Cole

Welcome to Lytton, Gold Rush country.

Population 350.

My home for 20 years, 2 months, 7 days, and counting.

When the gold rush came through here, this place was booming.

Some people settled down and never left.

Citizens of Lytton were promised a stop light

when the town exceeded 1,000 people.

That was 57 years ago.

We're still waiting.

Whoo!

Let's go, man!

- Whoo! - Whoo-hoo!

Whoo!

Whoo!

To Saturday night and shittin' in Lytton.

Yeah, cheers. Want another beer?

Mm.

So, did you hear anything yet

about that summer class with the writer dude?

No. Still wait-listed.

I don't think I'm gonna get in.

Hey,

Hey, baby.

Georgie, uh, brought some nitrous.

- Oh, yeah? - Yeah.

Oh, shit. Let's go pop some whippits.

- Yeah. - Whippits, Cole?

No, no. I'm gonna pass, buddy.

All right, whatever floats your boat, bud.

Cole. Let's go, Cole.

Let's go, Frogger.

Baby?

- Frogger! Frogger! - Help!

What's going on? What the hell?

- Baby! - Hey, Frogger.

Hey. Come on, come on.

Are you okay? Is he okay?

Somebody call a fucking ambulance!

What the fuck?! Hey, come on.

Buddy, come on.

Open your eyes. Can you hear me?

Come on! Wake up, wake up, wake up.

- Babe! - Come on.

- Holy fuck! - What happened?

You dropped. You dropped.

Are you okay?

I saw stars.

Holy--holy fuck.

Wow. Let me up.

Let's go.

Alright. Okay.

Where's my beer? Let's go.

Here.

Holy shit.

Look at you go.

Hung over, little brother?

Just a little.

River party?

What's the matter? You jealous?

Careful with that. Pour me a glass, too, yeah?

Good morning, sweet cheeks.

Mm! It was fun this morning.

Mm-hmm. Hmm?

You gonna butter my toast?

Guess what I got here, May?

Car-wash-investment information.

Gonna make us a fortune.

What do you want with a f-u-c-k-i-n' car wash, Bobby?

We don't have money for that.

Well, don't you want to get out of this piece-of-shit house

into a place we call our own?

What'd I tell you about grabbin', boy?

Can you pass me Mom's?

Yeah.

Here we go.

There you go.

Cole!

May, I'm gonna take a day tomorrow.

- Hmm? - I gotta drive to the city.

- Why? - My class--it's tomorrow.

I got in.

You got to be crazy, Cole.

- It's a three-hour drive. - Yeah, I know how far it is.

Three hours there, three fuckin' hours back.

I know how far it is.

Well, we're running a family business here.

We need your help.

- Open up the station-- - May.

Go open up the station.

- Fuck you. - Hey.

You see, May?

That's why we need a car wash.

With all the extra cash coming in,

we can buy ourselves a robot Cole.

Just shut up, Bobby. Get the baby.

Fuck!

Hey, hey.

Can you go open up the station?

Please?

You want to go open up the station with Daddy?

You want to go ring the bell?

Let's go ring the bell. Let's go ring the bell.

Come on.

Are you mad at me?

No, buddy, I'm not mad at you.

Then why'd you swear?

I don't know.

Mom said never to swear, not ever.

You know, your mom's a smart lady, Rocket.

But one day when you're older,

you'll realize that sometimes, it's okay to swear.

Like when?

Like when you're really, really mad,

it's better to swear than to do something worse.

- Like hit somebody? - Yeah.

Exactly.

So I'm just gonna hit this golf ball instead.

Whoosh!

Okay, here, you try.

What was that?

I have a vagina!

What did you just say?

It's what Bobby said when he slammed the door.

Okay, you know what?

You should never do what Bobby does.

Why?

Just trust me, okay?

Here.

I am the ball. Got it.

No, you're not the ball.

You said "I am the ball."

- Eye on the ball. - Okay, fine.

That's in.

I saw it splash!

I so saw it splash!

"It was a game he played, running into the road,

knowing that she would come for him.

He loved the sounds of the approaching trucks,

sounds of unknown places."

You paying for that gas?

I'll be back later.

Alright, I'm Dr. John Jackson.

And this is Creative Writing: The Short Story.

Now, for most of y'all, this is gonna be

the first college class of your lifetime.

- Y'all? - Yeah--yeah.

It's a contraction of "you" and "all"--y'all.

I was speaking colloquially, Miss, uh --

Serafina. Serafina Church.

Do you mind if I speak colloquially,

Miss Church, hmm?

No, not to be rude, Mr. Jackson,

but I was expecting that someone of your literary success

would be more careful with his diction.

Well, I'm embracing my Southern heritage, okay?

Well, so does Maya Angelou,

but you don't hear her talking like she's on a plantation.

Are you sure you've got the right class?

I think Debate 101 is down the hall, hm?

- I'm sure. - Okay.

Well, if you'd kindly

keep your ideas fresh for your short story,

because four students, next week,

are gonna bring their stories in to be read to the class.

And just to be completely unfair,

we're gonna start at the top of the alphabet and work down.

So that means Alison Anderson, Nathan Benn, Cole Chambers,

and Miss Serafina Church will bring your stories

and read them to the class aloud.

Now, on to bigger and brighter things.

You can't be a writer unless you read,

so there's a reading list associated with this course.

I told you to watch the popcorn.

Now it's all fuckin' charcoaled.

I like it charcoaled.

Oh. How can you--

How can you eat this shit?

I mean, it's-- it's fuckin' unedible.

That's the way I like it.

What? Dark and burnt,

just like the, uh, reminder in the front yard?

You don't mean that.

I don't?