# Listen to me, woman
# Listen to me
# I want you to understand
.. country KAFH...
# Come on, baby, let's ride
# I can hear the sound of your headlights on the ground
# Looking for me
It's 70 degrees... - # Make new plans for the kitchen too...
# Make me smell the sweat
# On the red leather seat...
# Come on, baby, let's ride
# Slide on into your four-wheel drive
# Let's ride
# Let me feel you moving with the moon
# Like the storming desert rain
# Come on, baby, let's ride
# Let me see the eyes that you hide
# Under your hair
# Come on, baby, let's ride
# Slide on into your four-wheel drive
# Let's ride
# Listen to me, woman
# Listen to me
# I want you to understand
Mr Valdes? I'm locking up.
I'll put the laundry in your car.
# Come on, baby, let's ride
# Slide on into your four-wheel drive
# Let's ride
Hey! Anybody?
Move.
Move!
You gonna do the laundry now?
- You don't have to do the laundry for me. - How'd you find me?
I saw the old Chevy layin' tits-up out there.
I figured you died in a car crash or you settled in for a while.
- Wouldn't make much difference to you. - What's that?
If I died in some car crash.
I knew I shoulda had 'em burn that damn thing. Or bury it.
You'd have gone right past if it hadn't been for that car, right?
I'd have found you one way or the other.
Eddie.
You want me to take those sheets for you?
I've been doin' my own laundry for months now.
I'm real good at it.
You just plunk the old quarters in and let it rip.
Come on, honey, let me do your laundry.
- You wanna do my laundry? - Hey! Whoa, whoa!
- Son of a bitch! - Hey! Whoa!
Do you do her laundry?
You want an aspirin or somethin', huh?
You got a headache?
You want some water?
May.
May, come on.
Honey?
You want me to make you some hot tea or somethin'?
You want some tea? I'll make you some tea like I used to, OK?
With lemon?
You want some Ovaltine? May...
May, you gotta let go of me now, OK? Honey.
You want me to go, huh?
- What do you want, then? - You smell.
Your fingers smell.
- Horses. - Pussy.
- Oh, come on, May! - They do. They smell like metal.
I am not gonna start this shit.
Rich pussy.
- Very clean pussy. - I came to see if you were all right.
- I don't need you. - Oh? OK. Good. Great.
What the hell are you doing in that truck?
- Eddie, don't go! - Get outta here!
God damn... What kinda dump is this?
You live here?
What am I gonna do? What am I supposed to do now?
What?
Oh, shit.
You're gonna erase me.
What are you talkin' about?
You're gonna erase me. You're gonna erase me or have me erased.
Why would I want... Are you crazy?
- Cos I'm in the way. - Whoa, May.
- Don't talk like that. - I am.
May, I am tryin' to take care of you, all right?
Sure you are !
Get back. Come on, back.
You're just guilty.
- You're gutless and you're guilty. - That's real cute. Great. Gutless.
- What are you doing with these horses? - I'm unloading them.
Haven't been out of this rig in 200 miles.
Even my horses have to suffer because of you.
- I'm gonna kill her. - Who?
- Don't talk like that, will ya?
I am. I'm gonna kill her and then I'm gonna kill you.
You're scaring me to death.
- Back up. Get back. - Two very sharp knives.
Two separate knives. One for you and one for her.
So the blood don't mix.
Do you know what I'm gonna do to her first? I'm gonna torture her.
- Do you hear me? - Uh-huh.
- I'm gonna torture her first. - Oh, great.
- Not you. I'm gonna let you have it. - Thanks.
That's right.
Probably in the midst of a kiss, after you think everything's been healed up.
Right when you think you've buffaloed me again.
That's right when you die.
You know how many miles I went out of my way to come and see you?
- Nobody asked you to come here! - 2,482.
- Where you been, Katmandu? - 2,482 miles!
So what?
I missed you, you know.
I did.
More than anything I ever missed in my whole life.
Kept thinkin' about you the whole time I was driving.
I kept seeing you.
Sometimes just a part of you.
Yeah? Like which part?
- Your neck. - My neck?
- Yeah. - You missed my neck?
Yeah. Well, I missed all of you, but... your neck kept comin' up for some reason.
- I kept cryin' about your neck. - You were cryin'?
- Yeah. - Crying?
Yeah.
Was this before or after your fling with the countess?
There wasn't any fling with any countess.
- You're a liar. - I took her to dinner once.
- You're a liar. - OK, twice.
You were bumpin' on a regular basis. Don't stand there and give me this shit.
- I'm takin' you back, May. - Back to that idiot trailer? Oh, no.
No, I'm movin'. I got a piece of ground up in Wyoming now.
- Wyoming? - Yeah.
I'm not goin' to Wyoming.
What's up there? Marlboro Man or somethin'?
- Well, you can't stay here. - Why not?
Why not? I'm a regular citizen now.
And I got me a job.
You got a job?
That's right. You think I'm helpless or somethin'?
That's what you think, right?
- Yeah, it is. - No, I just...
Been a long time since you had a job.
Well, I'm a cook.
A cook? You can't even flip an egg, can you?
- I'm not talkin' to you any more. - May!
May! Goddammit! Quit doin' this, will ya?
I got it all worked out now. I been thinkin' about this for weeks.
I'll build a corral for the horses. We can have a vegetable garden and chickens.
I hate chickens.
I hate horses and I hate all that other shit too.
You have me confused with somebody else, don't ya?
Unbelievable!
I'm not lettin' go of you this time, May.
You never had me to begin with, Eddie.
You keep comin' up with this lame country dream,
life in the country, vegetables and chickens and stuff.
I hate all that stuff. It makes me puke to even think about it.
What do you think it's like sitting in a tin trailer waiting for the butane to arrive?
Then hiking down the Laundromat. You think that's thrilling?
What?
- Get outta here, Eddie.
Turn off this goddamn thing.
Don't touch me. Now get outta here. Dammit.
Couldn't you just stay put? I told you I was comin' back to get you.
I bought you all them magazines. I thought you liked that.
- Those French kinds. - Oh, God.
Yeah. I did. You're right.
I especially liked the one with the countess on the cover.
That was real cute.
I liked that one a lot.
All right.
All right what?
- Where are you goin'? - I'm gonna sleep in the truck.
- You're gonna spend the night? - I'll be gone in the morning.
# He was branded by the Wyoming wind
# He belongs to her until he dies
No. Wait.
#... from the Laramie river
# And his heartbeat's Cheyenne
# Why, oh, Wyoming
# You make me wonder why
# Why, oh, Wyoming
# Why?
# She liked the crowds
# He looked up in the clouds
# So they never saw eye to eye
# She had her magazine dreams
# Of faraway scenes
# And he had the Wyoming sky
# Why, oh, Wyoming
# You make me wonder why
# Why, oh, Wyoming
# Why?
# Why, oh, Wyoming
# You make me wonder why
# Why, oh, Wyoming
# Why?
# Why, oh, Wyoming
# You make me wonder why
# Why, oh, Wyoming
# Why?
You can take it. You're a stunt man. Right?
- You got any tequila? - You already drank my tequila!
- Come on, I wanna show you somethin'. - I'm in the middle of somethin' here.
- I'm tryin' to talk to somebody. - Show you something.
Look at that.
Remember that?
- Where'd you get this?
Take a look at that picture over there.
- You know who that is? - I'm not sure.
It's Barbara Mandrell.
That's who that is. Barbara Mandrell.
You heard of her?
Yeah, sure.
Would you believe me if I told you I was married to her?
- No. - Uh-huh.
You see, that's the difference right there.
I'm actually married to Barbara Mandrell in my mind.
Can you understand that?
- Yeah, sure. - Oh, good.
I'm glad we have an understanding.
I swear to God I didn't hate you even more.
It just grows. Just grows and grows.
But I mean to see you no more. See you no more.
Just to see a picture of you. No, not just you.
I've seen a picture of you and her, that bitch.
I don't understand how I could hate you so much after so much time.
I don't remember how much I'd like to hate you.
I hate you even more. That's right.
I hate you even more and all it does is just grow.
If I see you in the morning...
See a picture of you...
Of you and that bitch.
I don't care.
It just invades my head.
It invades my head all the time.
Bet you love that, don't you?
This picture stings me more than seeing you with her.
It stings me more.
And it cuts me. Always cuts me.
Cuts me up.
Cuts me...
And he kinda just comes...
Uninvited, like.
Right when I don't expect it. Like a little torture.
I blame you more. I do.
I blame you more for this torture than I actually do for what you did.
If you love her, I could kill you.
If I really wanted to, I could.
I don't care that much about you to kill you.
You forgot your sweater.
You better go. It's better that you go right now.
- I wish you'd make up your mind... - I got somebody comin' here to get me.
Here?
Yeah, here. Where you think they're gonna go?
- Who you been seein'? - Don't you come near me!
Don't you even think about it.
This time... Makes me so sick...
# Low down leaving sun, I've done
# Did everything that needs done
# But woe is me
# Why can't I see?
# I'd best be leaving well enough alone
# Them neon light nights
# Couldn't stay out of fights
# Keep a-haunting me in memories
# Well, there's one in every crowd
# For crying out loud
# Why was it always turning out to be me?
# Where does it go?
# The good Lord only knows
# Seems like it was just the other day
# I was down at Green Gables
# A-hawking them tables
# And generally blowing all my hard-earned pay
# Piano rolled blues
# Danced holes in my shoes
# There weren't another other way to be
# For lovable losers, no-account boozers
# And honky tonk heroes like me
Hey, hey.
# Where does it go?
# The good Lord only knows
# Seems like it was just the other day
You got any glasses?
They're in the bathroom.
- What they doing in the bathroom? - I keep everything there.
- It's safer. - Where are the damn glasses?
- In the medicine cabinet. - What are they doing there?
There are no germs in the medicine cabinet.
Oh, germs. Germs.
Germs.
- Germs. - That's right.
Do you want some of this?
No. I'm on the wagon.
- Good. It's about time.
- I have returned.
- Wait a minute. I'm not that kind of a guy. - Oh, you know you are.
Not on the first date.
# With a trembling hand and a bottle of gin
# And a rose of a different name
# The devil made me do it the first time
# The second time I done it on my own
# Lord, put a handle on a simple-handed man
# And help him leave that black rose alone
# When the devil made that woman
# Lord, he threw the pattern away
# She was built for speed with the tools you need
# To make a new fool every day
# Way down deep and dirty
# On the darker side of shame
# I caught a cane-cutting man and a bottle of gin
# With a rose of a different name
# The devil made me do it the first time
# The second time I done it on my own
# Lord, put a handle on a simple-handed man
# And help him leave that black rose alone
# The devil made me do it the first time
# The second time I done it on my own
# Lord, put a handle on a simple-handed man
# And help him leave that black rose alone
- What are you gonna do with that? - Clean it.
Eddie, this is a very friendly person comin' here.
He's not malicious in any way.
- Did you hear what I said? - About what?
- About the man who's comin' here. - What man?
First off, it can't be very serious.
- Oh, really? And why is that? - Cos you call him a man.
- What am I supposed to call him? - A guy.
If you called him a guy, I'd be worried.
Since you call him a man, you give yourself away.
You're in a dumb situation with this guy by callin' him a man.
- You put yourself below him. - What the hell do you know about it?
Anybody who don't kill himself by fallin' off horses and ridin' steers
- is a twerp in your book, isn't that right? - Yeah, that is right.
What are you supposed to call yourself?
You supposed to call yourself a guy or call yourself a man?
If you ain't a cowboy, you ain't shit.
- Why's everything a contest with you?
He's not competing with you. He doesn't know you exist.
- You can introduce me. - You can't keep messing me around.
You have no right to be jealous of me. Not after all the bullshit I've been through.
- We got a pact. Remember that? - We haven't got anything any more.
Is that right? How come you're so excited?
- I'm not excited! - Yeah, you are. You're beside yourself.
You're drivin' me crazy, that's why.
You know we're connected, May.
We'll always be connected. That was decided a long time ago.
Nothing was decided, Eddie. You screwed up.
- You know what happened. - You promised me that.
You promised you'd never bring that up again.
A promise can't stop that. It happened.
- Nothing happened, Eddie! - Innocent to the last drop.
Nothing happened!
- You're a traitor. - Eddie, nothing ever happened!
Eddie!
Baby?
You know something, honey?
There is one thing I'll never forget.
I'll never forget this as long as I live.
I don't even know why I remember it exactly.
But you and me and your mother
were drivin' through southern Utah once, I think it was,
in that old Plymouth we had.
You remember that Plym? It had a white plastic hood.
A replica of the Mayflower, I think it was.
Well, it was some kind of ship.
Anyway, we'd been drivin' all night
and you were sound asleep in the back seat
and your momma was sound asleep in the front.
# You lied your way right into my heart
# Said all those things I thought I'd never hear
# You held my hand when we went out walking
Then all of a sudden you woke up crying.
Just busting a gut over something. I don't know what it was.
A nightmare or something.
Woke your momma right up.
She climbed over the seat there in the back with you
to try to get you settled down.
But you just kept wailing. Wouldn't shut up for hell nor high water.
So I stopped the Plymouth by the side of the road,
middle of nowhere.
Can't even remember where it was exactly.
Pitch-black.
And I picked you up out of the back seat there and carried you out into this field.
Thought the cold air might quiet you down.
But you just kept howling.
And all of a sudden I saw something move out there.
Something bigger than both of us put together.
And it started to move toward us, kinda slow.
And then it started to get joined up by some other things just like it.
Same shape and everything.
But these things started to kind of move in on us.
I looked back at the car to see if your mother was all right
and just then these things started to moo.
They all started mooing away.
- The cows?
Sure enough, there we were standing in the middle of a goddamn herd of cattle.
You never heard a baby pipe down so fast.
You just never made a peep after that the whole rest of the trip.
You got any gin in there?
# Rosa
# He told me about you
# He said that you danced like the wind
# Go, Rosa, go
# Rosa
# I came here to warn you
# That hombre belongs to me
# Go, Rosa, go
# Rosa
# Stop looking that way at him
# My patience is wearing thin
# Now you better go
# Go, Rosa, go
# Go back to Mexico
# You and I, we are strangers
# But your life is in danger
# Rosa
# Your eyes are as black as sin
# They're casting a spell on him
# No, Rosa, no
# Rosa
# Here north of the border
# When you take a man like that
# There's no law and order
# Rosa
# Stop looking that way at him
# My patience is wearing thin
# Now you better go
# Go, Rosa, go
# Go back to Mexico
# You and I, we are strangers
# But your life is in danger
- Asshole.
Oh, that cow got away? Come on, boy.
Decided to jump off the wagon, huh?
Hm. Mm.
- What are you doing? - Just a little practice.
Gotta stay in practice these days.
There's kids out there ropin' cattle in six seconds dead.
They got it down to a science.
- I thought you were leaving. - Yeah, I was gonna.
But then I got about ten miles down the road there
and it suddenly occurred to me there probably isn't any man comin' here at all.
Probably isn't any guy or any man or anybody.
You just made all that up.
- Why would I do that? - Just to get even.
So that's how it is.
Gonna get real mean and sloppy, just like old times.
- Well... - Like old times.
I haven't drunk in quite a while, honey. I've been real good.
I figure I owe it to myself for once.
Have you balled him yet?
Hm?
I'm just curious.
You don't have to tell me. I already know it.
I hope this man comes over here.
I really hope he does.
I wanna see him walk through that door.
- What are you gonna do? - I'm gonna nail his ass to the floor.
Directly.
I'm not stickin' around for this.
- Wait. Come on, take it easy.
Honey! I'll back off, OK? I'll be real nice.
I'll be just like a little old pussycat, OK?
You can introduce me to him as your brother, OK?
- OK? Maybe not your brother. - Maybe not.
Your cousin, OK? I just wanna meet him.
- No! Why do you wanna meet him? - You don't understand these things.
You can tell a lot about a person by the company they keep.
- No. I'm just gonna go in the office. - Come on.
- We'll try and forget the whole thing. - Good. OK.
Great.
Uh-oh.
Great.
Why don't you run out there and throw yourself into his arms or something?
- What are you gonna do? - Put my hooks on.
I wanna look good, give him the right impression.
- I'm your cousin, after all. - I swear to God, if you hurt him...
- I'm not gonna hurt him. - He's just an ordinary date.
- I'm gonna turn him into a fig. - Just this once, Eddie, do me a favour.
Just one time. Just this once, Eddie.
Anything you want, honey. Anything you want.
What are you doing? May?
May, what are you doing? May?
- May? - It's not him.
- It's not, uh? - No, it's not.
Oh, too bad. Who is it, then?
Somebody else.
It's a big, huge, extra-Iong black Mercedes Benz.
This is a motel, isn't it?
Rich people have to sleep too.
This ain't a black Mercedes Benz type of motel, Eddie.
Somebody's just standin' out there in front of that car.
Just standin' there lookin' at me.
What are they doin'?
I don't think it's a they, Eddie. I think it's a she.
May, get away from the door.
Not that you know anybody with a black Mercedes Benz...
Stay down.
- Who the hell is that? - How should I know? Stay there.
It's OK.
I don't know who she is. Just stay there.
That is the kind of car a countess drives.
You don't know her? That's the kind of car a countess drives.
- Stay down!
- You OK? Stay down. - I'm down!
- How crazy is she? - Pretty crazy.
- Just stay down. - Have you balled her yet?
She's blown the goddamn windshield out of my truck!
- She what? - She's blown the windshield out.
- You should have thought of this! - Where are you going? Wait a second.
- Keep those lights off. - Don't you tell me what to do!
She's gonna come back. We gotta get outta here.
- We gotta get your stuff... - Stop it! Don't you dare pick me up!
- Put me down! - I came here to get you.
I came all this way to get you. Do you think I'd do that for anybody else?
- Put me down! - Listen to me!
The amazing thing is, neither one of you look a bit familiar to me.
Can't figure that one out.
I don't recognise myself in either one of you. Never have.
Now get your stuff. We're gettin' outta here.
No, I'm not leavin', but you're leavin' for sure!
- You broke my bed. - I am not leavin' without you, May.
If you're stayin' here, I'm stayin' here.
You'll never get rid of me. I'll track you down, no matter where you go.
I know exactly how your mind works.
I've been right every time.
- Every single time. - You gotta give this up, Eddie.
I don't know what's in your head any more, I really don't.
Now you desperately need me?
Now you can't live without me?
Why should I believe you now?
Cos it's true? Cos it was supposed to be true every other time.
Every other time before this, and it's true again.
You've been jerkin' me off for 15 years.
For 15 years I've been a yo-yo to you.
You know what? I never been split either.
I never thought one way or another about it. I either loved you or I didn't love you.
You know what, Eddie?
Now I just plain don't love you.
You understand?
You hear me, Eddie? You understand?
I don't love you, I don't need you and I don't want you.
- You get it? - Get in the bathroom.
I'm not gettin' in the bathroom!
I'm not gonna hide in my own house!
I'm gonna go out and I'm gonna tear her damn hair off!
- May... - I'm gonna whack her ass. That's right.
Come on in here with your damn gun. Bring all your weapons.
Stop!
No!
Oh, no. It's all right. It's all right.
It's all right. We were just havin' an argument. It's OK.
It's OK. It's just a little argument, that's all.
Oh, God.
I heard you screamin' when I drove up and then all the lights went out.
- I thought someone was tryin' to... - Oh.
No, they weren't.
I better turn my truck lights off. The battery will run down.
Yeah, you better.
It sure looked like you was gettin'... you know...
No, I wasn't.
- That's him? - I'm gonna kill you.
Oh, Martin, this is... this is my cousin.
Ed... die.
- I'm sorry. - She's lyin'.
- Oh? - Oh, no. You wanna come on in?
- Have a drink. I bet you need one. - Yeah.
I'm gonna have to get you a... wash you a glass, OK?
- Yeah. - OK?
OK.
She keeps the glasses in the bathroom. Isn't that weird?
I was startin' to think you weren't gonna come.
I'm sorry. I had to water the football field down at the high school.
- Forgot all about it. - You did?
- Forgot all about what? - I forgot about the waterin'.
I was halfway here when I remembered.
- There you go. - I thought you forgot about her.
Oh, no.
How far was halfway?
Excuse me?
How far was it when you were halfway here?
I don't know. I guess a couple of miles or so.
A couple of miles? A couple of lousy, stinkin' miles?
You wanna know how many miles I came? You wanna know?
- Huh? - Agh! I'm so sorry.
It's OK. We've been drinkin' a little bit.
She's in deep shit.
I'm gonna kill you.
What's the matter, May?
What? Nothin'.
How come you had all the lights off?
Oh... Yeah, we were gonna go out.
- But you... - And we were gonna come back.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
That's not what we were gonna do.
That's not what we were gonna do, Marty. No.
We were actually havin' a big argument about you.
- About me? - Uh-huh.
We were in the middle of a big argument about you.
It got so heated up, we had to turn the lights off.
- He's just joking. - What was it about?
It was about whether or not you're actually a man or not.
Whether you're a man... or just a guy.
See, she says that you're a man. Did you know that?
Did you know that's what she calls you? A man.
- I didn't know that. - I didn't. Don't worry about it.
It's OK. I don't mind it.
Didn't we say we were goin' to the movies?
Yeah. That's what I thought.
- We drink on up and we go, OK?
I'll be back.
She's not mad or anything, is she?
I didn't mean to make her mad.
Huh.
What are you gonna go see, Marty?
I can't decide.
What do you mean? Supposed to have all that worked out, aren't you?
Yeah, but I'm not sure what she likes.
What difference does that make? You're takin' her out, right?
Yeah.
You pick the movie. The guy is supposed to pick the movie.
The guy always picks the movie.
Yeah, but I don't wanna take her to somethin' she doesn't wanna see.
How do you know what she wants to see?
- I don't. That's the reason I can't decide. - Uh-huh.
What if I take her to somethin' she's seen before?
No, you missed the whole point, Marty.
The reason you're takin' her out to the movies
isn't to see somethin' that she hasn't seen before.
- No? - No.
The reason you're takin' her out to the movies
is you just wanna be with her, right?
You just wanna... be close to her, right?
- Yeah, I guess. - Yeah.
You could take her just about anywhere.
After a while you probably won't even have to take her out at all.
You can hang around here, save yourself a lot of money.
Yeah.
- Oops. - What'll we do here?
Well, you could... You could uh... tell each other stories.
- Stories? - Yeah.
- I don't know any stories. - Well, make 'em up.
- That'd be lyin', wouldn't it? - No. Only when you believe it's true.
When you know it's a lie, it's not lyin'.
- You want a hand up off the floor? - No.
I like it down here. There's less tension.
You notice when you're standin' up there's more tension?
Yeah. A lot of times when I'm workin' I'm down on my hands and knees.
- What line of work do you follow? - Yard work, mostly.
Oh. You mean lawns and stuff?
- Maintenance. - You do lawns on your hands and knees?
- Edgin'. Trimmin' around the edges. - Oh, yeah?
- Weedin' around the sprinkler heads. - I get you.
Yeah, I always noticed how much more relaxed I get
when I'm down on my hands and knees, close to the ground.
You can get down on your hands and knees right now. I don't mind.
- No, I'll stand, thanks. - Suit yourself.
You're just gonna get more and more tense.
Huh?
- So you're May's cousin, huh? - Yeah. See that right there?
That's the result of tension, askin' me that.
- What? - Askin' me if I'm her cousin.
- You know I'm not her cousin. - How would I know that?
- Do I look like her cousin? - She said you were.
- She's lyin'. - Well, what are you, then?
You're really gettin' tense.
- Maybe I just better go on. - No, wait. Martin, don't go.
Don't go, Marty.
It is blue and Ionely out there in the black night.
I'll tell you what.
Let's go over to the bar and have us a little drink. What do you say?
- She gonna be OK? - Yeah. She's always OK.
She's just takin' her time just to torture ya.
- How will she know where we went? - She knows. She's got a sixth sense.
Come on, Marty. Come on. There we go.
There we go. There we go.
What exactly is the matter with May anyway?
- She's in a state of shock. - Shock?
- How come? - Well...
We haven't seen each other in a long time.
Me and her, we go back quite a way. High school.
Oh, really? Oh.
- I didn't know that. - Yeah. A lot of miles.
So you're not really cousins, then?
Well, not really, no.
- You're her husband? - No.
No.
She's my sister.
- Your sister? - Mm.
Hm. So you knew each other even before high school?
No. I never even knew I had a sister until it was too late.
- How do you mean? - By the time I found out, we'd already...
you know... fooled around.
- You fooled around? - Yeah.
Mm-hm.
That's illegal, isn't it?
- Only if you get caught. - Hey. Who is this guy?
- Is that true? She's really your sister? - Half. Only half.
- Which half? - The top half.
In horses we call that the top side.
And the mare is what? The mare is distaff.
Ain't that the bottom half? Distaff.
It's funny I should remember that.
You fooled around in high school together?
- Everybody fools around in high school. - I never did.
- Maybe you should have. - Not with my sister, anyway.
I wouldn't recommend that.
How could that happen? I mean...
Well, see...
Our daddy fell in love twice.
That's basically how it happened.
Once with my mom and once with her mom.
It was the same love, it just got split in two, that's all.
How come you didn't know each other until high school?
He lived two separate lives.
Two completely separate lives.
He'd live with me and my mom and then he'd go and live with her and her mom.
Don't be too hard on me, boy. It's happened to the best of us.
- You never knew what was goin' on? - No.
Never knew. Neither did my mother.
- She knew. - She never knew.
She must have suspected somethin' was going on.
Well... if she did, she never let on to me about it.
Maybe she was afraid of findin' out.
Or maybe she just... loved him. I don't know.
He'd disappear.
Months at a time he'd disappear.
She never once asked where he went.
She was always glad to see him, though.
I remember, me and her, we used to go runnin' out of the house to meet him
as soon as we saw him in the old Studebaker, drivin' across the fields.
It was a Willis.
I never owned a goddamn Studebaker.
It was a Willis Knight.
How'd you finally find out that she was your sister?
This went on for years, see.
Honey.
He kept disappearing and then reappearing.
And... then one day it stopped.
He just stayed home for a while.
He stayed in the house. He never went outside.
He just sat in his chair, starin'. Then he started goin' on these walks.
He'd go on these long walks and he'd walk all day and he'd walk all night.
Ellie!
He'd just disappear in the dark.
I remember watchin' him from my bedroom window.
He'd just disappear in the dark with his overcoat on.
Where was he going?
Just walkin'.
I was making a decision.
And one night...
I asked him if I could go with him.
And he took me.
We walked straight out across the fields together.
I remember it was just ploughed and our feet sank down in the powder.
The dirt came up over the tops of my shoes and weighed me down.
I wanted to stop and empty my shoes out but he wouldn't stop.
He kept walkin' straight ahead.
I was afraid of losin' him in the dark, so I just kept up as best I could.
And we were completely silent the whole time.
We never said a word to each other.
We could barely see a foot in front of us
and these white owls kept swooping down out of nowhere, hunting forjack rabbits,
diving right past our heads and disappearing.
We just kept walkin' silent like that for miles until we got to town.
I remember seein' the old man in the liquor store as he paid for the bottle.
Then he came out with the bottle wrapped in a brown paper sack.
What are you doin'? Attacking me or something?
He opened the bottle up and offered it to me.
Before he even took a drink, he offered it to me first.
I took it and drank it and handed it back to him.
We just kept passing it back and forth like that till we drank the whole thing dry.
Finally we reached this little white house with a red awning on the far side of town.
# Listen to me, woman Listen to me
# I want you to understand
We walked right up to the front porch and he rang the bell.
I remember gettin' real nervous because I wasn't expecting to visit anybody.
And then this woman comes to the door.
This real pretty woman with red hair.
And she throws herself into his arms and he starts crying.
He just breaks down right there in front of me.
She's kissing him all on the face.
He's just cryin' like a little baby.
And then...
through the doorway behind them both, I see this girl.
She just appears.
She's just standin' there starin' at me.
And I'm starin' back at her.
Can't take our eyes off each other.
It was like we knew each other from somewhere but we couldn't place where.
But the second we saw each other, that very second,
we knew we'd never stop bein' in love.
Boy, you're incredible. You're just unbelievable.
Martin comes all the way over here, doesn't know you from Adam.
You start tellin' him a story like that. Are you crazy?
Are you?
None of it's true, Martin. He's had this weird, sick idea for years.
It's totally made up. I don't know where he got it from. He's a bit nuts.
I don't know where he got it from, but he's completely nuts.
She's a little embarrassed about the whole thing. You can't blame her.
- Hand me a glass, please. - You heard that, huh?
Oh, yeah, I heard it.
I heard it, every word of it, and I followed it very carefully.
He's told me the same story a thousand times and it always changes. Always.
- I never, ever repeat myself. - You do nothin' but repeat yourself.
That's all you do. You go around in one big circle. Round and round.
Did you think it was a story? Did you think I made that whole thing up?
At the time you were tellin' it it seemed real.
But now you're doubtin' it because she says it's a lie?
She suggests it's a lie and all of a sudden you change your mind?
- Let's go to the movies. - Nobody is goin' to the movies.
There's not a movie in a hundred miles that can match the story I'm gonna tell.
- I'm gonna finish this story, OK? - Eddie...
- You wanna hear the rest of the story? - Sure.
OK. Good.
- I'm dyin' to hear it myself. - Yeah.
You think this is gonna change something?
No.
- Then what's the point? - It's absolutely pointless.
Why put everybody through this?
Martin don't wanna hear this bullshit and neither do I.
I know you don't wanna hear it.
Don't try and pass it off on me, Eddie.
You got it turned around.
You got it all turned around.
You don't even know which end is up any more.
I don't need either of you.
I don't need any of it.
Cos I know the whole rest of the story.
I know exactly how it happened.
Without adding any little tricks onto it, Eddie.
- What does she know? - She's lyin'.
Want me to finish it for you, Eddie? Huh?
Want me to finish the story for ya, Eddie?
See, my mother...
May?
My momma, the pretty red-haired lady.
She was. She was...
She was desperately in love with the old man.
Wasn't she, Eddie? You could see it in her eyes.
She was so obsessed with him that she couldn't stand to be without him.
Even for a second.
So she kept hunting for him from town to town
and following clues he'd leave behind, like a postcard, a motel matchbook.
He didn't ever leave anything simple behind like a telephone number
or an address.
Cos, you see, my momma was his little secret.
She hounded him.
Hounded him for years and years.
And he just kept tryin' to keep her at a distance.
Cos, see, the closer these two separate lives,
these two separate kids,
these two separate women got together,
the more nervous he got.
And the more filled with terror
that these two lives would find out about each other
and his little secret would devour him whole,
just take him by the throat.
She finally caught up with him.
She just dulled him down.
I remember that day when we got to that town
and she kept sayin' - she was on fire, she was crazy - she kept sayin'
"This is it. This is the place, May. This is the place."
And her whole body was tremblin' like this
as we were walkin' through the streets lookin' for this house.
I remember she was holdin' my hand so tight,
I thought she was gonna crush all the bones in my fingers.
She was so terrified.
She was so terrified she was gonna run into him by accident,
cos she knew she was trespassin'.
She knew she was crossin' into the forbidden zone.
But she couldn't help herself.
So we walked all day in that stupid hick town.
All day.
Goin' up and down every street in all these neighbourhoods,
lookin' in on every dumb family,
peerin' through all these open windows.
I remember it was exactly supper time
cos everybody was sittin' around the table havin' fried chicken.
That's how close we were to the window. We could see what they were eatin'.
We could hear the voices but we couldn't make out what they were sayin'.
But Eddie and his momma were talkin'
and the old man, he just sat there.
He didn't say nothin', did he, Eddie?
He just sat there in silence, eatin' his fried chicken.
She's off the wall. You gotta do something about this.
The funny thing was, almost as soon as we found him, he disappeared.
She weren't with him but a couple of weeks.
He just... vanished.
Nobody ever saw him after that. Ever.
And Momma, she just turned herself inside out.
I couldn't understand it. She grieved like somebody had died or somethin'.
I just couldn't understand that.
Cos I was feelin'just the opposite.
See, I...
I was in love.
I remember I'd come home from school after bein' with Eddie
and I was filled with this joy that...
And there she'd be.
She'd be standin' in the kitchen just starin' at the sink.
And her eyes looked like a funeral.
I didn't know what to say to her. I didn't even feel sorry for her.
Cos all I could think of was him.
And all he could think about was me.
Isn't that right, Eddie?
We couldn't take a breath without thinkin' of each other.
We couldn't eat, couldn't sleep unless we were together.
Eddie's mom didn't know what was wrong with him.
But my momma... my momma knew exactly.
Right down to her bones.
She went to Eddie and she begged him not to see me.
She went to Eddie's mom and begged her.
But Eddie's mother...
Eddie's mother blew her brains out, didn't she, Eddie?
She blew her brains right out.
Now, wait a second. Just a goddamn second here.
This story doesn't hold water.
You ain't gonna let her off the hook with that one, are you?
That's the dumbest version I ever heard in my whole life.
She never blew her brains out. Nobody ever told me that.
Where in the hell did that come from?
Well?
Well, stand up.
Get on your feet now, goddammit! I wanna hear the male side of this thing!
You're gonna represent me now. You're gonna speak on my behalf.
There's nobody to speak for me now.
Get up.
Well, tell her, then. Tell her what really happened.
It was your shotgun.
Same one we used to duck-hunt with. Browning.
She'd never fired a gun in her whole life.
That was her first time.
Nobody ever told me that.
I was left completely in the dark on that one.
- You were gone. - Somebody could have found me.
They could have hunted me down. I wasn't impossible to find.
- You were gone. - I know I was gone, God damn you!
I was gone!
But I wasn't disconnected.
There was nothing cut off in me. Don't you forget that.
Everything went on just the same as before I left. Nothing changed.
But your mother... Your mother wouldn't give it up, would she?
She drew me to her. She went out of her way to draw me in.
She was a force.
I told her I'd never come across for her from the very beginning,
but she kept opening up to me.
She kept...
See, she... She...
She... She kept opening up her heart to me, see.
You know, how could I turn her down when she loved me like that?
How could I turn away from her?
We were completely whole.
What are you doing?
Speak to her. Bring her round to our side.
Make her see this thing in a clear light!
Stay away from her, now.
What the hell are you doing? Keep away from her!
You two can't come together.
You gotta hold up my end of this deal. I got nobody now.
You can't betray me now.
You're my son.
I ain't staying. I ain't.
May?
- Hey, May!
The whole place is burnin' down, May.
Wait a minute, May. May?
Do you need some help or anything?
I got a truck. I can drive you anywhere you wanna go.
-Where are you goin'?
May?
You're not goin' with him, are you?
He's gone.
May?
-May!