[ Telephone ringing ]
Hello. This is James Shelby Jr. Please leave a message.
[ Beep ]
-Hi, Jimmy. It's Laura.
I know you don't want to talk about it,
but it was a beautiful service,
and I just wanted to say that it's a great thing
what you're doing.
Dad always loved it up there, and he'd be very proud of you
to know that you're doing what he --
-Laura?
Shut up!
I'm not doing any of this for him. You got it?
-No, Jimmy, all I'm saying is that --
-Look, Dad was a jerk when he was alive.
I'm sure he's gonna stay a jerk now that he's dead.
And nothing I'm gonna do is gonna change that.
Okay.
Have a good night.
[ Sighs ]
Okay, come on.
Let's get the hell out of here.
[ Sighs ]
Are we having fun yet?
[ Engine starts ]
Brother.
Breathe, James.
Breathe. Breathe.
[ Exhales ]
Okay. Okay.
We're okay.
-Hey, thanks for pulling up.
How far are you headed?
-Just to Cold Spring Trail. -You're kidding.
That's where I'm going.
Small world, huh? -Hold on.
Let me -- Let me get this out of the way here.
-[ Sighs ] I'm Jim.
-I'm James.
-Jim and James. [ Chuckles ]
That's -- Look at that.
It is a small world. -Small world. Yeah.
-[ Chuckles ]
-No. -No?
-No. -[ Chuckles ]
Well, let's get the hell out of here.
It's beautiful up there, isn't it?
-Well, actually, I've never been.
-You're kidding. -No.
-[ Chuckles ] Well, you're gonna love it.
It's -- It's an awe-inspiring place.
I'll tell you.
I-I try to get up there as often as I can, you know?
It's good to get away sometimes.
So, uh, how'd you hear about it?
-Well, it-- it's kind of a family thing, sort of.
-Mm, how so?
-Well, my father used to go there
when he was a little kid,
and I think he took my mom up there when I was a baby.
By the time I was old enough to go up there,
uh, the old man moved out of the house,
and we really didn't do that much together after that.
I-I mean, he came around, you know, every now and then,
and he would tell me all about his wonderful adventures
and all the places he wanted to take me,
the things he wanted me to see,
but then he would just...disappear.
[ Chuckles ]
As I got older, I realized the reason he disappeared
was because he was a drunk,
and, uh, he never did anything about it.
But now that he has kicked the bucket,
uh, I thought I'd bring him back up here
because it always seemed like this is where he wanted to be.
-I'm sorry. I...
-No, no, no. It's okay.
It's okay. Really.
-See what I mean?
It's beautiful.
It's a place to leave your problems behind
and enjoy the moment.
-Yeah, I wish I could.
-Come on, Jimmy. Just relax.
-You think I could?
Do you think I can forget?
You know, I'm still angry.
And I -- And I have questions I need answered,
like, "Why did you leave us?"
-James, that was a long time ago.
-Why did you leave me?
Huh?
-Junior...
-Why?!
-I was never a good father.
-That's it?!
That -- That's it?!
-What do you want me to say?
-Uh, maybe say something I don't already know,
like maybe you tried to get help,
but it didn't take hold, didn't work.
Or -- Or maybe you have another family somewhere
that you love and you care about more than us.
Just something.
I need something that'll give me an answer
as to why you left us, why you became a drunk,
and why you were such a terrible father!
-I wish I could.
-[ Sighs ]
[ Sighs ]