Olive
Why did you want to kill yourself?
Richard
No, don't answer the question, Frank.
Sheryl
Richard...
Richard
Don't answer it. He's not going to answer the question.
Frank
I wanted to kill myself because I was very unhappy..
Richard
He's sick! He is a sick man! He's sick in his head!
Sheryl
Richard!
Richard
I'm sorry, I don't think it's an appropriate conversation for a seven year-old.
Sheryl
Well, she's going to find out anyway.
Richard
Okay.
Sheryl
Go on, Frank.
Olive
Why were you unhappy?
Frank
There were a lot of reasons, mainly though I fell in love with someone who didn't love me back.
Olive
Who?
Frank
One of my grad students. I was very much in love with him.
Olive
Him? It was a boy? You fell in love with a boy?
Frank
Yes, I did. Very much so.
Olive
That's silly.
Frank
Yes, you're right. It was very, very silly.
Edwin
There's another word for it.
Richard
Dad.
Olive
So that's when you tried to kill yourself.
Frank
Well, no, the boy that I was in love with fell in love with another man. Larry Sugarman.
Sheryl
Who's Larry Sugarman?
Frank
Larry Sugarman is perhaps the second most highly regarded Proust scholar in the U.S.
Richard
Who's number one?
Frank
That would be me, Rich.
Olive
So that's when...
Frank
No, uh, what happened was I was a bit upset, so I said some things that I shouldn't have said and did some things that I shouldn't have done, and subsequently I was fired from my job and forced to move out of my apartment and into a motel.
Edwin
Olive
And that's when you..'
Frank
Well, no. Actually, all of that was...okay, what happened was, two days ago the MacArthur Foundation, in its infinite wisdom, awarded a genius grant to Larry Sugarman. And that's when I...
Edwin
Decided to check out early.
Frank
Yes. Yes. And I failed at that as well.
