Burn Country Page #4

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And they're going

to come at me hard.

This is bad, man.

Very f***ing bad!

F*** it!

Listen to me.

Listen to me.

I can help you, okay?

I can help you,

but you have to tell me

what it is that's going on.

Look, you go home.

I'll talk to Gloria,

see what she knows,

and then you and I,

we can sit down,

talk through this

and figure it out, okay?

We can fix this.

Promise?

I promise.

All right.

Gloria.

Not now, Osman.

I got to run.

Uh... uh...

You want to come with me?

Yeah.

Yeah, hop in.

Did you know the man?

The dead guy?

Not especially.

His name was beaux.

With an x.

It's cold in here.

How do you think he was killed?

Hit and run, probably.

So, what are we doing here?

Lindsay tell you

anything about him?

I don't know what you...

Yesterday.

You were with him, right?

You see this guy? Lindsay

say anything about him?

No, nothing like that.

He seen me on the side

of the road,

gave me a ride downtown.

He also apologized

for beating me.

I imagine you've seen

a lot of this.

A lot of death.

Yes.

With Gabe?

Yes, sometimes.

I don't imagine

it ever gets dull, does it?

No, it doesn't.

But this can make you

very tired.

You asked what we were

doing here.

Well, I have no idea.

All I know is our dead guy

worked for people

who are capable

of some truly unsavory things.

And when someone

close to people like that

ends up dead

by the side of the road,

it kind of makes you want

to take a walk in the woods,

if you know what I mean.

So, who did he work for?

A couple of guys

in the Guerneville hills.

Brothers, actually.

The Sokurovs.

You know, that kid

keeps torching the mailboxes,

I am 90% sure

he's one of theirs.

Word is one brother actually set

the other on fire over a woman.

Never could prove it, though.

Osman?

This...

This death must be

a very strange thing

for this town.

Osman...

You're lovely,

but with all due respect,

you couldn't possibly know

what's strange for this town.

Lindsay?

Lindsay?

I just come to talk to Lindsay.

Stop! Stop! Stop!

No! Stop! Stop!

Please! No!

Where's Lindsay?

He's gone.

She said... she said

they took him.

Who?

Won't say.

Or doesn't know.

Is his truck there?

What?

His truck.

Do you see it?

No, but...

Okay, then.

Let's not jump to conclusions.

I mean, for all we know,

he could be on a beer run

or halfway to Tahoe by now.

He said he'd be here.

This is who they are, Osman.

Unreliable.

Look, I'll be by

as soon as I can.

Probably find him passed out

on the lawn.

Well, I hope you do.

And what the hell are you

doing over there, anyway?

Actually, never mind that.

Just go home and let us

take care of it our way, okay?

Okay?

Yeah, okay.

Good.

Are they coming?

Can I borrow that?

Police blotter.

September 8.

A man is dead

on the side of the road.

A hole has opened in the earth.

Osman!

Everybody, this is Osman.

Let's move them

into the plastiques.

And don't get sucked

into patterns.

Honest impulse, clear action.

The forest run's next, people.

You look beat.

What does Gloria say

about all this?

She says nothing

means anything yet.

And she's right.

What, you think Lindsay

brained some guy with a rock

and then got whisked away

by the big weeping dude?

No. I have no idea.

That's the problem.

You know, I'm a crime reporter

who doesn't know

if a crime is actually

being committed.

You have asylum here, right?

Which means you can never

go home, right?

Not even for a visit.

And if you do, that's it.

They revoke your status.

Say you must not be in danger

in your home country

if you choose to go back,

even for a week.

Why are you asking me this?

It seems like a lot

of pressure, that's all.

I'm not quite sure what...

I don't agree with Gloria on

much, but she's right on this.

First off,

Lindsay's mom is not well.

And Lindsay,

he's a total disaster,

but incapable of violence.

You said it yourself.

Nothing else, the man knows

how to run from danger.

He is very quick.

He freaked out and left town.

Or he's down at red's

recovery room getting tanked.

He'll turn up.

He always does.

Even when people

wish he wouldn't.

What about... oh! Oh! Oh!

Why don't you hang out

for a while?

We're having a little gathering

at the house after we finish up.

And what about the Sokurovs?

What about them? They're a

whole family of a**holes.

But a**holes from Guerneville,

not a**holes from Kandahar.

Yeah, you got to relax, Osman.

Come on.

It'll be good for you.

So, you think I'm crazy?

Yes, I do.

Okay.

Osman.

Gloria, how are you?

You all right?

Yes, I'm fine.

I'm just checking in.

Why are you whispering?

They are doing something.

Okay.

Yeah. I just wanted to see if

you've been over to Lindsay's.

Yeah, yeah, everything's fine.

You see Lindsay?

No, not yet, but we will.

Talked to Maddie.

Okay, I just

want to make sure...

Osman, I'm telling you,

everything is fine.

There's nothing to worry about,

all right?

Osman?

Okay, thank you.

Thank you very much.

Watch this.

Feel it.

Sense the roots under your feet.

And now.

Whoa.

I want to feel your heart.

You enjoying yourself?

Everyone is very nice.

The bearded man wanted

to touch my heart.

But I don't know if

I'm in the mood for a party.

Are you still worried

about Lindsay?

Carl told me.

I don't know.

Maybe.

Where is Carl, anyway?

Man gets stoned

and has to exercise.

No, honestly, it's like you

smoke one joint at a concert

and next thing you know

he's doing one-armed push-ups

on the dance floor.

It does not have

that same effect on me.

F*** no. He's mad.

You're with Carl, right?

Why do you ask?

I was just...

I didn't know if...

We're in an open relationship.

We stay open to each other,

and open to the world.

I see.

What?

- Nothing.

- What?

Can I ask you something?

Yeah.

What was it like over there?

It's funny, I spent my whole

life trying to leave,

not because

I was always in danger

like people here imagine,

but because I got it

stuck in my head

that life started

somewhere else.

Like you had to get out to have

a chance at really living.

America, Europe, wherever.

Don't get me wrong.

The danger was real.

I don't know.

Like...

This one time,

I went to visit my aunt.

She lived in an apartment above

the Massoud monument in Kabul.

I knock on her door, and boom.

I run in,

and she's on the balcony

doing her laundry.

Only, her windows are gone

and she's got

two pieces of glass

sticking out of her back

like wings.

So, I run toward her.

She's bleeding,

but strangely she seems okay.

So, I look out and I see

there's something in the tree.

We're three floors up,

so it's at eye level.

And it's a foot and an

ankle still in the shoe.

And down below,

there's a Humvee split in half,

and there's an American

soldier bent into the shape

only dead people make.

It's a woman.

I can tell, because her helmet's

been blown off.

And there's a cigarette seller

with his little pushcart,

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