Hey, punk! Don't you know you can't buy no house with food stamps?
No Willard, his daddy has a job.
Remember we seen him plucking spuds out in the fields?
Then again, maybe he was just thieving them taters for supper.
Hey!
That's enough!
- I hate them kids! - All right.
Go on. Get on with your business.
I guess this is all my fault.
If I can't control myself, how do I expect you to?
Hey, trespasser!
I know of a house your daddy could afford.
Of course, a couple of robins are living in it now.
Get in the car.
I hope you know they're the kids that just beat me up.
I know who they are, son.
Then why did you just give them Mom and Lidia's cotton candy?
'Cause it looked like they hadn't been given nothing in a long time.
My goodness, you're doing a beautiful job on that.
- Where are you getting all the stuff? - I don't know.
Lidia gets it.
Son, have you tried talking to them Lipnickis?
It's self-defense, Dad!
You went to war to fight for people you didn't even know!
Yes, I did! Because I wanted to help people.
But in the end, I killed more people than I saved.
I lost more friends than I ever made before or since.
I lost my dignity, I lost my house.
I about lost my family.
None of that was your fault, Dad.
You did the right thing, going to war.
I think it's time I finished telling you about them nightmares.
- Oh, Dad! - Just listen!
I started to tell you...
...that I had this friend, Dodge.
We'd gone through boot camp together.
Swore we'd stick by one another, come what may.
"The sunshine of your love
"I've been waiting"
There was an explosion.
And I could hear him.
- Stephen! - It was Dodge. He was calling my name.
He was hurt. We were all hurt.
You and me, man. You and me.
We're getting our asses on the next bus outta here!
You just hold on!
I carried him. I swear I carried him as far as I could.
You and me, man.
You and me, man. You and me, man.
We got to that helicopter just as...
...the enemy was coming in. - Leave him! Just you!
Everybody in the company had died, it was just...
...me and Dodge. - Come on, let's go!
I was scared out of my mind.
The craft's too heavy! We can take one man, that's it!
He's gonna be all right!
We can't lift off with any more than one!
- Let's just give it a try! - No! The enemy's coming in, man!
You gotta make a decision!
- I can't leave him! - It's your choice, man.
It's one of you or none of you.
I can't leave him.
You understand?
We're not the enemy!
Dodge was so bad off, he didn't know from nothing.
And I was so scared of being left behind that I...
I laid my best friend down on the ground and told him to go with God.
He let go of my hand and...
...he just closed his eyes.
I got inside of that helicopter and I flew away.
Two days later...
...my country...
...presented me with a Purple Heart...
...and a Bronze Star for bravery.
Why didn't you make them take him, Dad?
'Cause I lost my mind.
Fighting had consumed us, and we'd all gone nuts.
And that's what my struggle's been about...
...all these years.
Trying to forgive myself, pardon my country.
I can't tell you never to fight, Stu.
But if you wanna know what I think...
...I think the only thing that keeps people...
...truly safe and happy is love.
I think that's where men get their courage.
That's where countries get their strength.
And that's where God grants us her miracles.
And in the absence of love, Stuart...
...there is nothing.
Nothing in this world worth fighting for.
I'll try to work it out with the Lipnickis, all right?
I know you will.
I know you will. You're...
- I love you. - I love you too, Dad.
You're my son.
Good morning, girls and boys.
My name...
...is Miss Strapford.
Now...
...this summer, we're gonna be familiarizing ourselves...
...with what I believe...
...is just the finest little book ever come into print.
It is entitled:
Why My Life is Like a Bowl of Cherries.
Now, doesn't that title just give you a thrill?
Excuse me, darling.
When the teacher is speaking, the polite thing for girls and boys to do...
...is to shut their little mouths and listen, you understand?
Yes, ma'am.
Now...
...once we are finished with this book...
...we are gonna be devoting our time to writing our memoirs.
This is where you will indicate to me...
...why your life...
...is like a bowl of cherries.
Let's get this class into some sort of order.
Son, you're a tall boy.
Why don't you swap seats with the girl back there in the plaid?
Go on. Pick up your stuff and move on back.
And you with the hearing aid!
Why don't you have a seat back there?
Just crank up that little thing of yours.
And you, sweetheart, why don't you have a seat up front?
Oh my, you're a big girl.
I'm sure you'll see just fine in the rear aisle. Go on.
And you, little girl, why don't you have a seat in the back with your friend?
Now, isn't this much better?
- Nigger lover. - Shut up!
Colored girl, didn't I just tell you to hush up?
I wasn't saying nothing.
Well now, I distinctly heard you whispering.
Stand up and tell the class...
...what was so important that you had to interrupt me again.
I already told you. I wasn't saying nothing.
I know you did.
And I wanna hear what it was.
We're all waiting.
She already told you.
I think she can speak for herself.
All right. I'll tell you.
I was saying, "Elvadine, what you gots to write about?
"Been in the sixth grade your whole good-for-nothing life.
"Ain't got no daddy.
"Never goes anywhere but where your feets take you.
"Onliest money ever belonged to you in the whole world...
"... was $20 you got yourself in a birthday card...
"... from your uncle last year. "
But it really wasn't for my birthday, really.
It was for laying over his lap, letting him spank me...
...with my underpants down.
Now, here you come along, shoving me in the back of a room...
...where I's can't even see good...
...which means I probably not gonna graduate this summer neither.
Just 'cause you read how some white man say, "life be like a bowl full of cherries"...
...I gots to come up with something to fit his saying.
Well, fine. I'll just write down how happy I'm gonna be...
...to get $20 more on my birthday.
Never mind what he got planned for me this year.
And I'm gonna write how maybe the new man my mama's seeing...
...might stop drinking and treat me nice.
And maybe he gonna adopt me and take us off the welfare.
And at the end, I'm gonna be sure and put:
"Life sure is a bowl full of cherries. "
But to tell you the truth, Miss Strapford...
...I think you and that book and this whole class...
...be a bowl full of shit!
Go to the principal's office.
Now.
Didn't you hear a damn word she said?
Excuse me?
She told you the best truth she knows.
And you don't have any right to put her out or call her a liar neither.
My mama says folks who treat people bad only do it because they're ignorant.
So I'm gonna help you.
She's gonna sit up front where she can see from now on.
She ain't gonna go by "colored girl" no more, neither.
You're gonna learn her name.
I don't know about you, but all my friends have names.
And this just so happens to be my best friend.
Her name is Elvadine.
My daughter knows the difference between cruelty and sensitivity.
So I wrote my memoirs for Miss Strapford.
And the summer just drifted on by.
Dad got his union card and a job pumping water...
...out of an empty portion of the Foothill Marble Mine...
...two counties north of us.
It was a good job 'cause there was 3,000,000 gallons of water to pump.
I hear they ain't been working in this part of the mine...
...for 20 years now.
It's kind of spooky, really.
Let me get it.
What was that?
I don't know.
Moe!
Help!
I can't move.
All right, let me see.
Stephen?
Am I all right?
All right, this is not gonna feel too good.
No, Stephen.
It ain't no use.
Best go. Get out of here while you can.
You know I can't do that.
You still owe me $3 for gasoline.
I want you to know...
...if I gotta break your leg into ten pieces...
...I'm taking you outta here.
Thanks, that makes me feel a whole lot better.
Third time's the charmer.
Grit your teeth...
...and get ready to swim.
All right, don't move back there. Keep apace.
- Move them back. - My name is Lois Simmons.
Stephen Simmons is my husband. Is he all right?
I don't know. I hope so.
Move back!
Get out of the way. Move back!
Moe!
- Oh, my God! What happened? - Stu?
He saved my life.
Your daddy saved my life.
Dad!
Let me see him.
Dad, what happened?
- Get back. We're in a hurry. - You all right?
- Stuart! - Get back, son.
Dad!
Is he gonna live?
I've heard of others like him that have pulled through but I gotta tell you...
...what's keeping him alive hasn't been a thing to do with medicine.
He's got massive thoracic injuries. One of his lungs is collapsed.
He's hemorrhaging. His heart's bruised awful bad.
Dad.
Oh, Dad.
They say he should've died instantly.
They didn't know my dad. And he hung on.
Stu never said much about that day.
He just went straight over to the tree house and started in on it.
For the rest of that day and most of the night...
...he kept himself busier than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest.
I guess around dawn, Stu finally passed out.
Meanwhile, little John D. Rockefeller just kept on hoarding his loot.
Biding his time till he saw a chance to spend it.
Do you have a bag?
And spend it he did.
Arliss! Leo! Willard!
Get your good-for-nothing carcasses over here!
Look at him, every last one of you, look at him!
He can't even move, for Christ's sake!
What's the matter with him?
Well now, you tell me!
I don't know. Ice-cream coma?
He's your goddamned brother! You're supposed to take care of him!
If your mama could see how your treating him...
...she'd come down from heaven and kill every last one of us!
I ought to beat the hell out of all of you...
...for letting him wallow in the dirt like that!
Now, get him cleaned up before the ants carry him off!
And from now on, if any of you leave this yard without him...
...it's gonna be on a stretcher!
Get up!
I almost got my ears torn off, stupid idiot!
- I wish we never even had you. - Where'd you get it, anyhow?
A big airplane just dropped them out of the sky.
If you don't honest up, we'll scrub you down with lipstick...
...so everyone thinks you've got diaper rash, how about it?
- No! - Yes!
Then we'll shave your head bald as a witch's tit.
- I won't look like no witch's tit. - You will if you don't tell us.
You can cut off every hair on my head, but I ain't telling you...
...ding-dittly-ding-dittly-ding-dang-dong.
"Sunny
"Yesterday my life was filled with rain
"Sunny
"You smiled at me and really eased the pain
"Oh, the dark days are done
"and the bright days are here
"My Sunny one shines so sincere
"Oh, Sunny one so true
"I love you"
Oh, my God!
The Lipnickis are coming!
- Great! That makes for a perfect day. - What the hell are they doing here?
Did you guys tell them about this place?
- Of course not! - No way, man!
I gots to go home.
- My mom gots to do my hair. - See you, Lid.
Stu?
What?
I was gonna tell you.
Tell me what? What did you do, Lidia?
I mentioned to the little kid Lipnicki, Billy, that we were building a fort.
He ain't allowed off his property. How could you talk to him?
All the junk comes from the Lipnickis' yard.
No.
- No! - Oh, man, I warned you, Stu!
A walking, talking broadcast station, that's what she is!
Oh, man, I fold.
They're half way across the lot. What are we doing?
- Stall them a minute. I gotta think. - Simmons!
Simmons, you better get your butt down here!
Stu, it's kind of important you come out here now!
I admit it. I shouldn't have been there.
Yeah.
- So I screwed up. - Yeah.
All right, let's not make a big thing outta this.
Now what?
I don't know. I'm not going out there to fight them.
- Stu! - You're not thinking of handing it all back?
This is our house! Maybe the only one we're ever gonna have.
Shouldn't we fight for it?
Don't you recall a damn thing daddy's taught us?
He finds out we've been fighting, he's gonna be real disappointed.
Maybe this ain't the time.
But haven't you considered that maybe he's never gonna find out?
He's lying in that hospital...
...while the machine's breathing for him.
Don't you say one more word!
You just better not talk like that no more!
- He's gonna be fine! He's always fine! - Okay, Stu. I'm sorry.
- Name me one time he didn't turn out fine. - You're right. I'm sorry.
I didn't mean that, really.
We'll figure another way, that's all. No fighting.
Oh, Stu!
I think you ought to join us out here on the patio, right quick!
Stu! Oh, Stu!
- Come here, twerps! - Let go of my ear!
Shut your face, freckle!
Stuart Simmons, meet Arliss Lipnicki again.
Billy says you've all been mooching off on our property.
This is our stuff. Your daddy took it from our old house.
I've seen bird houses built better than this.
Probably fall to pieces in the first good wind.
- Bitching lock. Where did you get it? - It's my dad's.
Come from the war. Come on, give it back.
Goody gumdrops.
I think I'll just take it home and play with it.
Now, come on. Give it back.
That there's our stove, I'll tell you that right now.
Them boards and rusty nails are ours, too.
If it's just them few things, we'll dismantle them and give them back.
Stu?
Trespasser wants to give us back our ruined boards...
...with ten million scratches and dog-piss stains.
I'm afraid I'll have to lay claim to this piece of crap fort.
You don't need to claim it. You guys can come visit any time.
- Yeah! - Shut up, Billy, you little dip.
Hey, cool fort!
What the hell did they do to your head?
Same thing I'm gonna do to you!
You've got five seconds to tell me a better idea...
...than seizing this place for our own.
Four, three, two.
We'll dare you for it.
Cool, Arliss! A dare!
- What kind of dare? - Any kind you say.
But if we win, we keep the fort.
- If you lose? - It's yours.
Lock and key.
It's fine by us. See you at the quarry.
If we win the key, do we get to own the fort and say whose in it?
Yeah, Billy, that's what we get to do.
If I got the key, I'd have it be everyone's...
...and we'd have a big party with Ring Dings, Little Debbies...
...rocket pops and Yoo-hoos and...
Shut up, Billy, you little broken record!
Thank you, now I'm starving. And I mean starving.
God!
I'm scared.
Hold on, asshole!
I am holding on!
Water's calm now, but she gets real ugly when she empties.
Oh, man.
Are you sure you swum down there?
You ain't psyching me out, are you?
I told you I did.
What are them noises?
It's draining, I guess.
It'll stop sooner or later.
Stu, let's nix on this.
We can find another lot.
Look, it's real simple.
You and Leo swim to the other side and tag it.
First one back to the ladder claims all.
Either side yellow-bellies, it's a forfeit.
You all got that?
Oh, my God! What is that?
There ain't no way across here.
Well, we'll find out, won't we?
- What's going on? - You've never been down here, have you?
You swimming across here is a bunch of dick.
It ain't as bad as it looks.
- Simmons ain't afraid to swim. - That moron's crazier than you.
- You swim it! - Fine! I will!
- Willard, go down there. - I ain't going down there.
Don't you knuckle on me. You want them to think we're chicken?
They can think whatever they like. I ain't going down there.
- Ebb? - Why, you chicken, big fella?
- Ula? - No way!
Hey, where did Leo go?
You ready? On your marks, get set...
Hold on. Look here.
I'm gonna give you one last chance to back out.
Give me the word, and we'll think up a different deal.
- For your sake. - You forfeit?
- Lidia, count us down. - On your marks...
You know there ain't no way.
- Get set. Go. - You psycho?
Stu, come on!
You're gonna make it, Stu!
You're halfway there!
Stu, come on!
Don't get in the middle! Stay out of the middle!
Come on, Stu, swim!
Stu! Come on, please, Stu!
Stu, come on, you can make it!
Swim!
Swim, Stu! Come on!
Come on, Stu!
Stu! Come on!
Come on, Stu! You can make it.
Come on!
That lunatic made it across!
I taught him how to swim like that.
Boy, I psyched you out.
You thought we was really gonna swim it. What a cretin.
Hey! The fort's ours!
Have it. We never wanted your cruddy little fort in the first place.
I told you I'd get you through this mess.
Hey, the lock.
Go get it yourself, why don't you? I dare you.
Come on, Stu, forget the key. We got the fort.
Come on, Billy. She's right.
Let's get out of here before somebody gets hurt.
So we deposited Billy on firm ground...
...and went to visit dad again.
Stu thought he looked better.
Elvadine said a prayer for him.
I'm here, honey.
Do you even know who I am?
Lois.
Stephen.
That's me.
Hey, Mom!
Stuart!
Lidia. You all are to come in here now.
Something wrong? Ma?
Your daddy just died.
No.
- No. - It wasn't painful.
His heart just quit pumping.
He's gonna be okay. He cannot die. He's on machines.
- Son, they took him off. - Well, tell them to put him back on!
Honey...
...he's gone.
They can't now.
I'm sorry.
Why did they take him off, Ma? Because it cost too much?
No.
You understand, don't you?
I understand that everybody just gave up on him!
Nothing could've kept your father away from you, given he had a choice.
I bet he's up there, right now, in heaven, looking down on us.
He's gonna be able to look out for us the rest of our lives.
Well, I sure as hell hope he does a better job than when he was alive.
- Don't say that, Stu! - Why? You thought he was a deadbeat.
I never said that. For all I know, he could've been an angel.
Maybe he's looking down on us now.
Maybe he died in that war and God sent him back for one last visit.
For what? To get our hopes up?
To promise us he'd stay forever?
And we were gonna have a big house with a tire swing, a vanity, and a picket fence.
And then just leave? Again?
What the hell kind of loused-up angel is that?
He didn't mean to leave, honey.
No, he didn't mean it. I think God just took him on home.
We're his home, Ma!
The stupid Lord can have him later.
Why?
Why does God take everything, Ma?
Bad enough our house and all our things.
Why did he have to take my daddy?
What did I do so wrong that he'd have to take my daddy?
- Oh, no, you didn't do nothing. - He could've took anybody.
Charles Manson, super-old people who've already been around 100 years.
My dad was only 34 years old.
I needed him more than you, God!
I needed him more!
- Come here. - No!
Hang on.
I want him back, Mama.
We all do. We do.
No, Stu!
Stu.
They showed up this afternoon...
...before we could get all our ammo done.
Now they're wasting half my brother's fireworks.
How's your dad?
He died.
- Oh, Stu. - Is there anything we can do for you?
What if dad's watching?
Dad's dead.
What if he knows what we're doing?
Dad's gone, Lidia.
Here's the real stuff.
Smoke bombs.
Camouflage paint.
Uniforms. Take what you want, guys.
Man.
Hurry, close it.
Get them off!
Eat that, sucker.
You get outta my tree and stay out, and nobody gets hurt!
But if you come back, all bets are off!
Don't come back here!
- Here's one! Let's clobber him! - Run!
- Regroup! - Keep running. That's what you do best.
You yellow-bellied chickens!
Oh, my God!
Lidia, get outta there!
Come on! Help me save the fort.
Oh, no.
Wait. What are you doing?
Putting out another fire.
Arliss, why are you doing that?
Why doesn't everyone share the fort?
For the last time, get lost, you little twerp.
Ula Lipnicki!
All them times you knocked out my teeth, I'm gonna show you now!
Get away from my friend!
You knocked out my tooth.
You knocked out another front tooth, you douche bag.
We thought if we hit them hard the first time...
...they'd surrender and the fighting would end.
But it didn't. It just got worse and worse.
And I guess somewhere along the way, we all sort of lost our minds.
You sick, crazy bastard!
See you later, alligator.
I'll get you, Ebb!
I'm gonna kick your little butt from here to kingdom come!
Army tags!
You and me, man.
You and me, man. You and me, man.
Oh, my God.
Billy, don't move! Stay there!
Billy!
Hey!
Forget the key, Billy. The fort's gone.
Just stay where you are.
The planks are rotted. Don't move a muscle.
Hold still now, Billy. I'm gonna get you.
Billy! Is that you, you Dumb Dora?
Yeah!
Hold on! Don't do nothing stupid.
- I just came to grab the key. - It's okay now.
- I've got you. - I'm scared!
It's okay. Let go.
- Don't be mad at me. - Give me your hand.
Billy!
Help!
Grab onto something! Come on, you can make it!
Hang on, Billy! It's got to stop draining soon.
He's stuck in the drain! Yank him off!
Get him, get him!
Hurry!
Yank him off the drain!
We're coming now! Grab him!
Grab him!
Oh, no. He ain't breathing. He ain't breathing!
Come on, Billy! Help me now.
Take a breath. Come on, wake up! Damn it, Billy, fight it!
Fight it! Listen to me. I'm talking to you.
Come on! Come on!
Live, Billy.
- Breathe! Please, God, breathe! - Stop it, you'll hurt him!
It ain't no use. He ain't taking air.
Don't you listen to them, Billy. We're gonna pull through this now, you and me.
Wake up! Come on, you gotta live!
You gotta live!
- You gotta! - Don't hurt him.
- Just let him be. - No! We've gotta give him a chance.
Come on, Billy, take a breath!
My daddy says people can do anything they have a mind to...
...as long as they believe they can.
Please, God, let him breathe!
You took my dad. Don't take Billy. He's just a little kid.
You've gotta wake up now. You've gotta live!
Come on, breathe!
Breathe!
Don't quit now, Billy!
Will somebody please help me?
- I will. - You know what you're doing?
I sure hope so.
Wake up now, Billy. Nobody's gonna be mad at you.
You did the best you could.
Come on, you're a real-life hero.
Come on, wake up, Billy!
He woke up.
You know, I saw an angel.
A real one.
He was holding onto my hand.
And I was gonna live in his kingdom.
He said I must come back and take care of my daddy.
And he looked like you...
...but only bigger.
Come on, Billy. Let's go home.
These were dad's.
What are you thinking?
If dad's watching...
...he can go now.
He is watching.
From that day on...
...the Lipnickis didn't hang around the quarry no more.
We didn't see much of them...
...except for Billy, who kind of adopted us all.
The guys and us started to rebuild the fort, but after a few days...
...we all got kind of disinterested, and gave up.
Now Stu and his friends mainly hang out at the theatre...
...so as to try and pick up babes.
Mama said daddy was at peace finally...
...that he wasn't suffering no more.
Then a few weeks later, a visitor came to see us.
Can I help you?
Good afternoon, ma'am. My name is John Ray Wilkens.
- I'm with the Clairville Auction House. - Yes.
Well, about six weeks ago, your husband put down a bid...
...on one of our bank-owned properties.
We tried to call you all, but I guess the phone's been down.
- Things have been a little tight. - Yeah, well anyway...
...your husband put a down-payment bid of $432.
Well, thanks for returning the check. We could sure use the money.
No, ma'am, I'm not returning the check.
The bank took on too many of these failed mortgages...
...and if they don't get rid of these properties...
...they'll be bankrupt themselves.
The bank accepted your husband's offer.
Being that it was the only one they got.
Are you telling me Stephen bought us a house?
Yes, ma'am.
Lipstick and rouge, Ma.
Don't I know!
So, I guess these memoirs are about us getting a home of our own.
But they're also about learning what's worth fighting for.
My daddy once said of fighting:
"We are meant for better things, you and I."
And these days whenever I'm ready to belt someone who's got my dander up...
...I hear him whisper those words in my ear.
My mama says that people's lives are like tapestries.
The color and beauty of the designs...
...depend all on the people you know...
...the things you've learned.
What I learned this summer...
...is that no matter how much people think they understand war...
...war will never understand people.
It's like a big machine that...
...nobody really knows how to work.
Once it gets outta hand...
...winds up wrecking all the things you thought you were fighting for.
A whole bunch of other good things you sort of forgot you had.
I learned this summer that...
...my brother was right.
My daddy's the wisest man I've ever known.
And that no matter what anybody tells you...
...with God's help, human beings can do anything.
Look at it!
Subtitles by SOFTITLER
Ripped by: SkyFury