"God." "You make a habit of taking things ain't yours?" "Your name's Meecham, ain't it?" "They sent you to collar me, then?" "Yes, sir, they did." "How much they paying you to bring me in?" "Twenty dollars." "Did they already give you the cash?" "Not till I show up with you." "I see." "Well, you... you help me find my timepiece down here, and I'll let you bring me back to the authorities." "Shit." "Gosh." "Sir, I don't know what to tell you." "I believe that watch made a run for it." "Hell, no, it didn't." "That's the problem with your generation... no follow-through." "I've had that timepiece 50 years." "My wife give it to me." "Man, we looked over there, like, three times already, man." "Like I said... no follow-through." "Twenty dollars?" "Yes, sir." "I'll give you 25 to forget that old folks' home and drive me out past Ackerman's Field." "Ackerman's Field, man." "Shit." "Looks like you got company." "You sure this is the right place?" "My name's on the mailbox, ain't it?" "How much was it that I owed you?" "Just $20, like I said." "Worth every nickel of it." "Twenty dollars worth of distance from Linden, Tennessee." "That'll do it." "Here." "No, shit, man." "No." "No, here." "Okay, thank you." "You know that girl?" "She your relations?" "Not by a considerable sight." "I hate just to drive off." "It's whole lot of nothing out here." "Way I like it." "Don't worry nothing on me." "Suit yourself, Homes." "Take it easy in this heat, man, all right?" "Howdy." "Who are you people?" "What are you doing on my farm?" "Well, my name's Pamela, and I'm sunbathing." "Mama's in the house, I guess, probably cooking, and I don't know where Daddy is." "Somewhere." "Probably." "I mean, what are you even doing here?" "Why are you here?" "We live here." "Ain't you Mr. Meecham?" "I certainly am, and this is my place." "Oh, I'm Mrs. Choat." "Ludie Choat." "Lonzo's wife." "You... you remember Lonzo Choat?" "Oh, Lord God." "We rented this place from your son." "Been here going on three months." "I was hardly gone three months!" "Well, we got the papers..." "and everything." "We thought you was in the old folks' home over in Perry County." "I was." "I ain't no more." "I need to use the telephone." "We ain't got a telephone." "Of course there's a telephone!" "We always had a phone!" "There's one in there, but... it don't work." "Ain't hooked up, or... or something." "I don't know." "You can talk to Lonzo about it." "He'll... he'll be here directly." "I'm an old man." "I may die directly." "Abner Meecham." "Is it true Paul rented you this farm?" "Ninety-day lease, option to buy." "I guess this is news to you, then." "Sorry you had to come all this way out here." "Cover yourself, girl." "An option to buy?" "Yeah, that's right." "Let's get one thing clear out of the gate." "That will never happen." "Will... never... happen." "You know why?" "Because you wasn't never nothing but a loafer, Choat." "You and your daddy both never owned so much as a pair of pliers." "Hell, that's my wrecking bar you're holding right there." "You're still as contrary as you ever was." "If you think you can buy a farm this size with food stamps, you're mighty mistaken." "You remember that time I tried to rent that tenant shack out there from you?" "No." "Well, I did, and you wouldn't rent it to me." "Ain't life funny." "I never rented that house to nobody!" "It was built too close to the main house to begin with!" "There wouldn't have been privacy for either place." "Hell, that must've been 20 years ago." "You do remember." "Remember how long ago it was I needed it and I didn't get it." "And life is funny." "And you can forget about your food stamps." "I got plenty of money now, Meecham." "I'm buying this place." "I'm gonna tend to it, too." "I'm gonna have it up and running in no time." "I ain't seen none of this famous money." "Besides, this place ain't Paul's to sell." "We fixed it up legal." "If I was you, I'd be packing my stuff!" "We'll see." "We sure as hell will." "Now, where's that paper?" "Right here." "I thought you'd want to see it." "Why don't you step out into the light?" "I can see just fine!" "This ain't no legal bond!" "The hell it ain't." "Unless you got something else to say, then..." "Where are you going, Meecham?" "How you aimin' to get back to town?" "Hold..." "Slow..." "slow down, Meecham." "Slow down, slow down, listen." "Now, I can't let you go inside the house." "The furniture come with the place." "That was part of the deal." "But not my stuff!" "Ain't none of your stuff in there." "We cleaned all that out, put it out in the tenant house." "Now, listen." "Listen to me." "If you want to go over there and get whatever it is you need to get, you can." "Then I need you to be gone, okay?" "Okay?" "Yeah..." "Ma'am." "Lonzo is down in the barn still." "I know." "I don't think it's a good idea," "Mr. Meecham, not unless Lonzo is here." "I just want to have a look around, that's all." "Check on things." "Everything's just fine in here." "That cab's coming for you, I guess?" "What's that?" "That taxicab?" "It's coming back to pick you up soon?" "Exactly how am I supposed to contact that taxicab," "Ma'am, you want to tell me that?" "Am I supposed to use that phone in there, the one you broke?" "Maybe I should just walk back." "Hell, it's only about 20 mile." "I'm only about 80 year old." "Okay, okay." "I'll leave when I'm good and ready." "You tell Lonzo the same." "You ain't gonna shoot me, are you?" "Wha..." "I wasn't planning to, but you go sneaking up on me like that," "I can't be responsible for what transpires." "Mama sent this." "She said she bet you was hungry, and hot as it was, you needed something cold to drink." "Well, what did Lonzo say about this?" "He didn't." "He left to go play poker at Mr. Goodwin's house." "Here, let me help you." "No, I can..." "I can..." "I can do it." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Tell your mama I'm much obliged." "Is this your stuff?" "I've been wondering who all this shit belonged to." "This ain't shit, kid." "A child your age ought not to use that kind of language." "Lord, you cheer a person up." "Are you always in this good a mood?" "Just when I get routed away from the trough." "It's just a word." "I'm sure you've said it a time or two." "I'm 80 years old." "I can say whatever I care to." "What are you doing in here, anyway?" "Making myself some quarters." "You're moving in here?" "Daddy won't like that." "I don't rightly care what your daddy likes." "I'm sure he'll give you a lift to town, if that's what you need." "Folks in hell will be eating Eskimo pies before Alonzo Choat hauls me anywhere." "Well, if you're gonna stay here, you ought to get up some nicer curtains, then." "Maybe even some flowers to help get the smell out." "Yeah." "Maybe I'll even get me a dog, liven up the place a bit." "Oh, Daddy won't allow no dogs." "He can't stand to hear 'em bark." "You say he can't?" "I had the cutest little pup when I was a girl." "His name was Nipper." "Daddy hated him 'cause he was so loud." "Plus he shit everywhere." "Sorry." "Pamela!" "Mama and I got church." "Well, it's nice to talk to you, Mr. Meecham." "Just put that dish out on the porch in the morning, all right?" "All right." "If I ain't badly mistaken, it's mine anyway." "What do you want, Choat?" "You're too late for chatter." "Hell do you think you're doing?" "I think I'm sleeping in the damn sharecroppers cabin, and I ain't proud of it." "I tried to be polite, make this easy, but... you ain't gonna have that, are you?" "This is my place, and will be my place till they lay me in the goddamn ground!" "Now, go on!" "Let me rest." "Being old and crazy gets you a little extra rope." "Best not hang yourself with it." "Old people, man, don't know when the fucking clock's run out!" "Son of a bitch." "You're back." "Did you run off?" "I guess." "Are they after you?" "Hellfire, it's an old folks' home, Thurl, not a chain gang." "Well, I don't know." "I don't know nothing about it, which is just as much as I want to know." "You get in this morning?" "Yesterday." "Where'd you sleep?" "Choat make you a pallet down on the floor?" "I slept in the tenant cabin." "That's mainly why I come over here." "I need to use your telephone." "Gotta call Paul, get Choat outta there." "How was it, you know, down there in Linden?" "It was all right." "Was it?" "That why you'd rather sleep in the slave cabin?" "They fed you decent, and nobody... nobody mistreated you." "I got the feeling if you died in your sleep some night, they just move you out, move somebody else in, nobody much give a shit." "That ain't no life." "Ought to make that call now." "Hello?" "They broke my phone or something." "Dad?" "What... who?" "That Choat bunch." "Who do you think?" "Dad, where are you calling from?" "You're supposed to be at the home." "I'm supposed to be where I damn well please." "Look, I'm in the middle of a trial, Dad." "I want them out of my house, and I want them out today!" "Laying up there, sleeping in your mama's bed, eating off her dishes!" "You ought to be ashamed, son." "Look, Dad, this is too complicated for the phone." "Just get a cab, go back to the home." "I'll call you tonight and I'll explain everything about the sale." "You can't sell what ain't yours!" "Well, I'm your legal guardian and the trustee of your estate." "Look, Dad, I can't talk about this right now." "You think you're the only lawyer ever to hit a golf ball?" "Dad, go back to the home." "I'll call you tonight, okay?" "Okay?" "Hello?" "Take it y'all didn't exactly see eye to eye." "You still got that old Cherokee?" "Yeah, I got it, but I can't drive it." "They took away my license." "Why'd they do that?" "I hit some folk." "Who'd you run into?" "Mary Margaret Davies." "Is she... she okay?" "Oh, yeah, she's fine." "I run into her butt!" "You tried all them years." "I reckon you finally banged up against it." "So, how you get around, then?" "Oh, Julie comes over on Tuesday after she gets the kids to school, and then picks me up and takes me to town shopping." "Makes sure I get my fiber." "You know, it's amazing." "After they raise their own young' uns, they come back wanting to raise us." "She was always a good kid." "How much you want for it?" "I got errands to run." "Oh, I don't know." "It ain't worth much to me." "$200?" "Would you pay that?" "I gotta take a look at it first." "You ain't got the best reputation for taking care of your stuff, you know." "Let it rain in your carburetors and all." "Oh, I know." "I know." "At least it's my carburetors." "I can't make out what's what in there." "When was the last time you cleaned this engine?" "About a week before never." "Do you want her or not?" "Yeah." "I'll take it." "I don't have enough cash." "Well, $200 ain't gonna cure any of my problems." "Don't worry about it." "He do that all the time?" "Yeah, that's the noisiest damn dog in Ackerman's Field." "He starts out about sundown and keeps it up till first light." "That so?" "Good boy." "Hang on, I'll get your food in a minute." "You still here?" "I live here." "That's what you think." "She sure is pretty." "This dog follow you home?" "Something like that." "Daddy ain't gonna like that!" "He sure is a cute little thing." "Oh, yes, you are!" "You're a cute little thing." "You even look like my Nipper." "Come on, come on, let's do your business." "Can I tell you a secret?" "No." "Well, you're no fun." "Never claimed to be." "I got a date tonight." "Why is that a secret?" "I didn't take you for the homely type." "Well, for one, he's a little bit older than me, and Daddy don't especially like me dating older boys, but really it's because this boy's daddy got my daddy drunk playing gin rummy last fall," "and when my daddy woke up the next day he was missing $40 and a Swiss Army knife that my paw-paw gave him when he was just a boy, but Steve Jr..." "That's the boy I'm dating tonight..." "Steve Jr. said his daddy won it fair and square and that my daddy just ought not play gin rummy when he's drunk, 'cause he sucks pretty bad at it even when he's stone sober." "But Daddy says Steve Jr." "just wants what's in my underwear and he won't stop till he has it." "And then he'll probably take $40 from me, too, but I don't even have $40." "I just think he's mad 'cause he lost paw-paw's knife." "I see." "Yeah." "You're not gonna tell him, are you, about my date?" "A child shouldn't lie to her father, even if her father's Lonzo Choat." "Ain't nothing good gonna come from that." "You and your rules." "I'm not a child." "I'm 16, and I'm not lying to him, either." "I just got some secrets, that's all." "Everybody does." "Who does this gun belong to, anyway?" "You ask a lot of questions." "There's a lot I don't know." "I bought it for my son when he graduated law school." "That's a weird gift." "I thought I might... get some target practice back there in the woods, maybe shoot me a squirrel for dinner." "You're funny." "I can't imagine why anybody'd put you in an old folks' home." "You seem fine to me." "I am fine." "Then why'd you go?" "I think I need to get some rest." "Well, it was nice to talk to you." "Bye, doggy." "You never did tell me his name." "How about we call him Nipper?" "Come here." "Yeah." "Hush, Nipper, hush." "Hush, Nipper, hush." "Atta a boy." "Hush, Nipper, hush." "You're a good dog." "Okay." "Now, here we go, Nipper." "Hush, Nipper, hush." "Hush." "Yeah." "Good." "Good boy." "Hush, nipper, hush." "Good boy." "Hush, Nipper, hush." "Hush, Nipper, hush!" "Hush!" "Hush, hush!" "How about shutting up some of that goddamn racket!" "You even walk like it." "What's that?" "White trash." "You even walk like it." "It amuses me." "Must be great to be so funny." "Helps to pass the time." "Thought you said that boy of yours was coming to haul you back to the nursing home today." "I guess he couldn't make it." "Probably tried to call... but since you rednecks can't pay a telephone bill, he likely had trouble getting through." "Yeah, well, you'd better find a way to get ahold of him, then." "Where'd you get that ugly thing?" "I guess you could say I found him." "You'd better lose him, then." "Well, he don't bark much." "Yeah, I heard him not barking much most the goddamn day." "He'll come up with his neck wrung, and you may not fare much better." "Oh, he... he don't mean no harm." "Oh, you hush, Nipper." "Hush!" "I just don't think he likes you, Choat." "That's all." "It's all right, boy." "He... he... he's all bark." "You've been trying to start a fight with me ever since you set foot on this land yesterday." "I ain't trying to fight you, Choat, just claiming what's rightly mine." "This is my land now, Meecham, can you understand that?" "And I can do with it what I want to when I want to." "I can paint this house," "I can raise a new harvest," "I can..." "I can..." "I can... bathe in that big tub and lay in that soft bed and can't nobody tell me different... not you, nobody!" "And that just eats you up, don't it?" "It just claws on your insides." "That's what you work for in this life, Meecham... land, to have a home, to be a landowner." "And I'm the goddamn landowner now!" "How do you expect to run a farm this size when you can't even keep the lawn mowed?" "You're in over your head, son." "Yeah." "Yeah, well, we'll see about that." "Stupid old coot." "Hell, I'll just sit right here and outlive you." "How about that?" "You're older than Moses, anyhow." "Can't walk for shit." "Falling apart before my very eyes." "Why do you think your boy put you out to seed in the first place, Meecham?" "He ain't stupid." "Some point you gotta let go, friend." "I ain't no friend of yours." "That's right." "Go on and get another beer, you miserable drunk." "You're nasty when you're drinking, Choat." "Yeah." "Well, you nasty just about all the time." "Well, I'm going to bed." "When you coming?" "I don't know." "Don't let him worry you, Lonzo." "He's just a harmless old man." "Come on to bed." "Please." "Lonzo, come on." "The way the TV glows..." "I can see right through that gown." "This is serious, Lonzo." "Don't do something you'll regret." "Please." "Don't you pay him no mind." "He'll be gone tomorrow." "This'll all be over." "I got land now, Ludie," "And I aim to keep it." "Shouldn't a man protect his family?" "What kind of man would I be if I didn't do that?" "He ain't gonna do nothing to me or Pam." "It's the money you need to be worrying about." "What the hell does that mean?" "Nothin'." "Nothin'." "It don't mean nothin'." "Ludie... tell me... what do you mean?" "You know damn well what I mean." "Those checks ain't enough anymore." "We ain't ever gonna get a loan without any income." "You don't think I can support this family on my own?" "You don't think I can bring in a proper harvest?" "Well, you ain't even planted anything yet." "That's because the whole goddamn equipment's broke." "He left it broken, I gotta fix it, and it ain't easy!" "I know." "I know." "If we don't have the rest of that down payment in a couple weeks, we're gonna lose this place and what we already put into it." "I'll get the loan, Ludie." "Okay." "Just... tell me how." "You're just like him, ain't you?" "You're just like all them." "You don't think a man can change, make something better of himself." "That's not true!" "Oh, it's true." "Well, I'll show you." "I'll show the goddamn lot of you." "And get off me." "Get off me, Ludie!" "Last year I fell down the porch steps and broke my hip." "Just slipped on a patch of ice and boom, that was it." "I couldn't move at all laying there, pain like... nothing you can imagine, like some blade of fire slicing up the side of my body." "This was a... this was a Sunday about dusk, and... it was late December, around Christmas." "It was real cold." "I hollered and carried on, but this far out, ain't nobody gonna... nobody gonna hear ya." "Then darkness come and all I could do was just lay there, foot of them steps, and ache." "I thought my time had come, I truly did." "Next morning, Thurl Chessor happened up on me." "Just... stopped by on a whim." "It saved my life." "Spent a few weeks at a hospital, got myself a new hip." "And I come back out here." "To my home." "I knew pretty quick..." "I couldn't tend the farm no more, just didn't have it in me, didn't have the strength." "Paul had told me I... needed a change... needed to meet people." "Being out here all by myself wasn't good for me." "I reckon I was in a good deal of pain at the time, feeling pretty lonely, and so... seemed like a good idea." "But I..." "I was lonelier there with all them people around... than I ever was out here by myself." "Hey." "That's a boy." "Yeah." "That's a good boy." "Where's Pam?" "Out with Neely Watkins and that gang, I think." "You think?" "Yeah." "Think they were going down to the Snow White Cafe or somewhere in town." "You think or you know?" "I don't know." "Who else is with them?" "Steve Jr. with them?" "It's just Neely picked her up." "But wait." "Hey, man." "Wait!" "What are you doing, boy?" "What are you doing I" "Daddy I stop it I" "Get outta that damn car, boy!" "Daddy, stop it." "What are you doing?" "I told you not to go out with him." "Nothing's going on." "Wait!" "Get your ass out..." "I'll kick him..." "Mama!" "Mama!" "I will kill you!" "You wanna go with me?" "Get your ass..." "Mama!" "Mama!" "Comin' here with my daughter..." "I told you never to come by here, boy!" "Mama!" "Stop it!" "Stop it, Daddy!" "Get your ass up!" "No!" "No!" "Yeah!" "Damn you!" "Stop it!" "Daddy, stop it!" "Get off of me!" "Get off..." "God!" "Stop it!" "Lonzo, stop it!" "You wanna go with me?" "No, please, leave it alone now!" "Get your goddamn ass outta here!" "Lonzo, just go inside, baby!" "How many times do I gotta tell you, girl..." "Just go inside, baby!" "Get your ass outta my way!" "You little slut." "Stop it!" "You..." "Stop it!" "I ain't gonna stand here and watch you beat folks, Choat." "That's a young girl, there." "A child, not a dumb brute." "You better get your goddamn ass back in that house right now!" "You raise that hose one more time, and I'll lay a slug right in that rabbit turd you call a brain." "You ain't got the balls, Meecham." "Gonna call the High Sheriff in the morning, too," "First thing." "There's bound to be laws against beating young girls with garden hoses." "You'll regret this, Meecham." "You'll be sorry every day of your life that you shot toward me." "Get this circus out of my yard so a man can get some sleep." "Let's get you inside." "You okay, baby?" "God damn." "No returns or exchanges." "Company policy." "I wouldn't even consider it." "Best damn dog I ever knew." "Your boy called last evening." "Said you were supposed to go back to the nursing home, but you never went." "Yeah?" "I'd have come and told you last night, but you got my car, of course, and I'm too lazy to walk all that way." "How come you not to go?" "It's my farm, Thurl." "Can't just let it go like it don't mean nothing to me." "Said he was going to come down here and fetch you back." "That a fact?" "He say when?" "Well, maybe today." "More likely tomorrow." "He don't know." "He's busy with that trial down there." "Busy?" "Kid's got a right to make a living, Abner." "You ought to be glad for him." "He got out of this town, making something of himself." "I am glad for him, Thurl, but there's a difference between leaving home and forgetting the place altogether." "You want some coffee?" "No, thanks... but I..." "I would like to use your phone again." "I gotta call Ma Bell and get one of her boys out here to fix my phone." "Go and help yourself." "It's in the same place." "Thought I heard shots last night." "This is Tennessee, Thurl." "Gunshots are a daily occurrence." "Not a nightly one." "Hell." "Choat was beating on those two girls of his like they was racehorses." "Using a garden hose, for Pete's sake, with a metal tip!" "He must've been drunk." "Seems to me he's always drunk." "Don't know how he ever kept a job." "Choat ain't got no job." "He ain't held a job in, oh, damn near a decade." "I don't follow." "Well, he pays his rent with disability checks, that and the big cash settlement he got, which he probably already squandered." "I thought you knew that." "First I ever heard of it." "Don't you remember when that Tate boy dropped a load of lumber almost on his head?" "They was hauling for Doug Watson at the time." "No." "Well, Choat wandered into that Tate boy's blind spot." "Boy pulled the lever, and 800 pounds of timber rolled up Choat's leg, broke 'em both clean through." "Still getting paid for that ten years after the fact?" "Well, maybe he's decided to fend for himself now." "That's why he wants to buy your farm and get it running again." "I'd rather that place go to pot than see" "Lonzo Choat at the helm." "Well, who else you got in mind to run that place, Abner?" "I gotta run." "Where are you off to?" "Going to get Choat locked up." "Hey, Dad." "Mr. Chessor told me I might find you here." "You... you talking to the Sheriff?" "That what you got on that piece of paper?" "Taking care of some business." "Can I buy you lunch?" "I was out there eight years after your mama died, Paul." "Eight years." "Sunup to sundown." "Winter, spring, summer, and fall." "I worked the land by myself." "I was plenty capable." "Yes, sir, you were." "And you go and make a big deal out of one little episode." "Well, it wasn't the first episode, and you could've died that night, Dad... and nobody would've known." "You come out here to straighten out this mess, I hope." "In a way, yes." "I came out here to pick you up and to drive you back to Linden." "Then you wasted gas and a good deal of your very valuable time." "Dad..." "Hell's gonna be ass-deep in snow before you guile me into that place again." "You fooled me, Paul." "Dad, we talked about this..." "I get mad every time I think about it." "Dad, we talked about this." "And it's the best solution." "For who?" "Look, it's just until I get this straightened out." "Now, I've signed a lease." "It has to run its course." "But the 90 days are almost up." "Now, let me talk to Lonzo and see if I can get out of the sale, and then you can move back in." "And if we..." "if we need to get a nurse for you, well, then, we'll get one." "I would think not being able to lie convincingly to a jury would be a considerable handicap in your trade." "You think I don't know you?" "You think I can't see through your skin to every lie you ever told?" "I know how these deals work, Paul." "Your mother loved that farm." "She loved you." "And I loved her too, Dad." "And I always will." "You want to throw all that away for a little bit of money?" "I never taught you to be greedy." "You learned that somewhere else." "This is not about greed." "There's nothing out there for you anymore, Dad." "Things change." "Life goes on, and you gotta go on with it." "There ain't any more to it than that." "Life goes on?" "For those who let it." "I'm an 80-year-old man with a bum hip and a weak heart." "How much life you think I got left to go on with?" "I'm no fool, Paul." "The road ahead, it ain't long and it ain't winding." "It's short and straight as a goddamn poisoned arrow." "But it's all I got, and I deserve to do with it as I please." "And what makes me so angry is that" "I cut and scraped and did without... so that you could go to an expensive school and learn a trade which you now seem intent on using to do me out of what has taken me a lifetime to accumulate!" "This must be God's finest joke." "So you're angry at me for getting an education." "I'm angry at you for not caring about the only thing left that matters to me." "And I don't need a nurse." "Yeah, well, you need something, and it's not gonna be cheap, and I'm the one who has to pay for it." "Then it is about money." "It's about you, Dad." "It's about me trying to help you." "I don't need your help." "You know, goddamn it, why can't you just be easy?" "For once?" "You know, I didn't want this to get ugly." "Ugly?" "What are you gonna do, Paul?" "Drag me off by my ear the way I done you as a boy?" "I told you I'd buy lunch." "I don't want your bribes." "Jesus Christ." "Now there's someone, I bet... who could solve all this nonsense, and quick." "Now, you straighten out this Choat mess and you do it today." "Otherwise, I don't want to see you." "What the shit?" "What's going on?" "For what?" "He shot at me." "Bullshit." "This is bullshit." "This ain't right." "He's trying, you know." "Trying to kill you, maybe." "Stop acting like you know anything about us." "I know what I've seen." "I know I'd never treat my wife like that." "You don't know anything." "I love Lonzo." "You don't just run off and leave somebody 'cause they got problems." "So you stick around till he finally lays you out for good?" "Can't you see?" "We finally got a new start." "We finally got a chance to be something more than we've ever been, something better!" "Now, I ain't making excuses for him, but he ain't laid a finger on us in a long time." "But even one time is too many." "And then you show up and all hell breaks loose!" "What, you're saying I'm to blame for this?" "I'm saying this ain't a game, Mr. Meecham!" "Now, we don't have money laying around to go and pay a bail man just so you can prove a point." "Well, I ain't got time to waste waiting for folks who never should've been here in the first place to move off my farm." "Well, I wish you had something better to do with your life than sitting around being bitter and lonely." "Surely that must grow old." "Oh, God." "Hello?" "Hello?" "You Mr. Meecham?" "That's me, owner of this house." "Owner of this farm." "Name's Hollis Pemberton." "I'm with the phone company." "I got a work order here says you need some phone lines fixed." "Yeah." "You wanna show me where they're at?" "Come on in." "All right, sir." "Now, is... is that Jimmie Rodgers?" "Yeah." "Man, I ain't heard that in forever." "My grand-pappy used to play that." "Called it skirt-chasing music." "Yeah." "Yeah, well, it ain't no Toby Keith, but I reckon you could do worse." "This it here?" "Yeah, just..." "just take a look and tell me how much it's gonna cost." "Yes, sir." "Will do." "That was quick." "Well, your wiring's fine." "You just need to get your service restored." "I can do that for you tomorrow." "Fine." "Hey, where's the other phone line at?" "It's in the tenant house here." "Come on, I'll show you." "All right, sir." "I just wanna know one thing." "You never have to know just one thing." "You have to know it all, and that's the matter with you." "I don't know what you're talking about." "All right, I'm coming." "I'm coming." "Here." "All right, go on." "Hi, little buddy." "Hi, buddy." "Come here." "Yeah, come on." "Come here, little buddy." "Come on." "Come on." "There you go." "Yeah." "Yeah." "Nipper?" "Nipper!" "Hey, wanna come down here and help me hang this?" "It's not you he's angry at." "He's angry at that old man." "He's angry at himself." "I'm tired of it, Mama." "I know." "It's gonna be better now, though." "It is." "You don't think he's coming back here?" "Well, been gone two days, so..." "I guess not." "Maybe he finally just got wise." "Maybe even old hardheaded bastards like him can learn a lesson every now and then." "What'd you do, Lonzo?" "Stood my ground, that's what I did, like I told you I would." "Like a man ought to." "No, what'd you do to him?" "I didn't lay a finger on that man." "I just made things a little clearer to him." "He understood that." "He respected that." "Or maybe not." "That's a good boy." "I'm gonna take you out, now, see?" "Yeah." "Come on." "Okay?" "There you are, there." "You're okay." "Yeah." "There you go." "I want you to look right up there and keep an eye on them for me." "Will you do that?" "Okay." "Okay." "Don't go down there." "Lonzo!" "He's lost his mind." "Can't you see that?" "You watch these things." "Keep watching there, all right?" "Come on." "Fetch, nipper!" "Fetch." "Come on, boy." "Come on, come on." "Fetch, Nipper, fetch!" "I wouldn't hold my breath waiting on him to bring that stick back." "Yeah, he's a slow study." "I believe he's got some Choat in his family tree somewhere." "If I could buy you for what you're worth and sell you for what you think you're worth," "I'd retire." "I thought you had retired, taking taxpayers' hard-earned money so you can sit on your lazy ass." "You're one to talk." "How much of your social security did you waste on that piece of shit?" "I bet the little sum-bitch is a light eater, though." "He don't eat much, but he's one hell of a watchdog." "Lays across my feet all night, never shuts an eye." "One of these nights the feller who strung him up is gonna come easing through that door." "I'll make him a date with the undertaker." "Sure is easy to talk when you're old as Adam." "I may be old, but I can whip the piss out of any man I choose." "Come on." "Come on." "My God, if you ain't bat-shit crazy." "I worked too hard and too long." "I ain't going down without a fight!" "You might go down if the wind blows you hard enough, old man." "You want this land?" "You're gonna have to take it!" "It'll be the easiest thing I done all day." "You son of a bitch!" "Give me that fucking gun." "I'll light this place like a stack of kindling and you with it." "You crazy old man." "Dad." "I was wondering when you'd show up again." "Didn't know you were bringing the law, too." "Well, I gave you every opportunity to leave on your own." "You know where I stand on that." "I called Mr. Chessor's place all day yesterday looking for you." "I had an errand to run down Waynesboro." "Took a little longer than I expected, so I stayed the night." "This is out of control, Dad." "I never was one to let things slide." "No, sir, you never were that." "I don't suppose you plan to do anything about Choat's disability scam." "What disability scam?" "What business is that of yours, anyway?" "I pay taxes, don't I?" "You're reaching, Dad." "That's a little pathetic even for you." "You're a danger to people, Dad." "Like hell." "Shooting a pistol at a man?" "Having him arrested so that his family has to go and bail him out with money that they don't have?" "What do you call that, Dad?" "And this..." "I don't even want to know what this is about." "For God's sakes, Dad, you need help." "I can't say I didn't do it, but you got the wrong slant on it, Paul, always saying things from the wrong angle." "Now, I ain't..." "I ain't gonna argue with you." "Arguing with you always was a waste of time." "You just... you just lie your way out of it." "You're a mean son of a bitch, you know that?" "You were mean to her." "You were mean to me." "I just want my farm back, Paul." "He said if your dad is gone by morning, he's willing to let things lie." "Well, what's it gonna be, Dad?" "Just give me a second." "You need any help packing your stuff up?" "No." "There are a few things..." "I'd like to keep, though," "Take back with me to the home." "Your mama's things." "I'll go through it all tonight, get it all packed up." "I can drive myself back." "Okay." "Okay, but I want you to get on the road, okay?" "I don't want you driving after dark." "You don't think he'd burn a man out, do you?" "Lonzo?" "No, I don't think so." "I've never known him to do anybody any real harm." "There you go." "Of course, he'd steal anything that wasn't tied down or on fire, but he's a trifling bit lazy." "He won't do nothing if it makes any effort." "You wouldn't have called him lazy if you'd seen him beating those girls with a rubber hose." "Anyway, he said he was gonna burn me out, and I believe he'll try it." "You ought to get the law on it, Abner." "Call the high sheriff." "He wouldn't believe me." "Paul's convinced him I'm crazy." "All I want you to do... is to speak up if anything does happen." "You tell the law that I told you ahead of time that he threatened to do it." "Would you do that?" "I'll do that." "Wouldn't want him to get clean away with it." "No, we wouldn't want that." "Last time I saw her alive was on a Saturday." "We were getting ready to go into town for a cattle sale." "I was in a hurry, but she kept dragging around, dragging around." "This dress, that dress." "Something, and I can't..." ""I don't know which one to wear."" "Always frustrated me when she did that." "I..." "I never had very much patience." "I said, "You best be for wearing one of them." "I don't care which."" "I said, "I'm going out to the truck..." ""and if you ain't there in five minutes, I'm gone." ""Then you have the rest of the afternoon to make up your mind."" "I had said such things a thousand times." "I got in the truck and... and I laid this... pocket watch on the passenger seat." "When the five minutes was up, I cranked the truck." "I looked back at the house, and I saw her hand pull aside the kitchen curtain." "She pressed her face against the glass... and I drove away." "When I come back, she was laying on the kitchen floor." "Her eyes were wide open, staring at the linoleum like there was some secret message... encoded in a tile." "Keep a good lookout for me, friend." "What you doing?" "What?" "Damn!" "Girl, you... you got some bad timing." "Sorry." "What are you doing with the bag?" "Leavin'." "Leavin' what?" "Here." "Him." "You stealing his truck?" "Taking that old Cutlass." "Mama gave me the keys." "Hurt you pretty good?" "It ain't your fault your dad is a drunk, Pamela." "That's the first time you ever called me by my name." "I'll be all right." "My aunt lives over in Centerville." "Mama's sister." "I'll stay there a while." "I can't blame you for wanting out." "But if you stayed here, he really would be nicer to us." "He'd have to be!" "I'm sure we can work it out." "You can keep on living out here." "No." "I'll help you fix it up." "No, no." "No." "That..." "that's out of the question." "Please, Mr. Meecham..." "No, now, Pamela, I just need for you to get on the road now, Pamela." "Get in that car..." "What's going on, Mr. Meecham?" "Get in the car." "Get on the road." "I don't really feel like it yet." "Just go!" "Go!" "Get..." "I've tried to tell you." "Just go on, Pamela." "Go on!" "No!" "That nurse lady's hands were so cold... she nearly gave me a seizure when she pulled on my stuff, when she cleaned me." "But I'd be lying if I said" "I didn't like it just a little." "Well, look at that." "He laughs." "Here, Dad." "Right there, that's... one of the real tender spots." "You just take it easy, Dad." "You got a ways to go yet." "I could leave to..." "Look, you just do what the doc says." "She knows what's best." "But you... you do look better, though." "Better..." "better than you did." "What the... what of the house?" "I guess..." "Choats are all settled in there now." "Dad, we don't have to talk about that right now." "We got time." "All right." "I see your mother sometimes... in dreams." "Well, what does... what does..." "what does she say?" "She listens mostly." "She is so forgiving." "Well, Dad, I've..." "I've gotta get on the road." "I've got a..." "I've got a big meeting" "I gotta get to this morning, but I'll be back tomorrow to check in on you, okay?" "Dad, I..." "I found a place." "It's... it's a retirement community." "And you would... you'd have your own apartment... and... and..." "and your own backyard." "You know, I..." "I thought maybe... maybe you could grow some tomatoes." "It's only 20 minutes away from where I live." "I'd prefer to grow corn." "Corn." "Sure, Dad." "I'll..." "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"