Midnight Bayou (2009) - full transcript
Silver spoon Boston lawyer Declan Fitzpatrick fell in instant love with a Louisiana bayou 'haunted' estate when he drove by with college friends. Now he learns it's on sale and rushes to the rather destitute owner, old Odette Simone. She lives in a cabin nearby and makes sure he gets to meet her orphaned granddaughter, headstrong restaurateur Lena. The youngsters sort of fall in love, but the estate's bloody slavery days past, including fratricide and infanticide, comes to weigh heavily, even in ghostly fashions.
Go Mardi Gras, 2001!
Anybody beside me think
we missed the turnoff?
We have a party!
I'm king of the world!
I'm king of the--
Whoa, whoa, stop, stop.
Stop, stop, stop!
Declan, what are you doing?
-Where'd she go?
-What?
Where'd she go?
Where'd who go?
What are you talking about?
Declan.
There is no way in hell
that thing is there.
No, no, no.
Manet Hall, very bad juju.
Nobody's lived there for years
except squatters and tramps.
Some of them possibly
not of the living variety.
I'm going in.
Declan.
-Come on.
-Come on.
-No, not me, no way.
-lntruders, be gone!
Come on.
This is what I get for bringing
my dumb ass Yankee roommate...
...down here for Mardi Gras.
I gotta have it, Remy.
Just tell me where to send the check
and how much.
Can we please leave now?
No, no, no.
I wanna see the ballroom.
What makes you think
there's a ballroom?
How could a haunted Southern
mansion not have a ballroom?
We are so out of here.
Declan,
you get your butt over here now...
...or you can find
your own ride home to Boston!
Here, try that.
Two more bay leaves,
one more grind of pepper...
-...and a dash of cayenne.
-Got it, babe.
Oh, and your grandma called.
She needs a favor out by the cabin.
On my way. All right.
Hey.
Come here. Hey.
What's going on? How you doing?
-Good. How you been?
-How's things in New Orleans?
I got something cooking.
Oh, yeah,
and it ain't just in the oven.
Seems somebody's bought the Hall.
Sight unseen,
cash on the barrelhead.
Young lawyer out of Boston,
name of Declan Fitzpatrick.
Oscar said
there was a favor you needed.
Oh, just a neighborly thing to do
would be to take the gentleman...
...Welcome to the Bayou
fresh-baked corn bread.
And my knees have been acting up
something fierce.
This young lawyer wouldn't happen
to be single, would he?
And when did that become a crime?
Grandma, why you wanna waste
a perfectly good loaf of corn bread...
...on a guy who'd be gone in minutes
like everybody who buys the Hall?
Oh, no, now this one's different.
This one's putting down roots.
Yeah, I'm bad with roots.
Roots scare me.
Lena.
I got a look at the man on his way in
and if I were 20 years younger...
...I'd be heading over there
with the corn bread myself...
...and you wouldn't have a chance at him.
How do you know he doesn't
belong to a country club...
...and wears loafers with no socks?
Those boys in the Quarter...
...may have the right footwear but...
...none of them
mean anything to you.
They all mean something to me.
What's the difference?
-Hello?
-May I help you?
I was just looking for the owner.
Is he expecting you?
No, it's just a corn bread
courtesy call.
I figured I'd find him sitting
on the veranda sipping mint juleps...
...being fanned by servants.
Oh, you've made his acquaintance?
Haven't had the pleasure.
So his reputation precedes him?
No, not exactly. Just--
You know the kind of person who buys
a house like this, it's a type.
Northern boy who comes down here
dreaming of moonlight and magnolias.
I actually hear the owner
isn't too big on mint juleps.
He's more of a beer guy.
-You're...?
-Declan Fitzpatrick, Northern boy.
Oh, my God.
How could you--?
That was entrapment.
-Have we met?
-Have we met?
Guess that answers our question.
I was down here for Mardi Gras
in 2001, maybe it was at a party?
Well,
I was mostly in Shreveport in '01.
Maybe in Boston?
Never been there.
Hey, baby,
let me help you with that.
You're a mover?
Some of these guys are.
We also have a few legal students
and paralegals...
...including yours truly, Jack Tripadoe,
the practical one.
While Declan's spending his
trust fund providing legal services...
...to these citizens of our lovely parish,
someone's gotta keep the ship afloat.
And what'll I find on that ship?
Legal library, housing clinic.
Daycare center for the kids.
You name it, we got it.
Lot of people in tough straits here.
Insurance companies refusing to pay
claims saying they won't cover flood.
They only cover wind.
There's no end to it.
You know what? It's right over there.
Can you handle this one?
I'd love to stick around and
help you unload the whole truck...
...but I got a big night at work,
so I better get back to town.
I'll see you later then.
Thank you.
The corn bread's from my grandma.
Lives in the cabin
down on the bayou.
It's good with raspberry jam.
You didn't tell me your name.
Angelina Simone.
But mostly it's Lena.
So, what's the catch?
Why does there have to be a catch?
How can a man like that
possibly be single?
Did he like the corn bread?
Oh, you know something.
He was engaged to a girl
up in Boston.
But he broke it off.
When?
Three weeks ago today.
When were they gonna get married?
Well,
what difference does that make?
Grandma.
Three weeks ago, Sunday.
He walked out on his fiancee
two days before the wedding?
That would make him your type,
wouldn't it?
Mama, Hello? Mama, you in there?
If you're in there, pick up,
Oh, what do you think she wants?
Cash or bail?
Mama, that guy in Houston,
he turned out to be this total loser,
He got ahold of my credit card
and he went hog-wild and I--
I can't get a cash advance
or write a check,
I need-- I just--
-I gotta get some cash, Mama,
-Do not pick up until I'm out of here.
Come on, I know you're in there,
You ain't going nowhere, pick up,
-Hi, Mom.
-I just wanted to make sure...
...you were down there
safe and sound,
Couldn't be safer and sounder.
I got a lot of unpacking to do, so....
I ran into Binky Davenport
at the club today,
-Oh, what a coincidence.
-Declan,
As upset and disappointed as all
parties involved are at the moment...
...I was given
the unmistakable indication...
...that if you were to apologize fully for
your rashness and lack of consideration...
...the Davenports may be open
to reannouncing the engagement,
Mom, Mom, Mom.
I did all parties involved a
massive favor by saving...
...a wonderful woman from marrying a man
who was not in love with her.
It's all that Remy's fault
getting you to quit your job...
...spending your last dime on some
overpriced cabin in the swamp,
The overpriced cabin
in the swamp...
...coming on the market
was the catalyst, not the cause.
And I quit my job because if I had
to file one more pre-trial motion--
Declan,
Declan, I--
Mom, let me call you back.
I gotta call the realtor.
-Love you.
-Fine--
How's the new homeowner?
Actually, I was wondering
about the old homeowners.
Weren't they supposed to have
their stuff moved out before I got here?
Well,
we didn't have anything to move out,
They sold the place
before the furniture got there,
Nobody's been in that house
for a year,
Alright, well then somebody's
definitely been squatting.
There's a room full of furniture
and it looks very lived-in.
Oh, my god.
I'll get a moving crew there, have the
locks changed first thing in the a.m.
Thank you.
I haven't seen you jump since the first
time you set foot on this property.
Hey, would you--?
Would you mind going up there
and checking it out?
Up there for me?
It's a little dusty for me.
The humidity down here
is hell on my allergies.
Allergies.
And I thought I knew everything
there was to know about you.
What do you see? What--?
What's up there?
There's nothing up here.
Just an old brass fireplace set.
Mind if we break open
your housewarming gift?
I knew there was a reason I love you
more than my mother.
Hello?
What do you think you're doing,
Abigail?
If she catches us in here,
we're both gonna get in trouble.
I can go wherever I want to.
Abigail.
It's me.
Abigail, if you go in that front room
she'll have your head.
You know the rules.
Downstairs maids strictly
on the servant's stairs.
I'm not scared of her.
Ah, Lucian.
My fair brother.
He's like a Greek god, isn't he?
Down from Mount Olympus
to walk amongst the mortals.
-Excuse me, Master Julian.
-I've seen the way you look at him.
And the way you get him
to look at you.
You've been drinking,
Master Julian.
If I was born 15 minutes earlier,
you know, I'd be the heir.
And it would be me
you'd be making those eyes at.
Abigail.
Abigail.
Send the bitch back to hell,
Help! Somebody, please help me!
Help me!
Mr. Fitzpatrick.
Hi, I'm a little confused.
I think you pointed us
to the wrong room.
They must have moved it all out
while I was sleeping.
We better change all the locks.
Right.
Now you're telling me
I have ghosts in my house?
-Consider the house.
-Quite the history there.
The two brothers who lived there
both fell in love with a maid.
The older brother, Lucian,
marries the housemaid, Abigail.
To Mama's infinite dismay.
Abigail then abandons husband and
new baby for some boy on the bayou.
Never to return.
A short time later, the betrayed
husband kills his brother Julian...
...in a knife brawl in the Quarter's
most notorious brothel.
-The incident ruled self-defense.
-And soon after that...
...Lucian drowned himself
in the bayou.
The twice-abandoned child was raised
in the bayou by her mama's family.
In fact, the owner of this bar
and caterer of our wedding...
...happens to be the baby's--
-What is it?
-Great-great-granddaughter.
Not your type, Boston.
I cannot believe
that a week from Sunday...
...you two degenerates
are gonna be old married people.
Nice to see you, Declan.
-You've met.
-Yesterday morning.
Effie, I got the andouille
all ordered for the jambalaya...
...but my shrimp guys let me down,
wanna come back and talk plan B?
Honey, we are in your hands.
Whatever you decide to....
plan B? Yes, absolutely.
You're gonna wanna mop
that drool off your chin, man.
-Why'd he jilt her?
-She just wasn't the one.
He didn't notice
until they were setting chairs?
It was a marriage
of two great fortunes.
Declan is a very dutiful son.
Or was until two weeks ago.
It was the weirdest thing.
The second I saw her, it was like--
I don't know, bam, there you are.
Is dumping girls
at the altar his pattern...
-...or was it a one-time thing?
-No, the altar, only once.
But there has been something
of a revolving door.
Her dad took off before she was born.
Her mom walked out when she was 3.
What you don't need
is a guy who's still figuring it out.
I got two friends here
I don't wanna see hurt.
Don't go for this one
on the rebound, Declan.
You know what, Remy? I'm not back
in five days, drag the harbor.
Hey, let me get those for you.
-I got it.
-No, no, no, it's fine.
We could all use a little help.
Here. Sorry about that.
Sorry.
Here you go.
So can I buy you a coffee, a drink?
A car, a dog?
I got a car and at the moment
I'm sadly too busy...
...to give a dog the love
and attention--
Oh, my. Sorry, totally my bad.
Sorry, everybody.
I think I've had all the help
out of you I can handle.
No, that was my bad. It's fine.
-Why don't you leave it to the pros?
-I... Really, I got it.
-On your feet.
-Yes, ma'am.
You wanna help me out?
Go sit down,
enjoy your beers and we'll talk.
Is that a deal?
Deal.
-I'm sorry, l-- I gotta go.
-No, yeah.
Yeah. Of course.
Oh, Master Lucian.
I'm so sorry. I was just--
It's all right, Abigail.
Books are there to be read.
What volume
were you risking your life for?
It was poetry.
I love poetry, especially Lord Byron.
She walks in beauty like the night
Of cloudless climes
And starry skies
Did Madame LaRue tell you
to dust the front rooms?
No, Madame Josephine.
-I thought--
-You thought?
If you're such a thinker, do you think
that I engage my downstairs maids...
...for the quality of their thinking?
Yes, Mother. What is it?
Why can't you pay for your whores
down in the Quarter like your brother?
I'm sure for a little extra you
can get them to dress up like maids.
If that's your fancy.
I want an MRl now.
This was a full-on hallucination.
This time they were reading poetry.
The housemaid getting her hooks
into the heir to the estate.
You're not losing your marbles,
you're tuning in.
No, no, see, you just told me the story,
so of course it was on my mind.
Maybe or maybe to be sure you get
somebody in to clean the place up.
See what's got a hold on you.
You know do a little grigri.
One of your neighbors does the best
grigri in the Parish, Madame Odette.
Cabin right through
those woods on the bayou.
-Does everyone believe in this stuff?
-No, but it's good for tourism.
Look, I'm not knocking
on my neighbor's door...
...and saying, "Hi, got voodoo?"
I'm a little neurologically impaired,
I'm not nuts.
Madame Odette is otherwise known
as Odette Simone, Lena's grandma.
Lena's beloved grandma
who raised her like her own child.
Grigri or not,
could be the road to Lena's heart...
...needs a pass
through a little cabin on the bayou.
Welcome, neighbor.
I'm Odette Simone.
Pleased to meet you,
Mrs. Simone. I'm--
Oh, I know who you are.
I like daisies.
They got a cheerful face.
That corn bread that you sent over
never saw lunchtime.
I should have come by sooner
to thank you.
As far north of the Mason-Dixon Line
you come, think I expect manners?
Come on in. I got another batch
crying to come out of the oven.
How do you get anything done...
...when you can just sit here
all day long and look?
It's a good spot.
My family's been here 115 years.
You got your eye on my Lena?
I love to see a Yankee
lose his tongue.
Manger, eat.
You wanna get somewhere with Lena,
take her on a date.
A proper one. And don't
waste your time asking her...
...if she wants to
because you'll just get a saucy "no."
That girl's been hurt bad
and hurt deep.
When your own mama barely
takes the time to know you're alive...
...you start to think
that's what you deserve.
The other thing you came for.
I'll help you with if you'll let me.
Excuse me?
The little trouble you're having
with the former residents of the Hall.
Let me see your hands.
No, I gotta tell you
I'm a pretty reality-based kind of guy.
Humor an old lady.
Tell me where one is
and I'd be happy to.
Come on, now. Let me see them.
All right.
You got a strong hand, Declan.
Strong enough
that you changed your fate.
Took yourself a new road.
You have strong ties to Manet Hall.
You're not alone in there.
One force won't stop at anything
to get you out.
But there's another one...
...pushing you right back in.
Telling you a story.
But you better listen to it.
Most of all,
the parts you don't wanna hear.
Because if the story
doesn't change this time...
...you all stay stuck.
Time will stand still.
Watch doesn't tick.
Watch? What? What watch?
Everything keeps going around
in a circle to the same dark end.
How could Abigail leave her baby,
my grandma, behind?
How could Lucian take his own life
knowing his child needed him?
Shine the light, Declan.
Everything you're trying
to do here...
...it will all come to dust
if you don't make it right.
Make what right?
What are you talking about?
What game are you playing here?
Is this how you got the other owners
to run away with this nonsense?
Why do you think
you were called here, Mr. Fitzpatrick?
To open a legal clinic.
To help people.
Plenty of people need help
in plenty of places.
Why are you here?
-Social Services said there's--
-Hey, look at this.
From the city archives,
Josephine Manet's will.
Getting to know
your ectoplasmic housemates?
Learning about my house.
Whatever you say.
This.
"Notarized December 1st, 1899."
Right after the baby was born.
A month
before Abigail disappeared.
"Let there be no mistaking my
intentions to bestow my entire estate...
...upon my youngest son, Julian.
Leaving nothing whatsoever
to the eldest, Lucian."
That would sure explain
why Abigail took off.
No inheritance,
no reason to stick around.
Baby, what is it?
We got no place to get married.
They just condemned the church.
There's some storm damage
they didn't catch.
We can get hitched at a bus stop
for all I care.
Don't tell that to my mother.
There's six conventions in town.
I called 100 places. There's nothing.
I know of a lovely
antebellum mansion...
-...that happens to be free.
-No, Declan, I cannot let you do this.
Did I say
it was open for discussion?
You are the most wonderful friend
anybody ever had.
-plus you look really hot in that suit.
-Don't go all gushy on him, Effie.
The only reason he's
giving us the house...
...is because he wants to make time
with the caterer.
Now, what is this lunacy?
Abandon all hope of getting away,
Lena Simone.
We are going on a date.
-Oh, Declan.
-First stop is your house...
...so you can change,
this being a formal affair and all.
No need for that.
I'll be right back.
This will do.
That is a beautiful watch.
It was my grandma's grandma's.
I only wear it because it's pretty.
Not a jeweler in the state
can get it to work.
See?
The watch doesn't tick,
The watch doesn't tick?
Lena.
Do you believe in spirits...
...coming back to tell us stuff?
Have you been visiting
my grandma?
Are you using her to get to me?
I paid my neighbor a friendly visit.
That works.
Sometimes.
As for what I believe...
...well, I've never seen proof.
But it wasn't for lack of trying.
Okay.
There we go. Let's eat.
And drink.
Open some branches
of the restaurant...
...Lower Ninth, Gentilly, you know,
places where they need it the most.
Then maybe sell the whole thing
and travel...
...see what's in the next chapter.
You?
Get the legal clinic
up and running...
...learn enough ltalian
to read Dante in the original.
Get a couch for this room.
Have about seven or eight kids.
Lot of bedrooms in this place.
There's a lot of sadness
in this place.
My whole life, nobody ever stayed
more than a few months.
I just can't believe that Abigail
walked out on Lucian and the baby.
So you're acquainted
with our local legend.
It's quite a story.
And it's just a coincidence
she took off...
...two weeks
after the will got changed?
She read poetry with him.
You know this because...?
Because that's the story...
...that he loved poetry
and so did she.
Yeah, she cleared out, she took
all the jewelry and disappeared.
That's the story I grew up with.
Doesn't make it the truth.
So, what's your theory?
Mama Josephine, in the bayou,
with her hands around Abigail's neck.
No, if Josephine wanted to kill her,
why change the will?
Maybe it was Lucian who did it.
He knifed his brother.
How do you know
he didn't knife his bride?
Police said he killed
Julian in self-defense.
Well, the Manets own the police.
What else were they gonna say?
Don't you believe in true love?
You're the one who left a girl
standing at the altar.
Maybe that's because
I do believe in true love.
Baby was only a few weeks old.
She wouldn't have walked out on it.
Her daughter.
You mean mothers don't walk out
on their children?
I'm sorry about that. I--
I shouldn't have.
Always comes up
one way or another.
Where is she now?
How about
if you never stop doing that?
Could that be arranged?
Do you hear the noise?
You don't hear that?
The baby crying?
You're lucky you didn't kill yourself
fainting like that.
Come on, get up.
Guys don't faint, they pass out.
I own a bar. I know the difference
between fainting and passing out.
What was that about?
Nothing. I don't know.
You wanna get some coffee?
Will you finish it this time?
Yes, Mama.
You don't fool me.
Was I trying to?
I know a glow when I see one.
Oh, no. That's my new skin toner.
So you don't wanna know
what Declan said to Remy?
Well, it isn't so much what he said
as how he said it.
Remy has never seen him like this.
Call him.
No way. You know the rules.
As if you ever lived by the rules
a second of your life.
Now, if he isn't worth an encore,
that would be something else.
Oh, he is definitely worth an encore.
Lena.
Somebody's here to see you.
In the office.
Like a bad penny.
Hey, baby.
What do you want?
I've got a yen to see you.
So I put myself on a bus.
Six over-air-conditioned hours
later...
...here I am.
Why don't you sit down and tell me
everything you've been up to.
I have to work.
Well, you own the place.
You can take off all the time you want.
I told you last time was the last time
you were getting money out of me.
I'm saying I'm sorry.
And I know I was bad,
but I am still your mama.
A cat spends more time with its litter
than you did with me.
I have to work and you have to go.
I got a plan this time.
I could work for you for a while
until I get something permanent.
That way, you could keep your eye
on me so I don't screw up again.
And I-I can stay with you
until I get a place of my own.
So I can come home
and find you turning tricks in my bed?
I was sick back then.
I'm clean now.
I'll take a blood test.
I'd take one now.
You used that one up.
Here...
...buy yourself a bus ticket
to as far away as this will get you.
I messed up so bad
with that guy in Houston.
He was taking care of me,
and what did-- What did I do?
I walked out on him.
I stomped on his heart
like it was a bug.
Us Simone girls,
I guess that's what we do, isn't it?
If they don't walk out on us,
they surely end up paying for it.
I truly feel for that beautiful young man
from Boston...
...who came by on his motorcycle
the other night.
Oh, yeah.
I watch over my baby.
Get out...
...or I swear to God
I will throw you out.
You know, like it or not...
...you are your mother's daughter.
Which is to say, if you don't leave...
...they will.
As long as you shall live.
Hey, beautiful. I was thinking
Lake Pontchartrain...
...a rowboat, some lobster salad...
...maybe some Patsy Cline
on the boom box.
Declan.
What?
This is...
...too fast for me.
All right, we'll go slower.
No rowboat, no Patsy Cline.
We'll go as slow as you want.
Some things just aren't a good idea.
Hey.
Hey.
What are you doing?
Was it something I did?
Did I come on too strong?
Oh, she likes strong.
Everything seemed so great
last night.
Did something happen to her
this morning?
Many things have happened.
Just not necessarily this morning.
In fact, not recently at all.
Would you like to see
my picture album?
Yeah?
Yeah. All right.
Always made us feel
kind of special...
...knowing our granny
was born in the big house.
Nobody in the bayou
had a family album like we did.
Now...
...that...
...was my great-great-grandma.
A beauty, isn't she?
Josephine.
And over here
is my great grandpa's brother, Julian.
And this...
...is my great-grandpa, Lucian...
...and my great-grandma, Abigail.
What the hell is this?
It's my photo album.
This is my house now.
And I'm not leaving!
Do you hear me?
Do you hear me?
Do you hear me?
Got you all the pretty ones...
-...I could pull out of the recycle bin.
-All right.
I'm surprised there's a spirit on
the property left to scare away.
Oh, they're not for here.
Oh, look at that pretty blue one.
If these are for a neighbor of yours, have
a nice time hanging bottles in his tree.
Well, don't you have
wedding business up there anyway?
I'm not interested in Declan.
Well, it seems to me,
night before last...
...somebody spent all night
not being interested in Declan.
-Grandma.
-I know. I know your philosophy.
Walk away
so they don't walk away first.
And I know you come by it honestly.
But the end of the story isn't written
until it's written, angel.
Look around you.
-At what?
-Got a whole city coming back up.
Now, even where Katrina hit the worst,
getting rebuilt better than before.
You seen the Ninth Ward lately?
It's all a matter of time.
And faith.
Yeah, faith.
Otherwise known
as trusting in things...
...that have never shown themselves
worthy of trust.
Another storm hasn't hit.
Just luck.
All right. All right.
Tell me you really don't like him...
...or tell me his cologne
makes you gag...
...or that his jokes aren't funny...
...and I'll let you out that door.
Damn thing's a teardown.
My friend Remy
wants to be married under it...
...and married under it,
my friend Remy is gonna be.
Darling, we live in the most
beautiful house in Louisiana.
But it's not our house.
Please, don't make me
keep living here...
-...where your mother hates me.
-Now, she doesn't hate you.
She's proud.
And the way that your brother's
always looking at me.
Now, you know
Julian doesn't mean any harm.
He's sad.
I promise you...
...as soon as the baby's born,
we'll start looking for a place in town...
...with lots of rooms
for the children we're gonna have.
Declan!
I'm okay.
I'm okay.
-Okay.
-Yeah?
Yeah? Well, were you
seeing something, boy?
No, l-- I wasn't seeing.
It was more like--
More like like what?
Like....
No, no, no. It-- No, it--
No, it's-- It's too crazy.
If anything was too crazy
for this place...
...I never heard of it.
Like I was remembering them.
Okay?
Like I was there. I....
I smelled the rose in Abigail's hand.
She was pregnant.
There was...
...a willow tree. Right there.
There was a willow tree.
Cut down 55 years ago
after Hurricane Hazel split it in two.
You think...
...we got ourselves
a little reincarnation thing going here?
No. I'm--
I'm from Boston.
Of course I don't think that.
You know, if you're Lucian Manet,
that makes you my great-grandpa.
Okay, so now, not only
do I have ghosts in my house...
...but you're telling me
that I used to be one of them?
Come on.
Really?
Maybe that's why I thought I was home
the first time I came here.
Maybe that's why we were so sure
we had met.
Yes, well, but that...
...would only be true
if she was seeing things too.
Well, are you seeing things?
Are you remembering things?
Me?
Remember a hundred years ago?
I'm lucky if I know
where I've put my keys this morning.
He loved her so much.
I-- I saw them
reading poetry together...
...and...
...the look in his eyes...
-...when he gave me the rose, it was--
-Excuse me?
What did you just say?
The look in his eyes
when he gave me the rose.
Well, now.
That might just explain everything.
It was a slip of the tongue.
No, no.
Think, Declan.
What were you remembering?
Whose eyes
were you seeing it through?
-Come on.
-I looked up at him.
I could feel my collar
around my neck.
The rose when he put it in my hand.
Holy moly.
What? What?
What does it mean? What is it?
Well...
...it means if you really were here...
...before...
...you weren't Lucian.
You were Abigail.
So now I'm the...
...reincarnation
of a Cajun housemaid?
Why not?
The soul
doesn't know the difference.
Boys come back as girls,
kings as paupers.
No, Odette.
I've never been a woman.
I've never had woman parts.
Then whose collar
was tickling your neck?
Now I see...
...why they're so angry.
Why they're reaching
through the veil.
You're the bayou trash
that invaded their home.
Lena, I know this is not the first time
that we've stood on this spot.
Abigail wasn't after Lucian's money.
She didn't want this house.
She begged him
to take her away from here.
Sure, away from prying eyes.
What if somebody caught her...
...sneaking off for a midnight
rendezvous with the boy from the bayou?
No, Lena.
Not everyone walks out.
What poem were they reading?
She walks in beauty
Like the night
Of cloudless climes
And starry skies
I gotta get set up in the house.
She took the rose.
I call that progress.
Happy New Year champagne
for my two beautiful girls.
There, there now.
Don't cry, Marie Rose.
Where's your mama?
Oh, my darling, I am so sorry.
It's a joke.
She's playing a joke.
I've been praying this wouldn't happen.
I've been praying I was wrong.
All of her jewelry, Lucian.
Your grandmother's emeralds.
There's a thief in the house.
Would a thief leave this?
What have you been praying
you were wrong about?
Mother, tell me.
The boy that she had been seen with
in the bayou.
What boy?
-My Abby would never--
-Lucian.
What boy?
A boy with red hair, Lucian.
Get your coat on, Julian.
The carriage is waiting downstairs.
Now, did Mama send you
to bring bad Julian home?
A whiskey and a woman!
For mon frere.
Though I doubt he'd know
what to do with either of them.
It's been so long
since sainted Lucian...
...has tasted of the carnal delights.
You embarrass yourself
and your family, Julian.
I'm not embarrassed to pay
for a whore.
Now, if I had married one,
it would be a different matter.
But you beat me to that, brother,
as you have so many other things.
If you say another word
about Abigail--
Lucian...
...pride of the Manets.
He pines...
...and he weeps.
Because his bride...
...abandoned him for another.
Saddled him
with their bastard whelp.
You drove her away,
what with your poetry...
...and your roses.
I loved her
for the slut that she was...
...right down to that sweet
little heart-shaped birthmark...
...on the inside of her thigh.
Don't you love me, brother?
Finished setting up already?
Grandma, what's wrong?
You're asking me?
I saw.
Well, look at this.
Three generations together again.
You must be Declan.
What is she doing in this house?
I have as much right
to be in this house as you do.
Some of us...
...are just more respectful of blood kin
than others.
Is this coffee fresh, Mama?
Yes, honey.
How could you take her in again?
She's my child.
I'm your child.
You're gonna let her
come back and suck you dry again?
She has a disease.
She is a disease.
I told you I'm clean.
You know how you can tell
a junkie is lying?
Her lips are moving.
-You ought to shut--
-I would think again about that.
Grandmama...
...I love you with all my heart...
...but as long as she's in this house,
I won't be.
Let me know when she's gone.
Hey, hey, hey.
Family sucks.
You know anything about it?
"Oh no, Aunt Buffy bought
the wrong color tea towels."
Come on. Come on.
I don't want you to go.
-Why not?
-Three reasons.
Okay, because
you're too upset to drive...
...because I love you and...
...because I love you.
This is all about you and me.
We were brought together
for a reason.
To make it right this time.
I was Abigail and...
...I know you were Lucian.
Well...
...the place sure looks better than it did
when I used to...
...break in and get up
to all kinds of hell in here.
What can I do for you,
Miss Simone?
Mind if I cut right to the chase?
Actually, I'd appreciate it.
I'm in trouble.
Big trouble. Big even for me.
I owe some money.
That's why I had to get out
of Houston.
They said if I don't pay what I owe,
they're gonna hurt Lena, and Mama.
What, they front you a key,
and it all go up your nose?
You'd think I'd learn by now, huh?
Would $1 0,000 do it?
I was a trial lawyer, Miss Simone.
You're gonna have to be a better liar
than that around me.
Now, why don't you
get out of my house before I hurt you.
Your type doesn't hurt a woman.
Don't think
I don't know the difference.
You know...
...I wonder what would happen
to your little daycare commune...
...when the authorities hear that you've
been making improper advances...
...towards your clients' kids.
Just a rumor would be enough
to shut you down.
And, yeah, I think $10,000
would just about do it.
Okay.
You wanna make an accusation,
make it.
Deputy Sheriff, St. Charles parish.
Remy's Uncle Pierre. Call him.
I can make a lot more trouble for you
than you can for me. Believe that.
Yeah, baby. Come on.
Hey, the girls are waiting.
-Party, boys. Come on.
-Come on.
Don't go, beautiful.
Stay with me.
Well, aren't you something?
Okay. Okay, come on. You got it.
In my father's day...
...you think they went to the Quarter
for lap dancing?
What? I hear you. Come on, buddy.
They were men and we are mice.
Okay, come on. Come on, I got you.
I don't feel so good, Declan.
Yeah,
that would be the 11 Sazeracs talking.
Just take a seat.
There you go.
I got just the thing for you, buddy.
Try not to throw up on my floor.
Hello, Abigail.
He wants to make a life with you.
He wants to play make-believe.
Yeah.
Oh, my God.
You all right?
As long as I don't breathe
or anything.
The doctor was here. Not much you can do
for a cracked rib.
There something
you weren't saying on the phone.
-About what?
-Who did this?
It was your mom.
-I didn't wanna call the cops.
-Then I'll call them.
All the times I could've had her
put away...
...but I always told myself,
no, it will catch up with her on its own.
No, no, no. Lena...
...there was not a thing
in the whole world...
...you could have done to stop this.
But she's just...
...out there.
-We'll postpone the wedding.
-Oh, no, no, no.
You think I wanna hear from your mom
the rest of my life...
...about all your second cousins who got
stuck with non-refundable plane tickets?
Party's on, babe.
And though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels...
...but have not love...
...I have become a sounding brass
or a clanging cymbal.
And though I have
the gift of prophecy...
...and understand all mysteries
and all knowledge...
...and though I have all faith
so that I can move mountains...
...but have not love...
...I am nothing.
All right.
May I have this dance?
I've been lying to you...
...about not seeing anything.
So you know it was us then.
We're them.
You wanna know
why Lucian killed Julian?
Because he found out Julian had been
screwing his sweet beloved Abigail.
Apparently,
she was a very busy bride.
Nobody killed Abigail.
She abandoned her husband
and her baby.
No. She loved Lucian.
I saw the note she left.
"Try to forgive me."
That's it.
And she didn't take all her jewelry.
What piece of her jewelry
do I have?
The watch.
It didn't mean anything to her.
We weren't brought together
to get it right.
There's no higher purpose in any of this.
We're just trapped on a wheel that keeps
coming around and around in the same place.
To blood and death and lies.
I'm putting the bar up for sale.
I'll go to Florida,
look for a new place.
Maybe if we get off
the wheel this time...
...it'll stop for good.
Shine the light, Declan,
Shine the light.
Don't you fuss.
Daddy's downstairs.
He's gonna be up to see us soon.
What beautiful eyes you have.
Just like your daddy.
What a party, Mother.
Yes, dear.
And such beautiful hair.
It's the color of the sun...
...right when it sinks into the bayou.
There's Daddy now.
Where are your manners,
Marie Rose?
Say hello to your Uncle Julian.
Everybody misses you
down at the party.
I need to feed the baby.
It's an absence felt most terribly.
We're short one scullery maid
in the kitchen.
I don't want you to be up here
when you've been drinking.
So the Cajuns are giving orders
to the Creoles now?
You're disgusting looking that way
at your brother's wife.
Brother's whore.
When I tell Lucian about this,
he'll send you away.
Well, he'll have to ask
Mama's permission first.
My sainted brother did me a favor...
...by marrying...
...you.
You know, she's already...
...written him out of her will.
You can take your mother's money
and you go to hell with it.
He's weak.
Saints usually are.
Underneath all that...
...piety.
He's a man.
More man
than you're ever gonna be.
I always take what's Lucian's.
Ten, nine, eight...
...seven, six...
...five, four...
No! Help me!
...three, two, one!
Happy New Year!
-Happy New Year.
-I hope it's a prosperous year for all.
Oh, God.
Oh, God.
Oh, God.
Make the damn thing stop crying!
-Help! Somebody, please, help me!
-Shut up!
Help me!
Somebody, please, help me!
If you loved me...
...this never would have happened.
This wouldn't have happened.
Julian.
She attacked me with the fire poker.
I was just defending myself.
She is dead, son.
They'll hang me.
-I have to get away.
-No.
They won't hang you, darling.
I will not lose another son to this--
This creature.
Everything's gonna be all right.
As long as you do
exactly as Mama says.
Now, we don't have a lot of time,
so first, go and clear out...
...all of Abigail's clothing and jewelry
from the bedroom.
Julian,
are you listening to me, son?
-Yes, Mama.
-Yes.
-I'm listening.
-All right.
Then you find something
to wrap her in.
You take her down the back stairs
and you dump her in the bayou.
Now, I'll find something
to occupy Lucian downstairs.
But first, I need to--
I need see something
in her handwriting.
It's a list of things the baby needs.
So now you know.
This is the way it always ends.
Send the bitch back to hell.
-Where's Declan?
-I don't know. I haven't seen him.
-What happened?
-Nothing.
Everything.
Darling, where are you going?
Don't you wanna dance the first waltz
of the century with your mama?
No.
Go ahead.
It's what you always wanted to do.
No.
That's not how
it's gonna end this time.
Don't you love me, brother?
Lena...
...and...
...you?
-What am I doing in here?
-Don't even try.
No. No, no.
No.
I was going up the stairs
and there was this man.
What were you doing
in Declan's house?
I don't know.
For once in your life,
will you not lie to me?
I was stealing, okay?
But from the office,
from the bedroom, not--
And then all I remember...
...are these thoughts in my head.
And a knife in my hand and--
That knife.
Oh, God, did I hurt somebody?
Maybe.
Oh, no. I don't remember anything.
Oh, baby, I'm so scared.
You gotta believe me.
I'm not your baby.
I've never been your baby.
I don't have to be
my mother's daughter.
Julian must have come
right along here...
...with the body over his shoulder.
He loved her...
...in the only sick,
twisted way he knew how to.
So do you wanna give this a try or...
...not?
I've always run away.
I've never trusted anybody.
We could change all that now.
All these families that moved back
after the storm...
...what did they have
that Lucian didn't?
Faith.
That it can all be better
the next time around.
Is there any chance...
...that you can have faith this time?
In you I can.
Hey.
Do you know how much I love you,
angel?
I love you as much
as I love your papa.
And that means I love you
more than the whole wide world.
But not as much as I love you.
It might take me a few more lifetimes
to get it right.
And I look forward
to every one of them.
Anybody beside me think
we missed the turnoff?
We have a party!
I'm king of the world!
I'm king of the--
Whoa, whoa, stop, stop.
Stop, stop, stop!
Declan, what are you doing?
-Where'd she go?
-What?
Where'd she go?
Where'd who go?
What are you talking about?
Declan.
There is no way in hell
that thing is there.
No, no, no.
Manet Hall, very bad juju.
Nobody's lived there for years
except squatters and tramps.
Some of them possibly
not of the living variety.
I'm going in.
Declan.
-Come on.
-Come on.
-No, not me, no way.
-lntruders, be gone!
Come on.
This is what I get for bringing
my dumb ass Yankee roommate...
...down here for Mardi Gras.
I gotta have it, Remy.
Just tell me where to send the check
and how much.
Can we please leave now?
No, no, no.
I wanna see the ballroom.
What makes you think
there's a ballroom?
How could a haunted Southern
mansion not have a ballroom?
We are so out of here.
Declan,
you get your butt over here now...
...or you can find
your own ride home to Boston!
Here, try that.
Two more bay leaves,
one more grind of pepper...
-...and a dash of cayenne.
-Got it, babe.
Oh, and your grandma called.
She needs a favor out by the cabin.
On my way. All right.
Hey.
Come here. Hey.
What's going on? How you doing?
-Good. How you been?
-How's things in New Orleans?
I got something cooking.
Oh, yeah,
and it ain't just in the oven.
Seems somebody's bought the Hall.
Sight unseen,
cash on the barrelhead.
Young lawyer out of Boston,
name of Declan Fitzpatrick.
Oscar said
there was a favor you needed.
Oh, just a neighborly thing to do
would be to take the gentleman...
...Welcome to the Bayou
fresh-baked corn bread.
And my knees have been acting up
something fierce.
This young lawyer wouldn't happen
to be single, would he?
And when did that become a crime?
Grandma, why you wanna waste
a perfectly good loaf of corn bread...
...on a guy who'd be gone in minutes
like everybody who buys the Hall?
Oh, no, now this one's different.
This one's putting down roots.
Yeah, I'm bad with roots.
Roots scare me.
Lena.
I got a look at the man on his way in
and if I were 20 years younger...
...I'd be heading over there
with the corn bread myself...
...and you wouldn't have a chance at him.
How do you know he doesn't
belong to a country club...
...and wears loafers with no socks?
Those boys in the Quarter...
...may have the right footwear but...
...none of them
mean anything to you.
They all mean something to me.
What's the difference?
-Hello?
-May I help you?
I was just looking for the owner.
Is he expecting you?
No, it's just a corn bread
courtesy call.
I figured I'd find him sitting
on the veranda sipping mint juleps...
...being fanned by servants.
Oh, you've made his acquaintance?
Haven't had the pleasure.
So his reputation precedes him?
No, not exactly. Just--
You know the kind of person who buys
a house like this, it's a type.
Northern boy who comes down here
dreaming of moonlight and magnolias.
I actually hear the owner
isn't too big on mint juleps.
He's more of a beer guy.
-You're...?
-Declan Fitzpatrick, Northern boy.
Oh, my God.
How could you--?
That was entrapment.
-Have we met?
-Have we met?
Guess that answers our question.
I was down here for Mardi Gras
in 2001, maybe it was at a party?
Well,
I was mostly in Shreveport in '01.
Maybe in Boston?
Never been there.
Hey, baby,
let me help you with that.
You're a mover?
Some of these guys are.
We also have a few legal students
and paralegals...
...including yours truly, Jack Tripadoe,
the practical one.
While Declan's spending his
trust fund providing legal services...
...to these citizens of our lovely parish,
someone's gotta keep the ship afloat.
And what'll I find on that ship?
Legal library, housing clinic.
Daycare center for the kids.
You name it, we got it.
Lot of people in tough straits here.
Insurance companies refusing to pay
claims saying they won't cover flood.
They only cover wind.
There's no end to it.
You know what? It's right over there.
Can you handle this one?
I'd love to stick around and
help you unload the whole truck...
...but I got a big night at work,
so I better get back to town.
I'll see you later then.
Thank you.
The corn bread's from my grandma.
Lives in the cabin
down on the bayou.
It's good with raspberry jam.
You didn't tell me your name.
Angelina Simone.
But mostly it's Lena.
So, what's the catch?
Why does there have to be a catch?
How can a man like that
possibly be single?
Did he like the corn bread?
Oh, you know something.
He was engaged to a girl
up in Boston.
But he broke it off.
When?
Three weeks ago today.
When were they gonna get married?
Well,
what difference does that make?
Grandma.
Three weeks ago, Sunday.
He walked out on his fiancee
two days before the wedding?
That would make him your type,
wouldn't it?
Mama, Hello? Mama, you in there?
If you're in there, pick up,
Oh, what do you think she wants?
Cash or bail?
Mama, that guy in Houston,
he turned out to be this total loser,
He got ahold of my credit card
and he went hog-wild and I--
I can't get a cash advance
or write a check,
I need-- I just--
-I gotta get some cash, Mama,
-Do not pick up until I'm out of here.
Come on, I know you're in there,
You ain't going nowhere, pick up,
-Hi, Mom.
-I just wanted to make sure...
...you were down there
safe and sound,
Couldn't be safer and sounder.
I got a lot of unpacking to do, so....
I ran into Binky Davenport
at the club today,
-Oh, what a coincidence.
-Declan,
As upset and disappointed as all
parties involved are at the moment...
...I was given
the unmistakable indication...
...that if you were to apologize fully for
your rashness and lack of consideration...
...the Davenports may be open
to reannouncing the engagement,
Mom, Mom, Mom.
I did all parties involved a
massive favor by saving...
...a wonderful woman from marrying a man
who was not in love with her.
It's all that Remy's fault
getting you to quit your job...
...spending your last dime on some
overpriced cabin in the swamp,
The overpriced cabin
in the swamp...
...coming on the market
was the catalyst, not the cause.
And I quit my job because if I had
to file one more pre-trial motion--
Declan,
Declan, I--
Mom, let me call you back.
I gotta call the realtor.
-Love you.
-Fine--
How's the new homeowner?
Actually, I was wondering
about the old homeowners.
Weren't they supposed to have
their stuff moved out before I got here?
Well,
we didn't have anything to move out,
They sold the place
before the furniture got there,
Nobody's been in that house
for a year,
Alright, well then somebody's
definitely been squatting.
There's a room full of furniture
and it looks very lived-in.
Oh, my god.
I'll get a moving crew there, have the
locks changed first thing in the a.m.
Thank you.
I haven't seen you jump since the first
time you set foot on this property.
Hey, would you--?
Would you mind going up there
and checking it out?
Up there for me?
It's a little dusty for me.
The humidity down here
is hell on my allergies.
Allergies.
And I thought I knew everything
there was to know about you.
What do you see? What--?
What's up there?
There's nothing up here.
Just an old brass fireplace set.
Mind if we break open
your housewarming gift?
I knew there was a reason I love you
more than my mother.
Hello?
What do you think you're doing,
Abigail?
If she catches us in here,
we're both gonna get in trouble.
I can go wherever I want to.
Abigail.
It's me.
Abigail, if you go in that front room
she'll have your head.
You know the rules.
Downstairs maids strictly
on the servant's stairs.
I'm not scared of her.
Ah, Lucian.
My fair brother.
He's like a Greek god, isn't he?
Down from Mount Olympus
to walk amongst the mortals.
-Excuse me, Master Julian.
-I've seen the way you look at him.
And the way you get him
to look at you.
You've been drinking,
Master Julian.
If I was born 15 minutes earlier,
you know, I'd be the heir.
And it would be me
you'd be making those eyes at.
Abigail.
Abigail.
Send the bitch back to hell,
Help! Somebody, please help me!
Help me!
Mr. Fitzpatrick.
Hi, I'm a little confused.
I think you pointed us
to the wrong room.
They must have moved it all out
while I was sleeping.
We better change all the locks.
Right.
Now you're telling me
I have ghosts in my house?
-Consider the house.
-Quite the history there.
The two brothers who lived there
both fell in love with a maid.
The older brother, Lucian,
marries the housemaid, Abigail.
To Mama's infinite dismay.
Abigail then abandons husband and
new baby for some boy on the bayou.
Never to return.
A short time later, the betrayed
husband kills his brother Julian...
...in a knife brawl in the Quarter's
most notorious brothel.
-The incident ruled self-defense.
-And soon after that...
...Lucian drowned himself
in the bayou.
The twice-abandoned child was raised
in the bayou by her mama's family.
In fact, the owner of this bar
and caterer of our wedding...
...happens to be the baby's--
-What is it?
-Great-great-granddaughter.
Not your type, Boston.
I cannot believe
that a week from Sunday...
...you two degenerates
are gonna be old married people.
Nice to see you, Declan.
-You've met.
-Yesterday morning.
Effie, I got the andouille
all ordered for the jambalaya...
...but my shrimp guys let me down,
wanna come back and talk plan B?
Honey, we are in your hands.
Whatever you decide to....
plan B? Yes, absolutely.
You're gonna wanna mop
that drool off your chin, man.
-Why'd he jilt her?
-She just wasn't the one.
He didn't notice
until they were setting chairs?
It was a marriage
of two great fortunes.
Declan is a very dutiful son.
Or was until two weeks ago.
It was the weirdest thing.
The second I saw her, it was like--
I don't know, bam, there you are.
Is dumping girls
at the altar his pattern...
-...or was it a one-time thing?
-No, the altar, only once.
But there has been something
of a revolving door.
Her dad took off before she was born.
Her mom walked out when she was 3.
What you don't need
is a guy who's still figuring it out.
I got two friends here
I don't wanna see hurt.
Don't go for this one
on the rebound, Declan.
You know what, Remy? I'm not back
in five days, drag the harbor.
Hey, let me get those for you.
-I got it.
-No, no, no, it's fine.
We could all use a little help.
Here. Sorry about that.
Sorry.
Here you go.
So can I buy you a coffee, a drink?
A car, a dog?
I got a car and at the moment
I'm sadly too busy...
...to give a dog the love
and attention--
Oh, my. Sorry, totally my bad.
Sorry, everybody.
I think I've had all the help
out of you I can handle.
No, that was my bad. It's fine.
-Why don't you leave it to the pros?
-I... Really, I got it.
-On your feet.
-Yes, ma'am.
You wanna help me out?
Go sit down,
enjoy your beers and we'll talk.
Is that a deal?
Deal.
-I'm sorry, l-- I gotta go.
-No, yeah.
Yeah. Of course.
Oh, Master Lucian.
I'm so sorry. I was just--
It's all right, Abigail.
Books are there to be read.
What volume
were you risking your life for?
It was poetry.
I love poetry, especially Lord Byron.
She walks in beauty like the night
Of cloudless climes
And starry skies
Did Madame LaRue tell you
to dust the front rooms?
No, Madame Josephine.
-I thought--
-You thought?
If you're such a thinker, do you think
that I engage my downstairs maids...
...for the quality of their thinking?
Yes, Mother. What is it?
Why can't you pay for your whores
down in the Quarter like your brother?
I'm sure for a little extra you
can get them to dress up like maids.
If that's your fancy.
I want an MRl now.
This was a full-on hallucination.
This time they were reading poetry.
The housemaid getting her hooks
into the heir to the estate.
You're not losing your marbles,
you're tuning in.
No, no, see, you just told me the story,
so of course it was on my mind.
Maybe or maybe to be sure you get
somebody in to clean the place up.
See what's got a hold on you.
You know do a little grigri.
One of your neighbors does the best
grigri in the Parish, Madame Odette.
Cabin right through
those woods on the bayou.
-Does everyone believe in this stuff?
-No, but it's good for tourism.
Look, I'm not knocking
on my neighbor's door...
...and saying, "Hi, got voodoo?"
I'm a little neurologically impaired,
I'm not nuts.
Madame Odette is otherwise known
as Odette Simone, Lena's grandma.
Lena's beloved grandma
who raised her like her own child.
Grigri or not,
could be the road to Lena's heart...
...needs a pass
through a little cabin on the bayou.
Welcome, neighbor.
I'm Odette Simone.
Pleased to meet you,
Mrs. Simone. I'm--
Oh, I know who you are.
I like daisies.
They got a cheerful face.
That corn bread that you sent over
never saw lunchtime.
I should have come by sooner
to thank you.
As far north of the Mason-Dixon Line
you come, think I expect manners?
Come on in. I got another batch
crying to come out of the oven.
How do you get anything done...
...when you can just sit here
all day long and look?
It's a good spot.
My family's been here 115 years.
You got your eye on my Lena?
I love to see a Yankee
lose his tongue.
Manger, eat.
You wanna get somewhere with Lena,
take her on a date.
A proper one. And don't
waste your time asking her...
...if she wants to
because you'll just get a saucy "no."
That girl's been hurt bad
and hurt deep.
When your own mama barely
takes the time to know you're alive...
...you start to think
that's what you deserve.
The other thing you came for.
I'll help you with if you'll let me.
Excuse me?
The little trouble you're having
with the former residents of the Hall.
Let me see your hands.
No, I gotta tell you
I'm a pretty reality-based kind of guy.
Humor an old lady.
Tell me where one is
and I'd be happy to.
Come on, now. Let me see them.
All right.
You got a strong hand, Declan.
Strong enough
that you changed your fate.
Took yourself a new road.
You have strong ties to Manet Hall.
You're not alone in there.
One force won't stop at anything
to get you out.
But there's another one...
...pushing you right back in.
Telling you a story.
But you better listen to it.
Most of all,
the parts you don't wanna hear.
Because if the story
doesn't change this time...
...you all stay stuck.
Time will stand still.
Watch doesn't tick.
Watch? What? What watch?
Everything keeps going around
in a circle to the same dark end.
How could Abigail leave her baby,
my grandma, behind?
How could Lucian take his own life
knowing his child needed him?
Shine the light, Declan.
Everything you're trying
to do here...
...it will all come to dust
if you don't make it right.
Make what right?
What are you talking about?
What game are you playing here?
Is this how you got the other owners
to run away with this nonsense?
Why do you think
you were called here, Mr. Fitzpatrick?
To open a legal clinic.
To help people.
Plenty of people need help
in plenty of places.
Why are you here?
-Social Services said there's--
-Hey, look at this.
From the city archives,
Josephine Manet's will.
Getting to know
your ectoplasmic housemates?
Learning about my house.
Whatever you say.
This.
"Notarized December 1st, 1899."
Right after the baby was born.
A month
before Abigail disappeared.
"Let there be no mistaking my
intentions to bestow my entire estate...
...upon my youngest son, Julian.
Leaving nothing whatsoever
to the eldest, Lucian."
That would sure explain
why Abigail took off.
No inheritance,
no reason to stick around.
Baby, what is it?
We got no place to get married.
They just condemned the church.
There's some storm damage
they didn't catch.
We can get hitched at a bus stop
for all I care.
Don't tell that to my mother.
There's six conventions in town.
I called 100 places. There's nothing.
I know of a lovely
antebellum mansion...
-...that happens to be free.
-No, Declan, I cannot let you do this.
Did I say
it was open for discussion?
You are the most wonderful friend
anybody ever had.
-plus you look really hot in that suit.
-Don't go all gushy on him, Effie.
The only reason he's
giving us the house...
...is because he wants to make time
with the caterer.
Now, what is this lunacy?
Abandon all hope of getting away,
Lena Simone.
We are going on a date.
-Oh, Declan.
-First stop is your house...
...so you can change,
this being a formal affair and all.
No need for that.
I'll be right back.
This will do.
That is a beautiful watch.
It was my grandma's grandma's.
I only wear it because it's pretty.
Not a jeweler in the state
can get it to work.
See?
The watch doesn't tick,
The watch doesn't tick?
Lena.
Do you believe in spirits...
...coming back to tell us stuff?
Have you been visiting
my grandma?
Are you using her to get to me?
I paid my neighbor a friendly visit.
That works.
Sometimes.
As for what I believe...
...well, I've never seen proof.
But it wasn't for lack of trying.
Okay.
There we go. Let's eat.
And drink.
Open some branches
of the restaurant...
...Lower Ninth, Gentilly, you know,
places where they need it the most.
Then maybe sell the whole thing
and travel...
...see what's in the next chapter.
You?
Get the legal clinic
up and running...
...learn enough ltalian
to read Dante in the original.
Get a couch for this room.
Have about seven or eight kids.
Lot of bedrooms in this place.
There's a lot of sadness
in this place.
My whole life, nobody ever stayed
more than a few months.
I just can't believe that Abigail
walked out on Lucian and the baby.
So you're acquainted
with our local legend.
It's quite a story.
And it's just a coincidence
she took off...
...two weeks
after the will got changed?
She read poetry with him.
You know this because...?
Because that's the story...
...that he loved poetry
and so did she.
Yeah, she cleared out, she took
all the jewelry and disappeared.
That's the story I grew up with.
Doesn't make it the truth.
So, what's your theory?
Mama Josephine, in the bayou,
with her hands around Abigail's neck.
No, if Josephine wanted to kill her,
why change the will?
Maybe it was Lucian who did it.
He knifed his brother.
How do you know
he didn't knife his bride?
Police said he killed
Julian in self-defense.
Well, the Manets own the police.
What else were they gonna say?
Don't you believe in true love?
You're the one who left a girl
standing at the altar.
Maybe that's because
I do believe in true love.
Baby was only a few weeks old.
She wouldn't have walked out on it.
Her daughter.
You mean mothers don't walk out
on their children?
I'm sorry about that. I--
I shouldn't have.
Always comes up
one way or another.
Where is she now?
How about
if you never stop doing that?
Could that be arranged?
Do you hear the noise?
You don't hear that?
The baby crying?
You're lucky you didn't kill yourself
fainting like that.
Come on, get up.
Guys don't faint, they pass out.
I own a bar. I know the difference
between fainting and passing out.
What was that about?
Nothing. I don't know.
You wanna get some coffee?
Will you finish it this time?
Yes, Mama.
You don't fool me.
Was I trying to?
I know a glow when I see one.
Oh, no. That's my new skin toner.
So you don't wanna know
what Declan said to Remy?
Well, it isn't so much what he said
as how he said it.
Remy has never seen him like this.
Call him.
No way. You know the rules.
As if you ever lived by the rules
a second of your life.
Now, if he isn't worth an encore,
that would be something else.
Oh, he is definitely worth an encore.
Lena.
Somebody's here to see you.
In the office.
Like a bad penny.
Hey, baby.
What do you want?
I've got a yen to see you.
So I put myself on a bus.
Six over-air-conditioned hours
later...
...here I am.
Why don't you sit down and tell me
everything you've been up to.
I have to work.
Well, you own the place.
You can take off all the time you want.
I told you last time was the last time
you were getting money out of me.
I'm saying I'm sorry.
And I know I was bad,
but I am still your mama.
A cat spends more time with its litter
than you did with me.
I have to work and you have to go.
I got a plan this time.
I could work for you for a while
until I get something permanent.
That way, you could keep your eye
on me so I don't screw up again.
And I-I can stay with you
until I get a place of my own.
So I can come home
and find you turning tricks in my bed?
I was sick back then.
I'm clean now.
I'll take a blood test.
I'd take one now.
You used that one up.
Here...
...buy yourself a bus ticket
to as far away as this will get you.
I messed up so bad
with that guy in Houston.
He was taking care of me,
and what did-- What did I do?
I walked out on him.
I stomped on his heart
like it was a bug.
Us Simone girls,
I guess that's what we do, isn't it?
If they don't walk out on us,
they surely end up paying for it.
I truly feel for that beautiful young man
from Boston...
...who came by on his motorcycle
the other night.
Oh, yeah.
I watch over my baby.
Get out...
...or I swear to God
I will throw you out.
You know, like it or not...
...you are your mother's daughter.
Which is to say, if you don't leave...
...they will.
As long as you shall live.
Hey, beautiful. I was thinking
Lake Pontchartrain...
...a rowboat, some lobster salad...
...maybe some Patsy Cline
on the boom box.
Declan.
What?
This is...
...too fast for me.
All right, we'll go slower.
No rowboat, no Patsy Cline.
We'll go as slow as you want.
Some things just aren't a good idea.
Hey.
Hey.
What are you doing?
Was it something I did?
Did I come on too strong?
Oh, she likes strong.
Everything seemed so great
last night.
Did something happen to her
this morning?
Many things have happened.
Just not necessarily this morning.
In fact, not recently at all.
Would you like to see
my picture album?
Yeah?
Yeah. All right.
Always made us feel
kind of special...
...knowing our granny
was born in the big house.
Nobody in the bayou
had a family album like we did.
Now...
...that...
...was my great-great-grandma.
A beauty, isn't she?
Josephine.
And over here
is my great grandpa's brother, Julian.
And this...
...is my great-grandpa, Lucian...
...and my great-grandma, Abigail.
What the hell is this?
It's my photo album.
This is my house now.
And I'm not leaving!
Do you hear me?
Do you hear me?
Do you hear me?
Got you all the pretty ones...
-...I could pull out of the recycle bin.
-All right.
I'm surprised there's a spirit on
the property left to scare away.
Oh, they're not for here.
Oh, look at that pretty blue one.
If these are for a neighbor of yours, have
a nice time hanging bottles in his tree.
Well, don't you have
wedding business up there anyway?
I'm not interested in Declan.
Well, it seems to me,
night before last...
...somebody spent all night
not being interested in Declan.
-Grandma.
-I know. I know your philosophy.
Walk away
so they don't walk away first.
And I know you come by it honestly.
But the end of the story isn't written
until it's written, angel.
Look around you.
-At what?
-Got a whole city coming back up.
Now, even where Katrina hit the worst,
getting rebuilt better than before.
You seen the Ninth Ward lately?
It's all a matter of time.
And faith.
Yeah, faith.
Otherwise known
as trusting in things...
...that have never shown themselves
worthy of trust.
Another storm hasn't hit.
Just luck.
All right. All right.
Tell me you really don't like him...
...or tell me his cologne
makes you gag...
...or that his jokes aren't funny...
...and I'll let you out that door.
Damn thing's a teardown.
My friend Remy
wants to be married under it...
...and married under it,
my friend Remy is gonna be.
Darling, we live in the most
beautiful house in Louisiana.
But it's not our house.
Please, don't make me
keep living here...
-...where your mother hates me.
-Now, she doesn't hate you.
She's proud.
And the way that your brother's
always looking at me.
Now, you know
Julian doesn't mean any harm.
He's sad.
I promise you...
...as soon as the baby's born,
we'll start looking for a place in town...
...with lots of rooms
for the children we're gonna have.
Declan!
I'm okay.
I'm okay.
-Okay.
-Yeah?
Yeah? Well, were you
seeing something, boy?
No, l-- I wasn't seeing.
It was more like--
More like like what?
Like....
No, no, no. It-- No, it--
No, it's-- It's too crazy.
If anything was too crazy
for this place...
...I never heard of it.
Like I was remembering them.
Okay?
Like I was there. I....
I smelled the rose in Abigail's hand.
She was pregnant.
There was...
...a willow tree. Right there.
There was a willow tree.
Cut down 55 years ago
after Hurricane Hazel split it in two.
You think...
...we got ourselves
a little reincarnation thing going here?
No. I'm--
I'm from Boston.
Of course I don't think that.
You know, if you're Lucian Manet,
that makes you my great-grandpa.
Okay, so now, not only
do I have ghosts in my house...
...but you're telling me
that I used to be one of them?
Come on.
Really?
Maybe that's why I thought I was home
the first time I came here.
Maybe that's why we were so sure
we had met.
Yes, well, but that...
...would only be true
if she was seeing things too.
Well, are you seeing things?
Are you remembering things?
Me?
Remember a hundred years ago?
I'm lucky if I know
where I've put my keys this morning.
He loved her so much.
I-- I saw them
reading poetry together...
...and...
...the look in his eyes...
-...when he gave me the rose, it was--
-Excuse me?
What did you just say?
The look in his eyes
when he gave me the rose.
Well, now.
That might just explain everything.
It was a slip of the tongue.
No, no.
Think, Declan.
What were you remembering?
Whose eyes
were you seeing it through?
-Come on.
-I looked up at him.
I could feel my collar
around my neck.
The rose when he put it in my hand.
Holy moly.
What? What?
What does it mean? What is it?
Well...
...it means if you really were here...
...before...
...you weren't Lucian.
You were Abigail.
So now I'm the...
...reincarnation
of a Cajun housemaid?
Why not?
The soul
doesn't know the difference.
Boys come back as girls,
kings as paupers.
No, Odette.
I've never been a woman.
I've never had woman parts.
Then whose collar
was tickling your neck?
Now I see...
...why they're so angry.
Why they're reaching
through the veil.
You're the bayou trash
that invaded their home.
Lena, I know this is not the first time
that we've stood on this spot.
Abigail wasn't after Lucian's money.
She didn't want this house.
She begged him
to take her away from here.
Sure, away from prying eyes.
What if somebody caught her...
...sneaking off for a midnight
rendezvous with the boy from the bayou?
No, Lena.
Not everyone walks out.
What poem were they reading?
She walks in beauty
Like the night
Of cloudless climes
And starry skies
I gotta get set up in the house.
She took the rose.
I call that progress.
Happy New Year champagne
for my two beautiful girls.
There, there now.
Don't cry, Marie Rose.
Where's your mama?
Oh, my darling, I am so sorry.
It's a joke.
She's playing a joke.
I've been praying this wouldn't happen.
I've been praying I was wrong.
All of her jewelry, Lucian.
Your grandmother's emeralds.
There's a thief in the house.
Would a thief leave this?
What have you been praying
you were wrong about?
Mother, tell me.
The boy that she had been seen with
in the bayou.
What boy?
-My Abby would never--
-Lucian.
What boy?
A boy with red hair, Lucian.
Get your coat on, Julian.
The carriage is waiting downstairs.
Now, did Mama send you
to bring bad Julian home?
A whiskey and a woman!
For mon frere.
Though I doubt he'd know
what to do with either of them.
It's been so long
since sainted Lucian...
...has tasted of the carnal delights.
You embarrass yourself
and your family, Julian.
I'm not embarrassed to pay
for a whore.
Now, if I had married one,
it would be a different matter.
But you beat me to that, brother,
as you have so many other things.
If you say another word
about Abigail--
Lucian...
...pride of the Manets.
He pines...
...and he weeps.
Because his bride...
...abandoned him for another.
Saddled him
with their bastard whelp.
You drove her away,
what with your poetry...
...and your roses.
I loved her
for the slut that she was...
...right down to that sweet
little heart-shaped birthmark...
...on the inside of her thigh.
Don't you love me, brother?
Finished setting up already?
Grandma, what's wrong?
You're asking me?
I saw.
Well, look at this.
Three generations together again.
You must be Declan.
What is she doing in this house?
I have as much right
to be in this house as you do.
Some of us...
...are just more respectful of blood kin
than others.
Is this coffee fresh, Mama?
Yes, honey.
How could you take her in again?
She's my child.
I'm your child.
You're gonna let her
come back and suck you dry again?
She has a disease.
She is a disease.
I told you I'm clean.
You know how you can tell
a junkie is lying?
Her lips are moving.
-You ought to shut--
-I would think again about that.
Grandmama...
...I love you with all my heart...
...but as long as she's in this house,
I won't be.
Let me know when she's gone.
Hey, hey, hey.
Family sucks.
You know anything about it?
"Oh no, Aunt Buffy bought
the wrong color tea towels."
Come on. Come on.
I don't want you to go.
-Why not?
-Three reasons.
Okay, because
you're too upset to drive...
...because I love you and...
...because I love you.
This is all about you and me.
We were brought together
for a reason.
To make it right this time.
I was Abigail and...
...I know you were Lucian.
Well...
...the place sure looks better than it did
when I used to...
...break in and get up
to all kinds of hell in here.
What can I do for you,
Miss Simone?
Mind if I cut right to the chase?
Actually, I'd appreciate it.
I'm in trouble.
Big trouble. Big even for me.
I owe some money.
That's why I had to get out
of Houston.
They said if I don't pay what I owe,
they're gonna hurt Lena, and Mama.
What, they front you a key,
and it all go up your nose?
You'd think I'd learn by now, huh?
Would $1 0,000 do it?
I was a trial lawyer, Miss Simone.
You're gonna have to be a better liar
than that around me.
Now, why don't you
get out of my house before I hurt you.
Your type doesn't hurt a woman.
Don't think
I don't know the difference.
You know...
...I wonder what would happen
to your little daycare commune...
...when the authorities hear that you've
been making improper advances...
...towards your clients' kids.
Just a rumor would be enough
to shut you down.
And, yeah, I think $10,000
would just about do it.
Okay.
You wanna make an accusation,
make it.
Deputy Sheriff, St. Charles parish.
Remy's Uncle Pierre. Call him.
I can make a lot more trouble for you
than you can for me. Believe that.
Yeah, baby. Come on.
Hey, the girls are waiting.
-Party, boys. Come on.
-Come on.
Don't go, beautiful.
Stay with me.
Well, aren't you something?
Okay. Okay, come on. You got it.
In my father's day...
...you think they went to the Quarter
for lap dancing?
What? I hear you. Come on, buddy.
They were men and we are mice.
Okay, come on. Come on, I got you.
I don't feel so good, Declan.
Yeah,
that would be the 11 Sazeracs talking.
Just take a seat.
There you go.
I got just the thing for you, buddy.
Try not to throw up on my floor.
Hello, Abigail.
He wants to make a life with you.
He wants to play make-believe.
Yeah.
Oh, my God.
You all right?
As long as I don't breathe
or anything.
The doctor was here. Not much you can do
for a cracked rib.
There something
you weren't saying on the phone.
-About what?
-Who did this?
It was your mom.
-I didn't wanna call the cops.
-Then I'll call them.
All the times I could've had her
put away...
...but I always told myself,
no, it will catch up with her on its own.
No, no, no. Lena...
...there was not a thing
in the whole world...
...you could have done to stop this.
But she's just...
...out there.
-We'll postpone the wedding.
-Oh, no, no, no.
You think I wanna hear from your mom
the rest of my life...
...about all your second cousins who got
stuck with non-refundable plane tickets?
Party's on, babe.
And though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels...
...but have not love...
...I have become a sounding brass
or a clanging cymbal.
And though I have
the gift of prophecy...
...and understand all mysteries
and all knowledge...
...and though I have all faith
so that I can move mountains...
...but have not love...
...I am nothing.
All right.
May I have this dance?
I've been lying to you...
...about not seeing anything.
So you know it was us then.
We're them.
You wanna know
why Lucian killed Julian?
Because he found out Julian had been
screwing his sweet beloved Abigail.
Apparently,
she was a very busy bride.
Nobody killed Abigail.
She abandoned her husband
and her baby.
No. She loved Lucian.
I saw the note she left.
"Try to forgive me."
That's it.
And she didn't take all her jewelry.
What piece of her jewelry
do I have?
The watch.
It didn't mean anything to her.
We weren't brought together
to get it right.
There's no higher purpose in any of this.
We're just trapped on a wheel that keeps
coming around and around in the same place.
To blood and death and lies.
I'm putting the bar up for sale.
I'll go to Florida,
look for a new place.
Maybe if we get off
the wheel this time...
...it'll stop for good.
Shine the light, Declan,
Shine the light.
Don't you fuss.
Daddy's downstairs.
He's gonna be up to see us soon.
What beautiful eyes you have.
Just like your daddy.
What a party, Mother.
Yes, dear.
And such beautiful hair.
It's the color of the sun...
...right when it sinks into the bayou.
There's Daddy now.
Where are your manners,
Marie Rose?
Say hello to your Uncle Julian.
Everybody misses you
down at the party.
I need to feed the baby.
It's an absence felt most terribly.
We're short one scullery maid
in the kitchen.
I don't want you to be up here
when you've been drinking.
So the Cajuns are giving orders
to the Creoles now?
You're disgusting looking that way
at your brother's wife.
Brother's whore.
When I tell Lucian about this,
he'll send you away.
Well, he'll have to ask
Mama's permission first.
My sainted brother did me a favor...
...by marrying...
...you.
You know, she's already...
...written him out of her will.
You can take your mother's money
and you go to hell with it.
He's weak.
Saints usually are.
Underneath all that...
...piety.
He's a man.
More man
than you're ever gonna be.
I always take what's Lucian's.
Ten, nine, eight...
...seven, six...
...five, four...
No! Help me!
...three, two, one!
Happy New Year!
-Happy New Year.
-I hope it's a prosperous year for all.
Oh, God.
Oh, God.
Oh, God.
Make the damn thing stop crying!
-Help! Somebody, please, help me!
-Shut up!
Help me!
Somebody, please, help me!
If you loved me...
...this never would have happened.
This wouldn't have happened.
Julian.
She attacked me with the fire poker.
I was just defending myself.
She is dead, son.
They'll hang me.
-I have to get away.
-No.
They won't hang you, darling.
I will not lose another son to this--
This creature.
Everything's gonna be all right.
As long as you do
exactly as Mama says.
Now, we don't have a lot of time,
so first, go and clear out...
...all of Abigail's clothing and jewelry
from the bedroom.
Julian,
are you listening to me, son?
-Yes, Mama.
-Yes.
-I'm listening.
-All right.
Then you find something
to wrap her in.
You take her down the back stairs
and you dump her in the bayou.
Now, I'll find something
to occupy Lucian downstairs.
But first, I need to--
I need see something
in her handwriting.
It's a list of things the baby needs.
So now you know.
This is the way it always ends.
Send the bitch back to hell.
-Where's Declan?
-I don't know. I haven't seen him.
-What happened?
-Nothing.
Everything.
Darling, where are you going?
Don't you wanna dance the first waltz
of the century with your mama?
No.
Go ahead.
It's what you always wanted to do.
No.
That's not how
it's gonna end this time.
Don't you love me, brother?
Lena...
...and...
...you?
-What am I doing in here?
-Don't even try.
No. No, no.
No.
I was going up the stairs
and there was this man.
What were you doing
in Declan's house?
I don't know.
For once in your life,
will you not lie to me?
I was stealing, okay?
But from the office,
from the bedroom, not--
And then all I remember...
...are these thoughts in my head.
And a knife in my hand and--
That knife.
Oh, God, did I hurt somebody?
Maybe.
Oh, no. I don't remember anything.
Oh, baby, I'm so scared.
You gotta believe me.
I'm not your baby.
I've never been your baby.
I don't have to be
my mother's daughter.
Julian must have come
right along here...
...with the body over his shoulder.
He loved her...
...in the only sick,
twisted way he knew how to.
So do you wanna give this a try or...
...not?
I've always run away.
I've never trusted anybody.
We could change all that now.
All these families that moved back
after the storm...
...what did they have
that Lucian didn't?
Faith.
That it can all be better
the next time around.
Is there any chance...
...that you can have faith this time?
In you I can.
Hey.
Do you know how much I love you,
angel?
I love you as much
as I love your papa.
And that means I love you
more than the whole wide world.
But not as much as I love you.
It might take me a few more lifetimes
to get it right.
And I look forward
to every one of them.