SarahJulia...
Sarah
Um...I'm not the right person.
Sarah
I'm not trying to make you feel bad. I'm really not. Please don't think that. It's just that I have problems for myself, because of being adopted. I mean, if my mother had made the same choice as you, I wouldn't be here.
Oh. Right. Right. Um...[long pause] But see, you have to understand--
Sarah
No, Julia. I know you need somebody on your side. I know that, and I want to...but I can't. I'm sorry.
Hey, why do you have to be so cold?
Sarah
Why do you have to be so judgmental?
I'm not...I 'm not. I'm just...I'm just trying...I'm trying to find you, is what I'm trying to do.
Sarah
Well, here I am.
No, I know. But it's not you you. You're different. It started when you hooked up with the band...that when you guys were singing, you would cop this attitude. And now it's like you're a completely different person all the time.
Sarah
I'm 16, Bailey. I'm still finding out who I am, and maybe...maybe who you're seeing, maybe that's the real me.
Well, she's not the you that I fell in love with.
Sarah
Which means what...that if I change you're not going to love me anymore?
Sarah
Because I might change, Bailey. But that should be a good thing. And if being with you means that I can't change, then there's something wrong with being with you, not something wrong with changing. [walks away]
Sarah
Wait a minute. Excuse me. But how is a road trip to Mexico a rite of passage? Are you getting this, Julia?
You know what? I say just be supportive and wave adios so the two of them will shut up already and hit the highway. Send me a postcard.
No, no. This is not about postcards. Will, this is not about documenting an experience. It's about having one. It's about driving too fast and partying too late and-- And sleeping too long and living too hard.
No, no, no, no, no. He's just seen way too many beer commercials.
Because there comes a time in every man's life, when he has to sit on a beach and take stock of where he's been and where he's going. There comes a time when he just has to take a deep breath and swallow the worm.
Sarah
Swallow the worm? Is that a metaphor?
A tequila reference, actually.
Sarah
Oh.
Griffin? Uh, hey, I-I don't understand. When--?
Uh, how you been? You look...
I-I didn't hear from you. You-- Didn't you get my letters at school?
Um, no, no, I-- See, no, no, as soon as I'd done my time and my term was over, I was-- I was outta the place. My roommate's old man's got, uh, this shipping operation down in Florida. He got me this merchant marine gig. My boat's-- I just got back from Bangkok. They got weird food in Bangkok.
Um, you didn't call or anything.
N-no. Um, I thought about it. I decided it would be a bad idea, you know, c-considering how things are with you and Justin.
We broke up. Uh, Justin and me, l-last s-spring, I-I wrote you. I wro-- I wrote you all about it.
I can't believe it's you.
I am not going to win. I have nothing to write about. A-- A pivotal event in my life? What am I--? What are you writing about? What's your essay? Your, uh-- Your entry?
Sarah
Well, uh, meeting my birth mom.
Oh, great. Fantastic. They're gonna love that. They're gonna eat it up with a spoon.
Sarah
Well, excuse me. It's not like I made it up so I'd have something to write about.
And don't even tell me. You're gonna write about your parents.
Well, yeah. But I don't know what that has do with anything.
Man, talk about a ringer.
Justin, that is disgusting.
You know what? I bet you'll both win. Yeah, you'll tie. And you'll both go to Stanford, and I'll be busy over at, uh, Stop & Shop saying, "paper or plastic?" Paper or plastic? Can I double-bag that for you? Paper or plastic? Paper or plastic?
Sarah
I'd be okay with a tie.
[after her siblings ask her to lie to Bailey about Owen being hurt in an attempt to get him to come to the house] No. Uh uh. No way.
No. Forget it. That's a terrible thing to do.
Yeah, it is. It is. But how else, Claud. How else can you get him here?
I don't know. But that? No, no. You can't tell him that. I mean, you can't have him get in his car and drive all the way over here thinking that. [to Sarah] You don't think this is, like, the cruelest thing you could do to a person? I mean, you're actually okay with this?
Sarah
I know it'll get him here, Claudia. So yeah, I am.
Well, I don't care. I won't. I don't care, and you know, if you think it is such a great idea, you call.
It won't make any sense coming from Sarah. Or me, or Charlie.
It's you, Claud. If you call him and say that you need his help, that you don't know what to do, then he'll believe you. And he'll come.
He's in trouble, Claudia. I mean, aren't you willing to do whatever it takes to help him? I am.
[Claudia looks torn; starts dialing]
[crying hysterically on phone] Bay! Bay, um, it's Owen. He...I wasn't looking and he...he fell down the stairs and he hit his head...hard. I don't know...I don't know if he's breathing...but he's not moving, Bailey. And I don't know what to do! You gotta...you gotta...okay. Okay, but hurry. [hangs up. To Charlie] Shame on you.
Sarah
Yeah, me too.
What is this...is this like your way of getting back at me for Callie? Is that what this is?
Sarah
You really think this is about revenge?
It sure as hell feels like it to me.
Sarah
I'm not trying to get back at you, Bailey. I'm here because...because I've seen how you drink. How much you drink and what it does to you.
Uh huh. So you think I'm an alcoholic.
Sarah
I think you have a problem, Bailey.
[raising his voice] You think that I'm an alcoholic. Why don't you just say it? That's what you came here to say, isn't it?
Sarah
I think you're an alcoholic.
Well...well I think you're full of crap. I think you're all full of crap. And if you think I'm gonna hang around here and listen to you all tell me what a lush you think I am, as delightful as that sounds...it's been real.
Sarah
If we're all wrong then why are you running away? See, you leave now, and all that does is say to us, Bailey's got a problem and he's too afraid to deal with it. So, so okay. So I'm wrong. So we're all full of crap. So set us straight, Bailey. Explain it. You know, make us see it from your side. [pause] Stay.
I um, I was thinking about us...about you and me.
Sarah
You were?
It's funny. Because this is, like, what we used to talk about. Remember? And, and I finally have an answer to that question that you asked me.
Sarah
I don't...
When you were looking for your mom. And you'd say to me, I wonder what I got from her. My voice, or my dark hair. Remember? And you asked me what I got from my parents.
Sarah
Bailey...
It's like, Claudia plays the violin, and Julia looks like her, and Charlie looks like him. And this is what I got. This is what my father gave me.
Where the hell have you been? Where the hell have you been?!
Where the hell have I been? I took Owen out for a ride... what the hell is so the hell about it?
You took him from daycare without telling anybody, then you kept him all day without calling?
I spent the afternoon with my little brother. What's the big deal? I do it all the time.
No you don't. For the last couple months you've been totally AWOL.
Well, then I'm making up for lost time. What's wrong with that?
Because we had no way of knowing... How are we supposed to...
If I was drunk? Is that what this is about? You thought I'd be wasted? Right? You thought I would drive around wasted and get Owen killed?
Oh, that's really sweet, just when I thought my family couldn't love me any less...
Have you had anything to drink?
Let me smell your breath.
You have! You've been drinking!
I had a beer, Charlie. One beer.
You drank and you drove with your little brother in the car!
I'm completely sober! Ok, you wanna give me a test?!
I don't believe you! Somebody ought to...
Well, come on! Go on! [Charlie grabs Bailey by the shirt, and the others run to stop him]
No, Charlie! Charlie! Charlie! Stop it!
Stop it! [to Bailey] Bailey.
Just stay away from Owen, you hear me? You can wreck your own life, but you're not gonna hurt him.
I can't believe, that you people--
Sarah
Bailey! We gotta go after him. Right? I mean, obviously this isn't working, he isn't gonna learn anything like this. He's been drinking and now he's gonna drive and we've gotta do something! Right? Right?
Sarah
So, do you have a plan? I mean, is there, like, some sort of treatment or something?
Yeah. AA. I'm gonna go to my first meeting tonight.
Sarah
That sounds good.
I guess I better practice. "Hello, my name is Bailey Salinger, and I am an alcoholic."
Sarah
Bailey, um, it's Alcoholics Anonymous. You're not supposed to give your last name.
Oh. Well, then, it's a good thing I practiced.
Sarah
You have to go to AA, Bailey. You have to.
And say that I believe in stuff that I don't? Lie? No, I don't want to do that. I'm sick of lying, Sarah, so no.
Sarah
No! No, Listen to me, okay? I'm here, and I'm here with you because you promised me you were going to get help.
Sarah
So try again, okay? This isn't optional! Look, you don't have a choice here. You have a disease, and you need to do whatever it takes to get well, okay? So skip the God part, do the rest!
No, it doesn't work that way, dammit! Don't you think that I wanted AA to be it? I know there's something wrong with me, and if I could believe that there was really someone who would protect me and help me not want to drink 24 hours every stupid day, don't you think... Sarah, don't you think that I would want that?
Party of Five · 364 quotes
