"Left face!" "Ground your gear!" "Gentlemen you depart today to fight the forces of godless Communism." "You were chosen to be leaders in a fight that will never be forgotten." "You are chosen because you are the best." "Because you are the meanest." "Because you are the hardest, fastest, toughest sons of bitches in the world." "The Viet Cong will learn to respect you, or he will die." "You will make him die until he gives you that respect." "The Viet Cong is never going to forget you." "America is never going to forget you." "God bless you." "I love you." "America loves you." "You are the best." "You are the chosen." "Good luck and go with God." "Where the fuck are we?" "Blue Velvet, this is Night Cross." "Request medevac." "Coordinates 956." "Take cover!" "Let's get the fuck out of here." "It will take courage." "Courage to face godless Communism wherever it may be." "America used to be God's light on this earth." "We were the world's Good Samaritan." "There was nowhere on the globe that an American couldn't walk tall, proud respected, and safe." "But along the way, our world has fallen and our dreams have vanished." "We forgot our place in God's plan for America." "Things need to be changed." "Changed for the better." "And it's up to you the youth of America." "I congratulate you on the achievement of graduation from high school." "May God bless every one of you because you are the future of America." "Congratulations to Hopewell High's class of '89." "Good luck, and may you all find your heart's desire." "Sam!" "Mom, wasn't it wonderful?" "Are you proud of me?" "Hold the pumpkin for a sec." "Let me just get a shot of this grown-up woman." "Say "cheese."" "For God's sake." "I hate cheese!" "Here, take her for a minute." "You looked cute as a bug." "I'm so proud of you." "I wish your daddy had been here to see you." "I think he was, Mamaw." "I felt his eyes on me." "You need fattening up." "You, too." "Congratulations." "Are you going to Murray in the fall?" "No, my brother is the college boy." "I'm glad to be done high school." "Everyone's meeting at the lake." "Come pick me up." "Is that the boy who won that game with all them jump shots?" "That's Lonnie Malone, all right." "That's Roy Bob Malone's grandson." "His mom's a Crittenden." "See you at the lake." "I'll meet you there." "Family group, everybody." "You don't want me in it." "I said everybody." "It's not everybody without you." "Donna, let's see George's little face." "Nobody is paying for his back." "I wish you'd come live with us instead of Emmett." "I can't just walk away." "I put up with Emmett for 13 years." "I deserve some happiness, so don't talk to me like that." "Everybody ready?" "One, two...say...." "Chubby Checker!" "We forgot Emmett!" "Uncle Emmett, come get your picture took." "This is history." "I'm not ready for history." "You look good." "She's on me again." "She ruins everything." "Your mom is just doing her job." "You feel smart?" "I feel like I could fly!" "Now, come on!" "Family portrait." "Everybody looking pretty?" "One...." "Too late!" "Got you!" "Lonnie's dad says they're hiring at the tire plant." "Fuck the tire plant." "Fuck the tire plant, by all means." "Jelly donut and Diet Pepsi, please!" "You let her use that kind of language at home?" "It's on HBO." "You let her watch HBO?" "Hell, I don't let my wife watch HBO." "Can I sit next to you, Sam?" "I swear, I ain't smelled nothing sweet in weeks." "You can if you show me your tattoo." "Emmett, you dog." "You told her my dark secret." "Come on out to my truck and I'll show you." "I wonder if anybody ever tattooed his own face on his chest like on a T-shirt." "Why would anyone do that?" "So when you're old, people could see how you started out." "That could be a lot to live with." "What's your long-legged niece doing here?" "What's her problem?" "They're hiring at the tire plant." "Fuck the tire plant." "Buddy ain't coming." "His little girl is sick again." "Eggs over easy, bacon and a lot of coffee." "Her gut is all twisted up." "He blames Agent Orange." "He blames everything on Agent Orange." "It wasn't no big deal." "Were you sprayed with Agent Orange?" "Is something wrong with Emmett?" "He gets headaches and he can't sleep." "And he has this rash" "Don't be macho and pretend." "I had a place come up on my leg." "All brown and funny." "Kind of like a bruise on a banana." "But then it just went away." "You reckon it ate clear down to my bone?" "Nothing will hurt you." "You're like that guy on TV...ate a bicycle." "On That's Incredible." "I saw that." "It didn't hurt him." "He was going to go to Canada and eat a helicopter." "If I had a car, I'd drive Emmett to the VA hospital." "Get him checked out." "I got a car I'll sell you." "VW bug." "I'll fix it up good." "$600." "I don't have that kind of cash." "You want a car?" "I'll show you a car." "Look at that!" "See that thing that looks like a ladybug?" "That's my old Corvette." "My wife sold it while I was gone." "It would be a classic now." "You got that right." "That's my house." "There's my street." "This is the county." "This could be the stupidest thing I ever did in my life." "Nobody can eat a helicopter." "You don't know how to lie." "Hey, man, keep it long to the left." "Think about that VW, Sam." "Come take a test drive and teach me how to lie." "See you all later!" "Come by any time you want." "I got tattoos in places you never even dreamed of." "That true what you told me about Pete chasing his wife with a shotgun?" "She chased him." "Why?" "Why does everything need a reason?" "Because it does." "Some things don't." "Some things just are." "You can't change them." "I don't accept that." "Oh, you don't?" "How do you plan to deal with gravity?" "Do you accept that?" "Why do you got to know about Vietnam?" "What do you remember about it?" "Hey, Emmett!" "Sam, you want to come with me?" "I need to talk to you." "Go on." "Take her out of here, Lonnie." "She's pestering me." "You're in a mood!" "That's good reason to be alone." "What's wrong with him?" "I don't know." "They all act like there's some deep, dark secret." "Why aren't you at work?" "I walked in there today, looked in Quinnie's face and thought:" ""If I do this for 30 years, I'll look just like him."" "So I told him I quit." "He says, "We don't need you." "You're fired."" "Wouldn't that burn your ass?" "So you just up and quit." "Box boy." "That ain't for me." "I want to do something outdoors, where I'm my own boss." "You're your own boss now." "I ain't too crazy about your hanging out with Emmett's friends." "Don't worry about it." "Those guys are still back in Vietnam." "Not one has come to anything." "Shut up, Lonnie!" "What do you think they'll do?" "Snap and hold me hostage?" "You know what they say about Emmett." "I know what they say about everything in Hopewell." "This town never shuts up." "You think I'm weird 'cause of Emmett." "You're not weird." "You just think you are." "You're only half-weird." "I got to find me a job." "I got to get a car or else I'll go nuts." "Let me out." "I feel like running." "I've been thinking." "Good." "How old were you when you went over?" "Old enough to know better." "How old is that?" "A year older than you are now." "What do you remember when you think about it?" "The first thing." "There was these white birds used to follow the water buffalo." "One for every water buffalo, like he had a pet." "These birds would pick the bugs off the buffalo's head." "Sometimes one would even pick the bugs out of his teeth." "One time..." "Yes, Algebra." "...there was this tree and it was full of these white birds and a grenade blew it all to hell." "These white birds went flying out of the tree, like it was snowing." "It was beautiful." "These beautiful white birds, going about their business all this crazy stuff going on around them." "Egrets." "They're called egrets." "I'd like to see one again." "Sam, everything's ready!" "I'm coming!" "Emmett, that's neat." "Is it numb?" "I hope so." "Can you feel this?" "No." "I got you by surprise." "It didn't hurt that much." "If I had a car, I could get it done at the mall in Paducah." "A person needs a car to be free." "Think of the money you're saving." "Will your mom shit bricks over the second hole?" "My mama is provincial and misguided." "My uncle lets me do anything I want to." "Lonnie slept over three nights since he quit his job." "My dad would shit bricks if I did that." "You going to marry Lonnie?" "He's not the main thought on my mind right now." "I have to find a dress to wear to his brother's wedding." "Come help me find something." "Oh, my God!" "Great." "Is this your mom's old stuff?" "It's like a museum." "This was never in style." "I wouldn't wear this in the dark." "It's too awful!" "Well, slap my thigh." "I do declare." "I have to dig up some money for a dress to wear one time." "Look at these old records." "Do you listen to them?" "No, my mom used to." "She'd sing along in this embarrassing way." "It drove me nuts." "Who are Country Joe and the Fish?" "Now she's off having babies in Lexington driving with the top down with easy listening on the car radio with Lorenzo Jones." "That's what I call her husband." "I guess she thinks he treats her good." "I'm late." "But that doesn't mean anything." "How late?" "Two weeks." "I've been late before." "Why aren't you on the pill?" "I don't know." "Who's this?" "It looks like Lonnie, only in a uniform." "That's my dad!" "He was cute." "He died over there just before I was born." "I never knew she had this stuff." "Look at these letters." "Can we read them?" "God, no!" "Why not?" "I don't know." "God, look at him." "He missed everything." "You know what I wish we could do?" "I wish we could steal the keys to your brother's car and drive to the Paducah Oaks Mall." "We could hang out in the bars where the businessmen go and wear sexy outfits." "We could wear black leather pants and pink sunglasses." "I bet they'd give us money." "For sex they'll pay" "Anything." "This town is dead without a mall." "Yeah, I know it." "That's Kenny." "Does he know?" "I don't even know, do I?" "I'm just late." "I'm coming!" "God." "We're the baddest girls in Hopewell!" ""The guys were as excited as I was." ""I danced all...." ""I danced all around and they poured beer on me." ""I dreamt maybe I got a baby boy at home."" "I don't want to name it Darrell." "There was a Darrell in my outfit who isn't with us anymore." "I'd feel it was unlucky to name him Darrell." "Bill and Bob are too ordinary." "My favorite name is Samuel." "It's from the Bible." "I wish you weren't going through this alone." "Don't ask me to tell you how it is here." "You don't want to know." "If it's a girl, you could call it Samantha." "This is Larry." "And Irene." "Business is good." "Life is great." "We look forward to your terrific message." "At the beep." "Mom, I was looking for a dress to wear to Lonnie's brother's wedding and found Daddy's old letters." "Why didn't you take them with you?" "What kind of person would just leave something like that behind?" "If I loved someone, I wouldn't leave their letters." "I'd keep them close to my heart." "You never told me he wanted a boy." "You never told me anything!" "I don't even know how he died." "Go home, Danny." "You're possessed of the devil." "Mend your evil ways, dog." "It's that kind of thing that makes people think you're mentally alienated." "Mentally what?" "Alienated." "Is that what I am?" "ln a nutshell." "Did you know about these?" "Irene left them?" "Yeah." "You read them?" "She gave them to me a long time ago." "He writes like a kid." "That was us." "A bunch of little kids out in the jungle." "Didn't know diddly-shit." "It's hard to read." "What's a "klick"?" "And what's a "Bouncing Boobie"?" "Bouncing Betty." "What is it?" "A cake recipe." "You ain't never going to understand it." "You don't want to." "I want to know about it." "I got the right." "No, I haven't seen any tigers or gorillas." "It's rained for three months now and everything is mud." "Seems like we've been in country forever." "I can't tell you what we're doing but each time we go out, we push the enemy back further." "I dreamed maybe I got a baby boy at home." "I look at your picture so I know it's not a dream." "You're standing by the Nash Rambler." "It's black and white, but I know you got on the red shorts." "The food's not good." "I miss Mama's fried chicken." "I'm sick of beans." "The world's a dream, now that I'm here." "Maybe when I'm home, this will be a dream." "Maybe we'll take over Daddy's farm." "We could build a new house by the pond." "Just you, me and the baby." "I can't wait to see a picture." "I hope he looks like you." "My favorite name is Samuel." "I guess if it's a girl, you could call it Samantha." "When are you going to fix that?" "Not tonight." "There's a tornado watch on." "I'm making muffelatas." "Want one, Lonnie?" "I don't mind." "Have a beer, Emmett." "Where'd you get that getup?" "It's a joke." "I don't get it." "Like Klinger, on MASH." "I still don't get it." "Have a beer." "Where did you get these?" "Well, I got them from a bootlegger." "I'm sore about what you said about Emmett." "I thought you liked him." "You always acted like you did." "I like him fine." "But how long are you going to go on keeping house for him?" "Mom wants me to move in with her." "She's enrolled in psychology in Lexington." "Now she has an answer for everything." "She wants me to go to college with her this fall." "Tell her she can't go with her mother." "She'd be mentally alienated for life." "What's that?" "Take my word for it." "Come and eat." "He's right." "You can't go." "Both of us want you here." "What will you do now that you know you don't want to be a box boy?" "I don't know." "If you've got no family, don't take a job from a man who does." "Emmett, that's neat." "You got the unemployment problem worked out." "You're a hero by being a bum." "I ain't no bum!" "I won't work at no polluting tire plant." "There are jobs you can do without hurting anybody." "Be a disc jockey." "Selling things nobody needs." "Yeah, I'll be a disc jockey." "You been at them letters?" "What letters?" "They were out of order." "Did you read them?" "What letters?" "Dwayne's letters?" "My father's letters, yes." "It's okay if you did." "I wanted you to." "I read them." "Eat your supper, girl." "Well?" "Is that what it was like?" "They don't say much, do they?" "Talk to me, Emmett." "It's stuffy in here." "It's the humidity." "No, it's them letters!" "Jesus, it's really something out there." "Socrates wore a skirt." "The Greeks and Romans wore dresses." "It's healthy for a man to wear a skirt." "He ain't all cramped up." "Burn them damn letters." "Just forget all about that damn shit." "You're prying into something you'll never understand." "Leave it alone!" "What made you feel so bad?" "They're mostly just love letters." "It's whipping up." "I'll unplug some things." "lncoming, Emmett." "Watch your ass, buddy!" "Damn it!" "Are you okay?" "Yes, I'm okay." "God!" "What is this, a tornado?" "You pay your bill, Emmett?" "This ain't no tornado." "It's something." "They don't have tornadoes at night." "This is some kind of weird climatic event." "Emmett, get in here!" "Are you crazy?" "Emmett, don't be a damn fool!" "Where are you going?" "Go for it, Emmett!" "Go for it!" "Show me!" "Show me your face!" "Emmett, get down!" "Show me your face!" "I'm not afraid of that." "Burn them damn letters, Sam." "There ain't nothing in them for you." "What are you doing?" "It looks like you're digging clear to China." "I'm excavating, Mr. Hughes." "Very noble work." "Your Egyptians and Romans were great excavators." "And good builders, too." "That storm hit you all last night?" "A couple of tree limbs down." "That old dog about lost his mind." "We'll just have to shoot it." "Grandpa, don't say things like that!" "How are you doing?" "Help me with that." "I brought you half a ham." "I know you don't eat right." "Having fun down there, Emmett?" "The basement is full of water." "If I don't find this leak, the whole thing will cave in." "You got no drainage with these houses." "They built these all the same." "Wrong." "I brought you a damson pie, and Emmett can't have any." "What did he do?" "He doesn't treat you right." "Look at that refrigerator!" "Rinse that off, Sam." "You got a frog in your ditch." "Water seeping under a house spawns all kinds of life." "Frogs, mosquitoes tadpoles, mud daubers dry rot, fungus worms and snakes of all types." "Emmett, I got a bone to pick with you!" "What's that?" "Remember those hippies you brought to the farm that got stuck in their van trying to turn around and they had to bull their way out by plowing through my rose garden?" "Nothing grows there to this day." "And they never said they was sorry or nothing." "Mrs. Hughes, that was 12 years ago." "It was April 14, 1972." "Your mama ran off to Lexington with one that looked like a wild hyena." "I don't remember him." "Now she's in Lexington with a different baby." "There's just something about that girl that has to wag a baby off to Lexington." "Where did them idiots go?" "California." "All the hyenas and idiots went to California." "Remind me never to go there." "Yes, sir." "I'd like to go there." "Emma, I hate to take you away from your pleasure but we got to get them pullets out of the sun before they die." "Let's go." "You going to marry that boy who does the jump shots?" "Lonnie, the jumper?" "Emmett, you look real good with a sweat on you." "Sam, you come and visit." "Not if you shoot your dog." "I guess we won't." "Let's go, Emma!" "We got to fatten you up." "I'll fix you a swamp rabbit and a cake." "Sounds good." "Yum." "Close the door!" "I want out of here." "Are you?" "Am I what?" "Going to marry Lonnie?" "He can't pour piss out of a boot." "I don't know." "How do I know what I'm going to do until I do it?" "Jesus, Sam." "Listen, do you know that saleslady?" "She might know me." "Thanks." "She'll think it's for me." "Well, you're not pregnant, so it doesn't matter." "Who the hell cares anyway?" "But I'm not going to pay for it." "Could I get a price check?" "Lambert Warner test kit number 5068-A." "It's not this high." "Is it the pregnancy test or blood sugar one?" "The pregnancy!" "The first day pregnancy test, 5068-A!" "$14.79." "It could be wrong." "We could buy another one." "I'll pay for it." "I always wanted this to be a happy time." "If it does happen, we could go away." "You could have it in Florida." "We could work at Disney World." "I got to go." "Carswell will murder me." "Thanks." "You missed Watergate E.T the Bruce Springsteen concert." "You missed everything." "You were just a country boy and you never knew me." "Slow down, Sam." "What are you doing here?" "I'm just passing by." "I see you running everywhere." "Where are you going so fast, Sam?" "If I was to ask you" "If it's you, then tell me." "If it's a friend, tell them to see me." "No crapping around." "I don't give out free drugs or advice." "Who are you going with now?" "That boy who won the Libertyville game." "I don't know." "You don't know?" "Lonnie is not the main thing on my mind." "I want Emmett to see a doctor." "What's wrong?" "He gets these headaches and he's got these rashes." "You know how he is." "He gets in crazy moods." "It's not just one thing, it's a lot of things." "He'll never look after himself." "He should get his eyes checked." "I'll give you the name of a skin doctor and an eye doctor I want him to see." "You going to the veterans' dance?" "Nobody asked me." "Are you seeing anybody?" "I'm dating a policeman from Benton." "His idea of a good time is to buy a six-pack and drive a truck into a ditch." "He's getting possessive." "When they get that way, I just have to get out." "That's why I like Emmett." "He didn't give a damn." "That made me possessive." "I just had to have him." "I'm glad to see you're taking care of him." "Come over some time." ""Said the spider to the fly."" "I'll get Emmett to make lasagna." "I don't know." "Why?" "Don't you like lasagna?" "Yeah, I like it well enough." "Come help me get Emmett interested in the veterans' dance." "I want to go in honor of my daddy." "And I don't want to go alone." "Maybe." "My mom never told me anything about my daddy what he was like or what his favorite foods were." "My mom acts like the Vietnam war was in the Dark Ages." "It was the dark ages, Sam." "Will you come?" "We'll see if Emmett remembers how to dance." "Your mama called from Lexington." "She wants to know why you left that lousy message." "I'm not ready to talk to her yet." "What was the message?" "Did you eat?" "Ain't hungry." "You feed Moonpie?" "Fed him." "Anita gave me some doctors' names." "I've been to the doctors." "What did they say?" "Not much." "Did you tell them about the headaches?" "I did." "Can't they add two and two?" "Higher than that." "They know where the bank is, and where it ain't." "I don't get you." "That's okay." "Would you go to these doctors?" "If you leave me alone." "Boy, are you difficult." "I know." "There's your future." "Franchised medicine." "McDoctors." "Doc-in-a-box." "Bob's Big Doc." "Very funny." "Mr. Smith, the doctor is waiting for you." "Come on." "Your order is up." "Go get your Whopper." "I'm going up to the lake with the guys." "That's nice." "I need a token of your affection." "What for?" "It's a stag party for my brother." "We're all bringing something." "Can I have a pair of your panties?" "The black ones?" "That's ridiculous." "What?" "It will show you care about me." "It will make me think about you." "$63!" "Well?" "Well what?" "What did he say?" "Dr. McShaft?" "He said I got to wash my face 10 times a day or perhaps it is something I ate." "Or perhaps it's something around the house, like an allergy." "I figured he would ask about cats, so I said we didn't have any." "I asked how many lab rats he killed to figure all this out." "Did he give you any medication?" "No, he gave me one of them damn TV-doctor smiles and said, "Mr. Smith, I believe it's all in your head."" "I said, "Doc, tell me something I don't know."" "How will you get it out?" "There has to be a way." "Jumping Jesus, girl." "Don't come up on a man that way." "Sorry, I didn't mean to sneak up on you." "I just wanted to look at that bug." "Check it out." "That's it?" "Why get a car if you run all the time?" "Everybody wants a car, so you can go places." "Are you sure you don't want a dirt bike?" "It's a lot cheaper." "You can drive them in the dirt, fall off, it don't hurt much." "I put one together." "I wreck it." "I just put another one together." "Don't mean nothing." "Everything means something." "Are you always so serious?" "You ever feel like the world's falling apart and people only care about their part?" "Nobody does anything about what's really wrong." "Scares me." "What are you scared will happen?" "I'm scared for Emmett." "Emmett's a character." "He's probably not easy to live with." "Did he find his bird?" "The egret?" "There are eagles at Reelfoot Lake." "He's seen eagles." "He's looking for an egret." "I know." "Some things we can't stop thinking about." "I got a friend who thinks he'll snap." "Lonnie Malone?" "Yes, sir." "What does Lonnie Malone know about those things?" "He needs a map to find the bathroom." "You going to get married?" "No." "I heard you were. ln September." "Why don't you get married?" "Why don't any of you vets get along with women?" "Ask Emmett." "Besides, I never said I didn't like women." "Emmett says you got wounded." "How?" "Me and this piece of shrapnel tried to occupy a space at the same time." "See?" "Sarcastic!" "It's so hard to get an answer to anything." "You might as well stop asking about the war." "Nobody gives a shit." "I do." "My daddy died there and I want to know what happened." "Nobody will tell me anything." "You weren't there." "You can't understand it." "You want to take a test ride?" "Come on, pump it." "Your daddy was a good boy." "Not wild." "Him and your mama made a good-looking couple." "I don't know much about him." "He was the quiet type." "What did he like to eat?" "Everything we didn't have over there." "Did he like lasagna?" "This music really takes me back." "I used to like White Rabbit." "Bobby Ray, take that with you on your ride." "They would put one of these cards on his chest." "The Navy SEALS did that, too." "This is the Purple Heart." "These are my Vietnam medals." "What's this?" "The Bronze Star medal." "What's it for?" "For bravery, I guess." "Is it yours?" "Yes, ma'am." "Ho-Ho-Ho Chi Minh, boys!" "You know my wife, Cindy." "The Corvette salesman." "This is Sam." "Emmett's keeper." "I wouldn't have the nerve to wear all those earrings." "I wouldn't have the nerve to chase someone with a shotgun." "You heard about that?" "Oh, hell." "Sometimes you need some drama just to get some people's attention." "I'll take the cheese log to the food table and get us some beer." "Sam, don't you tell Cindy I showed you my tattoo." "Why?" "What will she do to me?" "That ain't the question." "It's what she'd do to me." "Better than ham and motherfuckers." "I'll never eat them again." "I can't go near ham nor beans of any kind." "Sue Ann ain't coming." "Why not?" "She started the Jesus diet and figured there'd be a ton of pies and cakes here." "What's the Jesus diet?" "Sue Ann made a pledge to Jesus to lay off the calories." ""You can cheat on yourself," she says, "but not on Jesus."" "She didn't want to test her faith?" "The truth is, she didn't want to come." "I didn't either, except this is the first recognition the town ever gave." "We didn't even get a parade." "Did you see the Vietnam Memorial in Washington?" "The damn hole in the ground?" "No, that's like living in the past." "I'm living in the future not back in a war we couldn't win." "Correction." "A war they did not let us win." "We could have paved that motherfucker over put in a McDonalds, if they'd have let us." "If Johnson had declared war, we could have." "If he had as he should have" "That's what I mean." "You still want to win it." "It ain't about that." "This is sick." "Look at all these flags and pictures." "Why have it?" "This is stupid." "Lay off it." "Lay off it?" "Lay off it." "Be careful, Earl." "Pete may whack you with his cheese log." "Emmett Smith." "How the hell are you?" "You look like a Kentucky redbird." "And I am flying tonight." "Sam, you look darling." "I love those earrings." "Yours are cute, too." "Thank you." "Why, Emmett, you are just nesting right into the floor." "You want to dance before you grow roots?" "What are you laughing at?" "At you, Emmett." "Go, Emmett, go!" "I'm glad you came." "I almost thought you wouldn't make it." "I almost didn't." "Where's your boyfriend?" "What boyfriend?" "I got my dancing shoes on!" "Maybe later." "I'm feeling a bit stiff." "I'll get you something to drink." "Come on!" "Let's give your dancing shoes a workout!" "Pete won't leave Earl alone and earl's looking for a fight." "Does Earl drink a lot?" "He shouldn't drink at all." "He's got liver trouble." "Those earrings are so cute." "They remind me of what they did over there." "What?" "You're too young to know this." "They cut off the ears of the Viet Cong to prove they killed them." "They brought them home as a souvenir." "Pete had some in a glass jar." "They were like little mouse ears." "Kind of sweet-looking." "I didn't think about it for years, then one day they got to me." "So I made him put them in the garage." "Did you collect ears off the dead?" "Where did you hear about that?" "Did you?" "Some guys did." "Did you have a girl back home who wrote you sexy letters?" "Yeah." "Anybody I know?" "She wasn't from around here." "She wouldn't have fit into my story anyway." "What is your story?" "There goes Earl." "You need professional help!" "Don't tell me about that!" "Let me go!" "What's wrong with you?" "Let him go." "You okay, killer?" "This is bullshit." "It's ruining a good party, too." "Both of you, shake hands." "Go on." "Shake his hand, Earl." "I could have killed you." "What's wrong?" "It's not you, Sam." "It's me." "I shouldn't have brought you here." "You didn't bring me here." "I made you bring me." "Did I do something wrong?" "No." "It's just me." "You see my mind takes me where I don't want to go." "It ain't your fault, Sam." "It's just me." "Hold me." "Just stay real close." "Thanks for everything, Jim." "I thought it went real well." "I thought more would come." "Hardly anyone came who wasn't in country." "People just don't care." "To them, it's like Vietnam never happened." "Take your daddy's picture with you." "I'm not responsible for that." "Thanks again." "See you." "Emmett?" "Damn you!" "There you are." "What are you doing back?" "Get in." "We cut the weekend short." "But we had a high time at the stag party, what I remember of it." "Your panties was a real hit." "Great." "Did you take pictures and pass them around?" "Come on, Sam." "What's going on?" "Emmett's been missing for two whole days." "I'm tired of taking care of him." "I'm tired of everybody's troubles." "Here." "What's this?" "Your friendship ring." "I know that." "What does it mean?" "It means I'm confused." "I'm not throwing a shit fit over this because I don't think you mean it." "You're just acting crazy again." "You know what I'll do with this?" "Throw it in the lake." "I don't want any other girl wearing it." "You hear me?" "Want me to take you home?" "You can if you don't hate me." "I don't hate you." "Moonpie." "Where is he, Moonpie?" "Go find him." "Jesus, Emmett." "Did you have a heart attack and die down here?" "God, Mom!" "Sam, what are you doing?" "Looking for Emmett." "I got him in the car." "Come out of there." "I want to see you." "Why didn't you call me?" "You must've known I was worried." "He showed up at my place late last night so drunk he was about to pass out." "I've had to put up with this since we left." "A guy in a pickup left him." "Larry was asleep." "Don't cry." "I know you're hungry, baby." "I was watching Invasion of the Body Snatchers." "Did you see it?" "The new movie, not the old one." "I never got to see how it turned out." "They all get snatched." "I thought they might, but it didn't seem right." "You had to pierce them ears again, didn't you?" "Look at this house." "It's a dump." "I should sell it." "I'd be happy if I never saw it again." "Don't you want to see me?" "Not if you leave hurtful messages on my machine." "You read the letters?" "Every one." "What did they say?" "I forget." "Sam, we were married a month before he left and I never saw him again." "I hardly even remember him." "If I loved somebody, I'd cherish them forever." "Life goes on." "Your grandma has his diaries." "I didn't have the heart to read them." "It hurt too much and now, it doesn't matter the way it does to you." "That baby is hungry." "How did he die?" "They don't tell you that." "They just say, "ln the line of duty."" "They don't want you to know." "Come up and go to college with me." "You've got to register by next month." "What's Lorenzo up to?" "Must you call him Lorenzo?" "Larry is with his brother, fixing the roof." "What keeps you here?" "That basketball boy?" "You telling stories on me?" "You explain yourself." "Anita and me were worried sick." "Anita Stevens?" "She on the loose again?" "My body was entered by aliens and I was transported." "Stinky baby." "I mean it." "I was going to call the National Enquirer." "I was materialized on Irene's doorstep." "She rescued me, so it's a happy ending." "Listen to him." "Did all the bodies get snatched?" "Usually they find a way out." "Nobody got saved." "Emmett, can't you tell a straight story?" "It ain't nothing to tell." "Anita and me and Pete and Cindy met at McDonald's and messed around." "Then I ran into Earl, who was going to the lake." "He had a six-pack, so I thought, "What the hell?"" "But he was staying the week, so he dumped me off." "That's all, folks." "Where's Moonpie?" "He went looking for you." "Why don't you go get washed up?" "I'll make your bed." "You don't want to drive back tonight." "What a stinky baby." "Are you a stinky baby?" "Look at this place." "I wish you'd clear all this out and have a yard sale." "Where's the flag from his casket?" "God." "Emmett made a cape out of it." "That's when Emmett's crazy friends were here." "I was so mad at him." "That friend of Emmett's you went to Lexington with." "Did you love him?" "I thought I cared for him." "Everyone was mad at me, like I should stay an old maid forever in memory of your dad." "Emmett had a fit." "Grandpa went to war." "He never came back all twisted out of shape." "That war was different." "Those were just different times." "Listen, Sam." "Larry has a friend who was in Vietnam." "He killed a whole family in a hut." "Don't you want it?" "A mother, a father, three children, some uncles, aunts and a grandmother." "He killed all of them." "And he said it took two years for what he did to hit him." "But he realized all he could do was live life in the most productive way." "He's married, has kids." "He joined a church and he tithes." "That's all he can do." "Did Daddy kill like that?" "I don't know." "It wouldn't be unusual if he did." "That's what they were sent to do." "Come here." "Don't let them load you up, baby." "I had many years with Emmett to think about this." "You don't owe anyone just because they love you." "Tom, this is my mom." "Is my car ready?" "That's it?" "$600?" "Is it okay to drive?" "I overhauled the transmission myself." "I'll guarantee it." "She don't have to buy it." "I wasn't inferring anything." "It's just not what I expected." "Mom, it's exactly what I want." "All right." "Thank you!" "I'll get the papers." "I got them all made out." "Did you go out with him?" "God, what a question." "I hope it's a passing fancy." "He's too old and full of trouble." "How can you see that?" "I just do." "I'm going to be late." "Larry will have a shit fit." "You don't have to live with me to go to college." "You don't have to move because I bought the car." "Just come up and visit." "Okay, Mom." "All you got to do is sign it." "Nice to meet you, Tom." "Careful now, you hear?" "Yes, ma'am." "Drive safely." "I will." "Thank you, thank you, thank you." "The keys are in the car." "Here's your pink slip." "You want to take a test ride and check me out?" "Your boyfriend might see us." "I got rid of him." "Why are you giving me a hard time?" "I had a good time the other night." "You just need to get used to me." "You drive careful, you hear?" "Oh, my God!" "When did you get it?" "Today." "It's beautiful." "And a convertible, too!" "Your mom really bought it for you?" "Let's paint it pink!" "Pink!" "So you like it?" "I love it!" "What's wrong?" "I don't want to talk about it." "I'm sorry." "I have good news." "You got your period?" "I got up my courage and told Ken about the baby." "At first he was shocked, but then he was happy!" "You didn't plan it." "You didn't want this baby." "Are you going to tell it, it was an accident when it grows up?" "Babies should be born because they're wanted, not" "I want it!" "Ken wants it." "Dawn, if I was you, I'd get an abortion for your own good." "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that." "God, I couldn't do that." "I'm happy, Sam." "I'm happy." "Can't you be happy for me?" "I'm sorry." "I didn't mean it, really." "I was thinking about myself." "You be happy, you hear?" "What's going to happen to you, Sam?" "Hi, Aunt Donna!" "Mama!" "It's little Sam." "How are you doing?" "You're looking good." "How have you been, honey?" "Where did you get that thing?" "Mom got it for me." "How's Mamaw and Aunt Donna?" "I've missed them." "Are the biscuits ready?" "I've got the chicken." "You get the rest." "Joe, tell Sam about Dwayne." "She wants to know more about her daddy." "I remember when he first brought your mother here." "She was a skinny little squirt, like you once was." "It was just after I was born." "I used to get so tickled at her." "Once she brought a kite." "And if she didn't run out in her high heels and fly that kite, I'm not here." "Did he love her?" "They was young." "When you're young, you don't know what you really feel." "But I saw how she felt when the news come." "She was carrying you." "She was big as a barn." "Was there a big funeral?" "It was a closed casket." "They told us not to open and look." "That was hard, because you're supposed to watch over the body." "It's something that brings you together." "It was like he wasn't there 'cause we couldn't see him." "The neighbors started bringing food." "They kept bringing things to eat." "Lutie Cunningham brought a ham, a gallon of potato salad and three pies." "It was almost a relief when we got him buried." "They wrote that he was a help to his country." "We never really got to watch over him." "It was a closed casket." "Why don't we go to the monument in Washington?" "See his name at the wall." "I saw a picture of it." "I've thought about it." "Why not?" "I couldn't do that at my age." "Joe went everywhere in World War ll, but I've never left my time zone." "Pass the gravy." "Mom said you had a notebook or a diary or something of Daddy's." "You want that?" "It ain't personal." "It's troop movements and like that." "Not loving, like his letters." "I don't mind." "I have no memory of him." "My own brother." "Ain't that a shame?" "Everyone thought it was something that Dwayne left you behind on earth for us." "Like a gift." ""Be present at our table, Lord." ""Be here and everywhere adored." ""These creatures bless and grant that we may feast in paradise with Thee." ""Amen."" "You didn't get any greens, Sam, for goodness sake." "No mail today." "No cigarettes." "Raining." "July 5." "Hotshot says we're getting closer." "Hands cracked and bleeding." "Depressed, but letter from Irene got me out of it." "Baby kicking strong." "Shelling at dark." "July 6." "Walking point all day." "Like hunting rabbits." "Miss those great fall days." "Autumn leaves." "The change of seasons." "July 7." "Eddie looking for trouble." "Volunteered to walk point." "He's solid black and real quiet." "Hotshot says he wouldn't say shit if he had a mouthful." "July 8." "Hotshot in a rage." "He works us like dogs." "But if he didn't get so mad, we wouldn't be as good as we are." "July 9." "Burned hootches." "Pregnant woman wouldn't come out." "Darrell pulled her out before she burned up." "I pray Irene and babe are okay." "I play she's here with me, but when I get her in my mind, she floats away." "I wouldn't want her to see this." "July 10 ." "Found a dead gook under some rotten leaves." "Interesting to see body parts broken down." "Like in biology." "Bobby stirred a stick in it and some teeth fell out." "Darrell took one for luck." "July 11 ." "Daddy's birthday." "Thinking about home." "July 12 ." "Face to face with the V.C." "I won." "Clean head shot." "Back of his head gone." "Picture of his babies in his pocket." "Easier than I thought." "Let's get the fuck out of here." "When I get back to the world, this will be a dream." "But now, the world is a dream." "Hotshot says we're almost there." "Emmett, what are you" "What are you doing out here?" "Humping the boonies." "This ain't Vietnam." "It's some swamp for Boy Scouts to get lost in." "How did you find me?" "It was just like you." "I knew you had that diary." "Did you read it?" "I hated the way he talked about them gooks and killing." "I don't like him anymore." "You don't like him anymore?" "That's so fucking weak." "Who are you to say that about him?" "When I first came back here I looked around at everybody." "It made me remember how in country you was always on guard or you died." "It made you keen." "It made you sleep with your eyes open." "Every cell in your body was awake, full of electricity." "That was being alive." "See?" "Then I come back here and what I saw was how weak everybody's game was." "You might not like him, but who are you to judge him?" "I'll tell you when your buddies are getting shot, getting even feels good." "I don't want to hear it!" "Yes, you do." "You wanted to know." "You've been at me and now you can damn well listen." "When everybody you care about even just a little, gets killed one after the other sometimes just in a pile of broken bones and blood and guts after a while...." "After a while, you don't care." "Because if you let yourself care and make a friend he'll get killed, too." "So you just quit feeling." "Do you understand that?" "Do you understand that, little girl?" "You walk around Hopewell High wondering if someone's looking at you the right way...." "Shit!" "And they're all still alive." "Do you know that?" "ln my head." "They're all sitting around a burned-out village eating ham and motherfuckers, waiting to be evacuated." "They've got a dead V.C. propped up with a cowboy hat and a cigarette in his mouth." "They're wondering, "Where is Emmett?"" ""How's he doing back in Hopewell?"" "They're wondering why I ain't with them." "They're waiting for me." "I'm hanging on with every bit of strength I got." "Christ, it exhausts me." "I ain't got nothing left." "Not for you, or Anita, or anybody else." "Something is wrong with me." "Like there's this hole in my heart." "Like something's missing and I can't get it back." "It's out there with them." "I'm already half dead." "I can't get used to the way you two just whooshed in and took me off on this trip." "I'm sorry Grandpa's back was up but he would have worried about the wheat anyway." "It's near ready to cut." "For what, I don't know, at the market prices." "Sometimes I think Dwayne is better off out of this." "He'd have been a farmer like his daddy." "If you could do it over, would you have sent him to Canada?" "Sam, people don't have choices like that." "Besides, he did good for his country and I take comfort in that." "What good did he do?" "Emmett said they all died for nothing." "Emmett can talk." "He didn't die." "That's right, Mrs. Hughes." "I'm alive and horrible." "I'm sorry." "I didn't mean to step on your feelings." "I just had to say how I feel." "Emmett, find another station on the radio." "My legs are killing me." "I need to take my pill." "Can you find a place to stop?" "Where there's barbecue." "I didn't feed us enough at breakfast." "Hold on." "Oh, Lord, my knees." "Get out of there." "Watch out." "She's driving me crazy!" "I want to scream." "She ain't been nowhere before." "She's driving me nuts." "Oh, my God!" "If it isn't all my favorite people in the world!" "Emmett, come on in!" "I don't believe it!" "Don't bother with them." "Larry was out of focus on most of them." "That's a good one of all of us." "I like that one." "That's a good one." "Can I have it?" "Take what you want." "Larry got double prints on a special." "Are you sure you won't come with us?" "I don't think so." "You do it." "Anyone want another beer?" "Help yourself." "Not for me." "Is Emmett with Anita again?" "Emmett doesn't know what he wants, but Anita does." "Why don't you go to colonial Williamsburg on your way?" "I've never been that far from home." "I'm too old to do that." "You're not old." "I'm 58, with 20 years of worry tacked on to that." "You're as old as you feel." "Did you tell her?" "I'm going to." "Go on." "I will!" "Mom, can I move up here and go to college?" "What did I hear over there?" "That's the sweetest thing!" "Your big sister is coming to live with us and go to college." "You mean it?" "I mean it." "She means it!" "Dwayne always thought you'd hung the moon." "She's moving up here." "Come on out of there, Sam." "I don't see it." "They say you come up on it all of a sudden." "My legs hurt." "Emmett, will you get me my geranium." "You go on ahead." "I'll catch up with you." "He's on panel 4-W." "There it is." "It don't show up good." "It's just a hole in the ground." "Lord, it's black as night." "I didn't think it would look like this." "What are those gold stars for?" "I guess to make the name stand out." "I can go with that." "Me, too." "Are you going to look for anyone else besides Daddy?" "I want to look up a couple of guys." "God!" "It's just like Mom said." "The names." "Bobby Gene and Freddie Ray and Jimmy Bob." "Country boys." "Country boys are just like city boys." "Now they got everything." "There it is." ""Dwayne E. Hughes."" "I'm going to bawl." "I wish I could touch it." "Just a minute, Mamaw." "Could we use that ladder, please?" "Yes, you may." "Watch yourself, Mrs. Hughes." "Someone might see up my dress." "Go on." "You can do it." "Watch your step." "Sam, you go up there." "Take this and get his name." "It's real close, Mamaw." "Smile." "When I get back to the world, this will be a dream." "But now, the world is a dream." "Hotshot says we're almost there." "You want to get some barbecue?"