My Dead Friend Zoe

No clouds in my stones

Let it rain I hydroplane in the bank

Comin' down like the Dow Jones...

We fly higher than weather

In G5s or better

You know me

In anticipation for precipitation

Stack chips for the rainy day

Jay, Rain Man is back

With Little Ms. Sunshine

Rihanna, where you at?

You have my heart

And we'll never be worlds apart

Maybe in magazines

But you'll still be my star

Baby, 'cause in the dark

You can't see shiny cars

And that's when you need me there

No! Aw.

I thought you fixed it! Ugh.

Zoe. Mmm?

Come on. Sorry. Here.

Oh, come on, Captain America, we're in a war zone.

Just live a little.

It's not like anyone's gonna come anyway.

Oh, shit, shit, shit! Shh!

Shit! Shit!

Aw, fuck.

Hey, Ramirez.

I see you are filling out that blouse quite nicely.

Ew.

God, you are such a mouth-breather.

Hey, Charles!

Lookin' as pretty as ever.

Mmm-mmm.

What do you want, Lewis?

Oh, um, Sergeant Shepherd's on his way.

For real? Yep.

Cool, okay. Fuck off, Lewis.

Geez! I was just trying to help.

Fuck off!

Can I call you? Call me? No!

Ugh ! All right.

No, no, wait, wait, let me just finish the song,

I just... I can fix it.

Zoe. I can fix it, I can fix it, I can fix it.

Just let me just do this, and I think, if I just hold this like this...

I got it, I got it, I got it. Ready?

I'll always share

Because...

When the sun shine We shine together

You believe Ventura got medevacked out of here

for that tiny little fuckin' scratch?

She almost got blown up.

I just hope that everything is okay with her...

You know.

Her internal organs? No, her tits.

She's got great tits.

So she might have PTSD and need therapy, but at least her tits are all right.

Yeah. They're important.

Can you promise me something?

Can you promise me we won't get, like, fucked up?

That's too easy.

Taliban can't touch this. Come on.

No, I mean, like, in the head.

You already fucked up in the head, so what does that matter?

Merit, I'm serious!

What are you saying?

I'm saying that if you ever catch me

in some sort of, like, dopey-ass, PTSD group therapy bullshit,

or any kind of therapy,

you have permission to fucking kill me.

So, we're all here?

Good. Who wants to start?

James.

Uh...

James. Sergeant, Marine Corps.

2004, Al-Anbar province in Iraq.

Um, our job was to go look for IEDs, find the guys putting 'em out there.

Cool story, bro. Shh!

Merit?

- Everything okay? - Mmm...

Mm-hmm. Yes, sir.

Go on, James.

The, uh, negative, unhelpful feelings

that I'm trying to process from that day are, um... Um...

Oh, my God. James, okay, okay.

Aren't we better than this,

than this woe-is-me shit?

Didn't we join the most powerful military of all time,

did we survive the dumbest wars of all time,

just to sit here broken and all Kumbaya

and "Oh, ouchie, my feelings"?

No! Fuck!

Get it together! God!

Ugh. Let's get out of here. Be quiet.

I'm listening. Merit?

I'm sorry.

I'm so... I'm so...

I'm sorry, James.

Look, sorry, James. Go on.

Good work.

I can't sign that.

I was here.

Yeah, you were here, physically.

But you didn't share.

You didn't give your attention to the others.

We all have pasts.

You think you're the only one

who doesn't want to talk about it, Merit?

Fuck anybody else

They don't know

What we been through

Fuck anybody else

They don't know

What the world did to you

Fuck what they say

They really got nothing Good to say anyway

Anytime, anyplace

Fuck every one of them

They ain't none of our friends

All we need is this

Two of us and a full clip

No, they don't want beef

They don't want nails, teeth

They don't want knuckles, no

They don't wanna bleed

But I come for blood

'Cause I fuckin' love you, yeah

Yeah, I'm crazy

Crazy enough to say

I'm crazy enough to swear I'll die for you, yeah

They don't know shit

Don't know who they're fuckin' with

It's the power couple, ah

Honey, you're home!

It's 8:00 a.m.

Do you know why people hate runners?

Flat stomachs? Sculpted legs?

It's selfish. It's a selfish sport.

What the hell am I supposed to do while you're gone?

You could work on our puzzle.

Man. That VA counselor guy, what a dick.

Mmm!

I just had a genius idea.

We watch M*A*S*H again, but it's a drinking game.

Shit! That is not a no.

Ugh. Why does she always FaceTime? It's so creepy.

Hi, Mom.

Is talking to your mother really that dreadful?

No, Mom, it's...

How's China?

I'm in Hong Kong, honey.

- There's a difference. - Is there?

I mean, they had some limited autonomy then.

So, how's the warehouse job?

How's your life, boyfriend?

Any friends?

Mom, please. Stop.

I'm sure you called because you need something.

I'm your mother, I'm allowed to ask about your life.

Okay, so what did you call about? I need something.

- I knew it. - I knew it!

It's your Grandpa Dale. They found him wandering.

What do you mean, wandering?

Kwan found him way out at her place.

She took him to the hospital.

Okay, so he's okay, then. No, he's not...

I just told you that your grandpa was in the hospital.

What is the matter with you? Okay, Mom, I...

Sorry.

I gotta go. No, no, no... No.

I need you to go out there,

I need you to go out to the lake and check in on your grandpa,

make sure he's all right.

It smells like crayon.

Merit? I can't. I, um...

I just started a new group.

Oh. At the VA.

Like therapy, counseling?

Mmm-hmm. Did something happen?

No, I...

I chose to.

It's good, it's, it's...

I think it's really gonna help me,

but I-I can't miss any sessions, or...

That's wonderful news, it really is.

I will figure something out for Grandpa.

I'm really proud of you, Merit, I really am.

I know your dad would be, too.

Okay, Mom, I gotta go, I love you.

I love you...

Did you hear back yet?

No.

I'm probably not even gonna get in. Come on.

Merit, look, I think college is stupid and mostly useless,

but you, you can do anything you want.

So if you want it, you're gonna get it.

You're the smartest person I know.

Nine-sixteenths.