Beyond the Gates

Like this?

Good. Okay, that's good.

Right?

Hey, guys.

Here goes.

- Hey, Gordon. - You're late.

Two whole minutes.

Sweet threads.

Is that Aeropostale?

I see you're still sporting your attire from age 12.

Whatever.

After you.

God.

I remember this place feeling so big.

Yeah, you said it.

Shall we start boxing up?

Yeah, sure.

Let's get this over with.

Hey.

What if he's okay?

How do you mean?

- I mean, not dead. - It's been seven months.

If he's out there, it's not our problem anymore.

But we're also gonna clean up this mess.

Come on.

Alright.

- Oh, my God. - Is this amusing you?

Dude, remember these things?

VCR games?

Vaguely.

Most of this junk just blends together.

Come on, you know, it's like you put in the tape...

- ...and they make you turn off the lights... - Then you gotta get close to the TV...

- ...and they scream at you. - Yeah.

Ridiculous.

You loved it.

Oh, my God, check it out! It's that Indiana Jones rip-off game.

What a goofy piece of shit this was.

Hey, what are you losers doing in here?

Derek?

I saw that stupid purple car outside. I thought someone was trying to break in.

How you doing, Gordy?

It's good to see you.

I wish it was under different circumstances.

Yeah, me too.

- Johnny boy, staying out of trouble? - Of course, yeah.

I like your outfit, man. It's very "Adam-12" of you.

Yeah, yeah, thanks. It's a job.

Yeah. Look at this place. Your dad really did a good job keeping it up?

Yeah, well, not much could pull him out of here.

Hey, look, we kinda got a lot to do here. I hope to give you a call this weekend.

- That okay? - Of course, yeah. Of course, of course.

Under one condition though. You let me rent "Operation Orion."

I fucking love this movie.

Keep it.

Really? Shit, I didn't expect that. It's the movie that made me wanna be a cop.

- Yeah. - Cool. Have a good one.

See you guys soon.

- It's a terrible movie. - He's a terrible cop.

- See you later. - See ya, Constable.

- Hey, John. - What's up?

Do you have dad's keys to the office?

Negative. Why?

What do you think is back there?

I don't know. Guess I'll find out.

I'm sure they're around here somewhere.

Who's that?

Is that your girlfriend? What's her name?

Margot.

And she is getting into town as we speak. Should we wrap this up for now?

Yeah.

I think I breathed in enough dead skin cells for today.

- Are you staying at Dad's? - I think so. She's staying with me.

You're not living there, are you?

Fuck, no. Jesus, that'd be creepy.

Yeah, I think I'm gonna hang back here, put another dent in this place.

Thanks, John. I appreciate that.

Yeah, sure. Later.

- See you tomorrow. - See ya.

Hey, babe.

Shit.

- What happened here? - Well, it toppled over a minute ago.

John must have left a window open. Long flight?

Yeah, and then the driver couldn't find this place, so...

- Everything cool? - Yeah.

What is that smell?

Nothing. Air conditioning vents must need cleaning out or something.

- So no one's been here? - Oh, no way.

Dad stopped stalking up on Frances before I was in middle school.

Damn.

Bible staying analog?

Dad didn't have a lot of faith in the DVD boom.

A lot of wood.

- And who's this dork with the buck teeth? - That stud you mean?

That was me, the year I won our middle school track-and-field competition.

You were on the track team?

Javelin.

So are you hungry?

Starving, but every place around here will probably give you food poisoning.

Really?

What about that bar with the weird name, Sterling Sal or something?

Are you sure you don't just want me to cook something here?

Let's go. Show me the town.

Taking a really long time.

- Slow service. - Yeah.

Oh, damn it.

- Do you know them? - Yup. That's my brother.

Shit, Gordon. What's up, my man? How you doing?

- Is this your girlfriend? - Yup. Margot, this is my brother, John.

Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you.

For real? He's talked about me? That's shocking.

- Occasionally. Bring it in. - It is good to meet you.

Maybe I'll get my hugs too.

Hi, I'm Hank.

Yeah, this is... this is my friend, Hank.

- I'm Gordon. - Yeah, I heard.

But, yeah, take a seat.

Why, you are something else.

Well, hello, Dahlia. How are you, gorgeous?

You again.

Let's do, like four vodka sodas all around. Gordon's buying, so...

- Excuse me? - I'll get it.

Yeah, just bring an extra one for this guy. He's a little bit of a...

I'm fine. Make it three.

- For real? - Yeah, I'm not drinking anymore.

- Did you get a DUI or something? - No.

So...

...Gordon, how you been? What's up?

What's been going on?

Must be something interesting if you can't help out your brother?

Well, that's obviously your business.

Well, see, it is if I have to step up to home plate for you, sweet thing.

Dude, chill.

I'm just saying what needs to be said, bro.

Yeah, I can take care of myself. Thanks, man. You're all good.

- I think we should just go. - Yeah, you should probably just go.

Hank, enjoy your next stint in county jail.

Thank you, and feel free to go fuck yourself, sweetheart.

- Wanna say that again? - He's just trying to get a rise out of you.

John, it was nice to meet you, come by the house sometime.

So good to meet you too. I'll see ya.

John, we'll see you tomorrow. Hank.

- Well, that went well. - That was fucking awful.

Drinks! Thank you, Dahlia.

Hey.

Everything okay?

Yeah. I got it.

- What's wrong? - What do you mean?

You're just... acting weird.

You did great with that creep back there.

Hey, Gordon, talk to me.

I know you think you need to protect yourself from everyone and everything...

...but you don't have to do that with me.

That was a huge improvement.

Well, thanks. It...

...just...

...brought up a lot of stuff that I didn't want to remember.

You know, I... I've already fucked up so much between us.

You did fuck things up...

...but the only way we're gonna get through it is through time and commitment.

I love you for the man that I know you are.

I just don't wanna end up some drunk weirdo...

...with an irrelevant video store.

Well, as long as I'm around, that's not happening.

Gordon.

Gordon.

I just took an ambien.

You wanna have ambien sex?

Yeah.

Well, before I pass out.

Tomorrow?

Well, not in his bed.

Fine.

Goodnight.

Goodnight.

Why are you so chipper?

You know, I'm just workin'.

Hey, did you try to get into the house last night?

Dude, I have the keys. Why would I do that?

- What about that Hank creep? - No, man.

He lives, like, way out in the boonies.

Why, did someone try and break in?

Thought I heard someone messing around with the window.

Felt like somebody was watching us.

Yeah, man, it was probably some methhead trying to steal Dad's stuff.

The whole neighborhood has gone to shit. It's for the birds.

Hey, why do you hang out with that scumbag, anyway?

Well, that scumbag is my friend.

I mean, he might not be the independently wealthy stuffed shirt you are but...

I mean, at least he was around when dad disappeared.

You know, that whole disappearance thing...

...it loses a lot of weight when it's the 40th time...

...Dad splits town and cuts off communication.

Whatever.

I have a mortgage to pay, John.

Hank dropped everything when I called him.

Hey.

Check out...

...what I found.

- Do you wanna... yeah. - Maybe we should, right?