Next time someone asked me what my name was, I just sort of said...
Red Berry, and it just kind of stuck.
Why did you run away?
The important thing is, you have to forgive everybody.
I forgave everybody after I left, even my mom and my brother.
Oh, my goodness. That's perfect.
We have a genuine and authentic, I'm sure...
wedding and engagement ring set. And I think you shall have them.
Thank you.
Red Berry, you don't seem like the marrying type. I'm sorry.
I'm definitely going to get married...
to a big fat man...
with a tiny wiener I can barely find.
- Not you, Rodney. - Thank God.
He has to be really old, though. You know?
Do you think that Kathleen is gonna marry your dad?
She wants to.
Yeah. Mom is a sucker for a sick man.
My father was a diabetic.
What was Thaddius' father like?
He was just an idiot.
I got a bee sting.
Hey, Rosie.
I didn't squash him or anything. I was just out by the compost.
Rodney, come here for a second.
Let's have a look. Hold still.
You know, the only person you're hurting with that is yourself.
I'll be living off guilt-burgers for a couple of weeks now.
They're quite thinning.
All I want is to help you get down to a normal size.
Shit! Easy!
Bloody fuss.
Why am I always the monster? Will you please tell me that?
It's a question only you can answer.
Okay, I give up. Just eat, eat.
Be disgusting. I'm signing off.
What was that?
Which god are you praying to?
- Where have you been? - Up in the dome.
What were you hiding in there for?
Nothing.
Are you okay?
I'm fine.
That was quite a fit that Kathleen had today.
Sort of a surprising aspect to her personality.
Okay.
Are you sure you're all right? 'Cause you're acting a wee bit strangely.
Tired.
Who's the lucky guy?
All right, sleep well.
If there's something bothering you, we can just talk about it.
Okay.
I'll be back, okay?
Go ahead.
Shut up!
Thanks.
I'm just hoping that's your idea of a joke.
New chapter.
What's that?
You've been ruined by that fucking scumbag!
- Jack! Help! - What?
Oh, my God!
I'll deal with this later on.
God! Jack!
- What? - Oh, my God!
I just saw a copperhead.
It went behind that dresser, disappeared.
It probably wasn't a copperhead. Don't get hysterical.
I know a fucking copperhead when I see one!
Shit. Oh, God.
All right, everybody out of the room.
Did I invite you to stay?
Oh, God!
Who were you planning on killing?
I just wanted to scare her.
What are you hanging around her door for, faggot?
I'm Marty Rance.
Hi. I'm Kathleen.
I'm looking for Jack Slavin.
He's in the house. There's a snake in there.
Copperhead. That's why I'm...
Thanks.
Hello.
I'm Marty Rance. I'm developing that land over on the other side of the field.
I'm just making the rounds of the neighbors, trying to get acquainted.
Looking for Jack Slavin.
I'm Jack Slavin.
Jack Slavin. Marty Rance.
Great timing, Marty.
How's your day so far?
I'm just spending the afternoon kind of making the acquaintance...
- Saying hi to... - I know that.
You just said that.
So I did.
How are things going down at the site?
You know how it is when you're trying to build something. You get setbacks.
You get trespassers, vandalism. Makes it hard to keep things tidy.
I'll agree with you on that one.
It's trespassing and vandalism that I can't abide by. Never could.
It's nice to hear you saying that.
The reason you can't build on a wetland, see, Marty...
is that all that shit...
that goes into your sewer system over there...
will end up running into the island's water supply.
The ground's too soft, quite apart from the wildlife that you're poisoning.
That may not be a wetland anymore.
How did you work that out?
I'm making an appeal. We have excellent sewers.
- I'm sure you do. - Yeah.
You're bribing someone on the corps of engineers, isn't it?
I know you've got the housing board in your pocket already.
I really came here to try and make peace...
to forget about anything that either one of us might have done to upset the other.
But by the same token, one of my men gave a pretty accurate description...
of a person who shot up our work site a little while ago.
Yeah, that was me.
You don't tell on me, I don't tell on you. Is that how it works?
Here's the thing, you're slinging up houses on a wetland, right?
I just want you to take down one of them.
- Pick a house. I'll leave it up to you. - Of course, that's out of the question.
See, Marty, if you don't destroy one of those houses...
I'm going to have to kill you.
I hope you're kidding. For your sake.
I tell you, from top to toe, I couldn't make any improvements. You're perfect.
You too, my friend.
I stuffed up most of the holes in the house, so we should be all right.
I'd prefer it if you didn't smoke near the house, please.
Since when?
Since I just fucking told you not to, you little rodent.
You're the boss.
That's right. I am the boss. And you're moving out.
I don't want you sleeping in my house anymore. You've got one more night...
for your mother's sake. If it weren't for her you'd be out on your ass tonight.
I got you back.
Got me back for what?
For Kathleen. Now we're even.
That's insane.
You think I'm crazy too now?
We're tripping.
Who is?
Thaddius and I are. Isn't that perfect?
You all came. I was hoping.
Okay, let's learn a little American history.
This is a genuine imitation acid pad that was built in 1971.
It's so cool.
It was built as a meeting house.
Right. Sorry.
So there was an idea that all this stuff...
all these images and sounds that you'll be hearing, with a little luck...
would break down the psyche of the people that were tripping.
A person could smash past themselves...
and become part of the other people in the room.
Am I getting this right, Jack?
I'm just here as an observer.
See, acid was just a tiny part of it.
Jack wanted this commune to be a pure place...
full of people who re-invented themselves...
hard-working people who weren't greedy or petty or selfish...
people who could actually share property...
because they weren't enslaved by the patterns they inherited...
from their moms and dads.
It was going to be total freedom.
Total freedom.
See, Jack forgot how to believe in communal life a long time ago.
How the hell would you know what I believed in, sweetheart?
But anyway...
seeing as we have guests, I thought we'd have a little...
educational I nostalgic experience.
Give up, boy! You want to kiss me?
- You rich fuck! - Stop!
You think you can buy yourself an instant family? You can't buy me!
Oh, God!
Oh, my God! What happened? Call an ambulance!
Thaddius, baby.
Thaddius. What happened?
Rose planted the snake to kill you.
You crazy little bitch!
Get out of here! Jack!
I was bad. I'm sorry.
You're not bad.
You're innocent.
Innocent people are just dangerous.
I guess.
I don't think I've even really met one before.
You have to get out of here.
Okay? I'm going to stay with Red Berry. Please come with us.
I just can't leave him.
I guess I'm not going to see you again.
You might as well know that you're pretty spectacular.
Are you getting on or not?
Was that you who put the snake in the house?
I'm about that far away from my next heart attack.
So what the hell's going on with you? Have you nothing to say about all of this?
Your problem is you're scared.
If you had any courage, we wouldn't be in this mess.
Who gives a shit what other people think?
What are you talking about?
You know what I'm talking about.
No.
Don't go off like this, for Christ's sake, Rosie.
Yeah?
Both legs and one arm are broken.
Oh, Christ.
He has to stay in the hospital for a couple of days.
What are you going to do?
I guess I'll have to go back and forth for a while.
My sister will stay with him whenever I'm not here.
I'll be home tomorrow.
Are you all right?
Yeah, I'll be fine.
Okay. Bye.
Shouldn't you be in bed?
What for?
Sit down. Breakfast is ready.
I'm taking good care of my guy.
She's got to come back on her own, Jack. She will. I know kids.
Could you get an ashtray, please?
Sure.
You just need to let her cool off for a while, you know?
Rosie, open the door.
I'm sorry.
You were right.
I was scared.
We should never have let the world in.
I wish it could be just us, like it was before.
The happiest man in the whole, wild world.
I was the happiest man, Rosie. I was.
I can't go back.
I can't see her again.
Where are you going?
I'm going to go try and make a transaction.
Can you move out for that?
What about $15,000?
$20,000.
Tomorrow night, okay?
Thank you.
She's leaving by tomorrow night.
Really?
I guess we'll have to stay in this godforsaken place for tonight.
Take off your shoes.
You've got to be kidding me.
Off.
Lie down.
I don't want to lie down in here. This place gives me the creeps.
I like it. It's going to be fun.
Remember how we used to camp out?
Yeah, but not in housing developments.
What are you feeding me here?
Beans.
I want you to promise me something.
That thing that you said a while back.
When I die, you're going to die.
I want you to take that back.
Take it back.
I promise I'll try.
Little flower.
I'm so happy.
Oh, God. God forgive me.
No.
We've got a whole day to kill. We may as well go to the mainland.
Why do people want everything to be so ugly?
I was thinking of paying Marty Rance a visit. You can ask him yourself.
Got it.
That's it.
Hello.
Where did you say that you lived?
Over on the south side of Marsh Island, by the tip.
I didn't think that was developed yet.
There's an old commune out there. We live on that.
Oh, yes. Jack Slavin. Of course.
Jack Slavin.
- Marty, man. - This is a surprise.
Just making the rounds. Getting acquainted with my neighbors.
I'm glad you came by.
- This is Rose. - Rose.
Would you like some coffee?
I'll take some coffee, sure.
- Rose? - No, thanks.
Nice.
How's that appeal coming?
As a matter of fact, I was going to give you a call.
That isn't a wetland anymore.
As a matter of fact, that isn't a house anymore. Mind if I...
What do you mean?
Go see for yourself.
I'm just going to build it again.
If you build it again, I'll have to knock it down again.
I don't want to have to call the police.
Call them. I don't mind.
Listen, Jack.
I realize you and I have had our differences, but by the same token...
you can't stop progress. You can't stop the future from happening.
People have a right to build.
Laws change all the time pertaining to the environment...
as the community's needs change. I believe in putting people first.
That's just my personal belief.
But I want you to feel comfortable with the situation.
So you need to tell me how that can happen.
What the hell do you mean, "comfortable"?
It occurs to me that I haven't ever expressed...
my interest in your land to you.
There.
You didn't have to.
I want you to know that if the day comes where you want to move on...
to, say, a less...
developed part of the world...
We all have our dreams of how we want to retire.
Anyhow, if that day ever comes, call me.
I think you'd be surprised at how much your place is worth now.
When did you purchase the property?
1967.
I'd guesstimate you're looking at...
a 200% profit on your investment. And that's conservative.
Is that so?
Yeah. Think about it.
I have to say...
with our history, Jack, I would never have dreamed...
that you'd end up at my breakfast table.
Why?
We're not so very different from each other, you and me.
I gotta hear this.
We both do whatever the fuck we want, right?
We both turn a blind eye to the consequences, us.
That's the way of the future, right?
I'm a businessman. I'm not...
I know what you are.
I'm just seeing it now for the first time, right now.
This minute, I'm seeing it.
You have a vision, too, right?
My land is like a blot on your perfect universe.
When you see all these box houses...
these imitation colonial homes...
you get a feeling of what?
Of everything being in its place. Of accomplishment.
Right. When I see them...
I want to punch a hole through the walls, set fire to them.
The main difference between you and me, really...
is that you love those little houses...
and I hate those little houses.
It all boils down to taste.
I've ruined her out of some kind of snobbery.
Ruined whom?
Dad, let's go home.
It was about something different.
I know it was, but I can't remember, God forgive me.
- I can't remember what it was. - I remember.
Do you need a doctor? Does he need a doctor?
Oh, God.
All right, Marty, you win. I'll sell.
It's my land still. I want to sell it.
That's great, but just think about it.
- I'll come by tomorrow. - I don't need to think about it.
- I want to get rid of it. - No!
We'll talk about it in the morning. I'll come by...
No! Write me a fucking check, you imbecile.
- Let me drive you. Let me help you. - Please don't.
Turns out Marty is a decent guy.
He didn't want to take advantage of me.
What are you doing?
You know what I'm doing.
You'll be free of this whole thing.
Get an education. Try and...
- You've got to make a life for yourself. - I have a life.
You can't just give up like this.
Sweetheart, I gave up a long time ago. I just didn't realize it.
How can he tell you, "You can't stop the future from happening"?
Who made him the future?
It's not his fault. It's just...
That's the way things are.
Everything's for sale.
Everything.
Please don't sell it.
Please don't give up.
I'm chilly.
Thanks.
Think I'll just go up for a while.
I'll be up in a minute, okay?
Thanks, sweetheart.
That's better.
We've got work to do.
Forgive me.
Go to sleep.
Dad?
Ripped by: SkyFury