Being Flynn

America has produced only three classic writers,

Mark Twain, J.D. Salinger, and me.

I'm Jonathan Flynn.

Everything I write is a masterpiece.

And soon, very soon,

I shall be known.

At this point of the story, let's call it the present,

I am an upstanding citizen of these United States.

I have a job,

a roof over my head. I have sustenance.

Perhaps I'll let you read my masterpiece someday.

The Button Man, also known as The Confessions of Christopher Cobb.

It's classic.

This isn't his story.

Well, it is, but he is not telling it,

lam.

I'm Nick Flynn, his son, and I am sort of trying to be a writer.

I mean, not at this very moment.

At this moment I'm trying to...

Wake up.

Hey, wake up.

All my life, my father has been manifest as an absence.

A non-presence. A name without a body.

What if he doesn't show up?

He's gonna show up.

How do you know?

Because if he doesn't show up this time,

I'm going to kill him.

How will you find him to kill him?

I have ways.

Can we get ice cream if he doesn't show up?

Here is the bus. Here he is.

No, that is not him.

He must be in the back.

What kind of ice cream do you want to get?

Chocolate.

Some part of me knew he would show up someday.

If I stayed in one place long enough, he would find me,

like you are taught to do when you are lost.

But what do you do if both of you are lost

and you both end up in the same place, waiting?

Hey, sweetie.

Hey.

I'm exhausted.

How was your flight?

Non-stop turbulence.

Nick, what is the ashtray doing by the bed?

Sorry.

Lipstick?

You are a fucking asshole.

Look, you are the one who said you didn't see a future for us.

I wonder why? This is yours!

This is yours.

And this is yours! All right.

And this is yours. All right.

My book. And Yates.

Oh, more Yates. All right.

Wow! You are so well-read.

All right. All right!

I'll pay for the mirror.

As soon as I get a job.

Sorry.

For what, your complete inadequacy as a human being?

Yes.

Well, you warned me.

Don't worry, you're back.

Hello.

Back in the hands of a master storyteller.

Yeah, yeah, go fuck yourself.

I like kids and small animals.

What I don't like is queers and blacks

who try and fuck you up the ass all day and all night.

But more on that later.

What I am, always have been, is an artist.

Shut the fuck up.

Shut up. Shut up.

Shut the fuck up! Shut up!

Shut up!

A friend of a friend knew a couple of guys

who were renting an entire building,

a former strip joint called "Good Times."

Unfortunately, the good times were not had by all,

like that Harvard student who was found

stabbed to death in the doorway three years before.

I don't know what to tell you.

That's something you got to figure out, man.

So, what appeals to you about living here?

-Low rent. -Yeah, hold on one second.

Do you have a job?

Uh, no. I have some money saved up.

I was working as an electrician,

but now I'm looking for a newline of work.

An electrician?

Can you wire this place up to look like a spaceship?

Ivan. Yes.

And what field of employment are you interested in?

Something different, something more meaningful.

"More meaningful," what does that mean?

I don't know.

Are those, like, the names of strippers?

Yeah. The landlord's Mafia, so hejust left all this shit the way it was

when the FBI shut him down.

Any family?

Stop interrogating the guy.

I'm sorry, Ivan, but my last roommate had

his entire family from Cambodia sleeping in the living room.

No, my mom's dead, and my dad, I haven't heard from in 18 years, so...

Perfect. Done.

So, are you guys like...

No. No. Okay.

So, Denise, didn't you say they were hiring people at your work?

They usually are.

Good. 'Cause I think Nick here is looking for a job.

Give him a break, man. Where do you work?

Harbor Street Inn. You heard of it?

No. It's a homeless shelter.

That sounds intense. So are you like a do-gooder?

No, I'm a do-badder, but I work at Harbor Street.

What makes you a do-badder?

I bet you would like to know.

I would.

Upon occasion, rare occasion, but still,

I'll pick up a female fare and we will strike up a conversation.

Oh, Jonathan.

Oh, Jonathan.

Jonathan.

Yeah.

Let's be a little realistic here.

All right.

Still, we are having fun, aren't we, Buttercup?

Absolutely.

Who is this?

That is my wife and kid.

Will you listen to this shit.

You are married?

Divorced, a long time ago.

Well, I had better get you home.

I left the meter running. That'll be $240.

Quiet!

Quiet!

I can't even think any more!

Excuse me.

Open up!

Asshole.

Hey.

Hey.

I was hoping you'd be here.

Why is that?

Well, so I know somebody.

We don't exactly know each other, do we?

I guess not.

I'm not interested in a relationship.

What?

I'm not interested in a relationship.

Okay, I can cope.

Okay.

Phone call.

Who is it?

Your father.

Who?

Your father, who you supposedly hadn't seen in 18 years.

This is Nick.

Is this Nicholas Flynn?

Yes.

Nicholas, this is your father, Jonathan Flynn.

It is?

It is. I have a question for you.

Do you have a truck? A pickup truck?

Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do.

I heard as much.

From who?

Your grandmother, she mentioned it a few years ago.

You do remember your grandmother, don't you?

I do. Good.

Now I want you to get in your truck and drive over here.

I'm sorry, you say you are my father?

That is correct.

I was evicted and I need you to get over here

and help me move my stuff, Nicholas.

How did you get this number?

Information. Now listen to me carefully.

I am sitting behind a door with a shotgun.

I'm waiting for the knob to turn.

Get over here right now.

That is an appealing offer.

You are damn right it is.

It's all yours. You are my sole heir, Nicholas.

I want you to have everything.

You have a pen or a pencil?

Because I want you to write this address down.

What am I doing here?

What are you doing here? What are we doing here?

Thanks for coming.

Sure. Should we just wait here? Or do you want us...

Who is it?

It's Nick. Nicholas.

Come on in, the door is open. Come in.

I'll be with you in a minute.

I appreciate you coming over, Nicholas.

We're put on this Earth to help other people.