Land of Plenty Page #2

Better Have Pains of Peace

Than Agonies of War

I made it, but it was one of the

longest trips of my life.

When we chat

I'll tell you about LA.

And you can tell me

about Itzhak!

You're ten hours ahead of me,

so how is ten your time,

midnight for me tomorrow?

I love you and

I miss you, Lana.

Ten-twenty.

North side of Palmetto.

I see an Arab!

Mom's letter.

God, help me deliver it

after all these years.

Help me do this for her.

Help me find my uncle...

Wherever he is...

... the strategy of the insurgents

in and around Baghdad

has been labelled the

body bag syndrome...

During the day

the second floor is the

real hub of activity,

so we usually leave

this door closed.

Okay, got it.

Those are the women's

dorms down there.

Martha's jurisdiction.

How you're doing, Marth?

Hi, Henry.

You know, they've been

over capacity since,

well, since the last time the

fire marshal was here.

And we have a small room for

reading and prayer in there.

And down here...

- Ooh, I am sorry!

- Wow! Excuse me!

...and come down here.

This is my office.

And then, the real action

is in here!

Cafe Maison.

How's it flowing, Big H?

Oh, good.

- Sherman.

- Yes.

This is Lana.

Hi.

Welcome to the mad house!

- Thank you.

- Help yourselves, fellows...

Sherman is our

operational manager.

And the chef.

And the janitor.

And the accountant.

Hello!

No, no, no, wait, wait,

turn his mike off, okay.

Look, this is MY show, alright!

These leftists can never

answer a question!

Sir, I didn't ask you

who started the UN.

I asked you if

aside from invasion,

should we always have

the approval of

the United Nations before

sending troops in?

Please just answer that

question, please!

Absolutely

Okay, thank you, Sir.

And for the record: Let me tell you:

You're a full-blown and complete idiot.

But:
God bless you

for tuning in.

And hopefully you

learned something today...

Afternoon, Elvin.

Afternoon. This your van?

Yeah. Yeah, I like a little shade.

You PD?

Nope.

But I was on a freedom

bird with one of your LTs.

Zucker?

Affirmative.

SSG Paul Jeffries, USASF.

You're working UC?!

I'm working...

Ah, excuse me, uh,

good morning,

good afternoon,

whatever, but, uh,

can I help you?

Hi. I am looking for

my uncle and,

and I have this address...

Your uncle?

Oh, you got the wrong house.

Paul... his name is

Paul Jeffries?

No, no, no,

never heard of him. No!

I've been overseas

for a long time

and I just

got back into town.

And I'd really

like to see him.

I, I kind of need to actually.

But the guy that lives here

doesn't have any relatives.

Well, uh, he does.

He has one. It's me.

Yeah, I was chubby.

Um, so is there a way that

I can get in touch with him?

Cause I'm staying at a homeless

mission right now and I just...

I don't have a phone.

Um...

Look, you didn't, uh...

you didn't get this... get this from me.

Right? Some little birdie told you...

Nineteen hundred hours,

evidence secured.

Will transport water samples

and report botulinim toxin analysis

as soon as it gets back from the lab.

Jeffries, out.

I'm good!

Damned!

So if I see someone actively

doing something suspicious,

be he middle-Eastern or not,

well I'm not just going to walk away.

This is my country,

and if I want to take a closer look,

I'm going to take a closer look!

I don't think it's radical.

I think it's rational.

Bread of Life.

Bread of Life?

Yeah, is that not what

I'm supposed to say?

How would I know?

Well, I don't know.

What did they say the

last time you called?

Well, to tell you the truth,

I don't remember.

Uh, well, this is the hall phone.

And I'm Lana.

Lana? Lana who?

Lana Swenson.

What're your hours down there,

Miss Swenson?

- Your hours of operation?

- Well, uh,

the food service

and the sermons vary,

but the mission is pretty much

open all the time.

Is that right?

Yeah.

Thanks.

I remember you, you know.

And, uh, and I really

wanna see you again,

Uncle Paul, even if...

Listen, um,

I needed some information, okay?

And... you helped me out,

I appreciate that.

If I can ever do anything for you,

let me know...

F***!

We went to the wall today,

they shot rubber bullets

and some tear gas,

but no one was hurt.

And get this:

there were nearly as

many Israelis protesting

the wall as there

we're Palestinians!

Now that sounds promising!

I wish there was more

awareness here.

A lot of people don't

even know it's happening.

Which is why you're going to

become a writer!

Why be just one more person trying

to change the world when you can

write something that

will cause a 1000 to try!!!

Have you heard

anything from my...

And before you change

the subject,

I saw your Dad yesterday

and he's totally fine.

He's back to his

old cranky self,

running the mission

like a general,

and (I'm not supposed to

tell you this part)

calling Henry every day

to see how you're doing.

Thanks for the update.

You have no idea how good

it is to hear that.

And how about

"ooh la la" Itzhak?

Itzhak who?

I've never heard of him.

Okay. Yish-mor-cha Eha-el...

love, Yael.

God bless you too, Lana.

Aah!

Aah! Mmmh!

What's the matter, Jeffries?

Napalm getting' to you?

Somebody get Polly here an APC

for his god-damn menstrual cramps.

Don't you get sick on

me now, Jeffries!

Charlie's not sick hiding in

that rat-hole.

There wasn't anybody sick

in Boston on September tenth,

I can guarantee that...

In Washington and Newark...

they weren't sick and tired.

They were preparing,

god damn it!

Go ahead and laugh,

you f***ing cowards!

Come on, laugh,

you f***ing,

lousy f***ing Chuck!

You pull a box cutter on me,

motherf***er!

We'll see what happens...

Just one of those planes!

If I had just been

on one of 'em!

Where the hell was everybody?

This country's been good to me...

This beautiful country...

Oh God!

grateful to you...

You know how scared I am.

I'm way out of my depths here.

Yesterday I was still in the

West Bank, and then...

all of a sudden I'm here,

in my own country, but it

feels so strange.

You gotta back me up on

this one, God,

even if I'm wrong.

I know that I need help.

I know that I can't

do it on my own.

Do WHAT on my own?

I don't even know why

I'm here, in America.

To deliver a letter?

There must be more to it,

it's not just for Mom...

I don't have to be afraid.

I know that you're with me.

And I know that

you're always there,

with your arms

stretched out wide.

Thank you, God!

Thank you for this day,

for this room,

for my life. Thank you!

Oh, falling! We're falling!

Hey, how is it going?

Maybe we'll talk later.

Hey, how're you doing?

What, you serve me

a couple of meals

and now we're supposed

to be friends?

Oh, come on.

Sure, why not?

But you don't even

know my name!

What, is that one of the

rules of friendship?

How can you be someone's friend

when you don't know what to call them?

Well, I mean, I don't know,

but I bet you there's a way.

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