hi. can you talk? i'm on my way to work. i'm waving at them now. what's that noise?
nicole's coming over to look after the kids tonight. she'll be there around six.
she said she's got to be home by nine.
hi, nicole.
they just finished supper.
i'll be back around nine.
a while.
what's all this?
does this mean i can't take a shower?
what time's he coming home?
what are you thinking?
that's because he misses you.
it's natural.
well, maybe that's because they know i'm going to follow them. behind the bus.
sure.
i better get back.
good night.
yeah.
why?
nicole, i'm just going to pack all this stuff and give it to the church for charity. don't feel bad. unless you feel strange about wearing it.
and she really liked you. she would've given you all this if she'd outgrown it, or.
i'm not sure.
goodnight, nicole.
i stopped by the station a while ago. i stared at the bus. i could almost hear the kids inside. there was a lawyer there. he told me he'd gotten you signed up. is that true?
risa, i serviced that bus. at the garage. there's nothing wrong with it.
you believe that?
why?
well i don't.
yes.
you think that caused the accident, risa? that it brought bad luck? christ, it sounds to me you're looking for a witch doctor, not a lawyer. or maybe they're the same thing.
you know what i'm going to miss? more than making love? it's the nights you couldn't get away from wendell. it's the nights i'd sit in that chair for an hour. smoking cigarettes and remembering my life before.
mister, i don't want to know your name.
no you don't.
not unless you can raise the dead.
mr. mitchell stephens, esquire, would you be likely to sue me if i was to beat you right now? beat you so bad that you pissed blood and couldn't walk for a month. because that's what i'm about to do.
leave us alone, stephens. leave the people of this town alone. you can't help.
case?
i know risa and wendell walker. they wouldn't hire a goddamned lawyer. and the ottos wouldn't deal
why are you telling me this?
why are you telling me this?
no. no, thanks, mary.
well, sam, i might as well tell you the truth. it's this lawsuit you've gotten yourself all involved with. i want you to drop the damned thing.
it does concern me.
how?
why not?
well i don't want a damned thing to do with it.
i've tried to stay out of it. but it turns out that's not so easy, sam. you've gone and got yourself this lawyer. mitchell stephens. you and risa and wendell and the ottos.
but yours is the one who's going to subpoena me, sam. force me to testify in court. he came by the garage this afternoon. gave me this piece of paper.
because i was driving behind the bus, mary. because i saw it. i saw it happen.
if that bastard does subpoena me, if he forces me to go over this again, then all those other lawyers will line up behind him and try and do the same thing.
that's wrong, sam. you know that. we'll be tangled up in this thing for the next five years. this is never going to go away.
we've got lawyers suing lawyers because some people were stupid enough to sign on with more than one of the bastards. we've got people pointing fingers, making side deals, and dickering over percentages. yesterday, i heard somebody wants to sue the rescue squad. the rescue squad. because they didn't act fast enough.
if you two dropped the case, then the others would come to their senses
and follow. you're good sensible parents, you and mary. people respect you.
why? you got money from dolores' insurance with the school board. we all did.
i'll help pay for nicole, if that's what you're really talking about. i'll even give you the money i got for my kids. that's what we used to do, remember? help each other. this was a community.
i used to like it here. i used to care about what happened. now i think i'll sell my house and move the fuck away.
the children.
how is nicole? is she around?
say hello for me.