A Real Pain - Recognizing Potential in a Troubled Individual
David:
Sorry about him.
Eloge:
No, no.
Diane:
What a troubled young man.
Eloge:
He wants to be good. You can see the spark. Do you know what I mean?
Marcia:
Yeah. Absolutely, Eloge.
Mark:
Forgive me if I don't see this magical spark.
Diane:
Oh, Mark, stop it. He's tormented, for whatever reason.
Mark:
Okay.
Marcia:
He's funny and he's charming under all the mishegoss.
Diane:
I feel bad for him.
Marcia:
Has he always been like this?
David:
Yeah. I mean, he's always been, like, up and down, you know? Like, he's sensitive, and he, like, sees people so clearly, you know? But then you say the wrong thing and, like, something switches. Or maybe it's not appropriate to talk about him.
Marcia:
No.
Diane:
No, what's not appropriate? You obviously got something going on between you and, uh - well, he's clearly in pain.
David:
Yeah, but isn't everyone in pain in some way? I mean, look at what happened to our families, look at where we came from. I mean, who isn't - you know, who isn't wrought?
Mark:
Well, you seem okay.
David:
I'm not, though. I'm not. I just, like, take a pill for my fuckin OCD, you know, and I jog and I meditate and I go to work in the morning and I, like, come home at the end of the day, and I, like, move forward, you know, because I know that my pain is unexceptional, so I don't feel the need to, like, I don't know, burden everybody with it, you know?
Mark, Eloge:
Yeah.
David:
Yeah. God, I'm sorry.
James:
No, it's all - it's all right, David.
Diane:
It's okay.
David: [he chokes up; he turns to Mark; he turns to Eloge]
I'm sorry, I'm ranting, I am just, like... I don't know. Um... Ooh. Sorry, I'm just, like, so fucking exhausted by him sometimes, you know? Like, I... I, I love him and I hate him and I wanna kill him... and I wanna be him, you know? And I feel, like, so stupid around him, you know, because he is so fucking cool and he just does not give a shit. And then... just, like, being here with him is just so fucking baffling to me, you know? It's just baffling, cause it's like: How did this guy come from the survivors of this place, you know? I mean, that your uncle had to sell, like, used furniture to rich assholes or, like, couldn't get into medical school. And that you survived, like, the worst thing to happen on this planet in the last thirty years. And that our grandma survived by a thousand miracles when the entire world was trying to kill her, you know? And I look at him and I just, like, wanna ask him... I just wanna ask him, and I just can't. Like... like, how did the product of a thousand fucking miracles overdose on a bottle of sleeping pills?
Marcia:
What?
Diane:
Sorry, what did you say?
David:
Yeah, he tried to... yeah, sorry, I probably shouldn't have said anything.
James:
It's okay. Uh, I'm so - I'm sorry to hear that.
Eloge:
I'm so sorry. That's - that's very distressing.
Marcia:
When did this happen?
David: [the sound of live piano emerges from the next room]
Like six - six months ago. My aunt Leah - uh, Benji's mom - found him on the couch. And I know he is so funny and so charming. And you are all gonna walk away with this picture of this amazing man, which he totally is in so many ways. But when I picture him, it is passed out on a ratty basement couch while I am in New York City with my beautiful wife and adorable child, and it just fucking kills me. Sorry. I'm... I'm oversharing. Well, they're back again.
Marcia:
It's him.
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