"What the hell?" "Hey." "You know which side of the border you are on?" "You got a name for it?" "Guess... someone must have cut your tong off." "He's a seth, or..." "Or has something" "To hide." "As far as I can tell..." "You hear me plain enough." "Walter Henderson." "Now I want to ask you one last question." "You see this here card?" "Is this you?" "Or a relative of yours?" "Well, I'm going to call up this number." "And see if they can tell me who you are." "I ain't got beds enough to be putting up mutes." "Operator." "I need a line out please." "What?" "What, can you... can you tell me the exact location of your hospital down there?" "Where the hell is that?" "Oh, OK, alright." "Yeah, OK, I'll be there as fast as I can." "Just, will you tell him that I'm coming, OK?" "OK." "Steven, I think you will have to change that..." " This section right here?" " Yeah, because it's incomplete." "Ann, honey?" "I just got the strangest phone call." "Who from?" "From some hospital in south Texas." "A place called Terlingua." "They say they found Travis." "Oh, no." "What are you going to do?" "Well, I'll go down and get him." "Oh, wow." "Well, what am I going to do?" "I can't leave him down there." "What about Hunter?" "What am I supposed to tell him?" "Well, just tell him I had to go on a business trip." "I mean about Travis." "I guess you better tell him the truth." "Ten to Vanhorn 90..." "The Alpine 11 8 south." "Terlingua." "You must be the brother of the mute." " Mute?" " Yeah." "I couldn't squeeze the time of day out of him." "Must be in a kind of jam." "I don't know, I haven't seen him in over 4 years." "Is that right?" "Well, a lot can happen to a man in 4 years." "All kinds of trouble." "Bits of trouble." "What do you mean?" "Well, down here," "A man gets himself into a fix sometimes." "It costs him a little to get him out." "If you understand what I mean." "I don't understand you." "I wish you get to the point, because I'd like to see my brother." "Alright son." "But first I would like to ask you something." "Did your brother ever get himself into a car wreck?" "Car wreck, no..." "Not that I know of." "Then he must be mixing with some hard company." "I'd like to see my brother now." "If you don't mind..." "He disappeared." "You mean he's not here?" "After I came all this way?" "He's been gone since early this morning." "We have his possessions." "Never the less..." "Saved them." "We'd be glad to turn him over to you." "Soon, as you take care of our little reward." "Travis, hey!" "Don't you recognize me?" "It's Walt!" "It's your brother, Walt." "What the hell happened to you, anyway?" "You look like 40 miles of rough road." "Come on, let's get in the car." "Trav?" "Come on..." "Here Trav, here's your stuff." "Got that back at that clinic back there." "Sure picked a hell of a spot to land in." "I don't blame you for running out of it." "Look, Trav..." "We've got quite a bit of traveling to do here," "You're not going to clam up the whole way, are you?" "I'm going to get kinda lonely." "Trav?" "Would you mind telling me where you disappeared to for the last 4 years?" "Have you seen Jane, or talked to her?" "Ann and I are..." "We sort of gave up on you." "We actually..." "We thought you were dead, boy." "This is pretty a..." "You OK?" "Well..." "Well, gee Trav, maybe you want to..." "Clean up." "Take a shower or something?" "I think I'll go back into town and get you some new cloths." "You could use a new set of cloths, couldn�t you?" "What size shoes do you wear?" "Lets see..." "I'm probably one size bigger, huh?" "So, where did you find that beard?" "It's pretty snazzy." "OK, I'll zip into town and zip right back." "I won't be gone long." "You'll be OK, won't you, Trav?" "OK, I'll be right back." "Damn it." "You mind telling me where you are headed, Trav?" "What's out there?" "There's nothing out there." "Don't you trust me or something?" "I'm just trying to help you Trav, that's all." "Come on, it's alright." "Come on with me in the car." "Feels good to be in new cloths, huh?" "Hi, Hunter?" "It's Daddy." "I thought you'd be in bed already." "Guess who I'm visiting, here in Texas." "Your father." "Do you remember your father?" "Not at all?" "He was?" "Well, guess what?" "I'm going to bring him home to visit." "Travis" "Do you remember your little boy?" "Hunter?" "Well, he's with us." "He's been living with Ann and me ever since you disappeared." "We didn't know what else to do." "So, we just kept him." "One day, he was just standing at the door." "All he could tell us was that someone brought him there in a car." "He didn't know what had happened to you," "Or Jane." "So we tried everything we could think of to find you, or Jane." "Tried to locate her, she vanished too." "We didn't know what else to do." "Travis," "I don't know what kind of trouble you got into." "I don't know what happened." "But damn it, I'm your brother man." "You can talk to me." "I'm tired of doing all the taking." "Fill it with unleaded please." "You know, I'm getting a little sick with this silence routine." "You can talk." "I can be silent too you know." "I just assumed that if we kept our mouths shut for the rest of the trip" " Paris." " What?" "Paris." "Paris?" "Paris?" "Did you ever go to Paris?" "No." "Could we go there now?" "It's a little out of the way." "Ah, I've never even been to Europe." "Ann keeps on wanting to go there." "Cus, she is from France, you remember?" "But we never seem to find the time," "Because my company kinda keeps me busy." "Lets go Trav." "What's the matter?" "Where are we going?" "We're going to fly to L.A." "You're not afraid of flying, are you?" " Leaving the ground?" " Yeah." "Why?" "Because it's too far to drive." "It would take an extra 2 days, I can't afford the time, Trav." "Why?" "It's just easier to fly, Trav." "It's faster." "Come on." "It's all OK." "When I get you home, I'll get you settled and then you can do whatever you want." "But sir, we can't stop the plane whenever someone gets terrified." "Don't get on a plane and then refuse to leave the ground." "Don't do things like that, this isn't the wilderness." "You're living with people now." "You should have acquired a private plane, do you know how many people you are detaining?" "Sorry!" "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" "OK?" "This is getting a little ridiculous Travis." "Are you going to leave me?" "No, I'm not going to leave you." "It's alright if you leave me." "I don't know honey, no..." "He just panicked or something." "Well, it won't do any good to try another plane, it wasn't the plane, he'll just get off again." "Well, we're just going to have to drive it, that's all." "Yeah, it'll take a good 2 days." "I don't understand why you have to have the exact same car you had before." "They are all alike." "All the cars we have here are Birds," "Olds, Chevy�s, and whatever." " I'm not even sure I can locate the same car..." " I know..." "My brother left something in the car, we are hoping we can search the car and find it." "Oh, well, I'll just contact the lost and found department for you, if that's OK sir." "No, we have to have the very same car." "Well, I can't do that." "There is no way I can trace the car for you." "Well, why not?" "You have the license number" " Well, yes but..." " Well, just give us the license number" "But I can't allow you on the lot sir." "Why not?" "We're already on it!" "I just have to ask you to come back to the office with me." " Travis!" " What?" "I don't think we're going to get the very same car." "But I can rent you a model just like the one you had before, sir." "I need the same car Walt." "How are we going to go in another car?" "Give us the number, will you, please?" "Come on... pretty please?" "Alright, that number is 66 7DJP" "You remember that?" "66 7DJP?" " It's got a bump on the hood." " Yes it does..." "What's that?" "What?" "That, what you got in your hand?" "A picture." "A picture of what?" "A picture of..." "Paris." "Paris, really?" "Yes, picture of a piece of Paris." "Where did you get a picture of Paris?" " Can I see it?" " Yes." "This is it?" "This is Paris?" "Looks just like Texas to me." "It is." "Paris, Texas?" "It's right here on the map." "There's really a place called Paris, Texas?" "It's right here." "Well, how come you got a picture of a vacant lot in Paris, Texas?" "It's mine." "I know that, but how come you got it?" "I purchased it in the mail..." "A long time ago." "You bought a picture of vacant lot in the mail?" "No, I bought the land..." " Oh, you bought that lot." " Yes." "Oh, let me see again." "There's nothing on it." "Empty." "Well, why in hell would you want to buy a vacant lot in Paris, Texas for Christ's sake?" "I forgot." "Here Trav." "Do you remember what mama's very first name was?" "Marry." "No, I know, I mean, her..." "before she found daddy." " Oh, her median name?" " Yeah." "You don't remember her median name?" "No..." "Sekinae." "Sekinae." "Spanish." "Her father was." "Yeah?" "I don't believe it." "You finally decided to eat!" "Eating and talking!" "Before you know it, you will be back in the land of the living." "You want me to drive?" "Sure!" "Think you remember how?" "My body remembers." "You can sleep while I drive." "OK." "Well, Trav..." "I think maybe you are ready to..." "Tell me what the hell happened to you over the last 4 years." "No, not yet." "Travis!" "What?" "Where are we, Travis?" "What happened?" "Why did we get off the high way." "Jesus Christ..." "I can't even sleep for 5 minutes without some crisis." "Why did you turn off?" "I don't know where I turned off." "Didn't have a name." "That's great." "That's just damn great." "Where we are in the middle of the Mohabi desert and a place that doesn't have a name." "I could find the high way again." "Trav, I need to talk to you a little about Hunter." "How old is he now?" "He's eight in January." " She�s seven then." " Yeah." "But see, what I want to talk about is..." "Well, he's like part of the family now." "Ann and me are like his parents now." "Ann's your wife." "Yeah, you remember her, don't you?" "No..." "Does he think that you're his father?" "Well, Ann told him you were coming." "Well, who does he think I am?" "I told him you are his father." "But see," "You've been gone a long time, Trav." "How long have I been gone?" "Do you know?" "4 years." "Is 4 years a long time?" "It is for a little boy." "It's half his life." "Half a boy's life." "I remember now..." "What?" "Why I bought that land." "Oh, why?" "Well, mama once told me that..." "That's where she and daddy first..." "Made love." "Oh, in Paris, Texas?" " Yeah." " She told you that?" "Yeah." "So..." "I thought that... that's where I began." "I mean me, Travis Calve Henderson." "They named me that." "I started out there." " Paris Texas, huh?" " Yeah..." "So you think maybe you were conceived there?" "Yeah." "You could be right, Travis." "Daddy always had a joke about it." "What was the joke?" "He's... he would introduce mama" "As the girl he met in Paris." "And then he would wait" "Before he said Texas, so everybody thought that..." "He meant..." "He would wait" "Before he said Texas till everybody thought," "After everybody thought that he was talking about Paris, France." "He always laughed real hard about it." "So you live in Los Angles, huh?" "Yeah, well we live in suburbs," "But I've got my business in town." "What's your business?" "I make billboard signs for advertisements." "Oh, yeah?" "You're the one that makes all those..." "I love those." "Some of them are beautiful." "I'm not the only one in the world that make's them, Trav." "Trav?" "This way." "Nice, huh?" "Just been in here 3 months." "I really like it, but I took a beating financing, I'll tell ya." "Like everybody else." "Hi baby." " Everything OK here?" " Oh, sure..." "We just miss you a lot." "I missed you too." " Come on in." " Travis." "My God." "We were beginning to wonder if we would ever see you again." "It's been so long." "Did you have a good trip?" "Yeah, it was fine." "Hunter." "Hunter." "This is Travis." "Hi." "Hi." "I bet it was really hot coming across the Mohabis Desert." "Yes." "Too bad you had to drive." "What happened?" "Well, Travis just didn't feel like flying." "Oh, I don't blame you." "I can't stand airplanes anymore." "Especially since we live in this house." "All we hear is planes day in and day out." "I like them." "You used to fly, didn't you, Travis?" "No." "Oh, I thought..." "I remember" "Jane telling me that you flew once to Dallas together." "Or somewhere." "Maybe I'm mistaken." "Honey." "He hasn't slept in a bed" "Since we started, I swear to God." "I don't think that's even necessary." "Where has he been sleeping then?" "Well, he doesn't sleep." "He has to sleep somewhere." "OK." "But I don't think he's even going to use it." "He's got to get tired sometime." "There is a towel for you, Travis," "And some underwear and socks from Walt." "Good night." "Thank you." "OK." "Get some shut eye." "OK." " Sweet dreams." " Alright." "You polished them." "That's very nice of you Travis." "Would you like to come in and have some breakfast?" "Aren�t you hungry?" "We are going to have strawberry waffles." "Do you like them?" "Do you want some?" "Well, there is hot coffee on the stove if you want some." "Look at that truck." "Hi." "Decided to rough it, huh?" "Yeah." "What did you do, spit shine these?" "I can get you a job at the airport doing that." "Do you want to trade these new boots for those old boots?" "You can wear them." "Thank you." "Travis?" "I have to rush off to get Hunter to school on time." "We will be back this afternoon." "Walt's office number is on the dining room table." "See you later." " OK." " Bye." " Ann?" " Yeah?" "I was just thinking maybe I can meet Hunter after school" "And we could walk home together, if he wants to." "That sounds like a great idea, Travis." "Walk home?" "I don't want to walk home mom." "Why walk, everybody drives." "Come on, Hunter" "It won't hurt you once to walk home in your life." "No, no, I don't want to." "Travis, I insist, you are Hunter's father." "And get into the car Hunter." "We are late as it is." "You are mean." " Ryan, come with me." " Sure." "I'm very sorry about this, Travis." "It's not easy for him, Ann." "Ann, it's OK, he's in here." "What are you doing?" "Driving." "Where to?" "Just driving." "You're not hiding out in there, are you?" "No." "Hunter." "Travis is your real dad," "You know that, don't you?" "Dad, when are they going to make spaceships like they..." "Make cars?" "Hunter, I'm asking you a question." "Can you answer it?" "What?" "Well, Travis went to meet you at school," "And he wanted to walk you home." "Nobody walks." "That's not the point." "Travis is your real dad and..." "He wants to talk to you." "Why?" "What about?" "OK, come on." "Lets go have dinner." "Hey Trav?" "Do you remember that time when Ann and me came down" "No." "You and Jane were down in Texas, right there on the coast." "Hunter was about 3." "Don't you remember that?" "No." "I remember, we went fishing." "Yeah." "I took some Super Eight on that trip." "And I put it all together?" "Thought maybe you might want to see some of it." "What is it?" "Movies." "You know, Super Eight?" " Oh." " Walt." "Maybe Travis doesn't want..." "What?" "Well, maybe he'd like to wait a while before he looks at it." "Yeah, it's up to him." "Just thought you might like to see some of it." "Movies?" "Sure." "Great." "There's some great stuff on it." "Some great shots of Hunter on it." "I've already seen it." "Well, you have to see it again." " Come on, help me set up the projector." " OK." "That�s me driving." "I know, you are going to be good." "Time for bed now, Hunter." "Oh, mom." "Time to go to bed, it's past ten." " Good night dad." " Good night baby." "Good night dad." "Do you think he still loves her?" "How would I know that, Hunter?" "I think he does." "How can you tell?" "Well, the way he looked at her." "You mean when he saw her in the movie?" "Yeah, but that's not her." "What do you mean?" "That's only her in a movie." "A long time ago." "In a galaxy far, far away." "What are you looking for?" "I'm looking for a..." "The father." "Your father?" "No, no, just a father." "Any father." "What does a father look like?" "There are many different kinds of fathers, senior Travis." "Well, I just need one." "You think you are going to find him in there?" "Well, I don't know where else to look." "Oh, I see, you want too look like a father." "Yeah." "Tell me, do you want to be a rich father?" "No." " A poor one?" " No." "Than which?" "In between." "No, no." "There is no in between, eh?" "You either have to be a rich father or a poor one." "Rich." "One thing you must remember." "To be a rich father, senior Travis, you must look to the sky," "Never to the ground." "Little higher." "No..." "Stand." "You must walk stiff, senior Travis." "Dignity." "You got it." "Who is that guy, you know him?" "Yeah, he's my father's brother." "No... they are both brothers." "No, they are both fathers." "No... ah, forget it." " But both who's fathers?" " My father." "How they have two fathers?" "Just lucky I guess." " Well, bye." " Bye." "That's my dad's suite." "I mean Walt." "That's OK if you call him dad." "Yeah, I borrowed it from him." "He said it was OK." "What are those pictures?" "That's my dad." "And your grandfather." "What was his name?" "Travis." "Same as yours." "Where is he now?" "He died..." "A couple of years after this picture." "In that car." " Oh, he's dead?" " Uh huh." "But can you feel that he's dead?" "What do you mean?" "You knew him when he was walking around" " And talking." "Right?" " Yeah." "So can you feel that he is gone?" "Yeah, sometimes." "I know he's dead." "I never felt like you were dead." "I could always feel you were walking" "Around and talking... some place." "I feel mom too." " You do?" " Don't you?" "Yeah." "That's me when I was in the navy." "You were a general?" "No..." "This was when I was in the band." "The high school band." "This is you." "I like this picture." "Look at that." "That is really wild." "That's weird when it, when there is water in between" "And then it turns into nothing." "That's a great picture." "And this is my mom." "Your grandmother." "I didn't know." "It just seems that..." "Everything has changed between us so fast." "Ever since Travis came." "What's changed?" "I'm just afraid." "Afraid of Travis?" "No..." "Then what?" "Of what will happen to us if we loose Hunter." "We're not going to loose Hunter." "Then why do you keep pushing them together?" "It's almost as if you wanted them to leave." " Who?" " Hunter." "You know what I'm talking about." "You keep promoting this father son business between..." "It's not business." "Travis is his father, and Hunter is his son." "That's a fact." "You've known that all along." "Travis happens to be my brother." "I know he is." "Well, what's this promotion bull shit?" "You want us to go on pretending..." "That we are the parents of my brother's son?" "Well, how long do you want Hunter to buy that?" "I was never pretending." "I love him, just like he was my own flesh and blood." "So do I." "Hi Ann." "Hi Travis." "You don't sleep much, do you?" "Travis." "There is something I have to tell you." "I was not going to," "Because somehow it makes things easier that nobody knows." "I never even told Walt, or Hunter." "What is it?" "After Hunter came to live with us," "Jane used to call." "Asking about him." "She made me promise not to tell anyone that she was calling." "Did she ask about me?" "Yes." "In the beginning." "Where did she call from?" "Places in Texas." "What places?" "Let me finish, Travis." "After what happened between you and Jane..." "She decided Hunter should be with us." "She said she couldn't be a mother to him anymore." "She stopped being a mother to him a long time before that." "Travis." "I don't want to feel I'm..." "Hiding something from you anymore." "She was young..." "She wanted something," "But I just couldn't figure out what it was." "I just didn't realize how much rage I had." "A little more than a year ago she stopped calling." "I haven't heard from her since then." "Nothing?" "Not a word." "But on the last call," "She asked for me to open a bank account for Hunter." "A bank account?" "All I know about Jane now is..." "She goes to this bank." "On the 5th of each month..." "And wires money for Hunter." "Jane, still sends him money." "Sometimes a hundred dollars, sometimes 50, or 5..." "For Hunter's future." "I had the bank trace the wire." "It comes from a bank in Huston." "What bank?" "I wrote it down if you want it." "What's the date today?" "The first of November." "I don't think we should do that." "You're right." "I meant the other thing." "You will all be caught with your diapers down." "That is a promise!" "I give you this promise on my mother's head!" "For right here today, standing on the very head of my mother." "Which is how a god treats her." "Which everybody who wasn't bought in a fucking store." "Wanna know and understand to the very letter what death holds." "They will invade you in your beds," "They will snap you from your hot tubs." "They will pluck you right out of your expensive sports cars." "There is no where." "Absolutely no where..." "In this God forsaken valley." "I'm talking about from the rage of my voice right here..." "Clear out to the goddamn Mojave desert." "And beyond that." "Clear up this mess though." "For everywhere else in the valley always had a sona." "None of that area will be called the safety zone." "There will be no safety zone." "I can guarantee this safety zone..." "Will be eliminated," "Eradicated." "You will all be exerdited to the land of no return." "It's eradication to no where." "And if you think that's going to be fun," "You've got another thing coming." "They made me a slime bucket." "But believe me, I know what the hell I'm talking about." "I'm not crazy." "And don't say I didn't warn you." "I warned you." "I warned all of you." "Thought you were afraid of heights." "No, I'm not afraid of heights, I'm afraid of falling." "Oh, yeah?" "well then just don't look down." "To bad the things don't look the same on the ground." "What do you mean?" "Things are clearer up here." "Might clear things up." "Yeah, I had a talk with Ann last night." "Yeah, she is pretty upset." "Yeah, I know." "I'm going to leave." " What?" " I'm leaving." "I didn't tell you this in order to make you leave." "I'm not trying to get rid of you, Travis." " I know that." " Well, what good is that going to do?" " I wanna..." " That's not going to solve anything." "I'm going to go find Jane." "How you going to do that?" "It's been four years." "She's completely disappeared." "I tried to find her, I tried everything, I couldn't find her." "Now, I haven't tried yet." "I can find her." "What make's you so sure?" "Oh, I just know." "Can we go down now?" "No!" "God damn it!" "You tell me what happened Travis!" "I'm sick of this fucking mystery!" "I've been treating you like a spoiled kid..." "Ever since I picked you up in the desert." "Now you tell me what happened, with you and Jane!" "Shit!" "I know it's none of my business." "Uh, well, I need to take..." "Money, credit cards." "Alright, sure, you can have them." "You know you'll get it back." "Oh, forget that." "You can have them." "I want to find her, Walt." "Hunter!" "That your car?" "Yup!" "Come on!" "Radical." "This is not bad stuff." "Ann puts it in lunch everyday." "Lavash, Ki, Ri." "Sticky." "Lavash, what?" "Ri, Rrrr, Ri." "Ri, Rrrr, Ri." "I like it." " Dad." " Yap?" "Where did you go all that time?" "Mexico." "How come?" "I didn't know where else to go." "Where did mom go?" "I don't know." "But right now, she is somewhere in Huston." "That's where the space center is." "And that's what I wanted to talk to you about." "I have to go away now." "Why?" "Because I'm going to find her." "What about me, you just found me." "Can I come with?" "What about Walt and Ann?" "We would never come back here?" "Sure, but..." "I don't know when." "I want to come with." "I want to find her too." "When do we go?" "Right now." "Then, come on, lets go." "First we have to stop to get supplies for the trip." "OK." "We got to buy jackets, tee shirts," "Tooth brushes, stuff like that." "Maybe even walky talkies." "Talkies of course." "Just in case." "Do you know what?" "What?" "This whole galaxy, the whole universe..." "Used to be compressed into a tiny spot this big." " And you know what happened?" " What?" "It went "Phchue...." and blew up." "All the spark, flying every place," "In space..." "It was just gas." "It was flowing around." "The earth was?" "Yeah, the earth was really gas." "And the sun formed, and it was so hot..." "That the earth just formed into one hard ball." "Of ocean." "Nothing but ocean." "So there was sea animals and..." "Under the water, a volcano went... "Pachooo"" "And..." "The hot lava hit the water..." "And formed rock to make land." "If you want to make a collect call," "You dial the operator and tell her that..." "I know." "Good, then call Walt and Ann." "Why?" "Because, so they don't worry about you," "So they know where you are." "But what am I going to say?" "Just tell them the truth." "Tell them that you are with me, and on to Texas." "They are going to flip out." "No... but you can handle it." "OK?" "Why can't you do it?" "I can't do it." "Why?" "Because it has to be you." "Oh, jeez..." "Why can't he do anything?" " Hello." " Hi dad." "Hunter." "Where are you?" "You know what time it is?" "I've been calling everywhere looking for you." "Yeah, yeah." "Hunter, just listen to me now." "Where are you, exactly?" "St. Vernidino?" "Hunter, what do you mean you are in St. Vernidino?" "Wait a minute honey." " How did..." " Let me talk to him." "Hunter." "Are you alright?" "Yeah." "What are you doing?" "With Travis?" "Why are you going?" "Tell me where you are Hunter." "Just tell me where you are." "What's the name of it?" "Oh, my god." "Hunter." "You tell Travis, to turn around..." "And come back right now." "Do you understand me?" "Let me talk to him." "What should I do?" "Just hang up." "Bye mom." "Got to go now." "Hunter...?" "Hunter!" "Did they flip out?" "Yeah, she did." "You're not sorry you came, are you?" "No." "Well, you can go back to them any time you want." "You just tell me, OK?" "I don't want to go back." "Well, I know, but just in case you change your mind." "I'm so used to calling her mom." "Ann?" "Yeah." "She sounded so sad." "I know." "What do you think mom will look like now?" "I don't know." "Do you remember her?" "Not really." "Only from that little movie we saw." "You look happy then." "Yeah." "You can keep that." "Night." "Dad, if a guy put a baby down," "Traveled at the speed of light for an hour," "If he traveled at the speed of light," "He would come back in an hour," "He would be an hour older," "But the little baby would be a very old man." "Oh, yeah?" "So, how long would it take him to get to Huston?" "Ah, if they were to travel..." "I would say about 3 seconds." "Ah, over, I didn't get that last part." "It would take them 3 seconds..." "To get from California to Huston." "At light speed." " This is Huston?" " Yup." "How are we going to find her in a big city like this?" " I know where she'll be." " Where?" "A bank." "She's going to deposit some money at a certain bank today." "This is a bank?" "What kind of a bank is this?" "Looks like a drive in." "I've never seen a bank like that." "Me neither." "There are so many cars..." "We'll never find her." "Oh, yeah, we will." "Come on." "We will split up and then we will cover more ground." "OK?" "Yeah, we could use the walky talkies." "Hey, now you're going." " I'll let you out here." " OK." "Can you hear me dad?" "Over." "Loud and clear." "Good." "Hunter in position one." "Over." "Travis in position two." "We got it covered." "I told you it would be more than a toy." "Over." "Ten four." "Over and out." "Dad, she is just leaving the building." "Get over here." "Dad, can you hear me?" "Can you hear me?" "She's leaving the building." "Get over here!" "Dad!" "Come on!" "Dad!" "Wake up!" "Wake up!" "She is leaving the bank." "Dad!" "Wake up!" "Wh.." "Where is... duh..." "I'm on my way." "Oh, no." "She went that way!" "Which way did she go?" "Hunter!" "Come on!" "Hunter, did you really get a good look at her, or what?" "It was the right one, I know it was her." "Oh, god." "We have lost her." "Can this piece of junk go faster?" "There are 1 0 thousand cars here, how are we going to find it?" "I don't know which one is it." "Go faster dad, go faster." "Hunter, what color..." "the car was red, right?" "Yeah, a little red Chevy." "Do you see anything?" "I don't know what it looks like." "You'll have to help me look, can you see it?" "No, not yet." " I see it!" "I see it!" " Where, where?" "Over in that lane, in that lane!" "Which, which lane?" " The right one!" " Alright, settle down, I see it." "See if it's her." "Can you tell?" "I can't tell." "Wait a minute, there's two red cars now." "Which one is it?" "Ah, the right!" "The left one!" " You sure?" " Yeah, the left one." " You sure this is the one though." " Yeah." "I hope you are right Hunter, if we are following the wrong car," "I'll be eight then." "You'll be what?" "I'll be eight then." "Lets get closer, we can wave." "No, no... we don't want to get too close." "We might scare her," "She'll have a wreck or something." " OK?" " OK." "I guess so." "Well, I wonder where she is going." "Maybe to work." "What do you think?" "Yeah, could be." "Looks like a girls car to me." "Could it be hers?" "Could be... get in the truck and I'll tell you my plan." "OK." "Roll the windows up, lock the doors, and if anybody talks to you," "Tell them your daddy�s inside and he'll be right back." "OK?" "OK." " You OK?" " Yap." "Sergeant Jojo, call for you, booth 22." "Sergeant Jojo, booth 22." "Come in, no bets, you guys are going to love this." "The girls here spend so much time with a guy that..." "Most of them live alone." "But it's tough to live alone in a city like this." "A lot of violent things happen here." "Stuff like rape, like murder," "That's why we have a police force." "Sir?" "Sir, you are in the wrong place." "It's too early, all the girls are downstairs." "Please get a ride, cus I'm getting crazy." "Yeah, who do you want?" "Yeah, I want to see a blond girl with kinda short straight hair, about 25 years old." "OK." "She's coming down, stay on the line." "Hello honey." "Oh, mercy." "You know, 23, I work 23 of the 24 bids in this place, unless I make 24." "What can I do for you today?" "I have an idea." "How about water polo?" "Fun." "Oh, well..." "Tell you what." "Why don't you just tell nurse Piffs what your pain is." "Maybe I can find a cure... hmm?" "Well, why don't you look at me?" "I am looking at you." "Yeah, but I'm over here, can't you see me?" "Listen sweet heart, if I can see you, I wouldn't be working here." "Well, what do you see?" "See what you see." "Nurse Bibbs." "Nurse Bibbs and a rubber horse." "Oh, oh, I see." "Thank you Nurse Bibbs." "Thank you." "Hi." "Are you out there?" "Well, I see your light's still on, so you must be out there." "It's OK if you don't want to talk," "I don't want to talk either sometimes." "I'd just like to stay silent." "Do you mind if I sit down?" "Do you mind if I sit down?" "No." "Thanks." "Legs get a little tired from standing all the time." "Is this your first visit here?" "Yes." "Well, this whole thing must seem kinda strange to you, huh?" "You realize that I can't see you even though you can see me." "Well, that takes a little getting used to." "Am I looking at your face now?" "It don't matter." "If there is anything you want to talk about." "I'll just listen." "Alright?" "I'm a real good listener." "Is there something..." "Is there something I can do for you?" "Do you mind if I take off my sweater?" "I'll just take off my sweater." "No, no." "Don't." "Please, please leave it on." "I'm sorry." "I just don't know exactly what it is you want." "I don't want anything." "So why did you come here then?" "I want to talk to you." "Is there something you want to tell me?" "No..." "You can tell me, I can keep a secret." "Is it all you do, just talk?" "Well, yeah." "Yeah, mostly." "And listen." "What else do you do?" "Why are you laughing?" "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "So, what else do you do?" "Nothing, really." "Oh, well, we are not allowed to see the customers out of here." "What if you see them, do you go home with them?" "No sir, we don't." "We're not allowed to have any outside relationships with the customers." "Yeah, but you can really see them if you want too, can't you." "I mean you can go home with them, if you want to, all these places say that." "I mean, how much extra money do you make?" "How much money do you make on the side?" "I'm sorry," "Sir, I think you maybe want to talk to one of the other girls." "I'll see if I can find one for you." "No, no, no." "No!" "Please." "Please don't go." "I just don't think I'm the one you want to talk to." "Please." "Please don't go, I'm sorry." "Alright." "I'm sorry." "That's OK." "I know how hard it is to talk to strangers sometimes." "Just relax." "Relax and tell me what's on your mind." "I'll listen." "To you..." "I don't mind listening." "I do it all the time." "She was there, wasn't she?" "What's that?" "A vacant lot." "I bought that land when we were all together," "With your mom." "Thought we might live there someday." "Where?" "Paris." "Texas." "Where's that?" "Across the red river." "Do you like it?" "Mean we live on dirt?" "Why do you drink that stuff?" "It stinks." "Wait a minute, where are you going?" "To the truck." "Have another one?" "This is not a place to bring a fancy woman." "Would you say, if you had a fancy woman, would you bring her in a place like this?" "What's a fancy woman?" "My mother." "Not your mother." "But my mother." "Was not a fancy woman." "She was..." "She never wanted to be a fancy woman." "She never even pretended to be a fancy woman." "Then what was she?" "She was just plain." "Just plain, good." "She was very good." "But my daddy..." "See, my daddy had..." "He had this idea..." "He had this idea that was kind of..." "Kind of a sickness..." "What idea?" "He had this idea about her." "He looked at her..." "But he didn't see her." "He..." "He saw this idea." "And he told people that she was from Paris." "A big joke." "He started telling everybody all the time," "Finally it wasn't a joke anymore." "He started believing it." "And..." "He actually believed..." "She..." "Oh, God." "She would get so embarrassed." "She'd..." "She was so.." "She was so shy..." "Lominos, cha, cha." "Left, dad." "Hunter, it's me." "I was afraid I'd never be able to say the right words to you," "In person." "So, I'm trying to do it like this." "When I first saw you, this time at Walts..." "I was hoping for all kinds of things." "I was hoping to show you that I was your father." "You showed me I was." "But the biggest thing I hoped for..." "Can't come true." "I know that now." "You belong together with your mother." "You belong together with your mother." "It was me that tore you apart." "And I owe it to you to bring you back together." "But I can't stay with you." "I could never heal up what happened." "It's just the way it is." "I can't even hardly remember what happened..." "It's like a gap." "It left me alone in a way that..." "I haven't gotten over." "And right now..." "I'm afraid." "I'm afraid of walking away again." "I'm afraid of what I might find." "But I'm even more afraid of..." "Not facing this fear." "I love you Hunter." "I love you more than my life." " Hey." " Hey." "Can I tell you something?" "Sure..." "Anything you like." "It's kind of long." "I have plenty of time." "I knew these people..." "What people?" "These two people..." "They were in love with each other..." "The girl was..." "Very young, about 1 7, or 1 8..." "I guess." "And the guy was..." "Quite a bit older." "And he was kind of raggedy and wild." "And she was very beautiful, you know?" "Yeah." "And together they turned everything into a kind of an adventure." "And she liked that." "Just an ordinary trip down to the grocery store was..." "Full of adventure." "And they were always laughing at stupid things..." "He liked to make her laugh." "And..." "They didn't much care for anything else." "Cus all they wanted to do was be with each other." "They were always together." "Sounds like they were very happy." "Yes." "They were, they were real happy." "And he..." "Hey loved her more than..." "He ever felt possible." "He couldn't stand being away from her," "During the day when he went to work." "So he quit." "Just to be home with her." "And then he'd get another job when the money ran out..." "And then he'd quit again." "But pretty soon, she started to worry." " Bout what?" " Money I guess." "Not having enough." "Not knowing when the next check was coming in." "Yeap, I know that feeling." "So, he started to get kinda..." "Torn inside." "How do you mean?" "Well, he knew he had to work to support her..." "But he couldn't stand being away from her either." "I see." "And the more he was away from her, the crazier he got." "Except now, he got really crazy." "He started imagining all kinds of things." "Like what?" "He started thinking she was seeing other men on the sly." "He'd come home from work and accuse her of..." "Spending the day with somebody else." "He'd yell at her and break things in the trailer." "The trailer..." "Yes." "They lived in a trailer home." "Excuse me sir, but were you in this with me the other day?" "I don't mean to pry..." "No." "Oh..." "I thought I recognized your voice for a minute." "No." "Wasn't me." "Uh huh..." "Please go on." "Anyway..." "He started to drink real bad." "He would stay out late to test her." "What do you mean, test her?" "To see if she would get jealous." "Ha... uh huh." "He wanted her to get jealous." "But she didn't." "She just worried about him," "But that got him even madder." "Why?" "Because..." "He thought that if she never got jealous of him she didn't really care about him." "Jealousy was a sign of her love for him." "And then one night," "One night she told him that she was pregnant." "She was about 3 or 4 months pregnant." "And he didn't even know." "And then suddenly everything would change." "He stopped drinking, and got a steady job." "He was convinced that she loved him now," "Because she was carrying his child." "And he was going to dedicate himself to making a home for her." "But a funny thing started to happen." "What?" "He didn't even notice it at first." "She started to change." "From the day the baby was born." "She began to get irritated with everything around her." "She got mad at everything." "Even the baby seemed to be injustice to her." "He kept trying to make everything alright for her," "Buy her things," "Take her out to dinner once a week." "But nothing seemed to satisfy her." "For two years, he struggled to pull them back together," "Like the were when they first met." "But finally he knew that it was never going to work out." "So he hit the bottle again." "But this time it got mean." "This time when he came home late at night," "She wasn't worried about him, or jealous." "She was just enraged." "She accused him of holding her captive." "By making her have a baby." "She told him that she dreamed about escaping." "That was all she dreamed about..." "Escape." "She saw herself at night, running naked down a highway." "Running across fields." "Running down river beds." "Always running." "And always when she was just about to get away..." "He would be there." "He would stop her somehow." "He would just appear and stop her." "And when she told him these dreams, He believed them." "He knew she had to be stopped," "Or she would leave him forever." "So he tied a cow bell to her ankle," "So he could hear at night if she tried to get out of bed." "But she learned how to muffle the bell, by stuffing a sock into it." "And inching her way out of the bed..." "And into the night." "He caught her one night when the sock fell out" "And he heard her trying to run to the high way." "He caught her, dragged her back to the trailer, and tied her to the stove," "With his belt." "He just left her there." "And went back to bed." "And lay there listing to her scream." "Then he'd listen to his son's scream." "And he was surprised at himself because he didn't feel anything anymore." "All he wanted to do was sleep." "And for the first time, he wished he were far away." "Lost in a deep vast country where nobody knew him." "Somewhere without language." "Or streets." "And he dreamed about this place without knowing it's name." "And when he woke up," "He was on fire." "There were blue flames among the sheets of his bed." "He ran through the flames," "Toward the only two people he loved." "But they were gone." "His arms were burning." "And he threw himself outside..." "And rolled on the wet ground." "Then he ran." "He never looked back at the fire." "He just ran." "He ran until the sun came up." "And he couldn't run any further." "And when the sun went down..." "He ran again." "For five days he ran like this." "Until every sign of man..." "Has disappeared." "Travis." "If you turn the light off in there," "Would you be able to see me?" "I don't know." "I never tried." "Can you see me?" "Yeah." "Do you recognize me?" "Oh, Travis." "I brought Hunter with me." "Don't you want to see him?" "Yeah." "I wanted to see him so bad that I didn't even dare imagine him anymore." "Ann kept sending me pictures of him." "Until I asked her to stop." "I couldn't stand..." "The pain of seeing him grow up and missing it." "Why didn't you keep him with you, Jane?" "I couldn't, Travis." "I didn't have what I knew he needed." "I didn't want to use him to fill all my emptiness." "Well he needs you now, Jane." "And he wants to see you." "He does?" "Yes." "He's waiting for you..." "Where?" "Downtown." "In a hotel." "The Meridian." "Room 1520." "You're not going, are you?" "I can't see you Jane." "Don't go yet." "Don't go yet." "I..." "I used to make up long speeches to you after you left." "I used to talk to you all the time." "Even though I was alone." "I walked around for months talking to you." "Now, I don't know what to say." "It was easier when I just imagined you." "I even imagined you talking back to me." "We'd have long conversations." "The two of us." "It was almost like you were there." "I would hear you." "I would see you, smell you." "I could hear your voice." "Sometimes your voice would wake me up." "It would wake me up in the middle of the night just like you were there in the room with me." "Then..." "It slowly faded." "I couldn't picture you anymore." "I tried to talk out loud to you like I used to," "But there was no one there." "I couldn't hear you." "Then..." "I just gave up." "Everything stopped." "You." "Just disappeared." "Now I'm working here." "I hear your voice all the time." "Every man..." "Has your voice." "I'll tell Hunter..." "That you are coming." " Travis." " What?" "I'll be there." "Good." " Meridian hotel..." " Yeah." "Room..." "Oh, you little..." "Your hair." "It's wet..."