Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (2024) s01e05 Episode Script
The Hurt Man
[buzzer blaring in distance]
[metal door clangs]
[indistinct chatter]
[buzzer sounds]
Hey, Erik. Sorry.
It's okay. There's nothing else to do.
Uh, I know, right? It's just terrible
you're locked up in here.
But that is what I am here for, right?
You don't smoke, do you?
No, never.
Good.
It is a disgusting habit,
and I will never kick it. I know it.
I wish I never started.
Yeah, my my dad smoked.
- It just always disgusted me.
- Good.
Just the smell of it in his mouth.
Well, I always try to chew
a piece of gum afterwards.
No, it doesn't bother me with you.
Okay, good.
Don't ever start, okay?
[lighter clicks]
[Leslie] Mmm.
Uh. [exhales deeply]
So
Yeah, so
How you doing in here?
Uh, not, uh Not great.
Sure. But you're eating now, yeah?
Yeah. It's more that, uh, ever since
they found that letter and Lyle got moved,
I've been here in 7,000
by myself now, kinda.
I I found a friend
who's just made being in here easier,
but, um, on Saturday, he was just gone.
Oh no.
Yeah, just I don't know whether
they moved him or where he went, but
Well, I'm sorry.
It was just out of nowhere,
so I've just been feeling kind of, uh
- Lonesome.
- Yeah.
[Leslie exhales]
Well, I'm sorry about that.
And, Erik, I'm sorry about
what we have to talk about now.
Okay.
- Because, you know, I talked to Lyle
- Yeah, I know.
Lyle's lawyer, Jill, was there too,
and I actually asked Jill if I could just
come talk to you alone today.
Oh, okay.
And she was okay with that.
- I think I prefer this.
- Okay, good.
Because I talked to Lyle
about the things you told Dr. Vicary.
Yeah.
And, um, you know, rough stuff with Lyle,
but with your dad too, and
and the objects,
and the things that Lyle did to you,
but also the things he knew
that were going on with you and your dad,
and how he thought it had stopped,
and when he found out it hadn't, that
Yeah, all of that.
Yeah. And Lyle told you
about his experience
with your dad, with the abuse, yeah?
Yes. That's what we, uh
In the days leading up to that night,
that's what we talked about,
kind of for the first time,
like we were, uh, comparing notes.
- Sure.
- I guess you could say.
But not not in a happy way.
Like, it was good
to finally talk about it,
to have it be out in the open.
Okay. And just to ask,
just to say it out loud
You believe him. Yeah?
- Yeah. I know he's telling the truth.
- Yes.
- What? Am I supposed
- No, so do I.
I just I just want to keep
underlining that for all of us is all.
That however much you loved this man,
he was a monster.
And that what he did was real.
And so, you know,
I think that Lyle's point of view
is that however bad he had it,
and I really do get this feeling from him,
he feels you had it worse.
Yeah.
- Mm-hmm.
- Yeah. It was, um, much worse.
- Can you
- Sure.
I just need you right now, if you can,
to just tell me everything.
- Yeah. Okay.
- Can you do that?
Yeah. I can.
Okay.
Um
Where Where should I start? I
I know. It's awful.
Um
Well, I guess I would just ask
Do you remember when it started?
Hmm.
Yeah, uh
Well, it kinda seems
like it was always happening,
because, I mean,
I was always afraid of him.
- Your dad or Lyle?
- My dad. I was never afraid of Lyle.
I always felt like Lyle was my,
uh, my protector.
Even when he was abusing you?
Yeah. He he wasn't.
I just mean that
Like, my earliest memories
are of running away.
You know, I was, like, five or something,
and I wouldn't get far.
I would just get to, uh, my aunt's house
just a few blocks down.
And it was like, um
Well, because that's what Lyle said
when he found out I was still
He was He was like, mad, right?
[Leslie] Hmm.
And he said, you know,
"Erik, how could you let this happen?"
"Do you like it or something?
'Cause you could just run away."
I was like, "Because
they always come find me."
Every time I tried, they would find me,
and it just would get worse. So
- So running away never helped?
- No. No.
My mom and my dad and my whole family,
they were like this octopus
that you could never escape from.
Because their tentacles
would come and grab you?
- Or
- Yeah. Something like that.
Um
But as far as when it started,
Lyle thinks I was six.
And, uh, that seems right.
- That's when your father started with him.
- Right.
- So that makes some sense.
- Yeah. And I, uh, didn't
Um
- What?
- Well, that's when I had Coach Wadlington.
I was six when I started with him.
And I remember it was happening
around then, or
Well, the massages did.
Erik, what?
- It didn't start out bad, you know?
- Yeah.
It would just be after tennis,
or after swimming, and
Um
- Mm-hmm. Go on.
- Uh [exhaling]
Well, I knew that my dad didn't like me.
How do you mean?
Just He was always so mean.
You know, he loved Lyle,
but he didn't love me.
And, uh, I could tell,
but he would also say it.
- He'd call me these names and they were
- What kinda names?
Just stuff you shouldn't say
to a a kid. Like
stupid, or faggot.
Okay.
And so then you're always trying
to impress him, or to not make him mad.
And my mom would she would do it, too.
They would gang up on me.
Like, if I said
I was scared of the closet,
they'd lock me in the closet
until I stopped screaming.
And, I think they were laughing,
so I knew I wasn't gonna die.
But still, it was just like
"Why would you do that?"
Or, uh, the basement.
- They'd lock you in the basement?
- Yeah. Because I was scared of it.
It was to toughen me up. And
[Leslie scoffing] How long?
Just all afternoon,
or until I stopped crying.
And my mom would do it too,
but it was mostly my dad.
That's awful.
So, anyways, when, uh
when you know your dad thinks you're weak,
or, uh, I don't know, too scared,
or something, like, not tough enough.
And, well, then you start to think,
"Well, I guess I'm not tough enough."
And he's always mad at you.
Like, then the times that he's not.
And the times when he takes you upstairs
and says, uh,
"You know, let's take a shower,"
and he was
Well, at first, he was, uh
- Like, he was finally nice. You know?
- Hmm.
Like, to see that side of him
where he was, um
- Tender.
- Yeah.
Because it was then, like, he could stop
being mad when no one else was there.
But around everyone else
and even when family was over,
he would just call you those names
or he would hit you
and everyone everyone saw it.
But when it was just you and him,
that's that's when he would, um
- What?
- That's when he'd tell me he loved me.
- When he was abusing you?
- Yeah.
It it wasn't
[exhales] It was just
the massages at first,
like, with oil, or he'd have his shirt off
and I'd just be in my shorts, and it was
[Erik sighs]
- What?
- All the other stuff hadn't started yet.
And so it was just like time
being with my dad
where I felt like he cared about me.
And, uh, it was just me and him.
And that was good.
Like, those were my favorite memories.
[Leslie] Mm-hmm.
And then the massages changed?
[Erik inhales and exhales deeply]
Yes.
[Erik clears throat]
He would say, uh, turn over
and he'd do my front.
And by front?
He'd massage my penis.
- Okay.
- And so we'd fondle each other.
- But it it still wasn't, uh
- What?
Like it it wasn't scary yet,
what we were doing,
except I think I didn't want to,
like I would try not to do it.
The front part?
Yeah, because he'd be lying on his back
and I'd try to skip that part,
and he'd say, "No, you have to do that."
And, uh, just then the mouth massages
as I got older.
Like Lyle said, with the objects
and the toothbrush and
How old?
Uh, definitely second grade 'cause
- The toothbrush?
- Mm-hmm.
Because I remember the day
at school afterwards,
there was a picture of a toothbrush
on the bulletin board or whatever,
just about how
you should go to the dentist.
And, um, I remember thinking
that the toothbrush in the picture
wouldn't have hurt as much.
[Leslie] Hmm.
Uh, and so there were four different kinds
of of sex with my dad.
There was nice, which was the, um
Well, the massages came before, but
[sighs] Then, when he started
making me use my mouth, it was just
It was too big, and I, uh,
I didn't I didn't like that.
Yeah.
- Doing that to him seemed really dirty.
- Yeah.
[sighs deeply] When he did it to me,
that was
But to him, the the naked
He called them "naked mouth massages."
- Doing that to him felt really dirty.
- Yeah.
Uh, and I didn't like it,
but he would say, you know,
"You did good. Good boy."
And it was just
the only time I felt like I had
a real relationship with my dad,
where I felt that he did love me.
And, uh, they'd go on for a long time,
the nice sex sessions.
Sometimes I started to wonder
where everybody else was
just because they'd go on for so long.
And in a lot of ways, even though
it felt dirty, it was also like
like I was the center of the world
for once, you know?
- Mm-hmm.
- And it it also felt
Nice?
[Leslie] Mm-hmm.
Go on.
The objects were to get me ready.
Lyle and I realized that
when we finally, um
- When you talked about it.
- Yeah.
And that he was, uh, preparing our bodies
for something bigger.
And, uh, at first he made me do it to him.
Do?
Sex.
Like, to penetrate him.
[Leslie] Hmm.
He always said he wanted to teach me
how to use my my penis.
- And that felt really dirty every time.
- Yeah.
And I didn't like it.
And, um
- What?
- In order to do that, you have to be
Erect.
That That''s what was so, uh,
weird about it.
And that I could ever
- Um
- What?
[sighs deeply]
- [Leslie whispers] It's okay.
- Or orgasm.
That was, uh, really confusing to me
at that age.
Of course it would be.
Uh
And then he he
Then he started to rape me and that
He'd take a slat from underneath the bed
and he'd put it under the doorknob
Oh my God.
And I I would cry, and it hurt,
and he'd say,
"You know, why can't you be like Lyle?"
"Just be a Menendez and get used to it."
And I just
I remember feeling so, um disappointed
because he was comparing us again,
Lyle and me,
like I wasn't good enough again,
and like, all of the stuff
that he'd said about loving me,
like, that was just gone.
Or like that had never even,
like, happened.
How often did this happen?
The just sex?
Mm-hmm.
Um, like, two or three times a month?
From when?
Uh
Like, junior high, I think.
So 11.
Mm-hmm.
Until
- Uh, right before
- Right before they're dead?
- Yeah. Just a few months before.
- Was the last time?
Yes.
Erik
You were raped hundreds of times
by your father?
Yes.
That was just what my life was like.
I'm so sorry, Erik.
It's okay. It's just
You kind of, uh
You get through it.
Yeah, and you just, um, survive, I guess.
You live for those times
when it doesn't happen, you know?
And you think, like
[sniffs]
Well, I mean, you do get through it.
It's like
It's like
It's like Christmas morning, you know?
And you think, "Okay, I got through that,
I'm not gonna have to, uh,
do that for a while now."
Or, "Maybe because this time,
it was knees,
maybe next time,
it'll be nice sex or maybe"
Sorry. Knees?
Well, that was another one of the, um
I had different names for things.
Knees was It wasn't my favorite.
It'd be when I do the mouth massages
to him, and he would, uh
What?
[exhales deeply]
He would finish, I guess, in my mouth,
and I just hated the taste of it.
That's why I started putting
the cinnamon into his coffee
and putting lemon on my food and stuff.
- The cinnamon was for the taste.
- To make it taste better.
So if I had done that
or I had gotten through that,
I'd think, "Maybe next time,
he'll do a mouth massage to me,
or it'll just not be the rough sex."
I just I never wanted it
to be the rough sex.
[sighs]
And what was rough sex like?
Uh, just
Just
hitting,
and, um, really painful.
He would get mean, and he would punch me,
and he was really strong.
[Leslie clears throat]
[exhales] And I couldn't, um
I don't know why, but for some reason,
I just could never hit him back.
It was like when I was little,
when I was running away.
Like, it just doesn't work.
You [sniffling]
You can't get out of it.
Like, he won't stop.
You just have to do it.
You have to just try to, uh
to get get through it.
But the, um, the rough sex was
- [Erik sighs]
- [Leslie] Hmm. What?
Uh
I'd have to, um, kneel on the headboard.
But, like, at the end of the bed,
like the foot of the bed. [sniffling]
But, like, it'd be into my shins.
So it'd be stuff to make it hurt.
Because he would always say,
"This is what the Greeks did."
"This is how they toughened themselves up
to make things not hurt."
So if it hurt,
you had to try to get through it.
So I'd be inserting objects into my, um
Or, like, with my penis, like pins or, uh
Like, he cut my leg.
Like, I've got a scar on my leg
because he'd be doing this stuff while
I'd be doing the mouth massages to him.
And he'd be, uh, you know,
just trying to toughen me up.
But, um, when
when he's tying something
around your penis, like a rope or, like
like, I don't think that's supposed
to make someone tough. Like
No, it does not.
Wait, that's more kind of, like,
torturing someone?
Yes, Erik.
And I just don't think
that's what a father's supposed to, uh
No, it's not.
Like, that's not
what you do to someone you, um
That's what you do
to someone you hate, you know?
- Erik, you did not deserve that.
- He'd call me these, like
[exhales deeply]
Sometimes it was what he would say
that would somehow hurt even more, like
Like what?
I just wanted to say to him,
like, "If I'm such a faggot,
then why are you asking me
to fuck you in the ass?"
You know? Like, that's
- Yeah.
- You know? And I
- What?
- I don't know.
- No, what were you going to say?
- No, I don't know. I don't know.
And you're supposed to I mean
Like, this is a man
who did such amazing stuff, you know?
Like, my dad was an amazing man.
I loved him so much.
And I still love him so much.
And that's why I'm like I don't wanna be
in here for the rest of my life,
because, like, to have that thought, like
to have that thought,
laying alone in here in a cell at night,
all cooped up in here,
and to have that be a thought
you're thinking
What thought?
Like, that I love my dad.
Like, that's
[sighs deeply]
Like, it wasn't the rough sex, the pins,
and the rope that were the torture. Like
Like, that would be the torture. To, uh
To still love him.
And that's why Lyle used to say,
you know, "Erik, they'd be proud of us."
And I'd always agree with him.
But then later, I'd think, I mean,
"They're not proud that we killed them."
But then, just the last few days in here,
and really since Saturday,
like, just thinking a lot,
it just really occurred to me that
What did?
That he probably would. You know?
Like in Heaven, right now,
he'd be looking down, and he'd say,
"Thank you, Erik and Lyle."
"You know,
you did what you had to do to me
because what I did to you
was really wrong." [sniffling]
"And I love you."
"And you you took that off my shoulders,"
or, "You took that off my soul,"
or whatever, if that makes sense.
- I don't know.
- It does. It does.
"You made me into someone
who doesn't do that anymore,"
is what Lyle meant, and what I mean.
So that now I could
Now we can love him again.
Really, for the first time,
because he's not doing that anymore.
Wow.
So, that's why I don't want
to be here, all alone,
with that thought banging around my head,
not without Lyle not here,
and my friend gone now.
[sniffs]
[buzzer blaring in distance]
[door clanging]
What?
No, I'm just I'm just blown away
by you, Erik Menendez.
- You don't You you shouldn't say that.
- No, I mean it. I really, really do.
[sniffs] Really do.
I know a lot of people.
I know a lot of very impressive people,
and you are right at the top.
With everything you have been through
and what you have had to do,
and who you are right now,
telling me all of this
The bravery, Erik?
You are just an incredible person,
and I just have to say it.
- [sniffs] And
- Thank you.
I'm not gonna make this about me,
but, you know, my father
was a fucking son of a bitch.
[chuckles]
- Really?
- Yeah. Yeah.
Abandoned me and my brother.
Just This man that I loved,
told me I was his little princess,
and he just dropped off
without so much as a word,
ran away with another family,
and I haven't heard from him in 34 years.
- [sniffs] And
- Oh, I'm so sorry.
Well, thank you. I Nothing like yours.
I just say that by way of,
you know, hearing all of this,
which is just mind-boggling,
and hearing it, thank you,
is just, you know
You don't have to forgive him.
Your father. Okay?
My father wasn't one-tenth
of one-millionth
of a percentage as bad as yours.
Okay, just no comparison.
And my brother, he's forgiven him.
You know, he talks to him.
But, Erik,
no fucking way will I forgive him
for what he did.
Not now, not ever.
And I just say that
'cause you have that option, too.
- Okay?
- Okay.
Because, you know, hearing all this,
I I just have to keep asking myself
and asking you,
where was your mother in all of this?
- Well, see because she
- Let's not make excuses for her.
He cheated on her.
And Lyle said he walked in on them
one time, and my dad was raping her.
Okay, well, that's still
My dad ruined her life, I think.
And she would sometimes say,
which, well, wasn't even
She would, um
[sighs]
[Leslie] What?
With Lyle, she would sometimes
she would sometimes get naked.
- This is your mother?
- Yes.
But it wasn't
it wasn't like it was with my dad.
She was
She just wanted us to think
she had a nice body, and she liked ours.
But it was just looking. Or
Well, yeah, it was just looking.
She would
When I was 16,
she started doing this thing where
Because I think by then,
the stuff with Dad was intense.
And she
[sighs deeply]
My mom would do this thing
where she would inspect my
- Penis?
- Yeah.
And, you know, she'd be like,
"Why do you shave it all?"
And I'd be like, "No, Dad did that."
But I couldn't say that because, well
[sighing] It was weird
'cause we were close.
But then Dad also had these girlfriends,
so, I think that
she also thought I was, too.
- Was what?
- That I was sleeping with Dad.
So, I was
She she was
I I was coming between them.
And that wasn't ever something
that we talked about.
Like, she would've never said anything.
It was something you knew,
but didn't talk about
because that was just our family.
But I knew how she felt.
And her feeling that way was why I think
she, like, made me get a girlfriend,
but she would do the inspections, right?
- Of your
- She'd do inspections of my Yeah.
Because she was terrified of AIDS,
and she would always check me
for blisters, like, on my penis.
And I think it was because
it was a way to see if, like
You know, because I think
she knew that Dad and I were,
so if one of Dad's girlfriends
had something
- Hold on.
- then I got it, that means she'd get it.
I wanna go back for a second.
Actually, it's not important.
- Forget that.
- But why did she think you had AIDS?
- It's not important. Just forget it.
- But why would she think that?
- I said, it's not important. Forget it!
- What I mean is
She just wanted to make sure,
so she'd do those inspections. That's why.
But why would she think
you would get AIDS?
And before you answer that,
I just wanna say that I'm not your mother.
Okay? And frankly,
I don't like your mother.
- Yeah, but she was
- I'm sorry. No. That's not a mother, Erik.
Okay? And I am a mother.
Wasn't the perfect one, I'm sure.
Maybe that's why
I want another shot at it, okay?
But for you to I mean,
I know you loved her.
I do. We were really close.
Lyle and her weren't,
but me and her, we were.
- Everyone's gonna love their mother.
- Yes, and I do.
But for her to have known,
and to have not intervened
Yes. Because she was
No, but let me I'm sorry.
Let me just say this and we can go back.
Because there were a lot of avenues
that she could have taken there, okay?
Where she could have gone
to the authorities,
where she could have said,
"No, not my sons."
"You will not abuse my sons!" Right?
- Yes.
- And that's a pretty low bar, okay?
And she didn't do that.
She didn't do any of that.
Not because of you. Look at me.
Not because of you, but because of her.
Okay?
So for you to
Yes, you can love her.
Yes, you can sympathize with her,
and then I wanna ask you something.
I wanna say this to you,
and I'd say it to Lyle
You deserved better than her.
I won't even mention your father.
That goes without saying.
That man is in a place is all I'll say.
But your mom too.
And if what you are saying is true,
and what Lyle is saying is true,
you deserved better.
Okay? So that's just where
I'm coming from.
But, Erik,
can you tell me
why she thought you had AIDS?
Can you just tell me?
[sighs deeply]
Well, see, um,
this is what's so hard.
What?
About
Because I don't know.
I don't know what way you are
and what way you're supposed to be
when that's your childhood.
Like, when that's what your dad's doing
to you. Like [sniffs]
[sighing] Well, I remember one time,
my mom, she called Lyle and me,
and I don't think she meant it,
but she screamed at us, like,
"You're sociopaths!"
And a part of me was like,
"Well, maybe we are sociopaths,
but can you blame us if we are,
when you know
what's been happening to us?"
So, like, the feelings I have of, like
sex stuff or, um, or
- Orientation.
- Yeah.
Or of Dad's, or like whatever
feelings I have, or which way I
Like, I just
I don't I don't know if it's me
or how I was supposed to be.
And, uh, that's why she
With the inspections
when I was 16 because
It's okay.
I don't want to say who it was, but, um
I was
I was kind of in love with a boy.
Or a teenager like me, who was a boy.
Okay.
But it was because
I was having sex with my dad,
like, that's not normal.
And that made me not normal.
And so he wasn't He didn't
He This boy, he didn't have a dad
who did that to him.
He was just always that way,
but I'm not sure I was,
and I'm I'm not sure I am,
but like, I have those feelings. Like
I was in love with someone, and, uh
he, this boy, we said we would
never say each other's names and I won't.
But when we had sex then,
it was it wasn't like it was with my dad.
It was
Nice.
It was really nice.
It was really nice.
[sniffs] And in here,
it was was really nice, but now it's
Whatever. It doesn't matter. But, um
Okay.
- Okay.
- No, actually, I don't think you, uh
No, I understand.
No, I I think you think I'm saying
something different than I am.
Like, yes, I've done certain things.
And so, you know,
you're gonna say I'm one way,
and you're gonna tell everyone
I'm one way, but I'm not.
- No, I'm not. I'm not gonna tell anyone.
- I'm actually No.
Okay. But what I'm saying is
I'm just saying, I don't know.
Okay? I don't know what I am.
I can't tell what I am, and I never
will be able to tell is what I'm saying.
And yeah, maybe I am a sociopath,
and maybe I should've got AIDS,
and maybe I'll only like it this way.
Because with girls, it was like,
how could I even know
when he's done this to me?
When it's been happening for so long,
I don't remember when it started.
When I can't remember a time
when my dad wasn't fucking me.
- Like, he broke me. I'm a broken person.
- No, you're not.
Yes, I am. He broke me in two.
He cracked me in half.
- I am not a real person.
- You are a real person.
You can't be
when the only man you wanna love
does that to you, you stop being real.
- You are real.
- Stop saying that.
Just stop.
I am the Hurt Man.
What is the Hurt Man?
[inhales deeply]
It's me.
- That's the name for yourself?
- Yes, since I
- Since when you were little.
- For as long as I can remember.
That's what I call myself.
Since forever.
That's always been my name.
And it's never gonna end.
And it's never gonna not hurt.
I shot my mom in the face.
And my dad, I think.
That's not a [sniffling]
That's not a normal thing you do.
So I don't know what I am.
And I don't think I'll ever know
is what I realized since Saturday
if I don't get out of here.
- I will get you out of here.
- No. Stop, stop saying that.
I will never really know who I am
if I don't get out of here.
I'll never know.
[female vocalizing]
[somber music playing]
[music ends]
[metal door clangs]
[indistinct chatter]
[buzzer sounds]
Hey, Erik. Sorry.
It's okay. There's nothing else to do.
Uh, I know, right? It's just terrible
you're locked up in here.
But that is what I am here for, right?
You don't smoke, do you?
No, never.
Good.
It is a disgusting habit,
and I will never kick it. I know it.
I wish I never started.
Yeah, my my dad smoked.
- It just always disgusted me.
- Good.
Just the smell of it in his mouth.
Well, I always try to chew
a piece of gum afterwards.
No, it doesn't bother me with you.
Okay, good.
Don't ever start, okay?
[lighter clicks]
[Leslie] Mmm.
Uh. [exhales deeply]
So
Yeah, so
How you doing in here?
Uh, not, uh Not great.
Sure. But you're eating now, yeah?
Yeah. It's more that, uh, ever since
they found that letter and Lyle got moved,
I've been here in 7,000
by myself now, kinda.
I I found a friend
who's just made being in here easier,
but, um, on Saturday, he was just gone.
Oh no.
Yeah, just I don't know whether
they moved him or where he went, but
Well, I'm sorry.
It was just out of nowhere,
so I've just been feeling kind of, uh
- Lonesome.
- Yeah.
[Leslie exhales]
Well, I'm sorry about that.
And, Erik, I'm sorry about
what we have to talk about now.
Okay.
- Because, you know, I talked to Lyle
- Yeah, I know.
Lyle's lawyer, Jill, was there too,
and I actually asked Jill if I could just
come talk to you alone today.
Oh, okay.
And she was okay with that.
- I think I prefer this.
- Okay, good.
Because I talked to Lyle
about the things you told Dr. Vicary.
Yeah.
And, um, you know, rough stuff with Lyle,
but with your dad too, and
and the objects,
and the things that Lyle did to you,
but also the things he knew
that were going on with you and your dad,
and how he thought it had stopped,
and when he found out it hadn't, that
Yeah, all of that.
Yeah. And Lyle told you
about his experience
with your dad, with the abuse, yeah?
Yes. That's what we, uh
In the days leading up to that night,
that's what we talked about,
kind of for the first time,
like we were, uh, comparing notes.
- Sure.
- I guess you could say.
But not not in a happy way.
Like, it was good
to finally talk about it,
to have it be out in the open.
Okay. And just to ask,
just to say it out loud
You believe him. Yeah?
- Yeah. I know he's telling the truth.
- Yes.
- What? Am I supposed
- No, so do I.
I just I just want to keep
underlining that for all of us is all.
That however much you loved this man,
he was a monster.
And that what he did was real.
And so, you know,
I think that Lyle's point of view
is that however bad he had it,
and I really do get this feeling from him,
he feels you had it worse.
Yeah.
- Mm-hmm.
- Yeah. It was, um, much worse.
- Can you
- Sure.
I just need you right now, if you can,
to just tell me everything.
- Yeah. Okay.
- Can you do that?
Yeah. I can.
Okay.
Um
Where Where should I start? I
I know. It's awful.
Um
Well, I guess I would just ask
Do you remember when it started?
Hmm.
Yeah, uh
Well, it kinda seems
like it was always happening,
because, I mean,
I was always afraid of him.
- Your dad or Lyle?
- My dad. I was never afraid of Lyle.
I always felt like Lyle was my,
uh, my protector.
Even when he was abusing you?
Yeah. He he wasn't.
I just mean that
Like, my earliest memories
are of running away.
You know, I was, like, five or something,
and I wouldn't get far.
I would just get to, uh, my aunt's house
just a few blocks down.
And it was like, um
Well, because that's what Lyle said
when he found out I was still
He was He was like, mad, right?
[Leslie] Hmm.
And he said, you know,
"Erik, how could you let this happen?"
"Do you like it or something?
'Cause you could just run away."
I was like, "Because
they always come find me."
Every time I tried, they would find me,
and it just would get worse. So
- So running away never helped?
- No. No.
My mom and my dad and my whole family,
they were like this octopus
that you could never escape from.
Because their tentacles
would come and grab you?
- Or
- Yeah. Something like that.
Um
But as far as when it started,
Lyle thinks I was six.
And, uh, that seems right.
- That's when your father started with him.
- Right.
- So that makes some sense.
- Yeah. And I, uh, didn't
Um
- What?
- Well, that's when I had Coach Wadlington.
I was six when I started with him.
And I remember it was happening
around then, or
Well, the massages did.
Erik, what?
- It didn't start out bad, you know?
- Yeah.
It would just be after tennis,
or after swimming, and
Um
- Mm-hmm. Go on.
- Uh [exhaling]
Well, I knew that my dad didn't like me.
How do you mean?
Just He was always so mean.
You know, he loved Lyle,
but he didn't love me.
And, uh, I could tell,
but he would also say it.
- He'd call me these names and they were
- What kinda names?
Just stuff you shouldn't say
to a a kid. Like
stupid, or faggot.
Okay.
And so then you're always trying
to impress him, or to not make him mad.
And my mom would she would do it, too.
They would gang up on me.
Like, if I said
I was scared of the closet,
they'd lock me in the closet
until I stopped screaming.
And, I think they were laughing,
so I knew I wasn't gonna die.
But still, it was just like
"Why would you do that?"
Or, uh, the basement.
- They'd lock you in the basement?
- Yeah. Because I was scared of it.
It was to toughen me up. And
[Leslie scoffing] How long?
Just all afternoon,
or until I stopped crying.
And my mom would do it too,
but it was mostly my dad.
That's awful.
So, anyways, when, uh
when you know your dad thinks you're weak,
or, uh, I don't know, too scared,
or something, like, not tough enough.
And, well, then you start to think,
"Well, I guess I'm not tough enough."
And he's always mad at you.
Like, then the times that he's not.
And the times when he takes you upstairs
and says, uh,
"You know, let's take a shower,"
and he was
Well, at first, he was, uh
- Like, he was finally nice. You know?
- Hmm.
Like, to see that side of him
where he was, um
- Tender.
- Yeah.
Because it was then, like, he could stop
being mad when no one else was there.
But around everyone else
and even when family was over,
he would just call you those names
or he would hit you
and everyone everyone saw it.
But when it was just you and him,
that's that's when he would, um
- What?
- That's when he'd tell me he loved me.
- When he was abusing you?
- Yeah.
It it wasn't
[exhales] It was just
the massages at first,
like, with oil, or he'd have his shirt off
and I'd just be in my shorts, and it was
[Erik sighs]
- What?
- All the other stuff hadn't started yet.
And so it was just like time
being with my dad
where I felt like he cared about me.
And, uh, it was just me and him.
And that was good.
Like, those were my favorite memories.
[Leslie] Mm-hmm.
And then the massages changed?
[Erik inhales and exhales deeply]
Yes.
[Erik clears throat]
He would say, uh, turn over
and he'd do my front.
And by front?
He'd massage my penis.
- Okay.
- And so we'd fondle each other.
- But it it still wasn't, uh
- What?
Like it it wasn't scary yet,
what we were doing,
except I think I didn't want to,
like I would try not to do it.
The front part?
Yeah, because he'd be lying on his back
and I'd try to skip that part,
and he'd say, "No, you have to do that."
And, uh, just then the mouth massages
as I got older.
Like Lyle said, with the objects
and the toothbrush and
How old?
Uh, definitely second grade 'cause
- The toothbrush?
- Mm-hmm.
Because I remember the day
at school afterwards,
there was a picture of a toothbrush
on the bulletin board or whatever,
just about how
you should go to the dentist.
And, um, I remember thinking
that the toothbrush in the picture
wouldn't have hurt as much.
[Leslie] Hmm.
Uh, and so there were four different kinds
of of sex with my dad.
There was nice, which was the, um
Well, the massages came before, but
[sighs] Then, when he started
making me use my mouth, it was just
It was too big, and I, uh,
I didn't I didn't like that.
Yeah.
- Doing that to him seemed really dirty.
- Yeah.
[sighs deeply] When he did it to me,
that was
But to him, the the naked
He called them "naked mouth massages."
- Doing that to him felt really dirty.
- Yeah.
Uh, and I didn't like it,
but he would say, you know,
"You did good. Good boy."
And it was just
the only time I felt like I had
a real relationship with my dad,
where I felt that he did love me.
And, uh, they'd go on for a long time,
the nice sex sessions.
Sometimes I started to wonder
where everybody else was
just because they'd go on for so long.
And in a lot of ways, even though
it felt dirty, it was also like
like I was the center of the world
for once, you know?
- Mm-hmm.
- And it it also felt
Nice?
[Leslie] Mm-hmm.
Go on.
The objects were to get me ready.
Lyle and I realized that
when we finally, um
- When you talked about it.
- Yeah.
And that he was, uh, preparing our bodies
for something bigger.
And, uh, at first he made me do it to him.
Do?
Sex.
Like, to penetrate him.
[Leslie] Hmm.
He always said he wanted to teach me
how to use my my penis.
- And that felt really dirty every time.
- Yeah.
And I didn't like it.
And, um
- What?
- In order to do that, you have to be
Erect.
That That''s what was so, uh,
weird about it.
And that I could ever
- Um
- What?
[sighs deeply]
- [Leslie whispers] It's okay.
- Or orgasm.
That was, uh, really confusing to me
at that age.
Of course it would be.
Uh
And then he he
Then he started to rape me and that
He'd take a slat from underneath the bed
and he'd put it under the doorknob
Oh my God.
And I I would cry, and it hurt,
and he'd say,
"You know, why can't you be like Lyle?"
"Just be a Menendez and get used to it."
And I just
I remember feeling so, um disappointed
because he was comparing us again,
Lyle and me,
like I wasn't good enough again,
and like, all of the stuff
that he'd said about loving me,
like, that was just gone.
Or like that had never even,
like, happened.
How often did this happen?
The just sex?
Mm-hmm.
Um, like, two or three times a month?
From when?
Uh
Like, junior high, I think.
So 11.
Mm-hmm.
Until
- Uh, right before
- Right before they're dead?
- Yeah. Just a few months before.
- Was the last time?
Yes.
Erik
You were raped hundreds of times
by your father?
Yes.
That was just what my life was like.
I'm so sorry, Erik.
It's okay. It's just
You kind of, uh
You get through it.
Yeah, and you just, um, survive, I guess.
You live for those times
when it doesn't happen, you know?
And you think, like
[sniffs]
Well, I mean, you do get through it.
It's like
It's like
It's like Christmas morning, you know?
And you think, "Okay, I got through that,
I'm not gonna have to, uh,
do that for a while now."
Or, "Maybe because this time,
it was knees,
maybe next time,
it'll be nice sex or maybe"
Sorry. Knees?
Well, that was another one of the, um
I had different names for things.
Knees was It wasn't my favorite.
It'd be when I do the mouth massages
to him, and he would, uh
What?
[exhales deeply]
He would finish, I guess, in my mouth,
and I just hated the taste of it.
That's why I started putting
the cinnamon into his coffee
and putting lemon on my food and stuff.
- The cinnamon was for the taste.
- To make it taste better.
So if I had done that
or I had gotten through that,
I'd think, "Maybe next time,
he'll do a mouth massage to me,
or it'll just not be the rough sex."
I just I never wanted it
to be the rough sex.
[sighs]
And what was rough sex like?
Uh, just
Just
hitting,
and, um, really painful.
He would get mean, and he would punch me,
and he was really strong.
[Leslie clears throat]
[exhales] And I couldn't, um
I don't know why, but for some reason,
I just could never hit him back.
It was like when I was little,
when I was running away.
Like, it just doesn't work.
You [sniffling]
You can't get out of it.
Like, he won't stop.
You just have to do it.
You have to just try to, uh
to get get through it.
But the, um, the rough sex was
- [Erik sighs]
- [Leslie] Hmm. What?
Uh
I'd have to, um, kneel on the headboard.
But, like, at the end of the bed,
like the foot of the bed. [sniffling]
But, like, it'd be into my shins.
So it'd be stuff to make it hurt.
Because he would always say,
"This is what the Greeks did."
"This is how they toughened themselves up
to make things not hurt."
So if it hurt,
you had to try to get through it.
So I'd be inserting objects into my, um
Or, like, with my penis, like pins or, uh
Like, he cut my leg.
Like, I've got a scar on my leg
because he'd be doing this stuff while
I'd be doing the mouth massages to him.
And he'd be, uh, you know,
just trying to toughen me up.
But, um, when
when he's tying something
around your penis, like a rope or, like
like, I don't think that's supposed
to make someone tough. Like
No, it does not.
Wait, that's more kind of, like,
torturing someone?
Yes, Erik.
And I just don't think
that's what a father's supposed to, uh
No, it's not.
Like, that's not
what you do to someone you, um
That's what you do
to someone you hate, you know?
- Erik, you did not deserve that.
- He'd call me these, like
[exhales deeply]
Sometimes it was what he would say
that would somehow hurt even more, like
Like what?
I just wanted to say to him,
like, "If I'm such a faggot,
then why are you asking me
to fuck you in the ass?"
You know? Like, that's
- Yeah.
- You know? And I
- What?
- I don't know.
- No, what were you going to say?
- No, I don't know. I don't know.
And you're supposed to I mean
Like, this is a man
who did such amazing stuff, you know?
Like, my dad was an amazing man.
I loved him so much.
And I still love him so much.
And that's why I'm like I don't wanna be
in here for the rest of my life,
because, like, to have that thought, like
to have that thought,
laying alone in here in a cell at night,
all cooped up in here,
and to have that be a thought
you're thinking
What thought?
Like, that I love my dad.
Like, that's
[sighs deeply]
Like, it wasn't the rough sex, the pins,
and the rope that were the torture. Like
Like, that would be the torture. To, uh
To still love him.
And that's why Lyle used to say,
you know, "Erik, they'd be proud of us."
And I'd always agree with him.
But then later, I'd think, I mean,
"They're not proud that we killed them."
But then, just the last few days in here,
and really since Saturday,
like, just thinking a lot,
it just really occurred to me that
What did?
That he probably would. You know?
Like in Heaven, right now,
he'd be looking down, and he'd say,
"Thank you, Erik and Lyle."
"You know,
you did what you had to do to me
because what I did to you
was really wrong." [sniffling]
"And I love you."
"And you you took that off my shoulders,"
or, "You took that off my soul,"
or whatever, if that makes sense.
- I don't know.
- It does. It does.
"You made me into someone
who doesn't do that anymore,"
is what Lyle meant, and what I mean.
So that now I could
Now we can love him again.
Really, for the first time,
because he's not doing that anymore.
Wow.
So, that's why I don't want
to be here, all alone,
with that thought banging around my head,
not without Lyle not here,
and my friend gone now.
[sniffs]
[buzzer blaring in distance]
[door clanging]
What?
No, I'm just I'm just blown away
by you, Erik Menendez.
- You don't You you shouldn't say that.
- No, I mean it. I really, really do.
[sniffs] Really do.
I know a lot of people.
I know a lot of very impressive people,
and you are right at the top.
With everything you have been through
and what you have had to do,
and who you are right now,
telling me all of this
The bravery, Erik?
You are just an incredible person,
and I just have to say it.
- [sniffs] And
- Thank you.
I'm not gonna make this about me,
but, you know, my father
was a fucking son of a bitch.
[chuckles]
- Really?
- Yeah. Yeah.
Abandoned me and my brother.
Just This man that I loved,
told me I was his little princess,
and he just dropped off
without so much as a word,
ran away with another family,
and I haven't heard from him in 34 years.
- [sniffs] And
- Oh, I'm so sorry.
Well, thank you. I Nothing like yours.
I just say that by way of,
you know, hearing all of this,
which is just mind-boggling,
and hearing it, thank you,
is just, you know
You don't have to forgive him.
Your father. Okay?
My father wasn't one-tenth
of one-millionth
of a percentage as bad as yours.
Okay, just no comparison.
And my brother, he's forgiven him.
You know, he talks to him.
But, Erik,
no fucking way will I forgive him
for what he did.
Not now, not ever.
And I just say that
'cause you have that option, too.
- Okay?
- Okay.
Because, you know, hearing all this,
I I just have to keep asking myself
and asking you,
where was your mother in all of this?
- Well, see because she
- Let's not make excuses for her.
He cheated on her.
And Lyle said he walked in on them
one time, and my dad was raping her.
Okay, well, that's still
My dad ruined her life, I think.
And she would sometimes say,
which, well, wasn't even
She would, um
[sighs]
[Leslie] What?
With Lyle, she would sometimes
she would sometimes get naked.
- This is your mother?
- Yes.
But it wasn't
it wasn't like it was with my dad.
She was
She just wanted us to think
she had a nice body, and she liked ours.
But it was just looking. Or
Well, yeah, it was just looking.
She would
When I was 16,
she started doing this thing where
Because I think by then,
the stuff with Dad was intense.
And she
[sighs deeply]
My mom would do this thing
where she would inspect my
- Penis?
- Yeah.
And, you know, she'd be like,
"Why do you shave it all?"
And I'd be like, "No, Dad did that."
But I couldn't say that because, well
[sighing] It was weird
'cause we were close.
But then Dad also had these girlfriends,
so, I think that
she also thought I was, too.
- Was what?
- That I was sleeping with Dad.
So, I was
She she was
I I was coming between them.
And that wasn't ever something
that we talked about.
Like, she would've never said anything.
It was something you knew,
but didn't talk about
because that was just our family.
But I knew how she felt.
And her feeling that way was why I think
she, like, made me get a girlfriend,
but she would do the inspections, right?
- Of your
- She'd do inspections of my Yeah.
Because she was terrified of AIDS,
and she would always check me
for blisters, like, on my penis.
And I think it was because
it was a way to see if, like
You know, because I think
she knew that Dad and I were,
so if one of Dad's girlfriends
had something
- Hold on.
- then I got it, that means she'd get it.
I wanna go back for a second.
Actually, it's not important.
- Forget that.
- But why did she think you had AIDS?
- It's not important. Just forget it.
- But why would she think that?
- I said, it's not important. Forget it!
- What I mean is
She just wanted to make sure,
so she'd do those inspections. That's why.
But why would she think
you would get AIDS?
And before you answer that,
I just wanna say that I'm not your mother.
Okay? And frankly,
I don't like your mother.
- Yeah, but she was
- I'm sorry. No. That's not a mother, Erik.
Okay? And I am a mother.
Wasn't the perfect one, I'm sure.
Maybe that's why
I want another shot at it, okay?
But for you to I mean,
I know you loved her.
I do. We were really close.
Lyle and her weren't,
but me and her, we were.
- Everyone's gonna love their mother.
- Yes, and I do.
But for her to have known,
and to have not intervened
Yes. Because she was
No, but let me I'm sorry.
Let me just say this and we can go back.
Because there were a lot of avenues
that she could have taken there, okay?
Where she could have gone
to the authorities,
where she could have said,
"No, not my sons."
"You will not abuse my sons!" Right?
- Yes.
- And that's a pretty low bar, okay?
And she didn't do that.
She didn't do any of that.
Not because of you. Look at me.
Not because of you, but because of her.
Okay?
So for you to
Yes, you can love her.
Yes, you can sympathize with her,
and then I wanna ask you something.
I wanna say this to you,
and I'd say it to Lyle
You deserved better than her.
I won't even mention your father.
That goes without saying.
That man is in a place is all I'll say.
But your mom too.
And if what you are saying is true,
and what Lyle is saying is true,
you deserved better.
Okay? So that's just where
I'm coming from.
But, Erik,
can you tell me
why she thought you had AIDS?
Can you just tell me?
[sighs deeply]
Well, see, um,
this is what's so hard.
What?
About
Because I don't know.
I don't know what way you are
and what way you're supposed to be
when that's your childhood.
Like, when that's what your dad's doing
to you. Like [sniffs]
[sighing] Well, I remember one time,
my mom, she called Lyle and me,
and I don't think she meant it,
but she screamed at us, like,
"You're sociopaths!"
And a part of me was like,
"Well, maybe we are sociopaths,
but can you blame us if we are,
when you know
what's been happening to us?"
So, like, the feelings I have of, like
sex stuff or, um, or
- Orientation.
- Yeah.
Or of Dad's, or like whatever
feelings I have, or which way I
Like, I just
I don't I don't know if it's me
or how I was supposed to be.
And, uh, that's why she
With the inspections
when I was 16 because
It's okay.
I don't want to say who it was, but, um
I was
I was kind of in love with a boy.
Or a teenager like me, who was a boy.
Okay.
But it was because
I was having sex with my dad,
like, that's not normal.
And that made me not normal.
And so he wasn't He didn't
He This boy, he didn't have a dad
who did that to him.
He was just always that way,
but I'm not sure I was,
and I'm I'm not sure I am,
but like, I have those feelings. Like
I was in love with someone, and, uh
he, this boy, we said we would
never say each other's names and I won't.
But when we had sex then,
it was it wasn't like it was with my dad.
It was
Nice.
It was really nice.
It was really nice.
[sniffs] And in here,
it was was really nice, but now it's
Whatever. It doesn't matter. But, um
Okay.
- Okay.
- No, actually, I don't think you, uh
No, I understand.
No, I I think you think I'm saying
something different than I am.
Like, yes, I've done certain things.
And so, you know,
you're gonna say I'm one way,
and you're gonna tell everyone
I'm one way, but I'm not.
- No, I'm not. I'm not gonna tell anyone.
- I'm actually No.
Okay. But what I'm saying is
I'm just saying, I don't know.
Okay? I don't know what I am.
I can't tell what I am, and I never
will be able to tell is what I'm saying.
And yeah, maybe I am a sociopath,
and maybe I should've got AIDS,
and maybe I'll only like it this way.
Because with girls, it was like,
how could I even know
when he's done this to me?
When it's been happening for so long,
I don't remember when it started.
When I can't remember a time
when my dad wasn't fucking me.
- Like, he broke me. I'm a broken person.
- No, you're not.
Yes, I am. He broke me in two.
He cracked me in half.
- I am not a real person.
- You are a real person.
You can't be
when the only man you wanna love
does that to you, you stop being real.
- You are real.
- Stop saying that.
Just stop.
I am the Hurt Man.
What is the Hurt Man?
[inhales deeply]
It's me.
- That's the name for yourself?
- Yes, since I
- Since when you were little.
- For as long as I can remember.
That's what I call myself.
Since forever.
That's always been my name.
And it's never gonna end.
And it's never gonna not hurt.
I shot my mom in the face.
And my dad, I think.
That's not a [sniffling]
That's not a normal thing you do.
So I don't know what I am.
And I don't think I'll ever know
is what I realized since Saturday
if I don't get out of here.
- I will get you out of here.
- No. Stop, stop saying that.
I will never really know who I am
if I don't get out of here.
I'll never know.
[female vocalizing]
[somber music playing]
[music ends]