"In the beginning, there was nothing." " Wilderness." " Worse than wilderness." "Endless raw acreage, the land infested with crocodiles." " Alligators." " Alligators, crocodiles..." "For retirement bungalows, that's not a selling point." "Mosquitoes that would strip you to the bones." " Swampland." " That was 10¢ an acre." "This was worse." "The name means in Seminole:" ""Don't go there."" "But we bought it." "Because we knew." "You werert selling land." "I mean, what's land?" "A patch of dirt, a tree." "Who cares?" "Farmers care." "Farmers." "Farmers are for TV ads." "People with tractors, amber waves of grain." "They shoot it all in Canada." "I'm talking about certified accountants with a fixed pension and a nest egg who don't wanna spend their golden years in slush." "Dreams are what you sell." "A concept." "You sell sunshine, you sell orange groves you sell gentle breezes wafting through the palms." " There were palm trees?" " In the brochures." " Stately ones." " When they came down and saw it?" "As long as the dredge stayed ahead of the buyers, we were in like Flynn." "This was the end of the earth." "This was the land populated by white people who ate catfish." "Almost overnight, out of the muck and the mangroves we created this." "Golf courses." "Nature on a leash." "Ahoy." "It's that time of year again." "The Delrona Chamber of Commerce invites you to the Buccaneer Days festivities at the Plantation Island Marina." "Live music, and plenty of booty for kids." "Plans for the treasure hunt can be attained at the Delrona Beach Mall..." " Sure this place is okay?" " What do you mean?" " Black people go in here?" " Lf they're desperate to pee, they do." " But your mother's is..." " I need to go before then." "Relax." "Take the register, I gotta get back to the motel." " Your husband called." " Ex." "He needs to see you." "Next time, tell him to take a long walk off a short pier." " Smoking or non?" " Could I use your bathroom?" " It's straight back to the right." " Thank you." "Buzzards." "Excuse me." "Hi, there." "You been helped yet?" "No, my wife's just using the facilities." " You need a room?" " Pardon?" "You've been gawking at the motel." "We have a few vacancies, but it'll fill up soon." " I was looking the property over." " The property?" "The whole strip, actually." "If you're from the County, we had our sign moved back." "I was just trying to imagine what it would look like without buildings." " Kind of mentally undressing it?" " You could say that." " You work for that Plantation outfit?" " Yes." "I'm supervising the expansion..." "They don't have enough of the coast already?" "It's just a study, a what-if kind of thing." "What if I told you my daddy would never sell to Plantation Estates?" "I'll be happy to pass it on." "I'm Jack Meadows." " You're a developer." " A landscape architect." "I help them decide what they want, push some dirt around..." "They wanted my opinion on the whole shoreline here, actually." " So how's it look?" " What?" "Without anything on it?" "It looks terrific." "HQ says that'll be our beachhead." "Then we'll take the rest of it." "The other side has this end locked up and they're infiltrating Lincoln Beach." " We're not opposing?" " Zoned residential, hostile population." "It's a minefield." "Whereas right here is the soft underbelly of the island." "You make the frontal assault, I go behind the lines." " Is somebody on the inside?" " Working on it." "Shit." "Shock and outrage as Delrona Beach awoke to a senseless act of vandalism." "The Freebooter, the centrepiece of the Buccaneer Days parade was burnt beyond repair..." "This is a disaster." "It's always the lead float in the parade." "Same kid set a fire some years back in a crab shack on Lincoln Beach." "This is so not in the spirit of the celebration." "Where do you want me to haul it?" "Hello!" "Hello?" " Dr. Lloyd." " Sorry to bother you, Mrs. Pierce." "You're always welcome." "I'm rounding up folks for this County Commission meeting tonight." " I know it's very short notice, but..." " I'd like to help, but I feel poorly." "Oh, my!" "Would you look at this." "It's that boy poor Mrs. Stokes took in." " He's in trouble again?" " First her girl went wild and run off to God knows where." "And now this." "Some people." "I'm worried about them sneaking through this public-domain business without us making a showing." "If we can field just even a dozen residents..." "Wasn't it settled when they took the cemetery?" " I'm afraid it won't stop there." " Now, who's this coming to call?" "It seems kind of deserted." "Yeah, well, you know, most people come on the weekends." " Do I look okay?" " Relax." "This is gonna be fine." "You don't know her." "Hi." "Is Mrs. Stokes here?" "I have no idea." "Well, well." "Desiree." "Never thought I'd live to see you back here." "Hello, Mama." "My Lord." "You did get a handsome one, didn't you?" "Good luck moving this." "It's three inches of soil, then solid limestone." "More work, more pay." "Hey!" "What do you think you're doing?" " They wanted this one saved." " Is that right?" "What do you think, chief?" "That thing gonna make it?" "It's part of Mr. Meadows' concept." "The chief's concept is everything that's not flat gets that way, fast." "Plantation sold this lot with the tree." "When you crackers head back to Georgia, there better goddamn still be one." "Used to be this was all Exley family." "Hasrt nothing been planted here in 100 years." "We wanna satisfy the homeowner's desire for privacy with the convenience and the socializing opportunities provided by the village concept." "It doesn't look like much now, but when Jack's finished..." " What goes here?" " Our main drainage basin." " It's a lake." " A lake?" "It'll be 14 feet deep." "What we dig out will form a hill." " With a deluxe home on top of it." " Deluxe?" "With all the amenities:" "A river view, the lake." " Elevation." " Damn!" "These bugs gonna be here too?" "Anaesthesiologist." "If there's a surgical procedure, I render the patient unconscious." "You knock people out with gas?" "That's pretty much it." " I'd be afraid not to wake up." " A lot of people feel that way." " Reggie's the head of his department." " Is that right?" "And at such a prestigious hospital." "I'll have to tell that to Dr. Lloyd." " Dr. Lloyd still coming down?" " He lives here now." "His Etta Mae passed some years ago." "You wouldn't have heard that, would you?" " She doesn't write, she doesn't call." " Mama." "Girl caught the first thing smoking and never looked back." "I took the bus, Mama." "Not the train." "It's an expression." "Terrell?" "Go run this gravy through the microwave again." "It's gone cold." " And who is that?" " Your cousin, Sidney Wilkins' son." "Sidney that married Athena Hines." "Well, why isn't he with them?" "She doesn't write, she doesn't call." "I'm surprised she even let on she got married." "Her own mother doesn't get invited to the wedding." "It was a civil service, Mama." "It wasn't in church." " But it's legal?" " It's legal, it's official." "Don't worry." "Something they do up there." "What is it?" "Boston." "Somehow, I've never been north of Washington, D.C." "You'll just have to come visit us." "When Terrell's out of school, maybe we'll do that." "How about that, Terrell?" "You like to see Boston?" "The proposed boundary for Delrona Beach will incorporate this area including Lincoln Beach all the way to the Exley Plantation track." "Excuse me." "If you want to make a motion, wait till Commissioner Pinkney's finished." " I want to register a protest." " In regard to what?" "This meeting was not properly advertised." "We met all legal requirements." "You purposely chose a time when our people would be unable to attend." "The residents of Lincoln Beach?" "You know very well many of us are only here on weekends." "Many are only summer people." "That doesn't deny us the right to object to this expropriation." " Incorporation." " You've already taken a third of our area." "You know that was a private transaction between Exley Plantation Estates Planned Community and the individual property owners." "This commission didn't know about it until the plans were submitted." "If you hadrt already approved it, they wouldn't have gone ahead." "As spokesman for the Exley Corporation, I object to the implication..." " It has historic significance to us..." " We made several offers to..." "A history that this commission has consistently ignored!" "You let them take away our cemetery." "Dr. Lloyd, we're talking old business." "If you dislike the current agenda..." "We don't wanna be a part of Delrona Beach and they've made it clear they don't want anything to do with us." "If beachfront prices hadrt risen, there'd be no interest in merging..." " The concept of eminent domain..." " Is used to undermine our well-being!" "Gentlemen, if we're going to have a debate I'm going to have to ask you to follow procedure." " I'm thinking of going out there again." " Out where?" "Tour." "Golfing?" "It's kind of a syndicate." "A couple of dentists, a Buick dealer." "They wanna sponsor me for a percentage of my winnings." " How much can you make?" " First you have to qualify." "Then it just depends on where you stand at the end of each tournament." "You did this before?" "I tried a couple of years back." "It was fine till I got on the green." "You know little case of the yips." "It's an adrenaline thing." "You're in the middle of the back swing of your putt, you tighten up and..." "Yip." "Something like that." "And you had them bad?" "Killer drive, beautiful approach shot and I just couldn't get the damn thing in the hole." "That would seriously cut into your winnings, wouldn't it?" " It's better now?" " I won't know until I get out there." "I can always sink them in practice." "So you'll be travelling a lot." "That's the life." "Are there, like, groupies?" "I suppose." "If you win." "I never could understand wanting to watch it." "You know?" "It's like those fishing shows on TV." "Does that make you feel bad?" "I don't watch people wait on tables or run the check-in desk." "Right, you don't." "Yip." " This is too weird." " Is it what you remember?" "It's my room, yeah, but that boy's been living in here." "We got some serious testosterone working here." "Now, he's what, exactly?" "His daddy is my cousin." "Grew up kind of wild." "He's living here because...?" "She wants me to drive them downtown for some kind of hearing tomorrow." " He's in trouble?" " She's not giving up any information." "Punish me a bit." " For being gone so long." " For everything." "She's the one who asked you to come down, made the first move." "It's too weird." "You can hear the ocean." "I always loved that." "Hey, Lucky." " They changed all the facades." " Nobody but tourists shop here now." " Where do the regular folks go?" " There's a shuttle bus to the mall." "It's just in here." " This won't take but an hour or so." " You hope." "Terrell just needs to talk with somebody." "We'll call you back home when it's over." "Prettiest beach on the Atlantic coast." "It is pretty." "If you want to help save it, we're protesting at the groundbreaking." " I'm just visiting." " They won't know the difference." "So this is like an ecological thing?" "We're trying to save an endangered species." "Us." "I heard about this place when I was a kid." "Forties, fifties Lincoln Beach was it." "Only oceanfront in three counties we were allowed to step onto." "Black folks, I'm talking about the pillars of the community got together and bought this land, built the houses." "You'd drive through a couple hundred miles of redneck sheriffs park your ride on the boardwalk, step out and just breathe." "Over there was Henry's Lounge." "That place used to jump." " So, what happened?" " Civil rights happened." "Progress." "Used to be you were black, you'd buy black." "Jim Crow days, you needed a shoeshine, wanted a taxi to the train station you wanted some ribs, a fish sandwich chances are a black man owned the place you got it in." "Now, the drive-thrus serve anybody." "But who owns them?" "Not us." "All our people do is wear paper hats and dip out them fries." "Only thing we got left are funeral parlours and barbershops." "But now we can do anything." "Them that can get over do fine." "Them that can't are in a world of trouble." "Tell the judge what you told me." "I said I'm sorry for what I did." "I wasn't thinking right." "You know that sorry won't cut it in this case, don't you?" "Yes, ma'am." "You're still on probation for a previous offence yet you deliberately committed this act of vandalism." "Do you have any explanation for your actions?" "No, ma'am." "When somebody destroys something that stands as a symbol for people that's desecration." " It's a wooden pirate." "An icon in this community, nonetheless." "You're almost old enough, given your record, to be tried as an adult." "You have two strikes against you." "A third, and there will be..." "Mrs. Stokes has assured us she'll maintain control of the situation." "We'd be satisfied, barring further incidents with an order for counselling, or possibly community service." "That's very generous of you." "So, young man, what's it gonna be?" "Loretta." "Well..." "Look at you." " Mama said you were still in Delrona." " Havert moved an inch." "I saw you on a TV commercial." "I told my kids I went to school with you, but they didn't believe me." " You got kids?" " Three of them." "They're getting big." " It's the first you've been back since..." " I came back for the service when my father passed." " But I only stayed for a day." " That's a good while ago, your father." "Kind of slow for you down here." "Look, I..." " I kind of wanted to apologize." " For what?" "For Can'ter." "That's another lifetime you're talking about. 25 years." "We were friends." "I shouldn't have gone after him." "But you did." " You always did what you wanted to." " I didn't do it to hurt you." " Ancient history." " So Can'ter still in town?" "He inside sleeping." "Works nights at the box factory." " You got married?" " After a while, yeah." " When you left town..." " When I was sent away." "Everybody thought it was Can'ter got you pregnant." "It wasn't." "That's what he's saying nowadays." "I guess I wasn't too worried about the rumours." " Made your exit and didn't look back." " Some drama, huh?" "Girl, we ate that shit up." "I had to listen to everybody run you down being the tragic ex-girlfriend and all." " Like that was gonna make me feel better." " And Can'ter?" " Can'ter ran around acting the daddy." " Really?" "Better you knock your girl up than to have people think somebody else did it." "But it all turned out fine, didn't it?" "I suppose I could've done worse." "So you're the one who finally snagged Desiree Stokes?" "I'm the one." " That girl drew men like flies." " I can imagine." " Elton Lloyd." " Reginald Perry." "We're staying at her mother's for a few days." "A wonderful woman, Eunice." "A true Christian." "Now her nephew, is it?" "Her nephew's son." "Young Terrell." "I blame it on the drugs." "It's a pestilence." "Something happened with his...?" " Eunice didn't tell you?" " She and Desiree haven't been..." " lf you ask, you don't deserve to know." " Seems to be the attitude." "Terrell's father was going through a rough stretch." "He had separated from his wife." "He came over one day high on who knows what." "They had a screaming argument, he had a weapon." "He shot that woman dead, then turned the gun on himself." "Horrible thing to witness." " Terrell must have been 6, maybe 7." " He saw it?" "He sat with the bodies for two days before somebody came over and found him." "It's a pestilence." "Afternoon, gentlemen." "Y'all know where Buster's Place is?" "Buster's Place is long gone, brother." "Nothing there now." "You sure?" "I know you." " I don't think so." " Sure, I do." "You used to be the Florida Flash." "In my day, life was simpler." "You knew where you stood." "A man was left to make his own way in the world." "You didn't have none of these pressure groups, advocate groups special-interest groups handicapping the race." "It went to the smartest, the strongest, the swiftest." "If a man could carve out something for himself he knowed he'd earned it." "No whooping crane." "Spotted owl." "The Florida gator." "The coloured man, the white man, the Spanish." "They all started out from scratch." "If you couldn't survive the course, it was tough titty." "Nowadays, what they got?" "It ain't natural." "They got us so zoned." "Regulated." "Politically corrected and environmentally sensitised to the point where it's only multi-internationals with 12 lawyers waiting like buzzards for something to litigate that can afford to put one brick on top of another." "The little guy, no matter how much grit or imagination he brings to it ain't got a chance." "They got him tied down so he can't hardly breathe." "You smoke a damn cigarette, they make you feel like a baby-strangler." "Where's it all gonna end?" "I don't want to know." "But if they expect my cooperation, they're just shit out of luck." "The reason I hang on to this old bag of bones is to spite the sons of bitches." "They made me put into Social Security for 50 years." "I ain't giving up the ghost till I spend every damn penny of it." " Which one are you?" " Gwendolyn." " You think I'm full of crap, don't you?" " It's time for your insulin, Mr. Temple." "There's an opening here that could close up quick." " My father is the owner." " I understand he's currently indisposed." "He's legally blind, if that's what you mean." "The black folks on Lincoln Beach have contacted the Historical Register." "That's their business." "Draw that kind of attention, environmentalists come in on their heels." "They're pesky little buggers." "Then you won't be able to sell your property for what it's won'th." " What's it won'th?" " Not much at the moment." "And since the resort condos have come in, your taxes have jumped 30%." " Small businesses are being squeezed." " Tell me about it." "We realize this is a big decision, one of the oldest businesses left going back generations." " You're not from the Plantation?" " Some men were here." " Did they make an offer?" " Sniffing around, I guess." " They're relentless." "And you're not?" "The Exley Plantation is only for the elite." "What we have in mind is more democratic." "Something for everybody." " Stores, burger chains, T-shirts?" " Retail outlets would be part of it..." " 123 empty?" " Should be." "Your husband called." " I don't need to talk to him." "You want to develop here, you need the County Commission in your pocket." "We can work something out." "Testing, one, two, three." "This is a mike check." "One, two, three." "Good afternoon, and welcome to Delrona Beach's annual Buccaneer Days." "Earl." "Earl!" " Steve." "I'll be right with you." " I got those signatures." "Just give me a minute." "In the afternoon, when school was out and the last one had left with his dirty little snuffling nose instead of going home, I would go down the hill to the spring where I could be quiet and hate them." "It would be quiet there then with the water bubbling up and away and the sun slanting in the trees and the quiet smelling of damp and rotting leaves and new earth." "Especially in the early spring." "For it was worse then." "I could remember my father used to say that the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead a good long time." "And when I would have to look at them day after day each with his and her secret and selfish thought and blood strange to each other and strange to mine." "And to think that this was the only way I could stay dead." "I would hate my father for planting me." "And then I go on from there." "The important thing is to freeze yourself in an interesting but comfortable position." "Jaime, you're about to fall over." "We'll resume tomorrow." "You should be off book by then." "I thank you all very much for your work today." " It is you, isn't it?" " Hello, Miss Delia." "It's really you." "It is so wonderful to see you." "My mother told me you were still running this." "They'll have to drag me off." "Several members of the local press have suggested that very thing." "These are my special group." "Young people with difficulties." " What's the play?" " As I Lay Dying." "Rather loosely adapted, but I don't believe Mr. Faulkner would object." " The scene of your many triumphs." " I let you down." " Whatever do you mean?" " When I left." "I was the lead." "Well, we did have to make a few adjustments." "But the show must go on." "You played it?" "Having a queen of Egypt considerably older than her Antony was very provocative." "I got to do it once when I got to New York." "In the Park." "I played the handmaiden who gives her the asp." "I'm sure you were wonderful." "And now?" "I trust you're still sharing your talent with the public?" "I do industrials." "Representing things." "I do a lot of auto shows." "A temporary engagement in the world of commerce." "You're still so young." "I had my chance, Miss Delia." "It just didn't happen." "I must say, my youthful aspirations had nothing to do with becoming the Sarah Bernardt of Delrona Beach." "We adjust." "You would've been stunning as Cleopatra." "I was starting to show." "I played Juliet when I was five-months pregnant with my twins." "Hello there, come on in." " You remember my mother?" " Mrs. Temple." "So nice to see you." "And this is my..." "This is Terrell." "Terrell is..." " It's sort of a favour." " Whatever I can do." "The social worker down at the courthouse recommended you because you have a program..." " For community service." "I can always use another volunteer." "Do you have any acting experience?" " No, ma'am." " But he knows how to use tools." "Anything you can think of, Terrell can put it together." "Then you can do me a great service, Terrell." "My character, Addie Bundren, is deceased." "In the second act, I rise from the dead for my soliloquy but the local funeral parlour has nothing suitably rustic." "Do you think you could you build me a coffin?" ""We hereby claim sovereignty over this island in the name of his majesty, Philip el Segundo of Spain." "Furthermore, this tribunal declares the mulatto, Calavera otherwise known as Captain Skull, guilty of piracy on the high seas a crime against God and nature, and sentence him to be cast into the sea there to perish by drowning."" "Does the condemned have a final statement?" "A curse on the lot of you." "Up the Jolly Roger!" "Thus was the black flag of the buccaneer replaced by that of Imperial Spain one of many reversals of fortune that mark the colourful history of our community." "We'd like to thank Presto Pools for the equipment, and remind you that the annual Treasure Hunt will begin tomorrow at the Delrona Mall." "Entrants should meet at the Piercing Pagoda at 10:00." " Guess who I met earlier?" " You're not telling people I'm back?" "I didn't recognize him without the helmet." "But you remember a football player named Flash Phillips?" "Every step we take is on someone's toes." "This town expects me to work miracles with a handful of volunteers." "This bunch from Lincoln Beach say they're gonna picket our groundbreaking." " They complain about parking..." " The whole point is to be away from that." " This afternoon was embarrassing." " What?" "No!" "I thought it went fine." " For a Chamber of Commerce thing." " Nobody came." " Turnout was terrific." " Something isn't clicking." "I worked this one place, they had the blessing of the fleet." "A bishop in his hat, boats all dolled up." "What a draw." " I can't do religious here." " True." "And what's our fleet?" "A bunch of charter boats and day sailers." " You got history to burn." " People hate history." "You got Indians, pirates, Spanish gold, that plantation thing." "Mass murder, rape, slavery." "So Disneyfy it a little, and they'll come back." "All you need is a hook." "I once worked this place in Wisconsin." "It was all built on wurst." " Wurst?" " Weisswurst, Bratwurst, Knackwurst." "Bavarian people." "Lots of strudel shops and service people in leather shorts and dirndls." " And this worked?" " The beer got them in the mood." " Free liquor." " I like a woman in a dirndl." "I hired this guy to be an attraction." "He used to be a big Seminole." " Indian?" " Not the Seminoles!" "The Seminoles." "The football team?" "Of course." "What would I want with a real Indian?" "He used to be a big deal." "Hung out at Lincoln Beach, drove a Mustang..." " A local hero!" "That's good." " I just hope he shows up." " What's his favourite thing to eat?" " Small children." "Is he alive?" " Can't hardly say." " Why show a dead alligator?" "Did you pay anything to look at him?" "Then don't complain." " He was the last of the Mohicans." " No, they were already extinct." "He was a Shawnee or Pawnee." "Here's Billy, he'll know." " Chief!" " Yo, asshole." "What kind of Indian was that guy on Daniel Boone?" " He was Jewish." " I don't mean the actor, the character." " How should I know?" " Arert you a full-blooded whatever?" " Creek." " Regular Creek or shit creek?" " So where was Daniel Boone?" " In the woods." "More specific than that." "Can't you tell by Indian lore?" " Lore?" " You know, like the trees or something?" " What the hell do I know about trees?" " Didrt your ancestors...?" "My parents sold lawn ornaments to stupid white people." " You're shitting me." " Get you a good deal on ceramic ducks." " I couldn't really pin her down." " But you planted the idea in her head?" "She said her father decided." "Last thing we need is to deal with some old gomer." " The mother?" " No, she's a flake." "She runs a theatre group, finds homes for retired greyhounds." "She never set foot in the restaurant." "She won't be any help, but she won't get in the way." " So we're back to the daughter." " The old man ran the show 24-7." "The daughter, she's paying four people to handle the same load." " She wants a life." " Her rack rate is too low for that." " The restaurant." " The restaurant's a wash." "You know the money a successful franchise could make in that spot?" " All she's doing is taking up space." " Now she's taking up space at the bar." "You see?" "This is not a dedicated professional." "You're not having another of those?" " Saw Steve at the pirate thing today." " They hang him?" "Walked the plank." " He needs to talk to you." " Why doesn't he come by the motel?" "Maybe due to the restraining order?" "You had him arrested in the parking lot." " He was drunk as a skunk." " He's club soda and lime now." " Why do you always wanna defend him?" " I'm not." "I'm just saying he's on the wagon." " Your golf pro was in the other night." " Not my golf pro." "He's 10 years younger than me." "Besides, he's going on tour." "Like Tiger Woods on TV?" "I don't think he'll get as much ain'time as Tiger." " Did he ask you to go with him?" " It didn't come up." "You want to?" "A guy over there has been checking you out." "Be still, my beating heart." " What's he look like?" " Not bad." " Tattoos?" " None visible." "Shirt say "Go Gators" or "Stomp 'em, Seminoles"?" " It doesn't say anything." " Obviously not my type." "He's cute." "I'm gonna turn around only to see what falls under your definition of cute." "If you're at 12:00, he's about 3:30." "Trying to imagine what it would be like without us crackers?" " You're everywhere." " Small island." "I didn't mean to be intrusive before." "I thought they'd contacted you." "Don't worry about it." "There's days I imagine it all blowing away in a hurricane." " Must be a lot of work being a hotelier." " Motelier." "And we got the restaurant." " I hated working there as a kid." " And now?" "I got three girls working for me hate it as much as I do." " Why do you...?" " Poetic justice." "What are you drinking?" " Draft." "How about you?" " Shots." "Tequila." "If you're gonna drink, why fuck around?" "You're from up north." "They say everybody here is from somewhere else." " Not me." "I'm sixth generation." "At least." " That's impressive." "You go back that far, your people were planters, slaves or fugitives." "Yours were...?" "I don't know what they were running from, but this is where they stopped." " I'm from Newport, Rhode Island." " With the yachts and big estates?" "My dad took care of the lawns." " So you've never left the island?" " Sure, I left all right." " You're looking at a Weeki Wachee girl." " What?" "It's a show." "It's been running since the late '40s." " You acted?" " Performed." "You do it underwater." "Let's have a contest." "You do it to me." "This isn't the guy I meant." "You win." "I could hold it twice as long if I hadrt been drinking." "The important thing is to keep a smile, even with water down your nose." " How long did you work there?" " Three years." "And then I met my ex." " He had this band." "Skeeter Meter." " Like a rock band?" "They were big around Tampa." "You listen to the Allman Brothers?" "Lynyrd Skynyrd?" "Then you've heard Skeeter Meter." "He was Greek and good-Iooking." "His daddy was a sponge diver before they died out." " What did they die of?" " Boredom." "Hanging on to some rock, soaking up whatever rolls over you." " Almost as bad as Delrona Beach." " There's a lot of changes happening." "Things might pick up." "Don't hold your breath." "They used to say folks around here only worshipped three people:" "The father, the son and the Florida Flash." "The day he got hurt, I must have run the replay 100 times." "He stopped coming up here." "Left school." "So you were one of the adoring masses?" "I was in high school, he was on national TV." "What do you think?" "That's some heavy story about Terrell." "A big responsibility she's taken on, a kid like that." " So can you help him?" " Me?" " What am I, a shrink?" " I mean help him build this thing." "Carpentry and adolescent psychology, two things I know nothing about." "Try, okay?" "For me." "I'll do what I can." " Maybe we'll head back on Monday." " We just got here." "I don't want to get sucked in to any of this." "I don't like who I am down here." "And I don't trust my mother." "Is that you, Elton?" "I'm amazed at how little sleep I need these days." "You've got restless feet." "Always have." "Sorry I couldn't be there for you at the meeting." "You had your emergency." "How'd the hearing go?" "He's still on probation." "He has to do community service." "Could have been much worse." "We can fall so quickly." "It's just a stumble, not a fall." "If you could just go and get it and hand it to them." " Nobody handed us anything." " Of course they did." "People fought their whole lives to keep their heads above water." "We got to start on dry land." " So Desiree's back?" " Visiting." "She's not back." "Hurricane Desiree." "The nights I sat here wondering where that girl could be." "We used to come out here and neck when I was in high school." "Then they had these lights in." "Security." "It's more like birth control." " You do golf courses?" " Design them?" "No, that's a specialty." " Do you play it?" " Golf?" "No." "I gotta tell you sex with me when I'm this drunk is like being at the dentist." " The dentist?" " When they shoot you up with Novocain." "You can tell something's going on in there but you don't know what it is." " I understand." " So forget it." "It wouldn't cross my mind." "Tomorrow I won't even remember I kissed you." "I'll come by and remind you." "Do that." " You honestly don't golf?" " Never took it up." "Good." "The important thing is to keep that smile on your face even if you're drowning." " The polar icecap is melting." " This is news?" "They say with this global warming, the icecap, Antarctica could melt." " And the oceans get 20 feet higher." " It's good we live on the 2nd floor." "Here it will be a wading pool all the way to Orlando." "The problem started with the invention of the internal combustion engine." "That and air conditioning." "They say every day another species goes extinct." "It's tragic." "Who needs a lizard the size of a van?" "If those things came back today people wouldn't be so thrilled." " Sam!" "What are we playing for?" " $10.00 a side fifty dollars for the match, and throw away your worst hole." " This might be the one." " My grandparents were peasants." "They came from a country where they used Jews for target practice." "They only ever ate beets or turnips." "We brought my tante over here." "She wouldn't go to the park." "She said:" ""Next time I look at grass, it should be growing over my body."" " I like to watch that Jungle Channel." " Animals eating animals." " It's educational." " For a wolverine, possibly." ""How to hibernate in three easy lessons." For human beings, what good is that?" "When was the last time you stalked a creature?" " I go duck-hunting with my son." " I forgot." "You people shoot birds." "Shooting is not the point." "You're out there when the sun comes up, surrounded by nature." "Nature is overrated." "But we'll miss it when it's gone." "Scotty?" " Sorry to distract you." " No, I need it." "Come closer." "Come on down into the trap." "Where I'm headed, you don't play in a vacuum." "TV camera, a gallery." "Everybody's right on top of you." "Try to keep that distance." "Are you okay?" "Yes." "I thought we should, like, make it official." "What?" "Breaking up." "You're going off on your tour and all." "Yeah." "Win one tournament, you make more than a year working here." " It's not the money." " It's not?" "It's this thing that I do." "Better than almost anybody else on earth." "If I don't take another whack at the highest level..." "It's the purest thing that..." "Pretty stupid, huh?" "Talking about golf like it's important." "It isn't stupid at all, you really love it." "You just don't love me." "Buster's Place." " How long's it been like this?" " All messed up?" "Couple of years." " There was a fire." " Nobody's fixed it up?" "The people it belonged to didn't come back." " So you have, like, a crew?" " On a boat?" " Guys you hang with." " No." "So what are you into?" "Interested in." "Stuff." "Like sports?" "Music?" "I guess." "You think we got enough?" "Never built a coffin before." "It used to be five yards in a cloud of dust." "No mouth guards, no face guards." "The helmet was a leather strap to hold the brain in in case you got cracked on the skull." "What is it now?" "Technology?" "Hormones?" "Bunch of coloured boys flipping a ball around the field." "Women in the locker room?" "That ain't gridiron." " What are they doing?" " Did you say something?" " What are women doing in the locker room?" " Talking to the players." "They must find it very distracting." "They're too worried about their stock portfolios to notice." "It's a wonder they know what a handoff is." " How do you know they're coloured?" " Who?" "The boys flipping the ball." "You can't see the TV." "When do you hear of a white boy called Deshon?" "Carlotta will be here for dinner." "I have rehearsal and then an Audubon meeting." "You and your birds." "They start clearing the Plantation Estates expansion next week at the old Exley property." " Lincoln Beach?" "Not anymore." "There's a bird colony we're concerned about." "The coloured folks think there's a curse on that land." "I'm sure it has seen its share of misery." "Hey, Mama." "Hey, Daddy." " Trouble at the motel?" " Everything's fine." " Then why aren't you there?" " We got a day manager." "Rosellen." " Those people steal you blind." " She's got it under control." "Are these new ones?" "I can't remember when you were here last." " They all look alike to me." " The place full up?" " Yes." "Celebration." " How about the restaurant?" "Keeping us hopping." " Gotta make it while it's there." " I know." " Steven was calling for you." " He knows I don't live here." " It was nice talking to him." " He's got a screw loose." "Deep-sea diving." " That was his father." " Puts pressure on the brain." "Steve's put pressure on his brain, but not by diving." "He said he's turning over a new leaf." "I certainly hope so." " He had such promise." " When did Steve ever have promise?" "When he had his group and you were with the circus." "It wasn't a circus." "We stayed in one place." "When you were performing in the aquarium." " You both were so hopeful." " Well, we grew up." "Daddy?" "There was a fella from a development company over yesterday." "You give him the boot?" "I was thinking this might be a good time, if you ever wanted to sell." "And watch them turn the beach into a strip mall?" " It's not exactly pristine at the moment." " You help keep the place running?" " I have not." " Then hold your peace." " She's worried about those birds." " It's a severely compromised habitat." " The sandhill cranes have forsaken us." " Good." "If they don't know better than to fly someplace accommodating then they deserve what they get." "Now your sea gull, that's like people." "They'll fight over every scrap they get." " Your father is a strict Darwinian." " She throws her education against me." "Anyway, this developer..." " I told him you werert interested." " You can bet on that one." "Get in there!" "Come on!" "Get in there!" "They give you specs for this thing?" "Like dimensions?" " There's a picture in the book." " Lf she's gonna get into it..." "This doesn't give us the measurements." " You're taller than her." " Right." "Better cut some holes so she can breathe." " Halt!" "Who goes there?" " Don't shoot." "It's your ex-wife." " I'm on guard duty." " Maple said you needed to see me." " Pretend you're just a tourist." " Steve, come on." "I'm serious." "We got an inspector coming by to review the unit." " Nice uniform." " I hate playing a Yankee." " You're Greek, for chrissake." " I was born down here." " So, what's the latest crisis?" " No crisis." "Just wondering how you were making out." "Seriously." "I found inner peace." "What's the angle?" "I heard about something." "I'd like to cut you in." " Not interested." " It's once in a lifetime." " So was our marriage." "Once was enough." " Hear me out." "If you don't want to be a co-investor, we can work out a reasonable rate..." " You want to borrow money from me?" " I could get in on something big." "Tell me, what do we not have on this island?" "Let's see." "An opera house." "A ski resort." "A good Thai restaurant." " Are you familiar with water slides?" " Them plastic chute things?" "You slide down it in your bathing suit?" " We don't have one." " I knew I was culturally disadvantaged." "Know how much those things make?" " A:" "You'll never get a permit." " Don't be so sure." "B:" "I don't have any money to throw at half-assed propositions." " I heard you're about to come into some." " Is that so?" "My sources inform me you've been approached by some big developers." "They don't know diddly." "Besides, C:" "Even if I did have money I'd run it through the leaf shredder before I gave a nickel of it to you." "I heard your golfer's decided to take a walk." "He didn't ask you to come along on the tour, did he?" "Do you have any other business with me?" "I'm seriously hung-over I gotta get back..." " This is the real deal..." "It's just another scam." "Like your band, like the mail order iguana business, the treasure hunt..." " Skeeter Meter rocked!" " But you didn't care about the music." "You just wanted to be famous and get laid." "You know why you're stuck running that flophouse?" "You got no vision." "You think I'd loan you money after all you put me through?" "That's all over and done with." "You can't live in the past." "The endangered American alligator's made a big comeback in the last 20 years spreading out through the swamps and waste canals of Florida." "You got a three-foot mud puddle, you got a two-foot gator in it." "We don't know much about the Timucua until the advent of the Spanish..." "I've got some bad news and some good news from our retail sponsors." "I asked if you could keep your outfits..." "Flash Phillips!" "I used to watch you leave them tacklers grabbing the wind." "How you doing?" "Baby, this is Flash Phillips, the Heisman guy." " I didn't win the..." " Only because they popped your knee." " Nice of you." " Would've made a decent pro you put on some muscle." " Are you local?" " We live down Lincoln Beach." "I'm hosting a barbecue where Henry's Lounge used to be." "Drop by." " More of this Pirate Days hustle?" " No." "I'm gonna be your neighbour." "Hey, baby!" "The Florida Flash is moving in." " Hi." "Flash Phillips." " I know." "And you are?" "Desiree." "Damn!" " Are you still living here?" " I'm visiting my mother." "Stokes, right?" "She has this house on Carver Street facing the beach." " Right." "You running for office?" " I just like to know my neighbours." " So how you been doing?" " Great, lately." "There was some..." "Well, when I got hurt, I got lost there a little bit, you know?" " I left..." " I remember." "You look terrific." "Have I seen you on TV?" "You look familiar." " I ought to look familiar." " No, I mean the adult you." "I do instructional videos, infomercials." " Damn!" "You were just a little-bitty girl." " I was their age." " No!" "I'd have been in jail." " I was 15 when I won this contest." " We got together right after that." " Yeah, well..." "I was pretty young myself." "Listen, I'm having this barbecue tomorrow." "Yeah, where Henry's Lounge used to be?" "Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen." "We will start the eveningwear segment of the contest in a moment." "I'd like to thank our participating retailers here at the mall." "It's me." "Earl." "We should talk again." "I explained what I can do and what I can't." "Okay, 9:00." "Same place?" "We had quite a little society in Jacksonville at the time." "Young ladies were presented when they were 16." "Often, there'd be a piano recital, then a formal dance." "This is my sister at her cotillion." "Are there pictures of yours?" "By the time my turn came along, it was..." "My father had suffered a financial reversal." "As did many of the other important people in the community." "Here we are at the beach." "In so many other ways we were on the outside, looking in." "But this was ours." "They all went down to check out the titty bars in Jacksonville." "They're all right." "They're just guys." "We start clearing Monday." "Doesrt the teacher make allowances for that?" "Tell her I flunked it too." "No, don't tell her that." "Tell her I'll work with her on it when I get home." "We go to Alabama after this, then there's a break." "I miss you too." "Think about me, all right?" " It's yellow with a black tip." " Skeeter Meter!" " Your T-shirt." " Right." "You remember them?" " I was them." "Lead guitar and vocals." " Right, you dressed in lizard skin." "Iguana." "Are you with them construction guys?" " We're clearing this site." " Did you ever build a water slide?" "What the hell." "Seafood's a good bet." "We guarantee it's only been thawed out once." " How'd you end up here?" " I skipped dinner with some buyers." " I'm not much of a salesman." " You move dirt around." " There's some drainage issues too." " Now I'm really impressed." "Somebody told me you're a big name in land architecture." "I guess." " Did you go to school for it?" " I went to business school." "Came out and I made a lot of money buying and selling companies." " It was nice while it lasted." " You didn't like it?" "My boss went to jail." "It was a musical-chairs kind of thing." "The music stopped, he was in a compromising position..." "So you went back to lawns?" "There's this guy." "Frederick Law Olmsted." "The one who designed Central Park in New York." " Right." " It was on Jeopardy." ""Famous parks and monuments."" "Well, he's kind of the granddaddy of what I do." "You take land that's wild and inaccessible and you refine it." "You showcase the natural beauty, you accentuate the topography you create a space for everybody rich, poor, in-between, where they can come together." "So we're all invited to Exley Plantation for a fish fry?" "The populist part of it has fallen away." "But you know what I mean." "No, I do." "Do you remember on the golf course...?" "Something about being out there with some guy I hardly knew?" "You get Sundays off?" " Are you sure you can pull this off?" " They'll listen to me." "The old college try isn't gonna do it for us." "We need results." " I swing two more votes, it's done." " It can't be too obvious." "It won't be." "But you're on your own, water management." "That's just technical stuff." "It's these anti-growth people." "Can't have too much noise when the rezoning comes up." " There will always be a few die-hards." " I understand." "The usual format for this is to open an account offshore." "Does that work for you?" " It needs to be cash." " Cash?" "Hundred-dollar bills." "New ones." "We have been a naughty boy, haven't we?" "Hi!" "I'm here to introduce you to an exciting new grilling system that will rev olutionize the way you feed your family." "This is not just another gadget, but a scientific breakthrough pioneered by certified health professionals." "I don't know about you, but the mess of grilling..." "Desiree." "Amen." "A member of the community has a word for us today." "It is my hope that you'll give your heart and your mind to his thoughts." "Dr. Lloyd." "Thank you, Reverend Sutcliff." "Good morning." "The matter I came to discuss is not exactly religious but it is a matter of the spirit." "My name is Marly Temple." "I'm visiting Jack Meadows." "Is this where they put you up?" "This is one of the few unsold units." "I'm trying to figure out why." "I haven't been in here since your outfit took it over." "It's pretty." "Thanks." "Before, unless you were hunting armadillos..." " So you decide what trees live and die?" " That's part of it." " That's kind of like being God." " Do you remember the last hurricane?" " Elmo." " That's God." "I'm just a hired hand." "Last year, a majorette breathed so much exhaust she nearly passed out." "So if you see the spacing getting too cramped get on down there and direct traffic." "Honey, I'll be riding with the Fire Department." "Can you drop the car off at the high school and get somebody to give you a ride downtown?" "You're an angel." "Where is the driver of the Tropical Paradise float?" "We can't move anything." "Where is he?" "They were bombing around town in a car they'd borrowed without asking." "This officer went after them." "He was new on the force otherwise he would have just called my daddy." " They were trying to get away?" " They hit the causeway doing 90." "Then they saw patrol cars waiting down at the other end." "They did a 180 like out of a Burt Reynolds movie." " They flipped." " Yeah." "The divers couldn't remember which one was driving because they were identical." "Dickie and Danny." " Were they younger or older than you?" " Three years older." "They played sports, honour roll, the whole deal." "Must have been tough on your parents." "My daddy never expected much of me, but the twins..." "I'll bet they were laughing till the minute they hit the water." "Excuse me." " We saw your mermaid." " This is it, isn't it?" " Lf you haven't buried the treasure..." " We could come back." "I wish you had gotten to know him." "He was strong." "He didn't talk about it much but you could tell he'd been through a lot of things." "And all these other people?" "This goes back to when the island was a cotton plantation." "They buried the slaves here when they wore them out." "Leave off with that, Mama!" "They don't belong in here." "It's bad enough we've got to pass through all their security to visit our dead." "And they gotta throw this trash in here." "I don't think they mean to." "It's a resting place." "Not a playpen." "My daddy's people come out of the turpentine camps and pulp mills." "Hired hands, mostly." "Couldrt read or write." "So having his own business..." "Thing is, it's his dream, not mine." " And it ain't my mother's." " She doesn't work there?" "She'll drive six blocks out of her way so as not to have to look at it." "Her own daddy was a minister so she feels like she was raised for a higher calling." "Community theatre." "Last year, she starred in Mother Courage." "The year before that it was Electra." "People come to see what the crazy lady is gonna do next." " You wanted to be an actress?" " Hell, no." "Oceanographer." "My friends called me Jacqueline Cousteau." " But you didn't...?" " Shit happens." "A lot happened to me." " You like what you do, don't you?" " The actual work." "The politics..." " People fighting over land." " I get there after the dust settles." " And home is?" " Head office is in La Jolla." " California?" " Yeah." "But I just go from job to job these days." "No family?" "An ex and two kids." "They live in Connecticut with their..." "She's remarried." "This guy I know is going on that PGA tour." "Different town every week maid makes your bed." "Hang out in the bar, check out the local talent." "Living the dream." "I saw a manatee in here once." "Big, naked-Iooking thing." "Like a fat lady in a bathhouse." "I felt guilty for watching." "They planned on building here." "One of those assisted-living deals." " But the feds snapped it up first." " That wasn't my company." "I didn't say it was." "There are a lot of misconceptions." "Sure, most outfits, it's all scorched earth and put up some high-rise." "Yeah." "People hear "motel," they figure I'm running a hot-sheets operation." " For trysts?" " Yeah, trysts." "Don't put so much muscle into it, we're not in a hurry." "First of all, we'd like to congratulate the folks who got to our treasure first, Mr. And Mrs. Morley Crandall of Eau Claire, Wisconsin." "Now, our newly crowned pirate queen, Donna-Jean Stamper will do the honours." "My Lord." "That is a genuine diamonique necklace from Kweskin Jewellers at the Citrus Highway Shopping Centre." "And here's $500 won'th of gift certificates from our local merchants." "Donna-Jean, help Mrs. Crandall on with some of that beautiful jewellery." "Doesrt she look pretty?" "We used to come here Saturday nights after the games." "Wild times." "Take them local girls up in the dunes." "Those were the days." "I remember your run against Georgia Tech." " Orange Bowl." "My freshman year." " You just flattened that safety." " You go to State?" " No, I was up north." "High school." "I played the same position, had the same number." " Number 23." " Left my chin strap hanging like you." " Drove my coach crazy." " Where did you play college?" "My grades dipped some, so my parents had me hit the books." "Then in college..." "My high school grades was too low to do any dipping." " So you moving in?" " Buster's Place there." "The folks werert paying their taxes, I took over the payments." " Then I picked up a few more lots." " Speculation." "More like preservation." "This place was part of my growing up." "I don't want it to fall to pieces." "We got plenty of empty buildings." " You still got them hands." " Yeah." "I don't get to church much anymore." "Sundays when I'm down there, I go visit Etta Mae." "We saw Daddy today." "Yeah, he was one of a kind, your father." "The old breed." "Businessman." "Race man." "We'd go into Jacksonville, people would say:" ""You're Mr. Stokes' daughter."" "Then they'd all fuss over me." "Yeah, we didn't have politicians, we had men like your father." "He carried some weight in that city." "It got to where I could hardly breathe when I was near him." "That man loved you to death." "I only felt his eyes on me." "Judging me." "It's hard to live up to what's come before us." "One way or the other." "I don't suppose I could get you to come to this protest rally tomorrow?" "I burned my bridges here a long time ago." "Eunice wants you to have her place once she's gone." "That's too far ahead for me to think about." "Maybe." " Which one did you play?" " I had a solo number." " "Siren of the Deep."" " I'll bet you were something." "I hated to come up." "It was like I was meant to live down there." "You're soaring, you know." "Weightless." "I still do the routine in my dreams." " It's good you live by the ocean." " I don't swim anymore." "When you leave the job, they make you hand in your tail fin." "I haven't been in the water for years." " You married, Lee?" " I was." " Kids?" " Two." "I don't see enough of them." "Their mother moved to Miami to marry some Cuban guy." "I'm really glad that I found you again." "There's something I've been thinking about." "Something I need to talk to you about." "Here we are." "It's about your mother's property." "You don't want to wait too long before making plans." " For my mother?" " I worry that you try to hold on to that house till it's too late." "Too late for what?" "All these new resorts and timesharing outfits in Delrona have sent property taxes through the roof." "We're offering people a chance to sell before they're taxed out." "We?" "I'm putting together a small group of investors." "If your mother were willing to sell, terms might even be more favourable." " You'd pay her more?" " Sure." "It's in the spirit of the thing." "She's been here from the beginning." "No big pressure." "Just think about it." "Sure." " So you and straight arrow...?" " Reggie." " You...?" " Just married." "He seems like a real nice guy." "He is." " Totally clueless!" " I know." "People just think it's there, like Thanksgiving or Christmas." "They don't realize how difficult it is to invent a tradition." " You do it so well." " But at the end of the day is there acknowledgement?" "Is there so much as a "thank you"?" "Not a peep." "I might as well be their mother!" "It's an important role." "If you werert there..." "And the time involved, my God." " And now I neglect you." " No..." "What have you been up to, anyway?" "I've hardly seen you." "The usual." "You're my rock." " You know that, don't you?" " Sure." "Even during all that bad stretch when you had your gambling problem I always knew it wasn't gonna last forever, because..." "You are my rock." "And I count on you." "I thought the parade went awful well this year." "Did you really?" " You said the guy's name was Lee." " Lee Otis." "Lee Otis "Flash" Phillips." " I'm sorry." " Nothing to be sorry about." "I should have told you more." "What?" "That he was a celebrity?" "That he used to be famous?" " You're not jealous?" " I didn't know you then." "If I had, you would have completely ignored me." "I could never compete with Mr. Heisman Trophy." "Come on." "Now you're with a guy that puts people to sleep for a living." "Stop." " Does he even know?" " I don't think so." "You gonna tell him?" "Is there any point?" " I don't know." "If the baby had lived..." " Then everything would be different." "But it's not." "How are you doing with Terrell?" "Kid's pretty good with a claw hammer and a handsaw." "If this were 1925, he'd have a future." "Idiot." "Come on, dogs!" "Daddy!" " Is that you, Marly?" " You need any help?" "No." "I can still see light." "Shapes." " You on your way to work?" " Sort of." "I used to see the dawn come up every day." "Only the shrimpers got up earlier." "Remember Clarence Green?" "Used to work in the kitchen." "He'd be back there." "I'd come in, "Morning, Clarence."" ""Morning, Mr. Furman," he'd say." " They don't call you like that no more." " Not for a long time, Daddy." "I said that if integration comes I was gonna close up." "One day, there it is." "Four of them." "Young, polite." "Sitting in a booth waiting for my girls to serve them." "Clarence was in the back trembling like a leaf." "Didrt know how I was gonna react." "I said, "What do you think, Clarence?"" "He said, "Well, Mr. Furman I reckon if you serve them this one time, they ain't coming back."" ""How's that?" I said." ""Excuse me for saying it, Mr. Furman." "But the food is a lot better down at Buster's Place."" "You spend a lot of time worrying about a day coming." "Then when it does, it ain't so bad." "I can't do it anymore." " Developers been getting to you?" " No, it's not them." "You spend so much time worrying about the damn swamp buzzard..." " Snail kite." " You know who's endangered?" " The small businessman." " I know." "But it's me." "I hate going in there." "People used to come to Plantation Island and ask where they could stay and get a good meal." ""Furman Temple," they'd tell them." ""He'll take care of you."" "I know, Daddy." "But what should I do?" " Get the best price you can." " I can't be the one..." "It's all yours, darling." "You're a sensible girl." "You always have been if you don't count marrying that musician." "You'll figure it out." "I'm sorry." "I've already been out in the world, done my damage." "Now it's your turn." "Come on, dogs!" "You're supposed to be retired, not running around!" "Hi." ""Score big savings with our all-American sales team."" " You work here." " Some of the time." " What's the problem?" " Who are you buying property for?" " It's mine." "My name's on it." " No, who are you buying it for?" "Whose money do you use to buy it?" "Okay." "These people own a lot of things." " Businesses, real estate." " They own Exley Plantation?" "Technically, yeah." "But if it..." "If it came to the point where they took it over, it'd be different." " More modest-income units." " Which you would sell?" " That's the deal." " What do you get for tricking people?" "I'm not tricking anybody." "They don't wanna sell, they don't have to." "They do wanna sell, they get a decent price." "Who do you work for?" " That's different." " Life moves on." "Shit gets bought and sold." "A handful of people run the whole deal." "The rest of us do what they say and get paid for it." "You got out of that neighbourhood as soon as you could." "I left because I was 15, and I was pregnant." "That's right." " You never let me know." " What would you have done?" "Back then?" "My life was falling apart." "I wouldn't have been much help." " And you had other girls." " Yeah." "When I started to show my mom and dad sent me to my Aunt Thelma's in Macon." "Then I lost the baby." "And I just kept going." " You lost the baby?" " A little boy." "I was going to name him Lee." "How did you...?" " How did you get by on your own?" " I lied a lot." "I lied about my age, my experience." "I hooked up with anybody who was likely to do me some good." " You ever have kids after?" " No, I can't." "There were complications." "I was so young." "You must be pretty mad at me." "A 19-year-old football player." "He thinks he has the world in his pocket." "I'd like to smack his oversized head." "Not much of him left to smack." "I was who I was too." "But if we had brought somebody in the world..." "My mama is not gonna sell her house." "Hello?" "Anyone here?" " Who's there?" " Terrell Wilkins." " Who's Terrell Wilkins?" " We brought over Miss Delia's box." " You can leave it on the front step." " It's kind of big." "We had to borrow a pickup to bring it over." " What kind of a box is it?" " It's a coffin." "Made out of pinewood." " She's getting ready to plant me under." " It's for a play." "How old are you?" "You don't sound like you could be driving a pickup truck." " My daddy brought it over." " He a carpenter?" "He works at the hospital." "An anaesthesiologist." " He gives people the gas?" " Yes, sir." " How old are you?" " 13." "You over at the junior high?" "Do they still have a picture of two boys holding basketballs?" " They look the same?" " They was my boys." "Dickie and Danny." "They set them some records." "Of course, it was segregated then." "It's a whole new game now." " You from Delrona or from Lincoln Beach?" " Lincoln." "You got a nice spot on the water?" "Do you get out there and swim?" " No." " You don't know how or don't you get around to it?" " There's an undertow." "Of course there is." "There's always gonna be one of those." "The trick is, you don't try to fight it." "You swim parallel to the shore till the pressure eases up." "You struggle with that whole, wide ocean and you're a goner." "No matter how strong you are no matter how much grit you got you try to take it head on, it'll pull you under." "Miss Delia?" "She's off, selling away my whole life." "Leave that pine box on the lawn." "Give the neighbours something to buzz about." "Terrell Wilkins!" "You can't live on no beach and be afraid of the water." " Marly tells me you're an actress." " More of an impresario these days." "Of course, Marly flirted with her own theatrical life." "She portrayed a mermaid in a roadside attraction." "Very successfully." " We should talk money." " I'm glad you folks have come around." "Whenever there's an economic shift, somebody gets left holding the bag." " Stuck with their property." " After it's been dramatically devalued." "If you'd waited any longer, I'd hate to think..." "Just what are your development plans, Mr. Forrester?" "That's not really my end of the business but I assume that the whole beachfront area will undergo some sort of change that would have negatively impacted on your ability to continue to do business." " So our development board..." " Out of the goodness of their heart?" "We prefer not to destroy anything when we come in whether it be an ecosystem or a small business." "That's extremely charitable of you." "However, in view of the fact that we have no crystal ball to inform us on the scope of your group's future activities I think some sort of continuing participation would be in order." "On top of your very generous initial offer, of course." " Continuing?" " An escalator clause." "I'm not really sure what..." "Let's say in five years you've transformed our beachfront into one of those cash-generating monstrosities that grace the coast." "We would receive a gross percentage of the proceeds from rentals." "Or adjusted gross, if you will, depending on our ability to audit." "Don't gape at me, darling." "I've operated a nonprofit theatre for 25 years." " I'm gonna have to get back to you." " I imagine you will." "Cheryl?" "Bring Mr. Forrester a slice of your key lime pie." "I'm told it's exceptional." "Hey, Mama." "What you cooking?" " Lunch." " You used to always fry your own." "When I was a girl we pulled the feathers off and threw the feet in a pot for soup." " Don't do that anymore, either." " That's too bad." "When you left here, you couldn't boil water." " Casserole too?" " I'm taking that to Mrs. Pierce." " She hasn't been feeling well." " You buried the hatchet with her?" "No!" "But she's my neighbour." "If anybody comes to talk to you about selling this house..." " I put all the property in your name." " But you're still alive." "You've got yourself a really good man there." "Responsible." "You mean unlike me?" " We can't change how things went..." " Growing up here..." "The way everybody looked up to you and Daddy." "I had to be perfect." " Nobody expected that." " Of course they did." " When I went off, everybody knew it." " Nobody knew about that." "Everybody knows everything here." "If you didn't know you didn't want to." "How could I come back here and look people in the eye?" " Your family was here." " Daddy ran away from his family." "He lived in a sharecropper's shack, and he was nearly full-grown." " He was the same age as me." " He was a man." "Times were different." "Both of you had these ideas about what a decent person was..." "You broke your father's heart." "When you sent me away, you broke mine." "Your father worked so hard to maintain a degree of respectability." "Everybody was watching him." "White people, black people." "And there I go showing my colour." "Isn't that what they used to call it?" "I thought it would be better for you, for all of us." "Young girls get pregnant and have babies every day." "We were trying to put an end to that." "We were hoping for a better life." " Moving up." " Taking care of ourselves." "Taking care of each other." "Talking isn't going to change what's been done, is it?" "How are you doing, Mama?" "Dr. Lloyd..." "I will live until I die." "If anything should happen and you're worried about money to take care of Terrell..." "Baby, what good is money gonna do for Terrell?" "Stop Plantation now!" "Stop Plantation now!" "I'm with Exley!" "It's just the same bunch of malcontents." "We'll frame them out, get footage of the machinery." " The chanting?" " Don't worry, we won't run the sound." " We got bones, boss." " They used to raise cattle here." " Don't look like no cow to me." " A fuckload of them." "They've been dead a long time." "Everybody, I have to ask you all to leave the premises while we continue this investigation." "Tell me that's not an arrowhead." "They say the only bad Indian is a dead Indian." "Please, back it up." "Archaeologists say the find is of enormous importance." "The remains, almost definitely the first Native American inabitants of Plantation Island." "The site seems to be a well or cistern of some sort." "We've discovered quite a few crucifixes amongst the bones." "Based on the forensic examination, I'd say we're dealing with a mass burial..." " This mean you're out of here?" " Hi." "When you turn over a rock, you never know what you'll find." " I've been shut down by fish, birds..." " Never by people?" "Not by dead ones." "So where to now?" "They're flying me to a site on Vieques Island." "Tomorrow." "Puerto Rico." "So kind of bad timing, huh?" "With us?" "Yeah." "You have fun down there." "It's bright daylight outside, you don't need the flash." "Terrell, get in the picture." "Come on." "Stand in between us, Terrell." "That's it." "Smile now!" " That's gonna be a nice one." " I'm serious about those grades." " I'll send you a copy when he gets them." " You hear that?" "There's no escape." " Take as much time as you need." " Thanks." "Before it was land, it was gold." "That was the dream." "To be richer than kings." "Ponce de León wanders ashore and runs into a native wearing a three-pound gold necklace." "He says, "Where did you get that?"" "The native demonstrates in sign language, "I picked it off the ground."" "Soon, the place is lousy with Spanish." "They killed off entire tribes forcing them to look for the stuff." "Where there was a Spaniard there were six Indians sweating their asses off but not one nugget did they find." " So where'd the native guy get it?" " He picked it off the beach." "It washed ashore from Spanish galleons that sank here." "The metal came from Bolivia, Peru." "Where they had mines and an inexhaustible supply of Indians to work." " Chasing after their own treasure." " Chasing the dream." "What do we have today to strike it rich like that?" "Transform your life?" "Hap Gordon won the Florida Lottery." "Where you scratch the card." " It lacks poetry." " In Lauderdale, I had a metal detector." " Worked the beaches every morning." " And?" "Mostly tabs from beer cans." "We live in impoverished times." "Young people dream of appearing on quiz shows, dating models..." " That's something." " Compared to pieces of eight?" "There's no mystery anymore." "There are footprints on the moon." "They say there might be gold on the moon." "Now there's a thought." "Prospecting in outer space." "But what will we do for Indians?"