Cape Fear Page #4

I've been looking for an excuse

to quit this... I finally found it.

- I forgot to buy paper plates and cups.

- You did that on purpose.

You can't convict me

on mere suspicion.

If one rat can leave the ship,

why not two?

- You take over for a minute.

- Where are you going?

I have to get more thinner

from Tony.

If we're a family of rats,

I'll leave too.

No. You represent

a giant stride in evolution.

And don't drip any of that

on the deck.

Hey, Nancy! Ahoy!

- Going to the picnic?

- Yes, if we ever get started.

- We'll go water-skiing. Okay?

- Okay.

What are you doing here?

Just drinking this beer,

Counsellor.

Do it someplace else.

The man sells me a beer,

and I might rent me a boat.

How many laws you got

against that, Counsellor?

Look, Cady...

maybe you can get away

with dog poisoning...

beating up on a little drifter

like Diane Taylor.

Don't push your luck with me.

Say, she's gettin' to be...

gettin' to be almost as juicy

as your wife, ain't she?

You rotten...

You're not gonna push me

into anything, Counsellor.

You just had your innings.

I'll make my stroke later.

I guess you saw that, didn't you?

Never laid a hand on him.

Just minding my own business,

a man walks up and starts beatin' the...

How about that?

That's him, isn't it?

She just ran out in front of me.

Nancy, darling, are you all right?

I saw him! I saw that man!

He chased me into the school,

and I couldn't get away!

It's all right, darling.

I tried to get away, but...

He's here. He's here, Mama.

- How is she?

- She's only bruised.

The doctor gave her a sedative.

I'm sorry, Sam. I thought the store

would only take a second.

Sam!

Are you out of your mind?

But, Sam,

he didn't do anything to her!

- He didn't hurt her!

- Fine. I'll wait until he does.

Will you please listen!

Lt'll be murder.

You know that.

Do you want to ruin all of us?

Isn't that exactly what he wants?

In the name of heaven,

pay him off...

give him some money

and he'll go away...

but don't do this to us.

If you get into that car,

I'll call the police.

You won't get halfway into town

before they pick you up.

Get me the police.

Please hurry.

Could I speak to Chief Dutton?

Mrs Bowden.

Bowden.

Mrs Sam Bowden.

Yes, it's urgent.

It's very urgent.

Will you please hurry?

Hello, Mark.

I'm sorry. It's a false alarm.

Everything's all right.

I'll talk to you later.

Right. Good-bye.

You're sweatin' a little,

huh, Counsellor?

Well, I know how it is.

I sweat too.

For eight solid years I sweat.

You gonna buy me a drink?

- Waiter?

- That'll be double, waiter.

Twelve-year-old.

My rich cousin here says

nothing's too good for ol' Max.

- How much do you want, Cady?

- How's that again?

You heard me.

I said, "How much do you want?"

Counsellor, you gotta forgive me. I'm a

little slow till after my first drink.

- I assume we're talkin' about dough.

- That's right.

Well, that certainly

is heart-warmin'.

A poor ex-convict comes to

a new town lookin' for a fresh start...

and one of the leading citizens

steps right up...

and offers him financial help.

That's enough to renew

your faith in human nature.

It sure is.

Hey, buster.

You got some salted peanuts,

salted in the shell?

- Not in the shell.

- Okay, forget it.

- I'm gonna have to educate this town.

- Come on. Let's have the answer.

That takes a little figurin',

Counsellor.

What do you reckon

eight lost years is worth?

Could a court fix a value on that?

Stick to the point.

How much?

That's too simple.

I like to put values on things.

Like the value of eight years...

the value of a family.

Interesting calculations,

wouldn't you say, Counsellor?

You're right to pass that stuff up.

A man told me it was bad for you.

Hey, buster, my friend would like

to buy me another drink.

Ten thousand dollars now and another

ten thousand over the next two years...

providing you keep out

of the state.

Suppose I come back

after the money runs out?

I'll give you a simple answer

to that one:
I'll kill you off.

Well, let me see.

Twenty grand...

That's less than 3,000 per

for my eight years.

Counsellor, I don't believe you've

heard of the Minimum Wage Act.

Now, just for fun...

let's go back to talkin' about values...

the value of a family.

You probably didn't even know

I had a family, did you?

One wife and one kid.

That's what I had when you sent me up.

She dumped me.

Never even visited.

- I signed the divorce papers.

- What did you expect?

Oh, no, it wasn't that. It was

the prison rap that she couldn't take.

She couldn't stand the disgrace...

and that was your doing,

not my doing!

She married a plumber.

They wound up with a litter of kids.

My own kid doesn't even know me.

So when I got out,

I went to visit her.

The plumber was off plumbin' someplace

and the kids were all in school.

She picked up a poker, tried

to hit me over the head with it.

I took it away from her and calmed

her down. She crawled in the car.

I took her 50 miles

down the road...

- Why tell me all this?

- Because I want to tell you all this.

That night, I made her call up

the plumber and tell him...

she was takin' a little vacation

from him and the kids.

Then I made her sit down

and write me a love note...

askin' me to invite her

on a second honeymoon.

She dated it and signed it.

I made her write

a lot of dirty words.

Then I occupied her time

for three days.

- You beginning to get the picture?

- I'm getting it.

Good.

Then I told her that if she ever

blew the whistle on me...

I was gonna mail a Photostat

of that note to the plumber.

I pumped another quart

of whisky into her...

threw away her dress, threw away her

shoes and gave her a fair chance...

to work her way home.

Charming story.

What is it supposed to prove?

Counsellor, for a bright fellow...

you sure are slow

gettin' the picture sometimes.

You see, I burned for eight years.

Now I've got what you might call

"peace of mind"...

about my dear, darlin' wife.

So no deal.

You're gettin' warm, Counsellor.

You know,

when I was in the bucket...

all I could think about was

bustin' out and killin' somebody.

I wanted to kill him

with my bare hands, slow.

Every single night for seven years,

I killed that man.

And on the eighth year,

I said, "Oh, no.

That's too easy.

That's too fast."

You know the Chinese death

of a thousand cuts?

They cut off a little toe...

then a piece of your finger,

your ear, your nose.

I liked that better.

By the little toe, I'm to understand

"child." That's it, isn't it?

That's your train of thought,

Counsellor, not mine.

My train of thought.

Shocking degenerate.

I've seen the worst, the dregs...

but you...

You are the lowest.

It makes me sick

to breathe the same air.

Hey, buster.

My cousin left me enough

to buy me another blast.

This is no war of nerves.

He won't be bought off.

It's Nancy he's after.

And he'll get to her

sooner or later...

unless I change his mind.

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