Between Heaven and Hell Page #2

- I think I'll run up there and talk to him.

- I don't wanna put Rake to no trouble.

It's not a question of puttin' people to

trouble, it's a question of pickin' cotton.

Ma! Pa! Mr. Gifford's here.

- Hi there.

- Howdy.

Why, Mr. Gifford, I was sayin' the other

day you ought to be visitin' pretty soon.

- Didn't I, Rake?

- That's what she was sayin', Mr. Gifford.

- This is Mrs. Gifford.

- How do you do.

Here, Annamay! Get outta there.

I was just talking to Carr. He's

havin' trouble getting his crop in.

I thought maybe your two oldest

boys could give him a hand.

Well, Mr. Gifford, I've been

keepin' 'em right busy.

But if Kenny needs help,

I could lend him young Tom here.

Matter of fact, you all better

go over there Sunday and work.

- Sunday, Mr. Gifford?

- That's right.

Sunday we was plannin' on visitin'

my wife's sister, Rose Ellen.

Yeah, Mr. Gifford. We was wantin'

to see Rose Ellen's new baby.

Raker, you can visit your relatives

anytime during the year,

but there's only so many days

to get the cotton in.

I want you all over there

to Carr's come Sunday, hear?

- All right, Mr. Gifford. We'll be there.

- Better make it early.

Yes, sir, Mr. Gifford.

Sam, I'd like to go home now.

I thought you wanted to

see the croppers, honey.

- Why do you talk that way?

- What way?

The way you talked to those people.

- You mean there's another way?

- There must be.

Not if you want to stay

in the cotton business.

I don't see why you're so upset

about sharecroppers.

Think they're happy bein'

treated that way?

- I never heard 'em complain.

- Maybe you were never there when they did.

Listen, darlin', my family's had

croppers for over a hundred years.

They do the only thing they know how to do.

They're happy with what they can get.

That's the way it's always been

and the way it always will be.

Meanwhile they're lazy.

They have to be kept jumpin'.

And they have to be kept

in their place.

Oh, now, honey, there's just no sense

in us arguing about it like this.

Sam, I'm seein' a side of you

I never saw before.

You're just seein' the

business side of me.

I can explain the whole

thing in five minutes.

Explain a hundred years in five minutes?

The way you treat those people...

I treat 'em the same way my father did,

and my grandfather before him.

As though they were animals

or farm machinery?

They're human beings, Sam. Can't you

understand that? Human beings.

I know what they are.

I don't think you do.

I don't even think you know

what you are yourself.

I thought I did,

but now I'm not so sure.

The man I'm seein' this afternoon

is not the man I saw this mornin'.

Oh, now, wait a minute, Jenny.

Nobody made you come with me.

Now I'm sorry I did,

because I didn't enjoy it at all.

I was brought up to be

polite to everybody,

and I don't think that business

gives anyone a right to be rude.

If that's the way businessmen act,

then I'm glad I'm a woman.

So am I.

You don't care what I say, do you?

Well, this woman doesn't want to see

you again the whole rest of the day.

Oh, I meant to ask you, Sam,

how's Jenny?

She's been a little

touchy the last few days.

What for?

Oh, who knows why women get touchy.

Wait a minute, Ray.

Afternoon, Mr. Gifford.

- Did Raker help you on Sunday, Carr?

- Yes, sir.

Is that all seven people can bring in

for a full day's work?

Well, Mr. Gifford, we all worked

till long after dark.

What'd you do during the daytime?

Mrs. Raker, she felt poorly for

a while, working in that sun.

That's Raker's problem, not mine.

And you better start jumpin',

or I'll set up someone else on

those acres you're croppin'.

Clean 'em out.

Come on.

Well, leastwise, Sam,

your croppers keep on having kids.

Ours act like they were all bred out.

I keep telling Pop he ought to kick the

whole bunch out, get in some fresh blood.

- Our people have been on this land too long.

- Mine too.

There's gonna be some changes made.

But we can talk about that

over some bourbon and branch water.

Now there's a man

with a head on his shoulders.

- Hi, honey.

- Hello, darling.

- Hi, Jenny.

- Well, Colonel. How are you, sir?

- Fine. Good to see you.

- Colonel Cozzens.

- Can I get you a drink?

- No, no. Not right now. Thanks.

But don't let me stop you.

I think you're going to need it.

Well, don't keep us in suspense.

What is it?

- The president has declared an emergency.

- So?

So our National Guard division

has been called into federal service.

- Called into federal service?

- That's right.

Well, just what does that mean to us,

Colonel?

Well, it simply means that

within two weeks you and Sam

and everybody else in my command

will be on active duty.

The division has been ordered

into service for 12 months.

I'll take my drink now,

if you don't mind.

I just can't get over it. All I thought

the National Guard ever meant

was that Daddy held

a review every Monday night

and you all held a dance

twice a year.

I know that's how it

must've appeared,

but after all, the business of the

National Guard is to guard the nation.

But there are oceans between us

and everyone else, Daddy.

Do you really think

we'll have to go to war?

I don't know, honey, but I got a feelin'

that we'll get around to it.

Well, I got to be running along.

- Can you give me a lift, Colonel?

- Sure, I go right by your place. Bye, Sam.

See you, Sam.

Sam... I'm sorry we fought.

We didn't fight, honey.

Not really.

Those things will happen.

They shouldn't happen to us.

But, darlin', sometimes

I don't understand you.

The way you think, the way you act,

the things you say.

Honey, not now.

Please, not anymore.

I'm really sorry we fought.

Oh, I'm sorry for everything,

I guess,

and everybody who's

caught up in this trouble.

And, honey...

I'm scared, too.

Don't worry, baby.

Nothing's gonna happen.

Don't say that.

Daddy knows better.

There may be a war,

and I may lose you in the war.

I couldn't stand it even if

I lost you around the corner.

We may have our differences,

but I love you and wanna hold you

and never lose you.

Because you're still a stranger

to me in so many ways,

and women love attractive strangers.

Especially when they're

married to them.

- Hello, Joe.

- Evening, Colonel.

- Evening, men.

- Evening, sir.

- Evening.

- Evening.

- Hi, Sam.

- Colonel.

Ah, Soames.

- You wish you were back at the drugstore?

- Yes, sir.

So do I, having a nice cold Coke.

- Good evening, Colonel.

- Evening.

Hello.

- Oh, Kenny.

- Colonel.

Who'd you get to take over your place?

A cousin of mine and his wife.

They come up from Louisiana.

That's good. Hello, Raker.

- Evening, Colonel.

- What do you hear from the family?

- They're getting along just fine, sir.

- Good. Good.

Uh, Meleski?

How does it feel to be a Chicago boy

in a Southern regiment?

- Rough as a cob, sir. These guys...

- Watch it, Meleski.

That's all right, Ray. It's a perfectly

good expression. I use it myself.

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