Decoding Annie Parker

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- Excuse me, Dr. King?

- I'm sorry.

I don't have any more time.

I'm already late for my plane.

My name's Annie Parker.

Oh.

I read your letters.

I heard you were in town.

I tried to catch

your lecture, but...

the traffic was horrible.

- I'm sorry.

- It's okay.

It was a bit dry.

My jokes didn't play very well.

- That's a pretty necklace.

- Thank you.

It was my mom's.

I had it restrung recently.

- You know, she...

- Hey, I'm sorry.

I really do have to go.

I hope we can speak again.

All the best.

Oh, you might

feel some discomfort.

Just relax.

There are great

mysteries out there.

Strange and magical,

hidden in codes.

Did you ever wonder...

if you knew those codes,

could you change your future?

- Slap.

- Snap.

That's my big sister Joan and I.

She knew things.

That's where Death hides

when he comes to the house.

He sleeps most of the time.

But you should be very quiet

when you're up here

so you don't wake him up.

Did Mommy wake him up?

Yes, she did.

She blew it, and now

we don't have a mommy anymore.

And he'll get us too

if we're not careful,

like he did Grandma

and Aunt Lil.

- Snap.

- Snap.

And this is my story.

Some girls

love to run around

Like to handle

everything they see

But my girl

has more fun around

And you know

she'd rather be with me

Me-oh my

Lucky guy is what I am

Tell you why

you'll understand

She don't fly

although she can

Some boys

like to run around

They don't think about

the things they do

But this boy

wants to settle down

And you know

he'd rather be with you

Me-oh my, lucky guy...

That's me, not as confident

as I should be,

so I would make up for it

by making bad choices.

That's my sister Joan

all grown up.

And that's Joan's

best friend Louise,

who my dad said was trouble

with a capital T,

which made Joan, who was always good,

like her even more.

That's Paul,

who was sweet and funny.

We fell in love and got engaged

when I was only 18...

always a good idea...

and later got married

because he was sweet but also

because he had a great ass

which was like a piece

of pneumatic machinery.

Thumpity thumpity

thumpity thump.

Thumpity thumpity thump.

He was going to be

a musician, which is hard,

so until then, he was

working as a pool cleaner...

in Toronto.

My dad died suddenly in 1972.

I guess that's where

we should start.

Give heed, O Lord, to my prayer,

the sound of my voice.

- You ready to go?

- I need another minute.

- I'm gonna stay here.

- Okay.

People behave oddly

around the bereaved.

Hey.

They can't help themselves.

- I'm sorry.

- That's okay.

You're, like,

one of the main mourners?

Excuse me?

I don't mean in a bad way.

So...

what are you doing after this?

After this is the wake.

Right.

But after that?

So you think

your mother suffered?

My wife went through

18 months of agony.

To lose your mother

and your father.

I can't imagine

how lonely that must be.

Every day it was worse.

That's suffering.

Just to be by yourself.

It must be so painful,

so lonely.

She was wrong, of course.

My parents were gone,

but I had my sister, Joan.

And we didn't know

what trouble we were in.

So I have to ask,

Dr. King.

What's the story

with the clock there?

The clock is marked

at every 12 minutes.

That's how often

a woman will die

of breast cancer

in this country.

- Well, that's...

- One in nine.

Two million

over the next 20 years.

- Potentially, but...

- Maybe your wife.

Your daughter.

I think what Dr. King means

is that the disease,

along with a potential cure,

is of interest to a vast number

of people... a cross section...

I'm sorry, Allen.

I wanna be clear about this, Dr. King.

You believe that there may be

a genetic link

to some breast cancers?

I do.

Even though virtually no one

else believes this to be true?

That's correct.

And to prove your theory,

you're going to have to examine the...

- The human genome.

- The human genome, which has...

- 100,000 genes.

- Or so, give or take a few.

And how many women

are in your study?

- We began with several thousand.

- Not so many.

And you'd have to

interview them all, yes?

Most. Yes.

100,000 genes,

several thousand women,

and no certain outcome?

Of course, we're already

well into our research.

Oh, well, how far along are you?

Um...

So, 74...

No, no. Um...

six more.

Uh-huh.

So, 80...

Um...

Right. Well, thank you.

Thank you so much for your time

and your hospitality.

We'll be in touch. And we're

obviously very interested

in helping you with

something so important,

so...

I can't see it, Allen.

I'm sorry.

Can't see it?

We're looking at something

like 20 years here.

- Yeah, but Dr. King thinks...

- Dr. King thinks.

She thinks.

Nobody else thinks.

What is it about people

like Mary-Claire King

that think the world

owes them a living, huh?

She's like that grasshopper

with his little violin.

- Pardon?

- Grasshopper.

You know, he plays

his little violin.

He says, "The world

owes me a living."

Give him a PhD, there's your

doctor friend right there.

You're comparing one of

our most brilliant geneticists

to a cartoon grasshopper?

The answer's no, Allen.

So let's leave it alone, huh?

Sorry.

He didn't like me, did he?

He... No.

- I'm sure that...

- What did he say?

He compared you

to an animated grasshopper.

Did he? Goodness.

Well, that's sort of

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