Stir of Echoes

Okay.

Jackson came over to play.

Superheroes

I was Black Power Ranger.

He was Batman.

- Jake, you okay in there, buddy? - I'm okay.

Can I ask you a question?

Okay, time to hit the sack.

- An important question. - Here we go, big guy. Come on.

- Can I wear bugs? - Bug pajamas

are all the way downstairs.

But the fire trucks are here. They're okay for tonight, aren't they?

- Bugs. - Fire trucks.

- Bugs. - Fire trucks.

Bugs.

Okay, bugs.

I'll be right back.

Does it hurt to be dead?

Animal.

What'd I do now?

- Can I tell him? - If you wanna die.

- Well, your beer-addled sperm still works. - Lisa!

- You impregnated my sister again. - Bitch!

- I thought you wanted me to. - Why, because I said, "Don't"?

Well, you're so afraid to say anything.

The kid could've been born before he noticed.

You're not pregnant.

I feel "congratulations" is the more appropriate response.

You told her before you told me.

she's a witch! she took one look at me and guessed.

Say something.

Bummer.

Something else.

So, she's six weeks pregnant.

It means the baby's due in April, May, June...

Gemini, that's cool. Einstein was a Gemini.

so was that scottish gal from Garbage.

Would you go upstairs and help Jake with his pajamas, please?

- If she's late, you're into Cancer, which is... - Lisa, I swear to God,

if you start with the Dionne Warwick stuff,

I'm gonna throw you right out a fucking window, all right?

So, go upstairs please and help him with the pajamas. Thank you.

Love you, too, Tom.

Hey, this is great. I mean it.

I think it's about time we had another kid.

You know, I was gonna bring it up myself one of these days.

- Really? - Absolutely.

This time, you got to take some time off, babe.

- Please. We can't afford that. - Yes, we can,

because I'm gonna hit the overtime again.

No, I do not want you to work those hours again.

You come home. You're, like, in a trance. You're completely useless to me.

I'm gonna be fine, okay?

I'm just gonna tell Teddy to get somebody else for the thing.

- Oh, God. Oh, Tom. - What?

I'm sorry, I completely forgot. No wonder you're pissed off.

I'm not pissed off. I just...

No, I'm not. I'm not. I'm a grown man.

I shouldn't be screwing around with some shitty band anyway.

Hey, look, I got to go change. You know, put on something cool.

I love you.

I'm a happy guy.

I'm not gonna be a lineman forever, I promise you that.

What do you mean?

I clip wire all day. A monkey could do it.

Yeah, but they're gonna move you into the office soon,

before the end of the year, at least.

No, I meant when we first got together

I said a lot of stuff about where I was gonna go

and what I was gonna be, and I just wanted you to know

that I wasn't giving you some kind of line, you know, that I meant it.

I didn't marry you because I thought you were gonna be famous.

I just liked the way your ass looked in jeans.

I never wanted be famous. I just...

- I didn't expect to be so... - What?

I don't know. Ordinary.

You know, I hope it's a girl.

I'm kind of sick of all these balls around the house.

Except for yours, babe.

Hey, what are the odds of a reasonably educated single man being at this thing?

And I don't mean a GED.

Does it matter if he's on the boner pill?

Hey, I wouldn't look a gift boner in the mouth.

Nice. That's very nice, Lisa.

Hey, how've you been?

Hey, Tom-Tom-Tommy. How you doing, huh?

You would not believe the day I had.

You take this right here. I'll get another one. Come on.

- Thanks. Harry. - Tom.

Taking care of the place for me?

No, actually we're drilling holes in all your floors. Hope you don't mind.

Tom? You know my squaw, Sheila?

- Bobby, Vanessa... - Thanks for having me.

Drink up. Drink up, take your medicine deep into your body. That's it.

Tom, how're you liking the neighborhood?

You know, I grew up just over in Bridgeport,

back of the yard, so it's not like it's a foreign country.

Goddamn right, it's not a foreign country.

This is the best neighborhood in the city of Chicago.

That's 'cause we all look out for each other.

And that is saying a lot as we approach the year of our Lord 2000.

You running for mayor?

Hey, hey, did any of you guys see them crank dealers

hanging out by the park again?

What is Lenny doing at this party? Bobby, did you tell him you had a party?

Vanessa made me, all right? We invited everybody.

I could see if he heard the noise and wandered in,

but you actually invite this jack-off into your home.

Oh yeah, laugh it up. Laugh it up!

You know, when you wake up dead with your throat cut,

don't come crying to me!

Not attracted to.

Not drunk enough for.

Whoa! Frightened by!

Don't touch me. I'm fine.

Haven't you ever heard about people being operated on

when they're under hypnosis?

Yeah, but I don't believe in any of that.

I mean, people who say that they were hypnotized weren't really.

- They were just, you know, playing along. - Right.

- Really? - Yeah.

Then how could they have a scalpel stuck into their throat

without even bleeding or without even making a sound?

- Bullshit! - I never saw that happen.

- That is bullshit. - Can you learn another word?

Yeah, what about "narrow-minded"?

You know, I saw a guy in my class get a 2-inch needle

stuck into the thick of his arm by my instructor

when he was under hypnosis.

- Horseshit. Is that better, honey? - You're making that up.

It's disgusting.

I saw a picture of it the next day. It left a mark.

What I don't understand

is how a person that spent most of her adult life in college

can believe all that superstitious crap.

- It isn't superstition! - Come on.

- I'm practically a licensed hypnotherapist. - Oh, "practically" licensed?

Isn't that like saying, "I don't have a license"?

Why you squeezing my arm?

This may come as a surprise to you, Tom,

but just because you kicked around the same six blocks for your whole life

doesn't mean that there isn't a whole larger world out there.

You know what I mean? Doorways you haven't even opened.

Things you wouldn't have the faintest understanding of.

Doorways? Okay, okay.

All right, Kreskin, prove it. Why don't you hypnotize somebody.

- Yeah, do me. - No.

- Why not? - For one, you're hostile.

I'm not hostile. Do I seem hostile to anybody?

Yeah.

Thanks for having us. It was a great party.

No, no. This is just getting good. Come on, Lisa, hypnotize me.

- Come on. - No, you're drunk.

I'm not drunk!

You're not supposed to mesmerize somebody who's been drinking.

Mesmerize. No, stop.

Oh, please, come on, I'm begging you. Educate the savages.

Yeah, and it won't work with that kind of uncooperative attitude.

I swear to you, I'll follow every instruction to the letter.

Still won't work.

Come on.

What's the worst that can happen?

Somebody turn out the lights.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah!

All right, just relax. Put your arm down.

Just rest it comfortably. Just lean back.

Just be very comfortable and relaxed.

Trust me. Okay?

Close your eyes.

Certainly, Lisa.

Now, just listen for a moment.

Listen to the sounds of the room around you.

I don't know why, but I don't see her.

Now I want you to pretend you're in a theater,

a movie theater.

You're the only one there.

It's one of those great old movie palaces.

And you look around.

It's a huge, empty theater.

You notice that the walls of the theater are painted in black.

The seats, covered in black.

And in the whole pitch-black theater,

there's only one thing you can see,

and that's the white screen.

You'll notice there are letters on the screen.

Tall, thick, black letters, but they're out of focus,

so you begin to drift closer to them in your chair,

trying to read them.

And you're very comfortable now. It's your favorite chair.

You're drifting closer and closer, staring at the letters.

Very relaxed now.

Your legs are relaxed. Your arms are limp and heavy.

You're almost close enough to read the letters now.

They start to come into focus.

The letters spell "sleep. "

Sleep.

What the hell was that?

Jesus, Tom.

- What? What? What? - Are you okay?

You were faking it. You had to be.