Oliver -- Week Four

Bess and Oliver show up at Paul's door with suitcases, announcing that they've been thrown out of their apartment and have no place to go — then collapse in laughter over the joke they've played on him. Rattled, Paul asks where Luke is, and Bess explains she's going on vacation and Luke, late as usual, will pick Oliver up at the end of the session. She asks to speak to Paul alone while Oliver waits outside. Bess explains Oliver is transformed — he's sleeping, doing his homework and not overeating — and she's thrilled to be getting away by herself for the first time in six years with her girlfriend. Paul suggests Oliver may not be as okay as she believes, and Bess bristles, assuming he's suggesting she shouldn't take a vacation. They discuss whether her timing has anything to do with her discovery that Luke has a girlfriend, and Bess ends up recounting how she got pregnant her senior year of college and married Luke at age 21. She and Luke barely saw each other during Oliver's early years, with Luke working and her raising the boy; then she attempted graduate school when Oliver was in kindergarten, but hasn't been able to finish. She insists she doesn't blame her son, but she's now 33 and divorced and feeling scared and alone — it's time to get her life back. Obviously feeling guilty about leaving, Bess still insists she deserves the trip. With her friend waiting in a car outside, Bess says goodbye, leaving Oliver alone with Paul. Paul tries to draw Oliver out, asking how things are going, and the boy reveals that he's still being bullied at school about his weight — so he's decided to stop eating. Paul suggests there are healthier ways to lose weight, but Oliver doesn't want to talk about it. They discuss the baby boy his parents were planning to adopt and Oliver's understanding that his parents decided to give the baby to someone else because they were fighting so much. Oliver admits he'd actually like to be given to parents who wanted him and didn't fight all the time. When Luke is late to pick up Oliver, Paul offers to make the boy a sandwich. He watches as Oliver gobbles it down and asks for another.