Hey, sheriff.
A Mercury is a real good car.
That was the car I was driving that day.
I owned a lot of cars.
Yeah, different kinds.
A lot of different kinds of cars.
She was standing, this girl...
on the side of the street by this chicken stand.
Not the Colonel's, a different chicken stand.
I pulled the Mercury up alongside...
and rolled down the window by electric power.
And she had this leather skirt on...
and she had a lot of hair on her arms.
I like that. It means a big bush, which I like.
She says, "Are you dating?" You know?
I said, "Sure." So she gets in...
and we pull off into...
this remote location comfortable for both of us.
She says, "How much do you want to spend?"
I said, "Enough to see your bush. I know it's big."
She says, "$25."
That's not chicken feed to a working man.
I produce the $25, she sticks it in her shoe...
pulls up her skirt...
and there is thin, crooked, uncircumcised penis.
You can imagine I wanted my $25 back.
Why are you weirded out?
It's not San Quentin. It's a nut house.
Most patients don't know where they are. They won't hurt you.
It doesn't bother you we'll be facing a killer in a few minutes?
You wanted to major in journalism.
They're from that newspaper deal.
- From the college? - Yes, sir.
- I'm Jerry Woolridge. - I'm Marsha Dwiggins.
She's Theresa Evans. She's here to take pictures.
Y'all sit down.
A man named John Leggitt Hunter had a filling station.
A good filling station business.
He was the type of person that I'm sure you've met too...
who didn't deserve what he had.
One thing he had was...
this beautiful, young bride, Sarah.
She was a Georgia peach.
She was more like the picture I had in my mind than any woman I'd seen.
So I took her away from John Leggitt Hunter...
who did not deserve her.
Oh, I don't know if I told you...
but he was a Frenchman who claimed to be an Englishman.
Took strong nylon cord to get her away from him.
She was a fighter and a Georgia peach.
There must have been a mix-up.
I talked to your sponsor, teacher or whoever...
and told him no pictures.
This is for an article or something, right?
Yeah, it's for the school newspaper which has pictures.
It's a regular paper.
Karl's real sensitive about having his picture made.
He wouldn't be on the bulletin board for the Easter collage.
Now...
a shovel just makes too goddamn much racket.
I'll talk to him, see what he says.
You gotta make something explode to truly understand it.
You gotta examine all those particles while they're still on fire.
Karl, let's go down to the old classroom.
Mr. Woolridge has some people for you to see.
Let's go.
Remember I told you about those newspaper people?
They want to ask you questions about your release.
They think it'll make a good story.
Will you talk to them? Get interviewed?
They're women.
I think it'd be good for you. You'll see all kinds of people on the outside.
This'll help.
Now, he'll only talk to you but you can't ask him anything...
and don't stare at him.
How can I interview him if I can't ask any questions?
Sorry, that's the best it's gonna get.
Can I ask you a question?
If he's so troubled, why are you letting him out?
What if he does it again? It happens.
His time's up. That's the rules.
He's been treated, reevaluated, doesn't show any signs anymore.
- Signs? - Homicidal signs.
Miss, I'm sorry, but you'll have to step outside.
- Why? - Please?
I have to change the light in here for Karl.
I hope you can still see to write.
I reckon what you want to know is what I'm doing in here.
I reckon it's because I killed somebody.
But I reckon you want to know how come I killed somebody...
so I'll start at the front and tell you.
I lived out in back of my parents' place most of my life...
in a little old shed that my daddy'd built for me.
They didn't want me in the house with the rest of them...
so I sat around in the shed looking at the ground.
I didn't have no floor...
but I had me a hole dug out to lay down in...
a quilt or two to put down there.
My father...
was a hardworking man most of his life...
not that I can say the same for myself.
I mostly just sat around in the shed...
tinkered around with a lawn mower or two...
went to school off and on from time to time.
But the children out there, they were very cruel to me...
and made quite a bit of sport of me, made fun of me quite a bit.
So mostly I just sat around out there in the shed.
My daddy...
worked at the sawmill, down at the planer mill...
for an old man named Dixon.
Old man Dixon was a very cruel fellow.
Didn't treat his employees well or pay them well.
Didn't pay my daddy too much of a wage.
Just barely enough to get by, I reckon.
I reckon he got by all right.
They used to come out, one or the other of them...
usually my mother...
feed me pretty regular.
So I know he made enough so I could have mustard and biscuits...
three or four times a week.
But old man Dixon...
he had a boy...
name of Jesse Dixon.
Jesse was more cruel than his daddy was.
He used to make quite a bit of sport of me...
when I was down there at the schoolhouse.
Used to take advantage of the girls in the neighborhood.
They used to say...
that my mother was a very pretty woman.
They said that quite a bit when I'd be there at the schoolhouse.
I reckon you want me to get on with it and tell you what happened.
So I reckon I'll tell you.
I was setting out in the shed one evening, not doing much...
just staring at the wall...
and waiting on my mother to give me my Bible lesson.
I heard a commotion in the house...
so I run up on the screened-in porch to look inside.
I looked in and seen my mother laying on the floor without any clothes on.
I seen Jesse Dixon laying on top of her.
He was having his way with her.
I just seen red.
I picked up a Kaiser blade that was sitting by the door.
Some folks called it a sling blade. I called it a Kaiser blade.
It's got a long, wood handle, kind of like an ax handle...
with a long blade shaped like a banana.
Sharp on one edge and dull on the other.
It's what the highway boys use to cut down weeds and whatnot. Yeah.
I went in the house...
and I hit Jesse Dixon upside the head with it...
knocked him off my mother.
I reckon that didn't satisfy me...
so I hit him again in the neck with the sharp edge...
and just plumb near cut his head off, killed him.
My mother jumped up and started hollering...
"What did you kill Jesse for?"
Well, come to find out...
my mother didn't mind what Jesse was doing to her.
That made me madder than what Jesse'd made me...
so I took the Kaiser blade--
some folks called it a sling blade, I called it a Kaiser blade--
and I hit my mother upside the head with it.
Killed her.
Some folks asked me: if you had it to do over again, would you do it the same way?
I reckon I would.
Anyhow, they put me in here...
and here I been for a great, long while.
I've learned to read some.
Took me four years to read the Bible.
I reckon I understand a great deal of it.
Wasn't what I expected in some places.
I've slept in a good bed for a great, long while.
Now they've seen fit to put me out of here.
They say they're setting me free today.
I reckon that's all you was needing to know.
You want more details. I reckon I can tell them.
I don't know whether that's enough for your newspaper or not.
Will you ever kill again, Karl?
I don't reckon I got no reason to kill nobody.
- Where will he go? - Anywhere he wants.
I think he's going to Millsburg where he's from, about 20 miles from here.
- Will he be supervised? - As much as anybody, I guess.
Y'all have a nice day, now.
I'll get Melvin to walk y'all out.
Would you walk these girls out?
Thank you.
I reckon I'll have to get used to looking at pretty people.
Guess you will.
Reckon I'll have to get used to them looking at me too.
Better go get your things.
Ain't got nothing but them books.
Better go get them.
All right, then.
Can I help you?
I was kinda wanting something to eat.
Well, what would you like?
You got any biscuits in there?
No, this is a Frosty Cream. We don't serve biscuits.
We got a lot of other stuff.
What you got in there that's good to eat?
We got Big Chief Burgers, Bongo Burgers...
Foot-longs, Corny Dogs, Frosty Shakes, Creamy Bars.
Did you want me to go through the whole list?
What do you like?
Well, the french fries are pretty good.
- French fried potatoes? - Yep, french fries.
How much you want for them?
They're 60 for medium and 75 for large.
I reckon I'll have me some of the big ones.
All right. One large french fries?
These darn things are heavy.
Hard to carry too.
- You got wash in there? - Yeah.
Can't your mama and daddy tend to it?
I got a mama but she's at work at Hoochy's Dollar Store.
My daddy's dead. He got hit by a train.
How far you going with them sacks full of wash?
Half a mile, I think.
I can help you tote it if I don't give out first.
Okay, but you don't have to.
All right, then.
My name's Frank Wheatley. What's yours?
Karl's my name.
- What's your last name? - Childers.
What are all them books?
Oh, different ones.
One's the Bible, one's a book on Christmas...
one's on how to be a carpenter.
- Why do you carry them around? - Ain't got no place to set them down.
Don't you live somewhere?
Did live at the state hospital.
- Why? - I killed some folks a while back.
They said I wasn't right in the head so they put me in the nervous hospital...
instead of putting me in jail.
- They let you out? - Yeah.
- How come? - They told me I was well.
Had to turn me loose.
- Are you well? - I reckon I feel all right.
This here's my house.
You don't seem like you killed nobody.
We can just set these bags on the porch.
All right, then.
You like to play football?
I never was no account at it, never got picked out for it.
Me and the Barnett twins and some boys...
play at the junior high school field all the time.
You want to play, come on over 'cause we ain't no good either.
I'll see you later.
All right, then.
Hon, you can't just go in there.
What in the world are you doing here?
I want to come back and stay in here.
You can't. You're a free man.
They let you out so you can do as you please.
I reckon I don't care about being a free man.
I don't know how to go about it.
You'll have to learn.
It'll take some time.
Don't you have anybody to help you out?
No, sir.
Your daddy was living there last time I heard.
I guess he wouldn't want to help you out any, would he?
Sorry. I wasn't thinking.
Don't you have anybody?
No, sir. Never did know too much of nobody down there.
Not to be helping me out, no way.
Karl, the truth is...
I don't know where they expect you to go, what they expect you to do.
If I could, I'd let you come back here and stay if you wanted to.
I'm just doing my job.
You follow me?
Listen, Karl, I know an old boy...
who's got a fix-it shop deal in Millsburg.
He used to go to church with me.
You're good working on small engines and things.
If I was to put my neck out for you with him...
do you think you could work it if he'll hire you?
I'm pretty handy, I reckon, on lawn mowers and whatnot.
I know you are. I've seen it myself.
- Could you give it a try? - I reckon.
Now I can't promise that he'll hire you.
I'll have to tell him about your history.
I never was no good with history.
No. I mean your past.
Why you were in here.
Take you down first thing in the morning.
You don't have anywhere to stay tonight at all?
No, sir.
It's against the rules for you to stay here.
If something happened, I'd be liable.
I reckon I can walk around till morning time, sit and read a book.
Karl, would you like a muffin?
No, thank you.
So Jerry's taking you someplace else tomorrow.
I don't know nobody named Jerry.
That's me, Karl. That's my first name.
He's carrying me to look for work down in Millsburg...
where I was born.
Would you like some coffee?
Coffee makes me a mite nervous when I drink it.
Daddy, can I go to bed?
Sure. You sleep with your mama tonight.
I'm sleeping with your brother so Karl can have your room.
Why?
Because he's company.
- Karl, you up? - Yes, sir.
Didn't you sleep?
You been sitting there like that all night?
Yes, sir.
Come on. We'd better hit the road.
All right, then.
Jerry, how's it going?
- Hey, Bill. - Good to see you.
- Good to see you. How's everyone doing? - Pretty good.
Kids are driving me crazy, and Phyliss is putting me in the poor house...
but I can't complain otherwise.
Wouldn't do any good anyway. You know Scooter?
Don't believe I do. Good to meet you, Scooter.
How about you?
Well, this is the one I was telling you about on the phone.
If you get nervous, I'll understand, but I'm not going to lie to you.
He got into that trouble, but he was young.
I remember. He cut them to pieces, and one was his mama.
And that Dixon boy.
Hell, I always wanted to kill him. He was an asshole.
I remember him too.
Kinda retarded or something back in school.
Seems like he's pretty well-adjusted these days.
I don't think he'd ever hurt anybody.
He don't look much like he would. And he can fix a small engine real good?
He's a whiz. It's all he's done since he was a kid.
- You scared of him, Scooter? - No, I don't guess so.
- Can he talk? - Oh, yeah.
You say he can stay out in the back?
Fine with me. If he steals anything...
I'll take it out of your pocket.
He won't steal. He's a good old boy. Keeps to himself.
I got a room full of work. Scooter won't do it.
Karl, come over here.
I want you to meet your new boss.
This is Bill Cox. He runs the place.
Says you can work here, stay out back.
- It's good to know you, Karl. - Thank you.
It's minimum wage. There's nothing back there but an army cot and a toilet.
That's fine. I'll go to the car and get your books.
All right, then.
They say you're a whiz on fixing lawn mowers and things.
I've tinkered around on them a bit.
We order from the Frosty Cream at lunch, usually.
We'll buy you lunch till you get on your feet.
I like them french fried potatoes.
Yeah. Me too.
They make a good double meat burger.
All right, then. I'll see y'all later.
Karl, you done good work. They was right about you.
Scooter, he's gonna knock you out of a job if you're not careful.
- I'll see y'all tomorrow. - Wait up.
I'll leave with you and lock up.
There's a blanket under the cot, soap in the bathroom for cleaning up.
One more thing. The way we lock these doors, you can't get out at night.
- Did you want to go anywhere? - I don't reckon.
If it works out, we'll get you a key so you can get out at night.
- I'll see you later. - All right, then.
Did I tell you the one about the two old boys pissing off the bridge?
I don't remember.
These two old boys hung their peckers off a bridge to piss.
One was from California, one from Arkansas.
Old boy from California says, "Boy, this water's cold."
Old boy from Arkansas says, "Yeah, and it's deep too."
Get it?
- Yeah, that's a good one. - That is a good one.
I do believe you told me that before. I've heard it a bunch.
- A long time ago. - Yeah, that's a classic.
Karl, I've been thinking, and it's not Christian of me to keep locking you in.
You've been in lockup so long, you don't need me to keep doing it.
You need to come and go as you please. Here.
Take this key. It'll get you in and out of here at night.
All right, then.
- Them french fries good? - They's good, all right.
You got any money?
They give me some when they turned me loose.
I spent some riding the bus, eating french fried potatoes.
I'm going to pay you today for this coming week...
so you have some walking-around money.
You need to buy some toothpaste and cleaning up supplies to have back there.
Get you some magazines and some hard candy...
something to keep you busy at night.
All right, then.
I'll let you off while it's still daylight.
I thought I heard somebody on the porch. Wasn't your name Karl?
Yes, sir, it is. You're named Frank.
Yeah. What are you doing by here?
- You said for me to come by. - Wanna play ball with us?
I ain't no good at it. I just come by to see you.
I was going to see my mama at Hoochy's Dollar Store. She works 2:00 to 8:00.
All right, then.
You want to go with me? You can meet my mama.
I ought not worry your mama with company.
Come on. You'll like her. She's real nice.
She'll give us anything we want her to, candy or something.
I was needing to do some trading.
Reckon they sell toothpaste?
Yeah, they sell a little bit of everything.
I won't tell her about you being in the state hospital for killing.
Come on. Let's go.
You have to learn to live without all that grease.
Here in the South, I like grease in everything.
I like fried chicken, fried okra, biscuits and gravy.
- It will kill you. - Hey, Mama, Vaughan.
- What you up to, sweetheart? - I bet I know.
- You want candy and pop, right? - Yeah.
That rots your teeth. I've got something better.
Potted meat is on special-- four cans for a dollar.
They're not selling but I'll give the right kid some for free.
I don't like potted meat.
Daddy said it was made from lips, peckers and intestines.
Don't talk that way. Did that strange-looking man follow you in here?
Can I help you?
That's Karl. I met him at the laundry mat.
Karl, this is Mama and Vaughan.
Vaughan is the manager.
He lets Mama off work anytime because they're best friends.
Nice to meet you, Karl.
Pleased to meet you.
Frank, come back here with me for a minute.
I haven't seen you here before.
No, sir, I don't reckon you have. I haven't been in here before.
This store didn't used to be here.
It's been here 17 years. Did you live here before?
I was born and raised here till I was 12 years old.
- What brings you back? - What's that you say?
Why are you here now?
They turned me loose from the state hospital.
Is that right? How long are you staying?
Mr. Woolridge got me hired at Bill Cox's outfit.
- You have family here? - Not to speak of.
Hey, Karl. Guess what? Mama said you can stay in our garage.
Our car doesn't fit anyway. It's real neat.
Frank told me about your situation. Frank loves company.
Especially after his daddy passed and all.
There's no sense in you staying in that greasy old shop.
He's mentally retarded, poor thing.
- He just go out of the state hospital. - I know.
- Can we get some candy and pop? - Sure. Go ahead.
Come on.
- Is it safe to let him around that guy? - Frank's crazy about him.
He likes the way he talks and he helped Frank carry home the laundry.
He's been in the hospital a long time. There must be something wrong with him.
He's retarded. Frank's always after a father figure.
Lord knows Doyle ain't a good one with his mean ass.
- What about me? - He doesn't see you as a "guy" guy.
Karl's a "guy" guy?
I call this my secret place.
I come out here when I feel like being alone.
I used to come here with Karen Cross.
She kind of used to be my girlfriend.
We would come out here and hold hands and talk...
and read books to each other with a flashlight.
She wouldn't have nothing to do with me in front of other people...
because Mama and I don't have any money.
Her daddy's a dentist, so they're rich.
Was your folks well off?
No, we barely had enough to scrape by on, I reckon.
Your folks still around?
My mother's dead.
My daddy's still around but he don't want to have nothing to do with me.
- How do you know? - He never did want to.
I figure he probably ain't changed his mind much.
How'd your mama die?
You don't need to hear things like that.
You just a boy.
You need to think good thoughts while you still a boy.
There's lots of time for all the other.
I had bad thoughts since Daddy died.
Sometimes I wish I was still little and he was still here.
Mama's real good, but I wish I had both of them.
We went to Memphis in the car once.
It was raining so hard we couldn't see the road...
but I wasn't scared because as long as Daddy was driving...
nothing could happen to us.
That's the way I feel about Mama now.
Mama has a boyfriend now.
His name is Doyle Hargraves.
He works construction so he makes a pretty good living...
but he don't help Mama out with any money.
He ain't no good. He's mean to her. He don't like me at all.
Mama says he's jealous because I belong to my daddy.
He spends the night at our house and he's got his own house.
Somebody told me this way he can have more girlfriends.
I like the nights he's not there. I ain't so nervous then.
How come she's still being girlfriends with him if he's mean to her?
She says it's for the times he's good to her.
She's lonely since Daddy died.
Sometimes she don't know why.
He threatened to kill her if she left him.
My daddy would kill him if he was here and somebody was mean to Mama.
Vaughan's real good to Mama.
Vaughan that you met?
But he's not able to do anything to Doyle. He's funny.
Not "funny," ha-ha. "Funny," queer.
He likes to go with men.
That makes him not able to fight good, but he sure is nice.
He's from St. Louis. Queer people get along better in a big town.
I wish he like to go with women.
I'd rather him be Mama's boyfriend than Doyle.
Karl, remember I told you Daddy got hit by a train?
Yes, sir, I recollect that.
It ain't the truth. He shot himself with a shotgun on purpose.
How come him do that?
Because he didn't have enough money to take care of us like he wanted to.
That's what the letter said.
He got laid off of work and did odd jobs.
I thought he took care of us just fine.
Karl, did you really kill somebody?
Yes, sir, I did.
- Who'd you kill? - Two people.
- Were they bad people? - I thought they was.
Maybe they needed it.
I growed up and learned that you ain't supposed to kill nobody.
It's okay if you're protecting yourself, if it's self-defense.
Was it self-defense?
My daddy was good.
I think too many good people die.
That's what I think.
You sure you wanna stay with these folks?
You're welcome to stay here. It's working out good.
That boy wants me to.
All right, then. I'll see you bright and early.
How's that garden tiller coming?
I fixed it. It's working pretty good now.
You done fixed it? I'll be damned.
Scooter told me it couldn't be fixed.
Of course, Scooter's about as shiftless as one poor son-of-a-bitch can be.
You done fixed it. Well, I'll just be damned.
- I'll see you tomorrow. - All right, then.
I don't guess I'll give a shit, then. I ain't here that much.
If you want a retard living in your garage, that's your business.
I do got some tools I'd rather not have stoled.
I could take those home with me.
He's real honest. He wouldn't steal nothing.
Frankie, I wasn't talking to you, was l?
- No, sir. - "No, sir" is right.
I was talking to your mama. It's her decision, not yours.
If I let it go on, it's because she asked me, not you.
Does this retard drool and rub shit in his hair and all that?
I'm going to have a hard time eating around that kind of thing.
Just like with antique furniture and midgets.
I can't so much as drink a glass of water around a midget or an antique.
Doyle, you're awful. You shouldn't be that way.
I ain't saying it's right. It's just the truth. He'll make me sick.
- What was he in the nut house for? - He's just retarded, I guess.
No, he had of gone nuts and did something.
A lot of retards running around that ain't locked up in the nut house.
Think about it, Linda.
You know what he done, Frank?
- I ain't sure. - You oughta want to find out.
He might have hacked his family to pieces with a hatchet or something.
Frank, you'd better ask him.
Don't hurt his feelings, but it would be good to know.
I'm sure it's nothing. He seems sweet.
You're all hung up on people being sweet.
He's sweet. Everybody's sweet. Speaking of sweet, where's your girlfriend?
- I thought he was coming over. - He'll be here in a while.
- We're going for ice cream. - Now ain't that sweet.
What do I do about supper while you're running around with that fag?
You're not crippled. Go make something.
Talking back and everything, aren't you?
That makes me horny.
Frank, go and play in your room, if Doyle's going to talk nasty.
- I don't want to go play. - He don't want to. Let him stay.
Let's be a family till your mentally retarded and homosexual friends arrive.
Yes, sir?
You're really going to stay here.
That boy wants me to.
Have you knocked yet?
- No, sir, I ain't. - How long have you been here?
Quite a spell, I reckon.
Before you get used to staying here, we need to talk about a few things.
Can I take you to lunch?
I done ate a little bit ago.
I mean tomorrow or the next day.
I reckon I could eat something at noontime.
Bill Cox generally gets me a box lunch...
but I reckon he can lay off doing it tomorrow.
Then I'll come by and pick you up around noon, all right?
All right, then.
There's your girlfriend.
Y'all come on in.
Come on. Have a seat in here.
- Hey, Vaughan. How are you, Karl? - Tolerable, I reckon.
Karl, this is Doyle. Frank, you and Karl go fix him up a place in the garage.
- Vaughan, you ready to go? - Sure.
Honey, don't rush everybody off.
- You and Karl want to go with us? - I don't want to.
We got things we need to do.
Vaughan, you know what I heard?
That you been putting it on Albert Sellers over at the funeral home.
- I know Albert. We're friends. - I heard you was more than friends.
I heard Dick Rivers caught you two going at it in the same room...
with poor old Mrs. Ogletree and her dead as a doornail laid out on a gurney.
- That's ridiculous, a total lie. - Let's go, Vaughan.
We'll be back in a while. I'll bring you something.
- Your food's in the oven warming over. - You fixed him something.
Vaughan, I was just going on with you. Just joking around. You know, buddy.
I know. You're a real card.
Karl, come over, sit down and talk to me.
Come on, Karl. Let's go to the garage.
Goddammit. I want to talk to him.
Sit down, Karl.
What's in your bag?
This and that. Toothpaste and whatnot.
- What's all them books? - Different ones.
One of them's the Bible.
You believe in the Bible, Karl?
Yes, sir. A good deal of it.
I can't understand all of it.
I can't understand none of it.
This one begat that one, that one begat this one...
and begat and begat and lo and behold someone says some shit to someone.
- How retarded are you? - Stop it, Doyle.
Frankie, be quiet. We're talking. The adults are talking.
Was you in lockup for cutting someone with a hatchet or something?
I ain't never used no hatchet that I remember.
So you're just crazy in a retard kind of way then?
It wouldn't matter to me if you did do violence.
I ain't scared of shit.
You think I'm scared for you to stay here?
You just a humped-over retard.
I'm just kidding you. Welcome to our humble home, buddy.
Frank needs all the friends he can get.
Frank's a weak little kid.
His daddy taught him how to be a pussy.
Don't talk about my daddy.
Go on out to the garage. Leave me be.
Go on.
Come on, Karl.
Don't say nothing about our little spat to your mama.
I don't want her worrying.
I'd like to kill that son-of-a-bitch. I hate him.
You ought not talk that away. You just a boy.
Well, I hate him.
He ought not talk that away to you neither.
He ain't no account. He's mean to you and your mama.
Your mama and that fellow that's carrying me to get something to eat's...
going to be back directly.
Will you be here with us for a long time?
I reckon, if you want me to.
I got some of that potted meat and soda crackers if you want some.
How can you eat all that stuff with them insides it's made out of?
I reckon it tastes pretty good to me.
I like the way you talk.
Well, I like the way you talk.
You think it's really got peckers in there?
You know better than to say that word.
It smells kinda funny.
It's a little loud. Looky right here.
I believe you right. I believe I see one in there.
Thank you, sir.
Mister, could you hand me that mustard over there?
Thank you.
Okay, Karl. The reason that l...
brought you here is...
to talk about something that's on my mind.
I'm just going to put it right out on the table.
Where do I start?
Linda and Frank are very important to me.
They're like family.
My own family was never like a family.
They're horrible people. As a matter of fact...
for years I prayed every night that my father would die...
and finally realized, through a lot of therapy...
I was wasting my energy on hating him.
So now I just don't care.
But you see, you and I are a lot alike...
as strange as that may seem.
I don't mean physically or even mentally, really...
but emotionally.
Actually, the hand we've been dealt in life--
We're different. People see us as being different, anyway.
You're-- You've got...
your affliction or whatever and l--
Well, mine's not as easy to see.
I'm just going to say it.
I'm gay.
Does that surprise you?
That I'm gay?
- You know what "gay" is, don't you? - I don't reckon.
Homosexual.
I like men. Sexually.
Not "funny," ha-ha. "Funny," queer.
That's an offensive way to put it.
You shouldn't say that.
You were taught that, weren't you?
I've heard it said that away, yes, sir.
Anyway, it's hard to live gay-- that's the right way to say it--
in a small town like this.
I've wanted to leave many times, but...
because I love...
Linda, Frank and...
a certain other person--
They've kept me here. Anyway, I'm rambling.
If you're going to live in the Wheatley garage...
you need to know it's not going to be easy.
Doyle is a monster.
Not just a closed-minded redneck, but a monster, a dangerous person.
I've told Linda that one day that man is going to hurt her and that boy...
maybe even kill them.
I see it in his eyes. I'm very in tune, even psychic.
But Doyle is going to make your life hell.
There's one more thing.
It's none of my business why you were in the state hospital.
Everybody has something in their past.
Maybe...
you tried suicide.
Maybe you did something terrible.
But what I see before me...
is a gentle...
simple man.
All I want you to promise me...
is that you are capable of being around Frank and Linda.
You know. You would never...
hurt either of them for any reason, would you?
I would never hurt them.
That's what I thought. I'm sorry if I've offended you in any way.
You seem like a thinker, you know.
You seem to always be deep in thought.
What are you thinking right now?
I was thinking I might wanna take some of these potatoes home with me.
How about before that?
Let me think.
Before that, I was thinking...
I could use me six or eight cans of that potted meat...
if you got any extra.
Frankie, get some of this salad.
Hold your plate up for me.
I'm just gonna reach. How come Karl won't eat in here with us?
I don't know. He said he'd eat out there.
I wouldn't let it get to you. Put some dressing on there.
- Yes. - I just feel sorry for the poor thing.
Who the hell could eat with him making all that racket in his throat?
He does make some funny noises.
I like the way he talks.
Sounds like a race car motor idling. Makes me not be nervous.
I'm glad of it.
What have you got to be nervous about? You're a kid.
You got no bills to pay, no business to run.
You don't even have to have a job. You got no old lady on your ass at all.
I don't know. I just stay nervous.
Could I have some of that ham?
Yeah. I'm sorry.
Thank you.
- You know what, by God? - What?
I know what I ought to do tonight.
Please, don't.
I'm gonna call up Morris and get the band together.
We're gonna party our asses off.
I'd love to show them Karl. They'd get a kick out of him.
Not tonight. I'm not up for it.
They always stay till morning. I'll just give out.
You don't gotta do nothing. Just put chips in a bowl...
and run ice out to us when we get low.
Last time, you got mad and run Morris and them off and told them to stay away.
That ain't none of your business. Besides, that's the way friends are.
Fuck. I'm calling them up.
Linda, go into the garage and get my guitar.
It's out there with that looney toon.
Now?
Yeah, now. I'm calling them up.
Morris, what you doing, boy?
Where's Randy and them?
Yeah, now. Please. Frankie, go help your mom.
- When are we gonna eat? - Hang on.
Eat when you come back. Get my guitar.
Come on, sugar.
I wanna get together.
Yeah.
Call him.
One. Two. One, two, three, four.
You gotta play through it. Wail on the gig, but you gotta play through it.
- No, you play through-- - You like that, Vaughan?
Sure. It sounds like a number one hit tune.
Karl, did you like that?
- I reckon. - I wish you'd all lay off for tonight!
- I can't think with that racket! - Hey!
- It's nighttime. - Hey!
- I'm calling the police! - I told you already!
The law's on my side!
I play cards with J.D. Shelnut, chief of police!
So kiss my ass, you old bastard!
You and Frank clean this mess up. Put the tarp over these instruments.
Me and the boys are going to the county line. We're out of liquor.
Karl, come with us. Vaughan, come on.
It's late. I have to work tomorrow.
Don't be a pussy. We all gotta work tomorrow.
- Come on. - He don't want to.
Don't go if you don't want to. You'll wreck, Doyle. You're drunk.
I ain't gonna wreck. I'll be good. I promise.
I love you, sweetie.
Come on, Karl. Go with us.
Just trying to make these two feel like they're part of it.
Come on, Vaughan. This'll be fun.
Karl, let's go. Come on.
- You gotta lay out on that tambourine. - I ain't did nothing wrong.
Hey! Ain't anybody gonna come get me?
I don't understand what you are talking about.
- Exactly the point, my young friend. - I don't get it.
I rest my case.
Morris is real smart with philosophies and things.
That's why him and me is the songwriting team of our group.
I come up with the good tunes, or melodies, as we call them...
Morris is the lyrics.
Not unlike Gary Brooker of Procol Harum.
We don't ever played songs y'all wrote. I ain't heard one of them.
Y'all just talk.
We don't play any songs with words at all.
We ain't got no fucking microphone! We ain't got no speakers!
We wrote one last night outside the mini-mart.
Morris called it, "Stuart Drives a Comfortable Car."
Then, like in country songs, in parenthesis it says...
"There's usually someone in the trunk."
And I came up with a tune, just humming.
You don't wanna question a genius, Vaughan.
Morris here's a modern-day poet.
Kind of like in the olden times.
Yeah, I got a new tune. This composition's entitled, "The Thrill."
Goes something like this:
I stand on the hill, not for a thrill...
but for a breath of a fresh kill.
Never mind the man who contemplates...
doing away with license plates.
He stands alone anyhow...
baking the cookies of discontent...
by the heat of the laundromat vent.
Leaving his soul.
Then, like in poetry, I go dot, dot, dot.
You know, kind of off-center, then I drop down...
and then I go: Leaving his soul...
parting the waters of the medulla oblongata...
of...
mankind.
Damn good song, wasn't it? You like that song?
All right.
I don't think that's right.
I believe the "dot, dot, dot" come between...
"medulla" and "oblongata."
Well, it did.
The dots are where I say they are.
Melody and tune. That's your trade, Terence.
You're a tunesmith.
I don't understand the words.
Y'all don't shut up, I'm gonna go out of my mind.
Besides, Karl's liable to bust his spring. He's already off balance.
That wasn't the way you made it up before. That's all I know.
We don't need no fancy words. We need to practice, to rehearse.
I'll tell you what we need. We need some paying gigs.
We don't need this messing around. That's ridiculous.
Amen, Johnson.
We don't got no goddamn band!
We don't need to fucking practice!
We don't need a shit-ass manager neither!
You motherfuckers! You're all just a bunch of losers!
I'm the only sane son-of-a-bitch here!
Get the fuck out of my house!
It's not your house. It's Linda's.
I'll whip the dog shit out of you.
I will fucking kill you if you talk to me again!
All of you get the fuck out before I get too mad to turn back!
What about our instruments?
Come here, you little prick!
Come here, you little fucking prick!
Get out! All y'all!
Get the fuck out!
Come on, you motherfuckers!
Get the fuck out!
Randy, you tuning son-of-a-bitch!
Go fucking practice!
Come on, Morris. You fucking genius. Get the fuck up...
and get the fuck out of here, goddammit!