A Country Called Home Page #4

He was pretty bad back then.

Not much changes with time, I guess.

I'm really sorry.

Did you, uh, did you live with him after that?

For a while,

yeah, um...

He got a lot worse, and then when my brother

went off to college, that's when I moved in with my aunt.

What about Tommy's mom? She just out the picture?

She's alive, if you wanna call it that.

She's a junkie.

I never even suspected it.

I knew about alcohol, obviously, but...

I didn't know anything about the drugs.

I just...

Seems like I blinked, and I was married.

I blinked again, and I was divorced, with a little boy.

I blinked again, that little boy is almost five years old.

I just wonder how you get things to slow down a little bit.

I don't wanna blink and be in the grave.

Yeah.

It seems like that happens to a lot of people.

(COUNTRY MUSIC PLAYING)

If you lose

Your horses

'Cause they ran off

When lightning struck

I will come home

From wherever

I am

Till the last one

Is rounded up

If you've got the blues

I'll stand by you

If you've got the blues

I'll stand by you

I'll stand by you

-(TOMMY GIGGLING) -(CHUCKLES)

What are you laughing at, huh?

You want something to laugh about? You do?

-(CONTINUES GIGGLING) -You do?

-Uh-huh. -(CHUCKLES)

ELLIE:
Are you ticklish?

You better watch it, he's gonna wet himself.

Oh, I am willing to take that chance.

(BOTH LAUGHING)

BRUCE:
So, what does this do?

It's for seniors who have trouble rising from their chairs.

What you do is you hit a button,

and then, the armrests would rise

and it would be like people on either side of you

helping you up out of the chair.

-Dang, I'd buy one of those. -Yeah?

Yeah. Heck, I'd buy two of 'em.

-(CHUCKLES) -Where do I order?

Oh, it's just an idea that I'm working on.

I have no way of getting these things made.

Well, you sure won't unless you show 'em to someone.

-JUDY:
Here it is! -BRUCE: Uh-oh.

I knew I brought it. I left it in the car.

And here's something I found.

Your father always loved to ride.

-Did he? -JUDY:
Yeah.

He wasn't any kind of a cowboy.

He couldn't rope a steer to save his life,

but he loved to ride.

Oh, and this was some dance or other.

Your father loved to cut a rug.

BRUCE:
Yeah, he was a pretty good dancer.

-There's this, uh, old gal that he took to the prom... -Mmm-hmm.

And she still talks about how your daddy

was the best dance partner she ever had.

Oh, uh, that was the last picture

-where he was still our boy. -(SIGHS)

-It was, uh... -(JUDY SOBBING)

It was while he was in the Navy,

that all the drinking started up.

(JUDY CONTINUES SOBBING)

Normally, you can't squeeze a tear out of me.

Tell her, Bruce.

Why, she's a tough old bird,

but we're having a tough week.

And I expect it's, uh, not been too much fun for you, either.

WAITRESS:
All right, here we go. Chocolate shake...

(COUNTRY MUSIC PLAYING ON CAR STEREO)

ELLIE:
Hey, Reno.

Hey.

What's up?

Uh...

I got a call from the hospital.

Is your mom okay?

Well, I guess yes and no.

Well, it's not like she's a little bitty thing

that you can really misplace too easily.

Hey, there, Reno, thanks for coming in.

Oh, hey! Should I have brought a picture of my mom,

so we can start up a search party?

We didn't misplace her.

She must have woke up, got dressed,

and decided to check herself out.

(EXHALES DEEPLY)

ELLIE:
Should we go in?

RENO:
In a minute.

You think I look like her?

ELLIE:
Not so much.

You know, she's eating herself to death.

Are you okay?

Ever had a nightmare...

That was so bad, you had to get up out of the bed

just to try and walk away from it?

Yeah.

I have this nightmare

where I'm sitting at a table with my mom,

just feeding her, and feeding her...

And I wanna get up, I wanna leave, but...

I can't.

Well, I think there's no use in just crying our eyes out.

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)

-RENO:
Hey, Mom. -Hi, there.

I think they're, um,

looking for you back at the hospital.

Yeah, I woke up there this morning. What was all that about?

Uh...

I found you passed out in the kitchen the other night,

and then they said that you were in a diabetic coma.

Oh, I'm sorry. This is my friend, Ellie.

Hi. It's nice to meet you.

Are you feeling better?

I never felt bad.

I can tell you I sure was hungry, though,

when I woke up this morning. (CHUCKLES)

Hey, you know, we should just swing you by the hospital.

Oh, no, I'm not going back there.

Uh, well, they might have a list of foods

for you to avoid, and medication for you to take.

You pop on by there tomorrow and pick that stuff up for me, would you, Margaret?

Mom.

I mean, Reno.

-So, who's your friend? -Uh...

She's in town 'cause her, her father died.

Uh, Mark Edwards? Did you know him?

I knew him just to wave at.

-I know his momma pretty well, though. -Mmm-hmm.

-You feel like doing some sewing? -Oh, sure.

Let me just grab a Blizzard to go.

RENO:
Okay, but make the pants nice and tight, Mom.

You know how I like 'em.

I reckon I ought to by now.

Hey, so, Ellie thinks I should record some of my songs.

And move out of town and become a fancy musician?

(CHUCKLES)

Well, I think those songs are too good to keep to yourself.

(CHUCKLES)

No, I'm not gonna leave this place.

Yeah, well, I gotta go.

Do you need a ride to the funeral home tomorrow?

I can just meet you there.

Bye.

Close your eyes, and just go to sleep.

Does Ellie live here now?

No, she's just here 'cause her daddy passed away.

Would you let her live here if she wanted to?

I think she's got a life back where she lives.

Go on, close your eyes, go to bed.

(HUFFS PLAYFULLY)

Go to sleep, okay?

JACK:
This used to be my field.

You owned a baseball field?

(CHUCKLES) No, I used to go to school here.

I was one of the best players we had.

I had scholarships to play baseball at three different colleges.

What position did you play?

I was a pitcher, but...

I played third base too.

What college did you go to?

I didn't. I never left.

Why not?

I hurt my arm pretty bad and I couldn't pitch anymore and then...

-I got Tommy's mom pregnant a couple of years later. -Yeah.

I thought I got her pregnant.

-What do you mean? -You've seen him.

He doesn't look anything like me.

I told you his mom was an addict.

She used to do all kind of sh*t behind my back to get drugs.

Thought about getting one of those paternity tests.

Does it really matter?

What do you mean by that?

Well, Tommy is such a great kid.

I see your eyes just light up whenever he walks into the room.

So, does it really matter if he's not your biological son?

I don't know.

You are 100% the father that he needs.

And you're much more of a father than mine ever was.

-AMANDA:
Good morning. -Hi.

You know, I think I might wanna wear my hair up.

Mmm-hmm.

I haven't worn my hair up in 10 years.

But this is a memorial

and I think it might be the right thing to do.

Yeah, sure.

You think you could help me?

Well, I met your daddy right down the road at Charlie's Bar.

But I guess that's not such a big shock, is it?

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