01x09 - Consider Helen

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(SOFT INSTRUMENTAL
MUSIC PLAYING)

(CHILDREN LAUGHING
AND PLAYING THROUGHOUT)

(VOICES STOP)

MAN: (WHISPERING) Helen.

(COUGHING)

You got a cold?

Oh, no, I'm just coughing.

You're sick, Amy.

No, I just got
something in my throat.

Well, don't cough
all over the food.

I'm just too tired to live.

If I didn't have the Gestapo
all over me, I'd phone in sick.

My God, Amy. You look awful!

What?

Are you going to
go to work like that?

Like what?

Well, I'm, I'm gonna
put my shoes on!

What, my dress? What?

Okay, you are sick.

No, Mom. I'm just tired, okay?

You didn't sleep?

No.

Actually, I was up till three.

Maybe you should take a sleeping
pill, I guess. That's what I do sometimes.

I wanted to be up, okay?

I had an e-mail to write,
and it was a difficult e-mail.

I had to get it right.

Oh, honey. Don't
write e-mails at night.

You get your imagination
going, and you get ideas.

You said yourself that people
at work think you're hyper.

It wasn't for work,
okay? It was to Levi.

Okay, okay. I
don't want to know.

Well, you'd be happy, actually.

Why?

What do you mean by that?

Okay, why would
it make me happy?

I went over there the last time, and
I saw a bunch of our photo albums

sticking under
a pile of his crap.

So I sent him an e-mail, and I said,
you know, I'd like my photo albums back.

They're just sitting under
a pile of his old records.

Why would that make me happy?
That doesn't make me happy.

Because I also said that I basically
don't ever want to see him again.

What exactly does that mean?

Amy, don't make me chase you!

I just said that I basically
can't handle it, all right?

It's not healthy
for me to see him.

He's still using,

it's, it's too much, all right?
He's a tempter. It's too tempting.

He's tempting you with drugs?

No, just the whole thing.
It's just too much, okay?

Did he write you back?

At this point, what is there
to say? I gotta go. I love you.

(SQUAWKING)

(SIGHS)

Ginger, you stay here
and behave yourself.

Mommy'll be right back.

WOMAN: Helen?

Yes?

Carol Matthews.

Carol, hi!

How are you?

Well...

Oh, my God! (LAUGHING)

My God! It's been, I
don't... I don't know, years?

Yep, years. Yeah.

Well, you look just the same.

Oh, well you were
always so great-looking.

Oh, thank you.

Well, you look just the same.

That's very kind of you.
I don't feel the same.

I feel as if I could
sleep for a year.

We just got back in from
Grand Rapids last night.

Oh, is that where
you're from? I forget.

Grand Rapids is
where Lisa lives.

Ah.

Lisa went to Michigan, and she met a guy
in school there who is from Grand Rapids.

Michael. He's a lawyer.
So, that's where they live.

And, I have two grandbabies...

Ohhh.

Cooper and Connor.

(LAUGHING) Oh, great!

Twin grandsons. Oh...

They just turned seven,
and I got pictures...

Oh!

I'm sorry, but you're gonna
have to see the pictures.

Oh, great!

Um, here they are...

These are they boys when
they were babies, of course.

Oh, precious.

So cute.

And here is Lisa now...

Where is she? There.

She's beautiful.

Thank you. She is
beautiful, isn't she?

She's pregnant again,

and she's hoping for a girl.

Uh-huh.

But she doesn't want to know until
they have it. She wants to be surprised.

How do you feel about that?

I don't know. I mean...

Well, I think it's annoying.

I mean, as the
grandmother, I want to know!

I want to know what to
buy. Pink or blue, you know?

But, but it's fun.

And here is Jason and his wife.

Oh, handsome couple.

Thank you.

Nice family.

Thank you, they are.
They live in San Diego.

I just hope they have a baby soon,
because Lisa's kids are so far away,

and it's cold up
there in Michigan.

Yeah, it's cold in
Michigan. I don't like it.

Well...

So I keep urging them to do family
vacations in Hawaii, you know?

Oh, nice.

So what about you,
Helen? How are you?

I'm, I'm fine. Really fine.

Well, good, good. And
what are you up to?

Just, um, buying some groceries.

Well, yes. Yes, right.

(LAUGHING) But what else?

How, how's Amy?

Oh, Amy's great!

She, um, she's
living with me now,

and I just love it.

Oh. Yeah.

Oh!

(STAMMERING) I didn't know that.

What happened?

She was married to
that athlete, I thought?

Yeah, Levi.

Oh, yes, he was so handsome,

I remember that.

Yeah. Mmm.

Well, she was
always a beautiful girl.

Thank you.

You know, Lisa was
always jealous of Amy...

No...

because Amy was so tall,
and all the boys liked her.

Lisa was always the
shortest girl in school.

Except for the Asians.

But, what, what happened?

Well, they, they divorced.
That was a while ago.

Oh. Was it, uh, was it messy? I
mean, they didn't have kids, did they?

No, no.

He, uh, he had a
problem with alcohol.

Oh, oh, my God, I'm so
sorry. That is so tough.

Yeah. But Amy has a great job!

Yes? Yeah, she
works at Abaddonn.

Uh-huh.

She's been there fifteen years,

and they just moved
her to a new department.

So she loves her job? Oh, yeah.

Well, that's great.

She, she took off for a couple
of months, and she lost her place,

so that's why she's staying
with me, it's just temporary.

Oh. So, no grandkids?

No.

Well, I, uh, well, I have...

Bethany.

She has a daughter. Three!

How is Bethany?

She's, uh, busy.

Busy? Oh, these
kids get so busy.

Yeah.

Oh, were we that busy? I mean,
we were busy, but it wasn't the same.

No.

With their blackberries, and their
e-mails, and these, these i-chat phones...

h*, h*, h*, h*.

(MOCKING HELEN) h*, h*, h*, h*.

(BOTH LAUGHING)

I do remember, though,
Jim was always busy.

Yeah, he was busy.

He always had things going on!

I know that Lyle always felt
lazy after he had been with Jim.

Jim had so many
things in the fire.

Lyle always looked up to Jim.

Well, Carol...

Yes?

Then why did he
pull out of their deal?

What deal?

The Trellis project.

It was a corporate park. They were in
development already with Carl Hewitt.

Well, that was 20
years ago, Helen!

I don't, I don't even
remember that!

Ah.

So, I mean...

Carol, it was so good
running into you, really.

And uh, you, will you,
you tell your family I said hi.

Okay, and you say hi
to Amy and Bethany.

I'll do it.

And next time Lisa comes into
town, we can all get together.

I'm sure Lisa would
love to see Amy.

Take care of yourself, Helen.

You too, Carol.

Thank you, bye.

CAROL: There we go.

Oh, thank you. Here,
let me hold this basket.

(PHONE RINGING)

(SIGHS)

(MOUTHING THROUGHOUT)

HELEN: Why are you
taking this one so hard, Jim?

You've had other
deals fall through.

And Carl has your back,
everyone likes working with you...

Things don't always
come together.

But no one's gonna blame you.
They know you have tried everything.

What is the worst
thing that could happen?

(KIDS SCREAMING AND LAUGHING)

What is the absolute worst?

(KIDS AND FATHER
TALKING AND LAUGHING)

(LOUD BANG)

(DOG BARKING)

You stay in here, Ginger.

(KIDS LAUGHING AND PLAYING)

GIRL: Mommy?

Something's wrong with Daddy.

(KIDS LAUGHING AND PLAYING)

GIRL 1: You're it!

GIRL 2: Here I come!
I'm gonna get you!

(VOICES FADING)

(DOORBELL RINGS)

(DOG BARKING)

(DOG BARKING)

Levi?

I just dropped a couple of
photo albums at the front door that

Amy suddenly really needed to have
for some reason, so those are out there.

Yeah, I saw that.

(WHISPERING) Yeah, well...

So... How are you?

Great.

I love waking up to
e-mails from your daughter,

telling me how she
wants me out of her life.

I like that, it's a
good way to wake up.

Yeah. Yeah.

I've gotten hundreds
of those over the years.

Kind of takes the
sting out a little bit.

Well, you know, she's
gotta do what's right for her...

So, uh...

Stop calling me. Stop coming by.

Stop writing me, telling
me you can't deal with it.

Just don't deal with me anymore.

You're right.

I know I'm right.

Mmm.

But she does it just
to lay it all out on the

line again, all the
reasons why I'm a f*ck-up,

all the ways I've failed her,

I mean, I could wallpaper my
f*cking apartment with these e-mails!

Don't get upset, Levi.

I'm not upset, I'm
just f*cking tired of it.

So tell her, stop bugging me.

Stop calling, stop
writing, just give up on

me! 'Cause I'm fine
with it. Just move on!

Quit telling me why you need to
do it, why you have to do it, okay?

Just leave me the f*ck alone.
That's all I ask, and I'll do the same.

Well, you know, Levi, it's kind of
difficult for me to be sympathetic.

I'm sure it is, 'cause you're getting
what you've always wanted, Helen.

You've wanted this for 15 years.

That is so not true, Levi.
I'm sorry, but I liked you!

And you know that I liked you.

What I didn't like was that you never
got it together! You kept getting worse!

Hey, she was no angel, believe me!
And I'm not gonna get into specifics!

Well, you were never gonna change!
How many years were gonna go by?

I spent years, okay,
listening to her cry about you!

All right? Believe it!

No, it's true! And you
wanna know something?

You wanna know what I never did?

I never said, "Hey, just
give up on your mom.

"Just walk away, just
cut her out of your life."

Can you say the same?

Can you say the same about me?

She never got the love
that she needed from you.

She never did.

Hey, listen. You mean you, okay?

You mean you.

She never got the love she needed
from you. And that's the k*ller, isn't it?

And I might be f*cked up...

I am f*cked up.

And no one's more
disappointed in me than me.

But you wanna
know what? I tried.

But I could never give her what she
really wanted, which was your love.

You and your dead
f*cking husband.

Just too big a hole to fill.
I could never do enough.

So I just said,
"f*ck it, just f*ck it."

So you had to go and
sleep with all her friends?

And you had to go and get drunk
and fall down in the middle of the day?

And I suppose, Levi,
that that is my fault, too?

Well, it's always
good to be over here.

See ya, Mother.

(DOOR CLOSES)

AMY: Why do you hate him, Mom?

He's not like Dad,
okay? He's different.

You'll see.

(ENGINE RUNNING)

HELEN: What is the worst
thing that could happen?

What is the absolute worst?

(SIRENS APPROACHING)

(SIRENS STOP)

I mean, they're not just
using the information

to fire people who
aren't performing,

it's like they're,
they're taking the data,

and they're, they're using
it to screw the little guys!

So somebody works so hard,
and does all this overtime,

and then they'll just, like, change their
shifts so they don't have to pay them.

Or they'll, like, take them from an
hourly rate to a salaried position,

so they can pay less, and
just screw everybody over!

That's what Cogentiva is! It's
just there to screw people over.

Ugh.

Why am I even talking,
you're not even listening to me.

Your photo albums
are on the entry table.

What?

They're over there.

Wait a minute, what? That
was fast. Are you serious?

Good girl.

Come on, here's another one.

Mmm-hmm.

Did you see him?

Mmm-hmm.

Did he say anything?

No.

Well, how did he seem?

I don't know, Amy.

(AMY COUGHING)

(AMY COUGHING)

Uh-huh, you're sick.

No, it's just a dry
cough. I don't know.

Well, take something.

I don't want to take anything.

AMY: Look.

You forget about things,

and you look at one picture and it
all comes flooding back, you know?

Mmm.

Don't stay up too late.

Okay.

Put that away.

Mom, good night.

Good night. Sweet dreams.

(CHILDREN LAUGHING)

(LAUGHING)

You want it?
Okay, get it, get it.

Whoa!

MAN: You like it? Come
on, rip it open, rip it open!

(TALKING AND LAUGHING CONTINUE)

(VOICES FADE OUT)

(CHILDREN LAUGHING AND PLAYING)

(SIRENS APPROACHING)

(SIRENS STOP)

(SOFT INSTRUMENTAL
MUSIC PLAYING)