don't forget your paper, mr. dussander.
sure thing, mr. dussander.
bergen-belsen, january '43 to june '43. auschwitz, june '43 to june '44. then you went to patin.
after the war, you escaped to buenos aires. from 1950 to '52 you were in cuba, and then.  from 1952 to '58.  i don't know. no one does. but in 1965, you popped up in west berlin, where they almost got you.
call them if you want.
it's okay by me herr kommandant. i'm sure the police would love to meet the "blood- fiend of patin."
after 1965, no one saw you again.  until i did. three weeks ago on the downtown bus. if you want to call the cops, go right ahead. i'ii wait on the steps.
i won't? listen, old man, if i want to start screaming right here, i will. if i want to ride down to the police station and bring the cops back myself, then i will. i will do what ever i want. do you understand? but if you like, i could come in for a minute. we could talk.
tell me, wasn't it ilse koch who made the lampshades out of human skin?
sure you do, mr. dussander.
your hands are shaking.
we're in no rush. if i thought you had plans, i'd say cancel them, but since i know you don't.
what business? you sit in that ugly chair and watch soap operas all day. except on friday afternoons when you walk down to the movie theater. and twice a week you take the bus downtown to do your shopping. you always use the express lane because you never have more than ten items.
of course, i followed you. you think i normally go around to peoples' houses and accuse them of being nazi fugitives?
no, for you i had to be sure. for kurt dussander i had to be absolutely certain. . now, i am, and that's why i'm here.
i don't need money. you don't have any anyway. at least, i don't think so. you probably had to spend it all to sneak in the country. a good american passport is expensive on the black market, that i know.
yes, i do. i know it all, dussander. you're my one great interest.
my one great interest. well, not you personally, but, . well, it's something i learned back in eighth grade. our teacher, miss harmon, she said we'd have to find our one great interest in life. you know, the thing that would really grab us. once we did that, everything would fall into place. like hers, she said, wasn't teaching, but collecting nineteenth-century postcards. i guess there's no money in that, so she has to be a teacher. anyway, she told us to start thinking about it. so i did, but nothing happened. until the following summer, in ronny pegler's garage. that's where i found it.
hang on a sec.
it was all there.  pictures of stuff i'd never seen, stuff they never put in the books anymore, especially the ones they give us to read. and here were stacks of them.
it.  grabbed me. it was just like miss harmon said. i couldn't believe it. but there it was, the camps, the uniforms, the . the way they saluted each other. but what am i telling you for? you know more about this stuff than anybody.
then last year i wrote my big term paper on dachau. i got an a+. it was the only a+ she gave. i mean i always do real well. a's on everything. that's why i'm accelerated.
you know, accelerated. i skipped two grades, second and ninth. i didn't need them. that's why i'm already a junior.
some kids resent me for it. that's not important. anyway, my paper really floored my history teacher. i guess because i got through all those books without throwing up. but i learned something. i learned that when you talk about the camps now, you have to remember to sound really disgusted. i mean, you can't just say what happened like the magazines did and leave it at that. if i tried that the teacher would have freaked and called my parents in.
what?
nowadays you have to.  soften it.
because, i don't want it softened.
actually, i'm pretty low maintenance. that's what my dad says.
you think i'm crazy?
and then it happened.  i was on my way to the library. it was raining.
you climbed on the bus and started this slow walk down the aisle. just like you were examining a new batch of inmates. i don't think anybody gave you a second glance but me, but somehow . people seemed to move out of your way. and under your arm you carried a rolled up umbrella. but what really did it, what really set me off was the coat. you were wearing this long black rain coat. my mind suddenly flipped back to a picture of you taken at patin. you in your s.s. greatcoat with a riding crop under your arm.
it was incredible.
well, it wasn't that easy. i mean, i had to really check up on it. and every picture of you in those books is forty years old, at least. i went back to the library to find the picture. and then i matched it with the photos i took.
yeah, i got this little camera. fits right in the palm of my hand.
but even then i couldn't be sure. i needed real proof. so i went to the mall and bought a fingerprint kit from the hobby shop and a book that tells you what you're supposed to look for and then dusted your mailbox while you were at the movies. pretty smart, huh?
i already had a copy of your fingerprints. they're on your want sheet from the israeli government. it's on database at uc irvine. can you believe that?
sure, you got a coke?
milk?
it takes eight good matches, they're called compares, actually, for a fingerprint to get accepted in court.
yeah, there were two sets of prints. the first i figured were the mailman's. once i knew what i was looking for, yours were easy to spot.
maybe i will.  mom thinks i'd be good at it.
i found fourteen compares.
you have some.
a violation?
kind of like those experiments with the decompression chamber. now, that was a violation, dussander.
you what?
you demand nothing from me. ever. get it?
no. my dad used to smoke. mom made him quit. now he's addicted to nicorette.  that's nicotine gum.
that was pretty good. so much to remember. but i guess it helps when you have forty years to practice your story.
no. my parents don't believe in violence.
hang up the phone.
do it.
i want to hear about it.
the camps. everything. the experiments. the examinations. all the stuff the writers are scared to put in their books because people will think they're sick. that's what i want, . everything.
exactly. and you're going to tell it to me.
according to history you're the monster.
you were there. you did those things. no one can tell it better than you can. and you will tell it, starting today. right now. if you don't, i'll tell everyone who you are. i swear it.
because you hung up the phone. that's why. . and just so you know, just so there is no misunderstanding whatsoever. everything i have on you, the compares, the want sheet, all the photographs, are all in an envelope under my mattress. i'm going to put it there every time i come to see you. if anything happens to me, if i should suddenly disappear, some one will find it. believe me --
you better hope she doesn't. we're wasting time. let's get started. i have to be home for dinner. today i want to hear about the ovens. how you baked them after they were dead.  and before.
but before we start, put your teeth in. you look better with your teeth.
don't do that.
walk with me to french.
who?
you going to tell me who it is?
fine.
was that so hard?
what about this weekend?
grounded? what for?
i've never seen anyone drink bourbon with mcdonald's before. . so, how did the stuff get to patin?
that's fitting. was it always zyklon-b?
it what?
bullshit. you're lying. what did it do?
tell me. tell me.
what did it do?
dance?
you mean they.  they.  shit themselves? . woah.
yeah, i bet.
why didn't you just do the job yourself? you carried a gun, didn't you?
so you never killed anybody?
that's not a real answer. i'm asking about you.
i know what the ss was, dussander. who are you talking to? it was a bunch of dumb, rich kids who bought their way into the service so they wouldn't have to go fight on the front.
yeah, fine. that was good story though. you always tell them good, once i get you started.
forget it. i can't concentrate.
these honors classes.  they aren't as easy as i thought they'd be. i totally admit it, i didn't prepare enough. i'm sorry.
nobody wants that more than i do, dad.
i know.
that still bothers you, doesn't it?
i think it bothers you and you're not telling me.
yeah.  no. dad, don't do that. please. don't punish mr. denker for something that's my fault. i mean, he'd be lost without me--
dad, am i like other kids?
then trust me on this. don't lose faith in me because i blew a couple of exams. i will get my grades back up. in fact i've already started. three days a week i go over to freddy tremain's for extra help. he's a wiz at trig. but please, dad, whatever you do, don't punish a helpless old man for something that's my fault.
no.
i'm making a difference in somebody's life. it's that simple.
don't get too drunk. we still have a little while.
screw you. i'm doing this for me. this place is freezing.
why didn't you pay your gas bill?
slipped your mind. i noticed it didn't slip your mind to stock up on a new case of bourbon.
all right, so finish your story, because i'm still not clear. you cook up this stew, and you bring the prisoner in, and you let them smell it, and suddenly they tell you everything?
and you let them eat the soup?
wow, that's really good, dussander. i mean that's.  that's thinking.
yeah, i'm fine.
no.  no, i'm cool.
i'm sorry.
i don't know. that's never happened before.
can you blow that the other way?
no, i do.
let's just go home.
cigarettes are gross, mom.
what's that supposed to mean?
he was knocked unconscious and woke up in a hospital.
why don't you mind your own business.
oh, give me a frigging break, will you? look who's talking to me, for christ's sake. and what was that crap about the dog? if you were any more charming i was going to puke.
our advantage? our advantage?
you sure take a lot for granted. do you think there's anybody forcing me to come over to your scuzzy house and watch you slop up booze all day? do you?
so what?
you know, if they found out what you are, they'd spit on you.
go ahead, open it. wait, i better pull down the shades, first.
just to be safe.
oh, relax, old man. sit down and open it.
merry christmas!
go ahead, try it on.
i thought you'd like it --
don't call me stupid.
that's enough. you don't get to talk to me like that.
do it. please. indignities? what you've suffered with me is nothing compared to what the israelis would do to you. remember what happened to eichmann? you forget that, i think. and, you know, that's my fault. i have let you forget. you have gotten comfortable with this situation. well, don't you for one minute ever forget who holds the cards here. don't you ever forget that envelope under my mattress. i tried to do this the nice way, i tried to do something to please you, but you don't want it. so fine, we'll do it the hard way. you will put this on because i want to see you in it. now strip.
that suit cost me over eighty bucks.  with the boots.
quiet. straighten that hat.
straighten that hat, soldier!
actung!
now, march.  do it!
that's it. march.
about face.
about face.
okay, that's enough.
i said that's enough!
fuck if i know.
i don't need a lesson.
what?
no.
nothing, joey. i fucked up. i'ii fix it. i'ii fix it.
you're talking to yourself, bowden. you're talking to yourself, bowden.
i'ii fix it. i'ii fix it.
i'll fix it. i'll fix it. i'll fix it.
what the fuck happened in here?
something's come up. sit down.
this isn't a joke, dussander. i can't blame this on teachers or honors classes anymore.
i have a problem? you still don't get it. i'm out of excuses. do you know what's going to happen when my dad sees that? he's going to hit the fucking roof. he'll get it all out of me. the truth, you. everything.
don't be so sure.
i can't study anymore.
i try. but it's.  different now. i sit in front of my books and start thinking about.  about corpses, and electrified fences and people getting strangled with piano wire. all that crap you tell me. the next thing i know it's after midnight. i sit in class like a zombie, . useless. but that's not the half of it. check out the letter.
french? fuck no. he's a stupid guidance counselor.
he guides and he counsels. you read the fucking note. do you realize i could have to go to summer school? me, in there with all those fuck-ups. i do not want to go to summer school.
what did you say?
they'd never believe you.
so what? i'd say you tricked me.
for friendship, because you're lonely and had no one in your life. no jury would take your word over mine. a nazi? forget it. just get it out of your head. you can't threaten me and you can't scare me. what you can do is find me a pencil.
that will take care of the report card, i think. about that fucking letter, i don't know.
fuck.  come on, a pencil. a sharp one. with an eraser.
him? fuck, no. they wouldn't mix with a geek like him.
no. i've never needed it. why?
you what?
are you out of your fucking mind? i'm going to get three or four flunk cards. i failed an economics test today, so there's another one.
i could have done better myself --
you're insane. i'm upset because it can't be done.
i don't take orders from you. maybe you've forgotten --
you fucker.
god! i wish.  i wish --
look, you gotta believe me. there is no way in hell that i can pull myself out of a half year slide in a couple of weeks. i wish i could, but we're just going to have to think of something else.
what are you talking about?
not here, at home.
their light is still on. i'll get out on your side. don't say anything.
shhh.
don't move.
fuck.
no. i got it.  thanks.
i.  i don't know.  i don't think so.
well, maybe.  i have to check.
i thought i did have a couple of quarters.
look, i guess i owe a lot of this to you. i'm not proud of it, but it's true.
sure, what the hell.
i don't care. whatever you want.
anything, really.
then what?
you can't.  you can't do that.
but.  christ! look at you. you could go at any time.
then there is nothing for me.
but.  but so many things can happen to you in between. accidents. sickness. you could slip in the shower, for christ's sake.
you know this means we're through. you won't be seeing me around here anymore.
i'm never coming here again.
what are you doing?
i think you should fuck yourself.
no.
thanks, i guess.
thanks.
yeah.
i am.
look, things with my parents were bad for a while. but they're doing a lot better. thanks for your concern, really. i should get back to class.
i know. thanks.
hey.
thanks.
no, no.  that's good, joe.
you busy now?
come with me. hop on.
you can't drive where we're going.
point it over here. that's the middle school. you can see right into our old class room.
he hasn't yet.
and over here, that's your dad's office. and there's the old drive-in.
it's such a rush, you know?.  to be up here. don't you feel it? so high above them they never know we're here. it's like an ant farm. we're the gods on mt. olympus, joey. they can't see us, they can't hear us, but every so often we can make them feel us. just so they never forget. look.
there goes a future track star. there goes a judge. a mom and her two kids. a policeman. that one's a school teacher, that one's a drug dealer.  you see, joey, it doesn't matter. it doesn't matter how smart you are . or how many grades you skip. there's always someone who can take it all away. the right person snaps their fingers.  and it's done.
grandma and grandpa aren't coming?
of course, dad. it's all right. tell grandpa i'll spend the week with him and grandma when they get back.
no, he won't want to come.
way to go, mom.
maybe it's in yen.
mr. denker?
gee, that sounds exciting, mr. denker, but i was studying for my trig final --
well if you put it that way --
yeah, sure. i'll be right there.
bye. i've got to run over to mr. denker's for a minute.
oh, he just got a letter from a nephew in hamburg or dusseldorf or one of those places.
so did he. that's why he sounded excited. i shouldn't be too long. i'll take your car, mom?
i know, i was almost finished studying anyway.
see you in a bit.
what the fuck?
where are you bleeding?.  wake up.
wake up, goddamnit!
i thought you said you had a fucking heart attack.
what did you say?
fuck you. i'm not going down there. what happened? what did you do?
what the hell is this?
jesus fucking christ.
open the fucking door! right now. right now!
what are you doing? open the door.
fuck you, old man. this is your problem. i didn't do this. open the door!
fuck your document. i got nothing to do with this. don't make it sound like i do. i came here, i saw this shit, and now i'm getting the fuck out of here. that's what i'm gonna tell the police.
i'm not listening to this.
fuck.
oh really?
get out of the way.
stop it! stop it!
fuck this.
i mean it get the fuck away from me.
where's the fucking pinesol?
rags. i need rags.
i ought to run this through your chest, you know that?
christ, my parents are going to freak.
fuck off.
your pants are okay. the shoes.  no.
put this on.
don't you die on me, you old bastard. not now.
me too.
the key.
the safety deposit box. i want the key.
i want the key and i want to know where the bank is.
sign this.
sign it.
no! at the bottom.  neatly.
yes. it's my friend, mr. du--
denker. he had a heart attack.
yeah, he's awake. i'm really scared. the address is 9 --
no. i have to call my parents. just send the ambulance --
it smells too clean in here.
cigarette?
mommy, it's me. let me talk to dad.
just let me talk to him.
mr. denker had a heart attack.
yeah, he's awake.
i did. they're on the way.
okay.
fuck!
the letter. where is the goddamn letter? i told my parents i came over to read you a letter from germany.
we need a letter. i told them it was your nephew, i think.
are you crazy? i don't read german, you numb fuck.
all right. all right.
goddamn you, come out.
dad.
he started laughing at something in the letter. i don't know what it was, it's in german.
c'mon. let's make sure he gets checked in all right.
he's really sick. . please.
son of a bitch.
they're from my mother.
here.
everything else i burned.
no, i don't think we will.
well, i better go.
what?
i should go.
thanks. but he's just a friend.
the doctors say he'll be out soon.
he's from germany.  from essen. do you know that town?
i really couldn't say.
i'm sure you're right.
john donne. take care, sir.
good-bye.
the road ahead reveals itself, uh, god, no. the road ahead.  grrrr, the fucking road ahead.
huh?
oh, . working.
mr. french.
that's our cue.
we all have dreams that we carry with us. perhaps it is a dream of prosperity, or happiness. but now, so early in our lives, it seems that all we should ask for is to be at peace with the world, because only then can we be at peace with ourselves.
we learn from our education that we are the master's of our own destinies. we learn what it is that separates us from the others, why we are special.
each of us have unique talents and interests unlike those of anyone else. the challenge now, as we stand at the doorway to adulthood, is to channel our abilities into our goals.
we forge our own paths. our education is but a stepping stone to the world.
our.  our true destinies await us. there we become the.
there we become the men and women that will make a difference. but we must take away from this place a sense of purpose for ourselves. we now begin to see the road ahead. it is a road from which we cannot veer.
mom, i don't feel so good.
i don't know, i feel like i'm going to pass out. can we go home?
i want to go, dad. right now.
yeah. i never knew of that other name till i saw it in the paper.
i met him at the movies. last summer. . he asked me where to pick up the number seven bus. he said his eyes weren't too good. . will you excuse me for a minute?
i just gotta use the bathroom. i'll be right back.
that's right. i was. that's what i was doing there. it was in german but he insisted i try to read it anyway. once or twice he got pissy about the pronunciation but i asked him what did he want from me. i don't speak german. mr. denker.  dussander.  got really excited at one point. he yelled out, "yes, that's what you would do all right." but i didn't know what he was talking about. then he grabbed his chest.
that's right.
i guess it was still on the table. i couldn't swear to it, but --
that doesn't make sense.
well, if denk.  if he had an old nazi buddy in town, why didn't he come over himself and read the letter to him? if you could have heard the way he corrected me at every word--
guys that are blind don't normally go scooting out to steal letters.
no, not really.
no, i heard his phone ring maybe five or six times in all the time i knew him. it was never anything out of the ordinary. salesmen. wrong numbers.
no. he hardly ever spoke german. he always said he would teach me someday, but he never got around to it.
not really. little bits, i guess.
no.
you'll be back, won't you boys? won't you, special agent jackoff. you and the sheeny professor. . i know, let's show him an old army picture, that'll screw him up. . fuck you. fuck-you.
yeah.  fine.
i'm fine, dad.
it's not your fault.
i know, dad.
don't worry about me, i'll be fine.
i know, dad.
sure.
we're okay. we're okay. we're o-kay.
you got to be fucking kidding me.
mr. french, what brings you to the wild side of town?
no.
it's sort of a bad time right now. why don't you go home?
you know, mr. french, sometimes one thing just leads to another and before you know it.  things get out of control.
i don't know, ed. you want to come in and wait? i'll put on a pot of tea. we'll talk about old times.
you know? you're right. i do need help. i really do.
can i ask you something, ed? you don't mind if i call you ed, now that i'm out of your fucking school, do you?
you know all this crap you see on tv about forensics.  hairs and fibers, that stuff? how much of it do think is true and how much is just bullshit?
oh, how would you know? you're a fucking guidance counsellor.
here's a little factoid for ya. i'll bet you didn't know this one. hairs fall out of your head all the time. but it's even worse when you're nervous. and you know what? i've been real fucking high-strung lately.
that's how it all happened, you know. one thing lead to another and before i knew it.
you showed up in my driveway, wearing those same fucking sneakers.