"What the hell?" "Hey ..." "You know which side of the border you're on?" "You got a name part?" "Guess ... something must have cut your tongue out." "either that or,I you got something ... to hide." "It's all I can tell." "you hear me plain enough." "Walter A. Henderson." "Now I wanna ask you one last question." "You see this here card?" "Is this you?" "Or a relative of yours?" "Well, I'm gonna call up this number, and see if they can tell me who you are." "I ain't got beds enough to be putting up mutes." "Operator, I need a line out please." "Los Angels, California ..." "Uh ... what?" "Well can you ... can you tell me the exact location of your hospital down there?" "where the hell is that?" "Oh, OK, all right." "Yeah, uh ..." "OK I'll be there." "I'll get there as fast as I can." "Just, will you tell him that I'm coming, OK?" "OK." "Steven, I think you're gonna have to change that ..." " This section right here?" " Yeah, because it's in the copy." "Anne, honey ..." "I just got this strangest phone call." "Who from?" "e" "From some hospital in south Texas, place called Terlingua." "They say they've found Travis." "Oh no!" "f" "What are you going to do?" " I'll go down and get him." " Oh Walt ..." "What am I gonna do?" "I can't leave him down there!" "What about Hunter?" "s" "What am I supposed to tell him?" "I'll just tell him I had to go on a business trip." "I mean about Travis." "Well ...o" "I guess you'd better tell him the truth." "10 to Van Horn, 90, to Alpine, 118 south..." "Terlingua!" "w" "You must be the brother of the mute." " Mute?" " Yeah!" "They couldn't squeez the time of day out of him." "Must be in a kind of jam." "Huh?" "I don't know." "I haven't seen him in over four years." "Is that right?" "Well ..." "A lot can happen to a man in four years, I guess." "All kinds of trouble." "Expensive trouble." "What do you mean?" "Well, down here,n a man gets himself into a fix sometimes," "It costs a little to get him out." "You understand what I mean." "I don't understand you." "I wish you get to the point, 'cause I'd like to see my brother." "All right sir, but first I would like to ask you something." "Did your brother ever get hisself into a car wreck?" "Uh, car wreck ...?" "No." "Not that I know of." "Then, he must be mixing with some hard company." "I'd like to see my brother now, if you don't mind." "He disappeared." "You mean, he's not here?" "After I came all this way?" "He's been gone since early this morning.t" "We have his possessions." "Nevertheless ... saved some." "We'd be glad to turn them over to you, soon as you take care of our little reward." "Travis!" "Hey.p" "Don't you recognize me?" "It's Walt." "It's your brother, Walt." "What the hell happened to you anyway?" "You look like fourty miles of rough road." "Come on, let's get in the car." "Trav?" "Come on." "Here." "Here, Travis, your stuff." "I got that back at that clinic back there." "Sure pick the hell of a spot to land in." "I don't blame you for running out of it." "Um ..." "look Trav, we got quite a bit of travelling to do here, you're not gonna clam up the whole way, are you?" "I mean it'd get kind of lonely." "Trav?" "Would you mind telling me where you disappeared to for the last four years?" "Uh ... have you seen Jane?" "Or talk to her?" "Gee, Anne and I uh ... we sort of gave up on you, we actually ... we thought you were dead, boy." "Well it's pretty uh ..." "OK." "Well uh ..." "Yeah." "Oh, Gee, Trav, maybe you wanna ... get cleaned up, you know, take a shower or something?" "Uh ..." "I think I'll go back into town, I'll get you some new clothes." "You could use a new set of clothes, couldn't ya?" "What si- size shoes you wear?" "Let's see." "They're probably one size bigger, huh?" "So where did you find that beard?" "It's pretty snazzy." "OK I'll zip into town, and zip right back." "I won't be gone long." "You'll be OK, won't you, Trav?" "Yeah I'll" " I will be right back." "Damn it!" "o" "You mind telling me where you're headed, Trav?" "What's out there?" "There's nothing out there." "Don't you trust me or something, huh?" "I'm just trying to help you, Trav." "That's all." "Come on, it's all right." "Come on with me in the car." "Huh?" "Bet it feels good to be in new clothes, huh?" "Hello?" "Hi, Hunter, it's Daddy." "I thought you'd be in bed already." "I'm not sleepy." "Guess who I'm visiting ... here in Texas?" "Who?" "Your father.o" "Do you remember your father?" "No.t" "Not at all?" "I remember he was kind of skinny." "He was?" "Sort of." "Well guess what?" "." "I don't know." "I'm gonna bring him home to visit." "Travis,a do you remember your little boy, Hunter?" "Well he's with us." "He's been living with Anne and me ever since you disappeared." "We didn't know what else to do." "So, we just kept him." "One day, he was just standing at the door." "All he could tell us was someone brought him there in a car." "He didn't know what'd happened to you, or Jane." "So we tried everything we could think of to find you, or Jane." "Tried to locate her, she'd vanished too." "We didn't know what else to do." "Travis," "I don't know what kind of trouble you got into." "I don't know what happened." "But damn it, I am your brother, man." "You can talk to me." "I'm tired of doing all the talking." "Fill it with unleaded, please." "You know, I'm getting a little sick of this silence routine." "You can talk!" "I can be silent too, you know." "I'd just as soon that both of us keep our mouths shut for the whole rest of the trip." "You don't ..." "Ì" "What?" "Paris." "Paris." "Paris?" "Did you ever go to Paris?" "o" "No." "Could we go there now?" "It's a little out of the way." "Oh, no, I've never even been to Europe." "Anne keeps wanting to go there." "'Cause what's, she's from France, you remember?" "But we never seemed to find the time, 'cause my company keeps me kind of busy." "Let's go Trav." "What's the matter?" "Where're we going?" "We're gonna fly to L.A." "You are not afraid of flying, are you?" "We're ..." "leaving the ground?" "Yeah.t" "Why?" "Because it's too far to drive." "It would take extra two days." "I can't afford the time, Trav." "Why?" "B-It's just easier to fly, Trav." "It's faster." "Come on." "I'll get you home, OK." "When I get you home, get you settled, then you can do whatever you want." "Let me out, would you?" "Sir, we can't stop the plane every time somebody gets terrified." "Don't get on the plane and then refuse to leave the ground!" "Don't do things like that!" "This is no wilderness." "You are out with people now." " OK?" " You should have hired a private plane." "Do you realize how many people you're detaining?" "Sorry!" "I'm sorry!" "I'm sorry!" "I'm sorry!" "OK!" " OK, bye now." " Bye now." "This is getting a little ridiculous, Travis." "Are you gonna leave me?" "No, I'm not gonna leave you." "It's all right if you leave me." "I don't know, honey, no." "He just, he just panicked or something." "Well, it won't do any good to try another plane." "It wasn't the plane." "He'll just get off again." "Well,v we're just gonna have to drive it, that's all." "Yeah, it'll take to good two days." "... I don't understand why you have to have the very same car you had before?" "They are all alike." "All the cars we have here are Birds," "Olds, and Chevies, or whatever." "I am not even sure I can locate the same car ..." " you had before." " I know, I know." "Uh, my brother left something in the car." "we hope we can search the car and find it." "Oh well, I'll just contact the lost and found department ..." " for you, if that's the case sir." " No, no, we have to have the very same car." "Well I can't do that!" "There's no way I can trace that car for you." "Why not?" "You got the license number right on your form there." " Well, yeah." " Just give us the license number, We'll find it." "But I can't allow you on the lot, sir." "Why not?" "We're already on it!" "I just have to ask you to come back to the office with me." " Travis!" " What?" "I don't think we're gonna get the very same car." "But I can rent you mile that just like the one you rent before, sir." "We need the same car, Walt." "How are we gonna go on another car?" "Give us the number, will you please!" "Come on, Pretty please!" "All right, that number is 667-DJP." " Remember that?" "667-DJP." " That's right." " It's-it's got a bump on the hood." " Yes, it does." " What's that?" " What?" "That you got in your hand." "A picture." "A picture of what?" "A picture of... of uh ..." "Paris." "Paris?" "Really?" "Yes." "A picture of a piece of Paris." "Where did you get a picture of Paris?" "Can I see it?" "Yes." "This is it?" "This is Paris?" "Looks just like Texas to me." "It is.?" "Paris, Texas?" "It's right here on the map." "Is there really a place called "Paris, Texas"?" "It's right here!" "How come you get a picture of a vacant lot of Paris, Texas?" "It's mine.'" "I know that, but how come you got it?" "I purchased it, in the mail, ... a long time ago." "You bought a picture of a vacant lot in the mail?" "No, I bought the land." "Oh you bought that lot." "Yes." " Oh, let me see it again." "There's nothing on it." "Empty.." "Why in hell would you want to buy a vacant lot in Paris, Texas for Christ's sake?" "Um ...?" "I forgot." "Here, Trav.h" "Do you remember our Mama's very first name was?" "Mary." "No, I know." "I mean, uh her ... before she found Daddy." " Her maiden name?" " Yeah." "You don't remember her maiden name?" "No." "Sequine." "Spanish?" "Her father was." "Yeah." "I don't believe it!" "You finally decided to eat!" "Eating and talking!" "Before you know it, you'll be back in the land of living, Trav." "You want me to drive?" "Sure." "Think you remember how?" "My body remembers." "You can sleep while I drive." "OK." "Well Trav, think maybe you're ready to ... tell me what the hell happened to you over the last four years?" "No, not yet." "Travis!" "What?" "Where are we Travis?" "What happened?" "Why did we get off the highway?" "Jesus Christ!" "I can't even sleep for five minutes without some crisis!" "Why did you turn off?" "t" "I don't know where I turned off." "It didn't have a name." "That's great." "That's just dandy." "Here we are in the middle of the Mojave Desert, in a place that doesn't have a name!" "I can find the highway again." "Trav, I need to talk to you a little bit about Hunter." "How old is he now?" "He's eight in January." "He's seven then." "Yeah.." "But see what I want to talk about is uh ... well, he's-he's like part of the family now." "Anne and me are like his parents now." "Anne's your wife?" "Yeah." "You remember her, don't you?" "No." "Does he think that you are his father?" "Well ..." "Anne told him you were coming." "Well who does he think I am?" "I-I told him you are his father." "But see ... well you've been gone a long time, Trav." "How long have I been gone, do you know?" "Four years." "Is four years a long time?" "c" "Well, it is for a little boy." "It's half his life." "Half a boy's life." "I remember now!" "What?" "Why I bought that land." "Oh, Why?" "Well ..." "Mama once told me that uh ... that's where she and Daddy ... first ... made love.I" "Oh, in Paris, Texas?" "Yeah." " She told you that?" " Yeah." "So ..." "I figured that that's where I-I have began." "I mean me, Travis Clay Henderson." "They named me that." "I started out there.u" " Paris, Texas huh?" " Yeah." "So you think maybe you were conceived there?" " Yeah." " You could be right, Travis." "Daddy always had a joke about it." "What was the joke?" "He's uh ... he would introduce Mama as the girl he met in Paris." "Then he'd waited uh ... before he said "Texas" till everybody thought that ... he meant ... he would wait before he said "Texas" till everybody thought ... after everyone thought he was talking about Paris, France." "He always laughed real hard about it." "So you live in Los Angeles, huh?" "Yeah, well we live in the suburbs but I got my business in town." "What's your business?" "I make billboard signs for advertising." "Oh, yeah?" "So you're the one who makes those, huh?" "I love those." "Some of them are beautiful." "I'm not the only one in the world that makes them, Trav." "Trav?" "This way." "Nice, huh?" "Just been in here three months." "I really like it." "But I took a beating on the financing, I'll tell you." "Like everybody else in L.A., I guess." "Hi, baby." "Is everything OK here?" "Oh sure, we just missed you a lot." "Yeah, I missed you too." " Come on in." " Travis." "My God!" "We were beginning to wonder if we'd ever see you again." "It's been so long." "Did you have a good trip?" "Yeah, it was fine." "Hunter?" "Hunter, this is Travis." "Hi." "Hi." "I bet it was really hard coming across the Mojave Desert." "Yes." "Too bad you have to drive.e" "What happened?" "m" "Well, Travis just ... didn't feel like flying." "Oh, I don't blame you.i" "I can't stand airplanes any more." "Especially since we live in this house." "All we hear is planes,n day in and day out." "I like them.n" "You used to fly, didn't you Travis?" "No." "Oh, I thought I remember Jane telling me once that you flew to Dallas together ... or elsewhere.t" "Um ..." "Maybe I'm mistaken." "Honey, he hasn't slept in a bed since we started for here," "I swear to God." "I don't think that's even necessary." "Where has he been sleeping, then?" "Well, he doesn't sleep." "He has to sleep somewhere!" "OK!" "I don't think he's even gonna use it." "He's got to get tired sometime!" "Oh." "There is a towel for you, Travis." "And some underware and socks from Walt." "Good night." "Thank you.e" "OK, get some shuteye." "OK.a" " Sweet dreams." " All right." "You polished them!" "That's very nice of you, Travis." "Would you like to come in and have some breakfast?" "Aren't you hungry?" "We are going to have strawberry waffles." "Do you like them?" "Do you want some?" "Well, there is hot coffee on the stove, if you want some." "Look at that truck!" "Hi." " Decided to rough it, huh?" " Yeah." "How did you do?" "Spitshine these?" "h" "I can get you a job in the airport doing that." "You want to trade these new boots for those old boots?" "Yeah, you can wear them." "Thank you." "Travis." "I have to rush out to get Hunter to school on time." "We will be back this afternoon." "Walt's office number is on the dining room table.a" "See you later." " OK." " Bye." " Anne." " Yeah?" "I was just think maybe uh ..." "I could meet Hunter after school and we could walk home together, if he wants to." "Uh, that sounds like a great idea, Travis." "Walk home?" "I don't want to walk home, Mom." " Why?" " Nobody walks, everybody drives." "Come on Hunter, it won't hurt you to walk home once in your life." "No, no, I don't want to." " Travis, I insist!" "It's what you're looking forward." " Eveybody will see me!" "Walt can tell you how to get there." "It is not far." "Get in the car, Hunter." "We are late it is." "You're mean." " Can I come with you?" " Sure." "I'm really sorry about this, Travis." "It's not easy for him, Anne.s" "Anne it's OK." "He's in here." "What're you doing?" "Driving." "Where to?" "Just driving." "You're not hiding out in there, are you?" "No." "Hunter, Travis is your real Dad." "You know that, don't you?" "Dad, when are they gonna make spaceships like they ... make cars?" "Hunter, I'm asking you a question." "Can you answer it?" "What?" "Well, Travis went to meet you at school, and he wanted to walk you home." "Nobody walks." "That's not the point." "Travis is your real Dad and ... he wants to talk to you." "Why?" "What about?" "OK, come on, let's go have dinner." "Come on." "Hey Trav,g do you remember the time that Anne and me came on a visit to you about five years ago?" "No." "You and Jane were down in Texas right there on the coast." "Hunter was about three." "Don't you remember that?" "No." "I remember." "We went fishing." "Yeah." "I took some super8 on that trip." "And I put it all together." "Thought maybe you might like to see some of them." "What is it?" "Movies." "You know, super8." " Oh!" " Walt, maybe Travis doesn't want ..." "What?" "Well, maybe he'd like to wait a while before he looks at it." "You know, it's up to him." "I just thought maybe he'd like to see some of it." "Movies?" "Sure." "Great!" "There's some great stuff on it." "Some great shots of Hunter in it." "I've already seen it." "Well, you have to see it again." "Come on, help me set up the projector." "OK." "That's me driving." "I know you're gonna be good." "Time for bed now, Hunter." "Oh, Mom!" "Don't complain." "It's past 10." " Good night, Dad." " Good night, baby." "Good night, Dad." "Do you think he still loves her?" "How would I know that, Hunter?" "I think he does." "How can you tell?" "The way he looked at her." "You mean when you saw him in the movie?" "Yeah, that's not her." "What do you mean?" "t" "That's only her in a movie ... a long time ago ... in a galaxy far far away." "What are you looking for?" "Um, I'm looking for ... the Father." "Your father?" "No, no, just a father." "Any father." "What does a father look like?" "There're many different kinds of fathers, Senor Travis." "Well I just ..." "I just need one." "You think you're gonna find him in there?" "Well I don't know where else to look." "Oh I see." "You want to look like a father?" "Yeah." "Tell me:" "do you want to be a rich father?" "No." " A poor one?" " No." "Eso gonpus." "In between." "No, no, there is no in-between." "You'd either be a rich father, or a poor one." "Rich." "Bueno, un momento." " Que Tal, eh?" " Esta, Bueno." "OK, one thing you must remember:" "to be a rich father, Senor Travis, you must look to the sky, and never at the ground.e" "A little higher." "Eso." "Mm-hmm." "Walk a minute.." "No, este ..." "You must walk stiff, Senor Travis." "Con confianza, cme, entiente?" "Con respecto." " Dignity!" " Eso.t" "Con dignidad." "Mm-hmm ..." "You got it!" "Who is that guy?" "You know him?" "Yeah, he's my father's brother." "No, they're both brothers." "No, they're both ... they are both fathers." "No, forget it." "Both whos fathers?" "My fathers." "H-how how can you have two fathers?" "Just lucky I guess." " Well bye." " Bye." "That's my Dad's suit." "I mean Walt." "That's OK if you call him Dad." "Yeah, I borrowed from him." "He said it was OK." "What're those pictures?" "That's my Dad.h" "And your grandfather." "What was his name?" " Travis." " Same as yours." "Where is he now?" "He died ... a couple of years after this picture, in that car." "Oh, he's dead." "Well can you feel that he's dead?" "What do you mean?" "a" "You know when he was walking around, and talking, right?" "Yeah." "So, can you feel that he's gone?" "Yeah, sometimes." "I know he's dead.y" "I never felt like you were dead." "I could always feel you walking around," " talking, someplace." " Yeah." " I feel Mom too." " You do?" "Don't you?" "Yeah." "It's me, when I was in the Navy." "You were a General?" "e" "No, that's when I was in the band." "A high school band." "And here's you." "I like this picture." "Look at that!" "That is really wild." "It is wierd when it when there is water in between ... and then it turns into nothing, then goes pfew." "Yeah, it's a great picture." "And this is my Mom." "Your grandmother." "I don't know ..." "It just seems that ...y everything has changed between us so fast, ever since Travis came." "What's changed?" "I'm just afraid." "You're afraid of Travis?" "No." "Then what?" "Of what will happen to us if we lose Hunter." "We're not gonna lose Hunter." "Then why do you keep pushing them together?" "It's almost as if you wanted him to leave." "Who?" "Hunter." "You know what I'm talking about." "You keep promoting this father-son business between them." "It's not business!" "Travis is his father!" "And Hunter is his son!" "That's a fact." "We've known that all along." "And Travis happens to be my brother." "I know he is." "Then what's this promotion bullshit?" "You want us to go on pretending that we are the parents of my brother's son?" "How long do you expect Hunter to buy that?" "I was never pretending!" "I love him just like he was my own flesh and blood." "So do I." " Hi, Anne." " Hi, Travis." "You don't sleep much, do you?" "Travis, ... there's something I have to tell you." "I was not going to, because somehow it makes things easier that nobody knows." "I never even told Walt or Hunter." "Well, what is it?" "After Hunter came to live with us," "Jane used to call, asking about him." "She made me promise not to tell anyone she was calling." "Did she ask about me?" "Yes, in the beginning." "Where did she call from?" "Places in Texas." "What places?" "Let me finish, Travis." "After what happened between you and Jane, she decided Hunter should be with us." "She said she couldn't be a mother to him any more." "She stopped being a mother to him a long time before that." "Travis, I don't want to feel" "I'm hiding something from you anymore." "She was young." "She wanted something," "I just couldn't figure out what it was." "I just didn't realize how much rage I had." "A little more than a year ago, she stopped calling." "I haven't heard from her since then." "Nothing?" "Not a word." "But on the last call, she asked me to open a bank account for Hunter." "A bank account?" "All I know about Jane now is ... she goes to this bank on the fifth of each month and wires money for Hunter." "Jane still sends him money." "Sometimes a hundred dollars, sometimes fifty, or five." "For Hunter's future." "I had the bank trace the wire." "It comes from a bank in Houston." "What bank?" "I wrote it down if you want it." "what's the date today?" "The first of November." "I don't think we should do that." "You're right." "I meant the other thing." "You will all be caught with your diapers down!" "That is a promise!" "I make you this promise on my mother's head!" "For right here, today." "Standing on the very head of my mother, which is now on God's green earth, which everybody who wasn't born in a fucking sewer ought to know and understand to the very marrow of their bones!" "They will invade you in your beds, they will snatch you from your hot tubs, they will pluck you right out of your fancy sports cars!" "There is nowhere, absolutely nowhere, in this God forsaken valley." "I'm talking about from the range of my voice, right here clear out to the goddamn Mohjave Desert and beyond that, clear out past Barstows and everywhere else in the valley all the way to Arizona." "None of that area will be called the safety zone!" "There will be no safety zone!" "I can guarantee you the safety zone will be eliminated." "Eradicated." "You will all be extradited to the land of no return!" "It's a navigation to nowhere." "And if you think that's going to be fun, you've got another think coming." "I maybe a slime-bucket, but believe me:" "I know what the hell I am talking about." "I am not crazy." "And don't say I didn't warn you!" "I warned you!" "I warned all of you!" "Thought you were afraid of heights?" "No, I'm not afraid of heights, I'm afraid of falling." "Oh yeah, well just don't look down." "Too bad, things don't look the same on the ground." "What do you mean?" "Well, things are clearer up here." " Might clear things up." " Yeah, I had a talk with Anne last night." "Yeah, she's pretty upset." "Yeah, I know." "I'm gonna leave." " What?" " I'm leaving." "I didn't tell you this in order to make you leave." "I am not trying to get rid of you, Travis." "I know that." "What good is that gonna do?" "It's not gonna solve anything." "I'm gonna find Jane." "How are you gonna do that?" "It's been four years!" "She's completely disappeared." "I tried to find her." "I've tried everything I couldn't find her." "well, I haven't tried it yet." " I can find her." " What makes you so sure?" "I just know." "Can we go down now?" "No." "Goddamn it!" "You tell me what happened, Travis!" "I'm sick of this fucking mystery." "I've been treating you like a spoiled kid ever since I picked you up in the desert ." "Now, you tell me what happened with you and Jane!" "Shit!" "I know it's none of my business." "Uh, I'm gonna need to take uh ... money, credit cards." "All right, sure, you can have them." " You know you'll get it back." " Oh, forget that, you can keep them." "I want to find her, Walt." "Hunter!" "Is that your car?" "Yep." "Come on." "Radical!" "This is not bad stuff." "Anne puts it in lunch everyday." "La vache qui rit." "Sticky." ""La vache" what?" "Rit rrr rit." "Rit rrr rit." "I like it." " Dad?" " Yep." "Where did you go all that time?" "Mexico." "How come?" "I didn't know where else to go." "Where did Mom go?" "I don't know." "But right now, she's somewhere in Houston." "That's where the Space Center is." "Yeah." "That's what I want to talk to you about." "I gotta go away now." "Why?" "'Cause I'm gonna find her." "What about me?" "You just found me!" "Can I come with?" "What about Walt and Anne?" "We will never come back here?" "Well, sure but ..." "I don't know when." "I want to come with." "I want to find her, too." "When do we go?" "Right now." "Come on, let's go." "First, we gotta stop to get some supplies for the trip." "OK." "We gotta buy jackets, T-shirts, toothbrushes stuff like that, maybe even walkie-talkies." " Talkies?" "What for?" " Just in case." " Do you know what?" " What?" "This whole galaxy, the whole universe used to be compressed into a tiny spot this big." " And, and you know what happened?" " what?" "It went pfew and blew up." "all the spark, everything went flying all over the place." "It formed the space." "It was just gas, it was floating around." "the Earth was?" "Yeah." "The Earth was really gas." "And and the Sun formed and it was so hot that that the Earth just formed into one hard big ball ... of ocean." "Nothing but ocean." "So, there are sea animals." "And under the water, volcano went pfew!" "And the hot lava hit the water and formed rock to make land." "You know how to make a collect call?" " You dial the operator, you tell him you ..." " I know." "Good, and call Walt and Anne." "Why?" "Because, so they don't worry about you, so they know where you are." "What am I gonna say?" "Just tell them the truth." "Tell them uh that you are with me that we are going to Texas." "They're gonna flip out." "I know." "But you can handle it." "OK?" "Why can't you do it?" "I can't do it." "Why?" "Because ... it has to be you." "Ah ..." "Gee." "Why can't he do it?" " Hello." " Hi, Dad." "Hunter, where are you?" "You know what time it is?" "I've been calling everywhere looking for you." "Travis got a truck." "Yeah, yeah, Hunter, just listen to me now." "Tell ... where are you exactly?" "San Bernardino?" "Hunter, what do you mean you are in San Bernardino?" " Let me talk to him!" " Wait!" " How do you ..." " Let me talk to him." "All right, all right." "Hunter, are you all right?" "Yeah." "What are you doing?" "Going to find Mom." "With Travis?" "Why are you going?" "Tell me where you are, Hunter, just tell me where you are." "What's the name of it?" "Oh, my God." "Hunter, you tell Travis to turn around and come back here right now." "Do you understand me?" "Let me talk to him." "What should I do?" "Just, hang up." "Bye, Mom." "Got to go now." "Hunter?" "Hunter!" "Did they flip out?" "Yeah, she did." "You are not sorry you came, are you?" "No." "Well, you can go back to them anytime you want." "You just tell me, OK?" "I don't want to go back." "I know." "But just in case you change your mind ." "I am so used to calling her Mom." "Anne?" "She sounded so sad." "I know." "What do you think Mom will look like now?" "I don't know." "Do you remember her?" "Not really." "Only from that little movie we saw." "You look happy then." "Yeah." "You keep that." "Night." "Night." "Dad, if a guy put a baby down, traveled at the speed of light for an hour." "If he traveled at the speed of light, he would ... he would come back in an hour, he would be an hour older." "But the little baby would be a very old man." "Oh yeah?" "Well, how long will it take him to get to Houston?" "Uh ... if if they were to travel ..." "I'd say about three seconds." "Over, I didn't get that last part." "It would take them three seconds to get from California to Houston on light speed." " This is Houston?" " Yep." "How are we gonna find her in a big city like this?" " I know where she'll be." " Where?" "A bank." "She's gonna deposit some money at a certain bank today." "This is a bank?" "What kind of bank is this?" "Looks like a drive-in." "I've never seen a bank like that." "Me neither." "There're so many cars, we'll never find her." "Oh yeah, we will." "come on." "We will split up, and then we cover more ground, OK?" "Yeah, we could use the walkie-talkies." "Hey, now you're going!" " I will let you out there." " OK." "Can you hear me, Dad?" "Over." "Loud and clear." "Good!" "Hunter in position one, over." "Travis in position two." "We got it covered." "I told you these weren't toys." "Over." "Ten-four, over and out." "Dad, she's just leaving the bank!" "Get over here!" "Dad, can you hear me?" "Can you hear me?" "She's leaving the bank!" "Get over here!" "Dad!" "Come on!" "Dad!" "Wake up!" "Wake up!" "She's leaving." "She's leaving the bank!" "Dad!" "Wake up!" "Is ... she ... where is she ..." "I'm ..." "I'm on my way." "Oh, no." "She went that way!" "Which way did she go?" "Sure it's her?" "Come on." "Come on." "Come on." "Let's move." "Hunter, did ... did you really get a good look at her or what?" "It must've been her." "I know it was her." "Oh God, I hope we haven't lost her." "Can't this piece of junk go faster?" "There's ten thousand cars here, Hunter." " How are we gonna find which one is it?" " Go faster, Dad, go faser." "Wh-what color?" "The car was red, right?" "Yeah, a little red Chevy." "Did you see anything?" "Yeah, I don't know which one it looks like, Hunter." "You have to help me." "Can you see it?" "No, not yet." " I see her!" "I see her!" " Where?" "Where?" " Over in that lane!" "In that lane!" " Which, which lane?" " The right one!" " All right, all right." "Settle down, I see it." "Is that her?" "Look, see if it's her?" "Can you tell?" "I ... can't tell." "Wait a minute!" "There's two red cars now." "Which one is it?" " Huh?" " Uh ... the right, the left one." " You sure?" " Yeah, the left one." " You sure this is the one now?" " Yeah." "I hope you are right, Hunter." "We're following the wrong car, we're gonna have to wait a whole other month!" "I will be eight then." "You will be what?" "I will be eight then." "Let's get closer." "We could wave." "No, no, no." "We don't want to get too close." "We might scare her." "She'd have a wreck or something." " OK." " OK, I guess so." "Well, I wonder where she's going." "Maybe to work." "What do you think?" "Yeah, could be." "Looks like a girl's car to me." "Could it be hers?" "Could be." "Get in the truck." "I'll tell you my plan." "OK." "Roll the windows up, lock the doors." "And if anybody talks to you, you tell him your dad is inside, and he will be right back." " OK?" " OK." " You OK?" " Yep!" "Sergeant Jojo, call me in booth 22." "Sergeant Jojo, booth 22." "The girls here spent so much time with a guy, that most of them live alone." "Tell me they live alone in a city like this." "A lot of violent things happen here." "Stuff like rape, like murder ... especially from the police force." "Nurse Bibs, you are needed in booth 7." "Nurse Bibs, booth 7." " Again?" " Lots of patients out there ..." "Let's hear some rockroll." "How is it going?" "Sir?" "Sir, you are in the wrong place." "It's too early," "All the girls are downstairs." "Yeah?" "Who do you want?" "Yeah, I want to see a blonde girl, with kind of short, straight hair, about 25 years old." "OK." "She's coming down." "Stay on the line." "Hello, honey." "Oh, mercy." "You know, 23." "I've worked 23 of the 24 booths of this place." "Poolside will make 24." "What can I do for you today?" "Mm?" "I have an idea." "How about water polo?" "It will be fun." "Uh, well, I'll tell you what." "Why don't you just tell nurse Bibs where the pain is, so I can find a cure." "Why don't you look at me?" "I am looking at you!" "Yeah, but I'm over here!" "Can't you see me?" "Listen, sweet heart." "If I could see you, I wouldn't be working here." "What do you see?" "See what you see:" "nurse Bibs." "Nurse Bibs and a rubber horse." " Oh, oh I see." "Thank you, nurse Bibs." " Thank you." "Hi." "Are you out there?" "Well, I see your light's still on, so I guess you must be out there." "Mmm?" "'Cause it's OK if you don't want to talk, you know." "I don't want to talk, either, sometimes." "I just like to stay silent." "Do you mind if I sit down?" "Do you mind if I sit down?" "No." "Thanks." "Legs got a little tired from standing all the time." "Is this your first visit here?" "Yes." "Well, this whole thing must seem kind of strange to you, huh?" "You realize that I can't see you, even though you can see me." "Well that takes a little getting used to." "Oh, well." "Am I ... am I looking at your face now?" "Oh God, it don't matter." "If um ... if there's anything you want to talk about," "I'll just listen, all right?" "I'm a real good listener." "Is there something ..." "I don't know, is there something I can do for you?" "Do you mind if I take off my sweater?" "I'll just take off my sweater." "No!" "No!" "No!" "Don't ..." "Please, please leave it on!" "I'm sorry." "I just don't know exactly what it is you want." "I don't want anything." "Why did you come here, then?" "I want to talk to you." "Is there something you want to tell me?" "No." "You can tell me, I can keep a secret." "This um ..." "is that, all you do, is just talk?" "Well ... yeah, yeah, mostly." "And listen." "What else do you do?" "Why are you laughing?" "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "So, what else do you do?" "Nothing, really." "Oh well, we are not allowed to see the customers out of here." "When do you see them, do you ... do you go home with them?" "No, sir." "We don't." "We're not allowed to have any outside relationships with the customers." "Yeah, but you can really see them if you want to, can't you?" "I mean, you can go home with them if you want to." "All these places say that." "I mean, how much extra money do you make, how much money do you make on the side?" "I'm sorry." "Sir, I think you'll maybe want to talk to one of the other girls." "I'll see if I can find one for you." "NO!" "NO!" "NO!" "NO!" "Please, please ... please don't go." "I just don't think I am the one you want to talk to." "Please!" "Please don't go." "I'm sorry." "All right." "Uh ..." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "That's OK." "You know, I know how hard it is to talk to strangers sometimes." "Just relax." "Relax and tell me what's on your mind." "I'll listen ... to you." "I don't mind listening." "I do it all the time." "She was there, wasn't she?" "What's that?" "A vacant lot." "I bought that land when we were all together with your Mom." "I thought we might live there someday." "Where?" "Paris..." "Texas." "Where is that?" "It's close to the Red River." "Do you like it?" "You mean we'd live on dirt?" "Why do you drink that stuff?" "It stinks!" "Wait a minute, where are you going?" "To the truck." "Can I have another one?" "Here, Dad." "It is not a place to bring a fancy woman." "What would you say?" "If you have a fancy woman, would you bring her in a place like this?" "What's a fancy woman?" "Oh ..." "My mother, not your mother," "but my mother, was not a fancy woman." "She was ... she never wanted to be a fancy woman, she never even pretended to be a fancy woman." "Then what was she?" "She was just ... plain." "Just plain good." "She was very good." "But my Daddy ... see, my Daddy, had uh ... he had this idea ... he had this idea in his head that was kind of kind of, kind of sickness." "What idea?" "He had this idea about her." "And ... he looked at her," "but he didn't see her." "He, he saw this idea." "And he told people that she was from Paris." "It was a big joke." "But he started telling everyone all the time, finally it wasn't a joke anymore." "He s- ..." "He started believeing it." "And, he actually believed it." "She, oh God ... she would get so embarrassed." "She, she was so ... she was so shy." "Left, Dad." "Hunter, it's me." "I was afraid I'd never be able to say the right words to you ... in person." "So, I'm trying to do it like this." "When I first saw you, this time, at Walt's," "I was hopping for all kinds of things." "I was hoping to show you that I was your father." "You showed me I was." "But the biggest thing I hoped for, can't come true." "I know that now." "Your belong together with your mother." "Your belong together with your mother." "It was me that tore you apart." "And I owe it to you to bring you back together." "But I can't stay with you." "I can never heal up what happened." "That's just the way it is." "I can't even hardly remember what happened." "It's like a gap." "But it left me alone in a way that" "I haven't gotten over." "And right now," "I'm afraid." "I'm afraid of walking away again." "I'm afraid of what I might find." "But I'm even more afraid of not facing this fear." "I love you, Hunter." "I love you more than my life." " Hey." " Hey." "Can I tell you something?" "Sure, anything you like." "It's kind of long." "I got plenty of time." "I knew these people ..." "What people?" "These two people." "They were in love with each other." "The girl was ... very young, about seventeen or eighteen, I guess." "And the guy was ... quite a bit older." "He was kind of ragged in, wild." "She was very beautiful, you know." "Yeah." "And together they turned everything into a kind of an adventure, and she liked that." "Just an ordinary trip down the grocery store was ... full of adventure." "They were always laughing at stupid things." "He liked to make her laugh." "And ... they didn't much care for anything else," "Because all they wanted to do was be with each other." "They were always together." "Sounds like they were very happy." "Yes, they were." "They were real happy." "And he, he loved her more than he ever felt possible." "He couldn't stand being away from her, uh ... during the day when he went to work." "So, he quit." "Just to be home with her." "Then he got another job when the money ran out, then he quit again." "But pretty soon, she started to worry." "About what?" "Money, I guess." "Not having enough." "Not knowing when the next check was coming in." "Yep." "I know that feeling." "So he started to get kind of ... torn inside." "How do you mean?" "Well he knew he had to work to support her, but he couldn't stand being away from her, either." "I see." "And the more he was away from her, the crazier he got." "Except now, he got really crazy." "He started imagining all kinds of things." "Like what?" "He started thinking that she was seeing other men on the sly." "He'd come home from work and accuse her of spending the day with somebody else." "He'd yell at her, break things in the trailer." "The trailer?" "Yes." "They lived in a trailer home." "Excuse me, sir." "But were you in to visit me the other day?" "I don't mean pry." "No." "Oh." "I thought I recognized your voice for a minute." "No." "Wasn't me." "Mm-hmm." "Please go on." "Anyway, he started to drink real bad." "And he'd stay out late to test her." "What do you mean "test her"?" "To see if she'd get jealous." "Ha." "Mm-hmm." "He wanted her to get jealous, but she didn't." "She just worried about him, but that got him even madder." "Why?" "Because ... he thought if she never got jealous of him, she didn't really care about him." "Jealousy was a sign of her love for him." "And then one night, one night, she told him she was pregnant." "She was about three or fourth month pregnant, and he didn't even know." "And then suddenly everything changed." "He stopped drinking, he got a steady job." "He was convinced that she love him now, because she was carrying his child." "And he was going to dedicated himself to making a home for her." "But funny thing started to happen." "What?" "He didn't even notice at first." "She started to change." "On the day the baby was born, she began to get irritated with everything around her." "She got mad at everything." "Even the baby seemed to be an injustice to her." "He kept trying to make everything all right for her." "Buy her things." "Take her out to dinner once a week." "But nothing seemed to satisfy her." "For two years," "He struggled to put them back together like they were when they first met." "Finally, he knew that it was never gonna work out." "So, he hit the bottle again." "But this time, it got mean." "This time when he came home late at night, she wasn't worried about him, or jealous, she was just enraged." "She accused him of holding her captive, by making her have a baby." "She told him that she dreamed about escaping." "That was all she dreamed about:" "escape." "She saw herself at night, running naked down a highway." "Running across fields, running down river beds, always running." "And always, just as she was about to get away, he'd be there." "He would stop her somehow." "He would just appeare and stop her." "And when she told him these dreams, he believed them." "He knew she had to be stopped, or she'd leave him forever." "So he tied a cowbell to her ankle, so he could hear it at night if she tried to get out bed." "But she learned how to muffle the bell by stucking a sock into it and inched her away out bed and into the night." "He caught her one night, when the sock fell out and he heard her trying to run out to the highway." "He caught her, dragged her back to the trailer and tied her to the stove with his belt." "He just left her there, he went back to bed" "and lay there and listening to her scream." "And he listened to his son scream." "He was surprised at himself because he didn't feel anything anymore." "All he wanted to do was sleep." "And for the first time, he wished he were far away." "Lost in a deep, vast country where nobody knew him." "Somewhere without language or streets." "And he dreamed about this place without knowing its name." "And when he woke up, he was on fire." "There were blue flames burning the sheets of his bed." "He ran through the flames towards the only two people he loved." "But they were gone." "His arms were burning." "And he threw himself outside, and rolled on the wet ground." "Then he ran." "He never looked back at the fire." "He just ran." "He ran until the sun came up, ten he couldn't run any further." "And when the sun went down, he ran again." "For five days he ran like this ... until every sign of man ... had disappeared." "Travis." "If you turn the light off in there, will you be able to see me?" "I don't know." "I never tried." " Can you see me?" " Yeah." "Do you recognize me?" "Oh, Travis." "I brought Hunter with me." "Don't you want to see him?" "Yeah." "I wanted to see him so bad that I didn't even dare imagine him anymore." "Anne kept sending me pictures of him," "until I asked her to stop." "I couldn't stand the ... pain of seeing him grow up and missing it." "Why didn't you keep him with you, Jane?" "I couldn't, Travis." "I didn't have what I knew he needed." "I didn't want to use him to fill all my emptiness." "Well, he needs you now, Jane." "And he wants to see you." "He does?" "Yes." "He's ... he's waiting for you." "Where?" "Downtown." "In a hotel." "The Meridian." "Room 1520." "1520." "You are not going, are you?" "I can't see you, Jane." "Don't go yet." "Don't go yet." "I ..." "I used to make up long speeches to you after you left." "I used to talk to you all the time, even though I was alone." "I walked around for months talking to you." "Now, I don't know what to say." "It was easier when I just imagined you." "I even imagined you talking back to me." "We'd have long conversations, the two of us." "It was almost like you were there." "I could hear you," "I could see you, smell you." "I could hear your voice." "Sometimes your voice would wake me up." "It would wake me up in the middle of the night, just like you were there in the room with me." "Then ... it slowly faded." "I couldn't picture you anymore." "I tried to talk out aloud to you like I used to, but there was nothing there." "I couldn't hear you." "Then ..." "I just gave up." "Everything stopped." "You ... just disappeared." "Now I'm working here." "I hear your voice all the time." "Every man ... has your voice." "I'll tell Hunter that you're coming." " Travis," " What?" "I will be there." "Good." " Meridian Hotel?" " Yeah." "Room 1520." "Your hair, it's wet." "Oh ..."