The OA

Oh, shit.

All right.

All right, all right, all right. I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming.

Oh, ma'am. Please, stop.

I don't understand a word you're saying.

In English. Who are you?

Granddaughter missing! No come home.

No text. Need help.

I sent you email.

We email.

- You detective? - Yeah. I told you to call the police.

- Did you call the police? - No. No police.

Michelle invisible.

She’s what?

Invisible.

Are you Vietnamese?

All right.

Wait there. Don’t go inside.

Duke!

Duke!

Yo, Duke!

Didn’t you surf in Vietnam for a year?

- Yeah. - Yeah, you speak any Vietnamese?

Maybe.

Come.

Just ask her why she didn’t go to the police, like I told her.

She says her granddaughter Michelle is invisible.

Uh-huh. What’s that mean?

Uh, they’re homeless. They’re immigrants.

And she says that police don’t give a shit, which I’m sure is true.

If they’re homeless, how does she know her granddaughter didn’t come home?

They’re from Michigan. Michelle’s father disappeared, maybe died.

They were evicted, finished up in a shelter,

and Michelle's been sending her grandma money.

Getting it how?

Michelle's been getting money from her father.

I don't what that means, but it doesn’t sound good.

So, the kid, Michelle, takes off for San Francisco

because the money’s better here.

She’s sending more money, texting all the time,

then two weeks ago, it just stops.

There's no more money, no more texting. Grandma waits and then...

Then she gets on a bus and comes here.

Show me the texts.

Can you read that?

No.

Very good. Fast. Best.

Karim?

She wants to know if you’ll help look for her granddaughter.

She got any money?

- What is that? - Ether.

What’s ether? Is that some kind of, like, digital currency? Is it like a bitcoin?

She was getting it on her phone.

It's basically virtual money, but...

...it says here she’s got $31,000.

Then why is she homeless?

Ah, she got it from Michelle, just before she vanished.

Ask her if she wants to know the truth.

Go ahead, ask.

Yes, she does.

You tell her most girls under 18 who go missing for 72 hours

are never found again or they're found dead.

I can’t say that.

I’m saying it. You’re translating. Don’t sugarcoat it.

Tell her.

You look.

You look.

I know you can do your job.

I’m just asking you to double check, because they might not have done theirs.

And what about the East Bay?

Is that a morgue or hospitals?

Yeah, because I’m getting paid.

Listen.

If she were a blonde girl from Mill Valley,

the police would be doing it.

All right, great, thank you. I owe you.

She says very kind of us to take care of her granddaughter. In fact...

we did very little.

I need you to wait outside.

She says she must be here.

I’m sorry to have disturbed you. We had a misunderstanding.

Mr. Karim.

Mr. Karim!

You stay, I go!

Well, I want you on the street, okay?

Not here, listening at the door with your better-than-you-let-on English.

And give me your phone.

Give me your phone.

It couldn’t have been easy for you guys to...

Taking a stranger here.

The church asked who can give shelter to Mrs. Vu’s granddaughter.

But we both work. Long days.

Our son studies hard.

You know, her grandmother says Michelle sent her money.

Made it with her phone. You know how she did that?

- Was she hustling? - What is hustling?

Was she selling her body?

This is a Christian home!

Yeah, well, Christians get desperate sometimes.

She was not like that.

She was very shy, always on her phone. She tried not to be any trouble.

She did the dishes even when she didn’t eat here.

Where did she eat?

Can I see where she slept?

This is all she had?

Did she give you any money?

Fifty dollars. Twice.

- For food. - And rent, of course.

Can you translate these texts for me?

From Michelle to Mrs. Vu.

"Grandma.

I want to come home.

But I'm afraid that's not possible.

Maybe one day I will have enough money to get us a house again."

"I am strong.

I am your hope."

Mrs. Vu?

Here.

Go back upstairs. You’ll sleep there, okay?

I’ll call you when I know more.

Come on.

Hey. Hey, what's your name?

Your Vietnamese name.

Thi’nh.

I don’t use it.

What do you use?

Donald.

What did you wanna tell me?

Did you want to show me something?

No one's lived here for a while, huh?

Did she sleep here sometimes so she could be alone?

- What about the construction crew? - They never come.

Did she bring boyfriends here?

She was hanging out with older kids. They were playing a game.

- What kind of game? - A game on the phone.

- Did you play it with her? - I tried. I’m not smart enough.

You're not smart enough?

When was the last time you were here?

She liked it to be quiet, so she could think.

Fuck.

You thought she was doing bad things.

She wasn’t.

How’d she get her money...

...that she gave your mom?

From the game.

What, a hundred bucks?

More.

Thirty-one thousand bucks?

Maybe.

From a game?

Is this hers?

What’s the game called?

She said the game didn’t have a name.

So you don’t talk about it.

Do you know the code?

I won’t look.

Is that the game?

Let me see.

Hey.

- Hey. - I've solved them myself.

- I’ve solved everything. - Hey.

I’m not going to hurt you, okay?

I’m just coming closer.

My brain can hold all the brains. My thoughts can dry water.

I’ve seen a million versions of myself.

You look like you need help, bro.

Wanna eat something?

Get some sleep.

These are mine. I did this.

Is he okay?

Look.

I... I want you to go straight to school, okay?

Don’t talk to anyone about this.

I'm gonna come and talk to your parents tonight.

I’m gonna find Michelle.

All right?

So, the kid just... jumped?

- He wasn’t pushed? - No.

And you were in the house looking for this missing Vu girl?

As I said.

"As I said."

Isn’t finding missing kids our job?

Yeah.

And since I cost money and you don’t, why’d the grandmother come to me?

So she could pay somebody to give a shit.

Exactly.

Why didn’t they find an Asian, Karim? Don’t they not like blacks?

Um, we’ve been seeing a new strain of meth on the streets, very toxic.

- Did the jumper appear... - We checked his teeth. He wasn’t a user.

You’re working real hard to give this guy an out.

Why don’t you just kiss him and make it official?

Rob, you wanna take a walk around the block? Maybe cool the fuck down?

Seriously, you think this kid was on something?

Yeah, but I don't know what.

Who do you think owns this house?

- Someone with a lot of money to waste. - Uh-huh.

Can I go now?

Nah, you’re gonna need to come downtown and make a statement.

That’s fine.

Oh, that's fine, is it?