"Hey, Sheriff." "A Mercury is a real good car." "That was the car I was driving that day." "I have a lot of cars." "Yeah." "Different kinds." "A lot of different kinds of cars." "She was standing, this girl, on the side of the street where there was this chicken stand." "It wasn't the Colonel, but it was a chicken stand nevertheless." "And I pulled the Mercury right up alongside and I rolled down the window, see, by electric power." "And she had this leather skirt on." "And she had a lot of hair on her arms." "I like hair, I like hair a lot." "It means a big bush." "I like a big bush." "So she says, "Are you dating?" You know?" "I said, "Sure." So she gets in." "And we pull off into this remote location, you know, that was comfortable for both she and I." "And she says to me, "How much do you wanna spend?"" "And I said, "Whatever it takes to see that bush of yours, 'cause I know it's a big one."" "And she says to me, "25 dollars."" "That's not chicken feed, you know..." "to a working man." "So I produce the 25 dollars and she sticks it down into her shoe and pulls up her skirt." "And there before me lay this thin, crooked, uncircumcised penis." "You can imagine how bad I wanted my 25 dollars back, huh?" "I don't know why you're so weirded out." "This is not San Quentin." "It's just a nut house." "Most of these people don't even know where they are." "They're not gonna hurt you." "In a few minutes, we're gonna be in a room with a killer." "That doesn't bother you?" "Hey, you're the one that wanted to major in journalism." "These are the people from that newspaper deal." " Oh, yeah." "From the college?" " Yes, sir." " I'm Jerry Woolridge." " Nice to meet you." "I'm Marsha Dwiggins and this is Theresa Evans." "She's here to take the pictures." "Y'all sit down." "Yeah, there was a young man named John Legit Hunter who was in the filling station business - a good filling station business." "But he was one of these young men we run across in life," "I'm sure you've run across 'em, who didn't deserve what he had, you know?" "And one of the things he had was this... beautiful young bride," "Sarah." "She was a Georgia peach." "In fact, she was more like the picture I had in my mind than any woman I'd ever seen." "So I took it upon myself to take her away from John Legit Hunter, who did not deserve her, you know?" "Oh, I don't know if I told you, but he was a Frenchman who claimed to be an Englishman." "Yeah..." "Took a lot of strong nylon cord to get her away from him, 'cause she was a fighter as well as being a Georgia peach." "I think there must have been a little mix-up." "I talked to your sponsor or teacher, or whoever he is, and I told him that there couldn't be any pictures." "It's supposed to be like an article or a story, something like that, isn't that right?" "Well, yeah, it's for the school newspaper, but it has pictures." "I mean, it's a regular paper, you know?" "Karl's real sensitive about having his picture made." "He wouldn't even be on the bulletin board for the Easter collage." "Now... a shovel just makes too goddamn much racket." "All I can do is talk to him, see what he says." "You gotta make something explode to truly understand it." "I mean, you gotta examine all those little tiny particles while they're still on fire." "Karl, I've gotta take you down to the old classroom." "Mr. Woolridge has some people for you to see down there." "Come on, let's go." "You remember me telling you about those people from that newspaper?" "They wanna ask you some questions about your release." "They think it'll make a good story." "Will you talk to 'em?" "Get interviewed?" "Now, they're women." "I think it'd be good for you, too." "You're gonna be seeing all kinds of people when you get on the outside." "This'll help, I believe." "Now, here's the thing." "He'll only talk to you, but he doesn't want you to ask him anything." "And you really shouldn't stare at him." "How am I going to conduct an interview if I can't ask him any questions?" "It's the best it's gonna get." "I'm sorry." "Can I ask you a question?" "If he's so troubled, why are you letting him out?" "What if he does it again?" "It happens all the time." "He's free, his time's up." "That's the rules." "He's been treated and re-evaluated and doesn't show any signs anymore." " Signs?" " Homicidal signs." "Oh, Miss." "I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to step outside." "Why?" "Please?" "I gotta change the light in here for Karl." "I hope you can still see to write." "I reckon what you is wanting to know is what I'm a-doin' in here." "I reckon the reason I'm in here is 'cause I've killed somebody." "Mm-hm." "But I reckon what you is a-wantin' to know is how come me to kill somebody, so I reckon I'll start at the front and tell you." "I lived out the back of my mother and father's place most of my life, in a little old shed that my daddy had built for me." "They didn't too much want me up there in the house with the rest of 'em." "So mostly, I just sat around out there in the shed, a-lookin' at the ground." "I didn't have no floor out there." "But I had me a hole dug out to lay down in." "A quilt or two to put down there." "Mm-hm." "My father was a hardworking man most of his life." "Not that I can say the same for myself." "I mostly just sat around out there in the shed, tinkered around with a lawn mower or two." "Went to school off and on from time to time." "But the children out there, they were very cruel to me." "Made quite a bit of sport of me." "Made fun of me quite a bit." "So mostly, I just sat around out there in the shed." "My daddy worked down there at the saw mill, down at the planer mill for an old man named Dixon." "Old man Dixon was a very cruel fella." "Didn't treat his employees very well." "Didn't pay 'em too much of a wage." "Didn't pay my daddy too much of a wage." "Just barely enough to get by on, I reckon." "But I reckon he got by all right." "They used to come out, one or the other of 'em, usually my mother, feed me pretty regular." "Though I know he made enough to where I could have mustard and biscuits three or four times a week." "But old man Dixon, he had a boy." "His name was Jesse Dixon." "Jesse was really more cruel than his daddy was." "He used to make quite a bit of sport of me when I was down there at the schoolhouse." "He used to take advantage of little girls there in the neighborhood an' all." "He used to say that my mother was a very pretty woman." "He said that quite a bit from time to time when I'd be down there at the schoolhouse." "Well..." "I reckon you want me to get on with it and tell you what happened, so I reckon I'll tell you." "I was sittin' out there in the shed one evening, not doing too much of nothing, just kinda staring at the wall, waiting on my mother to come out and give me my Bible lesson." "Well, I heard a commotion up there in the house." "So I run up on the screened-in porch to see what was a-goin' on." "I looked in the window there and I seen my mother laying on the floor, without any clothes on." "Mm-hm." "I seen Jesse Dixon a-layin' on top of her." "He was having his way with her." "Well, I just seen red." "I picked up a Kaiser blade that was sitting there by the screen door." "Some folks call it a sling blade, I call it a Kaiser blade." "It's got a long wood handle, kind of like an axe handle." "With a long blade on it shaped kind of like a banana." "Mm-hm." "Sharp on one edge and dull on the other." "It's what the highway boys use to cut down weeds and whatnot." "Well, I went in there in the house, and I hit Jesse Dixon upside the head with it, knocked him off my mother." "I reckon that didn't quite satisfy me." "So I hit him again with it in the neck with the sharp edge and just plumb near cut his head off, killed him." "My mother, she jumped up from there and started hollerin':" ""What did you kill Jesse for?" "What did you kill Jesse for?"" "Well..." "Come to find out I don't reckon my mother minded what Jesse was a-doin' to her." "I reckon that made me madder than what Jesse had made me." "So I taken the Kaiser blade, some folks call it a sling blade, I call it a Kaiser blade," "and I hit my mother upside the head with it." "Killed her." "Some folks has asked me:" ""If you had it to do over again, would you do it the same way?"" "Well, I reckon I would." "Anyhow, they seen fit to put me in here, and here I've been for a great long while." "I've learned to read some." "Took me four years to read the Bible." "I reckon I understand a great deal of it." "Wasn't what I expected in some places." "I've slept in a good bed for a great long while." "Now they've seen fit to put me out of here." "They say they're setting me free today." "Anyhow, I reckon that's all you'd need to know." "If you wanna hear about more details, I reckon I can tell 'em to you." "I don't know whether or not that's enough for your newspaper or not." "Mm-hm." "Will you ever kill anybody again, Karl?" "I don't reckon I've got no reason to kill nobody." " Where will he go?" " Anywhere he wants to." "I think he's going back to Millsberg, where he's from." " It's just about 20 miles from here." " Will he be supervised?" "As much as anybody else is, I guess." "Y'all have a real nice rest of the day, now." "I'll get Melvin to walk y'all out." "Melvin, could you walk these girls out, please?" "Thank you." "Thank you." "I reckon I'm gonna have to get used to looking at purdy people." "Mm-hm." "I guess you will." "I reckon I'm gonna have to get used to them looking at me, too." "Better go get your things." "I ain't got nothing but them books." "Better go get 'em." "All right, then." "All right, then." "Can I help you, sir?" "Can I help you, sir?" "I was kindly wanting something or other to eat." "Mm-hm." "Well, what would you like?" "You got any biscuits for sale in there?" "No, this here's a Frostee Cream." "We don't serve biscuits." " We got a lot of other stuff, though." " What you got in there that's good to eat?" "Well, we got Big Chief burgers, Bongo burgers, Footlongs, Corny Dogs," "Frostee Shakes, Creamy Bars." "Did you want me to go through the whole list?" "Reckon what do you like to eat in there?" "Well..." "The French fries are pretty good." " French-fried potatoes?" " Yep, French fries." "How much you want for 'em?" "Well, they're 60 for the medium and 75 for the large." "I reckon I'll have me some of the big 'uns." "All right, then." "One large French fries." "These darn things are heavy." "Hard to carry, too." " What you got in there, wash?" " Yeah." "Ain't you got no mom and daddy to tend to it?" "I got a momma." "She's at work over at Hoochy's Dollar Store." "Daddy's dead." "He got hit by a train." "How far are you going with them sacks full of wash?" "Half a mile, I think it is." "I can help you tote it if I don't give out first." "OK, but you don't have to." "All right, then." "My name's Frank Wheatley." "What's your name?" "Karl's my name." " What's your last name?" " Childers." "What are all them books?" "All different ones." "One of 'em's the Bible, one of 'em's a book on Christmas, one of 'em's on how to be a carpenter." " Why do you carry them around with you?" " I ain't got no place to set 'em down." "Don't you live somewhere?" "Did live up there in the state hospital." " Why did you live there?" " I killed some folks quite a while back." "They said I wasn't right in the head, so they put me there in the nervous hospital instead of putting me in jail." " They let you out?" " Yeah." " How come?" " They told me I was well." "Had to turn me loose." " Well, are you well?" " I reckon I feel all right." "This here's my house." "You don't seem like you'd kill nobody." "We can just set these bags on the porch." "All right, then." "You like to play football?" "I never was no account at it." "I never did get picked out for it." "Well, me and the Burnett twins and some boys play at the junior high school field all the time." "If you wanna play, you can come on over, 'cause we ain't no good either." " Well, I'll see you later." " All right, then." "Karl." "Hon, you can't just go in there." "Karl, what in the world are you doing here?" "I wanna come back and stay in here." "You can't do that." "You're a free man." "They let you out so you can do as you please." "I reckon I don't care nothing about being a free man." "I don't know how to go about it." "Mm-hm." "Well, you're gonna have to learn." "It'll take some time." "Don't you have anybody down there to help you out?" "No, sir." "Well, your daddy was living down there the last time I heard." "I guess he wouldn't want to help you out any, would he?" "Sorry, I wasn't thinking." "Don't you have anybody?" "No, sir." "Never did know too much of nobody down there." "Not to be helping me out no way." "Mm-hm." "Look, Karl, the truth is, I don't know where they expect you to go, and I don't know what they expect you to do." "If it was up to me, you could come back here and stay if you wanted to." "I'm just trying to do my job." "You follow me?" "Listen, Karl." "I know an old boy who's got a fix-it shop deal in Millsberg." "He used to go to church with me." "You're good working on small engines and things." "If I was to put my neck out for you with him, do you think you could work it if he'll hire you?" "I'm pretty handy, I reckon, on lawn mowers and whatnot." "Mm-hm." "I know you are, I've seen it myself." " Could you give it a try?" " I reckon." "Now, I..." "I can't promise you that he'll hire you." "I'll have to tell him about your history." "I never was no good with history." "Mm-hm." "No." "I mean your past." "Why you were in here." "I'll take you down first thing in the morning." "You don't have anywhere you could stay tonight at all?" " No, sir." " Well, you can't stay here." "It's against the rules." "If something was to happen, I'd be liable." "I reckon I can just walk around till morning time." "And sit and read a book somewheres." "Mm-hm." "Karl, would you like a muffin?" "No, thank you." "I understand Jerry's gonna take you someplace else tomorrow." "I don't reckon I know nobody named Jerry." "She's talking about me, Karl." "That's my first name." "He's carrying me to look for work down in Millsberg, where I was born." "Mm-hm." "Would you like some coffee?" "Coffee makes me a mite nervous when I drink it." "Daddy, can I be excused to go to bed?" "Sure, honey." "You sleep with your momma tonight." "I'm gonna sleep with your brother, so Karl can have your room." "Why?" "'Cause he's company." "Well, Karl, looks like you got plenty of blankets and things." "Bathroom's out there in the hall." "We'll leave at first light." "That's a... that's an old cowboy thing." "Jerry, why didn't you give him Bubba's room?" "His sister's is a little girly, isn't it?" "Yeah, I thought about that." "I guess it doesn't make any sense to move him now." "Daddy..." "Don't you think one of us ought to stay up all night and kind of guard or something?" "Well, hell, no, son." "What's wrong with you?" " He's a nut, ain't he?" " "Isn't," Bubba." "Don't say "ain't."" " Karl, are you up?" " Yes, sir." "Didn't you go to sleep at all, Karl?" "You been sitting there like that all night?" "Yes, sir." "Well, come on." "We'd better hit the road." "All right, then." " Hey, Jerry." "How's it going?" " Hey, Bill." "Good to see you, man." "It's been a long time." "It's good to see you, too." "How's everybody doing?" "Oh, pretty good." "Kids are driving me crazy, Phyllis is gonna put me in the poorhouse, but I can't complain other than that." "Wouldn't do any good if I did." " You know Scooter, Jerry?" " I don't believe I do." " Good to meet you, Scooter." " How about you?" "Well, this is him, the one I was telling you about on the phone." "Like I said, if you get nervous about it, I'll understand." "I'm not gonna lie to you." "He did get into that trouble, but then he was young." "I remember that real well." "He cut those folks to pieces, his momma was one of 'em." "Yeah, and that old Dixon boy." "Oh, hell, I always wanted to kill him myself." "Asshole's what he was." "I remember that old boy, too." "Kind of retarded or something back in school." "Well, seems like he's pretty well-adjusted these days." "He..." "I don't think he'd ever hurt anybody." "He don't look much like he would." "You say he fixes small engines like nobody's business?" "He's a regular whiz." "It's all he's done since he was a kid." " Are you scared of him, Scooter?" " No, I don't guess so." " Can he talk?" " Oh, yeah." "Now, you say he can stay out the back?" "Fine with me." "If he steals anything, I'm gonna take it out of your pocket anyway." "Oh, he won't steal." "He's a pretty good old boy, really." "Keeps to himself." "Well, I got a roomful of work for him to do." "I can't get Scooter to do any of it." "Karl, come over here." "I want you to meet your new boss." "This is Bill Cox." "He runs the place." "Says that you can work here and stay out back." " It's good to know you, Karl." " Thank you." "Karl, it's minimum wage, and there ain't nothing back there but an old army cot and a toilet." "Yeah, that'll be fine." "Karl, I'm gonna go out to the car and get your books." "All right, then." "Karl, they say you're a whiz on fixing lawn mowers and things." "I've tinkered around on 'em a little bit." "Mm-hm." "We order up from the Frostee Cream at lunch, usually." "We can buy you lunch till you get on your feet a little." "I like them French-fried potatoes." "Mm-hm." "Yeah?" "Me, too." "They make a good double meat burger." "All right, then." "I'll see y'all later." "Karl, you done a good day's work today." "They was right about you." "Scooter, he gonna knock you out of a job if you're not careful." " All right, then, I'll see y'all tomorrow." " Wait up." "I'll leave with you and lock up." "Karl, there's a blanket up in under that cot and some soap in the bathroom for cleaning up with." "Now, there's one more thing." "The way we lock these doors, you can't get out at night." " You didn't wanna go anywhere, did you?" " I don't reckon." "If it works out, maybe we'll get you a key so you can get out at night if you need to." " I'll see you later." " All right, then." "So then the old man says, "At my age, I'd rather have the talking frog."" "We'll see you, JW." "Scooter, did I tell you the one about the two old boys pissing off the bridge?" " I don't remember." " Well..." "These two old boys hung their peckers off the bridge to piss." "And one of the boys was from California and one from Arkansas." "Old boy from California says, "Boy, this water's cold."" "Old boy from Arkansas said, "Yeah, and it's deep, too."" "Get it?" " That's a good 'un." " That is a good one." "You know, I do believe you've told me that one before." "I've heard that one a bunch." " A long time ago." " Yeah, that's a classic." "You know, Karl, I got to thinking about it last night, and it's just not Christian of me not to let you have a key." "I mean, you've been in lockup so long, you don't need me keeping you locked up." "You need to come and go as you please." "Here." "Take this key." "It'll get you in and out of here at night." "All right, then." " Them French fries good?" " Yeah, they're good all right." "Mm-hm." "You got any money?" "Well, they give me some when they turned me loose." "I spent up some of it a-ridin' on the bus and eating French-fried potatoes." "Mm-hm." "Well, I'm gonna pay you today for this coming week so you have some walking-around money." "When you get off this evening, you need to go buy some toothpaste and some cleaning up supplies to have back there." "Get you some magazines and some hard candy." "Something to keep you busy at night." "All right, then." "I'll let you off while it's still daylight." "Hey, there." "I thought I heard somebody on the porch." "Wasn't your name Karl?" "Yes, sir, it is." "Your name's Frank." "Yeah." "What are you doing by here?" "You said for me to come by." "You wanna play ball with us?" "I ain't no good at it." "I just come by to see you." "Mm-hm." "Well, I was going to see my momma over at Hoochy's Dollar Store." "She works two till eight." "All right, then." "You wanna go with me?" "You can meet my momma." "I oughta not worry your momma with company." "Aw, come on." "You'll like her." "She's real nice." "And she'll give us anything we want her to." "Candy or something." "Well, I was kindly needing to do some trading." "Reckon they sell toothpaste?" "Yeah, they sell a little bit of everything." "I won't tell her about you being in the state hospital for killing." "Come on, let's go." "You're just gonna have to learn to live without all that grease." "Shoot, not here in the South." "I like grease on everything." "I like fried chicken, fried okra." " Biscuits and gravy." " It'll kill you." " Hey, Momma." "Hey, Vaughan." " Hey, sweetheart." "What you up to?" "I bet I know." "You want a whole bunch of candy and a pop, right?" "Yeah." "That stuffs gonna rot your teeth, don't you know that?" "I got something even better." "I just put potted meat on special-four cans for a dollar." "They're not moving very well." "But I tell you what, I'll give a couple of cans for free to the right kid." "I don't like potted meat." "Daddy used to say they was made out of lips, peckers and intest..." "Frank, don't talk that way." "Who's that strange-looking man behind you?" "Did he follow you in here?" " Can I help you, sir?" " Oh, that's Karl." "I met him at the Laundromat." "Karl, this is Momma and Vaughan." "Vaughan's the manager." "He lets Momma off any time she feels like it, 'cause they're best friends." "Nice to meet you, Karl." "Pleased to meet you." "Frank, why don't you come back here with me for a minute?" "I don't think I've seen you here before." "No, sir, I don't reckon you have." "I don't believe I've ever been in here before." "I don't believe this store used to be here." "It's been here 17 years." "You live here before, or something?" "I was born and raised here up till I was 12 year old." "What brings you back?" "What's that you say?" "Why are you here now?" "They turned me loose from the state hospital." "Mm-hm." "Is that right?" "How long are you gonna be staying here?" "Mr. Woolridge, he got me hired on to work for Bill Cox's outfit." "Mm-hm." " You have family here?" " Not to speak of." "Hey, Karl." "Guess what?" "Momma said you can stay over with us out in the garage." "Our car won't fit in there anyway." "It's real neat." "Frank told me about your situation." "Frank loves company." "You know, especially after his daddy passed an' all." "There ain't no sense in you staying in that old greasy shop." " He's mentally retarded, poor thing." " He just got out of the state hospital." " I know." " Can we get some candy and pop?" " Sure thing." "Go ahead." " Come on." "You think it's safe to let him around that guy?" "Frank's just crazy about him." "He likes the way he talks." "He helped him carry home the clean laundry." "He's been in the state hospital a long time." "There must be something wrong with him." "He's retarded's all." "You know he's always after a father figure." "Lord knows, Doyle ain't a good one with his mean ass." " What about me?" " I don't think he sees you as a "guy" guy." "Oh, Karl's a "guy" guy?" "This is what I call my secret place, 'cause I come out here when I feel like being by myself." "I used to come here with Karen Cross." "She's kind of like my girlfriend." "Or used to be." "We used to come out here and hold hands and talk, and read books to each other with a flashlight." "She didn't want to have nothing to do with me in front of people, 'cause I don't have any money." "Well, Momma and me, I mean." "See, her daddy's a dentist, so they're rich." "Was your folks well off?" "No, we didn't have too much." "Just barely enough to scrape by on, I reckon." "They still around, your folks?" "My mother's dead." "My daddy, he's supposed to be around still." "But he don't wanna have nothing to do with me." "How do you know?" "Well, he never did want to." "I figure he probably ain't changed his mind much." "How did your momma die?" "You don't need to hear things like that." "You're just a boy." "You need to think about good thoughts while you're still a boy." "There's plenty of time for all the other." "Mm-hm." "I've had a lot of bad thoughts since Daddy died." "Sometimes I wish I was still real little and he was still here." "Momma's real good, but I wish I had both of 'em." "We went to Memphis in the car one time." "It was raining so hard, we couldn't see the road." "But I wasn't scared, 'cause as long as Daddy was driving," "I thought nothing could happen to us." "That's the way I feel about Momma now." "Momma has a boyfriend now." "His name is Doyle Hargraves." "He works construction, so he makes a pretty good living." "But he still don't help Momma out with any money, though." "He ain't no good." "He's mean to her." "He don't like me at all." "Momma says it's 'cause he's jealous, 'cause I belong to my daddy instead of him." "He spends the night over at our house sometimes, and he's got his own house." "Somebody told me it's where he can have more girlfriends." "I like it on the nights he ain't at our house." "I ain't so nervous then." "How come her to still be girlfriend an' all with him if he mean to her?" "She says it's for the times when he's good to her." "She's lonely since Daddy died." "Sometimes she says she don't know why." "He threatened to kill her if she ever left him." "My daddy would kill him if he was still here and somebody was mean to Momma." "Vaughan, he's real good to Momma." "Vaughan that you met." "But he's not able to do anything to Doyle." "He's funny, you know." "Not funny ha-ha, funny queer." "He likes to go with men instead of women." "That makes him not be able to fight too good." "He sure is nice, though." "He's from St. Louis." "People who are queer get along better in a big town." "I wish he liked to go with women." "I'd rather him be Momma's boyfriend than Doyle." "Karl, you know when I told you Daddy got hit by a train?" "Yes, I recollect that." "It ain't the truth." "He shot himself with a shotgun on purpose." "How come he would do that, reckon?" "'Cause he didn't have enough money to take care of us the way he wanted to." "That's what the letter said." "He got laid off at work and started working odd jobs." "I thought he took care of us just fine." "Karl, did you really kill somebody?" " Yes, sir, I did." " Who did you kill?" " Two people." " Were they bad people?" "I thought they was." "Well, maybe they needed it." "Well, I growed up and learned that you ain't supposed to kill nobody." "It's all right if you're looking out for yourself." "If it's self-defense." "Was it self-defense?" "My daddy was good." "I think too many good people die." "That's what I think." "Karl, are you sure you wanna go stay with these folks?" "You're welcome to keep on staying here." "It's working out real good." "That boy wants me to." "All right, then." "I'll see you bright and early." "How are you coming along with that garden tiller?" "I fixed it." "It's working pretty good now." "Mm-hm." "You done fixed it?" "Well, I'll be damned." "Scooter told me it couldn't be fixed." "Of course, Scooter's about as shiftless as one poor son of a bitch can be." "You done fixed it." "Well, I'll just be damned." " Well, I'll see you tomorrow." " All right, then." "I don't guess I give a shit, 'cause, I mean, I ain't here that much anyway." "If you want a retard living out in the garage, I guess that's your business." "Of course, I do got some tools out there and a set of sockets" "I'd rather not have stole." "I could take those home with me." "He's real honest." "He wouldn't steal nothing." "Now, Frankie, I wasn't talking to you, was I?" " Huh?" " No, sir." ""No, sir" is right." "I was talking to your momma." "This is her decision, not yours." "If I let it go on, it's 'cause she asked me, not you." "Hey, is this the kind of retard that drools and rubs shit in his hair and all that?" "'Cause I'm gonna have a hard time eating around that kind of thing, now." "Just like I am about antique furniture and midgets." "You know that." "I can't so much as drink a damn glass of water around a midget or a piece of antique furniture." "Doyle, you're awful." "You shouldn't be that way." "I ain't saying it's right." "I'm just telling you it's the damn truth." "Now, he'll make me sick." "I know it." " What was he in the nut house for?" " He's just mentally retarded, I guess." "Mm-mm." "No, no." "He had to go nuts and did something, now." "Come on." "There's a lot of retards running around ain't locked up in the nut house." "Think about it, Linda." " You know what he done, Frank?" " I ain't sure." "Yeah, well, you might oughta want to find out." "He might have hacked his family to pieces with a hatchet or something." "Yeah, that's right, Frank." "You better ask him." "I mean, don't hurt his feelings or anything, but it'd be good to know." "I'm sure it's nothing." "He seems real sweet." "You're all hung up on people being sweet, aren't you?" "He's sweet, everybody's sweet." "Speaking of sweet, where's your girlfriend?" "I thought you said he's coming over here for something." "He'll be here in a little while." "He's taking me to get an ice cream." "Ain't that sweet." "What am I gonna do about supper, while you're out running around with that fag?" "You're not crippled." "Get in there and make something." "Talking back and everything, aren't you?" "That kind of makes me horny, Linda." "Frank, why don't you go off and play in your room if Doyle's gonna talk nasty?" " I don't wanna go play in my room." " He don't wanna play in his room, baby." "Just let him sit here." "Let's all just be a family." "Till your mentally retarded friend and your homosexual friend get here." "Karl?" "Yes, sir." "So you're really going to stay here?" "That boy, he wants me to." "Have you knocked on the door yet?" " No, sir, I ain't." " How long have you been standing here?" "Quite a spell, I reckon." "Listen, Karl." "Before you get very used to staying here," "I think you and I need to talk about a few things." "Can I take you to lunch?" "I done ate just a little bit ago." "Mm-hm." "No, I mean..." "I mean tomorrow, or the next day." "I reckon I could use a little something or other to eat at noon time." "Bill Cox, he generally gets me a box lunch." "But I reckon he can lay off of doing it tomorrow." "Mm-hm." "OK." "Well, then, I'll come by Mr. Cox's and pick you up around noon, all right?" "All right, then." "There's your girlfriend." "Hey, y'all come on in." "Come on." "Have a seat in here." " Hey, Vaughan." "How are you, Karl?" " Oh, tolerable, I reckon." "Karl, this is my boyfriend, Doyle." "Frank, why don't you and Karl go on out in the garage and fix him up a place?" "Play a game or something." "Vaughan, you ready to go?" " Sure, I guess." " Hey, honey, don't rush everybody off yet." "Maybe you and Karl want to go with us?" "Aw, I don't want to." "Me and Karl's got things we need to do." "Hey, Vaughan." "You know what I heard?" "I heard you been putting it on old Albert Sellers, works over at the funeral home." " I know Albert." "We're friends." " No, I heard you's more than friends." "Yeah, I heard Dick Rivers come in and caught the two of you all bowed up and going at it right in the same room with poor old Miss Olgetree, and her dead as a doornail, laid out on a gurney." " That's ridiculous." "That is just a total lie." " Let's go, Vaughan." "Frank, we'll be back in a little while." "I'll bring you back something." "And your food's in the oven, warming over." "See?" "You fixed him something, didn't you?" "Hey, Vaughan." "I was just going on with you." " Just joking around, you know, buddy." " I know that." "You're a real card, all right." "So, Karl, come over here and sit down." "Talk to me." "Come on, Karl, let's go to the garage." "Goddamnit, I wanna talk to him." "You sit down, Karl." "So what's in your bag?" "Mm..." "This and that." "Toothpaste and whatnot." "Mm-hm." "What's all them books?" "Different ones." "One of 'em's the Bible." "Mm-hm." "You believe in the Bible, do you, Karl?" "Yes, sir, a good deal of it." "I can't understand all of it." "Yeah, well, I can't understand none of it." "This one begat that one, and that one begat this one, and begat, and begat, and lo and behold, someone says some shit to someone or another." " Just how retarded are you?" " Stop it, Doyle." "Frankie, you be quiet." "We're talking." "The adults are talking." "So was you in lockup for cutting someone up with a hatchet or something?" "I ain't never used no hatchet that I remember." "Mm-hm." "So you're just crazy in a retard kind of way, then, huh?" "It wouldn't matter to me if you did do violence on somebody." "I ain't scared of shit." "You think I'm scared for you to stay here?" "You're just a humped-over retard, it seems to me." "I'm just kidding you." "Welcome to our humble home, buddy." "See, Frank here needs all the friends he can get." "Frank's a weak little kid." "His daddy taught him how to be a pussy." "Stop, Doyle." "Don't talk about my daddy." ""Don't talk about my daddy."" "Go on, get outta here." "Go on out to the garage, leave me be." "Go on." "Come on, Karl." "Frankie?" "Don't say nothing about our little spat to your momma, now." "I don't want her worrying about your ass." "I'd like to kill that son of a bitch." "I hate him." "You oughta not talk thataway." "You're just a boy." "Well, I hate him." "He oughta not talk thataway to you neither." "He ain't no account, if he's mean to you and your momma." "Your momma and that fella that's carrying me to get something or other to eat going to be back directly." "Will you be here with us for a long time?" "I reckon, if you want me to." "I got some of that potted meat and soda crackers left over, if you want some." "I don't see how you can eat all that stuff, with them insides it's made out of." "Well, I reckon it tastes pretty good to me." "I like the way you talk." "Well, I like the way you talk." "You think it's really got peckers in there, cut up?" "Hey, you know better than that." "You oughta not say that word." " Well, it smells kinda funny." " It's a little loud." "Looky right there." "I believe you're right." "I believe I see one right in there." "Mister, reckon you can hand me some of that mustard over there?" "Thank you." "OK, Karl, the reason that I brought you here is to talk to you about something that's on my mind." "I'm just..." "I'm just gonna put it right out on the table." "Where do I start?" "Um..." "Linda and Frank are very important to me." "They're like family." "My own family was never like a family." "They're horrible people." "As a matter of fact, for years I prayed every night that my father would die, and finally I realized through a lot of therapy that I was wasting my energy on hating him." "So... now I just don't care." "But, you see, you and I are a lot alike, as strange as that may seem." "I don't..." "I don't mean physically, or even mentally, really, but, well, emotionally." "Actually, the hand that we've been dealt in life." "We're different." "People see us as being different, anyway." "You're... well, you've got your affliction or whatever, and I... well, mine's not as easy to see." "I'm just going to say it." "I'm gay." "Does that surprise you?" "That I'm gay?" "You know what gay is, don't you?" "I don't reckon." "Homosexual." "I like men." "Sexually." "Not funny ha-ha, funny queer." "Mm-hm." "Well, that's a very offensive way to put it." "You shouldn't say that, Karl." "You were taught that, weren't you?" "I've heard it said thataway, yes, sir." "Anyway, it's hard to live gay - that's the right way to say it - in a small town like this." "I've wanted to leave many times, but... because I love Linda, Frank, and a certain other person," "I..." "They've kept me from leaving." "Look, anyway, I'm rambling." "The..." "If you're going to live in the Wheatley garage, you... you need to know it's not going to be easy." "Doyle is a monster." "Not just a closed-minded redneck, but a monster." "A dangerous person." "I've told Linda that one day that man is going to hurt her and that boy." "Maybe even kill them." "I see it in his eyes." "I'm very in tune, maybe even psychic." "But Doyle is going to make your life hell." "There's... there's one more thing." "It's none of my business why you were in the state hospital." "Everybody has something in their past." "Maybe... you tried suicide, maybe you did something..." "terrible." "But what I see before me is a gentle, simple man." "All I want you to promise me... is that you are capable of being around Frank and Linda." "You know." "You would never hurt either one of them under any circumstances, would you?" "I wouldn't never hurt them." "That's what I thought." "OK." "Look, I'm sorry if... if I've offended you in any way." "You seem like a thinker, you know." "You seem to always be deep in thought." "Tell me something." "What are you thinking right now?" "I was thinking I might wanna take me some of these potatoes home with me." "Oh." "How about before that?" "Let me think." "Before that I was thinking" "I could use me another six or eight cans of that potted meat, if you got any extra." "Frankie, get some more salad." "Hold your plate up for me, Frankie." "I'm just gonna reach." "So, how come Karl won't eat here with us?" "I don't know." "He said he'd eat out there." "I wouldn't let it get to you." "Put some of this dressing on it." " No, no." " Yes." "I just feel sorry for the poor thing." "Who the hell could eat with him making all that goddamn racket in his throat?" " It's raunchy." " He does make some funny noises." "Well, I like the way he talks." "It sounds like a racecar motor idling." "It makes me not be nervous." "Well, I'm glad of it, honey." "What have you got to be nervous about?" "You're a damn kid." "You ain't got no bills to pay." "You got no business to run." "You don't even have to have a job." "You got no old lady eating on your ass all the time." "Well, I don't know." "I just stay nervous." " Could I have some of that ham?" " Oh, yeah." "I'm sorry." "Thanks." "You know what, by God?" "What?" "I know what I'd do tonight." " Oh, please, Doyle, don't." " Mm-hm." "Yeah." "I'm gonna call up Morris and have him get the band together." "We'll have a party." "Party our asses off." "I'd love to show them that damn Karl." "They'd get a kick out of him." " You know they would." " Please, now, not tonight." "I'm just not up for it." "They always stay till morning." "I'm just give out, Doyle." "You don't gotta do nothing, Linda." "Just put some chips in a bowl and run ice out to us when we look low." "Last time you got mad and run Morris and them off, told them to stay away from here." "That ain't none of your business, Frank." "Besides, that's the way friends do one another." "Fuck it, I'm calling 'em up." "Linda, go out there in the garage and get my guitar." " It's out there with that loony tune." " Now?" "Yeah, now." "I'm calling 'em up." "Hey, Morris." "What you doing, boy?" "Where's Randy and them?" "Yeah, now, please." "Frankie, go help your mom." " When are we gonna eat?" " Hang on." "You eat when you come back." "Go get my guitar." "Come on, sugar." "No, I wanna get together." "Yeah." "Well, call him." "Knock, knock." "Karl, now, listen." "There's gonna be a party tonight over here at the house." "Doyle's invited his music-playing buddies over to get liquored up, pick fights and make a bunch of racket out on the patio." "It's on." "We're gonna rock." "Hey, Linda, call up Vaughan and get him over here." "I want him to be here." "I wanna show him a good time." "No, Doyle." "Vaughan don't wanna come to a party with you." "Too late, Linda." "I already called him." "He's coming, or I'm gonna go get him." "Hey, Frankie." "Take that tub, and you and Karl come out here and help me ice down some beer." "Karl, help him get that tub." "Come on, Frankie." "Come on, Frankie." "Go ahead and kick her off." "Johnson!" "Here we go." "One, two, one, two, three, four." "You gotta play through it." "When we're on a gig, you gotta play through it." "You gotta..." " No, you play through it on a gig." " Did you like that, Vaughan?" "Sure." "It sounds like a number one hit tune, all right." "How about you, Karl?" "Karl, did you like that?" " I reckon." " I wish you'd all lay off for tonight!" " I can't hear myself think with that racket." " Hey!" " Well, it's nighttime." "You let..." " Hey!" " I'm calling the police!" " I told you three times already." "The law's on my side." "I play cards with JD Shelnut, chief of police, so kiss my ass, you old bastard!" "Hey, Linda." "You and Frank clean this mess up for us, and put the tarp over these instruments." "Me and the boys are gonna go down to the county line." "We're out of liquor and beer." "Hey, Karl, come along with us." "Vaughan, come on." "Oh, no, I don't think so." "It's late." "I-I have to work tomorrow." "Don't be a pussy, Vaughan." "We all gotta work tomorrow." " Come on." " He don't want to, Doyle." "Don't go, Vaughan, if you don't want to." "You'll wreck, Doyle." "You're drunk." "Uh-uh." "I ain't gonna wreck, honey." "Come on." "I'll be good, I promise." "I love you, sweetie." "Come on, Karl, go with us." "I'm just trying to make these two feel like they're part of it, baby." "Come on, Vaughan." "This'll be fun." "Hey, Karl, let's go." "Come on." " You better lay off that tambourine." " Hey, man, I ain't doing nothing wrong." "Hey!" "Ain't anybody gonna come and get me?" "Not that you two afflicted son of a bitches would know anything about this, but you're sitting in a crew-cab dually pickup." "In some circles, this is considered a piece of automotive art." "Are you sure you can drive?" "You've really had a lot of alcohol." "When you've been drinking as long as me, Vaughan, you build up a tolerance." "Hide that between your legs for me, will you?" " Hey, Freddy." "How about you?" " How about you, Doyle?" "How you doing, boy?" "Hey." "I saw your picture in the paper, catching that big ass bass." "Yeah, she was a big 'un." "Boys." "Hello, Freddy." "Freddy." "You ain't drunk driving, are you, Doyle?" " Yeah, pretty much." " I figured." "You be careful with that cripple in the back, now." "You're liable to throw him out." " Looks like you got a wagonful." " Uh-huh." "We ran out of something to drink." "I'm headed over to the county line to get some." "You wanna race?" "You know better than that, Doyle." "We're on duty." "But I'll catch you next week with that 327." "Yeah, you'll try." "What exactly are you talking about?" "I don't understand." "Exactly the point, my young levelheaded friend." " I don't get it." " Well, I rest my case." "Morris is real smart with philosophies and things." "That's why him and me is the songwriting team of our group." "See, I come up with the good tunes, or melodies as we call 'em, and, um, Morris is the lyrics." "Not unlike Gary Brooker of the Procol Harum." "We don't ever play any songs that y'all wrote." "I ain't heard one of 'em." "Y'all just talk." "We don't even play any songs with words at all that I remember." "We ain't got no fucking microphone." "We ain't got no speaker set up." "We wrote one last night outside the minimart, and, um, Morris called it "Stuart Drives a Comfortable Car."" "And then, like in country songs, you know, in parenthesis it says:" ""There's usually someone in the trunk."" "And, um, I came up with a tune, just a-hummin'." "See, you don't wanna question a genius, Vaughan." "Morris here, he's a modern-day poet, kinda like in the olden times." "Yeah." "I got a new tune." "This composition's entitled "The Thrill." Goes something like this:" ""I stand on the hill"" ""Not for a thrill"" ""But for a breath of a fresh kill"" ""Never mind the man who contemplates"" ""Doing away with license plates"" ""He stands alone anyhow"" ""Baking the cookies of discontent"" ""By the heat of the Laundromat vent"" ""Leaving his soul..."" "Then, like in poetry, I go dot-dot-dot, you know, kinda off-center, then I drop down, and then I go:" ""Leaving his soul parting the waters"" ""Of the medulla oblongata of..."" ""...mankind"" "A damn good song, weren't it, Doyle?" "You like that song?" "All right." "I don't think that's right." "I believe the dot-dot-dot come between "medulla" and "oblongata."" " Well, it did." " The dots are where I say they are." "Melody and tune - that's your trade, Terence." "You're a tunesmith." "I don't understand the meaning of the words." "If y'all don't shut up, I'm gonna go outta my mind." "Besides, Karl here's liable to bust a spring." "He's already off balance." "That wasn't the way you made it up before, Morris." "That's all I know." "We don't need no fancy words." "I mean, we need to practice." "We need to rehearse." "I'll tell you what we need." "We need some paying gigs." "We don't need this messing around, first on one patio and then another." " That's ridiculous." " Amen, Johnson." "We don't got no goddamn band!" "We don't need to fucking practice, Randy!" "We don't need a shit-ass manager neither." "You motherfuckers!" "Y'all just a bunch of losers!" "I'm the only sane son of a bitch here!" "Just get the fuck outta my house now!" "It's not your house, Doyle, it's Linda's." "I'll whip the dog shit outta you, Vaughan." "I will fucking kill you if you talk to me again." "Now, all of you, get the fuck out now, before I get too mad to turn back." "What about our instruments?" "Come here, you little prick." "Come here, you fucking prick!" "Get out!" "All of y'all!" "Now, get the fuck out!" "Come on, you motherfuckers!" "Get the fuck out!" "Randy, you tooting son of a bitch!" "Go fucking practice, Randy!" "Come on, Morris, you fucking genius, get the fuck up and get the fuck outta here, goddamnit!" "This ain't right, Doyle." "There is something wrong with you." " Get the fuck out!" " Nobody wants to take this shit, man." "Dots look good on paper." "You don't sing 'em anyway." "You're just showing your true Aries color now." "Stay outta my goddamn face, you fucking buzzard." "Hey!" "I said, get outta my house!" "That goes for cocksuckers and retards." "Now, get up off your asses and go." " Come on!" " This is not your house, Doyle." "This is my house, and I'll say who stays and who goes." "You got a house." "Why don't you go get one of your girlfriends and go home to it?" "You know better than to talk to me like that when I'm hurting, Linda." " Don't make me knock the piss outta you." " Don't you touch her." "That's funny, Vaughan." "Linda, go to bed, and take little snot nose here with you." "You're not staying here tonight." "Go get sober before you come back." "I'm tired of my child seeing this." "Now, you get your ass straight, or I'll lock your ass outta my life for good." "If you even think about leaving me, Linda, I told you," " I'm gonna kill you deader than a doornail." " That might be better than this." "All right, I'm a witness." "I heard you threaten her." " Hey!" "You get the fuck out now!" " Leave!" " Don't tell me what to do, Linda." " Leave!" " Don't tell me what to do, Linda." " Leave!" " Don't tell me what to do." " Leave!" "Don't you tell me what to do, Lin..." " Don't do that, Linda." " I'm calling the police!" "Goddamn you, you little prick!" "Go home!" "Jesus!" "Hey!" "Goddamn you, Frankie." " Get away from us!" " Goddamnit!" "God!" "Get away from us!" "All right." "OK." "I'm gonna leave now." "Fuck me!" "Fuck me!" "I'm gonna go home and sober up." "Go on, then." "Everything's bothering me." "I'm hurting, Linda." " I love you." " Well, I hate you!" "I hate you, you little prick!" "No, I don't." "No, I don't." "I love your momma." "I just..." "I can't explain what goes on." "You bunch of freaks, I hope you have fun." "I'll call you tomorrow." "I'm sorry, honey." "I said I'm sorry, Linda." "OK." "All right, you can kiss my ass." "And if you ever hit me again, you little bastard," "I swear to God I'll make you sorry your daddy ever squirted your ass out." "You hear me?" " You all right, Momma?" " Yeah, I'm fine." "Let's just try and forget about tonight." "We don't need to think about bad thoughts, do we, Momma?" "No, honey, we don't." "I'll make some coffee, start cleaning up this mess." "Karl, you want some coffee, hon?" "Coffee kinda makes me nervous when I drink it." "Mm-hm." "What are you doing up again, Frank?" "You need to get a little sleep." "Did Vaughan go home?" "Yes." "He has to go to work in a little while." "I do, too." "Did Karl go to bed?" "I guess." "He went to the garage." "Poor thing." "He's probably never seen such a crazy mess." "Probably wants to go back and live in Mr. Cox's shop." "I bet he don't." "He likes me." "I know he does." "Momma..." "Hm?" "Is everything gonna be all right someday?" "I stay nervous all the time, just about." "Yeah, honey." "Someday everything's gonna be all right." "Doyle wouldn't really kill you, would he?" "I promise, we're gonna get away from him." "The time has to be right, that's all." "I'd rather him get tired of me and leave me, then he wouldn't wanna hurt me." "He wouldn't care then." "We'll be fine, I promise." " You go to bed now." "I love you." " I love you too, Mom." "Go on." "You scared me." " I didn't aim to." " You wanna sit down?" "Do you need something?" "No, ma'am." "There's these two fellas." "They're standing on a bridge and going to the bathroom." "One fella says that the water's cold." "Other fella said the water's deep." "I believe one fella come from Arkansas." "Get it?" "I'll be dog." "Reckon you could make me some biscuits?" "Right now?" "Whenever you take a notion to." "I don't aim to put you out none." "Well, it is nearly breakfast time anyway." "I can't go to sleep." "I have to be at work in three hours." "You know how it is when you only sleep an hour or two, you feel worse than if you hadn't slept at all?" "Yes, ma'am, I do." "Well, sit down." "I'll make you some biscuits and gravy." "Mustard's good on 'em to me." "OK." " Thank you." " Oh, it's all right." "You know, I was thinking." "There's this girl that works with me." "She's real heavy, but she's cute in the face." "Well, you know, she's slow." "She's a little bit..." "I think..." "She's not retarded, just..." "Well, it don't matter." "Listen to me." "I thought you might like to meet her." "Vaughan wants to have a little supper over at his house, and we could invite her." "Would you like that?" "I reckon I wouldn't mind having a little supper." "Mm-hm." "Vaughan's friend'll be there, too." "He works at the funeral home." "And Frank." "You know, Frank really likes you a lot." "He says you make him feel calm." "I like Frank." "He's a good boy." "Me and him's made friends." "It ain't right for me to keep from telling you how come me to be in the state hospital." "Oh, that's OK." "It's not really my business." "I have wondered, though." "Why was it?" "Was it, like, a nervous breakdown?" "Or...?" "I killed my mother and an old boy named Jesse Dixon." "I thought they were doing wrong." "I was about your boy's age." " They told me I'm well from it now." " Was that you?" "I remember that." "I was only three or four, but I always heard about it growing up." "They say you're well?" "Yes, ma'am." "I like your garage." "I never would hurt you or that boy." "I'd lay my hand on the Bible and say the same thing." "Mm-hm." "I know you wouldn't, hon." "Well, I'll make you some biscuits." " How about you, Jerry?" " How are you, Bill?" "Oh, I'm doing pretty good." "Got a sick tiller here." "What's got you down this way?" "Oh, I just thought I'd check up on Karl." "See how things are working out." "He's pretty quiet, except for them rackets and breathing things he does." "He ain't threatened me with a killing or nothing." "I tell you, you couldn't have been more right about him fixing things." "That son of a bitch is a regular Eli Whitney on a lawn mower." "And loves French fries." "The son of a bitch can eat four larges and won't so much as even belch." "I'm proud to have him." " Him staying here working out?" " Well, he's gone to staying over with that Wheatley boy and his momma over at their garage." "I think that little boy's adopted him damn near like a mascot." "He's got a key here to come and go as he pleases." " Yeah." " He's working out real good." " Can I see him?" " Sure." "Scooter!" " Take Jerry in there to talk to Karl." " All right." "Hey, Karl!" "Sure you're gonna be OK staying with that woman and her boy?" "Yes, sir." "Do they know about you?" "My history?" "Yeah." "I told 'em about it." "They know I'm well." "That Ms. Wheatley made me some biscuits." "I'll be!" "That boy, he's my friend." "He likes the way I talk, and I like the way he talks." "Mm-hm." "Well, I knew you were gonna be all right." "I just wanted to check on you." "I'd better tell Bill goodbye and head on back." "All right, then." "Karl, see if you can figure out what's wrong with this thing." "It won't crank up, and everything seems to be put together right." " Bill, I'll see you." " OK." "Stop back by." "Don't worry about your boy now." "He's doing good." "It ain't got no gas in it." "You see there, Scooter?" "Thinks of the simplest things first." "Does everybody like the food?" " Yeah." " It's good." "Oh, good." "I haven't decided yet if I'm a good cook." "Karl, you know what?" "Melinda here was voted employee of the month at the Dollar Store last February." "Isn't that something?" "Yes, ma'am, I reckon." "Well, when you like pricing items as much as I do, it's just bound to happen sooner or later, I guess." "Karl, maybe you and Melinda might like to take a walk tonight." "It's such a nice evening." " Vaughan, don't get pushy." " I'm sorry." "I kinda like walking from time to time." "I stay on my feet all the time at work." "I just can't find shoes that's comfortable." "Hospital shoes might be the answer." "Nurse's shoes." "Or the kind old ladies wear who work in the school cafeteria." "Same difference." "I get real mean when my feet hurt." "It's the only time I don't like checking out customers, when my feet hurt." "You and Karl aren't talking much." "You boys must really like that food." "Well, I ain't got nothing to say - anything about shoes." "Listen, everybody." "I..." "This might sound corny, but, um..." "I've had a few glasses of wine, and that tends to make me a little emotional, but I'm gonna say it anyway." "It came over me in a rush." "I just want all of you to know that I care about each and every person at this table." "Thank you, Vaughan." "That's really sweet of you." "We care about you, too." " Don't we, y'all?" " Oh, yeah." "Also, Melinda, please don't tell anyone at the store that Albert was here tonight." "OK?" "Why?" "Well, you know how this town is." "People talk and they spread these cruel rumors." "Unfortunately, there are certain parts of my life I have to keep private." "You mean about you and Albert being together in that way?" "Yeah." "Yes." "I think everybody at the store already knows." "They're always talking about it." "Maureen Ledbetter told the most awful story about why you ain't allowed at the First Baptist Church no more." "Karl, why don't you and Melinda go take a walk?" "It's nice out." "All right, then." " The food sure is good." " Mm-hm." " You walk fast, don't you?" " I reckon." "These are the worst shoes I own for walking." "How far did you say you wanted to go?" "I don't reckon I thought about it too much." "I don't know, Karl." "She just ain't catching fire." "Did you check them points?" "No." "No, I didn't." "That's probably it." " Yes, ma'am." " Is Karl here?" "Yeah." "Just a minute." "Hey, Karl, there's somebody out here to see you." "Some gal holding a nice bouquet." "Come on, now, she wants to talk to you." "Don't just sit there." "Hi, Karl, I'm on my lunch break." "These were on sale 'cause they're not fresh." "$ 2.99 a bunch plus my ten percent employee discount." "Since I didn't bring nothing for you on our date last night," "I thought you might like to have 'em." "Thank you." "Scooter, let's you and me go over to the Frostee Cream" " and pick up something for lunchtime." " Oh, well, I can go." "You don't have to." "You don't never go." "Goddamnit, Scooter, come on." "Let's go." "Pardon my language, ma'am." "Darlin'" "Lord above me" "Well, I just thought I'd bring you 'em." "I liked walking with you." "I got a blister the size of a quarter on one heel." "Well..." "I'll see you sometime, I guess." "A blister sure can hurt." "Mm-hm." "Yeah." "Flowers is purdy." "I've always thought that." "Mm-hm." "Me, too." "Then you fix me a cup of tea" "Darlin'." "You're so damn swweet" "Don't forget the milk" "And wwherever!" "Go" "And wwhatever!" "Do" "Darlin'" "I love you" "Hey, Karl, how did you know I was in the garage?" "I seen that door cracked open a little bit and I figured you was in there fooling around." "Mm-hm." " You off of work?" " Yes, sir." "Where'd you get them flowers?" "That gal that made employee of the month at the Dollar Store, she gave 'em to me for walking with her." "I was going over to the secret place." "I borrowed one of your books." "You ain't mad, are you?" "No, sir." "You can look at any one of my books you want to." "Thank you." "It's name's A Christmas Carol." "That's that one on Christmas I was telling you about." "Well, you wanna go with me?" "All right, then." "Yeah." "Come on." "All right." "You know why I want you to play ball with me?" "No." "'Cause it's fun." "It don't matter if you ain't no good." "It takes your mind off everything else, and when you're running real fast trying to score a touchdown, that's all you're thinking about." "I ain't no account, but Daddy always said he was proud of me when I threw the ball or ran with it." "Did you have any brothers and sisters, growing up, to play with?" "I had one there for a little bit, but, uh... it didn't get old enough for me to play with it." "Mm-hm." "Why not?" "It died?" "Yes, sir." "Why?" "It got born a little too early." "My mother and father, they made it come out too early some way or another." "So it died when it come out?" "My daddy, he come out there to the shed and got me and said, "Here, take this and throw it away,"" "and he handed me a towel with something or other in it." "I started for that barrel, and..." "I opened up the towel to see what was in there, 'cause there was a noise and something moving around in it." "That towel was all bloody-like, all around it there." "It was a little old baby, not no bigger than a squirrel." "It was alive?" "Yes, sir." "Right then it was." "A boy or a girl?" "It was a little old boy." "You threw it in the trash barrel?" "Well, that didn't seem right to me, so I went in there in the shed and got a shoe box and emptied out the screwdrivers and washers and nuts and things out of it." "I taken the little fella and put him in the box, buried him out there in the corner of the yard." "That seemed more proper to me, I reckon." "It was still alive when you buried it?" "I heard it a-cryin' a little through that box." "That don't seem right." "It seems like you would have kept him and took care of him if he was your brother." "I wasn't but six or eight." "I reckon I didn't know what to do." "I didn't know how to care for no baby." "My mother and father didn't want him." "They learned me to do what they told me to do." "These days I figure it was probably best we just give him right back to the Good Lord right off the bat anyhow." "That makes me feel real sad." "Couldn't you have done something, Karl?" "I would have." "I wish I'd had him." "He'd still be right here now." "Living." "It makes me sad, too." "I wish there was something I could have did about it." "I don't think nothing bad oughta happen to children." "I think all the old bad things ought to be saved up for the folks that done growed up." "That's the way I see it." "Mm-hm." "I shouldn't have told you about that." "A boy your age ought not to hear such things." "It just kinda come out." "I didn't mean to say nothing bad about you." "You're good." "You don't mean no harm." "Did you ever think about killing yourself on purpose, like Daddy did?" "I've studied about it some." "The Bible says you ought not to." "Says if you do that, you go out to Hades." "Some folks call it hell, I call it Hades." "Mm-hm." "Bible says the same thing about killing others, too." "Yes, sir, I reckon it does." "I always get nervous when I hear that doorbell." "I'm OK walking over here, but there's something about that dang doorbell." "They have one room where you can't walk on the carpet or sit on the furniture." "I don't see much sense in having it." "Son, why you keep on coming over here and you know these folks don't want you here?" "They run you away every time." "Don't keep doing this to yourself." "You's a sweet boy." "Why don't you go and give them flowers to somebody that's gonna enjoy 'em?" "Ma'am, I really wanna give them to Karen." "You his daddy?" "No, ma'am." "Well, whoever you are, you need to try to talk some sense into him." "That little old girl is too fast for him, and she don't wanna see him no way." "Will you get her for me, please?" "I really wanna see her." "She'll want to see me, too, 'cause we're not in public." "Just don't tell her folks that I'm here." "OK." "Hey, Frank, you shouldn't be coming over here." "My parents really don't want you to." "I wanted to bring you some flowers." "They're pretty good ones." "They're from the Dollar Store." "I'm not an idiot." "Besides, we have a garden full of flowers." "And I wanted you to meet Karl." "He's my new friend, but it seems like I've always known him." "I thought you should meet him." "Hi, Karl." "Pleased to meet you." "He'll be around for a long time, and I hope you will too, so..." "Here." "Give me the flowers." "I'll do something with them." "Now you better go." "Maybe I'll see you down at the secret place one day in a week or two or something." "I have a boyfriend now, you know, and we're pretty serious." "He gave me a ring." "Can you go with us now?" "With me and Karl?" "We could just hang out." "He has some cool books." "Frank, I just like you as a friend, and only at the secret place." "I can't go there now." "I'll see you later." " But just for a while." " I'm closing the door now." "I told you, I'll see you later." "She said she'd see me later." "That's kinda good, right?" "I reckon." "Well, hell, there's the boys." "How are you doing, boys?" "I'm glad y'all came back." "I was wanting to talk to y'all, too." "Come over here and sit down." "Come on, sit down." "I was just telling Linda..." "We were, uh, thinking that things would be a lot better if I spent a lot more time over here, and that we could..." "Oh, hell, I'll just start over." "See, I took off work early today, and your momma was good enough to do the same so that we could talk." "Really, what I come over here to do was apologize - which ain't easy for me - about how I acted the other night." "Now, I admit it, I was drunk." "I got all worked up, and one thing led to another." "I care about y'all, though." "I do, really." "And I don't mean to be so damned... well, asshole-ish, I guess would be the word." "Karl, I don't believe I hit you, did I?" "So no apology necessary, I guess." "But Frankie, I'm sorry." "I'm sorry I hit your momma." "It's just that I'm jealous of her." "I don't like her life or how she lives it." "I don't like homosexuals, and she goes out and buddies up with one, so now I gotta deal with that." "I don't like little wimpy-ass kids or mental retards, and she's got one of each living with her." "I'm just kidding really about that." "I mean, we all gotta get along, I guess, no matter what our differences are." "See, I work construction." "I build things." "Do you understand how important that is to the world, Frankie?" "I don't know if y'all realize the pressure a man like me's got on him." "Well, the upshot is, I'm gonna be spending a lot more time here." "We're gonna all get along like a family should." "I might even surprise you, honey, and pop the question." "Well," "I'm gonna get on back over to the job site, lock up some stuff over there." "I just wanted to stop by and... give y'all some little piece of happiness today." "Bye-bye, sweetie." "Karl." "Frankie, you be a good boy, now, you hear me?" "Well, at least he's trying." "But who knows for how long?" "He's lying, Momma." "He'll never do better." "I know, honey." "Just remember what I said." "We'll bide our time." "You just steer clear of him as much as you can." "Doyle's had a real hard life." "It's just about run him crazy, I think." "We've had hard lives, too, Momma." "You're a hell of a boy, Frank." "Someday you're gonna get all the good things you deserve." "Karl here's gonna get some more biscuits tonight." "What do you think about that?" "I could sure use some." "Hey, there, Karl." "Come unload a generator for me." "Karl, lift this thing down and carry it to the back for me." "It's on the blink." "Say, you want us to help you lift that thing?" "Oh, no." "That Karl's strong enough to lift a bulldozer." "He can fix anything, too." "I tell you, he's mentally retarded, but he's a whiz with small engines." "I tell you, the Lord works in mysterious ways." "So, anyway, what I was telling you was, he didn't just make the team, coach says he's going to start him at end on defense." "There's a chip off the old block, ain't you, Steve?" "Yeah, I guess so." "And how's the rest of the team looking this year?" "Pretty good." "Pretty good." "We expect to do well." " You got any quarterback this year?" " Pretty good." "Jeff Bailey's boy, you know him." "Got a good arm, a little slow." "Yeah, I watched him in junior high." "He can... he can throw the ball pretty well." "He's taller than he was then." "But you're gonna start at the defensive end?" "Hey, boy." "Hey." " What are you reading?" " Book on how to work carpentry." "I aim to learn how to make things out of wood some day." "Cabinets and whatnot." "These drawings in here, they don't make no sense to me so far." "You look like your tail's kinda dragging a mite." "You got something wrong with you?" "Seems like Doyle's made his way in." "Momma said he's staying over tonight, and he's talking about staying here for good." "We ain't ever gonna be happy." "We'll always stay nervous, won't we, Karl?" "I don't reckon I know, boy." "I ain't never found no way to not be nervous." "I'm three or four times as old as you are." "Maybe that's just the way folks is." "I feel sad about Karen Cross, too." "I just make like to myself that she loves me." "I know better, though, but it just feels good when I imagine it." "Making believe always made me feel pretty good too, from time to time." "Bill Cox is going to a funeral for a Mr. Turner tomorrow and closing up shop early." "Mm-hm." " Is that right?" " Yes, sir." "I figured I'd play ball with you." "You will?" "For sure?" "Yes, sir." "Well, I figure if neither one of us is no account, it won't make no difference, will it?" "Yeah." "You wanna be on teams, me and you?" "Yes, sir." "All right, then." "All right, then." "Hup!" "Come on, man." "Good job, Karl." "We got a touchdown." "That was a good lateral, man." "That was just like the wishbone." "Yes, sir." "Well, I darn near made me a touchdown." "Then I seen them boys bearing down on me, figured I'd better give it off to you there." "I seen you following me." "Mm-hm." "Yeah." "We're liable to win if we keep this up." "For somebody like you, you sure can run fast." " Come on, let's kick off to 'em." " All right, then." "I know you could've scored that touchdown by yourself instead of just throwing it over to me." "Them boys was trying to pull me down pretty hard." "You're strong, though." "You just threw it over to me where I could score that touchdown so I'd feel good." "My daddy used to do that kind of thing." "It don't matter to me about us losing." "Does it to you?" "No, sir." "It was fun anyhow." "I wasn't thinking about nothing else, just like you told me I'd do." "Can we play every Saturday?" "If I ain't too stoved up." "I ain't like you." "I'm old and give out." "I'm proud of you." "Kick your head in 25 years ago." "You're dead, I guess." "Where'd you go to?" "I'm your boy." "I ain't got no boy." "I'm your oldest boy, name of Karl." "I ain't got no boy." "They turned me loose from the nervous hospital, said I was well." "Mm-hm." "I got hired on to work for a Mr. Bill Cox, fixing lawn mowers and whatnot." "Mm-hm." "That grass out there in the yard, it's growed up quite a bit." "I figured I might cut it for you." "Mm-hm." "I told you, I ain't got no boy." "Now, why don't you get on outta here and let me be?" "You ain't no kin to me." "I learned to read some." "I read the Bible quite a bit." "I can't understand all of it, but I reckon I understand a good deal of it." "Them stories you and Momma told me, they ain't in there." "You oughta not done that to your boy." "I've studied on killing you." "I studied about it quite a bit." "But I don't reckon there's no need for it if all you're gonna do is sit there in that chair." "You'll be dead soon enough, and the world'll be shut of you." "You oughta not killed my little brother." "He ought to have had a chance to growed up." "He would have had fun sometimes." "Little fella." "Hey!" "What in the goddamn hell are you doing, Karl?" "What the fuck are you doing up in the middle of the night?" " What do you want, hon?" " I wanna be baptized." "Well, get baptized, then." "I don't give a shit." "Call up a fucking preacher, goddamnit!" "We can't baptize you." "We'll call Brother Epersom." "We'll go see him tomorrow and get you baptized." "It's Sunday." "You go on back to bed, now." "What are you doing with that damn hammer?" "I don't rightly know." "I just kinda woke up a-holdin' it." "What the fuck do you think he's doing with that hammer?" "I don't know." "Upon his profession of faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and in obedience under his command, and by the authority of the Church," "I indeed baptize this my brother in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost." "Amen." "Marie, would you sing 137, please?" "Softly and tenderly" "Jesus is calling" "Calling for you and for me" " Hi." " Hi." " So how'd the baptizing go?" " It went real good." "Yeah?" "Good." "I'm kinda hungry." "Ain't it about time to eat?" "You know what I got a craving for?" "Some of that Chicken Champ." "Why don't you run down there and get some?" "I'll buy." " Would y'all like that?" " It sure sounds fine to me." "I'd have me a chicken leg or two." "Mm-hm." " Get some of their coleslaw, too." " OK." "All right, y'all wanna go with me?" "No, they don't need to go with you." "There's a ball game coming on." " We'll just sit here and do man things." " I'll be back in a little bit, then." " All right." "Hey, get some extra gravy." " OK." "Why don't y'all sit your asses down here?" "Sit down." "I just wanted to get your momma outta the house for a few minutes so we could talk." "See, here's the deal, Frank." "If I'm gonna throw my life away doing what I want to come live with y'all, we're gonna get some shit straight." "See, your mommy and I don't have no problems except for you." "Fact is, we'd never have a bad word between us." "But since you do exist, and I'm gonna be the head of the household, then you're gonna learn to live by my rules." "And the first rule is, you don't speak unless you're spoken to." "You got me?" "Now, you stay the hell outta my way." "And do what a regular kid does." "You're a weird little shit, Frank, and I don't get you." "So wake up, and face what they call reality." "See, we're gonna be a family, Frank." "My family." "I'll be paying all the bills, so that means you're stuck with my ass." "But I ain't your daddy." "You just act like I am." "And the other thing I say is, your buddy Karl here's going." "We can't be no normal family with him living in the garage and coming into the damn bedroom at four in the morning carrying hammers and shit." "Karl can stay if he wants to." "Momma said..." "What did I tell you about your momma?" "Mister, don't you never lay another hand on that boy." "You understand me?" "Let go of my goddamn hand, you retard." "Now get out there and get your shit, and get out." "That was a wake-up call, Frankie." "You remember what I said about reality, Frank." "Get out, retard." "Where are you going, Karl?" "Didn't you want some chicken and things?" "No, ma'am." "I'm going off somewheres." "Well, OK." "I got you some." "That Frank, he went off somewheres too, so when you go in there, he won't be indoors." "Where'd he go?" "What's going on?" "He just wanted to go off and play, I reckon." "You just go in there and eat your dinner with that Doyle." "Don't worry yourself none." "All right, then." "Well, I'll see you later." "Oh, if you see Frank, tell him to come on back home." "I don't get to see him all day except Sundays." "He can go play tomorrow." " Ma'am?" " Yeah." "You're a good momma to that boy." "You care for him." "You work hard to care for him." "You light him up in his eyes," "I've seen it." "That boy wouldn't know what to do without you." "Well, thank you, hon." "That's real good of you to say." "I wouldn't know what to do without him either." "You've been real good to me, too." "It ain't everybody that'd make biscuits in the middle of the night." "You and that boy has given me a good feeling." "We sure like having you." "Thank you." "I'm just now getting around to telling you, but I fixed that washing machine so that boy ain't gotta tote that laundry no more." "Oh, thank you." "Thanks." "You been real good to me." "Karl?" "Hey, Karl." "How'd you know to come out here?" "I knowed you'd be out here." "What are you doing digging with that stub?" "Just digging." "I ain't ever gonna be happy now." "Not with that son of a bitch moving in for good." "I wish me and you and Momma would just run away, but she said... wherever we went, he'd find us." "He's crazy." "Sometimes I think it'd have been better off if I wasn't even born." "Well, I'm glad of it you was borned." "I don't reckon I'm gonna be out there in the garage no more." "You have to, Karl." "You have to look out for me." "You can't let that son of a bitch run you off." "You're just a boy." "You ought not to use language like that." "I don't mean to say nothing bad about you, but why don't you stop Doyle when he's being thataway?" "You're older than him." "You're strong, too." "My daddy wouldn't let him do that to me and Momma." "That fella's a whole sight meaner than me." "He'd just whup the tar outta me." "Yeah." "I guess so." "I'm real tired, you know that?" "A boy my age shouldn't be tired of things." "I'm tired, too." "Just 'cause I ain't gonna be around no more maybe, it don't mean I don't care for you." "I care for you a good deal." "I care for you more than anything else there is." "You and me made friends right off the bat." "I care for you, too." "But you'll be around." "Don't say that." "It don't make no difference where I was to be." "We'll always be friends." "Can't nobody stop that." "I aim for you to have these books." "You don't wanna give away all your books." "I aim for you to have 'em." "Maybe you can make a little more sense outta 'em than I can." "I made you a little old book marker and put it in there in that book on Christmas." "Man." "Thanks." "You know when you get a feeling and you don't know why?" "Yes, sir." "I got a feeling today." "Reckon what kind of a feeling?" "Like something different." "I don't know." "You're leaving, ain't you, Karl?" "Would you do something for me if was to I ask you to?" "You know I would." "Whatever you want." "When you leave outta here tonight," "I don't want you going over and staying with that Doyle." "He's got it out for you tonight." "I got me a feeling, too." "You oughta not be over there when he's all liquored up and mean thataway." "Your momma neither." "When you get up from here to leave, I want you to go over to that fella's house." "Your momma's friend." "I want you to give me your word on it." "OK." "I give you my word on it." "Is everything gonna be OK?" "Are you all right?" "Yeah, everything's gonna be all right, boy." "I kinda wanna put my arm around you for a minute, then I'm gonna get up and leave outta here." "OK." "I love you, boy." "I love you, too." "All right, then." "Karl?" "Karl, what are you doing here?" "You want to come in?" "I ain't a-stayin'." "I need to ask you for a favor." "OK." "This evening, I want you to go get that Miss Wheatley, let her and that Frank stay over here with you tonight." "What's..." "What's wrong?" "Is everything all right?" "That Doyle." "He's in a bad way again with that drinking and a-bein' mean to folks." "I want you to give me your word you'll do it." "Well, sure, OK." "Has... has..." "He hasn't hurt them, has he?" "No, sir, not yet." "Here." "I want you to give that to that Miss Wheatley." "It ain't much." "But there might be a little something there to help out." "It's what I made a-fixin' lawn mowers and whatnot for Bill Cox." "Well, how about you, Karl?" "You want to stay here?" "I don't reckon that you have to go with women to be a good daddy to a boy." "You been real square-dealing with me." "Bible says two men ought not to lay together." "But I'll bet you the good Lord wouldn't send nobody like you to Hades." "That boy, Frank, he lives inside of his own heart." "That's a awful big place to live in." "You take care of that boy." "I will." "Karl?" "Where's everybody else?" "You seen 'em?" "Didn't I tell you to get moved outta here?" "How does a fella go about getting hold of the police?" "You use the fucking phone, I guess." "Which numbers do you put in?" "Can't you see I'm trying to relax?" "I thought I told you to get outta here, leave me alone." "What in the hell you doing with that lawn mower blade?" "I aim to kill you with it." "Well, to call the police, you push:" "9-1-1." "You best tell 'em to bring an ambulance." "Or a hearse, if you're going to kill me." "Karl!" "Yes, ma'am." "I need the police sent over here to the Wheatley house." "Mm-hm." "I've killed Doyle Hargraves with a lawn mower blade." "Yes, ma'am." "I'm right sure of it." "I hit him two good whacks with it." "That second 'un just plumb near cut his head in two." "It's a little old white house on the corner of Vine Street and some other street." "There's a truck out front says "Doyle Hargraves Construction" on it." "Oh, I'll be sitting here waiting on you." "Doyle said, besides sending the police, you might want to send a ambulance or a hearse." "Thank you." "So." "Now... on the third day," "I, uh..." "I washed her, 'cause she wasn't too clean, you know?" "Well, I got all the right spots." "She was the first one I ever kept for any length of time, 'cause I get bored real easy." "I got a real short attention span, you know." "Yeah." "I mean, I can't say that she enjoyed her stay." "But that washcloth I put in her mouth," "I held in place with a real fat piece of duct tape, kept all her complaining down to a minimum." "I don't really like people, you know, who talk all the time." "I like to do all the talking." "That's why I think I'm so fond of you." "'Cause you're just so easy-going, you know?" "Although I do sense a little tension in you, time to time." "So you were out in the world, huh?" "Did you have fun?" "Did you make any acquaintances?" "There was a boy." "We made friends." "Yeah, I'll bet you did." "I mean, I was never bent that way." "I was bent the other way, you know." "So." "What was it like out there in the world?" "It was too big." "Ah." "Well, it's not too big in here, is it?" "Huh?" "Huh?" "You know something?" "I feel real, uh, real generous today." "I feel like listening." "And I'll bet you got plenty to tell." "Karl?" "Who'd you kill?" "Was it the boy?" "Don't you say nothing about that boy." "Fact of business, don't you say another word to me." "I ain't listening to you no more." "Yeah, shh."