Convicts Page #5

No, sir.

If I fall asleep, don't leave

me, you hear? Don't leave me.

No, sir.

- Jackson.

- Yes, sir.

- Convicts all quiet?

- Yes, sir. Been quiet.

Before daybreak, go down there and tell

the Overseer I want them convicts...

to make a coffin for

me, if I'm dead or not.

Yes, sir.

When you reach my time of life,

you better have your coffin handy.

And when it's made, I want

you to put it under my bed.

And if you can't get it under

my bed, I want it beside it.

Yes, sir.

Jackson, you were a

convict, weren't you?

Yes, sir. You know that.

- What'd they send you to the pen for?

- Killed a man.

- Wasn't a white man, I hope.

- No, sir.

- Was it a n*gger, a colored man?

- Yes, sir.

What'd you kill him for?

'Cause he killed my only brother.

Took a club and clubbed him to death.

Then took his body into

the house and burned it up.

- The house, too?

- Yes, sir.

Whose house was it? His

house or your brother's house?

My brother's house.

- How long they give you for?

- Life.

- Well, how old were you at the time?

- Nineteen.

- Well, how old are

you now? - Fifty-five.

You know how old I am?

No, sir.

How old were you when you

came to work on this place?

Thirty-two.

How long have you been a trustee?

Eight years. Ever since you killed

that convict in the closet over there.

You said you wanted someone you could

trust to guard you while you slept.

And can I trust you?

Yes, sir. I hope so. I believe so.

I believe so, too.

I'll tell you what.

- I'm gonna leave everything I got to you.

- Thank you.

I don't want you to wait till dawn.

I want you to go out there now and get

the convicts to make my coffin for me.

Now, wait, Jackson. Is that

your first name or your last?

- My first name.

- What's your last name?

Hall.

Here.

- This is my will.

- Thank you.

Why'd that man kill your brother?

- I don't know.

- Well, how'd you kill him?

Shot him.

What, from an ambush or did you just

walk right up to him and kill him?

- I walked right up to him.

- Did you give him any warning?

I hollered for him to

run. I was gonna kill him.

Did he run?

No, sir. He tried to

take the gun from me.

- And you shot him then?

- Yes, sir.

- Did he have a gun on him?

- No, sir. Just a knife.

- You ever regret killing him?

- No, sir.

And you would kill him again if

you had it all to do over again?

- Yes, sir.

- You were fond of your brother?

Yes, sir.

Were you here...

when I shot that convict

who was hiding in the closet?

I was here on the place. But I

wasn't working directly for you then.

What was the name of

the convict I shot?

- Which one?

- The one in the closet.

Yes, sir.

What was his name?

Tucker. I'm not sure about that.

But I remember what he looked like.

He was crippled 'cause he

had run away once before.

Got caught in a bear trap and broke

his leg. It never healed right.

So he limp walked

around here from then on.

Well, I walked.

What do you think he was

doing in that closet there?

You think he was waiting

in there to kill me?

- I don't know, sir.

- What's your opinion?

- Yes, sir.

- Yes, sir, what?

I think he was waiting

in there to kill you.

I think he was, too. I think he was.

Yes, sir.

You hear something in

that closet over there?

- No, sir.

- Well, I do.

Come out of there, you dirty

son of a b*tch, you hear me?

I'll give you one more

chance. Come on out of there.

I warned you.

Go see if I killed anything in there.

I don't see nothing, sir.

How can you tell?

Go in there and look.

- There's nothing here, sir.

- Look again.

God help me.

Thank you, Lena.

Where are you from?

I'm from Harrison.

What are you doing out here?

Working for you, sir, at the store.

You're white, aren't you?

Yes, sir.

Who's that old man?

That's you, sir.

We're the only two white people

between here and Harrison.

The only other ones are the

Overseer and the two guards.

The rest are convicts.

No, Ben and Martha aren't convicts.

- Where are they?

- Down at the store.

Are you the one I

promised a tombstone?

- Yes, sir.

- I haven't forgotten.

And I owe you money.

Yes, sir.

Soon as Jackson gets back I'm

gonna pay you what I owe you.

How much is it?

$12.50.

- $12.50?

- Yes, sir.

I'm gonna pay you $100,

maybe even $1,000...

for all your kindness to an old man.

You know how much my

daddy's tombstone cost?

$5,000. I brought it by

boat from New Orleans.

Used to be a woman

out here named Sarah.

You seen her lately?

No, sir. I believe she's dead.

How do you know that?

I heard Ben say it.

- Ben who?

- Ben Johnson.

He was born on this place.

- Talk up.

- No, sir! Jackson!

- Wasn't anything in the closet.

- No?

I swore I heard something in there.

Yes, sir.

Go get them to make

my coffin right now.

Go on.

Yes, sir.

I had a dream one night last week.

I had a dream that the convicts

got loose and they came over here...

and they caught me

here in this very chair.

And they shot Jackson,

and they bound me.

I don't remember if

they shot Jackson or not.

Part of the time it seemed

like Jackson was one of them.

Did you hear anything in

that closet over there?

No, sir.

Well, I did.

Come out of there, you

son of a b*tch! I hear you!

I'll give you one more

chance to come out of there.

I warned you.

That got whoever was in there.

Go see who it was. Go on.

No, sir.

Are you scared?

Well, I'll go. Help me up.

I knew there was somebody in

here. I'll kill the son of a b*tch.

There's blood every place.

Cripple.

He's a cripple.

What were we talking about?

Oh, yeah, about my dream.

I was sitting here and Jackson

came in with all them convicts.

I never saw so many.

And they grabbed me and Jackson

had a club and he began to club me.

I said, "Jackson, you're killing me."

Then all the convicts grabbed

clubs and began to beat me.

And Jackson set fire to the house.

I said, "Why did you do that?"

I swear, I said it.

He said, "We're gonna burn you

and all you got to the ground."

Get out of my damn chair. Get up. Go.

Buttermilk.

Here, that'll put hair on your chest.

- Where you been?

- I went to tell them about your coffin.

- Have they started?

- Yes, sir.

They making it out of cypress wood?

I don't know, sir.

- When it's finished will they bring it here?

- Yes, sir.

How long will that be?

They'll have it done in an hour.

I killed a man in the closet. It's

full of blood, so you go clean it up.

- Get Ben to help you bury the body.

- Yes, sir.

That was a convict.

So you bury him in the

convict's graveyard, you hear?

Yes, sir.

- He's a cripple.

- Yes, sir.

How many convicts we have out here?

I don't know, sir.

If I live, tomorrow I'm gonna

go out there and count them.

If I live.

- Nobody in that closet, sir.

- No?

No, sir.

- You see any blood?

- No, sir.

I saw a crippled convict lying there.

Blood over the walls and on

the floor. So, don't tell me.

This is my mama.

There's nothing in there.

- Who's that singing in there?

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