Ten Thousand Saints

I've heard people say that life is like a river.

And we're all just tiny minnows

struggling through the freeze, the thaw and the flow.

Sometimes it's a momentous event,

a birth or a death that causes the currents to shift.

And sometimes it's something as simple as your best friend going home early one night.

What the fuck is wrong with you?

What is wrong with me for ever fucking being with you!

Listen... -You make me so mad!

Will you listen to me? Please.

Sleep in the fucking greenhouse.

Dad.

Hey! Look who's still up.

Where's your best bud Teddy?

He went home hours ago.

He did, huh?

Here, sit down. Join me.

Take a load off, my man.

-Okay.

I bet you're wondering why Mom has me out here, huh?

Mmm.

Well, can I tell you something, hmm?

I'd like to talk to another guy.

You know mommy's friend, Mrs. Donahue,

did you know she's pregnant?

Hmm? She's gonna have a baby.

Oh.

The trouble is you know who made her pregnant?

Me.

Mmm.

Is Mom pissed?

She is. I mean, she's really pissed.

She doesn't think she wants to be married to me anymore

and now she's gonna be even more pissed that I told you,

but I think, you know, you deserve to know the truth.

You're a big guy now.

What's gonna happen to the baby?

Some babies are never born at all, you know?

And some babies are born, their parents take care of 'em,

some babies, you know, somebody else raises 'em.

You know, like, uh...

What's that stupid TV show you always watch with your sister?

With the two little black kids and the rich white guy.

Oh, Diff'rent Strokes.

Right, okay. Well they're adopted, right?

So, you know all about that, right?

I mean, that's...

That's another thing I've been wanting to tell you,

you know, but your mom's like...

You know, it's gotta be the perfect time.

But I think that you should know, you know?

Know what?

The truth about your life.

You're adopted.

It's not a big deal. I mean Aristotle was adopted.

Lee Majors, you know him,

The Six Million Dollar Man, right?

He was adopted.

Tons of people are adopted and you wouldn't even know it.

Yeah, so...

I mean, there it is.

Does that mean Mr. Donahue is my dad?

No!

Champ, come here.

Come here, come here, come here.

I'm your dad for crying out loud.

I'll be your dad forever. Get up here.

Get up here.

Can I sleep here with you, Dad?

Oh, I'd love that.

Mmm.

But I think your mom's pissed enough at me, don't you?

So get your butt back in bed, huh.

You'll be here in the morning, right?

Mmm, we'll see what tomorrow brings.

I often wondered

if Teddy hadn't left so early that night,

maybe I would never have had that conversation with my dad.

Maybe our lives would have stayed secure and naive.

Maybe we would never have met Eliza.

Maybe this whole story would never have happened.

Oh, fuck!

Oh, God damn it, Teddy.

Okay. Okay.

Thanks, man.

Jesus, we have a front door, you know.

Uh, yeah, yeah.

Guess what?

-What? -My mom took off again.

Shit.

She got shit faced last night

and then when I woke up in the morning

her and all her stuff were just gone.

Well, I mean she'll come back.

She always does.

Yeah, well, fuck it. I don't even care.

I'm all about trying to get to New York now.

My brother had the right idea.

Well, I'm all about getting some weed.

It's New Year's Eve and we're bone dry.

Hey, Prudence, can I borrow 40 bucks?

What happened to your glasses, Teddy?

I got contacts.

Oh, you looked better with glasses.

My, uh, my brother, he was telling me about this college.

It's like, right next to CBGB's.

It's free, it's just really hard to get in.

You know college is gonna suck just as much as high school.

Yeah, but we'll be in New York.

What's so great about New York anyway?

No parents for one.

Speak for yourself.

Oh, shit!

-What is in there? -It's resin.

I scraped it out of my mom's pipe.

Well, at least she left you something.

I think my dad's down in New York too, actually.

What?

I thought you said your dad died.

Yeah, that's what my mom says, but...

Well, Johnny seems to think she's full of shit.

Well, you know, this is beat.

Oh, shit.

-Check it out. -What?

What are you doing?

-Oh, dude, gross.

Oh, yeah, it's Sandy McCoy's.

I'm telling you.

Oh, great.

Oh, it's hitting me hard.

-Okay, I'm ready. -Wait.

Is it panty or panties?

Oh, okay, so panties is plural...

Shut up and take it.

Hey, Mom.

Hey, Mrs. H.

Hey, guys.

Mom, can I get a loan?

I already gave you your birthday present.

Yeah, but I spent it.

Your father called again,

that girl Eliza will be here at 6:05 now.

She's taking a different bus.

Who's Eliza?

Eliza Caplan.

The ballerina's daughter.

-Who's a ballerina? -My dad's girlfriend.

Apparently Eliza was up at a ski trip with some prep school girls.

She's making a pit stop here before heading home after midnight.

That's even more of a reason I'll need some money.

Well, let's hope your dad sent her with some.

You know, I don't even know why he sent her.

I don't know her.

Well, maybe he's finally reaching out to you

without getting his own hands dirty, of course.

You know my dad is an absolute fucking asshole!

I mean, what, I've seen him a few times in the last seven years?

And out of nowhere he sends this fucking girl.

Yeah, I mean like, your average Manhattan girl is

way hotter than the cream of the crop here in Lintonburg, so...

Dude.

- You think that's... - I don't know.

Excuse me are you, uh, are you Eliza?

Which one of you is Jude?

That would be, uh, me.

You don't look like a Prudence.

Oh, uh, no, Prudence, uh...

She's at home, I'm Teddy.

What's on your face, Teddy?

Is that some sort of Dracula skate punk thing, uh...

Oh, right, um...

It's, we get it from... We huffed turpentine.

Shit.

That is like, that's sad.

Happy New Year!

Wow!

Welcome to exciting Lintonburg.

Yeah, this should be interesting, right?

You know we should probably just crash Tory Ventura's party.

I mean, he's a total douche,

but he is a major drug connection.

-Everyone goes.

Yeah, unfortunately it'll be filled with

like, jocks and metal heads, I don't know

if your boyfriend's one of those, but...

No, uh... No, I don't have a boyfriend

and if I did he wouldn't be a jock or a metal head.

So you guys strike me as Misfits fans.

-Yeah. -Yes.

-Yeah. -No, we love Misfits.

I mean, we're into all kinds of hardcore,

but, uh...

Are you? Nice.

Uh, my brother actually has a band

in the East Village, it's uh, Army of One.

They're like hardcore but they're also like, Straight Edge.

What's Straight Edge?

It's a whole other scene, no drugs, no sex, no meat,

-like drinking or weed... -Boring.

-Basically. -Yeah.