Into The Wild Page #2

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from the truth of his existence.

Hey!

- Hey, man. Step around. Jump in.

- Okay, great.

We barely saw you there

underneath that crazy hat of yours.

This door's a little tricky.

There you go. Hop in.

That's Rainey.

- Hi, Rainey.

- Yeah, I'm Rainey.

- I'm Jan.

- Hi. I'm Alex.

Alex with the hat on.

- Yeah, I know. You said it, man.

- Yeah.

So you're a leather now.

I'm a leather?

Yeah, a leather tramp. That's what they

call the ones that hoof it, go on foot.

Technically we're rubber tramps.

Because we have a vehicle.

- You don't have to push me away.

- Come on, please?

Yeah, Alex could have a vehicle as well,

but he decided to burn all of his money.

And why did you do that?

I don't need money.

Makes people cautious.

Come on, Alex.

You gotta be a little cautious.

I mean, that book of yours is cool

and everything,

but you can't depend entirely

on leaves and berries.

I don't know if you want to depend on

much more than that.

Where are your mom and dad?

Living their lies somewhere.

You look like a loved kid. Be fair.

Fair?

You know what I mean.

I'll paraphrase Thoreau here.

"Rather than love, than money,

than faith,

"than fame, than fairness,

"give me truth."

From as long ago

as Chris and I could remember,

there have been

daily bouts of rage in our house.

Violence that we were forced

to witness. It was very real.

But it was also like theater.

They cast us as both judges

and the accused.

And I got you this token,

this expensive token.

Dad had been the young genius

that NASA enlisted to do crucial designs

for the American satellite radar systems

that would be our answer

to the Russian Sputnik.

And Mom and he later started up

a consulting firm

combining her

get-up-and-go resourcefulness

with his wealth of knowledge.

Look at this.

But by the time the company

actually made its first million,

the careerism and money seemed

only to embolden their blindness.

Thank you very, very much.

I remember the first family meeting

to let us in on their plans

for getting a divorce.

They wanted us to choose

which of them we'd live with.

We cried our eyes out.

The divorce never happened,

but the battles and the meetings

never stopped.

It wasn't very long

before Chris and I shut off.

We'd say "Go ahead.

"Get the divorce."

Jeez. If I struck a match to you I'd have

dinner and warmth at the same time.

Where's Jan going?

Well, my friend,

all is not well on the hippie front.

You're an industrious little f***er,

aren't you?

Little bit.

It's funny how things happen

at particular times.

I've loved that woman

for a lot of years, bro.

But, you know, she's got a story.

We've been going through this thing,

real quiet.

So when we ran into you yesterday,

this thing that we've been going

through real quiet,

she's talking about it.

You know what I mean?

- I think I do.

- You think what?

Well...

Some people feel like

they don't deserve love.

They walk away quietly

into empty spaces,

trying to close the gaps to the past.

That's a hell of an insight. Jesus!

- You're not Jesus, are you?

- Look who's talking.

You gonna walk across the water

and get her back for me, pal?

No. I'm afraid of water.

Always have been.

Something I've gotta get over sometime

though, huh? So I will swim in it

if you'll carry the firewood back to camp.

- Sh*t, yeah.

- Yeah?

- Call it carried.

- All right.

"The sea's only gifts are harsh blows,

"and, occasionally,

the chance to feel strong.

"Now, I don't know much about the sea,

"but I do know that

that's the way it is here.

"And I also know

how important it is in life

"not necessarily to be strong,

but to feel strong,

"to measure yourself at least once,

"to find yourself at least once in

the most ancient of human conditions,

"facing the blind, deaf stone alone

"with nothing to help you

but your hands and your own head."

There's a big wave coming!

Rainey, I'm freezing!

Could you put your arms around me?

The Navy bulldozed and abandoned this

base down there,

and all that's left is this huge grid

of concrete foundations, or slabs.

- Man, you would dig the Slabs.

- You would like it. You would like it.

- If you're on the road still.

- You'd love it.

Fellow travelers.

Just living on the cheap under the sun.

Can't beat it.

Sounds good.

If you come, I'll make you a proper hat.

- Promise?

- I swear to God.

Oh, baby. Baby.

- Stop it. Wait.

- Yeah.

- Oh, yes.

- Okay.

Let me turn off the light.

- He reminded me of...

- I know.

Such is the way of the world

You can never know

Just where to put all your faith

And how will it grow?

Gonna rise up

Burning back holes in dark memories

Gonna rise up

Turning mistakes into gold

I mean, you're really good.

I mean, you're like

any apple I've ever had.

I'm not Superman, I'm Supertramp.

You're Superapple.

You're so tasty.

You're so organic, so natural.

You're the apple of my eye.

Hey! Such is the passage of time

Too fast to fold

And suddenly swallowed by signs

Lo and behold

Gonna rise up

Find my direction magnetically

Gonna rise up

Throw down my ace in the hole

In early September, Mom and Dad

got a call from the Annandale police

notifying them that

Chris' abandoned car

had been identified

by the Arizona Highway Patrol.

A group of rare flower hunters

stumbled upon it in the desert.

There were no signs that

Chris had intended to return to it.

But there wasn't

any evidence of struggle, either.

The police thought

Chris had chosen to leave it behind

and not that it was taken from him.

The initial comfort

that gave Mom and Dad quickly turned

to the realization that Chris

was actually trying not to be found.

Strong.

You can do anything.

You can go anywhere.

Money, power is an illusion.

It's up here.

You can be here.

Me and you.

One, two. No, no, no.

Two,

three...

Don't be shy with it. Get it moving there.

That's good.

- That's your speed right here.

- Right.

You go too fast,

you won't get all the wheat.

That's it, straight line, straight line,

little straighter.

See how you're bearing? Just a little

straighter. Now you're a combiner.

Wow, look at this view!

But keep your eye on the wheat, here.

Make sure you're cutting it.

You can look back here and see

how much is coming out, all right.

- How do you feel?

- I feel great.

Okay, keep it straight. God bless you.

Make yourself some money, my friend.

I'll see you in a little bit.

Okay.

Wayne. Where you going?

Kevin, you know I love you.

I'm joking with you. I'm joking. Stop it.

- I'm joking with you.

- Mind your own business, Wayne!

- What are you getting so hostile for?

- I don't know.

Me and you are on the same side.

We're on the same side.

- I'm just tired of the teasing a lot.

- Kevin, we're on the same side.

Let me get some...

If I want some vagina, let me get it.

- Whoa. He's serious about this.

- Let's just play cards.

- Can we just play cards?

- Let's go, then.

$2, $4, $6, just put all the money in.

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