A Thousand Acres Page #6

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or whipped you.

Like a moth to flame.

My little birdie girl.

I don't remember.

Daddy.

Oh, God.

Rose, what colour was your coat

when you were about five or so?

- My coat?

- Yeah.

It was that brown velveteen thing.

- I hated that.

- What colour did you want?

Well, pink, probably.

I was crazy about pink for years.

What is...

Did Caroline get your coat?

No.

It wore out.

Mummy cut it up for polishing rags.

I was in Roberta's,

and Caroline and Daddy came in.

You know, I can't tell you, the tone...

he used on her.

It was soft and affectionate,

but there was something underneath.

I thought I'd faint.

- Say it.

- Say what?

Say it.

It happened like you said.

I remember.

I used to pretend to be asleep.

And how he'd say:

"Quiet.

"Quiet, girl, don't fight me now. "

Rose, I remembered the smells.

The whiskey and cigarettes,

and the farm smells.

I remember how I'd sort of...

just leave my body...

so that I wouldn't be there.

So that it wouldn't be me.

- Hey.

- Hey.

You want a ride?

No, thanks.

I got Pete's Lewis' truck

at the 15th Street bridge.

Better notify his relatives.

Roger that.

Car off, send a tow and an ambulance.

Rose?

Ginny...

Pete's crashed the truck,

and drowned himself in the ditch.

The girls are still asleep.

Can you go down there?

Aunt Ginny,

I wish that Mum would let me baby sit.

She said that if she had to drive me,

she'd charge mileage.

Well, that sounds like a joke to me.

- Where's Mum?

- She'll be back soon, honey.

- I'm gonna go watch TV.

- Okay.

Girls, I have some bad news.

It's about your father.

This past week

has been hell on the kids.

I could come over to your place. I'm...

crazy to get out of this house.

But Pammy keeps waking up...

calling for me.

Last night she woke up

about every 45 minutes.

I can't sleep anyway.

How are they? I feel so bad for them.

Well, you've seen them.

They're shell-shocked.

I hate Pete for that. Sh*t!

Ginny, you don't know

what it was like with Pete.

He told me when I got back

from the hospital...

that he'd prefer me

to keep my nightgown on...

if he was in the room.

I'm so tempted to just...

walk over there and go in.

What on Earth for?

To get into bed with Jess.

Don't look at me that way.

I can't deal with it.

Ask me a question, any question.

I'll tell you the truth.

Just tell me.

He has this sense of my body.

He looks at it a lot.

You know, he touches it as if...

he loves it.

I mean, I know that stops,

but while it lasts, I can't-

- When that stops?

- I can't get enough.

Doesn't everything stop? I mean,

isn't that what affairs are all about?

- It's not going to stop.

- Jess has never settled down, Rose.

He's restless.

He's had a lot of women. I'd bet on that.

- I mean, unless he commits himself-

- He has. He's pushing me...

- to just-

- To just what?

That's what we can't decide. What? Where?

Did you tell Pete about Jess?

Yes.

- And what did he say?

- That he was going to kill Daddy.

Daddy?

He blamed Daddy for everything

that went wrong in our lives.

When you got right down to it,

he was jealous as hell.

But he was too weak.

Couldn't actually do anything up front,

just threaten.

Sh*t, Ginny, at the core,

they're all like that.

We just think that way because of Daddy.

I mean...

if he hadn't...

Say the words, Ginny.

If he hadn't have beat us and f***ed us...

we'd think differently, right?

But he did.

And what kills me is this person...

who can beat and f*** his own daughters...

can go into the community...

and get respect and power...

and take it for granted that he deserves it.

He's respected,

and people say what b*tches we are.

And that's that, end of history.

I can't stand that.

I was thinking, leaving here...

Jess and me, was the only alternative...

but I don't want to leave here.

I want what was Daddy's. I want it.

I think I paid for it, don't you?

You think a breast weighs a pound?

That's my pound of flesh.

Okay, here's a question for you.

Did you know I'd slept with Jess?

Sure.

Had you slept with him by that time?

- No.

- But he told you.

At some point, a while ago.

I guess that means...

he and I don't have

anything private together.

Selling the sows will tide us over

until after harvest.

I've got to think

about the payment on that loan.

It's not gonna take care of itself.

I thought we earmarked the rent

from your place for that.

That's gonna get eaten up at harvest.

The lawyer isn't gonna be cheap, either.

Gotta find it somewhere.

We're lucky to get three-fourths

of what these sows are worth.

They're prime breeding stock,

but what choice is there?

Ms. Cook,

when were your suspicions aroused...

about this plan going on

for the division of the Cook farm?

I was suspicious from the first.

The whole project was very atypical

for my father...

and I made my reservations known.

And how were your reservations greeted?

My sister, Ginny Smith, urged me

very strongly to go along with the plan.

What did you think of that?

Well, I suspected her of ulterior motives.

I know both she and Rose have wanted

to get their hands on the property.

- Oh, my God, listen to this.

- Objection, your honour.

Quiet, Mrs. Lewis.

The objection is sustained.

Mr. Ty Smith told you that your sisters...

sent your father out into a

terrible storm, did he not?

- Yes, he did.

- He did?

It was common knowledge

that my father was out in that storm.

I'm not surprised.

Ms. Cook, the relationship

between your father and your sisters...

is irrelevant in this case.

The mismanagement or abuse clause

in the preincorporation agreement...

refers to the farm properties only.

Ms. Cook?

In the past,

had the Cook farm ever incurred debt?

No.

- Is it now burdened with debt?

- Yes, it certainly is.

- No further questions.

- No questions.

Witness is excused.

So, work crews were doing

very long hours overtime?

Yes.

In order to push the work

past the point of no return?

- Objection, your honour.

- Sustained. Rephrase, Counsel.

Everything was done in a rush, right?

Well, the sooner the work was finished,

the sooner we'd start earning.

Didn't you tell your husband, Ty Smith...

that the big dollars being spent

made you giddy?

Did you tell your husband...

the big dollars being spent

made you giddy?

Yes, but that was-

In other words, you and your husband

were way overextended...

and you both knew it.

No.

Your honour, at this time, I'd like

to call Mr. Larry Cook to the stand.

He's been saving it all up for this moment.

Brace yourself.

Mr. Cook, did you in good faith...

form a corporation and relinquish your

farm to your two older daughters...

Rose Cook Lewis and Virginia Cook Smith...

and their husbands,

Tyler Smith and Peter Lewis?

- Mr. Cook?

- By God, they'll starve.

The land won't produce

for the likes of them.

Larry, did you sign the farm over

to Ginny and Rose?

I don't care about going to gaol.

Nobody's going to gaol, Larry.

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