01x04 - Mainland

[bunniefuu]

[GENTLE MUSIC PLAYING]

[COUGHS]

[BIRDS CHIRPING AND CALLING]

[FOOTSTEPS WALKING]

[KEYS JANGLING]

[MARGARET] Clarke.

[WHISPERS] Clarke.

Hey!

Hey!

Excuse me.

[CLARKE] Margaret?

[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]

[KEYS JANGLING]

- Hey!
- [DOOR OPENS]

- [CLARKE] Hello?
- Hey!

- [DOOR CLOSES]
- Wait.

Uh, come back.

Hey!

- Open the door!
- [POUNDING]

Open the...

- [GRUNTS]
- Margaret.

[MARGARET] Um...

Open up. Hey!

What is... [HUFFS]

Uh, hello?

Hello?

Hello?

- [DAVID SNORING]
- [VEHICLES RUMBLING AND BEEPING OUTSIDE]

[SNORING CONTINUES]

- [CUP THUMPS]
- [DAVID GROANS]

You want coffee?

[GROANS]

[PAINED GRUNT]

[GRUNTS]

Ugh.

[EXHALES] That's nasty.

[GROANS]

[GROANS]

[GROANS]

[HILARY] Puri, could you take

the bag of clothes out there to be
donated, please, and put these away?

Don't forget to wrap the cashmere.

I don't want to lose another chest
of sweaters to moths like last year.

Oh, and when you go to the store,
could you get some fresh mango?

Ripe, so it's good for my
mom when she arrives tomorrow.

Okay, ma'am, but Sam says
his ETA is five minutes.

Oh, why is he arriving so early? I
don't need him until this afternoon.

But, ma'am, your mother's on her way.

He's just picking her
up from the airport.

No, Puri, that's tomorrow.

No, ma'am. She is in the car.

She loses a day because
L.A.'s behind us,

so if she left our time yesterday,

then that means that...

Oh, sh*t! Oh, sh*t!

[GRUNTS]

[HUMMING TUNE]

[CLARKE] Hello?

[PANTING]

[GROANS SOFTLY, MUTTERS]

[MARGARET] Hello?

- [CLARKE] Hey.
- [MARGARET] Hey.

[CLARKE] Hi.

[SIGHS]

[MARGARET] We were told to come here.

- We were told to come here...
- [SPEAKING MANDARIN]

... uh, by Detective Chang.

The police. We came from Hong Kong.

[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

- No, sorry, sorry.
- Wh-Whoa. N-No, no, no. Wait, wait, wait.

[STAMMERS] Detective
Chang wanted us to-to...

Can-can you help us?

- Wh-Where do we go?
- Please.

- Please.
- Please.

Thank you.

[QUIETLY] See? Sometimes
you have to push people.

[PANTING]

[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING]

Margaret.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

[LOCK CLICKS]

Did she just...

[GRUNTING]

She just locked us in here.

She locked the door.

Hey! Hey!

- Hey! Come back!
- Margaret.

- Come back!
- [POUNDING CONTINUES]

- Hey! Hey!
- Margaret.

[MUFFLED] Let us out!

[MUFFLED SHOUTING CONTINUES FAINTLY]

[DAVID] I actually make a
pretty mean cappuccino usually,

but I don't have my machine with me,

so you're gonna have
to take my word for it.

This, however, is called
Indian homestyle coffee.

We used to make it at boarding school.

[SIGHS] f*ck, I miss that machine.

It's always the small things.

It gets the temperature
perfect, the foam just right.

It's not like I can go and pick it up.

Well, not today, anyway.

My mother-in-law has
probably arrived by now.

She and my wife are probably in
the throes of some heated argument.

You're so old.

You have a mother-in-law
and hair in your ears.

Since when did you take
such an interest in my ears?

Just something I noticed.

- Deal-breaker?
- Maybe.

sh*t.

Okay.

- [WHISTLES]
- [MERCY] Seriously?

What are you doing?

You want the ear hair gone,
we're gonna get rid of it.

[CHUCKLES] With vodka?

With vodka.

[POURS DRINK]

Watch and learn.

[CHUCKLES]

You're gonna set yourself on fire.

No, you are.

Are you still drunk?

Is that why you think I'm still here?

[CHUCKLES]

You trust me?

Singe me, babe.

Don't ever call me "babe."

[WHISPERS] Singe me.

[BOTH CHUCKLING]

[INHALES SHARPLY]

Ta-da.

- It worked.
- Yeah?

Oh, my God, it worked.

Mm.

What other older gentlemanly
tricks do you have?

I'm only asking because you
look so much more wrinkly

in the day than at night.

- [SIGHS]
- And one can only imagine

what's hidden behind
those ancient eye folds.

Just cobwebs.

Like the ones all over your
shitty little apartment.

[GASPS SOFTLY]

Well, maybe I'd have a nice place, too,

if I grew up in an upper-middle-class

white family with a house in London

and a cottage in the Cotswolds
and parents who could buy their way

into any f*cking university
in the whole g*dd*mn world

just so I could sell my soul to
become yet another rich assh*le lawyer.

I'd use some of that money
on personal training, though.

[GROWLS PLAYFULLY]

Poor, sad little Mercy. All alone.

Nobody wants to come and visit
her, not even her own mother.

[PANTING]

You're a pig.

I guess that must make you a chick
who likes bacon, then. [SNORTS]

When you go down on me, it feels
like I'm sitting in a wet puddle.

- Just... [MOANS]
- [LAUGHS]

And then when you're
feeling really overconfident,

sometimes you go full Hannibal Lecter

and just suck on me like a vacuum.

- Just... [SUCKS AIR]
- Yeah, it doesn't stop you from coming,

- though, does it?
- There's just so much teeth.

- [CHUCKLES]
- Why all the teeth?

Oh, when you do come, it
sounds like a bleating goat.

[BLEATS]

Your ass sags like my
grandfather's, and he's 85.

He's had two strokes and a heart att*ck.

Your breath smells like a dying animal.

You're a drunk, and
you cheat on your wife.

Oh, yeah? Well, you lost someone's
kid. You ruined an entire family.

I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that.

You spoke the truth. That's
what we're doing, isn't it?

No, that wasn't fair. I went too far.

[STAMMERS]

It's just a game, and
you won fair and square.

- Hey.
- [DOOR SLAMS]

[BRINDER] God, is that Harpreet?

Eight years of ballet lessons,

and look at her, she
still walks like the Hulk.

[SPEAKS PUNJABI]

- Hello, Harpreet.
- Hi, Mom.

- Did you just wake up?
- No, Mom.

Uh, Sam, can you take the bags up?

- Yes, ma'am.
- Thank you.

You brushed your teeth?

Yes, Mom.

Doesn't smell like it.

[HILARY] I use an organic toothpaste.

It's probably just missing
that toxic chemical smell.

- [BRINDER] I don't like it.
- Okay.

[SPEAKS PUNJABI] Where are your shoes?

[BRINDER] You're wearing
slippers to meet me?

There's no arch support, and
you already have flat feet.

Do you want to walk like a monkey?

Nice to see you, too, Mom.

I used to make fun of your grandmother

for wearing FitFlops,
but she knew better.

They're so ugly, but
they're so comfortable.

I brought you a pair.

Thanks, Mom.

[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]

This man is wearing a
beautiful red lipstick.

Ma! She can tell you're
talking about her.

She thinks that if
she dresses like a man

they might treat her like one.

- [ELEVATOR STOPS]
- [BRINDER GASPS]

- [HILARY] You got to be kidding me.
- [TILDA] Oh, for f*ck's sake.

- Come on, come on, come on, come on.
- [BUTTONS CLICKING]

Okay, you know what? Can I just...

- [ALARM RINGING]
- [SIGHS]

[MARGARET SIGHS HEAVILY]

I miss pizza.

How can you be thinking about
food at a time like this?

If we'd left when we were supposed to,

we'd all be eating great
pizza in New York right now.

It was a mutual decision.

- You wanted to stay as much as I did.
- No.

I accepted it. I didn't want it.

Come on, Margaret.

If we really want to place blame,

we should talk about
where you found that girl.

Where I found... You were there.

No, I don't remember being a
part of the decision to hire her.

- I didn't hire her.
- You left our children with her.

Because you bailed on me.

I was working! You
could've just brought Essie!

All you had to do was
keep track of the kids!

[SIGHS] f*ck.

I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry. We shouldn't be
talking about any of this here.

No, I want to.

I mean, I keep going over it in my mind.

You remember that holiday
when Gus fell out of our bed,

and I woke up out of that deep sleep,

and I caught Gus midair
before he hit the ground?

[BREATHES DEEPLY]

And...

And we were laughing, remember?

We were laughing because it
was proof that I don't sleep.

All that just turns off, and...

[SIGHS HEAVILY]

... you're just watching
them every second,

even when your eyes are closed.

[SIGHS]

But I didn't catch Gus that night.

I was the one that let him fall.

And I have no idea how it happened.

I'll never understand how that happened.

[SIGHS]

I mean, what kind of mother...

... loses her child?

You didn't lose him.

No.

They took him.

They took him because he looked like me.

White kid's too much trouble
on the black market, but Gus...

Gus looked like me.

He could slip into a
crowd, across borders.

So they took him.

You didn't lose him.

He looks like you. I
love he looks like you.

[MARGARET CHUCKLES SOFTLY]

Pizza was the last meal I had with Gus.

It was the weird Chinese kind.

Pineapple and crayfish.

I tried telling him how wrong that was.

[CHUCKLES SOFTLY]

I couldn't wait to take him to
New York so we can have real pizza.

You never told me that.

I think about it every time I see pizza.

Well, I suppose that means
we have to stop pizza Fridays.

[BOTH LAUGH]

[SNIFFLES]

We can't do that to Daisy and Philip.

[SNIFFLES, SIGHS]

- They love that garbage.
- [LAUGHS]

[CHUCKLES]

Who puts seafood on a pizza
and thinks it tastes good?

- So gross.
- [LAUGHING]

[SOFT KNOCKING ON DOOR]

Hi.

You're still here?

Yeah.

So you want to hear
something really f*cked-up?

[CLEARS THROAT]

So, I have a twin brother.

We're identical.

At least we used to be
until I paralyzed him.

We were kids, and we were fighting.

Of course, we did that a lot.

There was one afternoon
after school, uh,

I threw him off my
back like I always did.

Eh...

I remember being mad at him
like I wanted to hurt him,

but obviously not like...

Anyway, he, um...

he hit his head on the coffee table.

And then it turns out it wasn't
his head. It was his neck, and...

Yeah, that was all it took.

Yeah, one inch to the
left, he would've been fine.

What's his name?

Danny.

Yeah.

First and only time I saw my father cry.

You were just a kid. It was an accident.

No one yelled. No one screamed.

Kind of wish they did. They...

I used to see them, but
I stopped over the years.

And what about Danny?

[CHUCKLES] Danny's fine.

I mean, not fine. He's a
paraplegic, but, you know,

he's-he's come to terms with it.

No, I'm the one...

I'm the one with the problem.

And I just can't face him.

Every time I look at him, all
I see is his f*cking disability.

And that awful f*cking reminder
I'm the one who caused it.

So I guess I win.

What?

I win.

Paralyzing your brother.
You're way worse.

[CHUCKLING]

[SOFTLY] Yeah.

Yeah, I'm bad, too, Bunny.

Very, very, very bad.

You want to hit me?

[DAVID BREATHES DEEPLY]

[HILARY] Is there anybody out there

who can tell us how long
we'll be stuck in here?

[MAN SPEAKING CANTONESE OVER INTERCOM]

[SPEAKING CANTONESE]

[SPEAKING PUNJABI] Look.

The lipstick man speaks
their language fluently.

You've been here so long...

how come you don't know a single word?

[SIGHS] They're working on it.

Oh, my... I can't believe
that I flew over 7,000 miles

to get trapped into your tiny elevator.

If you had just come home,

we could've been at the
Jonathan Club enjoying ourselves.

- You know I have to work.
- Well, everybody has to work.

Well, you and David have been
working nonstop for the last 15 years.

Surely you can stand to
take a break once in a while.

Where was this mom growing up?
You never let me take a break.

Well, I told you to study hard
so you'd get into a top school

where you can land a smart
husband who earns good money,

and then you can spend the
rest of your life in peace.

I am in peace.

So why are you too busy
to visit your family?

- Or start your own?
- What do you think David is?

[LAUGHS] A husband is not a family.

Children make a family.

Blood makes family.

I thought love made a family.

Unbelievable.

You are 40 years old, Harpreet.

It's time to stop living in la-la land.

You don't have much time left.

One day, you're gonna look in the mirror

and you will not recognize yourself.

Oh, you'll feel like the
same 16-year-old girl, 25, 30,

but an old woman will
be staring back at you.

Your metabolism starts to go.

Then you'll know.

You know, I never imagined
I would look like this.

And you can't blame me for saying this.

I didn't make the rules.

But I know them. [SCOFFS]

- You got your period when you were nine years old.
- Mom.

- God.
- Well, who knows

when your fertility
window is gonna close?

I never should've given you
all that American whole milk.

Filled with all those growth hormones.

We're trying, okay?

OK. Try harder.

Has David been to the doctor?

Well, have they tried to find out
if there's anything wrong with him?

[SIGHS, INHALES DEEPLY]

Oh, you seem so tense, beta.

Why don't you come home
for a few weeks, relax?

Maybe then you won't have so
much trouble getting pregnant.

[SCOFFS] Right.

[CHUCKLES] I got you some pinnis.

Nanima made them specially for you.

Not right now.

I brought you two Tupperwares of them.

Hmm? Don't you go giving
them all to your friends.

No one ever wants my Indian balls, Mom.

Nonsense.

Pinni?

You just bite it.

You need to bite into it.
It's not just about the flavor.

It's the texture, consistency.

You're not gonna know what it
is until you commit to a bite.

Oh. That's fantastic.

- Who knew she likes balls?
- [HILARY] Ma.

- Stop.
- Are they some kind of Indian protein ball?

Not really. No.

[CHUCKLING]

Mmm.

Listen to me.

You need to come home.

See your father.

You're relentless.

He's sick.

Dad wouldn't admit he
was sick even if he was.

I'm being serious, Harpreet.

He has tumors in his lungs.

It's time to stop with this nonsense.

You have to come now.

I can't.

I don't have the energy
to lie like you do.

It causes wrinkles, you know.

That's what Botox is for.

I don't know why you
don't just confront him.

It's very easy to be critical.

- So much harder to stay and do the work.
- The work?

What work? Living a lie?

Pretending that he didn't just
slip and fall on another woman?

Where do you think those other
kids came from... the stork?

- That's enough.
- Clearly not enough

because you're still putting up with it.

Well, things are not so
black and white, Harpreet.

What should I do? At my age?

You want me to go get another husband?

Oh, I'm sure there are a lot of men
chasing after women in their 60s.

[TILDA] You'd be surprised.

At least then you wouldn't
be settling for half a man.

Bet you wish you would've
run off with Laguna Carl

when you had the chance.

[SIGHS]

We really had it all, didn't we?

[SIGHS]

Made good money. Good weather.

We were waited on hand and foot.

Sometimes I wonder if we're being
punished for wanting too much,

for-for being greedy.

Punished?

Who would be punishing us?

No one. I'm just talking.

So you believe in God now?

I know you've been going to church.

[SIGHS]

I don't know what I believe.

I just needed someplace to go.

Okay? To... to think or...

to hope.

I feel like I don't
even know you anymore.

I mean, you never...

You've been telling the stories.

- You've been telling the stories to Philip
- No.

- about God and Jesus.
- No.

And that's why he's drawing pictures.

I never mentioned religion to
the kids. Why would I do that?

I would never do that.

Then where are they getting it from?

I don't know.

Maybe he read about it online.

He... he keeps asking where Gus is.

Right?

The-the kids are also
looking for answers.

- How long can we all keep saying "soon"?
- [DOOR OPENS]

- [WOMAN SPEAKS MANDARIN]
- For as long as it takes.

[SPEAKS MANDARIN]

- Uh, we can't, we can't read this.
- Is there anyone...

[SPEAKS MANDARIN]

I know in my bones
that he is still alive.

I feel like...

I feel like you don't
believe that anymore.

Hey. Excuse me. Sorry.

- Is there anyone who can translate?
- [WOMAN SPEAKING MANDARIN]

[TENSE MUSIC PLAYING]

[CLARKE] We need a translator.
Someone who speaks English.

[INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT OVER P.A.]

[WOMAN SPEAKS MANDARIN]

[HUFFS]

[MARGARET SIGHING]

[DOOR CLOSES]

[MARGARET] Come on.

[STAMMERS]

[SIGHS] It's all right.

We can't go on like this.

I don't think we have a choice.

I mean, the translator
has to be on her way.

- No, that's not what I mean.
- [SIGHS]

If that's really Gus in there...

Shh! Don't say that.

If that's him, we have to be prepared.

What?

I think we need to think
about taking the kids home,

getting out of here.

How can you be making plans?

'Cause we're drowning
and you don't see it.

You don't even want to talk about it.

Daisy's having all kinds of issues,

but I'm the one who has to deal with it

when the school calls or when they...

What?

When what?

The kids aren't coping, Mamie.

They want to go back to their
friends and our families,

but they can't say that to
you because they feel like

they're betraying you, betraying Gus.

Did Daisy say that to you?

They both have.

Countless times.

Daisy and Philip need
a sense of normalcy.

[SIGHS] Normalcy?

Come on. What does normalcy look like?

Doesn't look like this.

Hey.

- Hey, we need help.
- We have help.

We have Essie, wonderful Essie.

All the help money can buy in Hong Kong.

We need... we need family.
The kids need family.

You keep putting off the
inevitable, but at some point,

you're gonna have to admit
that we can't stay here forever.

The minute our feet
leave Hong Kong soil,

we are abandoning our
son in a foreign place,

and I won't do it.

I will never, ever do it.

[SIGHING]

I need your phone.

- What?
- I need your phone.

I have to call my daughter.

[DOOR CLOSES]

This was, um, interesting.

[CHUCKLES] I'll, um...

Yeah.

[MERCY] Uh-huh.

[SUPPRESSED GAGGING]

[RETCHING]

[COUGHING]

[DAVID] Uh, hello?

Sorry, I-I heard strange noises.

Like a large man being mauled by a bear.

Nope, just me. [BREATHING HEAVILY]

- You sick?
- I'm fine.

- [RETCHING RESUMES]
- Oh, sh*t.

It's just a little indigestion.

[SIGHS] I puke when I'm anxious.

It's been happening a lot lately.

If I wasn't sh**ting blanks,
I'd say you were pregnant.

[TURNS ON FAUCET]

What? No, no, that-that...
That's impossible. I...

W-when-when was your last period?

[TURNS OFF FAUCET]

Ha-have you s-slept with
anyone else recently?

Hon-honestly, you can tell me
the truth. [STAMMERS, SIGHS]

We were never exclusive.

- I... I have no expectations of fidelity or...
- Fidelity?

Have you ever been
tested for infertility?

Or are you just assuming because
your wife never got pregnant?

Uh, don't f*ck with me, Mercy.

This isn't a game.

[SCOFFS SOFTLY]

[PANTING]

[BRINDER] You can't ignore me in here.

I know you're hungry.

I can hear it.

[SIGHS]

[HILARY] You know, women
like you are the reason

men like Dad pull that crap.

When are you gonna get it?

He does what he wants, when he wants,

with whoever he wants. He always has.

Well, maybe if you had been
born a boy, then, you know,

he might not have run
off and done those things.

Yeah, here we go again. It's
all my fault. What else is new?

[ELEVATOR REPAIRMAN SPEAKING
CANTONESE OVER SPEAKER]

- [BUTTON CLICKS]
- [TILDA SPEAKS CANTONESE]

He's saying they're working
on getting us out of here

and just to please wait.

[SIGHS, CLICKS TONGUE]

Honestly, the world is so f*cked.

No one does the right thing.

They just see what they want to see,

they do what they want to do,
and then they say sorry later.

Why would I want to put
another soul through that?

When did you get so rotten?

I never realized you were this spoiled.

[HILARY] This isn't news, Ma.

I've been saying this for years.

Society puts so much pressure
on women to-to have children

in order to be seen as whole.

What about what I want?

I like my life, and I
worked hard to get here.

What if David dies?

What if you die?

I'm not gonna have kids just
because one of us might die.

Why not? You think you
know what motherhood is,

but you'll never really
know until you try it.

It's like this gora. I mean, she
was so scared to try the pinni.

And once she did, she fell in love.

Not everybody loves pinnis.

- [BRINDER] Everybody loves pinnis.
- Not me.

I had the same thoughts
that you're having

about not wanting to be a mother,

not wanting to be responsible
for another human being.

Yeah, I know. You didn't want me
because you didn't want a girl.

I didn't want any child...
[SPEAKS PUNJABI]

But I grew up. I got over myself.

I understood the importance of family,

and then I wanted to
give it to your father.

To your grandparents, to-to myself.

And then, you know, I just fought it

because I thought it was expected of me.

You know, my responsibility,
my main duty in life.

But in the end, they were right.

If I hadn't tried the
pinni, then you, my dear...

you would not be here.

- [KNOCKING]
- [DAVID] I'm coming in, okay?

- Go home to your wife, David.
- [DOOR OPENS, CLOSES]

Look, I'm not going anywhere
till we figure this out, okay?

Three? Really?

Yeah, to be safe.

You didn't even think I could
be pregnant a few minutes ago.

And now it's all I can think about.

Well, I don't have to pee.

That's easy enough to fix.

[FAUCET TURNS ON]

[FAUCET TURNS OFF]

Drink it.

Get away from me.

f*ck you.

[SIGHS]

[EXHALES]

- [RUBBING HANDS TOGETHER]
- [GRUNTS SOFTLY]

Please.

Please.

[LINE RINGING]

- [ESSIE] Hello?
- Essie.

Hi. Um, can you put Daisy on?

- Yes, ma'am. Daisy!
- [SIGHS]

- [DAISY] What?
- [ESSIE] Your mama is on the phone.

[PHILIP] Essie, she drank my Yakult!

- [DAISY] It didn't have your name on it.
- [PHILIP] It was mine.

[ESSIE] We can go buy more.

Daisy, pick up the phone. It's your mom.

- [DAISY] Hello?
- Hi, honey.

Uh, can you hear me? The
reception's not good here.

Where are you?

W... Your dad and I are, um...

We're taking care of something.

But I was just calling 'cause
I wanted to say, uh, I'm sorry.

I'm really sorry about last night.

And I know... I know things
have been tough for you,

and I want you to know
that I'm always here for you

and-and you can always talk to me.

All right? About anything.

Anything you want.

Okay.

Good.

Okay, well, um, we're
gonna be home soon,

so just let your brother know.

Okay, Mom. Bye.

- Okay...
- [HANGS UP]

[SIGHS]

[FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING]

[BRINDER HUMMING ABBA'S "DANCING QUEEN"]

[HUMMING CONTINUES]

[BRINDER] ♪ Anybody could be that guy ♪

♪ Night is young and the music's high ♪

♪ Where there's a bit of rock music ♪

♪ Everything is fine ♪

- ♪ You're in the mood for a dance ♪
- Ma.

- ♪ And when you get the chance ♪
- [HILARY] Ma.

♪ You are the dancing queen ♪

Come on, it's not helping. Seriously.

[SPEAKS PUNJABI] Okay... God!

[HILARY SIGHS]

Why are you wearing
such cheapy earrings?

David got them for me for my birthday.

Did he get them out
of a vending machine?

You're a married woman.

He should be adorning you.

They're cognac diamonds,
Mom. I like them.

They're subtle.

Looks like chicken pox in the ears.

Fine. They wouldn't have
been my first choice,

but he knows I'm a little
bit minimalist chic.

He was probably just trying to
get me something in that style.

I think.

Well, you bring him with
you when you come home,

I'll take him to the proper
jewelers, teach him how to shop.

And what does David think
about you not having kids?

He never wanted them, either.

Well, that is an interesting
piece of information

you left out for the last ten years.

Well, he changed his mind.

He never wanted them, and now he does.

He left me.

Oh, he's probably
just blowing off steam.

No, Mom.

This time it's different.

[SPEAKS PUNJABI]

What did you expect?

If you have no baby, you have no glue.

Why you make these problems
for yourself, Harpreet?

If David wants a family,
don't deprive him.

- [HILARY] Whose side are you on?
- [SPEAKS PUNJABI]

You know what? Just do what you want.

Look at the way you act.

I can see why you couldn't
hold on to your husband.

[TRANSLATOR] Name here, date
here, passport number, address.

The relationship to deceased.

It can be either mother or father.

[CLARKE] I got it.

Is this telephone?

Address.

Sign the bottom, and the date.

[RECEPTIONIST AND
TRANSLATOR SPEAKING MANDARIN]

Hold on.

Date.

Sign.

Okay. Follow me.

[DOOR OPENS]

[DAVID] You know, me and
my wife, we've been, um,

uh, trying for a baby for years,
but, um, we were never successful,

and, I mean, she's been
tested a bunch of times

and, I mean, there's nothing wrong
with her, so obviously it's, uh...

so obviously it's me. I'm-I'm...

[SIGHS] And they-they think I have
low fertility with the sperm and...

I...

It's why I never took any
precautions when we were...

You know, 'cause... [SCOFFING]

Anyway, what I'm saying is
it-it's clearly not possible.

Clearly.

Okay, remember that it-it can't be
the beginning of the pee stream...

it should be the middle...

and that you have to aim
and hit the applicator

for at least five continuous seconds.

Otherwise, the results
won't be accurate.

- Can I do anything?
- I'm fine.

[SIGHS] sh*t.

I kind of need to pee.

[URINE TRICKLING]

[TRICKLING STOPS]

[TEST CLATTERS]

[HILARY] Nobody cares
what happens to us.

Nobody's coming for us.

[GRUNTS]

Please! I'm an old woman.

I can't be left in here much longer.

You tell them.

[SPEAKING CANTONESE] Help me!

Get me out of here!

[ELEVATOR REPAIRMAN SPEAKS CANTONESE OVER
SPEAKER] Sorry, we're still fixing it.

[TILDA] I'm meant to be somewhere.

- My husband's waiting.
- [SPEAKING PUNJABI] Husband?

I thought she was the husband.

You're cruel. You know that?

You just pick and pick and pick.

Should've sent you to drama school.

At least then you could have learned

how to make money off your theatrics.

Did you know that red cancels out blue?

It's more of a burnt red

verging on orange, really, but it works.

It was always hard to find makeup
for brown skin when I was growing up.

It was mostly designed for white people.

Back then, it was 50 shades of fair,

with a mocha tossed in for Black people.

It was as though they thought
we could just mix the two

to find the perfect shade for
any of us who were in between.

I mean, for a long
time, that's what we did.

'Cause that's all we had.

Sometimes an auntie
would visit from India

with a bottle of Lakmé
foundation in her suitcase.

Sometimes we would just fly to
Canada to visit the MAC store

'cause that was the only brand
that carried shades of brown,

but that was really more of a late
-'90s discovery.

No, the '80s...

they were different.

Most kids used their paintbrushes
to make refrigerator paintings.

I used mine to explore color theory.

You want to know why I needed
to know so much about makeup?

[SPEAKING PUNJABI] What are you doing?

[HILARY] Why does anyone
need to learn about makeup?

[SPEAKING PUNJABI] Enough.

Because they're trying
to cover things up.

[SPEAKING PUNJABI]
That's enough, Harpreet.

Want to hear a story?

Okay.

When I was four,

my parents had a fight
that lasted for hours.

And when my dad finally
left their bedroom,

I walked in and saw my mom
crumpled on her armchair,

- hysterically crying.
- [BRINDER SPEAKING PUNJABI] In front of her...

- you want to dishonor your mother?
- I was so scared, I didn't know what to do.

So I just stood there.

And when she dropped
her hands from her face,

I could see that it was black and blue.

Her arms and neck, too, yeah?

She just looked up at me,
her eyes begging for help,

but I didn't know how to help.

I was four.

I didn't want my dad to get mad at me.

[SIGHS] But after what felt
like forever, I got an idea.

I ran to her vanity and
I just grabbed a bottle.

- [SIGHS]
- And I poured that liquid foundation

onto my fingertips, and I tried
to just pat it onto her face.

[BRINDER SIGHING, WHISPERING IN PUNJABI]

Didn't work. [LAUGHS]
Of course it didn't work.

But it made her smile.

And then that became our little ritual.

Right, Ma?

I helped her cover up and she
taught me how to master it.

[SPEAKS PUNJABI] Are you happy now?

- [MEN SHOUTING IN CANTONESE] Almost there! Pull harder!
- [RAPID BANGING]

- Is everyone okay? - Hey! Watch
out! - [MEN SHOUTING IN CANTONESE]

- It closed again.
- [MEN SIGHING, SPEAKING CANTONESE]

[TILDA] What happened?

Where did they go?

- What time is it?
- Too f*cking late.

- Still no reception?
- No.

Well, we live here now. We
all might as well be roommates.

Which corner shall we dedicate
for... [SPEAKS PUNJABI]

- [SCOFFS] It's not that dire, Mom.
- Well, apparently, it is.

I mean, you felt the need to
share so much with our new friend.

This poor woman, she asked for a pinni,

and she got a whole life
story for her troubles.

It's okay.

- [CHUCKLES] I'm used to playing referee...
- [ELEVATOR CLANKS]

[ELEVATOR WHIRRING]

[ELEVATOR CHIMES]

Well, I guess you don't
want me to stay with you.

- I didn't say that.
- Well, that was fun.

You think that I'm the
worst mother in the world.

You think you're so grown-up

you have no need for me or
anything that I have to say.

Don't put words in my mouth.

Oh, I know I'm a burden to you, beta .

I-I'll go.

I-I'll just check into a hotel.

- If that's what you want.
- Fine.

Fine.

- Fine.
- Fine.

[SIGHS] I just need to go susu first.

[MARGARET BREATHING HEAVILY]

[DOOR CLOSES]

[MARGARET] No, no, no. Wait, wait.

[SIGHS]

We're not ready. No.

[SPEAKING MANDARIN]

Oh, what if...

What if I don't know it's him? Hmm?

[GIGGLING]

[LAUGHING]

Hey, hey, hey. Stop.

[LAUGHING] I don't want it to be him.

I don't...

Hey. Margaret. Hey.

- I don't want him to be here.
- Okay. Margaret, stop.

- I don't want him...
- We have to do this.

- No, I can't...
- Hey.

I can't stop...

Margaret.

- I can't stop laughing. I don't...
- Margaret. Hey.

Okay.

[BAG UNZIPPING]

[SOBBING]

[SOBBING CONTINUES]

I can't. [SNIFFLES]

Ca... I can't. I can't.

It's not him.

[SOBBING CONTINUES]

So, um, I'll...

I'll-I'll see you later.

Yeah. Oh, no, sorry, I-I can't tonight.

- I've got plans.
- Oh.

No, no. I didn't mean later "later."

I-I just meant later, like "around."

Yeah, yeah, no, of course.
I'm, uh... I'm around.

I'm around.

Be a good guy.

- Wh... What does that mean?
- Just...

- just be a good guy.
- Well, yeah.

Of course I'm gonna be
a good guy. I mean...

Sorry, I'm... [EXHALES SHARPLY]

It... This... Just, it's a... it's a...

it's a lot to process right now.

Yes. We both need time to process.

And like I said, no pressure.

Yeah. Mm-hmm.

You'll let me know what you decide?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

[DOOR CLOSES]

[THUNDER RUMBLING]

[QUIET, ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC PLAYS]

[RAIN FALLING]

♪ ♪

[LIVELY CHATTER OVER TV]

Mmm. Lavender.

Ma'am?

Lavender is as good as cedar,
but, uh, it smells better.

It's apparently a new thing.

Maybe it's the old thing.

It'll get rid of the moths.

[TENSE, ATMOSPHERIC MUSIC PLAYS]

[BRINDER SPEAKING PUNJABI]
What are you doing?

Can't you see? It's raining so much!

Harpreet! Have you gone crazy?

Have you gone insane?

Water is coming in everywhere!

- Shut the windows!
- [UPLIFTING ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS]

[BRINDER] Puri, close the window.

- Puri, close the window! Can't you see?
- [THUNDER RUMBLING]

[BRINDER CONTINUING INDISTINCTLY]

- [THUNDER RUMBLING]
- [RAIN PATTERING]

[MARGARET] It's okay.

It's okay.

Everything's gonna be okay.

[GENTLE ORCHESTRAL MUSIC PLAYS]

- [MUSIC STOPS]
- [THUNDER RUMBLES]

[RAIN PATTERING]

[HELICOPTER FLIES PAST]

- [INDISTINCT CHATTER]
- [PEOPLE LAUGHING]

[SIREN WAILING IN DISTANCE]

- [RAIN CONTINUING]
- [CHATTER CONTINUING]

[CHATTER CONTINUING]

[THUNDER RUMBLES]

[RAIN CONTINUING]

[PEOPLE CHANTING]

- [INDISTINCT RADIO CHATTER]
- [CHANTING CONTINUES]

[PEOPLE EXCLAIMING]

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

- [PEOPLE SHOUTING]
- [THUNDER RUMBLES]

[PEOPLE CHANTING]