Hud Page #5

I know you. You're smart.

You got your share of guts.

You can talk a man into trusting you,

a woman into wanting you.

- I got it made!

- To hear you tell it.

Get it off your chest! What's been griping

you is what I done to Norman.

You were drunk

and careless of your brother.

You had 15 years to get over it.

That's never been our quarrel.

- The hell it isn't.

- No. I was sick of you long before that.

Well, isn't life full of surprises?

And all along I thought it was

'cause of what I done to my brother.

I took that hard, but I buried it.

All right, what turned you sour on me?

Not that I give a damn.

Just that, Hud. You don't give a damn.

That's all. That's the whole of it.

You still don't get it, do you?

You don't care about people.

You don't give a damn about 'em.

You got all that charm and it makes

the youngsters want to be like you.

That's the shame of it

'cause you don't value nothing.

You don't respect nothing.

You keep no check on your appetites.

You live just for yourself

and that makes you not fit to live with.

My mama loved me, but she died.

Why pick on Hud, Granddad?

He ain't the only one. Just about

everybody around here is like him.

That's no cause for rejoicing, is it?

Little by little, the look of the country

changes because of the men we admire.

- I still think you nailed him pretty hard.

- Did I?

Maybe. Old people get

as hard as their arteries sometimes.

You're just gonna have to

make up your own mind one day

about what's right and what's wrong.

Where's that cotton-picking housekeeper

of ours? I want something to eat.

- It's late. She's asleep.

- Ain't that just keen.

Paying her good money to sleep

when I'm starving to death.

- I could fry you up an egg sandwich.

- Forget it.

Get out of here.

I can't think with you standing around.

I'm gonna knock some people

on their tails. You might be one of 'em.

Go on, get out of here!

- Boy, they mean trouble.

- I wish I'd stayed out of bull riding.

From the look of them,

you ain't riding very far.

Thanks, buddy.

I'd better go check my gear.

Never mind your gear, check your head.

That bull's gonna eat you up.

- How are you, Hotrod?

- Hi, Hud.

Get a good seat for the show?

They're getting two bucks

for those bleachers over there.

Be my guest.

- This is ten dollars, Hud.

- It's good. I didn't print it.

Well, thank you.

Stick with me.

Your jeans'll be full of change.

How come?

Well, I'll tell you.

Put on a clean white shirt

and saw a lawyer.

There's a law that says when old

folks can't cut the mustard any more,

you can make 'em let go,

whether they like it or not.

What are you pulling on Granddad now?

Something pretty raw, kid.

Yeah, it sounds like it.

Take your dough. I don't want it.

Don't look down your nose at me.

I'm gonna get old, too.

I don't aim to end up on county relief with

a bowl of soup and two cigarettes a day,

if I behave myself.

I want what I worked for.

I got a right to it.

You know something, Honcho?

You don't look out for yourself,

the only helping hand you'll ever get

is when they lower the box.

Now, you have fun, you hear?

- Hud?

- You're up awful late.

- I got a lot on my mind.

- Come on in. Take a load off your feet.

- Talk to the vet today?

- Yes, but I didn't get a lot of information.

Did you expect to?

Government man wants you to know

something, he'll call.

They're watching

the test animals pretty close,

but nothing's showed up yet.

- Hud.

- Yes, sir?

What's this tricky deal you're up to?

Lon tells me you're gonna

pull the rug out from under me.

That's right.

I ain't got all the rough edges

ironed out yet,

but I can give you an idea.

The main thing is you, old man.

You're too old to make the grade.

Whether they liquidate us

or not when this thing is over,

you just better get out of my way.

What in hell do you mean?

When an old man buys a bunch of sick

Mexican cows it means he's over the hill.

You've got the incompetence, Daddy,

and Hotrod's too young

to take things over.

So I get the court to appoint me guardian

of your property. I don't know.

If I don't get it one way, I'll get it another.

Why, you're badly mistaken

about all this.

I'll be the only one to run this ranch

while I'm alive.

After that, you may get part of it.

I don't know. But you can't get control

of this place. No way in the world.

Don't go making any bets on that.

Maybe I treated you too hard.

I made some mistakes.

A man don't always do what's right.

Daddy, you ain't never been wrong.

You been handing

out the ten tablets of law

from whatever hill you could find

since I was a kid.

Shape up or ship out. That's the way

you run things around here.

Wild-eyed Homer Bannon,

passing out scripture and verse

like you wrote it yourself.

So, I just naturally had to go bad,

in the face of so much good.

Hud, how'd a man like you

come to be a son to me?

Oh, that's easy.

I wasn't on your doorstep.

I wasn't found in no bulrushes.

You got the same feelings

below your belt as any other man.

That's how you got stuck

with me for a son, like it or not.

He was just so drunk, Alma.

Did he hurt you?

Should I take you to town,

get you a doctor?

Go on out of here.

- What are you looking at?

- I'm looking at you, Hud.

Climb off it. You've been

wanting to do the same thing.

Always been wanting to wallow her.

Yeah, I've been wanting to do it.

But not mean like you.

Here comes Mr Burris.

- Morning.

- Morning.

- You've missed breakfast.

- Thanks, but I've eaten.

I guess you've got something to tell us

or you wouldn't be here.

- I guess the tests are done.

- Yes, sir, they're done.

You got the worst thing you could have.

- And there's no cure at all?

- Not that we know of.

Like lightning. Don't hurt you till it hits.

Your cows are public enemies now. We

got to handle this fast before it spreads.

What do I do? Drive them into

a pit and shoot 'em? I can't abide that.

- It's terrible, even to think about.

- I've seen it during the Depression.

It's a sight worse to see

than to think about.

You're getting older.

You can afford to slow down.

The rest won't hurt your grass any.

You might even sell a few oil leases.

My daddy thinks oil is something

you stick in your salad dressing.

If there's oil down there, you can get it

sucked up after I'm under there with it.

But I don't like it.

There'll be no holes

punched in this land while I'm here.

They ain't gonna come in and grade no

roads so the wind can blow me away.

What's oil to me?

What can I do

with a bunch of oil wells?

I can't ride out every day and prowl

amongst 'em like I can my cattle.

I can't breed 'em or tend 'em

or rope 'em or chase 'em or nothing.

I can't feel a smidgen of pride in 'em

'cause they ain't none of my doing.

There's money in it.

I don't want that kind of money.

I want mine to come from something

that keeps a man doing for himself.

We're much obliged to you

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