.
They said it shouldn't take more than an hour.
Sweetie, do you know what this means? - Hmm? - We are almost done.
Done like done done? Like done done.
I mean, they still have things to do on their list, but yeah.
Done done.
You know, I never thought we'd see this day.
Come on! Could you pick up a movie for the boys on your way home from work? I'm about to strangle those two.
Yeah, yeah.
I'll give you a Uh, where are they going? Supplies, I guess.
Mr.
Thoreau? Yeah? Brent Powers department of building and safety.
And this is Officer Kearns with the County Sheriff's office.
And, uh, w-what can we do for you gentlemen? Well, sir, I'm afraid we're here to shut your construction down.
Excuse me? Well, you're building without a permit, Mr.
Thoreau.
Our office has red-tagged this site four times in the last month To alert you that you were not in compliance.
You know anything about this? No! No! Gunther didn't say anything about red tags.
Yeah, our contractor never said anything to us about any problems.
Oh.
What? What's that? Well, sometimes your less-scrupulous contractors will simply rip the tags down without alerting the homeowner.
Then they'll hit you up with as many "surprise bills" as they can before we show up to shut the site down.
Then they just disappear.
No, this is not happening.
So, uh, what what do we do now? Well, all work has to stop until an inspector can determine the extent of the violations.
And then what happens? Well, worst-case scenario the County could demand that you tear down any work that was done and rebuild with the proper permits.
All of it? No, no just the new construction.
No, that's all of it.
Oh.
Uh then yes.
Thank you.
Have a good day.
- Hey, Maria.
- Hey.
Oh.
We need, um, more Miller.
Miller? You know, the silver balloons.
Oh, Mylar.
It's pronounced "my-lar.
" We're out of it.
All right.
Hey, Maria You and, um You and and what's-her-name, you guys you broke up, right? Kaitlyn.
Yeah.
I'm just the only reason I'm bringing it up is 'cause my daughter, Lucy, just broke up with this kid, and he's taking it kind of hard, you know, and I don't know.
Did did Kaitlyn ever get clingy? She ever, like, couldn't let go? Kaitlyn broke up with me.
Oh.
I mean, not that Not that It's different, though, right? I mean, it probably is way different 'cause you guys are both You're a girl.
She's a girl.
It's different, right? It's totally different.
All right.
My cousin she broke up with some guy, and he came to her house and killed her guinea pig.
Whoa! Like, uh, "Fatal Attraction" The rabbit.
No, it wasn't a rabbit.
It was a guinea pig.
Yeah.
Yeah, no, I know, but You saw "Fatal Attraction"? Uh-huh.
Yeah.
Yeah, but This was a guinea pig.
Anyway, I had a I broke up with a girl in 6th grade, and she, uh If I can remember the quote She told everybody I had no wiener.
I'd rather she killed my rabbit.
I don't mean to make fun.
I'm just I'm just trying to lighten it up.
All right.
Let's get some mylar.
2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0.
So, what's wrong with you guys? Why do I keep seeing customers walking out of my showroom? Don't start telling me anything about the economy.
In 1979, during the Arabian Opec bullshit, I sold more cars than anyone else in this city.
And do you know how? Because I could always, always find "the key.
" When you've got an up, you don't just show him the floor model and ask about a trade-in.
Hell no.
You find the key.
You get inside of his brain.
You know all about his old lady nagging him, about how he's nose-deep in crap-filled diapers.
You work the man.
You find the key.
You got it? What if the guy's not married? Hey, what's going on? Still no power at the house.
Still? I have left five messages for Gunther.
I'll I'll make some calls to the billing office downtown, and, um, if the power's not on by tonight, uh, we'll just, uh, check into a hotel.
We can't be spending money on hotels Not if we might have to tear down the house.
What else are we gonna do? Grandpa! Who let these rugrats in here? We're going to stay at your house, grandpa! Says who? Mommy.
Oh.
Hi, guys.
Do you understand that my home has no power? Because my contractor's an asshole, that's why! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! I will not! I will not change my tone! Why don't you change Why don't you change and actually do something that's helpful? No, no, don't put me on hold.
Aaaaargh! You know, you watch him move like that, and it's hard to believe he's the child of a professional athlete.
More contractor stuff? I guess.
I don't know.
I turned him on to that guy.
He did the siding on my building.
It looks great.
Aaah, shit! Oh-ho-ho! Shit, shit! He's gonna blame me for this.
You watch.
Oh, yeah.
Probably.
Well, well, well.
Look who's here.
Morning, Laura.
Terrance.
Here you go.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
What? When did that happen? I don't know.
Couple weeks ago.
Turns out we both drove VW buses in college.
Oh.
You should have a choke collar on your dick.
Hey.
Everything cool? I don't want to talk about it.
He's doing the waitress.
- What? - Yeah.
Which one? The the tall one.
Why you got to shit where we eat? Oh, that's nice.
You know, she's touching our food, and she's been She's been near his business.
Whoa, whoa.
Don't worry.
We always take a shower afterwards.
Gross.
What exactly did you order me here? Hey, you know, you're 20 minutes late every time.
You can't complain about what I order for you.
Hey, I'm not 20 minutes late.
All right, okay.
All right, 15.
Sorry.
You're early.
Man, my circadian rhythms are out of whack.
Annie set the alarm this morning, and Hold it.
Annie? So you got the waitress and the 25-year-old? - I don't "got" anybody.
- Oh.
Anyway, Annie set the alarm this morning, which is a totally unhealthy way to wake up.
So, from 8:00 to 11:00, I fall straight back into a REM sleep, and then, bam! Every nine minutes, I'm back up.
Yeah, I hate it when I can't REM sleep through to 11:00.
Who are you kidding, anyway? You're up every nine minutes going, "I'm sleeping with a 25-year-old!" You're high-fiving your penis.
All right, all right.
I don't expect you guys to understand.
I get it.
I know why you like her.
She fills gaps, right? What? From "Rocky," man.
That's, like, the best scene in the movie.
Paulie says, "Hey, why you goin' out with my sister?" And Rocky's like, "I got gaps.
"She's got gaps.
You know, together we fill gaps.
" That's the best scene? Mm-hmm.
In "Rocky"? Yeah.
Not when he's jumping at the top of the stairs with his arms in the air? Or "Cut me, Mick"? How 'bout "cut me, Mick"? Or the meat, man! He's punching the meat and the music's playing? "Gonna fly now"! That's the best scene.
No, that's what everybody thi that's the obvious, but it's that's not even the best song.
Man, you're not nah, you don't get it.
"Fills gaps" That's deep shit.
- I could name 80 other scenes - No.
That people remember more than that one.
- Forget it, man.
Forget it.
- What? You know he's not gonna change his mind.
And this is not how I want to spend the last part of my morning before I go downtown to convince some asshole inspector to let some asshole electrician wire my house so I can turn on my asshole lights.
So, forget it.
Forget it.
Okay? You know, if you want, l- I can I can help you get your lights on.
No, no, no.
Look.
Two years of stage-lighting classes in college.
You don't want to let that knowledge go to waste.
No.
No, thank you.
You've done enough.
I told you he'd blame me.
This is, uh This is not good.
I don't even see an application for a permit.
Uh, we think our contractor was lying to us.
Was this a, um, small job that maybe you figured you didn't need a permit for and then it turned into a big job? No.
It's the same size it always was.
I mean, we added a window and a, um portico or whatever you call it, but, um, no we weren't trying to get away with anything, if that's what you're asking.
Well, I'm sorry, Mr.
, uh, Thoreau, but I'm afraid I don't have the authority to allow you to resume construction.
Wait.
You know what? That's that's fine.
Hell, I'm happy just to have a little break from all the hammering.
All we really want to do is get the electricity in the main house back on.
Why was the electricity off? For the construction.
But but but we're not gonna do any more work.
I wish I could help you, but it's out of my hands.
And any changes to the condition of your house will be considered work and then subject to more fines.
Believe me, I'm just trying to save you from even bigger headaches.
Yo! What's up, buddy? Oh, not much.
Where's Lucy? Who's the guy she's talking to? Travis, I think.
Hey.
You okay? Uh-huh.
Yeah? You look a little flushed.
What does that even mean? Oh, just you know.
Were you out in the sun today? Yeah, l-I guess so.
Yeah.
That's that's probably it.
Oh, good.
You found them.
Uh, yeah.
Thanks, mom.
Okay.
I'm going for a run.
Oh, yeah.
You enjoy that.
Owen, I didn't know that you ran.
Not every night, but, you know, when I need to let off some steam.
You know, honey, your father has plenty of friends downtown.
I'm sure he can make a few calls and get this all taken care of.
Really? The Mayor's brother-in-law he's been a customer for years.
Yeah, we can handle it, mom.
Uno! Grandpa, that's not fair! What do you mean, "it's not fair"? If you let your cards out for everybody to see, you're gonna get stung.
Owen.
Be nice.
I'm supposed to let him win? The boy is 6 years old, grandpa.
Well, he's not gonna be 6 forever, now, is he? If you let them win now, they'll think the world owes them something.
Can we go watch TV now? Oh, no, no, no.
Loser has to shuffle.
So not gonna lose.
The point is to win.
Okay, I'll be back in an hour.
An hour? He can run for a whole hour? Mm-hmm.
Don't make too much noise My neighbors' call the cops when the squirrels scurry the lawn.
Yeah, watch watch your step.
There's nails and crap everywhere.
Oh.
It's gonna be great when it's done, huh? Yeah.
It was done by a criminal.
And it might all soon be gone.
What am I looking for? The junction box.
Yeah.
What's it look like? It Like a box.
Well, how am I supposed to know that? I'm a car salesman.
Well, I don't sell cars, but if you ask me to find a wheel, I'm gonna go with something round.
Just turn my damn lights on! So, I'm not saying I'm the fastest kid in my gym class, - but I'm at least in the top eight.
- Eight? Usually when you say a top, you round it out to, like, 10.
But I'm better than that.
I mean, if I said "Top 10," you'd think I was 10.
I'm not.
I'm eight.
Yeah, I get it.
I get it.
That's pretty good.
Hey, come on, Thumbelina.
We were gonna put it down during dinner, right? Yeah, I am.
Just a second.
And done.
Happy? Yeah.
Yeah.
Now, let's come on.
Let's talk a little.
I got to pee.
I had two large cokes.
And I licked all my fries, Albert.
Albert, let me ask you something what do you know about this Travis guy? I don't know.
I mean, do you see him around school? Is he a nice guy? Yeah, usually.
I guess last week, he called Lucy a whore.
What?! Agh! Brain freeze! What do you mean? It's like nails in my eyeballs! Albert, how do you how do you How do you open this? To do what? I don't know.
I don't know.
Just read them.
All of them? Yeah, yeah.
What Unlock it.
What do you think you're doing? He had one of your fries.
Whoa.
All that happened in the bathroom? Yeah, I'm just a friend of mine is supposed to swing by and pick me up.
Is it the old guy? Yeah, the old guy.
You know, if it was just me, I could handle it.
You know? I'm used to it.
But when he starts dropping that shit on my kids? - Man - Just hold the light up, would you? So, how'd you get out of the house? I told them I was going for a run.
And they bought that? Anyway, thanks for coming out so quick.
You're saving my ass.
You kidding me? You saved mine.
Laura from the diner came by after work, and I swear to god, if you hadn't called, I might have been cuddled to death.
Okay.
So, here we go.
We got the black Positive.
Red, positive.
They got this green one going What the hell.
I'll just put it there.
Terry.
Now, whoa.
Terry.
Terry, come on, man! If you don't know what you're do Eh? Son of a bitch.
Huh? Wow.
Who knew that you could actually do shit? Surprised the hell out of me.
All right, guys.
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait right there.
Keep your hands up.
No, no.
No, officer, this is this is my house.
We just had a little electrical problem.
- Let me see some I.
D.
- Yeah.
And move slowly.
Sure.
No no problem.
Oh.
What? These are not my shorts.
Aw, shit.
Really? They got to cuff us? Well, they don't know.
We could have been breaking and entering.
Breaking into what? We walked in through a plastic sheet.
Hey, what time is it? Hmm? Aah! 7:30.
Shit! What the hell What is wrong with you, man? Ah, I was supposed to pick up Annie an hour ago for dinner.
Ohhhh.
It's it's fine.
Oh, good.
Well, maybe now she'll realize she's dating a dick.
Why am I a dick? Because only a dick goes straight from banging a waitress all afternoon to dinner with his 25-year-old girlfriend.
Okay, first of all, she's not my girlfriend.
Neither is Laura.
And I have been totally up front with both of them about how I feel about all this, and they're okay with it.
Oh, so they know about each other? What difference does it make? They're happy.
I'm happy.
The only one who's not happy about the whole thing is you.
Of course, you're not happy about anything lately.
I can't remember the last time we had a hike or went to lunch when you weren't bitching about your life.
"My dad's too tough on me.
The kids are up all night.
The contractor's screwing me.
" Blah, blah, blah.
That's your fault! You told me Gunther did great work! He does do great work! How am I supposed to know he does it without a permit? Look, I didn't hire him.
I just live in the building.
Geez! Man! Take some responsibility! You're telling me about taking responsibility? You can't even be on time for shit you want to be at! Oh, no, no, no.
Not the same.
Not the same.
You know why you're always late? 'Cause I know why.
I know exactly why.
Really? I got a whole theory about it.
Well, please enlighten me, O Great Buddha.
When you're late, all you can think about is getting to where you're trying to go Traffic, lights, whatever.
You got no room in your head for anything else.
But if you're early, you're not thinking about that stuff.
Your brain's not occupied that way.
So your mind drifts.
Maybe you start thinking, you know, inward About your life, who you are, whatnot.
But you don't want to do that.
The last thing you want is to look in the mirror and ask, "Who are you, Terry?" Because then you might start thinking about exactly who you are and what you're doing with your life.
That's why you're late all the time.
Well, thank you.
Yeah.
That's for free.
Yeah, but you forgot one thing.
What's that? The only reason I'm late right now is because I was helping you.
I don't care why! You have no right to go through my stuff! Sorry.
It's my fault.
It's my fault.
Oh, I should never have told you about this.
What? No, no.
You have to tell me this stuff, okay? We got to figure this out together.
Don't I don't want to worry that you're not gonna include me in this stuff.
Yeah, you know what I'm sorry, Joe, but I did include you, and look what happened.
Did you know Travis called Lucy a whore? What? Yeah.
That's why that's Was that in the text? No.
Albert he heard about it at school.
But that's why I was looking to try to see what else he's saying to her.
Which I would have found out if her phone wasn't a damn Rubik's cube.
Why didn't she tell me that? I don't I don't know.
Even when we were together, I'd feel like I didn't know what was going on with her and all that.
Now it just Look, I don't know if she's not talking to me and that's normal, or if there's something else going on because of, you know us.
No, no, no.
Look, it's okay.
It's all right.
We'll figure this all out.
Yeah, okay.
It's all right.
Well, we're definitely getting her a new phone, because that thing's a nightmare.
Right? You couldn't figure it out, either.
It's impossible.
Soon they're all gonna have the GPS-tracking thing.
Oh, we're getting that shit.
All we were saying is Okay.
They're down.
Phew! So, if it comes up, I was helping those cops to look for a dog.
Your father and I have talked it over, and we feel like the best way to handle this situation is for you to just pay the fines and do whatever it takes to get the job finished.
Well, we may have to rebuild, and we can't afford that.
If it comes to that, we'll cover it.
But you two need a home to live in.
Mom, that's very kind of you, but, uh, I'm telling you We can handle it.
Your way of "handling it" almost got you thrown in jail, today, son, which is where you would have been if they hadn't recognized me.
What would you have me do, dad? Sit here and watch you make my kids cry at cards? Melissa, talk to your husband.
Sharon, I'm going to bed.
Would you just please think about it? If they help us, he will never let me forget it.
You know that.
I do know the man, yes.
We didn't do anything wrong.
Honey, I don't think that's the point anymore.
Well, what, then? What do we do? I don't know.
Go downtown again.
They don't want to help you down there.
All they want to do is check your name off some list so so it looks like they did something.
Look, you're you're a salesman, right? So go do some selling.
Find the key.
You know that's bullshit, right? Then we're gonna be spending a hell of a lot more time with your parents.
Aaah! Open up.
Did you call my daughter a whore? No.
'Cause I got to tell you, as a parent, that's not the kind of thing you want to hear.
I didn't call her that.
Really? 'Cause I heard you did.
Well, I didn't.
This is stupid.
I'm gonna get Lucy.
We're gonna straighten all this out.
What?! No, wait! What? She dumped me, okay? And I don't know.
I I kind of lost my mind, and I got angry.
And when I tried to make her talk to me about it I called her a whore.
But it was because she wouldn't let me talk.
It's not because she's actually like a whore or anything like that.
I swear.
I mean, even if she was a whore, I'd still, you know She's just She's so great.
Okay.
I'm sorry.
I didn't mean it.
Relax.
Calm down.
I just wanted her to like me again.
I wanted everything to be the way it was.
Look, you're you're in high school.
This is it's what happens.
No.
It's not like that.
Like, when we were together, it was I was I don't know.
She fills gaps, right? Huh? Gaps.
You've got gaps.
She's got gaps.
And when you're together You fill gaps.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I guess.
You remember that? From "Rocky"? What's "Rocky"? Doesn't matter.
It's just look.
I get it.
So, what now? Everything go back to sucking? Yeah, pretty much.
Not forever, though.
Feels like forever.
Look, Travis It's hard.
I know.
It's hard.
You found somebody special.
Yeah.
And and and you probably thought you're gonna spend the rest of your life with her.
Yeah.
Yeah, and and and you think, "Boy, I'm never gonna find anybody like this ever again.
" That's how you feel.
I don't have any magic words, but All I can tell you is sometimes you got to feel as bad as you possibly can before you feel better.
And You will You're gonna find somebody.
You're gonna meet somebody again.
I know you don't believe me right now, but You will.
And you know what? Maybe the next one Maybe that's Maybe that's the girl you're gonna marry.
And who knows? You may have a daughter one day, and there may be a boy who falls in love with her, and he may call her a name.
And you're gonna have this moment right here.
You know what you're probably gonna say to that kid? You're gonna say, "Hey, kid, "I know you're gonna do the right thing.
'Cause if you don't, I'm gonna kick your ass.
" That's probably what you're gonna say.
Yeah.
Yeah, okay.
Okay.
All right.
Drive safe, Trav.
Hey.
I'm so sorry about last night.
I got the craziest story.
I wish I had time to hear it.
I tried to call you later, but but you never answered.
Yeah, I wasn't there.
I made plans with some people, and I kept them.
Okay, look, um I know we were kind of supposed to have dinner, but we were keeping it kind of loosey-goosey.
No.
You were keeping it loosey-goosey.
I was getting off at 6:00 and then waiting until 7:30.
Look, l-I was arrested.
What? I was trying to help a friend of mine turn the lights back on at his house.
Then the police showed up, and and The story's actually really boring, but it's real.
Okay, then.
O kay, then.
So Uh, you want to try again tonight? At an actual time or "loosey-goosey"? Look, I feel like I've been pretty up front about me and relationships.
And you know as far as commitment goes, I'm not Whoa, whoa, whoa.
No one's talking about that.
Look, I like being with you.
And I don't care about spending every night with you, or even every other night.
But on the nights that we say we're gonna be together, I need to know that you give a shit.
Can you handle that? Absolutely.
Good.
Okay.
So Tonight? I get off at 6:00.
You want to write it down? Yeah, you know, maybe I better.
Right? "Rocky.
" "Gonna Fly Now" Gets all the press, but this is the one that gets you right here.
Hey, you know, Maria, I meant to tell you I know you got a lot of things going on in your life, and, you know, it can get complicated and all, and I just just want you to know, if you need it, you can always come to me, you know? I mean, my door is always open for you guys.
Okay.
Okay.
I got this song in my head that I just can't stand With this beat that comes from a foreign land Might be Sweden or Venezuela Don't ruin it, Dashaun.
81! It's me again.
I notice you don't get a lot of chances to get up from that desk.
I thought you might get thirsty.
Uh, sir, I told you I've done everything I could possibly do.
Well, I know you have, and I appreciate it.
The thing is, I can see you're a clever guy, and I thought between the two of us, we could maybe come up with another solution Something that, uh, makes sense.
Five minutes That's all I'm asking.
Hey, um You know, my father played for the Lakers.
Oh.
That.
That's, uh, that's my boss Tim's.
He's a He's a huge Lakers fan.
Me, I'm, uh More of a football guy.
I got to hand it to you you really work.
I mean, a lot of people, they show up and fart around most of the day.
But what you do? This psh! This is work.
Look, uh Mr.
Thoreau I appreciate the compliments and the effort, Um But I'll say it again There is nothing more I can do for you.
If I could, I would give you the permits right now.
But this is the city of Los Angeles.
Did you know I can't even decorate my own work area? I like plants.
Man.
Okay, man.
I'm sorry.
Don't be sorry.
I get it.
I've been working for my old man for 20 years, so Boy, do I get it.
20 years of showing up, sitting at my desk, and trying to fool myself into believing that I actually wanted to be there.
One time I tried to get from under it.
23 years old.
I had this plan to open my own record store.
I found a place.
I borrowed one of my dad's ties and went in and actually convinced some loan officer to give me $10,000.
Mm.
Back then, it might as well have been a million.
I couldn't believe it.
And I took that check straight from the bank, and I dropped it on the old man's desk.
I was bouncing off the walls.
I was telling him, "I'm gonna make my own name, be my own boss.
" You know, do it the way he did it.
I thought he'd respect me for it, you know? He just folded up that check, stuck it in my pocket, and said "You'll be back.
" No "Good luck" or, um "Don't skimp on those payroll taxes.
" Just "You'll be back.
" And a year later, when I was sitting on a mountain of vinyl and every kid in the world decided to buy a CD player, he was right.
I was back.
Just like now, when I tell him how deep I'm gonna be into this house, when I got to go to him for the money for it.
He'll be right again.
And I'll be back.
You got a father? Plenty of time.
Who are you, Terry? Oh, no.
No, no! You piece of shit! Come on! Come o Hey! Here! We don't open till 7:00.
- I don't care! Ooh! Whoa, whoa, whoa! My bad.
My bad.
No shit your bad, dickhead! Dude, you are saving my life right now.
No problem.
Okay, great.
Great, great, great.
Three minutes.
Three Shit.
Hey.
Traffic was no good.
Um I'm sorry.
We're not riding bikes to dinner, are we? Actually, uh, yeah.
I guess I didn't tell you I've gone totally green.
Wow! Yeah.
Yeah.
Let me ask you You ever look in the mirror and ask, "Who are you?" No.
No, me neither.
Whew!
Hey.
Sprinkler's busted again.
What? The thing.
Oh.
Look at that.
Well, I was wondering why it was turning brown.
Yeah, the plastic ones they always break, and then the whole system it's gonna go nuts on you.
You know, I'll pick up a couple parts.
I'll come by and fix it.
No, it's all right.
I know how busy you are.
It's 10 minutes.
Right.
Well, I'll get a handyman, then.
No.
Why a handyman? I'll come on a Saturday Joe, I didn't come out here to talk about the sprinklers! Okay.
I'm sorry.
That's all right.
Go ahead.
What's going on? It's Lucy.
There's a boy who's been bothering her.
Who? The kid with the hair? No, a different one Travis.
Travis? Yeah, I thought he was nice, but I guess it didn't work out, and now he keeps calling her and texting and of course, she won't say anything to me, but, you know, you hear about these kids these days who go off the deep end, and Okay.
All right.
Yeah.
But, I mean, come on.
They're 17.
This is what happens.
It's just some drama.
No.
Joe, Joe, this feels really aggressive to me, okay? Okay.
All right.
Travis.
Not crazy about the name.
Oh, my God, Joe.
Anyway, I'll just talk to her.
I'll ask her.
No! Oh, my God, no! That would make her clam up even more.
All right, I won't talk to her.
Yeah, well, just pay attention to her and, you know, let her know you're there for her, that we're there for her.
Just monitor the situation, okay? And I'll do the same.
- Albert! Come on! - Okay? Just All right.
I got it.
- All right.
Thanks.
- Don't worry.
Don't bring anything up unless she says something to you first.
I got it.
I got it.
I got it.
I got it.
Okay.
Thanks.
All right.
And just a warning she's been really moody.
Bye, mom.
Have a great day, you guys! Bye! Hi.
Your hair looks nice.
No, it doesn't.
When I grow up to be a man Will I dig the same things that turn me on as a kid? Will I look back and say that I wish I hadn't done what I did? Will I joke around? Will I still joke around? And still dig those sounds? And still dig those sounds? When I grow up to be a man.
300 bucks, my ass.
Come on! Did you break my wave machine? No.
I set it.
I thought it only made rainforest sounds.
Those make you go to sleep.
They don't wake you up.
Exactly.
This is a much better way to wake up.
Oh.
No, sorry, pal.
Nope.
I've got to go to work.
You got time.
No.
Don't you start at 10:00? Uh, 10:00, 11:00.
Mm Tomorrow.
Oh, must be nice.
Mmm-hmm.
Hmm.
Do you want to have dinner? Sure.
What time? I don't know.
Uh Why don't I just swing by your work later on and we'll figure it out? Okay.
I get off at 6:00.
Yeah, we'll figure it out.
Okay.
I'm done at 6:00.
I fixed it.
Got you! Got you! No, you didn't! You got my shirt! Boys! Sit down, or I will eat this breakfast myself! Did you, uh, blow a fuse or something? Mnh-mnh.
The electricians are running power to the addition.
And apparently, to do that, they had to disconnect the whole house from the main line.
Come on.
Wait the addition is getting power? As we speak.
They said it shouldn't take more than an hour.
Sweetie, do you know what this means? - Hmm? - We are almost done.
Done like done done? Like done done.
I mean, they still have things to do on their list, but yeah.
Done done.
You know, I never thought we'd see this day.
Come on! Could you pick up a movie for the boys on your way home from work? I'm about to strangle those two.
Yeah, yeah.
I'll give you a Uh, where are they going? Supplies, I guess.
Mr.
Thoreau? Yeah? Brent Powers department of building and safety.
And this is Officer Kearns with the County Sheriff's office.
And, uh, w-what can we do for you gentlemen? Well, sir, I'm afraid we're here to shut your construction down.
Excuse me? Well, you're building without a permit, Mr.
Thoreau.
Our office has red-tagged this site four times in the last month To alert you that you were not in compliance.
You know anything about this? No! No! Gunther didn't say anything about red tags.
Yeah, our contractor never said anything to us about any problems.
Oh.
What? What's that? Well, sometimes your less-scrupulous contractors will simply rip the tags down without alerting the homeowner.
Then they'll hit you up with as many "surprise bills" as they can before we show up to shut the site down.
Then they just disappear.
No, this is not happening.
So, uh, what what do we do now? Well, all work has to stop until an inspector can determine the extent of the violations.
And then what happens? Well, worst-case scenario the County could demand that you tear down any work that was done and rebuild with the proper permits.
All of it? No, no just the new construction.
No, that's all of it.
Oh.
Uh then yes.
Thank you.
Have a good day.
- Hey, Maria.
- Hey.
Oh.
We need, um, more Miller.
Miller? You know, the silver balloons.
Oh, Mylar.
It's pronounced "my-lar.
" We're out of it.
All right.
Hey, Maria You and, um You and and what's-her-name, you guys you broke up, right? Kaitlyn.
Yeah.
I'm just the only reason I'm bringing it up is 'cause my daughter, Lucy, just broke up with this kid, and he's taking it kind of hard, you know, and I don't know.
Did did Kaitlyn ever get clingy? She ever, like, couldn't let go? Kaitlyn broke up with me.
Oh.
I mean, not that Not that It's different, though, right? I mean, it probably is way different 'cause you guys are both You're a girl.
She's a girl.
It's different, right? It's totally different.
All right.
My cousin she broke up with some guy, and he came to her house and killed her guinea pig.
Whoa! Like, uh, "Fatal Attraction" The rabbit.
No, it wasn't a rabbit.
It was a guinea pig.
Yeah.
Yeah, no, I know, but You saw "Fatal Attraction"? Uh-huh.
Yeah.
Yeah, but This was a guinea pig.
Anyway, I had a I broke up with a girl in 6th grade, and she, uh If I can remember the quote She told everybody I had no wiener.
I'd rather she killed my rabbit.
I don't mean to make fun.
I'm just I'm just trying to lighten it up.
All right.
Let's get some mylar.
2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0.
So, what's wrong with you guys? Why do I keep seeing customers walking out of my showroom? Don't start telling me anything about the economy.
In 1979, during the Arabian Opec bullshit, I sold more cars than anyone else in this city.
And do you know how? Because I could always, always find "the key.
" When you've got an up, you don't just show him the floor model and ask about a trade-in.
Hell no.
You find the key.
You get inside of his brain.
You know all about his old lady nagging him, about how he's nose-deep in crap-filled diapers.
You work the man.
You find the key.
You got it? What if the guy's not married? Hey, what's going on? Still no power at the house.
Still? I have left five messages for Gunther.
I'll I'll make some calls to the billing office downtown, and, um, if the power's not on by tonight, uh, we'll just, uh, check into a hotel.
We can't be spending money on hotels Not if we might have to tear down the house.
What else are we gonna do? Grandpa! Who let these rugrats in here? We're going to stay at your house, grandpa! Says who? Mommy.
Oh.
Hi, guys.
Do you understand that my home has no power? Because my contractor's an asshole, that's why! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! I will not! I will not change my tone! Why don't you change Why don't you change and actually do something that's helpful? No, no, don't put me on hold.
Aaaaargh! You know, you watch him move like that, and it's hard to believe he's the child of a professional athlete.
More contractor stuff? I guess.
I don't know.
I turned him on to that guy.
He did the siding on my building.
It looks great.
Aaah, shit! Oh-ho-ho! Shit, shit! He's gonna blame me for this.
You watch.
Oh, yeah.
Probably.
Well, well, well.
Look who's here.
Morning, Laura.
Terrance.
Here you go.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
What? When did that happen? I don't know.
Couple weeks ago.
Turns out we both drove VW buses in college.
Oh.
You should have a choke collar on your dick.
Hey.
Everything cool? I don't want to talk about it.
He's doing the waitress.
- What? - Yeah.
Which one? The the tall one.
Why you got to shit where we eat? Oh, that's nice.
You know, she's touching our food, and she's been She's been near his business.
Whoa, whoa.
Don't worry.
We always take a shower afterwards.
Gross.
What exactly did you order me here? Hey, you know, you're 20 minutes late every time.
You can't complain about what I order for you.
Hey, I'm not 20 minutes late.
All right, okay.
All right, 15.
Sorry.
You're early.
Man, my circadian rhythms are out of whack.
Annie set the alarm this morning, and Hold it.
Annie? So you got the waitress and the 25-year-old? - I don't "got" anybody.
- Oh.
Anyway, Annie set the alarm this morning, which is a totally unhealthy way to wake up.
So, from 8:00 to 11:00, I fall straight back into a REM sleep, and then, bam! Every nine minutes, I'm back up.
Yeah, I hate it when I can't REM sleep through to 11:00.
Who are you kidding, anyway? You're up every nine minutes going, "I'm sleeping with a 25-year-old!" You're high-fiving your penis.
All right, all right.
I don't expect you guys to understand.
I get it.
I know why you like her.
She fills gaps, right? What? From "Rocky," man.
That's, like, the best scene in the movie.
Paulie says, "Hey, why you goin' out with my sister?" And Rocky's like, "I got gaps.
"She's got gaps.
You know, together we fill gaps.
" That's the best scene? Mm-hmm.
In "Rocky"? Yeah.
Not when he's jumping at the top of the stairs with his arms in the air? Or "Cut me, Mick"? How 'bout "cut me, Mick"? Or the meat, man! He's punching the meat and the music's playing? "Gonna fly now"! That's the best scene.
No, that's what everybody thi that's the obvious, but it's that's not even the best song.
Man, you're not nah, you don't get it.
"Fills gaps" That's deep shit.
- I could name 80 other scenes - No.
That people remember more than that one.
- Forget it, man.
Forget it.
- What? You know he's not gonna change his mind.
And this is not how I want to spend the last part of my morning before I go downtown to convince some asshole inspector to let some asshole electrician wire my house so I can turn on my asshole lights.
So, forget it.
Forget it.
Okay? You know, if you want, l- I can I can help you get your lights on.
No, no, no.
Look.
Two years of stage-lighting classes in college.
You don't want to let that knowledge go to waste.
No.
No, thank you.
You've done enough.
I told you he'd blame me.
This is, uh This is not good.
I don't even see an application for a permit.
Uh, we think our contractor was lying to us.
Was this a, um, small job that maybe you figured you didn't need a permit for and then it turned into a big job? No.
It's the same size it always was.
I mean, we added a window and a, um portico or whatever you call it, but, um, no we weren't trying to get away with anything, if that's what you're asking.
Well, I'm sorry, Mr.
, uh, Thoreau, but I'm afraid I don't have the authority to allow you to resume construction.
Wait.
You know what? That's that's fine.
Hell, I'm happy just to have a little break from all the hammering.
All we really want to do is get the electricity in the main house back on.
Why was the electricity off? For the construction.
But but but we're not gonna do any more work.
I wish I could help you, but it's out of my hands.
And any changes to the condition of your house will be considered work and then subject to more fines.
Believe me, I'm just trying to save you from even bigger headaches.
Yo! What's up, buddy? Oh, not much.
Where's Lucy? Who's the guy she's talking to? Travis, I think.
Hey.
You okay? Uh-huh.
Yeah? You look a little flushed.
What does that even mean? Oh, just you know.
Were you out in the sun today? Yeah, l-I guess so.
Yeah.
That's that's probably it.
Oh, good.
You found them.
Uh, yeah.
Thanks, mom.
Okay.
I'm going for a run.
Oh, yeah.
You enjoy that.
Owen, I didn't know that you ran.
Not every night, but, you know, when I need to let off some steam.
You know, honey, your father has plenty of friends downtown.
I'm sure he can make a few calls and get this all taken care of.
Really? The Mayor's brother-in-law he's been a customer for years.
Yeah, we can handle it, mom.
Uno! Grandpa, that's not fair! What do you mean, "it's not fair"? If you let your cards out for everybody to see, you're gonna get stung.
Owen.
Be nice.
I'm supposed to let him win? The boy is 6 years old, grandpa.
Well, he's not gonna be 6 forever, now, is he? If you let them win now, they'll think the world owes them something.
Can we go watch TV now? Oh, no, no, no.
Loser has to shuffle.
So not gonna lose.
The point is to win.
Okay, I'll be back in an hour.
An hour? He can run for a whole hour? Mm-hmm.
Don't make too much noise My neighbors' call the cops when the squirrels scurry the lawn.
Yeah, watch watch your step.
There's nails and crap everywhere.
Oh.
It's gonna be great when it's done, huh? Yeah.
It was done by a criminal.
And it might all soon be gone.
What am I looking for? The junction box.
Yeah.
What's it look like? It Like a box.
Well, how am I supposed to know that? I'm a car salesman.
Well, I don't sell cars, but if you ask me to find a wheel, I'm gonna go with something round.
Just turn my damn lights on! So, I'm not saying I'm the fastest kid in my gym class, - but I'm at least in the top eight.
- Eight? Usually when you say a top, you round it out to, like, 10.
But I'm better than that.
I mean, if I said "Top 10," you'd think I was 10.
I'm not.
I'm eight.
Yeah, I get it.
I get it.
That's pretty good.
Hey, come on, Thumbelina.
We were gonna put it down during dinner, right? Yeah, I am.
Just a second.
And done.
Happy? Yeah.
Yeah.
Now, let's come on.
Let's talk a little.
I got to pee.
I had two large cokes.
And I licked all my fries, Albert.
Albert, let me ask you something what do you know about this Travis guy? I don't know.
I mean, do you see him around school? Is he a nice guy? Yeah, usually.
I guess last week, he called Lucy a whore.
What?! Agh! Brain freeze! What do you mean? It's like nails in my eyeballs! Albert, how do you how do you How do you open this? To do what? I don't know.
I don't know.
Just read them.
All of them? Yeah, yeah.
What Unlock it.
What do you think you're doing? He had one of your fries.
Whoa.
All that happened in the bathroom? Yeah, I'm just a friend of mine is supposed to swing by and pick me up.
Is it the old guy? Yeah, the old guy.
You know, if it was just me, I could handle it.
You know? I'm used to it.
But when he starts dropping that shit on my kids? - Man - Just hold the light up, would you? So, how'd you get out of the house? I told them I was going for a run.
And they bought that? Anyway, thanks for coming out so quick.
You're saving my ass.
You kidding me? You saved mine.
Laura from the diner came by after work, and I swear to god, if you hadn't called, I might have been cuddled to death.
Okay.
So, here we go.
We got the black Positive.
Red, positive.
They got this green one going What the hell.
I'll just put it there.
Terry.
Now, whoa.
Terry.
Terry, come on, man! If you don't know what you're do Eh? Son of a bitch.
Huh? Wow.
Who knew that you could actually do shit? Surprised the hell out of me.
All right, guys.
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait right there.
Keep your hands up.
No, no.
No, officer, this is this is my house.
We just had a little electrical problem.
- Let me see some I.
D.
- Yeah.
And move slowly.
Sure.
No no problem.
Oh.
What? These are not my shorts.
Aw, shit.
Really? They got to cuff us? Well, they don't know.
We could have been breaking and entering.
Breaking into what? We walked in through a plastic sheet.
Hey, what time is it? Hmm? Aah! 7:30.
Shit! What the hell What is wrong with you, man? Ah, I was supposed to pick up Annie an hour ago for dinner.
Ohhhh.
It's it's fine.
Oh, good.
Well, maybe now she'll realize she's dating a dick.
Why am I a dick? Because only a dick goes straight from banging a waitress all afternoon to dinner with his 25-year-old girlfriend.
Okay, first of all, she's not my girlfriend.
Neither is Laura.
And I have been totally up front with both of them about how I feel about all this, and they're okay with it.
Oh, so they know about each other? What difference does it make? They're happy.
I'm happy.
The only one who's not happy about the whole thing is you.
Of course, you're not happy about anything lately.
I can't remember the last time we had a hike or went to lunch when you weren't bitching about your life.
"My dad's too tough on me.
The kids are up all night.
The contractor's screwing me.
" Blah, blah, blah.
That's your fault! You told me Gunther did great work! He does do great work! How am I supposed to know he does it without a permit? Look, I didn't hire him.
I just live in the building.
Geez! Man! Take some responsibility! You're telling me about taking responsibility? You can't even be on time for shit you want to be at! Oh, no, no, no.
Not the same.
Not the same.
You know why you're always late? 'Cause I know why.
I know exactly why.
Really? I got a whole theory about it.
Well, please enlighten me, O Great Buddha.
When you're late, all you can think about is getting to where you're trying to go Traffic, lights, whatever.
You got no room in your head for anything else.
But if you're early, you're not thinking about that stuff.
Your brain's not occupied that way.
So your mind drifts.
Maybe you start thinking, you know, inward About your life, who you are, whatnot.
But you don't want to do that.
The last thing you want is to look in the mirror and ask, "Who are you, Terry?" Because then you might start thinking about exactly who you are and what you're doing with your life.
That's why you're late all the time.
Well, thank you.
Yeah.
That's for free.
Yeah, but you forgot one thing.
What's that? The only reason I'm late right now is because I was helping you.
I don't care why! You have no right to go through my stuff! Sorry.
It's my fault.
It's my fault.
Oh, I should never have told you about this.
What? No, no.
You have to tell me this stuff, okay? We got to figure this out together.
Don't I don't want to worry that you're not gonna include me in this stuff.
Yeah, you know what I'm sorry, Joe, but I did include you, and look what happened.
Did you know Travis called Lucy a whore? What? Yeah.
That's why that's Was that in the text? No.
Albert he heard about it at school.
But that's why I was looking to try to see what else he's saying to her.
Which I would have found out if her phone wasn't a damn Rubik's cube.
Why didn't she tell me that? I don't I don't know.
Even when we were together, I'd feel like I didn't know what was going on with her and all that.
Now it just Look, I don't know if she's not talking to me and that's normal, or if there's something else going on because of, you know us.
No, no, no.
Look, it's okay.
It's all right.
We'll figure this all out.
Yeah, okay.
It's all right.
Well, we're definitely getting her a new phone, because that thing's a nightmare.
Right? You couldn't figure it out, either.
It's impossible.
Soon they're all gonna have the GPS-tracking thing.
Oh, we're getting that shit.
All we were saying is Okay.
They're down.
Phew! So, if it comes up, I was helping those cops to look for a dog.
Your father and I have talked it over, and we feel like the best way to handle this situation is for you to just pay the fines and do whatever it takes to get the job finished.
Well, we may have to rebuild, and we can't afford that.
If it comes to that, we'll cover it.
But you two need a home to live in.
Mom, that's very kind of you, but, uh, I'm telling you We can handle it.
Your way of "handling it" almost got you thrown in jail, today, son, which is where you would have been if they hadn't recognized me.
What would you have me do, dad? Sit here and watch you make my kids cry at cards? Melissa, talk to your husband.
Sharon, I'm going to bed.
Would you just please think about it? If they help us, he will never let me forget it.
You know that.
I do know the man, yes.
We didn't do anything wrong.
Honey, I don't think that's the point anymore.
Well, what, then? What do we do? I don't know.
Go downtown again.
They don't want to help you down there.
All they want to do is check your name off some list so so it looks like they did something.
Look, you're you're a salesman, right? So go do some selling.
Find the key.
You know that's bullshit, right? Then we're gonna be spending a hell of a lot more time with your parents.
Aaah! Open up.
Did you call my daughter a whore? No.
'Cause I got to tell you, as a parent, that's not the kind of thing you want to hear.
I didn't call her that.
Really? 'Cause I heard you did.
Well, I didn't.
This is stupid.
I'm gonna get Lucy.
We're gonna straighten all this out.
What?! No, wait! What? She dumped me, okay? And I don't know.
I I kind of lost my mind, and I got angry.
And when I tried to make her talk to me about it I called her a whore.
But it was because she wouldn't let me talk.
It's not because she's actually like a whore or anything like that.
I swear.
I mean, even if she was a whore, I'd still, you know She's just She's so great.
Okay.
I'm sorry.
I didn't mean it.
Relax.
Calm down.
I just wanted her to like me again.
I wanted everything to be the way it was.
Look, you're you're in high school.
This is it's what happens.
No.
It's not like that.
Like, when we were together, it was I was I don't know.
She fills gaps, right? Huh? Gaps.
You've got gaps.
She's got gaps.
And when you're together You fill gaps.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I guess.
You remember that? From "Rocky"? What's "Rocky"? Doesn't matter.
It's just look.
I get it.
So, what now? Everything go back to sucking? Yeah, pretty much.
Not forever, though.
Feels like forever.
Look, Travis It's hard.
I know.
It's hard.
You found somebody special.
Yeah.
And and and you probably thought you're gonna spend the rest of your life with her.
Yeah.
Yeah, and and and you think, "Boy, I'm never gonna find anybody like this ever again.
" That's how you feel.
I don't have any magic words, but All I can tell you is sometimes you got to feel as bad as you possibly can before you feel better.
And You will You're gonna find somebody.
You're gonna meet somebody again.
I know you don't believe me right now, but You will.
And you know what? Maybe the next one Maybe that's Maybe that's the girl you're gonna marry.
And who knows? You may have a daughter one day, and there may be a boy who falls in love with her, and he may call her a name.
And you're gonna have this moment right here.
You know what you're probably gonna say to that kid? You're gonna say, "Hey, kid, "I know you're gonna do the right thing.
'Cause if you don't, I'm gonna kick your ass.
" That's probably what you're gonna say.
Yeah.
Yeah, okay.
Okay.
All right.
Drive safe, Trav.
Hey.
I'm so sorry about last night.
I got the craziest story.
I wish I had time to hear it.
I tried to call you later, but but you never answered.
Yeah, I wasn't there.
I made plans with some people, and I kept them.
Okay, look, um I know we were kind of supposed to have dinner, but we were keeping it kind of loosey-goosey.
No.
You were keeping it loosey-goosey.
I was getting off at 6:00 and then waiting until 7:30.
Look, l-I was arrested.
What? I was trying to help a friend of mine turn the lights back on at his house.
Then the police showed up, and and The story's actually really boring, but it's real.
Okay, then.
O kay, then.
So Uh, you want to try again tonight? At an actual time or "loosey-goosey"? Look, I feel like I've been pretty up front about me and relationships.
And you know as far as commitment goes, I'm not Whoa, whoa, whoa.
No one's talking about that.
Look, I like being with you.
And I don't care about spending every night with you, or even every other night.
But on the nights that we say we're gonna be together, I need to know that you give a shit.
Can you handle that? Absolutely.
Good.
Okay.
So Tonight? I get off at 6:00.
You want to write it down? Yeah, you know, maybe I better.
Right? "Rocky.
" "Gonna Fly Now" Gets all the press, but this is the one that gets you right here.
Hey, you know, Maria, I meant to tell you I know you got a lot of things going on in your life, and, you know, it can get complicated and all, and I just just want you to know, if you need it, you can always come to me, you know? I mean, my door is always open for you guys.
Okay.
Okay.
I got this song in my head that I just can't stand With this beat that comes from a foreign land Might be Sweden or Venezuela Don't ruin it, Dashaun.
81! It's me again.
I notice you don't get a lot of chances to get up from that desk.
I thought you might get thirsty.
Uh, sir, I told you I've done everything I could possibly do.
Well, I know you have, and I appreciate it.
The thing is, I can see you're a clever guy, and I thought between the two of us, we could maybe come up with another solution Something that, uh, makes sense.
Five minutes That's all I'm asking.
Hey, um You know, my father played for the Lakers.
Oh.
That.
That's, uh, that's my boss Tim's.
He's a He's a huge Lakers fan.
Me, I'm, uh More of a football guy.
I got to hand it to you you really work.
I mean, a lot of people, they show up and fart around most of the day.
But what you do? This psh! This is work.
Look, uh Mr.
Thoreau I appreciate the compliments and the effort, Um But I'll say it again There is nothing more I can do for you.
If I could, I would give you the permits right now.
But this is the city of Los Angeles.
Did you know I can't even decorate my own work area? I like plants.
Man.
Okay, man.
I'm sorry.
Don't be sorry.
I get it.
I've been working for my old man for 20 years, so Boy, do I get it.
20 years of showing up, sitting at my desk, and trying to fool myself into believing that I actually wanted to be there.
One time I tried to get from under it.
23 years old.
I had this plan to open my own record store.
I found a place.
I borrowed one of my dad's ties and went in and actually convinced some loan officer to give me $10,000.
Mm.
Back then, it might as well have been a million.
I couldn't believe it.
And I took that check straight from the bank, and I dropped it on the old man's desk.
I was bouncing off the walls.
I was telling him, "I'm gonna make my own name, be my own boss.
" You know, do it the way he did it.
I thought he'd respect me for it, you know? He just folded up that check, stuck it in my pocket, and said "You'll be back.
" No "Good luck" or, um "Don't skimp on those payroll taxes.
" Just "You'll be back.
" And a year later, when I was sitting on a mountain of vinyl and every kid in the world decided to buy a CD player, he was right.
I was back.
Just like now, when I tell him how deep I'm gonna be into this house, when I got to go to him for the money for it.
He'll be right again.
And I'll be back.
You got a father? Plenty of time.
Who are you, Terry? Oh, no.
No, no! You piece of shit! Come on! Come o Hey! Here! We don't open till 7:00.
- I don't care! Ooh! Whoa, whoa, whoa! My bad.
My bad.
No shit your bad, dickhead! Dude, you are saving my life right now.
No problem.
Okay, great.
Great, great, great.
Three minutes.
Three Shit.
Hey.
Traffic was no good.
Um I'm sorry.
We're not riding bikes to dinner, are we? Actually, uh, yeah.
I guess I didn't tell you I've gone totally green.
Wow! Yeah.
Yeah.
Let me ask you You ever look in the mirror and ask, "Who are you?" No.
No, me neither.
Whew!