I think that you're the one that's felt the heat of it.
And not too long ago at that.
There's a pretty cotton nightshirt in there with tulips on it.
I know you'll love that.
You don't exactly travel light, do you?
Long story. Take anything you want.
Well, how about this?
That was my mother's.
I'm sorry.
This her?
She's pretty.
Yeah, I guess she was.
Fuck.
You lookin' for something?
Three guesses.
I had some serious shit in that car.
- Your shit's still in it. - You mind telling me where?
Across the tracks over there in Mesquite.
You mind telling me why?
Anybody see you last night?
Last night? No.
- You sure? - Yeah.
You sure?
Are you deaf? Yeah, I'm sure.
Then whose pepper was I pickin' out of my father's shoulder?
That? Some half-wit pump owner...
stumbled onto us in the rain, took a wild shot and hit something.
It was fluke luck. Nobody saw the car.
I guess I just wasted my time.
I guess you did.
I'm his kin, you understand?
I got no choice.
So don't think this is some game that you're playin'.
Last night, it could have just as easily been you out there...
bleedin' in the rain.
Only difference is, he'd have left you behind...
or finished the job himself.
Well, shit.
No wonder old black eyes loves you.
You wouldn't have the balls to shoo a fly off a steak.
Warm you boys up?
Is that one at a time or both together?
You're a little devil, aren't you?
I'd damn sure put the curl in your hair if you'd give me half a chance.
I don't need a man for that.
- There you go. - Thank you, ma'am.
Oh, my God.
Where you from?
Why do you wanna know that?
Who gave her that mask?
Does it matter?
I suppose you're right. People get what they deserve.
What do you want?
- If it's money, l... - Money?
Money? Hey, boy...
I don't need your money.
Well, why are you here?
I got shot. You fixed me up. I'm havin' some eggs.
Does that seem strange?
Just like old times, huh?
Just coincidence.
I had a loose end to take care of up north Oklahoma way...
around Ardmore, them parts.
An associate of mine...
got a little greedy.
Started threatenin'.
Started to weigh on me...
stole my sleep, and you know how I feel about loose ends.
Being one myself.
That's true, isn't it, Junior?
He bought me lunch, and...
he bought me a pack of cigarettes.
After Oklahoma, I was working north, drifted on down...
and run into this little girl over here.
And I saw her...
switching tickets at this diner in Cherry Spring.
She had a full rancher's breakfast, and she pulled a switch...
with this little old lady had coffee and a piece of pie.
Little low-rent for you, ain't it?
Well, it was the way she did it.
Smooth as glass. Real nerve.
Well, at least you won't go hungry.
Well...
she's a little bigger than that.
The last couple months, she's been runnin' this slick little game.
Thing of beauty.
She steals from the dead.
She's been sloppy about it, of course.
Would've got caught if I hadn't come along.
But she's got grit in spades.
I'll have to watch my back with this one.
Heart beats about twice a minute.
At least it beats.
Don't you kid yourself, Junior.
You see, you and me...
we're flesh and bone.
The same blood that runs my veins...
runs yours.
- You seen my duffle? - Maybe in the truck.
What happened last night...
with your father?
He just has a habit of puttin' himself...
at the wrong place at the wrong time.
What's all that?
She hardly has a thing to wear from what I gather.
Lord knows I got enough.
Besides, most of these are full of bad memories.
Not too many spring picnics here.
This may not be none of my business, but...
I run into that little scarecrow you got...
runnin' that north territory up there.
- Did he mention that? - He mentioned it.
Yeah.
- His name Eddie? - Elliot.
Elliot, right.
He's a nervous little son of a bitch, ain't he?
Got a real strange way of walkin'.
Them ankles so close together. You ever notice things like that?
What's your point?
Well...
it might not be my place.
It looked to me like he's stealin' from you, son.
Elliot's an honest man.
You sure know him better than I do.
But it's just that, you see...
I watched him at this fillin' station outside of Paint Rock.
This one afternoon, he had him two sacks...
and he was runnin' Quarters in the both of them.
I guess it don't take no great genius...
to count Clark Bars and figure out that you're short.
He has been short, hasn't he?
Short don't mean he's stealin'.
No, I guess not.
But then again, what else would it mean?
Bye, y'all.
You sure you're fit to travel?
Hell, this ain't nothin', darlin'.
I'm what you call a Quick healer.
You ask Arlis there. I'd wreck my shoulder on a Sunday...
and still give him a smack on a Monday.
Ain't that right, son?
There's a Texaco station about ten miles east.
That'll be your last chance for a while.
I appreciate that.
Truly, l... Except I think we're gonna head up north there...
around Benson County.
You remember Benson County, don't you, Junior?
I'm just needlin' him. Boy always hated it up there.
Them locusts liked to drive him crazy. You take care, now.
Get yourself packed.
We're leavin'.
It's funny. I'd have never put it together... him and you.
If I'd met you separate, I'd never see the tie.
I guess we don't get much choice in it, do we?
What was all that talk about Benson County?
Just talk.
I don't remember the locusts at all.
Pass me that bottle again, will ya?
We finished the last we had.
We or you?
What's the difference?
It's gone.
Next place you see, you stop.
You're the boss.
That's strange.
What?
Look at that house up there.
Looks familiar.
Sure, that's the one in the photograph.
Photograph?
The one that lady had.
I saw it in her suitcase when I went looking for a nightshirt.
- You're wrong. - No.
That roof was just the same. And the trees. And the windmill...
There's dozens of houses look just like that up here.
I'm positive.
No one has lived in that house for years.
Well, looks like it was a nice place once.
I think whoever lived there would have kept it up.
Not that house.
What do you mean?
Years ago, they say some Mexican...
shot the man he was working for...
and then shot the whole family right after.
Jesus.
I mean, that's the story I heard.
It changes over the years.
Who knows what the truth is anymore?
No matter what the story is, it all comes back to one thing.
What's that?
Well, the house.
They say it's haunted.
But then, I don't believe in ghosts.
All right, Darlene. Thanks.
No, I'm glad you told me.
Yeah, you too.
Bye.
I can't believe it.
He filed for divorce, Reese did.
I'm sorry.
Sorry? I'm just amazed he could do the paperwork by himself.
I wanna celebrate.
Celebrate?
Yeah, I feel free...
for the first time in my life, I think, and I wanna celebrate.
I wanna put on a pretty dress, get you out of that damn hat...
and go have a nice big fat steak.
What do you say?
Any suggestions?
Try C-17.
C-17.
How come this place is closed in the middle of the week?
Pete's boy plays baseball for the local school.
Anytime Tommy's set to pitch, Pete throws a lock on the place...
and he rides the bus with the team.
That's how come I got the key.
He must trust you.
I guess he does.
You play this for all the girls, old C-17?
First time.
You an honest man, Arlis Sweeney?
Yes, ma'am.
You like the dress?
I like the dress.
You like the girl?
I'd say she's the prettiest one in the room.
Pretty enough to dance with?
Well...
Now, don't tell me you don't.
Well, don't you think it's about time you learned?
Dancin'...
frees the soul.
Howdy, partner.
That's all I get after last night?
Mornin'.
Good mornin', darlin'.
Why don't you shake on into the kitchen...
and crack me a beer?
Need some help?
Get me two cases of Milky Ways by 9:00 a. M...
'cause that's what my hired man's gonna be lookin' to take with him...
back to Crockett County.
I haven't even got me one case.
Hell, I ain't got a Milky Way, period.
Well, I'm sure the good people of Crockett County...
can do without a Milky Way for a day or two.
It's my job, all right?
We're a little surly in the morning, aren't we?
That's okay. It runs in my family too.
What's that?
The morning bear. I said it runs in my family too.
What else runs in your family?
Your family. You never talk about 'em.
Believe me, there's a lot more interesting things to talk about...
than my family.
I already told you everything that's worth tellin' anyway.
Besides, I haven't seen them in years.
Not since I got married.
But when you were a kid growin' up, what were they like?
What'd your mother do? What'd your father do?
If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were crowdin' me.
Maybe you don't know me.
What'd my father do?
Drink mostly. Gamble.
Lost everything we had eventually. That's how I met Reese.
Went to go collect my father one night at this place in the woods...
where there was always an all-night game...
and there they were, sittin' shoulder-to-shoulder...
two drunks...
Losing money faster than one sober fool ever could.
Of course, I was a real fool.
Ended up takin' Reese home. Stayed to make his breakfast.
Never left.
Why the sudden interest?
Nothin'. I'm just...
I happened to see that photograph...
in your suitcase.
Well, that's not me.
It is me, but it isn't.
See, my parents... The only parents I've ever known...
are really my aunt and uncle by blood.
I mean...
the people in the photograph I never knew.
They were lost when I was a baby. Killed.
Car accident.
Car accident?
When I was old enough to know, I was given the picture and told about it.
I don't know why I hang onto it. It's just...
You grow up in an ugly house the way I did...
sometimes you wonder how it might have been...
if things hadn't happened the way they did.
It's funny. Your father the other day...
mentioned Benson County.
That's where they lived, I'm pretty sure.
The people in the picture.
My family.
I'm about ready.
Listen.
I think maybe it'd be better you stay here.
Stay here?
While I run up the road to tend to Elliot.
There's some money over there.
Get yourself something to eat while l...
while I'm gone.
Well, they must make one hell of a Spanish omelette.
All right, I'll wait for ya.
You don't want to be going anywhere without this.
Earl's Truck Stop over in Coke County...
run out of Cheez-Its again.
Cheez-Its and truckers. They sure go together.
And Phil Pritchard wants you to ring him up...
about puttin' another Coke machine in his ice rink.
I can't figure why he waited so long.
- Two years I've been tellin' him. - You're a little light here.
Yeah, well, I had trouble with the Mexicans again.
They hurt the machines?
Nothin' I couldn't put right with a crowbar.
I had to replace the brace on one. Slung it with...
a three-Quarter inch York.
- That should solve your problem. - Should.
But those boys are strong.
Hell knows I couldn't pop her.
- Without the key? - Yeah.
Well, that's what I meant... without the key.
You look like you had one too many cups of coffee, Elliot.
It's the chill, I guess.
Are you stealin' from me?
You know I did time in Big Spring.
I told you that right off day we met.
But I did the time.
I'm out now...
and I want to stay that way.
I'm not sure that answers my Question.
You don't know...
'cause you've never been in trouble.
But once you been in trouble...
and people know it...
you feel guilty for things you never done.
Just because you know...
they think you got it in you.
That potential.
Is that why your hands are shaking?
That's why my hands are shaking.
I like my job, Arlis.
I like you.
I like you too, Elliot.
I'll see you next week.
And Elliot, that business about the machines...
It ain't the Mexicans.
Up there they blame everything on the Mexicans.
We asked 100 women this question. Give me the most popular answer...
from the 100 women who answered.
Tell me a reason why women leave their husbands.
Infidelity.
Did our women say infidelity?
It's number one!
Who needs him anyway?
Stardust Motel.
Emma, it's Arlis.
Ring 12 for me, will you?
Not unless you wanna talk to Theresa. She's pulling the sheets.
Speaking of which, what do you want me to do with the suitcase?
Suitcase?
I'll have Jimmy put it in Maintenance. Just give me the word.
I don't follow you. Where's the lady?
Gone. Been gone about an hour now.
They just got in the car and left.
They? Who's they?
She and her friend. A young lady in sunglasses.
A real stinger, that one.
Asked me for directions three times...
then liked to take half the guest mints from the bowl.
I swear, some people just have no manners.
They say where they were goin'?
Up north, I guess. The young one had gotten turned around.
Wanted to know how to get back on the farm route.
That doesn't help much. They could be anywhere in the county.
It suits you... the dress.
Well, you can have it back if that's what you mean.
I'm just sayin' it suits you, that's all.
You might think about doin' something with your hair.
You got a nice face. You should let the boys see it.
It ain't my face the boys wanna see.
Maybe you haven't met the right boy.
- And you have? - I thought so.
Last night, at least, but now l...
I don't know what to think.
Look, you can't figure men.
So don't run yourself ragged tryin'.
I guess. I don't know why he just didn't call me himself.
I told you, it's a surprise.
I don't even know what's goin' on myself.
I'm just doin' what I was told.
Well, here we are.
This is where we're goin'?
I don't...
Oh, my God.
Surprise.
Howdy.
She's some old dame, ain't she?
Look at that face, sweet pea. Does that break your heart?
To pieces.
First time you've seen it?
- How did he know? - What's that now?
The house.
How did he know where it was?
Oh, Arlis.
He knows a lot more than he lets on.
Anyway, sweet pea saw it and...
said something about a photograph.
- That about right? - Right.
Where is he?
He'll be along.
Say, you wanna take a little look inside there, look around?
Well, go on.
But you be careful, now.
Watch yourself, especially on them stairs there.
There's more termites than there is timber by now.
How was the movie?
I got here as fast as I could.
You talk to that clerk there at the motel?
Dropped enough crumbs for a flock of geese.
That's ten minutes. Where the hell you been?
She had to pee twice...
and I had to make a little stop of my own.
I know how grim you get, you don't get your breakfast.
You're smarter than I thought.
I'm not smart enough to figure out what we're doin'...
wastin' our time out here in cracker land.
I'm gonna tell you all about loose ends some day.
And you'll want to listen careful.
You look like you've seen a ghost there, Junior.
I hope you brought some food.
You all right?
Hell, he's fine. Just fine.
Cat's got his tongue is all.
Come on up. There's something I wanna show you.
Watch your step, son.
It's like heaven, isn't it?
My mother must have stood right here...
brushin' her hair...
daydreamin'.
I think I figured it out.
I must've slept in here...
or there.
No. In front.
In those days, houses like these...
they used to put the baby in the front of the house.
That way, if a woman was hangin' laundry and the baby cried...
she could hear.
Maybe my mother hung laundry out back.
Sun's strongest in the front.
You seem to know more about me than I do, so why don't you tell me.
Were my parents good people? Were they nice to baby Kay?
I'm sure they were.
- What makes you so sure? - 'Cause you're good people.
And good people come from good people.
Ain't that right, son?
- That's right. - I'm not so sure that's true.
But it's nice of you to say.
No, I'm...
I'm not just saying it. I know it, and that's a fact.
I'm gonna go outside.
That's a good idea. Would you do me a favor?
Would you take Ginnie while you're at it?
She's probably down there bitin' on her nails by now.
- I'll go with you. - No.
I need to talk to you. Father to son, you know.
Let the girls get some wind in their hair.
We could walk for days, I bet, and never see anything but this.
Wouldn't that be a thrill.
See, it was the girl, sweet pea, that first mentioned it...
the house being the same and all.
I thought she had it all wrong, naturally.
See, I knew I never seen this woman of yours before...
'cause I never forget a face.
But...
Still, there was something doggin' me. A sound.
Halfway to Shreveport, I see a lady standin' by the side of the road.
A mother.
And that's when I knew what it was.
That sound in my head...
her cryin'.
You see, I had forgotten...
about the baby.
What's that sound? You hear it?
Bugs.
She doesn't know.
There's no reason for her to know, no reason for me to tell her.
I realize that.
I truly, truly do.
But this woman, she's different.
See, I noticed that the first time I seen her.
The way she looked at you and the way you looked at her.
It was touching, truly.
She'll never know.
I swear it on my life.
Damn, I wish I could believe that.
But as much as we are the same...
you've always been a little too emotional.
I left her this mornin'.
I only came back 'cause of you. This little game.
This ain't no game, Junior.
You know me better than that.
I must be out of my fuckin' mind.
It's not gonna change, you know!
They don't grow this stuff but one color.
It's a shame, really.
She's so sweet. Almost innocent.
She is innocent. But I'm not.
Take me...
and she can't know.
I couldn't do that.
What kind of man would that make me?
A man who'd shoot his own kin.
I couldn't sleep with that, and I do prize my sleep.
There's really only one Question here, son.
Do I do it...
or you?
I could hear 'em.
You don't mind if I smoke, do you?
You know how I always enjoyed a good cigar.
That's what separates me from other men... I can tell the difference.
A good cigar's not what separates you from other men.
What separates you, Junior? You fuck their wives?
I don't shoot their children.
You'd done what you were told, there would have been no blood that night.
I didn't pull the trigger.
But you opened the door, and they were supposed to be asleep.
And you know they're always supposed to be asleep.
Besides, wasn't me that shot first. I had no choice.
And the boy? Did he have a choice?
Fuck that little boy! He almost got your daddy killed.
We had one bad night.
It was 30 years ago.
There was more than one bad night.
But that was your night, wasn't it, Junior?
You're right.
You didn't pull the trigger.
You did open the door.
And now, you brung her to me.
You're stupid. You've always been stupid.
You was stupid when you were a little kid.
As a man, shit, you're being stupid now.
Who's got the gun, boy? Me?
Go ahead, son. Put it on me and pull the trigger.
Come on.
See, you can't. You just can't.
You can't because we're kin.
Blood.
Look, you go ahead and run along and fill up them candy machines.
It's only right that I do it.
This way, we both will sleep easy.
Dad?
Son?
Sweet dreams.
- What happened? - Get in the truck.
- But... - Get in the truck!
Everything he told you...
it's a lie.
Thanks for the advice.
Don't be in a hurry to leave.
They know me here for years, so you just stay as long as you want.
Until you figure out your next step.
You got your key?
Yeah.
I got my key.
What was I doin' in that house today?
Or am I crowdin' you?
There are some things that...
are better left unsaid.
It just does no good to talk about 'em.
No good at all.
It's like I said. I'm a creature of habit.
Each town I go, there's a place to eat...
place to sleep.
And in each town, there's also a woman.
I'm startin' to miss 'em.
Sure, I understand.
I just sort of fell into your life anyway.
There wasn't any reason to it. God knows I've been a burden.
It's just...
I really haven't been myself these last few days.
Yes, you have.
You've been fine.
Better than fine.
Looks like they're almost gone.
The bruises.
I better go.
I got a jukebox up the road that's only playin' George Jones.
That ain't so bad.
I guess not.
I stumble on any of those blue dimes of yours...
maybe I'll use a couple of'em...
give you a call, let you know how I'm doin'.
You know where to find me.
What's that on your pocket?
That's nothin'.
It's just a little blood.