The Prince

- Thanks, man. - Thank you, pal.

Hey, you.

Hi, Dad.

Where are you?

You're not home.

No, I'm at my friend's house.

I'm calling from my phone, so...

How... how is everything?

Good. Good. Things are good.

Just, you know, I'm tired and...

I bet.

A lot of work.

A lot of books.

Yeah.

Oh!

Taste of Chicago, hot delivery.

Uh, want a bite? You want a bite.

- Oh, my God. - One little bite.

I miss that place so much.

Stop, stop.

I'm picking you up from the airport.

We're going right there when you come in the weekend.

Awesome.

Finals? Good, bad, what?

They were fine. Nothing too intense.

But, um... It was... it was good.

What's the matter?

No, what? What do you mean?

Oh, nothing, I... I, um, just a little, uh...

you seem a little down.

I don't know, maybe I'm getting the flu or something.

- I don't know. - What the fuck are you doing?

I... I gotta go. I...

I have an exam tomorrow, and, um, I should go.

Okay.

Yeah, I don't want to keep you from studying.

Dad...

I... I can't wait for next weekend.

Me, too.

Miss you.

I miss you.

Take care.

Bye.

What?

Yeah?

Hey, uh, who's... Wh-who's this?

Who's this?

You're the one calling me.

I'm, uh, Beth's father.

I'm looking for Beth. Is she there?

Shit, this ain't even my phone.

Hi, you've reached Beth. You know what to do.

Hey, Beth, it's dad.

Um... I just called your phone,

and, uh, I don't know, some guy answered it.

He didn't seem to know who you were, so I wond...

I... did you lose your phone or something?

But, uh, if you did, you're probably not getting this.

Anyway, uh, give me a call.

Also, yeah, I got a, uh... a notice from school

about something, but I'll... you know,

we'll talk about it, um...

Just call me.

All right, bye-bye.

Hey, it's Dad.

Just calling again.

Don't want to bother you, just, um...

I don't know, just give me a call.

Thanks.

Westwood Palms.

Yes, this is Paul Brennan.

Uh, my daughter is Beth Brennan.

I called earlier and I talked to a, uh... a Justin.

Uh, he was gonna go check on her.

Um, I've been trying to call. There's no answer.

Doesn't look like anybody's been there for a while.

Okay.

Thank you.

- There you go. - Okay.

Let me, uh... let me ask you something.

You see either of these... Two girls here tonight?

Couldn't tell you, man.

After a while, they all look the same.

Okay.

Excuse me, uh, I'm wondering if you could help me for a second.

Whatcha drinkin'?

No, no, I just, uh...

I-I-I'm looking for my daughter...

In the stripes.

Well, like the sign says, you want a beer or a shot of whisky?

No, no, I just...

Have you seen either of these girls here tonight?

All right, here it is.

It's gonna be $4.00.

How 'bout this?

You just take this 20, look at the picture, and give me an answer.

Sorry, buddy, haven't seen either of them tonight. Good luck with that.

Can I have a water, please?

Water.

Thank you.

Here you go.

Thank you.

And I won't have to lose it.

Don't be aggressive.

- Go to the next bar. - Yeah.

Let's go. That'd be nice.

Excuse me.

Not interested.

Just give me a second.

Miss, I'm... I'm Beth's father.

- Really? - Nick, uh, it's okay.

Where'd you get this?

From her apartment, which I've been calling for a week,

and there's no answer, so I'm just wondering...

Oh, so you've been going though her stuff.

Well, I'm worried about her.

I don't know where she is.

- Can we get out of here? - Yeah.

- Yeah, this place sucks. - Yeah.

Let me ask you one thing...

- Hey, wait! - Hey!

Let go of her, asshole!

Hey, hey, hey, hey! Hey, hey, hey! That's enough!

That's enough. Everybody...

Hey, hey! Come on!

Can you help me? Just five minutes.

That's all.

Uh, hey, you guys go ahead. I'm gonna meet up with you later.

This is such bullshit.

- I said I'll meet up with you later. - Whatever.

Uhh.

Are you all right?

I'm fine.

Just a few questions.

I already told you, I don't know where she is.

You're her friend, right?

So you know her. You have some ideas.

Anything, where she... I... I...

Five minutes. Give me five minutes.

I'm hungry.

So you haven't heard from her.

People change. We're in college.

We have lots of distractions. It's real...

I understand that, I understand that.

It's just I don't know where she is. That's never been the case before.

You're her friend, you're telling me you don't know where she is.

So... any help you can give me.

I'm not a bad person.

Okay, I do what any other person my age does.

I like to go out. I like to party. I like to have a good time.

I work hard. Beth?

She doesn't go to school anymore.

She... is doing shit that I'm not into.

- What does that mean? - I don't know.

You do know, you said... what does that mean?

So, a month ago, we went to New Orleans,

and ended up meeting this guy named Eddie.

Thinks he's this bad-ass because

he's got drugs everywhere, and everyone here probably knows him,

'cause they go to him to get some shit.

But... she fell for it and fell for him.

She said she was gonna go down last week

and that she'd be back Sunday, and I haven't heard from her.

- Do you know this guy? - Everybody knows this guy.

Yeah, but do you... do you know where he works?

Do you know where he lives? Do you know where he deals? Any of those things?

I told you, New Orleans. Are you not listening?

New Orleans is a big city. Do you know where you can find him?

I'm... yeah. I know people that know him.

Can you drive me down there right now? I'll give you some money.

Um, I don't know if you can tell I'm really drunk.

- I'll drive your car. - I cannot drive.

I'll give you $500. We drive down. Just point out where he lives.

It doesn't matter, whenever we get there. You can go right back.

- That's all I'm asking. - Wait, can you just go back a second?

- You'll... - Did you say $500?

Yeah.

- Are you messing with me? - No.

- I mean, it's the middle of the night. - Now.

Thank you. Check!

Can I ask you something?

- Yeah. - If you're so worried about Beth,

why wouldn't you just call the cops?

Because they wouldn't even do anything for 48 hours...

Unless I reported her missing.

And even then, they're not gonna give it any priority.

They'd just assume she's some teen who ran away.

Which she kind of has, if you think about it.

Not the Beth I know.

How many Beths do you think there are?

One.

You know what I think?

I think this whole thing's your fault.

You're the stereotype.

You're like one of those hard-ass parents that...

Just doesn't get it.

It's like the more you keep someone from doing something,

they more they want to try it.

So, uh, your suggestion is that I...

I should encourage her more to get drunk and stoned