- When William finds out that Lula's idol, a gifted ballerina, is a junkie, he forces her into detox. He discovers that the rising star's habit is hiding potentiallycrippling spinal injuries. As the ballerina is forced to choose between her dreams and her life, William learns that drug use is common at Lula's studio, and faces his own cruel dilemma: remove Lula from the studio and end her dreams, or leave her in danger?
- "Me? I never got down with the idea of fairy tales," the Cleaner tells God. "But the more time I spend in this gig, the more I see that we need that happy ending." But will there be a happy ever after this time around? We cut to a young, blonde ballerina dancing her behind off. Lulu, a classmate, watches as the girl suddenly collapses. Folks, we have a user!
FLASHBACK to Lulu sitting in William's truck. She explains why she must miss school on Friday for dance practice. "This is professional stuff," the girl explains to her pops. William follows his daughter inside to dance class. A middle-aged woman named Barbara introduces herself to the Cleaner as Callie's mom. We cut to Callie, a familiar, pre-collapsed young blonde, as she dances her solo. The instructor tells Lulu to pay close attention: Callie is apparently the star of the class. "Wow," William says to Barbara. "She's amazing." Mom explains that a pro scout is coming to watch Callie dance soon. Later, Lulu tells her dad that Callie and instructor Brett are dating. "Everyone knows it," she gossips.
Out in the parking lot, William notices Callie snorting something in her car. The Cleaner heads back inside. "Why don't we get out here?" William asks her daughter. Lulu is furious. Not even Melissa, who has shown up to watch her daughter, believes her husband. The Cleaner calls Akani. The team has a new impromptu case. Later, night has fallen and the Cleaner is still hanging out in the parking lot of the dance studio when Akani arrives. She immediately heads inside and begins quietly searching the place for contraband. She soon discovers a needle and some "Oxy" in Callie's spare ballerina shoes. "Shooting speed and taking Oxy," William says with a sigh. The Cleaner then decides to search Lulu's locker ... but finds nothing.
The next morning, William confronts Brett. "You think this is some kind of game?" the Cleaner asks. "I know what's going on and I want it to stop." Brett is less than receptive and storms inside. But William isn't done yet. He approaches Barbara and explains that Callie is an addict. "This conversation is over!" mom yells. She doesn't want to face the truth either. But will Callie? The Cleaner approaches the young dancer, who desperately searches her locker for the drugs that Akani confiscated. "I can help you, Callie," William says. Alas, Callie runs out. "Leave me the hell alone!" the dancer yells. 0 for 3.
Unfortunately, Lulu has overhead the last half of the conversation and blames her dad for upsetting the best performer and her personal idol. Melissa is also less than receptive, refusing to pull Lulu out of the class. "She's been through this before -- with you," Melissa says. 0 for 5. Will no one believe the Cleaner? "Well, they're about to because Callie suddenly collapses while dancing. And we're back where we started, folks. Cut to the garage. William has carried the girl to the backroom and strapped her to the bed. Callie, meanwhile, is screaming. "This girl is in more than I've ever seen," the Cleaner tells a doctor. Barbara cries over her daughter. Later, William tells his ex-wife that he is pulling Lulu from her beloved dance class. "Until I'm certain there aren't any more drugs there, she can't go back," William tells Melissa.
The doctor enters with news: Callie has been dancing with severe injuries and killing the pain with drugs for more than a year. If she continues dancing, it could cause terrible damage -- the loss of movement in an arm or leg, perhaps. "She needs to stop dancing and seek treatment for her back," the doctor explains. Naturally, this is the last thing that mother-of-the-year Barbara wants to hear. Callie MUST dance on Saturday for the scout. "I'm so close," Callie whines to her mother. "We're so close." Later, William heads back to the studio to openly threaten Brett. "I will burn this place to the ground," the Cleaner tells the instructor. So Brett breaks: "The drugs aren't coming from me." So who? Three guesses -- and the first two don't count. You got it: mom. William returns to the garage with a bag he found in Barbara's car. He dumps it on the floor. It is full of precious pain-killing drugs. Needless to say, the Cleaner is PISSED. Mom desperately explains that she is only doing it for her daughter's ultimate success and happiness. "I don't see how being your daughter's pusher can be justified," William shoots back. "You need to tell her that you will never give her drugs again!"
The one positive about Barbara being the pusher is that the Cleaner can now allow Lulu to dance again. "Thank you, daddy!" Lulu chirps. She then heads into the recovery room to talk to her fallen idol, Callie. "You're the reason why I dance and if you had to stop, it wouldn't be the end of the world," Lulu says. Callie reacts badly, accusing Lulu of trying to steal her part in the production. "You don't have a prayer at being half as good as me on your worst day!" Callie screams. Lulu rushes out in tears.
Barbara, in the meantime, is still insisting that her daughter needs to dance. William relents with qualifications. Callie can dance on Saturday, yes, "but no drugs, no pain medications -- she needs to see for herself where she really stands." Back at home, Lulu is moping, saying that she is not "any good" at dancing. William explains that Callie is too far gone to offer an honest opinion on Lulu's qualities as a dancer or a human being. The Cleaner's mopey offspring seems to accept dad's theory.
Later, Callie is preparing for her big audition. William attempts to talk the girl out of dancing today. If she stops dancing now, perhaps she will be well enough to teach in a few years. Callie, however, won't listen to reason. "There's nothing like it," she tells him. So Callie dances. She dances well. She dances for well over a minute. Then she begins to shake in horrible pain. Callie stares at William, who stands just offstage. Callie thinks it over and decides to stop. She walks out of the spotlight. In the audience, mom cries. William puts his arm around the girl and promises to get her on a plane and get her help.
Later, William returns to his old house to find Melissa smoking. He teases her and they talk about their daughter. She offers the Cleaner a cigarette and he accepts. "Nasty habit," Melissa quips. Says the Cleaner to God: "All those fairy tales ... for my kids, for my kids and my wife, I'll believe in anything."
Amen, brother. Amen.
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