Bad Day at Black Rock Page #5

innocent folks from bigmouths like you.

- I'd hate to...

- Hector.

Never mind, Tim. We're not licked yet.

Ain't we? I am.

There comes a time, Tim...

when a man has just got to do something.

Not me. I'm useless and I know it.

No man is useless

so long as he's got a friend.

I'm your friend, Tim.

Then why don't you let me alone?

Because he's going to need you

before the night's over.

And all the useful men

are on the other side.

Let me alone, I tell you!

I can't let you alone!

I can't let myself alone.

Don't you understand that?

Four years ago,

something terrible happened here.

We did nothing about it. Nothing!

The whole town fell into

a sort of settled melancholy...

and all the people in it closed their eyes

and held their tongues...

and failed the test with a whimper.

Now something terrible

is going to happen again.

And in a way, we're lucky,

'cause we've been given a second chance.

I've got such a headache, I'm bewildered.

I hurt all over.

Yeah, pain is bewildering. I know.

I was bewildered when I came here.

Full of self-pity.

But your friend Smith tried to kill me.

It's strange how a man

will cling to the earth...

when he feels

he isn't going to see it again.

There's lot of difference between

clinging to it and crawling on the earth.

Are you going to stand by

and watch forever?

I ain't gonna watch.

And I ain't gonna get into anything.

I'm getting out.

I'm sorry, Mr. Macreedy.

You'd be smart to get out, too, Doc.

There's too many smart guys around here.

I'm glad I'm a dummy.

You're a troublesome dummy.

You're liable to end up on your own slab.

I expect to be in a lot more trouble

before I die...

Go home, Doc. He's all washed-up.

You think so?

I was washed-up when I got off that train.

- You shouldn't have got off.

- I had to.

I had one last duty to perform

before I resigned from the human race.

I thought you were going to Los Angeles.

That hotbed of pomp and vanity.

Is that what you call

resigning from the human race?

Good jumping-off place

for South America, the islands.

Why?

I don't know. I guess I was just looking

for some place to get lost.

Why do you want to get lost?

Because I was afraid

I couldn't function any longer.

Luckily, your friend Smith

changed my mind.

- Sure, you're a man of action.

- I know what your trouble is, sonny.

You'd like me to die quickly, wouldn't you?

Without wasting too much of your time.

Or quietly,

so I won't embarrass you too much.

Or even thankfully...

so your memory of the occasion

won't be too unpleasant.

My memories are so pleasant, as it is.

It's gonna take an awful lot of whiskey

to wash out your guts.

Go on, swill it!

What is there left for you to do?

You're as dead as Komako,

and you don't know it.

Take it easy. Sit down.

Sit down?

Why don't you tell me to kneel down...

and beg his pardon

for bringing up an unpleasant subject?

You don't have to remind me.

I've never forgotten.

Isn't that noble of you?

You haven't forgotten and

you're ashamed. That's really noble of you.

I suppose four years from now,

you'll be sitting here...

telling people

you haven't forgotten me, either.

That's real progress.

In the meantime, I'll be as dead as a...

Why don't you tell me what happened?

What happened?

Why did you come here, Mr. Macreedy?

Did Komako have any other family

besides his son, Joe?

Son? Nobody around here

ever knew he had a son.

Yes, he had a son. He's dead, too.

He's buried in Italy.

I asked you before:

Why did you come here?

Why, this Komako boy died

trying to save my life.

They gave him a medal.

I came here to give it to his old man.

I figured the least I could do

was give him one day out of my life.

Well, are you gonna tell him

or have I got to?

I'll tell him.

Smith owned Adobe Flat.

He leased it to Komako.

He figured he cheated him because

you gotta have water to raise anything.

There never was any water on Adobe Flat.

Komako dug a well.

He must have gone down 60 feet.

He got plenty of water.

That made Smith pretty sore.

He didn't like Japs anyway.

The day after Pearl Harbor,

Smith went to Sand City.

Yeah, he got turned down. Tried to enlist.

When he got back, he was pretty sore.

Around 10:
00, we all started drinking.

10:
00 in the morning?

Smith, Coley, Sam, Hector, and me.

We were all drunk.

Patriotic drunk.

We wanted to go out to scare

the Jap a little and have a little fun.

When we got there,

he heard us coming and locked the door.

Then Smith started a fire...

and the Jap came running out.

His clothes were all burning.

And then Smith shot him.

I didn't even know he had a gun.

Then you got scared and buried him,

and kept your mouth shut?

Yeah.

Well, go ahead and have your drink.

You're going to need it.

Hello, Liz. Pete.

Listen, I'm getting Macreedy out of town.

I would call the police,

but all the outside lines are cut.

Let him try. I might as well be dead.

Yeah, I told him everything.

Never mind about that.

I'm asking you because I need your help.

You'd be saving two lives, Liz:

Macreedy's and mine,

if that means anything to you.

All right.

Now, here's what I want you to do.

Wait till it's dark.

I've been looking for you. Come here.

What do you want?

Macreedy. He went up to bed.

So, you want me to tuck him in?

No, but I thought

maybe you ought to tell Smith.

Smith don't want to be disturbed.

He'll be here at midnight, he said.

Why are you so nervous?

What do you mean? I'm not nervous.

You got a match?

No, I got some in the lobby.

What did you do to get Pete

to change his mind? Beat him up?

No, no muscle.

Not with brains, either.

He's a pushover for a muscleman.

I'm beginning to think

it runs in the family.

I'd sure like to have seen you tangle

with Reno Smith.

He didn't happen to be there when I left.

Maybe I will yet.

- What's this?

- Need water.

Smitty?

Liz, you fool.

If he gets me, he's gotta get you.

I'm here, honey. Head for the car.

So long, Macreedy.

A few more steps, honey.

Get him. Get him now.

First things first, honey.

Help me up, Smitty.

You were gonna help me, Liz.

I still need your help.

I did everything you said.

You two started out in the car.

And that's the way you're gonna end up.

Over a cliff, burning.

You can blame Macreedy for that.

He said I had too many witnesses.

Why me? Why start with me?

I gotta start with somebody.

Save me!

Am I going to have trouble with you?

No. But I sure thought the situation

was gonna be reversed.

I thought that

I was gonna have trouble with him.

I'll take care of him.

The gang's all here, all right.

Thought I'd take one last whack at my job.

Your sister's out in the car, Pete.

She's dead.

Do you want me to tell you who killed her?

I know who killed her.

About that medal? Can we have it?

- "Can we have it?" Who's "we"?

- We. Us.

Why?

Maybe we need it.

Maybe give us something to build on.

This town's wrecked,

just as though it was bombed out.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes