Dead Man Walking Page #4

...and killed them.

That scum robbed me of my only son.

My name...

My family name dies with me.

There will be no more Delacroixs,

Sister. No more.

I want you to know I do care

about you and your family...

...and what happened to your son.

I'm gonna give you my number...

...and if there's anything

that you need, you just call me.

Me call you?

Think about that, Sister.

Think about how arrogant that is.

Excuse me.

You all right?

We better be getting on in.

It is the finding of this board

that clemency...

...be denied to Matthew Poncelet.

Execution will be carried out

as scheduled one week hence.

Don't give up hope, Matt.

We got a judge in the Federal Court

that can put a stop to this.

Beyond that there's the

Supreme Court and the governor.

I'll get a private meeting

with him if it's the last thing I do.

Looks like you're all I got.

I can have a spiritual adviser

of my choice. Will you do it?

Ride along into the sunset with me.

You'll have to spend several hours

with him every day as his death nears.

Then on the day of his execution,

you'll have to spend all day with him.

It's not an easy job.

Usually, it's done by a chaplain

or a priest or a Moslem cleric.

I want you to be realistic about this.

We've got about a one in one thousand

chance things might go our way.

It's a tough road.

If that had been a king,

you could go back over, right?

You can jump three this way

then go all the way back.

She got that big old bad joker and

won't put it down. That's a shame.

My turn. My turn.

I got an ace. I'm really lucky.

- Whose was this?

- Mine.

Don't kill him. He's a child of God.

He's reformed. He's a poet.

Blah, blah, blah.

Attention all ye folks, ye advocates

of killers and child molesters.

Ye opponents of execution.

Ye cannot walk upon the high ground.

Ye do not have the moral

authority to walk there.

Ye traverse with scum

and scum is where--

- What do you want?

- Forgive me for intruding...

...but I haven't been able to get

you and your wife out of my mind.

I've been trying to call you,

but there's been no answer.

Can I please speak with you?

Sure.

I'm really sorry for not coming

to visit with you before this...

...but I've never been involved

in anything like this before.

Truth is you're scared.

Yes.

I'd be too.

- Come in.

- Thank you.

Well, Sister...

...can I ask you a question?

- Are you a communist?

- Communist? No.

I didn't think so.

That's what people around here say...

...with you defending this murderer,

but I didn't think so.

- Sit down.

- Thank you.

- Care for some coffee?

- Thank you.

I'm sorry about the mess.

My wife and I had a big fight.

We got back from the pardon board

hearing.

She took Walter's clothes out of his

closet, put them in boxes...

...called Goodwill.

She says she wants

to put the past behind her.

She says she has

to move on in her life.

She's not herself.

That must be so hard.

When it first happened,

she had me bring her...

...to Walter's grave every morning.

She wept a river, poor woman.

Whole days, nights, for weeks, months.

I wish there was some way...

...some key into the past

to change it.

It tears me up.

She used to be a ball.

We would have us some fun.

Some times.

Laugh.

Laugh our heads off.

Walter learned to walk

on this floor right here.

He busted his chin on the arm

of that sofa right there.

And that love seat right there...

...he sat with Hope...

...a week before they died.

When you lose a child...

...all the memories get sealed

in a place.

Sealed...

...like a shrine.

So you've put in a request...

...to be the spiritual adviser

to Matthew Poncelet.

- Yes, Father.

- Why?

He asked me.

- This is highly unusual.

- Why?

- You'd be the first woman to do it.

- Really?

This kind of situation requires

an experienced hand.

This boy is to be executed in six days

and is in dire need of redemption.

Are you up to this?

I don't know, Father. I hope so.

I've been praying for guidance.

You can save this boy...

...by getting him to receive

the sacraments before he dies.

This is your job.

Nothing more, nothing less.

If you need any help,

please feel free to call on me.

Thank you, Father.

I don't want to be buried here.

They're gonna call my mama,

ask about the funeral arrangements.

Could you do it?

My mama'd fall apart.

I'll do it.

Do you ever read the Bible?

I ain't much of a Bible reader,

but I pick it up from time to time.

- Like W.C. Fields read his Bible.

- Who?

W.C. Fields. He used to play

this drunken character in the movies.

He's dying and a friend comes

and sees him reading the Bible.

The friend says,

"W.C., you don't believe in God.

Why are you reading the Bible?"

And Fields says,

"I'm looking for a loophole."

I ain't looking for no loophole.

Rain, rain, rain.

That's a bad sign. They already

executed one black, Tobias.

Wayne Purcell tonight.

That's two blacks.

Time for a white.

The governor's under pressure

to get a white. And that's me!

N*gger on the gurney before me.

I hope they clean it before me.

- Was your daddy a racist?

- What kind of question is that?

- I wonder who taught you to hate.

- I don't like n*ggers.

Have you known any blacks?

- They was all around--

- All around?

Lived around me.

- Did you ever play with a black child?

- No.

- Me and my cousin got jumped once.

- What happened?

We was throwing rocks at them.

The next day, they tear our bikes up.

- Can you blame them?

- No. But, look, slavery's long over.

They're harping

on the bad deal they got.

- The kids?

- All of them.

I hate people who make

themselves out as victims.

- Victims?

- Yeah, they all victims.

I don't know any victims.

I know some cool people, hard- working.

I know a lot of lazy, welfare-taking

coloreds sucking up tax dollars.

- You sound like a politician.

- What's that mean?

- Ever been the object of prejudice?

- No.

What do people think

about inmates on death row?

- Why don't you tell me?

- They're monsters.

Disposable waste, good-for-nothings

sucking up tax dollars.

I ain't no victim. I'm innocent.

I ain't whining. I ain't sitting

on a porch going "slavery, slavery."

I like rebels, some blacks.

Martin Luther King led people

to D.C., kicked the white man's butt.

- You respect Martin Luther King.

- He put up a fight, wasn't lazy.

- Lazy whites?

- Don't like them.

- So it's lazy people you don't like.

- Can we talk about something else?

Jesus also said, "He who lives

by the sword shall die by the sword."

Purcell had it coming!

He had it coming!

Nine, eight, seven...

...six, five, four...

...three, two, one.

It's the only way we can be sure

that they will not kill again.

Life without parole? Oh, sure.

How many prison guards do they have

to kill before it's over?

These people are mad dogs. Maniacs.

Come on. Let's go.

If the governor

and the courts turn us down...

...Matt's gonna be dead in six days.

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