turn out the light, please.
it's fake.
it was my mother's. she won it in a penny arcade in baltimore when she was in catholic school.
it used to shoot these little paper caps, but they don't make them anymore. the caps.
it's just. . for good luck. some people carry rabbits' feet.
no, thank you. i don't like to lose control of my emotions.
i'm not supposed to be here, in case you were wondering. i crashed. i mean, not intentionally.
no! what gave you that idea?
she likes old movies like i do, that's ail. besides, she doesn't really know me. she thinks she does, but she doesn't. maybe it's because she's mormon and i'm catholic.
you're not like my other teachers, professor tripp.
huh? oh. son or fury. with tyrone power and frances farmer.
so did gene tierney. she's in it too.
it's not bad.
they really hated it. i think they hated it more than any of the other ones.
it doesn't matter. it only took me an hour to write.
i have trouble sleeping. while i'm lying in bed i figure them out. the stories.
a little.
it's colder in there. -
actually, i saw the greenhouse. so i thought . i thought i'd come out here and take a look at it. you don't see one of those every day. it looks like heaven.
i saw a movie once. part of it took place in heaven. everyone wore white and lived in crystal houses. like that. at least that's the way i remember it.
i should be going.
i'll miss my bus.
no, i'm going ho--
george sanders?
pills. august 25, 1972. in a costa brava hotel room.
there's so many.
pier angeli, 1971 or '72, also pills. charles boyer, 1978, pills again. charles butterworth, 1946, i think. in a car. supposedly it was an accident, but, you know. . . he was distraught. dorothy dandridge, she took pills in, like, 1965. albert dekker, 1968, he hung himself. he wrote his suicide note in lipstick on his stomach. alan ladd, '64, more pills, carole landis, pills again, i forget when. george reeves, superman on tv, shot himself. jean seberg.  pills of course, 1979. everett sioane-- he was good--pills. margaret sullavan, pills, lupe velez, a lot of pills. gig young. he shot himself and his wife in 1978. there are more but i don't know if you would have heard of them. ross alexander? clara blandick? maggie mcnamara? gia scaia?
that's just how my brain works, i guess.
actually. . i just want to go home.
is that really it?
the one she wore on her wedding day?
really?
they're glass. the buttons.
she was small. most people don't know that. the shoulders are small. it looks so perfect. i bet it's the only time she wore it. that day. she must've felt so . happy.
it's feels unreal, like butterfly wings or.  something. it must've cost dr. gaskell a lot.
you're really good friends with the chancellor, aren't you?
i guess you must be, if you know the combination to his closet and he doesn't mind your being here in their bedroom like this.
i'm sorry. professor tripp. maybe it's seeing that jacket that belonged to her. it just looks. really lonely. hanging there. in a closet. maybe i'm just a little sad.
you mean, with your wife leaving you and ail? hannah mentioned something about it. about a note.
i had to. didn't i?
no! he was crazy. i didn't-he looked-- 1 thought --
do you have a mirror? it's the best way to see if someone's breathing.
what are we going to do?
professor tripp? can i ask you a question?
what are we going to do with.
you?
does she want to hear it was one of her professors?
he's still a little warm.
yuck.
that's a. big trunk. it fits a tuba, a suitcase, a dead dog, and a garment bag almost perfectly.
whose tuba is that anyway?
can i ask you something about her?
oh. so. is--is your friend crabtree-- is he-- gay?
no thanks. i'm fine without them.
woah! the doors made so much noise!
this is so embarrassing! you guys had to carry me out.
we're going to the men's room. only we might not make it in time.
 .he was killed, when a gangster named freddie nostrils tried to shoot his favorite horse. he took the bullet himself.
vernon, over there, was in on the hit.
mmhmmm.  . . knap . sap.
mmrrmmm.  .knap sap!
thank you.
i put you on the floor.
i thought you might--l don't know-- swallow your tongue or something. i guess you really miss her, huh?
i guess there's probably a story behind that.
want me to get that?
he didn't give his name.
the guy on the phone.
he wanted to know if a grady trip? lived here and drove a dark maroon 1966 ford galaxie 500 with black interior.
yes.
i thought maybe you'd won a radio contest or something. is that single-spaced?
that's a big book you're writing.
wow, hannah always swore you were working, but--
nothing, it's just that,, well, it's been awhile since arsonist's daughter, and some people--some of the kids in workshop--thought maybe you were.
blocked.
no kidding.
professor tripp?
how did i get here last night?
and . and before that. did i do anything? anything bad?
what do we do now?
how's that?
you're bleeding. professor tripp.
i got kicked out. well, not exactly kicked out. i was asked to leave.
there is, but it's not that interesting.
the bus station.
it's not -so bad. i know the night janitor. and there's a broken locker i can put my stuff.
a couple weeks. that's why.  that's why i had the gun. for protection.
who?
nice.
isn't this?
i can't help myself. i don't know what's the matter with me.
she seemed to take it pretty well.
no.
humboldt county?
it's my father. he gets it from his doctor.
colon cancer.
carvel.
outside scranton.
it's a hellhole. three motels and a mannequin factory. my dad worked there for thirty-five years.
seitz plastics. that's where he met my morn. she was a fry cook in the cafeteria. before that, she'd been a dancer.
whatever kind they wanted her to be.
i'm telling you what i was told by my uncle. and he should know. he ran half a dozen men's clubs in baltimore before he skipped town on a bad debt.
when we fall, we fall hard.
maybe i just needed the moment to present itself.
this is so nice. it's like where andy hardy would live. what's it called again?
kinship. and what's here?
the one that left you?
someone jumped on your car with their butt -
you can see the outline of a butt.
maybe she didn't come here.
it's not that. it just reminded me of-- you know-of what's in the car. in the trunk.
it feels really.  good. . here.
hullo.
i'm having a really good time, professor tripp.
i just wanted a little sip.
probably about the time you gave me the codeine pills last night.
you're mad at me, aren't you?
you're mad because i shot your girlfriend's dog.
sure you do. you were thinking: 'that's no cap gun in that kid's overcoat.' you were thinking 'i can't let that kid get on. the bus alone-he might never get on the bus again.' you were thinking: 'i've got to find a way to distract this kid. ' so you did. it was--in its way--a noble act.
so, why did you take me up there?
it's warm.
because of my coat?
jealous? of me?
you're lying.
yes you are. my stuff stinks. i know it. you said so yourself.
yes you did. last night. to your friend crabtree. "is he any good?" he said. and you said: "not yet he isn't." i heard you myself.
it's okay, professor tripp. carrie, howard, the others--they 're right. my stories are annoying. they go on and on and on, and the longer they go on the more annoying they become, until finally you just want to grab something heavy and--
but, last night.
i'm sorry.
arsonist's daughter meant something.
i mean it. it means something to me. it's one of the reasons i came to school here. to be in your class. to be taught by you. it's one of the reasons i wanted to become a writer.
you coming?
want a bite?
that's why you're having them. your spells.
what would you call them then?
it's because you don't eat.
when?
i just worry about you, that's all.
okay.
i'm not going with them.
i'm not going, with them.
parents? they're not my parents. they're my grandparents. my parents are dead.
i swear. my father had his own airplane he used to fly up to quebec. one christmas, he and my mom were flying up to our house in the laurentians when the plane went down. it was in the newspaper.
i 'swear. my father was a senior vice president at dravo. my mother was a socialite. her maiden name was guggenheim.
six. their plane went down right outside scranton.
i'm sorry about all that. i just-i don't like to talk about my family. they treat me like a freak.
there's a reason for that.
that's why she hates me. that's why she makes me sleep in the basement.
i swear.
hey. what are you guys doing here?
the candelabras were my gran's.
can i--i mean--do you mind--if i wear this again. professor tripp?
i'm ready.
you all right, professor tripp?
oh, well, that's just it. she's been coming down here, every half hour or so, to, sort of, check on me. if i'm not here, she might . call the police or.  .something.
yeah. like in against all flags. only they use a couple big hams.
that same guy?
you snore.
no offense, professor tripp, but you look sorta crappy.
it's the chancellor.
i'm fine, right. fit as a fucking fiddle.
does she mean--does she know about . her dog?
thank you.
i'm not worried. you're not worried, are you. professor tripp?
don't be. i don't care if they expel me. i probably should be expelled.
professor tripp?
even if i end up going to jail.