Pay It Forward2000

Arlene McKinney:
I want you to understand.

Eugene Simonet:
Oh, it's not necessary. Really. No explanation required.

Arlene McKinney:
Wait. Please don't talk to me like that. We had 13 years in, Eugene. He's sober now. We've never been sober together.

Eugene Simonet:
Well, I wish you luck.

Arlene McKinney:
I - I feel like I gotta give him a chance.

Eugene Simonet:
A chance. A chance for what?

Arlene McKinney:
To change. To try to make up for lost time.

Eugene Simonet:
Oh, what? To take Trevor to some ball games? Do some real daddy things with him?

Arlene McKinney:
Yeah. He promised to try. What do you want me to do?

Eugene Simonet:
Oh, I don't know. Be smart.

Arlene McKinney:
He's his father, Eugene.

Eugene Simonet:
He impregnated you, Arlene. In what other way has he been a father to Trevor? Unless knocking somebody around is a new family value.

Arlene McKinney:
What are you talking about? He never touched Trevor.

Eugene Simonet:
Oh, that's right. Only you. He only took it out on you. That's so much better. [A beat.]

Arlene McKinney:
What did Trevor tell you?

Eugene Simonet:
Enough. [A beat.] Christ, Arlene, secrets like that shouldn't be kept. What good does it do Trevor?

Arlene McKinney:
You weren't there. Ricky never meant to hit me. We were drunk.

Eugene Simonet:
Christ! What is it with women like you? Is that really something you tell yourself? "Oh, it's okay. He beat me. Trevor's okay"? Trevor has locked himself in a bathroom, and he can't breathe, and he's - and he's hoping and praying that it will stop!

Arlene McKinney:
Trevor never went through that.

Eugene Simonet:
How do you know what Trevor went through? How do you know? How do you know the next time, after you, he doesn't come for Trevor? I know what I'm talking about, Arlene! My father got on his knees and begged my mother, and my mother, she always took him back. I never understood it. She'd cover the bruises and the cuts, and she'd take him back. Because he begged, and he cried. And now, you ask me what happened after he came back.

Arlene McKinney:
No.

Eugene Simonet:
No! Go on! You said you wanted to know what happened to me! Now, ask me!

Arlene McKinney:
I don't like this.

Eugene Simonet:
Did he hurt you, Eugene? Ask me! [A beat.]

Arlene McKinney:
Did he hurt you?

Eugene Simonet:
Not for long. By 13, I was gone. I ran away. But, I missed her. So, I had to go back and see her. And so one night, I did. Now, ask me what happened that night. What happened that night you came back, Eugene?

Arlene McKinney:
What happened?

Eugene Simonet:
He was there. Drunk as usual. Only this time, I wasn't the same. I was 16 years old, and I was no longer afraid of him. And when I looked him in the eye and told him if he ever touched her again, I would kill him, he knew. He knew that he would never exist for me again. [A beat.] And I'm standing in front of the house, I'm telling her, I'm screaming for her to come out. I'm telling her she doesn't have to - she doesn't have to take it anymore. She really doesn't. She can come with me now. I don't even see it coming. He hits me in the side of the head with a two-by-four, and I'm bleeding from my ear. And then he's dragging me. He's dragging me behind the house and into the garage and then he's gone. A minute. Five minutes. I don't know. And then he's back, and he's wetting me down. He's wetting me down, and I don't understand. I don't understand why water should smell so bad. I don't understand. And then I see it. I see . . . this . . . gas can. This red gas can from his truck. [He cries. A beat.] And he looks at me one last time, and he lights a match. [A beat.] And the last thing I remember, and I'll never forget it, were his eyes. His eyes, because they were filled with this . . . immense . . . satisfaction.

[Arlene is crying, too. A beat.]

Arlene McKinney:
I'm so sorry.

Eugene Simonet:
Don't. Don't! Don't! Don't tell me how sorry you are for me! [A beat.] Just tell me how you're going to stop it happening to Trevor!

Arlene McKinney:
He would never do that.

Eugene Simonet:
Oh, Jesus, Arlene. He doesn't have to. All he has to do is not love him.