You're doing fine.
Before I know it,
you'll be buzzing off on# your own,
the way you're growing.
ExxonMobil Masterpiece Theatre's American Collection
presents the story of a family.
Meanwhile, better not tell your mother.
The Follets are just like a lot of families.
When do you plan
to tell Rufus about the baby?
They work and play...
WOMAN: Supper's almost ready.
If anyone is interested.
Love and fight...
Shut your big mouth!
Laugh and cry...
God bless you, Rufus J. Follet.
And like some families, they face tragedy.
Hello.
WOMAN ( on phone ): Long distance.
WOMAN: It's like everything has just stopped.
I could always sort of picture tomorrow top to bottom.
Now I can't even see the next five minutes--
not a glimpse.
Listen, dear, ritual won't help us today.
Faith will see us through.
American Collection presents James Agee's
"A Death in the Family."
Tonight.
Captioning sponsored by THE EXXONMOBIL CORPORATION
THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING
and VIEWERS LIKE YOU
Funding for American Collection comes
from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting,
the ExxonMobil Corporation
and viewers like you, partners in honoring
the best of American literature and drama.
MAN: Do you think you're old enough
to drive this thing?
BOY: Yes, I am.
Come on!
I mean it.
Come on!
Slide over here, Rufus.
Grab onto the wheel and steer.
You can do it, son.
Just right hold.
Hold on tight.
Get a good grip.
Watch those chuckholes.
Jar your teeth loose.
That's the way.
You're doing fine.
Before I know it, you'll be buzzing off on your own,
the way you're growing.
Meanwhile, better not tell your mother... just yet.
She worries.
No need to make her old before her time, right?
Uh-huh.
( chuckles )
Whoa!
( laughing )
One more time.
Here we go! Here we go!
Oh!
( horn honking )
Let me!
Here we go! Here we go!
Hey, we're flying along!
Oh, watch out.
Stay on the road.
Okay.
Driving on your own, you got to hold on with both hands.
What do you think your mother would say
if she saw us doing this?
She'd be okay.
Here they come-- the team of Follet and Follet
buzzing along, going to pass Barney Oldfield!
And the finish line!
Yeah!
Making it up to 50, 55, 60 miles per hour.
60 miles per hour!
( playing "London Bridge Is Falling Down" )
( whistling "London Bridge Is Falling Down" )
♪ London Bridge is falling down ♪
♪ My fair lady. ♪
When do you plan to tell Rufus
about the baby?
You're only two months.
Time flies.
Pretty quick.
I want it to be, uh, educational.
Not too educational.
No, no, not too.
Do you really have to take him
to see that Charlie Chaplin moving picture tonight?
A few laughs won't hurt him.
No, but that man is so vulgar.
That nasty little cane hooking up skirts
and that nasty little walk.
He can't grow up wearing blinders, hon.
Other kids go to the Majestic.
The world's changing.
He's only seven, Jay.
I just don't want the other boys
picking on him, that's all.
Making a fist doesn't make a man.
I know, I know.
You're right about that.
I'm not raising a palooka.
On second thought,
you should take him with you.
He'll be a good influence.
Smartest girl in your class, right?
Rufus, let's go.
Your mother says it's hunky-dory.
I never said "hunky-dory" in my life.
( giggling )
( audience laughing; piano playing lively tune )
Watch this.
( audience still laughing )
( laughing heartily )
( whistling )
He's about your age, eh?
Wouldn't you say?
Can't tell.
He's all paint.
The cap makes him look older.
You think so?
I don't know.
I think it does.
Of course we both know how your mother feels
about caps, I guess.
A lot of wear left
in that hat of yours, I suppose.
That's her point, I think.
She don't know I stuff it under my shirt
till I get to school.
Under your shirt.
That a fact?
MAN: ♪ I got a gal and a sugar babe, too ♪
♪ My honey, my sweet gal ♪
♪ I got a gal and a sugar babe, too. ♪
Thanks!
Thank you.
♪ ...This morning, this evening, all day. ♪
♪ I got a gal and a sugar babe, too... ♪
( men laughing and chatting )
Of course we can't expect
to stop at the Market Bar every time we take a walk.
Bad habits, they creep up on you.
Have a mint.
Wonderful what a little mint will cover up.
Yep.
Doesn't fool your mother, though.
Nope.
We'd both do well to remember that.
About that cap... I'll tell your mother.
If she could've seen you tearing along
in that car like you were doing today...
Just like Barney Oldfield himself.
Can you see old Barney Oldfield wearing this thing?
( insects chirping )
Do you hear that?
Huh?
Shh.
You have to listen... and know you're listening.
You hear it?
Locusts.
Never just one.
There's thousands of them, only two notes apart
but you can hear each one.
All around.
Nowhere and everywhere.
All at once.
Locusts.
Summer nights.
Mother wants us for supper next Saturday.
Ah, finally a square meal.
Have you looked at yourself sideways lately?
Hmm, when will I learn never to try
to have the last word with you?
You didn't tell Rufus about the baby, did you?
We got to talking about other things.
The breath mint doesn't quite hide the stop
at the Market Bar.
It's meant to call attention to it
so you'll be proud
I come home standing up these days.
Poor Sally.
Let's just leave it at that.
I don't think she can stand to be near Ralph anymore.
It's not easy.
He's so bloated.
I couldn't stand not being near.
So sad.
I can't believe you two are brothers.
My folks have it in writing.
I don't think he's ever really sober.
Is he that unhappy?
Why the sudden interest in Ralph?
He's driving in from LaFollette tomorrow.
Wants to see you.
Just five minutes, he said, on business.
I'll forget you told me.
Five minutes with Ralph is a day wasted.
BOY: Who's that I see?
Rufus Rastus Johnson Brown,
what you gonna do when the rent comes round?
T'ain't neither.
It's Rufus Follet.
You dropped something here, Rufus.
What's this here thing, anyway?
It's a hat.
Ooh!
It's a Rufus Rastus Johnson Brown hat.
Explain where that Rufus name came from, Rufus.
Tell them. They forgot.
My great-grandpa, Rufus Lynch.
What's so great about him?
Here, have it back, Rufus.
You can keep it.
I'm getting a cap.
Who says?
My dad says.
Your pa's got a funny bone.
You mustn't brag, Rufus.
Bragging's a sin.
I don't brag.
I'm getting a cap
because I learned how to steer our automobile.
Liar, liar, pants on fire!
You? Never!
Did so-- Saturday.
Just before supper. West Road.
Probably the engine wasn't running.
You was being dragged from a ditch or something.
Going like 60.
You was scared, wasn't you, Rufus?
Yep, but I kept on steering, going like 60.
( bell dinging )
Seeing is believing, I say.
I did so do it!
Ask my dad.
Sure. I can guess what he'd say.
Be wearing your new cap tomorrow?
Maybe not tomorrow.
Oh, hear that?
"Maybe not tomorrow."
MAN: If I could tell Pa I talked to you
and got you to pay a call,
it would sort of give him the idea
I had his best interests at heart.
I know he may think you're sort of uppity
since you married a Knoxville girl
and probably don't want to bring her out
traipsing around a run-down farm that often,
but you can't just turn your back on a pa
who always looked on you as the apple of his eye.
The least you can do
is, you know, pay your respects.
He'd be pleased if I could tell him.
One day it may be too late, Jay.
I see it all the time in my profession.
I mean, Pa gets attacks, you know that.
I mean, even seems like a goner sometimes.
I'm just telling you because I know you.
How bad you'd feel if you put it off too long.
Sad even to say he would go
without seeing you to say good-bye.
Not going to happen, Ralph.
( thunder rumbling )
Nasty day outside.
I'd invite you in but, uh, there's a lot going on today.
Oh, hey, I understand.
Big city, big business.
Little LaFollette guy like me.
( chuckles )
Big brother, big business, right?
Hard to remember when you were just a plain, old boy
like the rest of us.
I had to go into my line of work
just to have an excuse
to wear a collar and tie on weekdays
and you just up and sweep
a Knoxville girl off her feet,
and here you are, top of the world,
moving in good circles.
I knew you had it in you.
I told Pa.
Of course he says he told me.
I just realized why you never shut up, Ralph.
You're afraid you might hear something you don't like.
Anyway, consider it said.
Message delivered, brother, right?
Mary wanted me to ask you how Sally's doing.
Jay, Chattanooga shipment's four cases short.
I left you a note.
I'll take care of it.
How you doing, Ralph?
Mr. Lynch.
Be happy to chauffeur you home.
Well, now, that's very kind of you,
but I think I'd rather walk.
( thunder rumbling )
Almighty likes to test us now and again
with weather like this, I guess.
LYNCH: Almighty's got nothing to do with it.
More 'n likely, it's a low-pressure system
somewhere over Alabama.
Good day to you.
Good day.
JAY: Tell Pa
I'll be around one day soon.
You ain't said how you like my automobile.
Very suitable.
Of course, you're a professional man.
It's an honorable profession.
Which you dishonor every day
by being the only undertaker in LaFollette
who embalms himself with alcohol before noon.
I remember a day when...
before you moved to this side of the Powell River Valley...
( car engine starts )
JAY AND MARY: ♪ Swing low, sweet chariot ♪
♪ Coming for to carry me home. ♪
All right.
Your pick.
Goose, the one about the goose.
Mm-hmm.
( playing opening chords )
♪ Go tell Aunt Rhody ♪
♪ The old gray goose is dead ♪
♪ She's worth a-saving ♪
♪ To make a feather bed. ♪
( both chuckle )
Okay, bedtime.
( kisses )
( plays random notes )
Who's Aunt Rhody?
Ah, I already told you.
All right.
Aunt Rhody-- I can see her now.
Not like anybody else.
Mysterious, and gray...
and tall, very tall, almost as tall as me.
I can see her now,
standing way back there
against some dark trees,
and she's got on this big sunbonnet that hides her face,
except her eyes--
dark and shining, staring straight at you...
from way back there by those trees.
How'd the gray goose get dead?
Old age.
Bedtime.
Scat.
Night, night.
Say your prayers.
RUFUS: I will.
Well, you outgrow kissing your dad good night--
bristly whiskers.
Not much kissing at all
in my family, as I remember.
Come here, Mr. Bristly Whiskers.
( birds calling )
MAN: Well, what do you think?
RUFUS: Huh?
You can be honest
with your old Uncle Andrew, Rufus.
What do you see?
Same old thing-- watering their lawns.
Oh, yes, but you and I see something more, don't we?
We see men of property;
the water reaches out to lay claim on their little estates.
"All this under the long arm of the spray is mine,"
they're saying.
And every day, near nightfall,
they can feel this little patch of the world is theirs.
I think I'll call it Men of Property.
I'd call it Secret of the Lawn Waters,
and just let people wonder what it means.
Hmm.
( chuckles softly )
Secret of the Lawn Waters it is.
I can't see it as anything else.
You have a gift, Rufus.
Well now, Andrew, that's very good.
You're on the cusp of becoming collectible.
Finally, eh, Father?
LYNCH: No hurry.
RUFUS: Aunt Hannah!
Aunt Hannah, oh...
Here.
HANNAH: I knew you wanted it.
ANDREW: You did it.
Thank you.
I love you.
You're gonna spoil that boy, Hannah.
An artist should starve a little,
go without-- brings out the best.
Thank goodness Vincent Van Gogh didn't have you for a brother.
( Andrew chuckles )
Supper's almost ready, if anyone is interested.
Ah, I timed it just right.
( car backfires )
( dog barks )
LYNCH: Mighty peculiar--
the only owner and operator of an automobile in this family
is the last to arrive for supper.
Which allows me to work two hours overtime
and still arrive at my employer's house for supper
right on time.
Ah, touché.
( grunts )
God, I envy you, Andrew.
Makes us even, I guess.
( kiss )
MARY: Hi, honey.
( telephone ringing )
Hello.
OPERATOR: Is this Mr. Jay Follet?
Yes.
Long distance, it's Ralph Follet.
RALPH: Jay.
Ralph, for God's sake, it's 3:30 in the morning.
It's Pa, Jay.
I know I got no business ringing you up
at this hour of the night.
All right, all right.
What about Pa?
Oh, Lord God, Jay, it looks like the end.
Ralph, settle down.
Is Pa bad off?
What do you mean, "It looks like the end?"
Jay... he's been speaking your name, Jay.
It's like to break my heart.
You think I should be there?
He'll sure thank his stars
his oldest boy, the one he thought most of,
to be here at the last.
All right, all right.
I... I ought to be there by daylight.
Ralph, if Pa comes around,
you tell him I'll be right along.
I will.
( sighs )
It's your father?
What did Ralph say?
He said it looks like the end,
if he can tell one end from the other.
I'll have to go.
I'll make you some breakfast.
No.
No need, hon, go back to bed.
When you come back down, carry your shoes,
put them on in the kitchen.
I always liked this time...
sort of the deep end of night.
I know your father and I have never really gotten along...
Quiet as lead...
like the world hasn't started spinning yet.
I can just sit...
sort of fill myself to the brim with you.
My, you should get up early more often.
It's the farm boy in me.
I don't think he ever really cared for me
because I'm Catholic.
Pa's never really had a warm spot
for Protestants either, hon.
"The Cloth," as he calls it.
What did Ralph say, exactly?
"Oh Lord God, Jay, it looks like the end.
He's been speaking your name, he's been speaking your name!"
When you asked me to carry my shoes downstairs--
it was so I wouldn't wake up Rufus.
I just thought...
I think I ought to come right out and tell you.
Tell me what?
How pleased...
comfortable it makes me...
to be married to a girl with a soft, tuneful name like Mary.
Just saying it has a soothing effect on me
when I'm otherwise troubled.
( whispering ): Why, I thank you.
I wish I had that written down to be looked at when needed.
When I get back, I may just do that.
If you don't get started...
Do you think you'll be back by supper?
If I don't stop looking at you, I may never go at all.
Haven't you caused enough trouble around here, Jay Follet?
♪ Good-bye, John, don't stay long. ♪
♪ And I'll be back in a week or two... ♪
or suppertime, at the latest.
( car horn honks )
Oh Lord, if this sorrow must come to my husband,
I pray you will open his heart and soul
to at last look to Thee
for comfort which the world cannot give,
to be baptized in the faith,
and at last come to Thee to close tñ=his gulf between u.
Amen.
Mornin'.
Come on.
( tires banging on bridge )
Grampa Follet?
Mm-hmm.
Way out there?
Yes, you were just out there last year.
My, no, it was two years.
He kept on calling me "Jay's sprout."
That's just his way.
He's awful old.
Yes, and he's very, very sick.
Uncle Ralph called during the night
to tell your daddy that he didn't think Grampa
was gonna get better again.
I called Grampa Lynch to tell him your daddy
wouldn't be in the office today,
and Aunt Hannah said she wanted
to take you shopping this afternoon after school.
Now, I don't want you asking Aunt Hannah for anything.
She's far too generous already.
Hmm.
Will they put Grampa Follet in the ground?
Finish up, you'll be late.
Can I wait up for Daddy?
We'll see.
I bet he'd want me to.
I'll bet he would.
( laughs )
I drove out.
I... I waited for the Doc.
Ma kept saying, "Jay should know, Jay should know."
I told her, "Wait for the Doc, wait,"
but she wouldn't give up.
You were always her favorite.
Shut up, Ralph.
The Doc got here, finally, and he said it was surely the end.
I know.
Don't coddle me!
Damn it, I'm not a total idiot!
I never said you were.
Swear at me, or cuss me out eye-to-eye.
I can stand not bein' loved.
I just can't take bein' pitied or looked down on
like I'm some kind of animal or lower being.
Ralph...
I was hopin' just this once
I'd be remembered for doin' somethin' just right...
callin' you up to tell you Pa was dyin'.
You don't know how I hoped it was the end
so's you'd raise hell with me for not calling you sooner,
and I could say I didn't want to bother you.
I could've been the one to have some say-so.
MAN: Hey!
Can I get a cup of coffee here,
s'not too much trouble?
There he is...
hollering for breakfast...
makin' a fool out of me again.
I suppose, when the time comes,
he'll leave you and Mary everything and expect me
to bury him for free.
( horse neighing )
What?
I forgot how we used to think, this side of the river.
40 miles... like the other side of the world.
I don't blame you, Ralph, honest, I don't.
I wish I wasn't me.
But I am.
You want to know why we don't come to visit?
You've got your own life, I know that.
I got a wife.
Her name is Mary.
And Pa has never called her anything but "Jay's woman."
You'd think, at least once,
Ma would get him to call her "Mary."
The way it is around here.
Always was, always will be.
( car horn honks )
( doorbell tinkling )
I assure you I will not attempt
to smuggle any valuable items
from your haberdashery
if you should happen to remain a little farther from view.
Yes, as you wish.
MARY: Your Aunt Hannah said you told her your father approved.
Daddy said he would talk to you for me to have a cap.
Well, he has done no such thing.
I would hate to think
that you made up a lie to tell Aunt Hannah.
I didn't lie-- honest.
It's not that I want to deny you anything, dear.
It's just there are certain steps in growing up.
You're only seven.
Now, I don't care what other parents down the street think,
I just don't think a cap...
a cap is proper for a boy of seven.
You'll have plenty of time.
We'll just put it up here until your father gets home
and then we can ask him.
I'm sure that when it's time for a cap,
your first cap needn't be so flamboyant.
Now, let's go have some supper.
Apparently Daddy's been delayed.
I'll call Uncle Ralph and Aunt Sally
and see if they know anything.
"Flam" what?
"Flamboyant."
( whistling "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" )
( humming "Swing Low, "Sweet Chariot" )
♪ Swing low, sweet chariot ♪
♪ Comin' for to carry me home. ♪
♪ Swing low, sweet chariot ♪
♪ Comin' for to carry me home. ♪
( voice fa2@ding )
( phone ringing )
Hello?
MAN: Is this Mrs. Jay Follet?
MARY ( over phone ): Hello, can you speak a little louder?
I can barely hear you.
Is this Mrs. Jay Follet?
Hello?
What is it? This is she.
MAN: There's been a slight...
Your husband's, uh, been in an accident, ma'am...
a serious accident.
This is Mrs. Follet, what?
Your husband's had an accident.
Is there a man in his family, some kin, could come out here?
Uh, yes, there's my brother.
Could I speak to my husband?
A-ask your brother to... come to Powell's Station...
Brannick's Blacksmith Shop.
About 12 miles out of Ball Camp Pike.
Tell him he can't miss it.
We'll leave a light on and a lantern will be outside.
Good night, ma'am.
( clicking receiver )
That was fast.
Walter, thank you for coming.
I'm so sorry, Sis.
Damn, I'm sorry.
We shan't be long.
Bless you.
You know where to go?
Why a blacksmith shop, I wonder?
Well, if the auto was damaged,
Jay would probably stay with it.
Arrange for repairs.
You may be right.
That's just till Jay gets home.
( car engine starts )
At your service, ma'am.
I do cooking, scrubbing floors,
washing and light ironing.
You've come to the right house.
( clock ticking )
MARY: When the man phoned,
at first he said "slight accident,"
then he said "serious accident."
Why didn't he say more?
As your father says,
it's ten to one he's just a plain damned fool.
Father and Jay.
I was the one he thought was a "plain damn fool."
Men live under a heavy burden,
knowing they're gifted with divine wisdom.
They all think
their middle name is "Solomon."
Knowing them... knowing the both of them,
it wouldn't surprise me one little bit.
Just half a cup.
It just seems so like them, I mean.
The reason Andrew hasn't called
is Jay's injuries are so slight
there's no need.
They put their heads together
and decided to just walk in together
and scare the daylights out of us and laugh and laugh.
I'll never forgive them-- either one of them--
for the night they've put us through.
( clock ticking )
It's one of three things, Aunt Hannah.
Either he's badly hurt, but will live and get well
or, at worst, be invalid somehow.
Or he was terribly hurt and will die of it...
maybe quite soon.
Or he was already gone when the man phoned,
but he couldn't be the one to tell me.
Poor thing.
( sighs )
I feel unprepared.
It's not a thing that can be prepared for.
It just has to be lived through.
( clock ticking )
( ticking slows )
( ticking stops )
I will not say he's dead until I know for sure he is.
Certainly not.
( insects chirping )
( brakes squealing )
Walter, thank you.
( car drives off )
( sighs )
He's gone, Mary.
Jay's gone.
( dog barking in distance )
He's not gone.
He'll never be gone.
I know.
It wasn't his fault, Mary.
Was he badly...
No, no, no.
No, hardly a scratch.
He did not suffer, Mary.
Not for a second.
The doctor said that it was a concussion
and that he died instantly.
( snapping ): Just like that.
I knew.
When I was makin' up his room, I already knew.
I kept hoping... all the way out there.
I hate myself for bringing you this news.
Nothing I can do to change anything...
nothing.
MRS. LYNCH: Say it again, Andrew.
What did it?
The, uh, doctor said it was a concussion, Mother.
He died instantly--
( snapping ): just like that.
Stop!
I'm sorry.
I'm s-sorry, forgive me...
No, no, no, it's all right.
MARY: I'll just...
I'll just never be able
to hear someone snapping their fingers
without thinking of how... he died.
( sobbing silently )
( whispering ): Sorry, so sorry.
I want whiskey.
The clock stopped.
Don't!
Jay will wind it.
I'm... I'm sorry, Daddy.
I'm sorry, please forgive me.
( sobbing softly )
MARY: When they found him, Andrew... you can tell me.
When the men, uh, came onto the auto,
its nose was down in a ditch.
The wheel was still turning.
He was lying there on the ground, beside it,
on his back, about a foot away from it.
His clothes were hardly even rumpled.
God, Andrew!
Let Andrew tell it, Father, I want to know.
The blacksmith said that, somehow,
he knew he was dead the minute he saw him.
He didn't know how,
just some, uh... special kind of stillness.
I guess.
They couldn't find anything wrong with him, um,
except for this one small spot,
right here.
Walter and I saw it.
( whispering ): Oh, Jay...
But they said that there was not a breath of life left, Mary.
Not a one.
And, uh, the blacksmith
started lookin' for a cause,
and a cotter pin...
had, uh, worked loose.
It almost fell out of the, um, steering column,
and it... it wrenched the wheel
out of his hands,
and it threw him forward at the same time
so that he struck his chin very hard--
just... just one sharp blow
into the steering wheel.
"Instantaneous."
ANDREW: "Blink of an eye."
That's what the doctor told 'em.
According to the blacksmith.
Great age we live in.
Life hangs on a goddamn cotter pin.
MRS. LYNCH: Cotter pin...
What's this cotter pin?
It's a metal fastener, Mother,
sort of... sort of holds things together.
For heavens' sakes...
With Jay Follet at the wheel,
that old cotter pin didn't stand a chance!
By God...
( piano strings reverberate )
He never held back the horses for anyone or anything.
He's the only man I know
who could look me in the eye without blinking.
I wouldn't mind someone sayin' the same thing
about me some day.
MARY: "In his strength"...
That's how he was taken.
"In his strength."
Singing, probably...
Happy, all alone...
Racing because he loved to go fast
and couldn't except when he was alone.
Just one moment of trouble.
Everything in his nature rising up to fight it--
not in fear.
He'd look death right in the face, like Daddy said,
without blinking.
( whispering ): "In his strength."
That's how he did it.
( normal voice ): Those are the words
that are gonna be on his gravestone, Andrew.
ANDREW: Ralph, I know that's how you feel,
but this is what Mary thinks is best.
Ralph...
( Ralph unintelligible over phone )
All... all right, all right.
Good-bye.
( sighs )
Talkin' to Ralph Follet
is like tryin' to put socks on an octopus.
Did you tell him we tried to call him earlier?
Well, he wasn't listening by that time.
He just started cryin'...
afraid we'd blame him for Jay.
Then, almost in the same breath,
he wants to pick up Jay's body from Roberts' Funeral Home
and handle the funeral himself... free of charge.
I was firm.
I hope you don't mind.
It's so hard to believe.
Just about this time last night,
the telephone call, Jay's father dying.
Of course, he had to go, so like him.
Their father, was he...?
"Alive and kicking" is how Ralph put it.
He said it almost
like there'd been divine intervention.
Oh, my, I think I'm finally starting to feel this.
HANNAH: I was beginning to wonder.
Three sips and I knew
I wasn't drinkin' grape juice.
I thought "grape juice"
was not to be mentioned in my presence again.
( laughs )
Joel Lynch, the great vintner of Laurel Street.
That's enough, Hannah.
MARY: Aunt Florence in her Sunday best.
( Hannah laughs )
Mom says, "Florence, I want you to see
my peaches, pears and pickles."
Catherine marches her down to the cellar...
I used exactly the amount of yeast that was called for!
"Peaches, pears and pickles."
Oh my, oh my...
They're just walking into that cellar,
past the wine barrel... and, and Aunt Florence says,
( mimicking Aunt Florence ): "Peaches, pears and pickles."
And, boom, the wine barrel explodes!
LYNCH: It was a keg,
a mere keg!
Florence was covered head to toe!
"Don't tell Florence I'm makin' wine,"
your father told me.
She's standin' there, drippin' in it!
Aunt Florence looked right at me,
with grape juice drippin' down her nose
and her glasses!
( laughter )
Only time I ever knew our sister
to take a snootful.
( laughter )
"Peaches, pears and pickles."
( laughter )
"Peaches..."
"Pears and pickles!"
( laughter continuing )
LYNCH: Purple Aunt Florence!
( laughter )
( odd laugh rings out )
( faint rustling )
What is it, Mary?
( faint footsteps )
Shh, listen.
What's goin' on, Hannah?
Joel, be quiet, please.
There's something...
I thought I heard someone in the foyer.
I heard it, too.
Has someone come in the house?
What makes you think so, Mama?
Oh, how very stupid of me.
I... I thought I heard footsteps.
I must be getting old and dippy.
( dog barks in distance )
( footsteps )
There is something.
Shh! Someone just walked through the room.
It's Jay.
( stairs creak )
Now he's goin' upstairs.
Aunt Hannah always... tell Mary, Aunt Hannah.
Old tales...
of the souls of people
who have died sudden or violent deaths.
They say the soul, or the life force,
stays on for a while.
It takes faith, Papa.
That's the word.
That's the one that makes a mess out of everything.
It's supposed to solve things?
I don't believe it, uh-uh, not for me.
Papa, please.
Now's not the time, Mary.
We just each believe what we're able.
You're right.
Let's not talk about it tonight.
Aunt Hannah, will you stay the night here with me?
MARY: I hope Mama doesn't mind, poor thing.
HANNAH: I would be nowhere else
on earth tonight.
I heard laughing.
And I felt someone in the house,
in this very room.
I think it's time
we all got some sleep now, Mama.
Why, certainly, dear.
MRS. LYNCH: Anything I can do for you, anything...
MARY: Bless you, Mama.
MRS. LYNCH: Beg pardon?
MARY: Bless you, Mama.
Bless you, my dear.
MARY: It's all right.
I've got to be all right.
( train whistle blows in distance )
Mary...
Good girl, keep it up.
Andrew, what a night I've put you through.
I love you.
Jay's here...
I felt it.
Come on, son.
Not a peep out of Rufus.
Maybe that's why.
( owl hoots as cicadas chirp )
( softly ): ♪ Above thy deep and dreamless sleep ♪
♪ The silent stars go by. ♪
( louder ): ♪ Yet in thy dark streets shineth ♪
♪ The everlasting light ♪
( voice breaking ): ♪ The hopes and fears of... ♪
( softly ): ♪ Are met in thee tonight. ♪
( owl hoots )
( sizzling )
MARY: Aunt Hannah is making your breakfast.
You won't go to school today.
You'll stay home from school.
Daddy was on his way home last night.
He was hurrying home to us and he got hurt.
He had an accident, a very bad accident.
It wasn't his fault, Rufus.
He just wanted to be home with us so bad.
You know how Daddy was always in a hurry.
He just wanted to be home to put you to bed.
It wasn't his fault.
A part of the auto--
um, Uncle Andrew said a cotter pin--
broke and came out.
You probably know what a cotter pin is better than I do.
Well, it came out,
and it caused the auto to crash.
Daddy didn't suffer; we thank God for that.
He had a concussion, which is a big word
for a terrible hurt to the head.
Daddy fell asleep
and God took him straightaway with Him to heaven.
Is Daddy dead?
Yes...
Oh, yes...
Don't, Mommy, don't cry.
( sighs deeply )
God bless you.
God bless you, Rufus Jay Follet.
We'll see Daddy one more time.
Tomorrow, he'll be asleep then.
After that, we won't see him
in this world anymore, not the next day or ever.
Tomorrow?
Yes.
Now, go to the kitchen.
Aunt Hannah's made your breakfast.
Don't forget to tell her thank you.
I won't.
( choking back tears )
( sobbing )
Hey, look, it's Rufus, come on.
Hey, yeah!
Lookee here.
Rufus Rastas Johnson Brown
gets to stay home from school today.
Course he does.
Would you be going to school
if your pa was killed?
So what happened, Rufus Rastas?
We hear he smashed up his automobile.
My Daddy was killed in a crash.
It wasn't his fault.
Too bad you wasn't steering.
I steered before...
I told you!
My pa bets he was drunk--
good ole whiskey.
Let him tell it, it's his pa.
Good ole whiskey.
Shut your big mouth!
Come on, tell us.
My Grampa Follet was awful sick.
Dad went to see him.
He was racin' home.
It wasn't his fault at all...
not "good ole whiskey," it was a cotter pin!
Whoever heard of gettin' killed by...
a cotter pin?
If you're that dumb, I won't tell you.
He didn't mean nothin' by it;
you can tell us.
It come out of the steering, that's how it happened.
That's what you say!
My Uncle Andrew Lynch says,
and he went there to see where it happened and everything.
Did he see your pa?
Yes, he did,
and you can't say he didn't.
When he was dead?
Would I be tellin' you that?
( school bell ringing )
Probably goin' like 60 again.
Knowing him, knowing Jay Follet!
Jay Follet...
Rufus Jay Follet!
( inhales deeply )
( faint waltz music echoing )
( tones of piano and violin become stronger )
( music becomes faint again )
( music gradually fades away )
Why couldn't Father Whittaker
just perform the service himself?
He says he can't take the responsibility.
Any dispensation will have to come from higher up--
knowing Jay was never baptized, that is.
He's asked a Father Jackson
to come from Chattanooga tomorrow to officiate.
Why all the way from Chattanooga?
I shouldn't say it, but I will.
It's probably a safe distance to pass the buck.
He'll be here around noon.
There'll be time in the morning
to walk over home and see Jay
before everything starts.
I'll walk over with you, bring Rufus.
I can't believe we're sayin' this.
You liked him, didn't you, Aunt Hannah?
More than a little.
He reminded you of someone?
Every family needs a maiden aunt.
I always pretended you had a young man once.
He wasn't "good enough" for a college girl.
You don't know how I've lived through you
these last few years.
Good morning.
My condolences. Ma'am.
RUFUS: Is that the man who's gonna bury Daddy?
( doorbell rings )
Father Jackson?
JACKSON: Mmm.
Won't you come in?
This is Father Jackson.
He came all the way from Chattanooga.
This is Rufus.
Mrs. Follet?
No, I'm her aunt.
If you'd like to wait in the parlor...
She's not quite ready.
Time is precious.
She'll only be a few minutes.
How was your train trip?
On schedule, miraculously.
Rare, indeed-- a good omen, perhaps.
Mmm.
Won't you have a chair?
Mrs. Follet is aware, is she not,
of the matter regarding baptism?
I'd rather you spoke with her, Father.
You're quite right.
Of course.
The burden of authority.
I'll... I'll see if she's ready.
Children mustn't stare at their elders.
That is ill-bred.
Huh?
Say "Sir," or, "I beg your pardon, Father."
Come now, it's never too soon
to learn to be a little gentleman, is it?
I guess.
You agree?
Say, "Yes, Father."
My father is dead!
I'm aware of that.
May I assume, at least, that you have been baptized?
I don't know.
You don't know if you've been baptized?
That's my father's chair!
Father Jackson.
Won't you come up?
Fairness is reserved
for the playing of games.
And well so.
This is not a game.
MARY: It just doesn't seem fair, Father.
HANNAH: It would be such a comfort
to her, Father Jackson.
Comfort is a promise
made to those who come to the Church in faith,
those who are baptized.
I'm here only as a messenger, not as a lawgiver.
Thy will be done.
I know, but he was on a mission of mercy
when he died.
They thought his father was dying.
He sped away to give comfort.
It was his last thought.
Wouldn't God see that
and... and make allowances?
Commendable, but not for me to bargain with God
or read God's mind.
I'm only here to interpret the laws of the Church.
He meant no harm to the Church.
Nor the Church to anyone.
But in cases like this,
there are certain words from the funeral service
that simply cannot and will not
be said or read.
This poor child.
Have mercy.
God's blessing go with you both.
( whispers ): God, forgive me.
What?
Forgive me for the hurt and anger I feel,
the bitter anger.
Let us pray.
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with Thee.
Blessed art Thou amongst women
and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus.
Well, Rufus.
Hello.
I'd say how sorry I was, son,
but that wouldn't half cover it.
Me, too.
You and me's gonna have
some time together this afternoon.
You wanna go play the gramophone,
or sit on the front porch and swing?
You just think about it, all right?
Thank you, Walter.
Dear Walter, always there.
It's next to nothing-- honest.
All right?
You just take your time today, all right?
No one's gonna make you move any faster
than you feel like.
Not while I'm around.
Listen, dear.
Ritual won't help us today.
Faith will see us through.
( horse neighs )
( organ playing softly )
( organ stops )
Oh, Lord, we are gathered here
to pray to You, our heavenly Father,
to grant Your mercy to the soul of Jay Follet.
In the name of the Father,
and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen.
The peace of God's blessings be on you,
on this woman and this child.
Let them seek Thee out the more,
in their troubles and their joys,
as they would have sought their good, earthly father,
had he been spared them.
Let them ever be, by Thy great mercy,
good, true Christian Catholic children.
Amen.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee.
Blessed art Thou amongst women
and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus.
ALL: Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, Amen.
( voice fading ): Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee.
Blessed art Thou amongst women
and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus.
ALL: Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death, Amen.
( muttering prayer softly )
JAY: ♪ London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down ♪
♪ London Bridge is falling down... ♪
( softly ): ♪ ...My fair lady. ♪
God bless you.
Ma'am.
It's just a test, Mary.
It's one that good people come through.
You'll bear it because there isn't any other choice,
except to go to pieces.
So for God's sakes, brace yourself for it.
Try to hold yourself together.
I imagine you're thinking about your religion.
I am.
Well, more power to you.
I know you have a kind of strength
that I could never have.
Only one thing.
You take the greatest kind of care
you don't just crawl into it, like a hole, and hide in it.
I'll take care.
( turning crankshaft )
( engine sputtering weakly )
( door closes )
You all right, Rufus?
Can I watch?
( engine shuts off )
That's just about my feelings, exactly.
Son can't go runnin' off before his pa's left, right?
Mm-hmm.
WALTER: You know, I don't think your Daddy ever knew
how much I thought of him.
I thought the world of him.
My own wife and son couldn't mean more to me.
I'm kind of ordinary myself.
I'm not bad, just ordinary.
But I always thought of your father as...
Kind of like Lincoln, you know.
Not in the way of getting ahead in the world, but...
You know, as a... as a man.
There never was a man against harder odds than your father.
There never was a braver, nor a kinder man...
and one more generous.
All I want to tell you, Rufus...
is that your Daddy
was one of the finest men I ever knew,
and I will remember him as that
as long as I live.
There he goes.
( Jackson reciting prayers in Latin )
DRIVER: Whoa.
I wanted a chance to talk...
sort of alone.
Miss Lynch.
Mary...
I... I just...
I just can't start to say how sorry I am.
I was just telling myself
how much better off the world would be if it'd been me.
That's what I told myself.
I just couldn't leave without feeling you can forgive me.
Please, Ralph,
don't come here and try to play that awful trick of yours on me.
I'm hurt to the point of dying,
and you want me to feel sorry for you.
"Poor Ralph, that's just Ralph."
You parade your weakness around like some flag of honor.
You want people to make allowances.
You want me to say, "That's all right,"
and in my heart to think, "Well, he means well."
Well, it isn't all right
and in my heart I don't think you mean well.
You're not stupid or thoughtless or careless, you're hurtful.
I don't know if there's anything to forgive,
but if there is, you'll have to earn it.
Forgiveness isn't free around here anymore.
You're welcome to come by.
Just remember there's no pity
or making allowances for you at this address.
Now, I'm very tired, Ralph.
You're being hard on me, Mary.
Very hard.
I only hope it's worth the trouble,
because Jay loved you, I think.
( knock at door )
Walter Starr brought Rufus home.
He'll be wanting supper.
I'll get something started.
Already in the oven, ma'am.
Oh, Aunt Hannah, Aunt Hannah.
As long as you need me.
Though, as I recall,
"Aunt Hannahs" are best in small doses.
How old was I?
16-- in every, single way, as I remember.
I don't know what's happened.
It's like everything has just stopped.
I could always sort of picture tomorrow, top to bottom.
Now I can't even see the next five minutes--
not a glimpse.
My life ended 30 years ago, but here I stand.
( water begins hissing )
It goes on.
We go on.
Meals get cooked...
lawns get watered.
( bicycle bell rings )
Speaking of tomorrow,
you can start by thinking how you're going to tell him
he's soon going to be a big brother.
That blessed event should keep things
from being dull around here.
( playing "Chopsticks" )
( both playing "Chopsticks" )
( finishes with flourish )
Rufus, if you can spare the time,
I think we should take a walk.
MARY: Rufus,
starting tomorrow, how would you like to sit
at the head of the table?
Can I put my elbows on the table?
( both chuckle quietly )
It must run in the family.
RUFUS: I mean,
if I'm going to be a big brother and all...
Third-grade grapevine.
World's changing, Sis.
Elbows and all.
Rufus.
Better wear your cap.
"Rufus"...
that is quite a name.
I hate it.
Hmm.
Well, your Dad asked me my opinion of it
right after you were born.
You know what I told him?
I told him, "Jay, this boy isn't going to be
"just some Tom, Dick or Harry.
"He's going to need a name that's got a rare color to it,
that's not often seen or heard."
"'Rufus,'" I told him.
I remember the exact words.
I said, "Jay, now there's a rare name with a rare sound
like a gem in a pile of common gravel."
If anything ever makes me believe in God,
it'll be what happened this afternoon.
You should have been there to see it, Rufus.
I want to tell you exactly as it happened.
There he stood,
imported from Chattanooga for the day,
saying nothing that meant anything.
There were a lot of clouds, but they were blowing fast,
so there was a lot of sunshine, too.
And right when they began
to lower your father into the ground, into his grave,
a cloud came over and there was a shadow just like iron,
and a perfectly magnificent butterfly
settled on the coffin
and rested there, right over the breast.
He stayed there, just barely making his wings breathe,
like a heart.
He stayed there all the way down, Rufus.
He never stirred, except just to move his wings that way,
until it grated on the bottom
like a rowboat against the shore.
And just when it did,
the sun came out just as dazzling bright,
and he flew up out of that hole in the ground,
straight up into the sky,
so high I couldn't even see him anymore.
Don't you think that's wonderful, Rufus?
Yes.
And that son of a bitch--
that "Father Jackson," as he insists on being called--
said that he could not read the complete burial service
over your father 'cause your father had never been baptized.
"Rule of the Church," he said.
But I tell you, Rufus, that butterfly's got more God in him
than Jackson will ever see for the rest of eternity.
Did Mama see the butterfly?
No.
Will you tell her about it?
Yeah. Someday.
You could paint her a picture of it and surprise her.
I could at that.
That is an inspired idea!
I'm right about you, Rufus.