"What?" "Nothing." "So goddamn beautiful." "I wasn't sure you still wanted to be with me like that." "You know, after everything." "Too much has changed, had gone on." "I don't know." "I didn't think you saw me like that anymore." "I'll show you what I see you..." "No, no." "You know what I mean." "Yeah." "We need to make this bed." "We need to buy a new one." "With what money?" "We'll do, the store credit thing." "We're trying to come up with money, not spend more." "Well..." "Mac, it's been a month since the Sunnyside Motel and not one word from him." "No news is good news." "I checked our saving's." "Guessing you didn't find $25,000, did you?" "I don't think I've earned 25 grand in my whole life." "Thought about askin' your dad?" "Baby, it's not like Susan doesn't have money." "Nah, I can't do that, babe." "I know that he's been a total jackass to you since you've been home." "I know that." "What if he could even come up with," "I don't know, four grand..." "Four grand?" "He isn't even living' in his own house." " He's gonna loan me four grand?" " If he can, that's one less job you have to do." "Mac, that's... one less person... you hit." "Just think about it, please." "Okay." " Sorry, baby." " It's okay, Mom." "A hug and a kiss for Mommy." "Love you." "That better?" ""Lamont, you clean the jelly off those glasses?"" ""All I know is he's the dude with the dame and you're the chump with the rump."" ""That's a big girl, ain't it?"" ""She said she lost 40 pounds."" ""If she look behind her, she'll find it."" "What they doin'?" "Stay away from the windows and stay in your seat." "Y'all going on a trip?" "We're gonna send you little niggers to the moon." "Hey!" "Come on, "Satchmo."" "You know you're gonna open this door." "I got children on the bus, man!" "I said open the goddamn door!" "You wanna go the hard way?" "Git on now." "Go!" "What you tryin' to do?" "I told you, Satchmo." "And stay down." "Now, y'all little nigglets listen up and you listen good." "Tell your nigger mamas and your nigger daddies ain't gonna be no invading' of our schools by a bunch of jigaboos." "Y'all understand me?" "Hey, you gotta get!" "Cops will be here." "Not till they answer me!" "Huh?" "God damn it, Linwood, let's go!" "Do y'all understand me?" "Answer me, God damn it!" "Get the hell outta here, man!" "Maybe you ought to listen to your friend." "Fuck you say to me, boy?" "Git up." "Git up, piece of shit!" "Come on out here!" "Come on, git!" "Hey, Linwood, calm down, man!" "We didn't talk about none of this." "Hey, what the hell are you doin?" " Come on!" "Let's go, come on!" " Hey, hey, hey!" " Back off!" " What the hell are you doin'?" "Shit, man, this wasn't part of it!" " What are you doin'?" " Hey, hey, hey!" "Oh, no!" "Come on, God damn it!" "Leave him alone!" "Come on, come on!" "Get up!" "Let's get outta here." "Come on!" "You all have, uh, three kids if I remember." "Well, the schools out here are gonna stay exactly the same in January as they are right now." "That's worth considering'." "Can you excuse me for a moment?" "I'll be right back." "Thank you." " Hey." " Hey." "You don't put the cookies out anymore." " What?" " Remember when I was little?" "Always used to put the cookies and lemonade out" " at all your open houses." " Oh, yeah." "What are you doin' here?" "I need your help with something." "Well, what's going on?" "Uh..." "I need to..." "I need to borrow some money, Dad." "Oh, yeah?" "How much?" "4,000." "Seriously, though, how much?" "I can pay you back." "And you can charge me interest on it or..." "What in the hell have you gotten yourself mixed up in that you need 4,000 goddamn dollars?" "!" "I can't tell you, Dad, okay?" " Gambling?" " No, it's not..." " Is it drugs?" " No, Dad." "A lot of boys comin' back are getting mixed up in that." "Look, I already told you I can't tell you, okay?" "Now, can... hey, can you help me or not?" "You know, I ain't exactly got that kinda money just lyin' around." "What about anything Mom left?" "She didn't work." "The only money was from a tiny life insurance policy that I paid into." "That money went to buying' you food, puttin' clothes on your back, a roof over your head." "I needed all the help I could get trying' to raise you on my own." "I don't know why I bothered coming here." "Joni seemed to think me being your son might count for somethin'" " and I tried to tell her..." " What you want from me, son?" "I did everything I could for you and you're an adult now." "Do you think that I wanna be here hat in hand" " asking' you for any fucking help?" " I'll be right with you, sir." "Son, wait." "No, it's... hey, it's fine, Dad." " Forget it." " Mac." "Let me see what I can do." "Just let me see what I can do." "I can't make you any promises, but I'll try." "Okay." "Th-thank you, Dad." "All right, I gotta... all right?" "Howdy!" "Lloyd Conway." "How are ya?" "Nice to meet ya." "Damn, Sandy, you're not wastin' any time, are you?" "Like I said, I'm tryin' to keep myself movin'." "It's amazing how much crap one single man can accumulate." "You want any?" "Take 'em." "Or any of his records." "I haven't gotten to his clothes yet, but you're welcome to any of those." "No, that's... that's okay." "How are your folks doing?" "Pretty shitty, actually." "Went back to Florida this morning." "It's an awful thing y'all are going through." "Hey, you know what's crazy?" "I drive through this neighborhood every day on my way to work." "I had no idea Cliff even lived here." "Pretty crazy." "Hey, Cliff ever mention anything to you about a woman named Joni Conway, a co-worker of his at the paper?" "I thought y'all closed the case." "They did." "But you're saying they shouldn't have?" "I just think there might be more to Cliff's case." " What was her name again?" " Joni Conway." "And you think they were romantically involved or somethin'?" "Maybe, maybe not." "Anyway, I just thought the name might ring a bell." "Nothing major." "I don't know any Joni Conway, but I do know that he got around that paper." "But he was a good person." "And he had a great heart." "And he was such a fuckin' idiot for getting under that car stoned." "Come here." "Come here." "It's gonna be okay." "Um... is there anything else, because I still got two more rooms to get to before the estate agent gets here." "Do you need any help with this?" "Can't have you moving all this furniture by yourself." " I got it." " All right." "Well, I'm sorry for interrupting' your afternoon." "Give your folks my best." "Listen, if there's anything else that comes to mind or you just wanna, uh, have coffee and talk, you give me a call." "Thanks, Tommy." "The boy, 13-year-old Darren Weems..." "It's not a problem at all." "You don't need to do that." " We can come to you." " He remains in critical condition tonight..." " About an hour or so." " Witnesses say the violence began..." " Yeah." "See ya." "Bye." " when as many as a dozen men..." "I shoulda been giving him a ride to school every day." " Baby, stop." " No." "No." "If we had a kid and I hadn't made it," "Arthur woulda been here for you every day." "Mac, that's ridiculous, okay?" "Calm down." "There's no way you coulda known something like this was gonna happen." "That's Arthur's son." "That's his son." "I shoulda been there for him." "I don't think anyone could accuse you of not bein' there for them, with everything you're putting yourself through to protect them." " You recognize that car?" " No." "You think it's him, the Broker?" "You don't hear from him for more than a month and he just shows up like this?" " Please don't go out there." " It's okay, Joni." " Mac, please, I..." " Joni... it's okay." "Is it him?" "Yeah." "What'd he say?" "He... he wants me to drive him somewhere." "Where?" " I don't know, Joni." " Is he alone?" "You think he knows that I know everything?" "Well, he's alone and it wasn't really a lengthy conversation." "You're just gonna go with him?" "Well, I don't think I have much of a choice, Joni." "Look, if I don't call you by 2:00 a.m., okay, you get the revolver under my pillow..." " No, I can't..." " and you keep it close." "Listen to me." "If I don't call you by 6:00 a.m., you get the hell outta here and you go to the cops, okay?" "Why are you saying things like that to me, like I'm never gonna see you again?" "It's gonna be okay, Joni, all right?" "Come here." " Come here." "It's gonna be okay." " Stop sayin' that." "All right, all right." "Hey." "Hey, you're right." "I don't have any idea what's about to happen." "Okay?" "Hey, he could be takin' me put a bullet in my head, leave me in a ditch." "This might be the last time we ever talk." "That better?" "I love you, too." "Come here." "Kiss me again." "Ahem." "Lock this door." "So, do you wanna... do you wanna tell me where we're going exactly?" "Just stay on 51." "I'll tell you where to turn." "So... you don't call, you don't write." "Well, then, do you wanna tell me what happened at the Sunnyside Motel after we left?" "It was dealt with." "What did your, uh... your "Mary Kay lady" do after?" "I mean, it's like we weren't there." "That's because you weren't." "You see a stop sign, take a left." "Okay." "Look, I haven't told my wife anything." "Okay?" "So you... you don't have to worry about anything." "Do I strike you as a worrier, Quarry?" ""Death is just a switch that gets turned off."" "W-what?" "That's what you said the night you killed your wife's lover." "A switch." "Off... like that." "Look, just... where the hell are we goin' already, okay?" "So, do you believe it or not?" "It's a simple question." "Do you believe that when you die... a switch is flipped off?" "Or is it somethin' else?" "What the hell is this?" "It's called "fun," Quarry." "You oughta give it a shot." "Marcus?" "Ready." "Marcus, you okay?" " Huh?" " Roger." " Wait for my signal, then fire." " 10-4." "Need to take that shit back to Germantown, bitch." "Yeah, why don't we come over to where you live and drag your white ass off a damn bus, huh?" "Listen, I'm a friend, okay?" "I'm a friend of Ruth's," " Mrs. Solomon." " Hey!" "Y'all got a problem?" " Do you?" " This woman is a friend of mine." "She's here to help me." "What y'all doing standing' around makin' ugly faces at people?" "Well, go on, then." "Somebody gotta stick up for white people." "Listen, I'm sorry." "I'm sorry, okay?" "You come on in." "Come on." "Are you finished?" "That shit may work with your old lady, but it ain't gonna fly with me, you understand?" " Walk tall now, bitch." " Go on!" "I am so sorry." "It's okay." "They're angry." "I get it." "I am, too." "This may have been a bad idea." "I should have brought 'em to y'all's place." "No, you know, Mac isn't feeling too swift." "I'll be fine." "How is he?" "Hasn't said a whole lot." "Any other time, I could leave him, but tonight I just feel..." " I understand." "It's just a few hours." " Okay." " Bye, Lou!" " Bye, Mama." "Marcus, you mind Miss Joni, okay?" "I'll see you soon." "Thank you." "So, what ya watching?" "Okay, cue me when you're ready." "♪ Me and the blues ♪" "♪ Walking side by side ♪" "♪ I'm gonna spank my little woman ♪" "♪ Until, until I feel I'm satisfied... ♪" " Good luck." " Thank you." "Quarry, here." "No, no, no." "I'm in a $25,000 hole, you're holding the shovel." "I ain't gonna dig any deeper." "Mm." "Tell you what." "How about whatever you win, we put towards your debt and whatever you lose, we charge to Karl?" "Deal?" "No more bets." "10 black, 10 black." "Roulette's for chumps." "Not you, sweetheart." "Sorry, Karl." "Place your bets." "Doesn't look like it's been your night." "Got cleaned out at the roulette table." "I was talking to her." "No, man." "She good." "Keep your shit." "How 'bout this, motherfucker?" "And the spade trumps." "Three tricks wins." "You got boo'd, sir." "You fuckin' kiddin' me?" "You have a problem with how I played my hand?" " Fuckin' idiot to play that way..." " You need to back up." " Right now." " Who the fuck are you?" "Now, you will show this man respect." "This man is an American hero." "This man earned a Silver Star in service of this country." "This man sat right here risked his life twice so that you could sit there, piss away all those wooden nickels you cobbled together in some pathetic attempt to make this poor little fat girl fumble with your privates." "Now, I would like you to say to this man right here, right now, "Thank you for your service."" "Fuck you!" "He started it." "All right!" "All right!" "Piece of shit." "I'm all right, man!" "...five, six, seven, eight, nine," "10!" "Ready or not, here I come." "Hmm." "Where could that little girl be?" "Is she under this bed?" "No." "Is she... in this closet?" "Got ya!" "Now I'm it!" "You know, you're so good at hiding," "I'm gonna give you an extra turn." "I'll be it again, okay?" "I'll stay here and count to 100... and you go hide, okay?" "Find a really good place." "Come on." "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine..." " What are you doin'?" " Hey." "I was lookin' for your sister." " Uh..." " In my dad's stuff?" "You know, I wasn't sure if your m..." " your mom..." " I'm hiding now!" "Ready or not, here I come!" "I'm sorry, Marcus." "It was my mistake." "I said, I'm hiding now!" "You're hidin' so good, too!" "Now, what you think woulda happened if it had been a black man dragging a white boy off a bus?" "He'd be strung up by his neck on Union Avenue by now." "How's the little man doin'?" "I barely got out of here to go pick him up." "To think he had to see that." "It coulda been him." "And they still ain't caught this piece of shit." " I'm sorry." " Cuss all you want about it." "I sure as hell have." "One mom at Marcus' school came here talking about having a march." "I said, "How is a march gonna stop one of these men from beating' my child to death?"" "What did she say?" "Told me they'd appreciate it if I could make a sign." "Guess somebody's gotta do something, right?" "You got a bullet?" "I'm sorry." "I'll be right back with your food." "Hey..." "Damn." "Here." "I just..." "I feel like I can't protect them from anything." "Just..." "I don't know what to do anymore." "Hey, hey." "It's... it's okay, Ruth." "I got you." "I better get back to work." "I'll have your food right out." "♪ Been around the world ♪" "♪ Half dozen times... ♪" "♪ Can't seem to find ♪" "♪ Got an achin' feeling ♪" "♪ It's deep inside... ♪" "Don't know what I loved more... the look on his face when you hit him with the glass or the look on yours when you threw him on that table." "Yeah, I should've minded my business." " Why didn't you?" " He was an asshole." "You know the difference between you and that guy?" "You acted." "You came to life in that moment." " Like a switch had been flipped on..." " Look, just cut the shit." "Okay?" "Your little set up back there?" "It was cute." " How's that?" " Oh, man, come on." "I know he was your guy." "Right?" "He mouths off, you stick up for me, I stick up for you, we bond over a common enemy." "I mean, it's clever." "It really is." "I'll give you that." "Well, color me impressed." "Mm." "See, I knew." "No, I just wish I'd thought of it." "No!" "No!" "Please!" "No." "So, what, they gonna kill him?" " Nah, just givin' him some time to cool off." " Please!" "Ugh!" "Hope they didn't hurt the girl, though." "She was sweet." "Dumb as a hat full of shit, but she was sweet." "Which of these foods should you give up?" " The answer..." " All right, Marcus." "Time to get ready for bed." " ...sensible diet." " Wait, I wanna watch the news." "Think we've had enough news for one night." "Bed, come on." " What if the caught him?" " ...contribution to your total nutritional needs." "So... make sure your meals include bread." " Get a free Roman Meal..." " What's this?" "It was Daddy's." " The McGovern defense..." " Marcus, listen." " I know what happened was scary." " I wasn't scared." " The Air Force..." " All right, but it was a terrible scary thing that happened today." "And the most important thing is that you're..." "Yeah." "What about Darren?" "...the Navy fleet by one-half..." "Darren's gonna be all right." "He got hit with a crowbar, Ma." "Now his brain is all swole up." " ..." "Senator Hubert Humphrey..." " I'm sure he'll be okay." " That's bullshit!" " Marcus!" "You don't know if he's gonna be okay or not." "He almost got murdered." "You don't know if I'm gonna have to change schools." "You don't know what Daddy was doin' when he got killed." "You don't know nothin', so stop actin' like you do." "That is enough!" "You will not cuss in this house and you will not mouth off to me like that ever." "You understand?" "Do you understand?" "Breaking news this evening." "Eugene Linwood, the man accused of attacking a school bus and beating a 13-year-old boy was apprehended by state troopers while having dinner at a local diner." "He did not resist arrest, but said he was, quote," ""Guilty of no crime."" "The boy, Darren Weems, is in critical condition while Memphis police work around the clock enforcing an uneasy peace." "Many fear the police will be unable to contain the street violence that could erupt in black neighborhoods throughout the city." "It's a nice touch... slave cabins." "Might as well use 'em for somethin'." "Okay, why am I really here?" "You see that fat tub of goo standing by the craps cabin?" "You're gonna kill him." "Tonight." "Here." "Then we're gonna dispose of the body." ""We"?" "Oh, what, you pitching' in this time?" "Figure of speech." "But he's gotta disappear." "That "bean bag chair"" "hasn't disappeared a day in his life." " Before you do it..." " ♪ Walking side by side... ♪ you're gonna ask him where he buys his pants." " What?" " ♪ Walking side by side... ♪" "You're gonna ask him where he buys pants that big." "That ain't your standard big-and-tall fare he's working with." "They've gotta be custom-made, right?" "Go on." " What, now?" " Now." "Go on." "Quarry, I brought you here 'cause I figured you could do a good time." "Yeah, well, I'm not a big gambler." "The man that says that hasn't won yet." " Okay, so, who is he?" " Him?" "Beats me." "Let's say we go play some more cards." "♪ Get down on my knees, baby ♪" " ♪ Take these blues away, yeah... ♪" " Come on." "♪ Soon in the morning, baby ♪" "♪ You know, the blues come knockin' on my door... ♪" "♪ I'm movin' in to stay ♪" "♪ I won't be leavin' you no more, yeah. ♪" "Hey, how you doin'?" "Hey, wait." "Where's the older guy I was with?" "He left." "What do you mean he left?" "He was just here." "He was just here and he left." "Hey, is there a, uh..." "a telephone around here?" "No, sir." "Thank you." "Ante up." " You gotta be kidding me." " ♪ I ain't got nobody ♪" "♪ To get me out on bond ♪" "♪ I ain't got nobody to get me out on bond ♪" "♪ I would not mind, but I ain't done nothing wrong... ♪" "♪ Please, Judge ♪" "♪ Make it light as you possibly can ♪" "♪ I said, please, Judge Harsh ♪" "♪ Make it light as you possibly can ♪" "♪ I ain't did no work, Lord, I don't know when ♪" "♪ My woman come runnin' ♪" "♪ With a hundred dollars in her hand ♪" "♪ My woman come runnin', a hundred dollars in her hand... ♪" ""We will have the best product in the market and we have no competition at all."" ""We are pleased with the progress in New Orleans..."" ""And as we understand it, we are moving into the final stage of our enterprise."" "You look horrible." "What you doin' out here?" "Had to take a leak." " What were you doing back there?" " Had to take a leak." "So, how'd you make out?" "Eh, I got cleaned out at roulette." "Hmm." "Let's get you home." " Hello?" " Hey." "Hey, baby." "Mac." "Y-you okay?" "Yeah." "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." "Uh, you okay?" "I'm okay." "Okay, I..." "I, um..." "I'm sorry." "I couldn't have called you earlier." "When will you be home?" "Uh, soon." " You're okay, right?" " I'm okay, baby." " I love you." " I love you, too." " Everything okay?" " Yeah." "Yeah." "Yeah, everything's fine." ""Fine"?" "Yeah." "I thought you weren't the worrying type." "What exactly does she think happened back at the motel, son?" "Bad shit." " She's a reporter..." " Arts and Culture." "...and she's a woman." "Somehow, I don't think "bad shit"" "is gonna be sufficient." "I blamed Arthur." "And I told her that he'd gotten, uh, involved in some bad shit, you know, some criminal shit." "As his friend, I took it upon myself to help him out." "I just happened to piss off the wrong people in the process." "What about Suggs?" "Well, I think Suggs would qualify as "wrong people."" "And she's not gonna go to the police?" "No." "She's too worried about what might happen to me if she did." "You know, and I told her, I said, uh," ""The less you know, the better."" "You know..." "Suggs said somethin'... at the motel." "Right before my wife and, um, your "Mary Kay lady" shot him." "He..." "Here ya go." "And a stick of butter, please," " if you don't mind." " Okay, sure." "What was that?" "He asked if "he" sent us..." "Arthur and me." "Who's "he," huh?" "Are you "he"?" "Well, I did send you, didn't I?" "Did you know him?" "Did he have ties to you?" "You've been sittin' on that all night long?" "Mr. Suggs raped a 13-year-old girl who, as you can imagine, is someone's daughter." "A pretty powerful someone who was less than pleased with the way the Memphis legal system handled the matters." "I imagine my client was the "him" he was referring to." "So, I'm supposed to just take your word for it now?" "Take whatever word you want, son." "Mine, your wife's." "Rickey Suggs was a seam-busting shitbag." "The world's a better place without him in it." "Or do you disagree?" "I do like the way your mind works, though, Quarry." " Gimme your lighter." " You know what?" "They should call it "nigger-jack"" "the way that black son of a bitch was dealing." "Oh, come on, now." "Not that boy's fault your dumb ass splitting eights on a 10." "Gimme your fuckin' lighter." "I already gave you my lighter, Credence." "You know, that blue one that I..." "You'd have gave it to me, I wouldn't be fuckin' askin' for it!" " Man, fuck." " Give me your fucking lighter." "You got it, man." "What's the matter with you?" "Now are we goin' home?" "Fuck, no." "Place up here has these two lesbians that mash their pussies together." "By the way, it's 20,000." "What you still owe me. 20,000." "Four grand for our one-legged friend plus a grand for working last night." "I didn't think last night was work." "Guess it wasn't so bad, then, was it?" "See you soon, Quarry." "_" "I'm sorry, baby." " You okay?" " Yeah." "Did I scare you?" "Yeah." "What happened?" "I don't even know how to begin to answer that." "What'd he say?" "Mac...?" "Can you tell me somethin', please?" "What are you doin'?" "Tryin' somethin'."