7th Heaven (1996–2007): Season 3, Episode 19 - The Voice - full transcript

Come in, Mr. Steineger, please.

Oh, you can call me Rudy, Reverend.
Simon always calls me Rudy.

- Okay, I'll call you Rudy, then.
- Yeah, he's a great kid.

He's one of the few kids
in his junior high

that always says hi to me.

Yeah, he's a good kid, Simon.

You know, to most kids,
a custodian is almost invisible.

- Not that I can blame them.
- So how can I help you, Rudy?

Look, Reverend,
I'm not much of a religious man.

The truth is, it's been a long time
since I set foot inside a church.

It's all right. I'm glad you decided
to set foot inside one today.



Can I speak freely
without offending you or the church?

Absolutely.

How do you know
that there's a God?

Well, I-- I-- I suppose
that's very complicated,

and yet a very simple question
at the same time.

I know that God exists
because I feel his presence

every day of my life.

Do you ever talk to God?

Of course. God's answered my prayers
many times.

I mean, has God ever talked to you?

Well, I guess you could say
God talks to me every day of my life.

No, no, no.
I mean, talk out loud like?

Why, Rudy?

- Has God talked to you out loud?
- Yep.



Did it again day before yesterday.

And what did he say?

He told me to talk to you.

I'm heading out.

- Shana?
- No, we both have finals.

I'm spending the evening
at the library,

but I told Shana that I was studying
at home, so if she calls...

You need a hand with anything?

No. That's not what I need at all.

I just need to shave a second
or two off my two-bottle dash.

Ma, it's for you.

- Hello.
- Annie, how are you?

- How's everything going?
- Patricia, things couldn't be better.

Is there someone
in the room with you?

Not anymore.

I need to do something. I'm losing it.

Well, got any idea
what that something is?

No. All I know is that it doesn't involve
anyone I've been locked up with

for the past three months,
including myself.

Well, we'll just have to
think of something.

I don't have the time
or the energy to think.

Okay, don't worry. I'm on the case.
You can relax.

I don't have the time or the energy
to relax.

Oh, bye.

I don't understand why we can't just
ask Mom and Dad right now.

Because to them,
this would be a huge deal.

It's one night of work.
Why would they say no to us working?

We're talking about a country club,
a place they've never set foot in,

where there are adults and alcohol,
and the party lasts till midnight.

They're not gonna want me driving

and they're not gonna wanna
pick us up that late.

And I'm sure they can find
a whole lot of other reasons to say no,

so we absolutely, positively
cannot give them time to think about it.

If they still say no, won't Corey's mom
yell at us if we let her down?

You worry too much.
Just trust me.

All we have to do is look
really responsible

for the next day or so,
then drop it on them.

If they're gonna say no,
I'd rather drop it on them now

so we don't have to dread telling them.
And if they're gonna say yes,

won't it be nice to have a couple days
to think about

how we're gonna spend
our 50 bucks?

If your friend got us the job
and you were the older sister,

we'd go with your plan.
But that's not the case, is it?

Okay, but, you know, you're not
exactly known for your plans.

That's because
you always mess up my plans.

So for once,
just do what I tell you.

Oh, hey, Dad.

I saw Rudy today,
the custodian at school.

- He said he went to see you.
- Yeah, he did.

He seems like a very nice guy.

Yeah. Sometimes when we're
eating lunch outside, I sit with him

because he has all these stories
about the old days.

And sometimes I eat with him
because I just feel sorry for him.

I don't think he has many friends.

Well, maybe he'll make some friends
at church.

So, what did you want?

You stopped by
to tell me something.

Oh, no,
it was just to talk about Rudy.

By the way,

- did you recommend me to him?
- No.

- You sure?
- Yeah, I'm sure.

He didn't tell me until he got back.
He said God told him to go.

He said that, huh?

Do you think it's odd
that God talked to him

- and told him to come to me?
- No. As far as I know,

you do a pretty good job
most of the time.

Why wouldn't God recommend you?

Hey, isn't that the ball
I just bought for Simon?

That kid has more toys
than he knows what to do with.

Trust me, he'll never miss it.

When I was a kid,
we used to play stickball with these.

Does everyone have to come in here
to bounce that ball?

- Maybe the back yard would be better.
- A lot less grouchy.

You've been going like gangbusters
since the twins were born.

Maybe you need a little break.
I know just the thing.

A night out on the town,
just the two of us.

No, that's not it.
I need something else.

- What?
- I don't know. I'll get back to you.

Well, Mr. Monkey,
where did you come from?

How about giving me my ball back?

Hey, you with the funny ears.
I'm talking to you.

Hey.
Isn't that your girlfriend, Shana?

Yeah. She didn't tell me
she'd be at the library.

We see other people.

- Why don't we just ask them?
- Ask us what?

If we can watch some TV
before we go to bed

while we iron and fold diapers.

Why not? Your turn.

Told you so.

- Hello.
- Annie, I've got it.

A meeting of the Women's
Interdenominational Church Council.

I can't get away
with that one again.

Oh, yes, you can. And the other girls
are free Friday night.

So is 7:00 okay?

Oh, it's just that I'd have to plan
a little further in advance.

What?

Oh, there's a meeting
of the W.I.C.C.

Look, I'd feel guilty
just leaving everyone here.

No, no, no. You should go.

I heard him. You're going.
We'll see you at 7, okay?

Okay. Thanks, Patricia. Good night.

- Are you sure?
- Sure, I'm sure.

By the way,
what is the W.I.C.C. again?

The Women's Interdenominational
Church Council.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
And I forget, what do you do?

You debate and discuss
issues of theology?

Our purpose changes year to year.
We'll decide at the meeting.

Hello? Yeah, this is he.
How can I help you?

Of course. I'll be there tomorrow
at 9 a.m.

It's the vice principal of the junior high.
He wants to talk to me tomorrow.

Is it about Simon?

No. It's about the custodian
I told you about, Rudy.

He's in some kind of trouble.

I'm telling you,
there was a monkey in this tree.

- What are you girls doing tonight?
- Nothing.

What would you like us to be doing?

Do you think you could take care
of the twins?

There's a meeting
that I'd like to go to.

Oh, where did you say
you ladies were meeting? I-- I forgot.

Nice try.

- Is there a problem?
- No, no problem.

We would love to babysit the twins.

What do you mean?

You have not changed one diaper.
You have not given one bath.

You have not burped a baby, fed
a baby, or even rocked a baby to sleep.

- So? It doesn't mean that I can't.
- But it doesn't mean you can either.

Why should I get stuck
doing everything?

Because you can?

- I think you scared them.
- Oh, they'll be all right.

But they want something and
they want it bad enough to babysit.

Yeah. I better get my stuff together,
I'm due at the vice principal's office.

- Behave yourself.
- Don't I always?

No. But it's one of the things
I like about you.

Hey, if Shana calls,
just tell her I left for class.

Why don't you call her and tell her?

- Because I don't want to.
- Okay. Why not?

Are you a detective or something?
Why all the questions?

Well, just one question, Mr. Sensitive.
Trouble in love land again?

No, there's no trouble.
Shana and I are doing great.

Fine. Give her a hug for me
when you see her.

What? Why a hug?
Why would you chose hug?

Why not, "Tell her hello for me"?

Well, I think I've known her
long enough that hello isn't enough,

but not so long
that a kiss would be appropriate.

So she knows him,

but she doesn't know him well enough
to kiss him.

If she calls,
tell her I'll pick her up for class. Yeah.

Oh, thanks.

Hey, I thought this
was supposed to be a trade.

I give you the banana,
you give me the ball.

- I thought we had a deal.
- Bye, Ruthie.

Oh, bye, Mr. Monkey.

It's not my ball, you know.
It's Simon's.

He thinks I stole it.

You see, Reverend,
last month Rudy had agreed to retire.

Everyone agreed it was the best thing.

Does that include Rudy?

Of course. We offered him a package
where he could get out early

and still collect his full pension.

And considering
how long he's been here,

I'm assuming you'd save some money
on the new person coming in?

Yes, but it would also save all of us
a lot of embarrassment.

Yesterday Rudy took
all the money in petty cash

and you know
what he bought with it?

Twenty-five gallons of shellac.

- So?
- We don't need any shellac.

We need for him to retire.

And he was going to before
you evidently talked him out of it.

Look, first of all,

let me say that whatever Rudy
and I discussed is strictly confidential.

But I can assure you that one thing
we did not discuss was his retirement.

Well, maybe you should.

Because otherwise
I'm gonna be forced to fire him.

- On what grounds?
- He's hearing voices.

I can't have some guy
down in the basement of the school

- thinking he's talking to God.
- But maybe he is.

Reverend, Rudy is old.
Too old to do his job.

And believe me, the school board
will back me up on this 100 percent.

The board meets tonight.

If Rudy doesn't accept
his retirement by then,

I'll be forced to give him
two weeks' notice

and then he can kiss his pension
goodbye.

I'm saying that, again, it's going to
be me stuck doing all the work

in one of your big plans

that's gonna blow up in our faces
like all the others.

So if I'm doing all the work,
then I say we're gonna do it my way.

I'm asking Mom and Dad
when I wanna ask them,

not when you think the time is right.

- So go ahead.
- Really?

If you think the time is right,
just go ahead.

- Why?
- Why?

Because you can't face reality.

I told you it's not my plans
that blow up in our faces.

It's your screwing up my plans
that blows up in our faces.

That's not reality.
That's Planet Mary.

I hope you're sure,
because I'm leaving it up to you.

Hey. I guess I'll see you two
at the country club tomorrow night.

Yeah.

My mom wanted to know
if she needed to call your mom

with any details or anything.

Nope, she's fine with it.
We'll be there.

And if Mom and Dad aren't fine with it,
then I say you owe me fifty bucks.

So I hope you know
what you're doing.

Hey, thank you, Simon.

Now, you see all those offices
over there on Mott Street?

That was all Armelino's potato farm
over there, yes, sir.

And this whole athletic field here
and all the school connected to it,

all the way over to the railroad tracks,
more potato farm.

In fact, I can hardly eat
a french fry nowadays

without feeling a little bit nostalgic.

Yeah, just think, tomorrow morning,

there will be hundreds
and hundreds of kids in these stands,

from every school in the district.

And then Monday morning,
I'll be back here cleaning up again.

- But doesn't that bother you?
- No, Simon, why would it bother me?

I've been doing this
for over 40 years now,

and if God tells me my work isn't done,
then, by gosh, my work isn't done.

But I just love it here.
I love the kids.

I tell you,
I even love the mess they make.

If I couldn't do this,
I don't know what I'd be doing.

- You can go fishing.
- Yeah.

Oh, hey, we better get back now.
Lunch period's almost over. Come on.

- Did you talk to Mom and Dad yet?
- No, I'm not going to.

Oh, I guess you've finally come
to the realisation, then,

that it's not my plans
that don't work.

No, sorry. I haven't come
to that realisation.

I just decided
I'd do this your way.

We'll ask
when you say it's time to ask.

But in the meantime,
I'm not gonna help you babysit.

You're on your own for a change.

If you wanna do things your way,
let's see if you can handle it.

- Oh, I'm really scared.
- You should be.

Taking care of those two little guys
isn't easy,

especially if you have no idea
what you're doing.

Give me a break, I'm not an idiot.
How hard can it be?

- Hey.
- Hey.

- What do you want?
- I don't want anything.

Can't I just pay my brother
a friendly visit every now and then?

Sorry, I'm in a bad mood.

Oh, really? I couldn't tell.

I think Shana...

I think Shana's seeing another guy.

- Are you sure?
- Am I sure?

I saw her hug some guy
in the library last night.

Then I saw him leaving her apartment
this morning.

I was so mad,
I couldn't even knock on the door.

I've gotta talk to her
or I'm gonna go crazy.

And this isn't a good time
to go crazy. I've got studying to do.

Maybe you should make sure
you have all your facts straight

before you go accusing her
of anything.

I mean, I hate it when guys
get possessive all of a sudden

for no reason. I mean,
it's really a big turnoff, you know?

You're right. You know,
maybe I shouldn't talk to her.

Maybe I should talk to him.

Yeah. I just won't tell him
who I am, that's it.

Yeah. Good luck.

You know, there is something
you can do for me.

Can you tell me everything there is to
know about taking care of the twins?

Well, first of all, let me just say
thanks for your advice just now.

But secondly, if this is about
one of your wacky plans, forget it.

Afternoon, Mr. Monkey.

Join us for dinner, won't you?

It was better off with Hoowie.

Hi.

Sorry. My day was so busy,
I never got around to lunch.

I had a busy day too.

Trying to get organised so the girls
have everything to babysit tonight.

You're gonna be around, though,
right?

Well, I may have to leave
for an hour or two.

But the girls will be fine.

Mary and Lucy are more than capable
of taking care of David and Sam.

They can beep me if
they run into a problem.

So you should just go
and enjoy yourself tonight.

I-- I couldn't help it. You know, I--
I talked to Mr. Blackstone.

They're holding
a school board meeting tonight.

They're trying to get rid of Rudy.

Everybody seems to think he's--
He's losing it,

but I-- I just have
this real strong gut feeling

that Rudy is as sane
or saner than any of us.

It just doesn't seem fair,
after all the time he's put in,

to let him go so abruptly.
There's gotta be another way.

Dad?

Take me with you? Please?

I'm Rudy's friend too,
and it sounds like tonight

he's gonna need
all the friends he can get.

Okay.

Why don't you wear
your red dress

if you're all going out
to someplace fancy?

Are you going out
to someplace fancy?

Not that it wouldn't be a meeting
if it were someplace fancy.

It would still be a meeting,
just at a fancy place, that's all.

Okay, so it's--
It's not at someplace fancy.

Isn't it wonderful
that after all these years,

we still have a few teensy-weensy
secrets from each other?

I don't know.
What's so wonderful about it?

Don't you love
how it keeps the mystery alive?

This isn't keeping the mystery alive.
This is killing me.

What time are you and Simon
gonna be back?

Well, we'll be back
as soon as possible.

What time are you coming back
tonight, from--? Where are you going?

We'll be back
as soon as possible too.

But you know
how these meetings go.

Well, actually, I--
I don't, but if you'd like to tell me...

And after his bottle,
Sam likes to be burped. Like this.

But don't make that mistake
with David.

David needs to lie down
for a few minutes after a meal.

You jiggle David right after a meal,

you get a lapful of Dave juice,
if you know what I mean.

- It's your mother.
- One minute.

The boys are sleeping,
but they'll probably wake up

- between 8 and 9 for a feeding.
- I knew that.

The formula's been made.
All you have to do is heat it up,

then burp them, change them,
try to get them back down.

By the time they wake up for their
second feeding, I should be home.

Oh, she knew that.

Simon. Ready to go?

- Bye, Mom.
- Bye, honey.

Good luck.

Here's a note where I'll be.
It's only five minutes away.

Don't show that to your father or
tell him it's only five minutes away

unless you have a reason.

Do you have his beeper number?

I'll probably call you a few times,
see how you're doing,

but don't think I don't trust you.
I totally trust you,

because you've been around babies
practically your whole life, right?

And besides,
you have Lucy here to help you.

Actually, I think that Lucy
has something she wants to ask you.

Nope, can't think of a thing.

Great. Well, then I'll be off.
Good night, girls.

Oh, Ruthie,
I was just about to come say goodbye.

- I'm going out now.
- Have a good time.

Don't you wanna give me a hug?

Hey, what do we have here?

Bananas and peanuts
for your monkey?

Yep.

- Is he a nice monkey?
- Not that nice.

- He still won't give me back my ball.
- Maybe he's still playing with it.

- When he gets tired, he'll give it back.
- Maybe.

- Wanna come meet him?
- Sure.

Hi, Mr. Monkey.

Now, you and Ruthie behave
while I'm gone,

and do everything that Mary and Lucy
tell you to do, all right?

Have a good time.

You sure you don't mind if I go out
and spend a little time with my friends?

Well, I'd rather have you do that
than sit around here

pretending to talk to a monkey
all night.

He's not here.
He was here, but he's not here now.

Okay.

Matt? Matt Camden?

You don't remember me, do you?

It's me. Tucker Berelson.
Fifth grade. We were best buddies.

That is, before my family moved
to Plainview.

- Tucker?
- Yeah.

Yeah, I can't believe it.

I thought that was you this morning.
That was you, right?

- In my apartment building?
- Wait, your apartment building?

Yeah. You know someone
who lives there?

Obviously you know someone
who lives there.

- Hey, Tucker.
- Hey, Stu.

What can I say? Some people
are huggers, some aren't.

Yeah, well, you always were
a big hug-giving kind of guy.

Yeah.

- Cheers.
- Cheers.

Cheers.

I hereby call this meeting
of the W.I.C.C. to order.

Oh, hear, hear.

Now, first order of business
will be the dumping of the guilt.

Me.

I left the twins with Mary and Lucy.

So? Their father won't be gone
for more than an hour.

Those two girls are more than capable
of taking care of their little brothers.

Sure,
they're practically grown women.

They took care of Simon and Ruthie,
didn't they?

- It'll be good for them.
- I'll drink to that.

Thank you.

And now we'll proceed
to the dumping of the anger.

Go for it, Annie.

We know you got it,
so tear us off a piece of it.

I can't even get a five-minute nap
without someone wanting to know

where their sneakers are
or what's for dinner.

"Did you wash my new shirt? I thought
you knew I wanted it washed."

"Can my friends spend the night?"
Like my house is some kind of motel.

Like I don't have enough
sheets and towels to wash.

They save everything they wanna ask
and wait until I'm starting to doze off.

It's a conspiracy
to deprive us of sleep, is what it is.

- I'll drink to that.
- Right.

Can I get you ladies anything?

You can get us
another pitcher of diet Coke.

- We're gonna be here for a while.
- Yes, sir.

That's right.

You know, it's Friday night.
Karaoke starts at 10.

As Mr. Steineger is not present

to accept the very generous
severance offer this board has made,

I move we take the very unfortunate,
yet very necessary, step

of accepting for him,
rather than firing him.

Then we can get on
to the more pressing matters at hand.

Excuse me. Since Rudy isn't--
Mr. Steineger isn't here,

I-- I'd like to offer another option.

I think the man is worthy enough
to finish out another year.

After all, he's not asking for a raise.
I mean, he doesn't want more time off

or even better working conditions.

He just wants to keep doing
the one thing he truly loves doing,

which--

Thank you, Reverend Camden.
I'll take it from here.

I-- I'm sorry if I've caused you
any trouble or problems,

but I just can't retire yet.

You're not helping yourself, Rudy.

Nobody here wants to see you
lose your pension, now, do we?

I think we should listen
to what Mr. Steineger has to say

without interruption, don't you?

- Go ahead, Mr. Steineger, please.
- Well, thanks.

Well, every now and then,
I hear a voice.

It's not a big voice.

Just a voice that I hear when I sit quiet
by myself, and I just listen.

Well, I told Mr. Blackstone
about the voice,

and he didn't seem
to make too much of it at the time,

and we mostly talked
about my retirement.

Well, the voice told me
that I'm not ready to retire just yet.

I got work to do.

Then about three days ago, the voice
told me to go see Reverend Camden,

which I did.
And thanks to his help,

I was able to realise what
a wonderful thing that this voice was.

And that's why I--
I'm here tonight.

No one told me to come.
I-- I just came on my own.

It kind of sounds
a little crazy, doesn't it?

You're right, it sounds crazy.

I'm sorry, Mr. Steineger,
but you said it yourself.

It sounds crazy.

I think we should just vote
on this matter now

so we can get it behind us.

Could you all
please not rush into a decision here

just because Rudy's been
so honest with you? Please.

I talk to God every day of my life.

And I know there are others
in this room who talk to God.

And you and I may not always
get an answer

as strong and clear
as Rudy has described,

but are you telling me
you don't even expect an answer?

Because I do.

And I don't know, maybe it's just
that you don't doubt my sanity

when I say I talk to God
because I'm in the God business.

But God is in the people business.

And Rudy here
is a fine person.

Maybe we can ask him
to think about it for a few days.

I heard it again.

Could you at least take
a few more days to think about it?

All right, we'll all think about it
over the weekend.

Then Monday, we'll decide.

I hope you and Mr. Steineger
will do the same.

Men grow cold as girls grow old

And we all lose our charms in the end

Wonder if her family knows
about this side of her.

Maybe, but I'm not sure
when it would come up.

Diamonds are a girl's best friend

- You were great.
- That was perfect.

Thanks. I'm having so much fun.

This is just what I needed,
to get away from all my responsibilities

and do something wild.

Excuse me.
Does anyone have the time over here?

Sure.

It's almost 11.

Oh, I better call home and see
how the girls are doing with the twins.

I'd better call Morgan.
I said I'd call a half-hour ago.

Hold on, you two. We came out
this evening to cut loose for a while.

So how about we cut loose
for a while longer?

- I mean, we earned it.
- Yeah.

- We deserve it.
- Yeah.

- We're gonna have it.
- Yeah.

Last one to the pay phone's
a rotten egg.

- Hello?
- Hi, it's me. How's everything going?

Everything's fine.

How's everything going
over there, wherever you are?

Oh, you know, okay. It's a meeting.
Did you feed them again?

They're still sleeping.

That's great.
I wish they'd do that for me.

- Did your father call?
- Yep, and he's on his way home,

and Matt's still at the library,

- as far as I know.
- Lucy?

She went downstairs
to get Ruthie a glass of water.

Why didn't she get
a glass of water upstairs?

Apparently the monkey wants
kitchen water, not bathroom water.

Okay. Look, I gotta go.
I'll be home soon.

Okay, bye.

Nothing?

- They never sleep like this.
- It's all just part of my plan.

Maybe it's just part of his plan,

because if Mom and Dad
are under the impression

that you have babysitting skills,
he knows the truth.

I think he's got bigger truths
to be concerned with,

thank you very much.

- Like?
- Like the environment. Hello.

I still can't believe
how great you were.

- You can't believe it?
- You know what I mean.

I just hope the weekend
gives everybody

a chance to change their mind,
not that we should count on it.

But for some reason,
I'm feeling kind of optimistic.

Well, I'm gonna go check up
on the boys.

- Hey, Curtis.
- Eric.

I'm so sorry to be bothering you
this late.

No problem at all. You know, we're...

New neighbours are always
especially welcome here anytime.

Thanks. It's about my chimp.
He's missing.

Your chimp?

I volunteered
to be the foster parent, so to speak,

of a baby chimp for a while.

To train him, get him used to doing
simple tasks, to see if he'd be any help

to the more severely
physically challenged folks.

They usually use capuchin monkeys,
but this one grad student,

I guess he's partial to chimps,
he seems to think that they're--

- You have a chimp?
- Yeah. And believe me,

the darn thing has been
a lot more trouble than help so far.

- You have a chimp.
- Yeah, and he's missing.

The people across the street said
they think they saw him go in

one of your upstairs windows.
Have you seen him?

Oh, boy. I haven't seen him myself,

but I think I may know where he is.

Come in.

Our new neighbour, Curtis,
is looking for his chimp.

His monkey. Would you know
anything about that?

I think I found him.

Come on, Eisenhower.
It's time to go home.

I didn't name him.

It's about time.
Thanks and good night.

He's perfectly harmless.

He's just a pain in the neck
sometimes.

I'll get these pyjamas
back to you.

- Good night.
- Good night, Curtis.

Good night, Eisenhower.

So now do you believe me?

Yes, now I believe you.

You know, it might be a good idea
to keep the window closed for a while.

Fine by me.

- Good night, Ruthie.
- Good night.

I thought you were studying tonight.

I tried, but I just couldn't
until I apologised. Can I come in?

Apologised for what?

I have been such an idiot.
Last night, I was at the library.

I saw you come in, hug that guy,
and then leave with him.

I was thinking things. I didn't know
who he was. I stopped by this morning.

I got there as he was stepping out
your door, and I got even more jealous.

But the whole thing
was just so stupid.

I realised I know Tucker from,
like, a million years ago.

Evidently,
he just likes to hug everyone.

And I'm sure he was over just to--
What?

You know, borrow a cup of sugar
or something, right?

You know, I was a fool
to jump to conclusions. I'm sorry.

Well, what if you weren't
jumping to conclusions?

What if he and I did go out?
I mean, that's okay, right?

Because, you know, we--
We talked about being exclusive,

and we both decided we would know
when it would be time for that.

Since we haven't
talked about it since,

then it must not be time
for that yet, right?

Wait a minute, you mean
you're actually seeing this guy?

Like-- Like you see me?

I can't believe it.

Well, who do you feel more for?
Me or him?

You. Yeah,
I definitely like you better.

Well, great. Then you know what?

We should see each other
exclusively then.

I mean, it makes sense, right?

- Is that what you really want?
- Of course, yeah.

On the other hand,

what if Tucker and I
aren't really going out with each other,

and he is just my neighbour,

and he came by this morning
to give me notes that I loaned him?

- Are you going out with him or not?
- No, I'm not.

So you were just playing around

so you'd get me to say
that I thought we should be exclusive.

Yeah.

Wanna change your mind?

No, I don't wanna
change my mind.

Piece of cake.

- Dad heated the formula.
- I could have done it.

I'm home.

Oh, you should see what
a picture this makes.

I am so proud of you two.
Do you know what I'm gonna do?

I'm gonna let you both work
at the country club tomorrow night

and then send Matt to pick you up
so you don't have to drive home late.

And I'll be right back to help you out.

You asked her.
You just went ahead and asked her.

I did not.

Oh, I ran into Corey's mom and dad
at the place where we had our meeting,

and she told me all about it.

So, basically, my plan worked.

Have you ever heard the saying,
"We plan, God laughs?"

No.

I'm back.

How did your meeting go?

Well, I think we accomplished a lot
this year.

How did your meeting go?

Well, I think we got the board to
at least think about what they're doing

- and reconsider.
- Well, that's something.

You should have seen Dad.
He was amazing.

Well, your father
is an amazing man.

Hello?

I'll be right there.

That was the school.
There's been an accident. It's Rudy.

- I'm going.
- No, not this time.

- What happened?
- Is anyone hurt?

I think everyone's okay.

Dad, please, you've gotta let me
see this through.

All right, come on.

- I love you.
- And I love you.

Whoever you are.

- You guys be careful.
- Okay.

- What happened?
- We got the call from Security.

They found Rudy
at the top of the bleachers.

You know what he was doing?
Shellacking.

Shellacking the entire bleachers
at 11:00 in the evening.

And do you know why?
God told him to.

The police tried to talk him down,
they couldn't.

When they finally went up to get him,
the structure started swaying

and a minute later, the whole thing
collapsed in a heap.

I saw it happen.
It's a miracle no one got hurt.

I'm holding you responsible,
Reverend.

- You're what?
- We should have put an end

to all this craziness
when we had the chance earlier.

Excuse me.

Can I talk to him?

The school wants to press charges
for vandalism.

I'm gonna have to take him
down to the station, but go ahead.

Hey, Rudy. How are you doing?

I'm awful sorry, Reverend, but I really
had to shellac those bleachers.

You know, I guess God wanted me
to get them ready

for the marching band competition
tomorrow.

I mean, those kids, they really deserve
nice, smooth bleachers, don't they?

Gee, I didn't know the whole thing
was gonna collapse on me.

I swear I didn't know it.

All the rain this winter
must have rusted out the supports.

I'm awful sorry, Reverend.

I'm sorry you have to see me
like this, you know?

I tell you, if this had happened
eight hours from now,

when those bleachers
had been filled with students...

there's no telling how many
could have been injured.

Someone could have been killed.

Did you hear that, Dad? If this would
have happened eight hours from now?

If this had happened
tomorrow morning...

Yes. I hadn't thought about that.
Well, thank God this happened now.

What did you say?

I said, thank--

"Thank God" is right.

Whatever you want, Rudy,
just name it.

Well, I think
my work is done here.

I think I'd like to retire.

Yeah. I think I'd like to go fishing.

Come on.

We'll take you home.