"Them boys didn't get no spray in that field like I told you." "They'll get to it in the morning." "They better, or there'll be some sweet cans sweating." "A fellow said, "What are you beating on the back of that truck for?"" "He says, "I got a two-ton truck, four tons of canaries in this truck" ""and I got to keep half of them blind."" "How's the whiskey business, Gator?" "You make it, Mr. Simms, I'll haul it." "Boy, you ain't been drag racing my sedan again, have you?" "Tell you what, Cap'." "Keep me working on that car, you'll blow everybody right out of the tub." "Can I have one of those?" "Boy, you better get a shirt on." "You got a visitor over at the office." "Visitor?" "Your cousin's here." "He's kind of got bad news for you." "Hello, Louella." "It ain't your mama or your daddy, Gator." "Donny was killed." "I drove up 'cause I knew you'd want to know." "Your mama didn't want to come." "She sends her love, Gator." "Shoot, there's no way to make it any better." "Donny was killed down in Bogan County." "Who killed him, Louella?" "They're not sure." "They found him in the lake." "There was another kid from school with him." "What are you talking about?" "He didn't run liquor." "I don't know what the hell you're talking about." "Your daddy thinks it was on account of the Sheriff." " Sheriff?" " He thinks it was on account of the kids he hung out with." "All them protesters." "All them damn hippies." "Gator!" "How long you gonna sit there, boy?" "Five days, and Mr. Simms says you go and get yourself on over to the shop." "Mr. Simms done give you every break there is and all you Oleander County son of a guns think you got to do is just make moonshine liquor and don't give a damn about nothing or nobody." "You gonna be chopping cotton, boy." "Gator, where in the hell do you think you're going?" "Looks like you're gonna dig me a ditch all the way to Memphis, Gator." "You did your time pretty good up here, and you only got one more year to go." "Two ways you can do it, hard or easy." "Bill, get them boys started about 50 yards on up the field." "All right, move it out." "Put down that shovel." "Now, you listen to me, boy." "Ain't nothing you can do, I can do, or anybody else can do." "Your brother's dead, and you ain't going home for another year." "You can do your time easy." "That's all I'm saying." "I've seen a hell of a lot of old boys come and go." "Captain?" " Federal law got me in here, didn't it?" " What'd you say?" "I said the federal law got me in here, didn't it?" " You reckon it can get me out?" " What are you driving at?" " Sheriff in Bogan County, what's his name?" " Who, J.C. Connors?" "You know he's taking money from the whiskey business, don't you?" "I'll get evidence against him." "J.C.?" "Boy, he run Began County." "But I'll nail his ass." "Tell them to let those reports go for now, and wait outside." "Gator, this is Mr. Cantrell." "Mr. Cantrell, your wingding." "Sit down, Mr. McKlusky." "Mr. Simms tells us you want to cooperate with the Federal Department." "Is that correct?" "Let's see, 12 months remaining in your sentence." "Second offense, making and transporting untaxed whiskey." " As you understand..." " Third." " I beg your pardon?" " Third offense." "First time, I was 13." "As you understand, if information related to federal income tax evasion or unpaid liquor tax can be obtained, it's within the policy of the government to cooperate with state prison officials." "We have a file on the Bogan County sheriff." "He's a damn tough cookie." "He's got several unsolved homicides, as well as other circumstances." "But our jurisdiction is only the manufacture of untaxed illegal whiskey." "Mr. McKlusky, if you haul from an illegal still, that's direct evidence." "If you see who receives money, that's direct evidence." "Testifying in court as to money paid to the Sheriff's Department is direct evidence." "If you can determine the actual location of illegal unreported income, that is a federal case." "Do you understand?" "Gonna miss it, McKlusky?" "Gosh, yes, I'm gonna miss all that good cooking." "All right, pay attention." "This is Dude Watson." "He's your contact man in Bogan County." "Right now, you can find him driving down at the Benton Speedway." "Here, read this file." "All of it." "Bye, boys." "Have a good time." "McKlusky?" "Over here." "There it is." "Take a look at it." "This is the car you'll do your whiskey running in." " Who tuned it?" " You like it?" "Doggone, would you look at that motor?" "The guy who did it is one of our boys." "He used to do a little running." "Now, Watson operates the garage." "We've got him on federal probation, so... 429, dual carburetor..." "We've got him on federal probation, therefore, he'll help you." " Is that it?" " Good luck." "See you, fellow." "Keep that thing between the ditches." "Gator McKlusky, Sherry Lynne." "Sherry Lynne, how are you, darling?" " All right." " Hi, there." " I know you, too." "What's your name?" " I'm Becky Jo's little sister." "The last time I saw you, you were flat chested." " This is Kip." " Hi, Kip." " Gator, that's a funny name." " Kip's a funny name, too." "Here's one for the kipper." "Where've you been?" " I've been saving myself." " For what?" "All right!" " Gator, what?" " Gator anything you like." " I'm trying to talk to him." " I just want to know his name." "Get me excited, I'll eat you up." "You going to see your mama and papa now?" "Right now?" " Gator!" " Hello, Papa." "Hello, Mama." "I would have written more, Mama, but I didn't know what to say." "That's what Donny used to say." "What do you think you might do now, son?" "What happened to Donny?" "Now, don't you go hauling no more liquor." "Do you think you might get a job at Rexville?" "What happened to Donny, Mama?" "We don't know." "I don't want nothing to happen to you, Bobby." " It won't." " I had it." " I just can't stand it no more." " Tell her it'll be all right." "Whatever you got in your head, I want you to get it out!" " It'll be all right!" " Settle yourself down..." " That's what Donny said and he..." " Now, hush!" "There's no call for that!" "Now, quit it!" "Come on, now, Gator's home." "He had supper with us." "We're sitting out here on the porch like we always did." "I don't rightly know what happened to your brother, son." "I don't understand it." "He wasn't mixed up in the law no way." "You know what they say college kids do these days." "It's all right." "You're home now." "We'll get in that crop." "When are you leaving?" "Morning." "Where're you going, son?" "Where you going?" " Bogan County." " Now, you listen to your daddy." "Stay away from there, let the dead lie." "Don't get us mixed up in any more trouble." "You know how I got out of prison?" "The law." "The law let me out." "What do you mean, son?" "That sheriff up in Bogan County." "He owns Began County." "We ain't gonna get him for killing Donny." "The only way we're gonna get that sheriff is taking whiskey money." "Are you going for the federal laws?" "Are you taking down names of liquor people and turning them in?" " I'm just gonna get that sheriff." " You're taking down names..." "I have to get that sheriff." "It's a bad thing, Bobby." "Howdy!" "Say, how are you?" "You Dude Watson?" "Yes, that's what they call me." "I hear you're a hell of a mechanic." "Shoot." "Yeah?" "I don't know." "You want to tune up my old iron?" "What, today?" "No way." " You got a big race today, have you?" " You know it." " Can I have a little tap of that?" " What's that?" "That's moon, ain't it, pard?" "Is that what that is?" "Shoot, I was wondering." "Some old boy come by about an hour ago." "Just left it there." "Hell, it's yours." "I don't know what the hell to do with it." "Do you think I'm the fuzz?" "I don't know what you are." "That shot'll blind you, boy." "My name's Gator McKlusky." "You know why I'm here, don't you?" "I said, you know why I'm here, don't you?" "Last year you made $18,000." "Working on cars and running moonshine whiskey to your neighbors." "Except you neglected to pay Uncle Sam the taxes." "He's pissed off about that." "Man, is he pissed off about that." "Warm your cars up and get them ready to go and get used to the track." "I'm gonna help you make some deliveries, see?" "Take down a few names." "You got that?" "Is that right?" "Tell me, what do you want to mess with an old boy who's trying to make a living out of white liquor?" "I'm only gonna nail one guy's hide." "J.C. Connors." "J.C. Connors?" "Shoot!" "You might as well try to swim over to China and get old Mao Zedong." "Bye-bye." "You're thirsty." "But you've got the best shine in town, Maggie." "Go on!" "Here, you fill it up." "Did you hear about James?" "He got so bombed off this stuff the other night, he put the chicken mash in those eggs." "You know they weren't any good." "They came out fried." " Give me your money." " Here's five hot ones." " Better not be hot." " Not any hotter than what's holding them." "You behave yourself, do you hear?" " See you next week, Maggie." " Bye,sugar." "Jeremiah, are you playing with that gun?" " Open that door." "Damn it!" " That was a dumb thing to do." "What's going on out here?" "Go on back in the house, damn it!" "Sharon Anne, what are you doing?" "I told you to go over there and play." "Give me back my gun, man!" "That's my gun!" "Give it back to me!" "Don't ever take a man's gun!" "What the hell's the matter with you?" "Look what you did to the stock." "And look at that!" "Who the hell's gonna fix my ceiling, you?" "Will you just calm down?" "Don't tell me that!" "Ain't no damn federal stool pigeon gonna..." "Don't call me that." "What the hell are you if you ain't a damn stool pigeon?" "Take a bite of this, it'll make you feel better." "Get the hell away from me, man!" "You know them two college boys that drowned out in the lake?" "You didn't have to hit me in the gut." "One of them was my brother." "I'm sick!" "I said, one of them kids was my brother!" "And I said, you didn't have to hit me in the gut!" "Damn it, no sheriff is gonna kill any brother of mine!" "Go hit him in the gut, not me!" " You didn't even know him." " Know him?" "God, I knowed him since I was a kid." "He's been the sheriff here." "I ain't talking about the sheriff." "I'm talking about my brother!" "He)', Maggie!" "Henry, why don't you just bring it out in broad daylight?" "I told you I want one gallon in there and the rest outside." "Them feds ain't coming to get you, honey." "Unless they want to reckon with me." "Who the hell's that?" "Who's he haul for?" " You better start answering my questions." " I don't have to tell you a damn thing." " I'm on probation." " You broke probation." "You know it and I know it." "And so do they." "If you don't answer my questions, they'll send you back to prison." "You won't see your kids or your wife no more." "You'd better answer my questions." "Look it, man." "I ain't got no damn love for J.C. Connors." "But I can't help you." "Even if I could, it wouldn't do you any good." "If I got you in to run liquor, make liquor, or any other damn thing, what good is it to you?" "For getting court proof, legal stuff like that, you ain't gonna make it." "I pay J.C. Connors, sure." "Everybody does." "But it's cash money, man." "It's in a paper sack." "There ain't no checks!" "And them tax boys put me on a stand in front of a damn jury," "I'm gonna lie!" "I'm gonna have to." "Five years in the federal pen is no picnic, but J.C. Connors can put me under." "You understand what I'm saying to you?" "You go on and get that sheriff, man." "You're gonna have to kill him." " You want me to put that on your tab?" " Yeah, if you still trust me." "Trust you?" "No way!" "Ain't this some beautiful mess?" "Five years in the pen, one way, and J.C. Connors, the other." "You got to help me, Dude." "You got to help me." "A courthouse right in the middle of the city square." "I like that." "You don't hardly see that anymore." "That is the courthouse?" "No, it's a pool hall." "The courthouse is across the street over here." "Legalize that shit, it's gonna ruin moonshine liquor forever." "Them long-haired hippie freaks caught smoking..." " What say, sis?" " Hey, Dude." " Hey, what say, Ray?" "T.R.?" " Hi, Dude." " Hello, Dude." " Old dirty Dude's back in town." " How you boys doing?" " Pretty good." "How are you?" "Ray, you need anybody to do some running for you?" "Not right now." "Roy's out back loading." "He might need somebody to run blocker for him." "Now, take it easy." "Hey, Roy." "What say, Dude?" "How you doing?" "How's that old racecar run?" "Better than yours." "I want you to meet somebody." "Gator McKlusky, this is Roy Boone." " How you doing?" " Hi, Roy." "Gator?" "It's a mighty funny name." "Rebel Roy!" "Knew an old boy back home with "Rebel Roy" on his car." " Is that right?" " He was a driving fool." "Run old Junior Johnson right off the road one time." "Bull!" "Ain't nobody ever run old Junior Johnson off the road, boy." "Want to shoot some pool?" "I got to get outside." "I got Sugar Pudding waiting out there in that hot oven." "Yeah." "Had "Rebel Roy" on the side of his car." "He was a hell of a football player." "His name was Everett Bookman." "Every time he won a race, he'd yell out the rebel yell." "Rack them up, will you?" "Hey, Dude." "Come on outside and say hello to Sugar Pudding." "She'll be glad to see you." "I'd kind of like to say hello to her myself." "Rebel Roy?" "Roy, I understand you need somebody to run the blocker for you." "No, I don't need nobody right now, Dude." " Gator's a hell of a driver." " Yeah, I know." "Rebel Roy?" "Rebel Roy, yeah." "He taught me everything I know." "That's why I'm so good!" "You wouldn't kid me now, would you?" "Hey, Sugar Pudding." "This here's Gator McKlusky." " Gator?" " Roy, come here." "Come here, I want to show you something." "I'll be right back, Sugar Pudding." " Rebel Roy?" " Yeah, Rebel Roy." "Good-looking rascal." "Reminds me a lot of you." "Had a rebel flag on the hood, like you got." "Painted right down the hood." "Doggone, that Joe, he could drive!" "If you want to look at something, look at that." "You got yourself some motor there, boy." " You sure you don't need a blocker, Roy?" " Well, I don't know, Dude." "I might." "I just might." "I sure will think about it." "There's your friend." " J.C. Connors?" " That's him." " I want to talk to him." " Go talk to him." "I ain't bothered." " I want you to come with me." " Come with you, are you crazy?" "I'll wait right here in the car." "You mad?" "You're gonna kill us!" "Come on, man, don't act so damn crazy!" " What's the hurry, Dude?" " We're in no hurry, Sheriff." " Hot though, ain't it?" " Yeah, it's hot." "Just don't make it any hotter than it is now." "I won't." "I'll have something for you on Friday, Mr. Connors." "I'll bet this machine will outrun about anything, wouldn't it?" "Motorcycle, State Police car, just about anything on the road." " It's a hot car." "It's tuned up fine?" "Only two things in the world I'm scared of." "Only scared of two things?" " What's that?" " Women and the police." "Women and the police." "You spend all your time trying to hump them both, don't you?" "You take it easy in this machine in this county, now." " We'll take it easy, Mr. Connors." " I know you will." "Women and the police." "Boy, that was cute." "I mean, that was cute." "Ready?" "I was born ready." "Well, we'll take State 102." "Go on past the lumber yard." "Think you can handle that big machine, all right?" "Get on with it." "You just keep your eyes on the road and your foot on the pedal." "All right, Harvey, what's that mean?" "All right, J.C. That means," "Ben Fairfield says that County records may be placed under..." "Thank you for taking care of the matter I told you about." "That's my pleasure, Judge Tenney." "He says what?" "That the County records may be placed in investigative custody by the State Bureau of Fiscal Review, in which case prior investigative function may be retained by state or local authorities over federal jurisdiction." "Bogan County's still Bogan County." "That's what I'm trying to tell you, J.C. It's not the same." " It can't be the same!" " Harvey, that's a bunch of stuff." "Ben Fairfield played football with Howie Duncan and me." "He puts his pants on..." " Still coming over to the house for dinner?" " Fried chicken." "Benjamin Fairfield is now a U.S. Senator, and I'm down here in Bogan County, doing the same thing his daddy did when he was sheriff here." "I had myself one of them cells downstairs 'cause I burned down the outhouse on the Fourth of July." "That was 25 years ago, J.C." "Federal law and state law is not what it was." "Damn it, Harv..." "Excuse me, Miss Martha." "You don't believe everything you hear, do you?" "No, sir, not working around here." "Now look, J.C., let me explain it to you one more time." "Federal law and state law is not what it was 25..." "Harvey!" "You know, you need a haircut." "Now, what's it the business of any income tax federal revenuer, anyway?" "If Pot Willoughby, any other old moonshiner, wants to come in this office, put down his paper sack full of money, like he's been doing for years, and I take that money and I spread it around among 25 men in my department" "who do not make enough off the taxpayer to buy their wives a washer and a dryer machine and all them things that every American family's supposed to have." "Now, you tell me, Harvey, you tell me, is it better if a man pays $7 a fifth for government drinking liquor in a dry county, or six bits a pint for shine?" "Don't argue with me, J.C." "I'm with you." "Hell, everybody in the department is." " But you got to pull in your horns." " Bull." "Now, you listen to me." "If Ben Fairfield says that Washington's sending a man down here snooping around, he knows what he's talking about." "And maybe he's already here." "If that ain't a whiskey runner, I'll spit." "Hunkered down the springs like that." " Shall we get him?" " Let's go." "Kill the tape." "Shit!" "What the hell have we got here?" "We got a whiskey transporter and a blocker car running east in pursuit on Farrell Road." "Son of a bitch!" "Well, I'll be damned." "Hey, Gator?" "The guy over in the body shop wants to know what the hell you ever did to the undercarriage on that car." " I told you, I just dinged it up a little bit." " Dinged it?" "Shoot, it's gonna ding your pocketbook when you pick it up tomorrow." "Hey, that's her." "The one in the yellow dress up there." "Hi." "The courthouse closed?" "Well, the Sheriff's office is open, but that court is closed for the day." "How about where you get your license renewed at?" "That's the Motor Vehicle Department, and they close at 5:30, too." "Damn it!" "Sorry." "They close at 5:30." "It's after 5:30, now." "Gonna be in trouble, now." "Well, when did your license expire?" "February." "That's my birthday." "I guess I'm gonna catch hell." "All they really do is..." "They don't even fine you or anything." " No?" " No, you just renew it and that's all." " You work up in the courthouse?" " Yeah, I work at the Sheriff's office." "That's good." "You don't have a lot of tickets or anything like that, do you?" "No." "I just want to get my license renewed." "What time does the courthouse open in the morning?" "9:00." "I'm gonna have to stay here all night." "You know where I can get some supper?" "Yeah, right down there at the Citadel Cafe." "Is it any good?" "Yeah, they got a real nice dining room." "I know you're gonna think this is dumb." "I hate to eat alone." "You know something?" "I hate to eat alone, too." " Yeah?" " Yeah." "Come on." "No, no..." "Listen." "I know you." "No, you don't." "Well, listen, I got an idea, honey." "I just want a goodnight kiss." "Are you sure?" "I'm not so sure." "You're too much." "Honey..." "I just know that you want me to dig out a lot of tickets or something like that." "And honey, there ain't a chance." "No chance!" "I ain't got no tickets." "What the hell you talking about tickets?" "That ain't what I want at all!" "Son of a dog." "Thank you, Maggie." "When you gonna leave that old boy and marry me?" "Sugar, you ain't asked me." "Hey, Dude, don't you want another piece of pie?" "No, I don't want any pie." "Well, what do you think?" "I can jerk the head, but I can't get it to you before Tuesday." "Damn, Dude!" "Ain't there some place around here you can find that's open?" "I've got to make a pickup at Big Bear." "Let Gator do it for you." "You said he's the best blocker you ever had." "I can't understand that damn pushing rod going out on me like that!" "Damn!" " How you doing?" " Everybody I can." "You know, Big Bearjust might kick my butt if I take you out there to the still to make a pickup." "I could sure use the money." "Don't look like I got much of a choice." " Roy, it'll be all right." " Hell, what do you know?" "Damn, I hate to mess up a man's car like that." "You can fix it back, can't you?" "Pick me up some new license plates." "Go on back." "Hey, is that Roy?" "Yeah, he's got Lou and a fellow with him." " Who is it?" "Harry Noonan?" " Hell, I don't know, honey." "Be still!" "You know," "I never heard of no Roy Goober running whiskey around Martinsville." "Yeah?" "He's my cousin." "Everybody's heard of him." "Yeah?" "Who'd you say he was?" "Gator..." " Gator what?" " McKlusky." " You sure you know who he is?" " Hell, Gator's all right." "Dude said he was, and I threw a rod on my car." "Well, you boys let that be." "He'll finish it." "Come in and eat a bite." "We're just setting the table." "That's a good idea." "I'm so hungry I could eat the tail-end out of a hobby horse." " You've got a hell of an operation here." " I've got 15 men piddling around." "If I didn't give them something to do, they'd be sucking wind." "How many gallons do you run a month?" "3,000 or SO." " We did our stacks different up home." " We got to keep them out of sight." "The feds have got TV doodads, helicopters and every other damn thing snooping around." "Like a bunch of old hens scratching a manure pile for sunflower seeds." "You can eat my grub." "I'll let you haul my whiskey." "But don't you ever do me no wrong." "How'd you like that knife shoved up your ass?" "I wouldn't like that at all." "Let's go eat some greens." "You remember what I told you." "That smells so nice, that honeysuckle." "Hey, Gator, tell me something." "Were you scared back there when Big Bear pulled that pig sticker on you?" "Scared shitless." " Gonna hate to see old Big Bear leave." " Why is that?" "Good old boy like him." "Fought in the war." "Like his daddy before him." "He says if the government keeps dogging him about making moonshine, he'd just as soon turn communist and be a Chinaman." "By God, I believe that old boy'd do it, too." "Another day, another quarter." "I woke up each morning my idols were clay" "What did you do with all that money you got for singing lessons?" "That isn't fair!" "I was just imitating that old lady I told you about, sitting up on the float." "We was up on the float, too." "They even took pictures, right, Roy?" "In the Bogan County Sun." "Maybe you saw those pictures." "Anyway, we had to dive in the water and go from one side to the other side." "Whoever got to the other side first won all sorts of fine gifts." "Hair goods, lots of luggages and things." "What?" "Is this where them two boys were drowned?" "Yeah, just past the point there." " What boys are you talking about?" " Never mind." "Like I was saying, I could have won that race, right, Roy?" "But this girl, Bonnie Rae Slocum, grabbed the back of my bra and held onto me." "It might have changed our whole life if I'd won that." "Roy would be a really good engineer if he'd gone on to school." "Ever since we were going steady together, I wanted him to study engineering and all." "We could've had children, and a home, and a house, and everything nice." "But if you keep running that white lightning, you'll get caught." "Sent up to federal prison for two years..." "It'd just be probation." "There ain't nobody gonna turn me in." "Fiddling with my fingernails." " First time's probation." " Second time." "You already had your probation." "That time up in Crescent County." " It don't count." "I was 16 years old." " It does too count." " Shoot!" " It does!" "Doesn't it count?" "What's the matter with you?" "You two are more fun than going to an all-night dentist." "What are you always writing in that little book about?" " I'm writing the story of my life, darling." " Yeah?" " Am I in it?" " You're working on it." "The first little old boy I ever took out in back of the corncrib, he wasn't but 9 years old." "9 years old?" "I was reading in this magazine article, the other day." "It says your average girl doesn't start even playing with herself till she's 12." "I was early." "I sure admire them folks." "Bought them a damn organ out of that whiskey money." "How about that?" "Hey, Roy!" " You better pop, Gator." " Remember what I said." "What'd she say?" "I was telling him about my recipe for shaky pudding." "Shaky pudding?" "He said he'd like to try some." "Hey, Bubba, keep that door open, boy!" "Bring it inside, Roy." "What are you thinking about?" "Shaky pudding" "Gonna try some?" "I'm thinking about it." "Gator, I don't believe in fooling around none." "Never did." "If you want it, just say so." "If you don't..." "What about Roy?" "He's not gonna be standing around watching us, is he?" "I hope not." "Keep the fires burning." "See you next week." "Roy's running a little late tonight, ain't he?" "Who's that new guy he's got running around with him now?" "African trip?" "Blank, blank, F, A, blank, blank." "Put that crossword puzzle down and act like an officer of the law." "Safari." "S-A-F-A-R-I." "Pretty soon, there'll be more guns than people." "Roy, if we'd stuck it out, we could have got us one of them." "I'm gonna get me one like that, honeybun." "Just like that." "I wouldn't even know what to do with a gun if I had one." "That's a typical female statement." "Hey, get this." "The army goes around busting people for smoking dope." " Do y'all go to school around here?" " No, do you?" "No, I'm outta school." "You know what we need?" "We need a woman President." "If they elected a woman President, there wouldn't be any more war." "You don't believe me?" "Do you know the name of that stuff they put in those hotdogs?" "No, I don't know." "Y'all know anybody who goes out to Horacebee College?" "What about Dawson Junior College?" "Do you have some people from Horacebee?" "I used to." "Let's go." "Cradle-robber." "What you talking to them about?" "Yeah, trying to hustle up one of them hippie chicks?" "I don't know why you talk to them damn draft-dodging, pot-smoking, long-haired sons of bitches." "Shoot, they don't know nothing." "All they do is cause dissension." "There ain't no important thing in their lives." "There must be 50 of them." "If it was up to me, I'd shoot them all." "Bringing in the sheaves bringing in the sheaves" "Bringing in the sheaves bringing in the sheaves" "We'll all go rejoicing bringing in the sheaves" "Bringing in the sheaves" "Bringing in the sheaves" "We'll go rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves" "Bringing in the sheaves" "Morning." "Would you like a bite?" "Come on up here, and get it." "Where's Roy?" "He's inside, sleeping." " Did you do that all by yourself?" " All by myself." "Just for you." " Do you like that?" " Beats the hell out of prison cooking." "You was in prison?" "Doing my time." " You know what?" " What?" "I want to thank you from the bottom of my worthless, horny little soul." "I believe that." " How long was you in for?" " Four years." "How come you're out?" "'Cause they got tired of me." "You know, Gator?" "If you keep running that white liquor, you'll just go right back in there again." "Not this boy." " Tell you what." " What?" "You come on out here." "Wash my back." "I'll buy you a new dress come payday." "A new dress?" "Lou?" "Damn people wandering off." "Now I know why they call you Gator." "J.C." "There it is." "Ben Fairfield got that out of the CID section." "Dude Watson and some stool pigeon they turned loose out of state prison." "You better start backtracking." " Dude Watson?" " It's right there in black and white." "The federals got him over a barrel on taxes, and they're using him." "Taxes." "They're after you, boy." "Well, turning a man against his own people, I can't..." "Washington, D.C. is a damned dictator." "They don't care what we want." "They're gonna integrate our schools." "They're gonna get all our coloreds to vote." "They're gonna send all those long-haired, smart-aleck hippies down here." "What the hell would we be doing if Ben Fairfield wasn't sitting up there, pulling strings for us in Congress?" "Living in Russia." "That's what you might as well do..." "Miss Martha, you better excuse us." "I'm liable to get heated here." " Sir, just watch your blood pressure." " Yes, ma'am." "Communism, Harvey, that's what it is." "That's plain and simple." "As plain as the nose on your face." "The Communists!" "That's what he said." ""Destroy from the inside."" "What are you gonna do?" "I'm gonna get mean, Harvey." "You don't understand." "It can't be the way it was." "It cannot be the way it was!" "Can you understand this?" "Don't you know there are times that your learned opinion is about as useless as tits on a boar hog!" "You know who them hog huggers are?" "Feds." "I want them out of here, and this whole mess over with." "I ain't kidding." " How you doing, McKlusky?" " All right." "Have you got anything for us?" "No." " Not yet." " When?" "I don't know." "Is Dude cooperating?" "Yeah." "Why do you come here?" "I told you if I got any information I'd call you!" " Why do you bother these people?" " Cool it." "Let's go." "Be seeing you, McKlusky." "Take it easy." "By the way, what you so dressed up for, Sugar Pudding?" "When I woke up this morning I was feeling so fine." "I just thought I'd put on a new dress for you, Roy." "Where did you go this afternoon, Gator?" "Over to Dude's." " Did you go with him?" " No." "No." "That's mighty fine spruce and dogwood, isn't it?" "Hi, Huey!" " Got my sugar?" " Five sacks." "Well, Big Bear wanted eight." "Haven't got it." "They've been checking on us lately." "Okay, we'll take it." " Where'd you and him go this morning?" " No place." "Big Bear hasn't paid me for the last he's gotten." "And we're not running any credit." "I'll be sure to tell him." "Give me some beading oil, too." "Buck Sherman took my last, and I won't have any till next Tuesday." " Where'd you and Lou go this morning?" " Walking." "It took you long enough." "If you've got something to say to me, say it." "I don't want you looking at Lou no more." "Let me ask you something." " Just exactly what are your intentions?" " About what?" "Are you gonna marry her or what?" " What?" " That's just what I thought." "Marry her?" "What the hell has that got to do with what we were talking about?" "Where's Dude?" "I don't know." "I just want him to come down to the courthouse, discuss some things with me." "'Course, now, you can call the NAACP first or what is it, the ACLU or" "the CIO, the FBI or any other damn thing." "Well, he's not here." "Well, he ain't here." "Maybe you'd better come with us, then?" "Yes, sir!" "I'll just get my pocketbook." "You better go help her look the back door, I think." "No, let me go." "Please don't!" "Stop in" "Will you let my deputy up from there, please?" "Now, where's Dude?" "Where is Dude?" "He's out." "Out at his folks'." "What about that guy in that brown sedan?" "Hauling with Roy Boone." "Thank you, honey, for your cooperation." "See you later." "Damn it, we're giving them stuff as sweet as that old Hatchy River was." "If you'd sweeten this whole wash up a little bit, you'd get him up to six." "You don't know anything about making whiskey." "You go back there and tell him to sweeten up that..." "Help me get that stuff out of here!" "You ain't done nothing all day!" "Take it easy on that Ford this time." "I don't want any more overhauls with my Ford." "Stop nipping on thatjug, Malcolm." "If you don't start making it a little better, I'm gonna quit drinking it all together." " Keep your eyes on that popper keg." " I don't care if it gets a little too short." "We're not making this stuff for the Governor, you know." "Take all them pigs back..." "Be glad you got me to do all this stuff for you." " Where's Gator?" " Hell, I don't know." "Shaking the dew off his lily, I guess." "I'll be back in a minute." "You get them jugs out of here, like I told you." " Hi." " What?" "Do you really like them electric hair dryers?" "Doggone, must make your head hot." "You'll ruin your hair with all those chemicals." "I don't really care for naturally curly hair, myself." "I kind of like the artificial kind, with the curlers in it." "What are you doing in here?" "Just talking to the lady." "Get the hell out." "Get that thing back on your head." "What do you say, Frank?" " Hey, baby, what's happening?" " Nothing much." " What you making there?" "Scotch?" " Bourbon." "This here's Gator McKlusky." "He'll be making some runs for Big Bear." " Hey, Frank." " Hey!" "McKlusky?" "I knew a McKlusky once who lived in Oleander County." " Want another case Saturday?" " Yeah." "Jim McKlusky." "Made real steel-pot liquor." "Not this lead-radiator poison." "Well, just sell it." "Don't drink it, Frank." "Yeah." "Hey, he looked a little bit like you." "Jim McKlusky." "Is he any kin to you?" " What'd you say?" " Is he any kin to you?" "My daddy." "Well, I'll be..." "Go to hell!" "You're Jim McKlusky's boy." "It's been a long time!" "Hell, it's a long time ago. 1952." "When I was a kid, he used to work in the shot house." " Ain't got time to shoot the breeze." " Okay." "Hey, when you see your daddy, you tell him Frank Robley said hello." "I'll tell him." "What you got in that book?" "We're gonna get something straight." "You think you can keep trying something with Lou?" " I ain't talking about Lou." " I'm talking about it." "What you been doing, writing a love poem?" "You damn peanut head." "You don't know your can from second base." " I don't have to take that crud from nobody!" " You super-giant ass!" "Damn you!" "Let go of me." "Now listen, you son of a..." "God damn it!" "What?" "You damn peanut head!" "Don't tell me you wasn't messing around with Lou." "Just don't tell me." "Boys, I don't mind you fooling around." "But I can't let you block the alley with this vehicle." "I'm gonna have to give you a citation." "Yes, sir." "Hey, Skeeter, still trying to beat that machine?" "He ain't here." "I didn't ask if anybody was here, Mrs. Watson." "You was talking about Dude in town." "He ain't here and I ain't seen him." "Howdy, Mrs. Watson." "What you doing, making a banana pudding?" "What I need to do, Skeeter, is ask Dude a couple questions." "You heard her." "He ain't here." "Bugger!" "Damn near had that 75, there." "Now, you wouldn't want to see Dude get in any trouble." "And I'm here to see he don't." "Just can't beat one of these Sears Roebuck pinball machines." "No, siree!" "You got to hit the flippers every now and then." "I hit the flippers all the time!" "Where is he, Mrs. Watson?" "You know, don't you, Skeeter?" "I believe you've got a loose hinge, here." " Come here." " What are you trying to do, damn it?" " Just feel in there." " No." "Where is he?" "Where's he at?" "At Harry Bird's place!" "Get some ice water for them fingers." "Hey." "J.W.?" "Hey, boy, we've got a load out here for you!" " J.W." " Roy?" "Is that you?" "Something's wrong." "I'm not kidding." "There's nobody here." "Let's get the hell..." "Get your hands off of me!" "You can do better than that!" "Come on!" "Damn it!" "Out of the way!" "Come back here." "Damn you." "Tan her hide, Freddie." "Ought to be more hide-tanning and less psychology, by Jim." "Junior, go tell J.C. Connors to come on down here." "Put your cuffs on him there." "Elmer?" "Damn it." "You should have done your time and stayed up in that prison." "Tees me off, federal sons of Yankees coming down here, stool-pigeoning and every other damn thing!" "I'm sorry about what happened out there." "You know how to put that stuff away, don't you, boy?" "You know, when you first come up to my place, I knowed you wasn't right." "I smelled it." "Sheriff's on his way!" "Dag nab it." "That J.C. Connors will come with that rowboat and some cement blocks, and we'll have to put this old boy away." "You better..." " No!" " Come on." "Get your hands off of me!" "Why you ignorant, stupid, jughead, can't you see she ain't willing?" "Bring her back in here and sit her down!" "Get your hands off!" "I hope you rot and burn in hell!" "I know why you're doing that." "Right." "I'm gonna get so drunk I ain't gonna know what's happening when you take me out there on that lake to drown me." "You're gonna have more fun than we are, ain't you?" "You bet your big butt I am." "You know what?" "You're a good old boy." "It's a crying shame, you got to be a sneaking, lying, behind-the-back, yellow, chicken-thieving stool pigeon!" "Well, don't worry about it." "I'm gonna be so drunk, I ain't gonna know the difference." "You know what?" " What?" " You know what she's got on her belly?" "What?" "Come here." " She's got a tattoo." " Tattoo!" "What?" "I said she's got a tattoo on her belly." "You know what of?" "American flag." " You know what else?" " What?" "Two eagles fighting a snake." "Bullarkey." "Hey, man, I've seen it." "It's beautiful." " Didn't Roy tell you about it?" " No!" " You don't believe me, do you?" " No." "Why don't you go take a look?" "Shoot" "All right, I will." "Come here." "Stay away from me." "Leave me alone!" "Hell, honey, the boys want to take a peek at a tattoo." "It ain't gonna hurt nobody, will it?" "Come on!" "No." "Come on!" "...shove the devil away." "Because the devil's trying to get you, too." "He's working at you." "He's working with you." "He's against you." "But the Lord is on your side." "So reach out your hand and put your hand in his hand..." "It pinches the saw." "Hi!" "There." " Where the hell am I?" " Are you feeling any better now?" "This is Sister Linda Fay, and over here is Annie Lou and Betty Jo, and Vicky, and I'm Vinnie Carruthers." "Vinnie Carruthers, you're just prattling." "Everybody, out of here." "Right now." "Come on." "Right out." "Go on." "Out of here." "That takes care of the devil's harness." "Come on everybody, out of here." "Right now." "Shoo!" "Go on." " Who knows what would've..." " Don't you go getting him excited." "He'll tear out all those stitches." "Isn't she wonderful?" "Praise God!" "Where the hell am I?" "You're at Sister Linda Fay's Home for Unwed Mothers." "No shit!" "Lou told us all about you, Mr. McKlusky." "Lou, here, was one of our mothers." "Had a girl." "Now, what would you like for lunch?" "Hominy or tapioca?" "Tapioca." "All right." "Bet that ain't as good as shaky pudding." "Is your name McKlusky?" "You come up here this minute and feed that baby!" " Come on!" "Right now!" " Okay." "Carol Cray, you come up here, too." "What happened to you?" "I was trying to save these two buddies of mine from getting knocked up by a homosexual." "Praise God!" "Here comes little Dude." "Another son of a bitch running around loose." "Forget it." "Couldn't believe it, Maggie." "I swear to God, I just couldn't believe it." " Good old Dude." " I told him!" "I told him." "Iwarned him." "It's too much wooly booger, J.C." "You can't go at it every night, Bear." "You know what?" "We ain't been fishing in a long time." "Why don't we just take a day off and go fishing?" "Fishing?" "Right now, my boat ain't rigged for fishing, Bear." "Dude was a good old boy." "He was just lucky the boys didn't know what he was doing." "Listen, Maggie, if you and the little girl need anything, you just tell me, okay?" "Thanks, Roy." "That wife of his in Memphis, she's gonna get every cent of that insurance money." " You seen that McKlusky fellow?" " No, sir, J.C. I still ain't seen him." "Well, you let me know if you do." "Yes, sir." "I sure will." "Respects and condolences to you, ma'am." "You go to hell!" " How long ago were you in here?" " I don't want to talk about it." "Hi." " Morning." " Morning." " Hello." " Hi." " That's a pretty baby." " Thank you." " What's its name?" " Jimmy Lee." "Well, Lee's a lot better than Grant." "Would you please take the baby in?" "I think he's getting a little hungry." "I sure will. ls his bottle on the stove?" " No, it's up in my room cooling." " Okay." "You did say your name was McKlusky, didn't you?" "Yeah, why?" "You had a brother named Donny?" "You knew my brother?" "We was good friends." "We went to school together down in Auburn." " I saw it the night when it happened." " You what?" "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything about that." " Jesus Christ, you mean you were..." " I didn't see when he was killed." "I mean, I was with him before." "Some of us kids, we come down from school afterwards." "There was nothing we could do." "Yeah, but why?" "Why did it happen?" "I mean, what did Donny do?" "Nothing." "I mean, nothing bad." " We were all just protesting." " Protesting?" "What the hell's he got to protest about in Bogan County?" "The protests up north." "Up in New York, and places like that." "That's the beauty of it!" "Can't you see?" "It was his idea." "We picked the worst county in the whole state to hold the demonstration." " Why?" " You know how Donny was." "No, I don't." "Ten of us come up." "We had this here sit-in." "We was going back to school, so we bought a six-pack to celebrate." "We was making a little too much noise, so the manager called the Sheriff." "Pretty soon, there he was." "Donny answered the door." "And he told him he couldn't do nothing on account he didn't have a search warrant." "The Sheriff said he wasn't gonna have a bunch of damn hippies stirring up the folks with all their protesting, starting anything in his county." "And so Donny told him how everybody knew he was nothing but a fascist-pig mother stealing the county blind." "Then the Sheriff hit him." "Then the Deputy grabbed Donny and one of the other guys and took them away." "Next thing we knew, he was dead." "That's it." "You know something?" "I just got out of prison." "Running cars, stealing cars, running moonshine." "I ain't never..." "I ain't never done nothing good in my whole life." "And then along come Donny." "And he's the only one that ever went to school." "The only one that ever accomplished anything." "The only one who ever did anything in the whole family." "What the hell does it mean?" "Mr. McKlusky?" "Sheriff's out there asking about you." "Let's go!" "He's gone!" "Junior, let's go!" "All units." "Got a man heading down the Jackson Road, toward Carlton." "Cut him off." "Stay right on him." "Okay, take a right." "That's back to town." "He wouldn't go to town." " He'd be down by the County line." " Take a right here." "Damn!" "I'll get a shot at him." "Get over to the right a little bit, Junior." "Just get it to the right." "If you lose this thing, it's coming out of your paycheck." "You know that, don't you?" "You've got to ease in the curve, Junior." "We're getting him." "Now you can hit it on the straightaway." "Where the hell did he go?" "Get after him, Junior!" "I told you, Junior." "I told you and I told you!" "Damn hardhead!" " Are you okay?" " You see me walking, don't you?" "Damn it!" "If I get my hands on him..." "Help!" "Damn." "The good, they die young."