"Points West" by Steve Lopez.
A construction foreman in Griffith Park heard the crash.
Hey!
He saw a cyclist cartwheel off his bike...
...and slam face-first into the u nforgiving asphalt of Riverside Drive.
Good morn ing, ladies and gentlemen.
As we begin ou r descent into Los Angeles,
we ask that you please be su re that you r seatbelts are fastened...
A 911 call brought out the troops from Fire Station 76.
- What happened? - You had an accident.
- Do you know what happened? - N o sh it, I had an accident. What?
I don't remember any of th is, nor do I recall the cause of the spill.
- O u r batteries are off. - I've been i n here six hou rs now, and...
Listen to me. Wait a m i n ute. We' re ready to go...
Hypochond riac.
O R 2.
Cou nty-U SC was the closest emergency room,
and I q u ickly realized...
...that if you find you rself there...
...with noth ing more than a bu m p on the head,
you are one lucky Angeleno.
Wow.
Ready.
I'm not entirely comfortable with this.
Thank you.
You have no new messages.
Okay.
Really?
Doctors told me to expect up to four weeks of disorientation.
Christ. All right.
I'm not asking for sympathy. I just want you to know, I just...
I'm not asking for sympathy.
I just want you to understand what's going on...
...if I start writing about what a bang-up job
Governor Schwarzenegger's doing.
S- C-H-W-A-R-Z... Scratch that.
Passe. Lacks context.
Right. So the question is...
Hey, Tommy.
Theoretically could I, seeing as how the Governor has retired...
...his position at the muscle magazine, could I interview him?
Right. And will my non-Teutonic lineage be an issue?
See, no, that's... That's... It gets to be funny. It's just an article.
Do I need to have been on steroids for a long time to even apply?
Good.
Gail, I like the "attention must be paid" reference.
I might move it down a paragraph, though.
Thanks. I'm getting you a new desk.
Good morning, gentlemen.
- Thanks. - Hey, guys. Check it out.
I got a study here that says the number of Americans under 35...
...who read a newspaper is now down to 40%.
- Forty? - Forty.
And the group we're losing mostly are college-educated women.
- Pull my finger. - Jesus Christ.
Hey, honey.
"Welcome back, Steve. " That would have been nice.
Thank you. You know, when Lopez and I started out together...
You had to walk 20 miles to school in the snow with no shoes?
...people cared about what went on in the world.
- Am I right, Steve? I mean, Christ. - Back when people cared.
We're at war, and the only thing that sells papers...
...is a Lindsay Lohan cooch shot.
Jesus, did someone actually run that in print?
- I thought that was just on the Web. - All right, all right.
- All I am saying is... - I didn't see that.
...that if you run an excellent, if I do say so myself,
front-page piece about how corporate America is profiting from this war,
and the only reader response you get is on two hands...
- Meanwhile... - That was a good piece, by the way.
- Fine. Thanks. You read it? - I read that.
- Did you really? - I didn't read it, but I loved it, Curt.
Meanwhile, Lopez here scrapes his forehead,
and gets, what, I'm guessing about 75 e-mails...
...from readers worried about his safety?
- I chased this piece. - Then I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
There is something very wrong in this world.
Newsflash, something wrong with the world.
Yeah. Your face hurts my feelings, Steve.
That's harassment.
- Mary? - An environmental group studying...
- Please. - ... chemical contaminants...
- ... in people's bodies. - I literally... No.
- Give some blood and write about it. - Let me check my e-mails.
I think it would be a good idea for you.
I'm glad you feel that way. I just did that.
What do you think?
The thought in my mind is, "No, thank you. "
It was funny. People love it when you bleed.
- Readers. - Busted.
What is that? What do you call that, what you just did?
- Transference. - Freud.
Freud. Thank you. No.
Sorry about the face.
- I hate needles. - So use it.
Originally used as a camp by settlers...
...outside of what was then the village of Los Angeles,
it was called La Plaza Abaja, or the Lower Plaza.
Stevie Wonder fan?
My Cherie Amour is the song of my life.
Signed, Sealed, Delivered.
But you really shouldn't write on a violin like that...
...because you have to treat a violin like a child, you have to protect it.
You only got two strings.
All I want to do is play music, and here's the problem...
...that I'm having right here.
This one's gone, this one's gone, this little one's out of commission.
But you get that in Cleveland public schools.
A lot of military statues in Cleveland.
- A very military-oriented city. - Is that where you're from?
You're not gonna get musicians on parade there.
You got Severance Hall there. You have The Music Settlement.
Ohio State University.
Whereas in Los Angeles, you have Los Angeles PD, you have LA Times,
you have Los Angeles Lakers.
Those are armies, too. Military regimentation, experimentation,
Roman gable, Roman Catholicism, Colonel Sanders,
- but this guy right here is... - Colonel Sanders.
...the quarterback with the orchestra.
Now the cello could back this guy with the same moves,
but the cello can't be concert master.
No. He leads out, this was Itzhak Perlman, Jascha Heifetz.
You can't play music in the winter in Cleveland...
...because of the ice and the snow.
That's why I prefer Los Angeles to Beethoven City,
because it never rains in Southern California,
and if it does, all I have to do is just go in the tunnel,
I could play to my heart's content.
I'm flabbergasted about the statue. Aren't you flabbergasted about this?
- Anyway, nice to meet you. - Do you have any idea how it got here?
- No. - Maybe they dropped it off late at night.
'Cause it's just astonishing to sit here for hours and just... Just gaze at it.
- It... It just blows me away. - No idea.
It really blows me away...
...that someone as great as Beethoven was the leader of Los Angeles.
Yeah.
I'm Steve Lopez, LA Times.
- Lopez, L-O-P-E-Z? - Yeah.
Lopez, Los Angeles Times. Mr. Lopez.
- What's your name? - Lopez.
Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Junior.
N- A-T-H-A-N-I-E-L A-N-T-H-O-N-Y
A- Y-E-R-S J-U-N-I-O-R.
Or J-R-period.
I apologize for my appearance. I've had a few setbacks.
Me, too.
Who are Nancy, Paul, and Craig?
Those were my classmates at Juilliard.
Good afternoon, Juilliard School.
Registrar's office, please.
What's up?
It's highly classified. I can't tell you.
- How many? - More than we can afford to lose.
Evidently, it goes like this.
Stock price sinks, we lose reporters.
Stock price sinks more, we lose more reporters.
That won't produce more or less...
Hi, this is Steve Lopez from the LA Times. I'm calling to enquire...
...as to whether a Nathaniel Anthony Ayers attended your school.
A- Y-E-R-S. I'm sorry.
Freaking child lock.
- How is our son, by the way? - He's good.
He likes his classes. He likes his pre-gay roommate.
You should call him.
- I call him. - Is a lie.
I call him. He doesn't call me back.
- He calls me back. - Mary...
- Just try again. - Yes, Mary.
- Yes. Yes, Steve.
- I gotta take this call. - Great.
- Because I don't have a story. Hello? - Call him.
I'm sorry, we have no record...
...of a Nathaniel Anthony Ayers ever attending Juilliard.
Really?
But then I don't have a story.
Thanks for checking.
I'm not doing the blood thing.
I got too many other good ideas.
My dad is gonna freak when he finds out I met you.
He loves your column.
What about you?
- Well, I don't really read the newspaper. - Sure.
But when I do...
Hey! Those aren't all for me, are they?
I'm also going to need a clump of hair and some urine.
That's easy.
- All right. - Okay.
Make a fist for me.
Come on.
Crap.
- Lopez. - Mr. Lopez?
Yeah, can you just hold on one second?
I'm having a little technical difficulty here.
This is Rosie Delgado from the Juilliard School.
Mr. Lopez?
Yes. Please continue.
After we spoke yesterday, I realized I only checked our graduates.
So I looked in our matriculates, and there he was.
Nathaniel Anthony Ayers enrolled in 1970...
...and he dropped out toward the end of his second year.
Thank you.
"Points West" by Steve Lopez. Nathaniel was shy in our first encounter.
He stepped back... He backed away.
He... Nathaniel is... Is what?
Nathaniel is... A great column is what Nathaniel is.
Nathaniel is missing.
Son of a bitch.
- Raccoons. - Oh, yeah?
- That's the culprit. - Oh, boy.
What are they doing? They eat the grass?
No, they eat the worms in the grass.
They eat the worms in the grass?
Yeah, we had them. It's a God-awful mess.
- Wanna know how I got rid of them? - Yes.
Coyote urine.
- Wow. Coyote urine? - Seriously. In powdered form.
- Remarkable. - It's a whole industry, you know.
Funny.
- Hey, I'm Neil, by the way. - Okay.
Anxiety, restlessness, euphoria. If you're experiencing...
I would spend every night tossing and turning...
Wow. Okay, and what is the proper method of application?
Should I sprinkle it in the yard?
First, you wanna dilute the urine powder in water.
- Wait, I want to? - Well, maybe I should say "have to. "
And then you're gonna have to hang the liquid from trees in plastic bags.
So, people are doing this all over Southern California?
Oh, yes, sir. Last month, I sold some to Paula Abdul.
But no Simon Cowell? 'Cause that would be exciting. Figure?
I'm gonna call you back a little later.
Hey.
Hey, Nathaniel.
Remember me?
Sorry.
Maybe have a minute when you're done?
Let me know.
I just saw you, so I...
Nothing.
Mr. Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California.
Hey, Nathaniel.
I've been searching for Mr. Beethoven,
but he's slipping away like a dream.
I'm trying to get back into shape, but I don't have any sheet music.
Beethoven's String Quartet, Opus 59, Number 1,
Violin Concerto, Opus 61 in D,
Fifth Concerto, Opus 73 in E Flat, red car, green car,
there goes a police car, and God is right on the other side of that wall.
I had to dig a hole to bury some human defecation.
But they didn't have the human decency...
I was looking for you.
- ... to use the proper facilities. - I noticed that you've moved.
Well, it's beautiful here, because you can play music...
...and have pigeons clapping as they take off,
and right there is The Los Angeles Times Building.
- Right, that's where I work. - Mr. Steve Lopez, staff writer.
New York, Cleveland, it doesn't matter.
All I have to do is look up at that building...
...and I know exactly where I am.
I was thinking about...
I'm in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California,
- Los Angeles Lakers. - ... writing about you...
...for the paper.
Magic Johnson, Magic Johnson Theaters.
Magic Johnson is a basketball player, but he's also a big, black man.
What if I were to wanna write a story about you for the newspaper?
Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles newspaper.
- Staff writer, Mr. Steve Lopez. - Yeah. Yeah, that's me.
Do you mind if I record this? And I wanna write a story about you.
A column about how a guy like you winds up on the street.
- What do you think of that? - Mr. Lopez needs to do...
...what Mr. Lopez needs to do.
No one could ever stop Mr. Lopez from doing what he wants to do.
Are you flying that plane?
No. No, I'm right here.
I don't know how God works.
I called Juilliard, and they said you went there, but you didn't finish.
I bombed right out of there. I bombed out of Juilliard.
- Yeah, what happened? - I just... It didn't happen.
I don't know. I don't know what happened.
Anyone I could contact? Family?
Family? Miss Floria Ayers, my mom.
She's a beautician. Beauty is art. Music is beauty.
I don't do hair. I do my own hair,
but obviously, my mom does everybody's hair in the community.
They would come for her. She's quite a woman.
But I don't know how you're gonna talk to her, though, because she passed.
Okay. Sorry to hear that.
Who could I call?
216-962-6746.
Whose number's that?
You know, it's a dream out here, Mr. Lopez.
The sun is shining. The nights are cool and serene,
and I notice that everyone is smiling.
- Delivered just hours before... - Americans are asking...
Hi, I'm calling for Jennifer Ayers-Moore.
How will we finally win this war?
Hello?
Hi, this is Steve Lopez from the LA Times.
I spoke with your aunt, I believe, earlier. She suggested I give you a call.
- About what? - About your brother, Nathaniel.
Is he dead?
What? No, no, no, he's alive.
Is he all right?
He's... Yeah. He's homeless. I don't know if you're aware of that.
But he seems very bright, and... May I record this?
And talented, obviously. Juilliard and all.
I'm, I'm... I'm sorry.
- Your name again, please? - Steve Lopez.
Mr. Lopez, why are you calling?
I'm gonna write a column about Nathaniel.
Why?
Because that's what I do. Everyone has a story, and it's interesting,
you know, that a Juilliard alum is now homeless.
But he seems smart and kind, and... And...
And spends his days filling the city air with violin music, and I just...
He plays the violin now?
He's... Yeah. Why? He used to play something else?
Bye, Mama.
- Good morning, Nathaniel. - Morning, Miss Little John.
So, what do you want to play for me?
I'm going to play some Beethoven, sir. I'm crazy about Beethoven.
He was younger than me when he started playing piano,
and I wanted to play the piano, but so many kids played it,
and there's only one at school, so it's hard to get practice time in.
So, I chose the cello. Hardly anyone at school wanted to play the cello.
And Beethoven was composing when he was only 11,
and I'm already older than that,
so I figure I got a lot of catching up to do.
Let's hear you play.
He had the talent, that's for sure. I called his mother that night.
I told her that I thought he was the most gifted kid I've ever met.
I said that if he made a full commitment to music,
if he really, really gave it all he had, the whole world would open up to him.
And he did. He really did.
Go see if Martha's rollers are ready. They should be on the kitchen table.
Okay, Mama.
Miss Florence, I'll be back in 10.
He ain't gonna get no sleep.
He gonna kill that little girl before he kills everybody...
$10,000! I told him he gotta buy me something real pretty. Real pretty.
Before long, it got so that was all he did.
No more football, no more baseball. Just music.
Day in and day out.
The whole world was changing around him.
And that was all he did.
Music.
Hey, you awake?
You know what I hear when you play your music?
I hear the voice of God coming...
I'm serious.
You got something special here, baby.
A way out.
There is a whole world waiting for you.
"Points West" by Steve Lopez.
Nathaniel was shy in our first encounter. Period.
He took a step back when I approached him to say...
...I liked the way his violin music
drowned out the jackhammers on Grand Street. Period.
Nathaniel's first instrument was the cello.
Strangely, he has never had any training on the violin instrument.
He has never had... Period.
He has never had any training on the violin.
He switched to the latter after winding up on the streets.
One day, I asked him about his hopes and dreams.
"That's easy," he said. "I'd like to get these other two strings. "
Dear Mr. Lopez,
this morning I read your article about the street musician...
...and was deeply moved.
This cello is one I used for 50 years,
until arthritis got the better of me.
Please pass it along to Mr. Ayers...
...with my prayers for his health and safety.
- Nathaniel! - All I'm trying to do...
...is work as hard as I can to clean up the tunnel.
- Hey! Nathaniel! - But they don't want me to help them.
I won't have it, you know.
- Don't want to have this degradation... - Are you out of your mind?
...because they just won't respect that Beethoven...
What are you doing?
...and I try to tell every one of them, I won't have this nastiness...
- Nathaniel! - ... this degradation, I won't have it.
Don't!
Don't! Don't!
I'm not going to have this nastiness in this tunnel. This degradation.
Good.
Remember when I said I was gonna write about you?
Well, I did.
When people heard that you were just playing with two strings,
some of them thought you might want something better to work with.
No. I can't cover that.
You don't have to pay for it.
- I'm sure it's a very beautiful instrument. - Free and clear.
People are very, very generous.
But, look, here's the deal.
It's not safe for you to have something this valuable on the streets...
You don't have to worry about that, Mr. Lopez.
I've been mugged 14 times.
I will fight to the death to protect this instrument.
Right, that's my point exactly.
So, apparently there's a place...
...that's a couple of blocks down that's called Lamp.
- I can't go... No, I can't go there. - And I... Hold on.
I can't go... No, I can't go there.
- They smoke cigarettes. - I talked to the guy.
- He says you can keep it there. - They drop the butts on the ground.
They do it to torment me. They just... They do it to torment me.
That's the deal. You wanna play this, you gotta do it there.
- I can't do that. - Oh, yeah.
Except for this one time. Take it out and give it a test drive or whatever.
- So I can play it here? - For a couple minutes,
and then we're gonna bring it to Lamp.
Laying in there like a pig in a blanket.
Only... Only the greats. Really, only the greats.
Yo-Yo Ma, Jacqueline du Pre,
and the coolest cucumber of them all is
Janos Starker.
Gotta put rosin on your bow. It's just like feeding a parakeet.
A bow needs rosin just like a police car needs prisoners.
So pack it up. We'll bring it to Lamp, you can get back at it.
I haven't really gotten a chance to know her yet.
- So... - I'm not saying you can't play.
- You can. Just not here. - This is the perfect music environment...
- ... for playing music. - This?
- No. - Yes.
This is a sidewalk, okay?
- That's the deal. We made a deal. - No, no, no. You'll break the bridge.
- You'll put water in it, you'll drown her. - That's what I'll do?
- It will be ruined. - Why would I damage it?
- I gave you the damn thing. - It won't play right ever,
- because, Mr. Lopez, you'll ruin it. - I'm not going to...
I'm not gonna see you get killed over this.
You don't know what you're doing. Let me put it away myself.
Then put it away.
Thank you.
Because when you start a relationship with somebody...
- Don't make a big deal of it, okay? - It is a big deal.
In a minute, you'll have it set up down at Lamp...
...and be playing like you never stopped.
- Right? - It's brand-new, this relationship.
- I don't want this relationship to end. - Do you know where it is?
- No, I can't do that. - Just leave that there. I'll drive you.
I have my cart there. I could get it in my cart.
What are you doing? You're gonna let go.
- Just let your fingers go. - Does anyone...
Does anyone see what he's doing right here?
- He's stealing it. - I'll... I'll meet you there.
San Julian and 6th.
All right?
- I'll drive. You walk. - I know where it is...
See you in a half hour?
For cash money I got speed, man.
I'm good.
Jesus.
Fine.
Tennis shoes.
Oh, boy.
One at a time. One at a time.
The pusher. Ten cents.
- Say, hey, is David here? - Yes?
I'm here for David.
- Who? - David.
David? I can go get him.
Thanks.
David!
Hey.
- Hi. - Hi. You a volunteer?
Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times.
- Don't be scared. Come in. - Thanks.
Every staff has a key,
so if he does come by and I'm not here, then anybody can get it for him.
- Well, he'll be here. - Okay.
He said he was coming.
Can you sign in for me?
- Sure. - Thanks.
- Afternoon. - Hi. How are you?
I mean, it's tired. It's like they can't find the medication...
...that's right for me, you know?
- You know what I'm trying to say? - Yeah.
When they put me on lithium,
it was like a portion of my brain...
...was fully functional.
You know what I mean?
Because it's like when I take the lithium and everything,
it totally eliminates the voices in my mind...
...when they first start rising up,
you know, and it stops them, right there.
I don't like that, because they just stop them.
Because, see, sometimes those voices comfort me.
And when they comfort me, if they give me all this lithium,
then I no longer have the voices to comfort me.
You understand what I'm saying?
Do you feel what I'm saying to you?
- You mind if I sit here? - Not at all.
All right.
- I'm Steve. - I'm Steve, too.
Oh, boy. Hi.
- I knew I picked the right spot. - Yeah, you're good.
So are you a new Lamp staff, or...
- No. I'm just waiting for somebody. - Okay.
I just try to keep Leeann happy.
He is a bright spot in my life. We value the same things.
And we're comfortable together.
Thank you, Leeann. That's so nice to hear you say that.
I call him Piggy Boy and stuff like that,
but I shouldn't, because he's in a bad shape.
We thought his problem was cocaine.
- But it was pancreatic cancer. - Yeah?
KK's French, Egyptian, and African-American,
and I am a quarter French.
I know about disease. I know how to treat it.
Now I understand people. I can help so many people fast,
and I can comfort them.
They've got Italian nurses, 6'4", in the county hospital.
And one of them talked to me like I was trash.
Now, this is probably that the hour of power that the Bible speaks of,
somebody who speaks a harsh language, will have what the computer...
The computer is probably the beast.
My aunt ended up with 16 shock treatments...
...because she didn't want to go to bed...
...with her sex-crazed husband.
He was paying call girls $100 apiece,
going to bed with them and coming home...
...and giving my aunt all kinds of diseases.
I got sick. I was working over there.
And I got sicker than a dog one day. I got an infection in my esophagus.
The neighbor's dog was sick one day and the only thing I had on hand...
...was a packet of tetracycline for my chickens.
So they wouldn't... They were too busy to treat her at the moment.
- You're fantastic. - They'd already given her...
Ice cold. Ice cold.
"Points West" by Steve Lopez.
I put Nathaniel's new instruments in safekeeping and waited.
Fifteen minutes. Thirty minutes. An hour.
Too long, in fact, 'cause guess what, schmuck,
you got a deadline tomorrow.
And the story of a guy not showing up...
...is not a story.
Nathaniel. Nathaniel. Nathaniel.
Okay.
So, you guys are basically united by non-belief.
- That's right. - Yeah.
So, do you non-gather?
And non-worship?
We tried, but...
- You're not allowed to talk about it. - Yeah.
- Now we have a website. - Swell.
Anything else you don't believe in?
- Sorry. - Yeah, actually...
- Sorry. - Okay.
- Lopez. - Can you hear this?
Sorry, can't hear you.
I said, can you hear this?
This family thinks it can have this conversation at every step.
This is my apartment. This is my apartment.
Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Junior. N- A-T-H-A...
- I need Charles for the practice. - ... because you're so good.
I am so good, but I still have to tweak things so I can win.
There's a fine line in performances.
- I mean, I can't let her beat me. - I really have to practice.
Half an hour is all it takes for me.
Half an hour.
Nathaniel.
- Nathaniel. - Nathaniel.
- Nathaniel?
- Nathaniel. - Nathaniel.
- Nathaniel Ayers. - Nathaniel.
- Nathaniel. Nathaniel. - Nathaniel.
- Ayers! - Nathaniel!
Ma, I'm good, honestly, it's just that...
- I'm real proud of you, baby. - Thank you.
It's just that I'm not always so sure I know what's going on, and...
You are gonna be fine.
It's so frightening, and...
And I'm having trouble differentiating certain things.
Keeping things separated.
If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and try again.
If you need help...
- That's where your pain will start. - Nathaniel.
- Nathaniel. Nathaniel. - Paint your chest white.
Protect her from the pain.
Nathaniel.
I'll be here to protect you from the pain.
- I'll protect you from the pain. - I'll protect you from the pain.
I'll protect you from the pain.
I'll protect you from their eyes and ears.
Nathaniel.
Are you finding this piece to be beyond your abilities?
They're listening to you, Nathaniel.
They can hear your thoughts, Nathaniel.
- I can hear your thoughts, Nathaniel. - Well, then I suggest you do better.
They can hear your thoughts, Nathaniel.
- Don't think, Nathaniel. - Bar 179, ladies and gentlemen.
- Run away, Nathaniel. - Run away, Nathaniel.
Run away, Nathaniel.
- Come on. Run. - You should run.
- You'll have to hide, Nathaniel. - Run!
- You'll never get out of there. - You'll never get out of there.
- Run! Run! Run! - You'll never get out.
- Quick, like a jackrabbit. - Nathaniel.
They're white, heartless, aren't they?
- Heartless. - Hide.
Hide for me here, Nathaniel.
We see you, Nathaniel.
- They'll see you, Nathaniel. - Whiteness.
- There's no hiding, Nathaniel. - Whiteness.
You'll never hide well enough.
- ... turn you white... - Whiteness!
- No hiding for you, Nathaniel. - Whiteness. Whiteness.
Whiteness.
You'll take it, because I want my out.
Detroit? Anger management.
It's amazing, right?
Does it look like I need some anger management to you?
Yeah. Man, I'll take him any day.
He quiets everybody down.
- What does he have, schizophrenia? - I don't know.
Well, we should hook him up with psychiatric services and find out, right?
Yeah, I don't get too hung up on diagnosis.
What do you mean?
What do I mean?
But how do you help somebody if you don't know what they have?
Look at these people.
Everyone one of them's been diagnosed more than you can imagine.
And as far as I can tell, it hasn't done them any good.
But he needs medication, right?
I'll tell you one thing he doesn't need.
One more person telling him he needs medication.
Son of a bitch.
- Where'd he go? - Who?
- Nathaniel. - Don't ask me, dude.
- Thanks, Steve. - You're welcome, Steve.
- Keep walking. Keep walking! - There's a cop over there.
- He'll shoot a nigga with a pop. - You got that cheese, huh?
- You're right about that cheese. - Hold on, hold on. Hold up.
Hey, wait!
Want to buy some candy?
Five-o. Five-o.
No way this is gonna be...
That boy's not the real police.
Oh, man. Hell, man. Where's my piece at, nigga?
Back up.
I went over to the library.
I thought I might pick up some sheet music.
Sonata Number 1, F Major, Opus 5,
Sonata Number 2 in A Major, Opus 69 for String Quartet.
What happened? Somebody get beat up?
Overdose, I think.
The other night, someone... There was a beating over here.
Someone got bones rearranged in their face. It was just crazy.
I don't understand why anybody would do something like that.
- This where you sleep? - I used to sleep on Wall Street,
but it's too dirty.
You know, Mr. Lopez, my vision...
I hate to admit it, but I'm gonna have to be like Beethoven.
Just do what he did and just die. Thank you, Mr. Lopez.
My vision is not far-off stuff,
just basically getting across the street safely.
Honor thy father and mother, and then, hopefully,
the music will take care of itself.
That's really all you can do.
I mean, when you think about it,
there's not much that you can do other than that.
- Would you care for a drink? - I'm fine.
Thanks.
Gotta tuck this guy in here, nice and safe.
Put that down there. Make sure this corner...
You can rest on this.
Do you think of writers often, Mr. Lopez?
Do you think of writers the way I think about musicians?
I write for a living,
and it's not like it used to be.
I love thinking about musicians.
I imagine Beethoven and Mozart in that window where the light is,
and they just hunger and they thirst like we do.
It's angelic.
I believe these children of God are gonna be okay tonight.
They're gonna sleep and dream as humans do.
Our Father,
who art in Heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread...
Just keep it coming. There's plenty.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
I knew only part of his story.
I knew him playing the violin on a dairy crate in the morning sun,
suspended somewhere between boy genius and lost traveler.
Every night, my friend Nathaniel tucks his instruments away...
...and lays his head among the predators and hustlers,
among fallen drunks sprawled in the streets,
as rats the size of meatloaves dart out of the drains to feed off the squalor.
...lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power and the glory,
forever.
Forever and ever.
I tell him this is no place for him. He says he wants to be here.
He says this is his choice.
Should I take him at his word, or should I try to force him inside?
Wouldn't a little arm-twisting be more humane...
...than leaving him here on the streets...
...in this lost colony of broken, helpless souls?
I hope you sleep well, Mr. Lopez.
I hope the whole world sleeps well.
A- D-A-M C-R-A-N-E. He wants to meet you.
Who?
The guy from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Adam Crane.
Wondering if you wanna come hear a concert...
...at Disney Hall some time as his guest.
They're doing Beethoven.
- Ludwig van? - Beethoven, all season long.
They got one coming up. The Third.
- Well, what's the date today? - No, the Third Symphony.
I'll cause a scene. I don't wanna cause a scene.
I don't wanna stick out or anything like that.
So it's just... It's impossible. It can't happen.
What if I could get us in for a rehearsal?
Nathaniel, let's go.
What I did with the keys right here...
Come on. Lock up the cart.
- No. You know what, Mr. Lopez? - Come on, we gotta go.
I can't leave my stuff here with these rascals.
They can't be trusted. They'll do anything.
Oh, no. We have an entire orchestra waiting for us. We are gonna go.
They have drug addicts and cigarette smokers here,
and they will steal all of what I have.
- No one is going to steal your shit. - I can't leave it.
No, no. We have to get in touch with the mayor...
- Nathaniel, it's garbage. - ... Antonio Villaraigosa...
- ... or the president. - No one is gonna steal this garbage.
- In the corner... - No, no, no, Mr. Lopez,
I'm not gonna be able to make it up there.
Okay. Oh, boy.
Fantasia. Walt Disney Hall. Donald Duck.
I have to deal with things here...
...because I wouldn't leave a dog with these people here.
Right. Okay. Fine.
A cockroach does not tell a greyhound what to do.
It's fine! Do you understand? It's fine.
I do not give a smooth fart if we go or not. Do you understand?
There are a million other things I could be doing right now.
Obligations, things that people pay me to do.
I have a job. I'm a professional person.