This Is Where I Leave You

Judd’s shower is cold. His father, an electrician, insisted on wiring and updating their house himself to avoid meeting city codes, so the wiring is a patchwork of overburdened lines, and the power trips while Judd is in the bathroom. He finds Alice standing before the fuse box, and she teases him about being naked.

As they sit shiva, Wendy tells the story of the day she got her period and their dad fell off the roof and ended up in the hospital. Their mom invites the other siblings to tell stories of their father. Phillip recalls a time his father stood up for Phillip in front of another kid. Judd tries to think of a story with just him and his dad, but all he remembers is how proud his father was of Paul for his baseball talent. Judd resented that and felt untalented and overlooked.

Judd is irritated by the way a visitor, Peter Applebaum, fawns over Hillary. The others, including Linda, tease Hillary about how Mr. Applebaum groped her. Judd thinks about Jen and how he even misses their fights.

Judd checks out the teller when he goes to the bank. He imagines she is disappointed in her boyfriend and wants a nice guy like him. All of a sudden, it feels like he can’t leave the house without falling in love, and Judd wants to tell her, “I’m also dying to fall in love, and if you let me, I’ll fall in love with you, and cherish you, and listen to your dreams and hurts and I’ll be faithful and funny and I’ll never forget your birthday” (100). He withdraws $16,000 from his and Jen’s joint account and leaves the bank feeling heartbroken.

Judd recalls how, after he discovered Jen and Wade together, Wade tried to give him a raise. Judd realized he would need the money as he would have to pay for his own place and pay alimony to Jen. When Wade said he loves Jen, Judd tore up the offer and threw a chair at Wade. Judd was ashamed to face everyone in the office, feeling “the hot shame of public emasculation” (105), so he announced that Wade’s balls caught fire.

Judd regards the shiva visitors “not as individuals, but as a single coffee-swilling, bagel-chomping, tearfully smiling mass of well-wishers and rubberneckers” (106). Some friends from high school visit Phillip, three young and pretty girls, and Tracy seems threatened.

Judd discusses Horry with Linda, who fears her son is angry and frustrated. She fears he isn’t able to live on his own and says it hurts him to see Wendy. “You think you’re lonely,” Linda tells Judd, “but you’ve got nothing on that boy” (110).

Judd stops into the sporting goods store to greet Penny Moore. In high school Penny was the “ripe prom queen” (112), and Judd settled for being her best friend. She has sharpened over time, and he feels attracted, but he also thinks she is a little sad: She’s 35, single, and still living in Elmsbrook. The conversation is a bit awkward, and Penny admits she’s on antidepressants. One summer in college, he and Penny spent months making out, and they made a pact that they would get married at 40 if they hadn’t found someone else.

Judd finds Horry in the car having a seizure: “[H]is body trembles like there’s a small electrical current running through him” (116). Judd sits with him until Horry recovers. Horry describes his seizures as blowing a fuse. He notes they are on the block where Paul and Judd were attacked by the rottweiler. Horry confesses that he hit Wendy once, after he was attacked and came home from the hospital, when Wendy was trying to help take care of him. Wendy went back to school, and the next time she came home, she had Barry. Horry says he’s still not himself.