All language subtitles for growing_pains_s02e04_call_me

Oh, honey, look. Ben's punishment letter
and flowers, too. Ben who?

Wake up.

Oh, hello, Maggie.

Hello. Good morning. Look.

Dear Mom and Dad, here's my punishment
you wanted. I hope you like it.

Love, Ben.

Oh.

I don't know if I spelled pornography
right or not.

Did he? He did.

I was afraid of that.

Dad, you wanted me to write all this
stuff down to tell how we got to where

are and what I think about what I did
and why it's disgusting.

Dad, you wanted me to write all this
stuff down.

Oh, sorry.

For me, the real trouble started
yesterday when you were paying the bill.

Mom's right.

Nothing good can happen when you sit
down to pay the bill.

I was trying to make sure I wasn't
around to hear you say any of those

always say on bill -paying days, and I'm
not supposed to hear them.

Blood, sweat, and shears? Come on!

I didn't know I was home.

It's weird.

Carol, $55!

My mom knew about it. She said I should
go ahead and get it done because... I'm

blossoming.

Well, stop!

Ben, will you please explain to your
sister how you can have a rich and full

life on four bucks a week?

You talking to me?

Don't you go far, Mike. I'm going to
want to talk to you.

What'd I do?

I haven't found it yet.

What's going on?

Bill painting.

Oh, I don't believe this one.

$216 for a one -month phone bill.

Is that high?

Okay, Mike, 67 toll charges, all of the
same number, at $2 a piece.

Two dollars a piece?

Shocking, isn't it, Ben?

Now, why do you automatically assume
it's me? Am I the only guy in this house

who ever does anything wrong?

Oh, no.

Tell you what, Mike, I'm going to call
this number, and I'll just bet you that

girl answers.

I'm sure of it.

Even a ten -year -old can see through
you.

Uh -oh.

Show me that smile again.

Don't waste another.

Oh, this is... It's a recording.

Sexual fantasies?

Yeah?

Yeah, Mike.

Oh, how gross!

You get in my office. We're gonna talk.

I think everyone should get in your
office, because I didn't do anything.

Well, why don't you get in my office,
then we'll all come in my office, and

we'll deduce who the culprit is.

This is so unfair.

One of our kids has been calling this
number.

What? Mom was a teeny bit upset.

Yuck! 67 times in one month. Mike.

Oh, he denies it. Oh, if he listened to
this with Ben around, I'll... I'm going

to have to be very calm and very
rational about this. Good idea.

You know what I'm going to do? I'm going
to buy Mike a new car.

What? Yeah.

Then I'm going to make him look at it.
Then I'm going to take it away from him.

I'm going to park it on the... Come on,
and let it rust.

All right, now which one of you little
weasels did this?

Come on, Mike, save your outraged act
for Mom and Dad.

Look, I'm telling you, I didn't do it.

Oh, what, so now you're going to try and
blame little Ben?

Oh, you're right, Ben.

Well, it certainly wasn't me.

Well, it had to be somebody in this
room.

Mike.

Now, using the process of elimination,
who would you say the pervert is?

Ben?

67 times.

All right, Mike, here's the deal. You
admit what you did, and you'll only have

to wait an extra year for your driver's
license. You confess later, and you

won't get it for as long as you live
here.

Mom. You have 30 seconds to make up your
mind, Mike.

Now Mike was in trouble, too.

Real trouble.

And it was all my fault.

I couldn't let this happen to him, even
if he always does treat me like a...

So, what do you have to say, Mike?

Well, those are my only two choices.
Mike.

Okay, then. I did it.

No, I did.

Benny.

You?

I didn't know it was wrong.

Can you believe this little sleaze
bucket?

Ben, I don't care how much Mike is
paying you. Hey.

Honey, it's sweet that you want to
protect Mike, but this is not the way to

it. Hey, hey, hey, look.

Especially that one of those calls was
made on October 20th. No, I couldn't

done that, because that was the day me
and Borna cut class to go to Coney

Island.

And you cut school.

Uh -oh.

That is the convincer.

These calls were all made before Mike
even gets back from school.

Right.

I believe an apology is in order here.

Carol, Mike, you can leave the room,
please.

Apology accepted, Dad. Thank you.

We'll talk about Coney Island later.

Later's good.

I started to know how serious it was
when you looked at me like I was Emanuel

Lewis.

Aw, Benny, not you.

You're not interested in this kind of
stuff. Why would you call that number?

Well, this kid's school was passing him
around.

I knew it.

What's the boy's name?

Dad, I can't rat on somebody.

Well, you're not ratting on him, Ben.
This is a kid with a problem.

He's got to be straightened out. Now,
you'd be doing him a favor.

Can't we just forget about it?

No.

Is it the Futterman boy?

No.

Stinky Sullivan?

Uh -huh.

Ben, we're not going anywhere until you
tell us who it is. Tell us, Ben.

We're waiting, Ben. Who is it? Now, Ben.

Chris Guzman.

From next door?

Why, that little dirtbag. Maggie.

I'm sorry I didn't mean dirtbag on it.
You did the right thing by telling us.

That'll make your punishment easier.

Well, Jason, it wasn't his fault.

Well, for now, I don't want you playing
with Chris.

But he's my best friend.

No, not anymore. What's the Guzman's
number, Maggie?

You don't need friends like that.

Right then, I needed any kind of friend
I could find.

Now I did it. I didn't mean to, but I
did it.

You get your tail back home right now,
young man.

Yes, sir.

I didn't do anything.

Having fun with the phone, huh?

What do you mean?

Hey, we're going to have to go in the
house, sit down, and you and I are going

to have a little talk, young man, and
then you ain't going to be able to sit

down anymore.

But Dad... In the house now.

Dad, I could have said something right
then to save Chris, but I didn't.

the face on it.

I didn't know where I was going.

Just someplace with no phones.

Probably Russia.

I'll get it.

You got it? I got it. Good. Hello.

Yes, it is.

Ah, Mrs.

Kovacevic. You're working late.

Principal's job is never done, is it?

Well, what kind of trouble could Ben be
in?

Yes, I saw the phone, Bill. Tell her we
called the Kuzmen.

All the parents are angry?

Well, I guess the Kuzmen boys spread the
number to everyone.

What do you mean?

What do you mean, what do I mean? What
does she mean?

Ben did it?

No, there must be some mistake. Ben told
us he got the number from the Kuzmin

boy. Tell her he's the dirtbag. Yes,
he's the dirtbag. He's a bad influence.

Well, so it's Ben's word against some
other child's.

Fourteen other child's?

They all name Ben.

Ben?

I don't know what to say. I, uh... Oh,
we'll handle it.

Yeah, thank you.

She's sure?

Very.

Then Ben is a... Dirtbag.

Jason, I'm sure Benny had a very good
reason for placing those calls.

Yes, and for blaming his best friend,
for lying to us, and for spreading that

number all over Wendell Wilkie
Elementary School. Okay.

Okay, can't you give a mother just a
moment of protecting her young?

Now, either everything we said about
Chris Kuzman now applies to Ben, or

hypocrites. I vote hypocrite.

Maggie. Good, it's settled.

Come on.

I'm sorry, Jason. It's just tough for me
to accept that Ben is a purveyor of

pornography.

Well, the news was out.

Now it's time to face the music.

Seems you've been very busy passing a
dirty number around school.

Not that busy.

How could you stand there, stare us
straight in the eye and lie to us?

But I didn't lie.

I wanted it to be true.

Ben, I am very disappointed in you.

Mom had never said that to me before.

Things were about as bad as they could
get.

Then they got worse.

Bud Kuzman.

Oh, am I glad to see you. Doc, Chris
here has something to say.

Well, um...

So do we. Come in. Come in. I had never
seen Chris so mad at me before.

And he was walking kind of funny.

Speak. Well, what happened was... Not
you.

Him.

Um, yeah.

I'm sorry.

I'm very sorry.

Very sorry I gave Ben the dirty phone
number. I have to interrupt here. Oh,

no, Doc. You said it all on the phone
when you said that Chris here was

negative peer pressure.

I didn't know. Me neither, until I
looked it up.

Go ahead, mister.

And I'll pay for your phone bill out of
my allowance until it's all paid off.

Okay, let's go.

Wait a minute, bud. There's been a
mistake.

What do you mean, a mistake?

All that could save me now is a natural
disaster.

Like a flood.

Or a hurricane.

Or a tycoon.

Please, bud, sit.

Chris.

I'll meet you later.

But I should not have called you. Are
you kidding?

If it was your kid pulling that
malarkey, I'd be knocking at your door

to exert negative peer pressure on
somebody's face.

Uh -huh.

You know, Doc, under the circumstances,
I think you're being a real gentleman.

But I'd like to appeal to your sense of
irony here.

Okay. Well, you know, when you think
about it, it's almost kind of funny.

Funny. Well, see, as a psychiatrist, I
understand that a kid can get confused

when he gets in a jam.

Well, as a plumber, I know that when my
kid stops up on me, I've got to flush

the truth out of him.

the number.

You lied to me.

I told you it wasn't me, Pop.

Yeah, but then after I tanned your hide,
you said it was.

We're just very sorry about the whole
thing, really.

Ah, that's no sweat.

Little buckaroo probably had a spanking
coming for something I didn't even know

about.

Look, look, look.

Tell you what I'm going to do.

Next time you get a couple of whacks
coming, I'll forget about it.

Come on. Now, you see, this is a perfect
example of how I, for one, have learned

not to jump to conclusions about my
children.

I don't blame you.

Let's go.

Ben, don't you have something to say to
Chris?

Chris?

What? I'm sorry.

Hey! Hey, that's rude!

All right, that's your freebie, pal.

Enjoy it.

Boy, I don't know what gets into him.
You know, sometimes he acts like a

kid.

Well, Ben, I want you to go to your
room.

I want you to think about why making
those phone calls was wrong, why lying

about them was even more wrong, and what
you're going to do about it.

So I'll be there a long time.

I don't know how long I was there,
trying to figure out

what you wanted to hear.

I must have fell asleep, because it
suddenly came to me that it was all a

dream, that I never called nobody, and I
was the same little kid you loved.

walked in.

Ben?

Is it Maureen?

In Australia, but not here.

Listen, I wanted to warn you. Dad's
coming up here to talk to you and he's

walking around breathing through his
nose.

Oh, no.

Since this is your first time with the
big punishment scene, I thought I'd give

you a few tips.

You never heard Mike.

Seeing him squirm is fun.

Seeing you... suffers like watching Merv
Griffin's things.

Thanks.

First thing you have to know, the
parents blame themselves for every bad

we do.

Really? Yeah, so if you get cornered,
say something like, I didn't know any

better.

Second, say you got the idea from rock
music lyrics.

You finished, Carol?

Uh, Dad, how long have you been here?

Long enough.

Carol was right. You were breathing
through your nose.

just be straight with me, okay?

Okay. Where did you get the number?

From a poster on a tree in the park
where the big kids hang out. That's the

truth? Yes.

Are we done? No, I'll let you know.

Did you know that what you were
listening to, you shouldn't be listening

Kinda. That's yet?

No. Then you didn't know?

Not exactly.

Ben, we were on a roll here.

Well, I know it was dirty, but it didn't
make much sense.

Then why did you pass it out?

Are you kidding?

distinction, Ben.

Yeah, it was great.

Look, if you're curious about sex,
you've got to come to me or your mom and

talk. Don't let your fingers do the
walking.

I hate the phone.

I'm never going to use the phone again.

Well, we have to talk about sex here.
Haven't I heard enough about that?

Well, you haven't heard anything that's
right or healthy or real.

Sex isn't something that you buy or sell
on the street or at a newsstand or on

the phone.

Yeah? Yeah.

Sex is a beautiful thing. It's a private
thing that two people share when they

care about each other.

It's not between one person and a public
utility.

You actually told him that? More or
less, yeah.

That's when you told me to write all
this stuff down. I learned a lot from

I know that sex isn't something to use
to make you famous.

And I know I should never have made
those calls, and I'll pay for them

The one thing I still don't get is,
since I shouldn't hear junk like that,

come it's so easy for a little kid like
me to get the number?

All right, I'm sorry. Your little Benny
has gone too far this time.

What's this?

He hid all the phone cords. Says they
only cause heartache.

Oh, I think it's kind of cute.

Cute? Now, he has got to be punished.

You know, I think it's time you guys
took a firmer hand with this man. Why,

speaking of punishment, there's still
that little matter of you cutting school

to go to Coney Island.

On the other hand, what good does
punishment really do?

What kids need today is love.

So why not reach out? Reach out and
touch someone.

You gotta admit it. Yep, he is good.