The Good Girl

As a girl, you see the world like a giant candy storey

filled with sweet candy and such.

But one day you look around and see a prison and you're on death row.

You wanna run or scream or cry,

but something's locking you up.

Are the other folks cows, chewing cud till the hour come when their heads roll?

Or are they just keeping quiet like...

planning their escape?

On your left, honey.

- What's that cashier's name? - Can't say.

- When did he start working here? - Don't know. Yesterday?

. Who is he? - Don't know. Can't say.

- What are you doing? - It's called work, princess.

Kind of fun. You might want to give it a go someday.

Attention, shoppers. There's a Retail Rodeo special on aisle three.

Liquid drain cleaner. Two 12-ounce cans for $5.

Liquid drain cleaner has turning power and it will turn through your pipes.

Ladies, shove something clean and new up your filthy pipes.

Liquid drain cleaner on aisle three.

Have a good day and thank you for shopping at Retail Rodeo.

Hey, Justine. Can I talk to you for a second?

- Yeah. - I was curious.

. Have you ever been to a Bible study? - Yeah.

We got a good one going on every Wednesday.

Rodney comes, Benita comes.

- Got any interest in reading the Bible? - I have my own, you know, beliefs.

We don't preach fire and brimstone. Just the Ten Commandments.

We're not interested in scaring people. We're about loving Jesus.

I kinda like my nights to myself.

Maybe you'll have nights of eternal hellfire to yourself.

- Just kidding you. Drive safe. - Bye-bye-

. Hey, Justine. - Hey, Tiney.

- How was your day? - The same.

- How was yours? - The wind was flipping paint in our eyes.

Paint stings.

Feel like I've been attacked by hornets in my eyeballs.

- Bubba, stand up. - Why?

For Christ's sake.

Look at that couch, Phil. Y'all got paint all over it.

This ain't gonna come off. Damn it, Phil.

Including this gorgeous eggplant...

- I think we've got most of it out. . You two were stoned.

Keep frying your brain, you'll slip off a ladder and crack open your head.

- You do stupid things when you're high. - Like what?

Sitting on my couch with your big blue ass.

Everything just turns to shit.

You finally get nice things, then it all gets messed up.

- Why is this TV buzzing? - It's the wind doing that.

- The Wind's coming in different lately. - Different from what?

What you reading?

Catcher In The Rye. I'm named after it.

- What's your name? Catcher? - Holden.

After Holden Caulfield. He's the main character.

What does he do?

He's put upon by society. Hypocrisy of the world.

I notice that you're not very social.

. I'm a writer. . What do you write?

Novels, plays, screenplays, stories, poetry.

That's good. Justine will be fight with you. Where is she?

I better go.

What happens at the end of your book?

He has a nervous breakdown. Goes to a mental hospital.

You don't get paid to pick your crack. You get paid to work.

- I'm not sure I can do makeovers. - Come on!

A little pancake, eyeliner, mascara, rouge and powder it up.

Then you take a moist tissue, roll it in a ball and toss it in their face!

I'm talking to a tree stump! Where are you?

Sorry. I'm just a little tired.

It's the food you eat, Justine.

Look at me. I am ten years older than you and have ten times your energy.

I don't eat meat and I don't eat dairy.

It's probably why you can't get pregnant.

And why you have that hung-jaw look on your face.

It's the cheese in your pizza.

The doctor says I'm fertile. He says I could repopulate the planet.

What's the deal here? Did he say you're getting enough vitamins?

He didn't say.

You could make paint where, at different angles,

the house is different colours.

You stand at the front door and the house is red.

You stand at the street and the house is green.

Or you could make an invisible paint. Make the whole house disappear.

What would be neat is a paint that could change a house's molecular structure,

like a chemical acid deal.

What do you think, Tiney?

I think you two are a pair of potheads.

- You getting a whole one or a half? . That one.

- You didn't bring this into the store? - No.

I'll charge you for it.

This is hand lotion. Don't put it anywhere else, even if you need lubrication.

We try to keep frivolous lawsuits to a minimum.

- Do you always wear make-up? - Not very often.

- Your change. Fuck you very much. - Excuse me?

Thank you very much.

Good as new, I tell you. Good as new.

. You might be interested in purchasing... . I'm not buying anything today.

That's a mistake. These are bargain prices.

I didn't bring my purse.

- I hate my job. - That makes two of us.

I hate everybody here.

I hate Gwen. I don't know what the hell she's so happy about.

I'm starting to understand why maniacs shoot everybody to pieces.

Maybe you're a maniac.

Maybe so.

You know, your lips are real pouty. Like a woman.

Your eyes look sad, the way they droop to the side.

. How old are you? - 22.

I'm an old lady next to you.

- How old are you? - How old do you think?

I don't know.

I'm 30 years old.

How long have you worked here?

For ever and a day.

- You don't have a car? . I live down the street.

You can ride in here.

- Do you wanna come in? - I don't know.

I'm in a funk.

I'm not gonna beg you.

You gotta go there in your heed and heart.

And I did and then things changed for me.

. I'll be in my room. - OK, Tom.

They call you Tom?

It's my slave name.

Holden's what I call myself.

This is my room.

Not a lot to look at.

What are your folks like?

They're OK. They don't get me.

They're all right, just...

My husband doesn't get me.

- Since when do you have a husband? - Since seven years.

He's a painter.

- What does he paint? - Houses.

He's a pig. He talks but he doesn't think.

I'm sick of it.

Do you go to college?

I had to drop out 'use I had a problem with drinking.

I'll go back. I just gotta prove to my folks I can fly straight.

- Did you go to college? . I was afraid I'd lose Phil if I went.

Now that'd be reason enough to go.

I was looking at you in the store. I liked how you kept to yourself.

I saw in your eyes that you hate the world.

I hate it, too.

You know what I'm talking about?

After living in the dark,

a glimpse of the light can make you giddy.

Strange thoughts come into your heed and you better think 'em.

Has a special fate been calling you and you not listening?

Is there a secret message right in front of you and you're not reading it?

Is this your last best chance?

Are you gonna take it?

Or are you going to the grave with unlived lives in your veins?

. Notifying your wife. - What did I say?

. If you had a wife. - What did I talk about?

You talked of Margaret She filled out a red dress.

What else?

Tiney, you're pretty.

- Bubba, isn't Tiney pretty? - I've seen better, I've seen worse.

That's why I ain't never married.

You got yourself the best fish in the sea.

I wonder what it'd be like to be a woman.

All that smooth skin.

Long hair.

If I was a woman, I'd be a slut.

A lesbian slut.

Gwen says smoking marijuana lowers your sperm.

Lowers it to where?

Maybe you're the infertile one around here.

Maybe every time you smoke, you're killing our unborn children.

Great. Close.

Why are you limping?

I twisted my ankle... on the stairs.

I was wondering maybe you could give me a ride home.

Yeah. Sure. OK.

Alright. I'll talk to you about it later.

Every woman should have one beau before any woman has two beaus.

He's not my beau. He's my friend.

Happy Hallowe'en, Retail Rodeo shoppers.

There's a Retail Rodeo special on all bulk candy on aisle four.

Ghouls, goblins, witches and Warlocks wandering these aisles day after day,

I put a Hallowe'en curse on your hellish heads.

Goodnight, Corny. Happy Hallowe'en.

I'm not a pagan, but thanks all the same.

Which ankle did you twist, Holden?

Left.

Maybe you should put some cold water on it so it doesn't inflame.

OK.

You're a writer, so you have yourself a goal, I guess.

I used to lie in bed and imagine other cities,

other jobs I could have, other husbands.

New I don't even know what to imagine any more.

Holden, I have a husband.

I thought you said he was a pig.

Well... Holden.

I don't wanna hurt anybody.

I've been thinking about what you said about my sperm.

I know I got good sperm.

Baby. making sperm.

I suppose it couldn't hurt to have it confirmed by an expert.

Who needs a fucking baby anyway?