Last Flag Flying Page #5

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It's out of your hands,

all right?

Why don't you sit down,

take a load off,

and let the mountain come

to Muhammad, all right?

Chill.

All right?

- I need to see your driver's license.

- Yeah.

Here you go.

Ooh.

These are free, right?

Norfolk, Virginia?

Yeah.

Got to live somewhere.

Will you be the only driver?

Uh, no, no, I'll have some help.

Then I'll need to see

the other driver's license.

- Is it this gentleman here?

- ...thy rod

- and thy staff, they comfort me.

- His holiness?

No, no.

His holiness can hardly walk,

let alone handle a big rig

with a hydraulic lift.

Whoever--

I'll need their license.

...I will dwell

in the house of the Lord.

What are you doing, with

the bouncing? What is that?

I'm speaking a psalm.

- A psalm?

- Mm.

Oh.

As in, a psalm-a bin Laden.

So, you are the only driver?

Yes, ma'am, I be the wheelman.

How will you be paying?

Oh. Okay.

Take it out of this.

That's the jingle bell

That's the jingle bell

rock.

16 to 60,

you put a dude behind the wheel

of a big rig like this,

you're gonna feel like hot sh*t.

This is a rented U-Haul

with an automatic transmission.

This is bigger than anything

you ever handled.

Sal, Doc's boy is dead.

Try not to forget that.

I haven't forgotten that.

Jesus.

But we're still alive, right?

Praise God.

With time ticking fast away.

So if there's one minute

that's not too terrible,

I'd like to try to enjoy it.

All right.

I mean, you used to be

up for some fun.

- I still am.

- Oh, yeah.

As long as it's right

in God's eyes.

What is that, "God's eyes"?

Wha-What--

God don't have any eyes.

Oh, yes, He does.

- Oh, yeah.

- God has eyes and He has ears.

- Yeah.

- And He hears every insult

- that you send His way.

- Geez.

You believe me

when I tell you, Sergeant,

there will be a reckoning.

Oh, a reckoning.

- Yeah, God as my witness.

- All right.

I can assure you of that.

Well, great, then,

because I reckon

that I would take

that opportunity

to stand at attention

and say to God,

"Hey!

Where were You when the...

"raping children and

the-the genocide and all that?

"Where were You

when they flew airplanes

"into the buildings

and killed thousands of people

"who were just going to work?

"Where were You when Doc's kid

"was just buying Cokes

for his buddies

"and some raghead come up

and shoot his face off?

Huh? Where were You?"

Yeah, you see,

I'm not gonna stand there

and try to explain myself

to Him,

I'm gonna make God

explain Himself to me.

- Oh, all right.

- Yeah, and I think

by the end of it, He'll say,

"Hey, come on. Get in here.

"You? You're my kind of dude.

You, give me one of these."

All right, well,

good luck with that.

I'll be praying for you,

you hear?

Yeah, well, I'll be hoping

for the same thing.

But, boy,

if it's a tight-ass God,

- then I am f***ed.

- Yeah.

And I think it's time

for that lube job

on that plate in your head.

Hey, stay the f*** away

from my plate, all right?

I'm picking up WOR

from New York.

I'm homesick.

- Yeah.

- Hey, wait a minute. Maybe...

- Oh, no, no, no.

- Well...

You have to turn that sh*t off.

So, you know

about this stuff, right?

- Oh, man.

- All right.

So, you know, I have been known

to get in a face or two.

But even I'm offended

by this stuff.

I mean,

it's damn hard to dance to.

Well, that is one thing

that we can finally agree on.

Aren't you a little ashamed

being an African-American?

Mm, no, not really.

Why should I be?

Because being

a dignified gentleman

such as yourself,

you would be the first to agree

that this is so far away

from, like, Motown, man.

- Right?

- Well, I have nothing to be ashamed of.

I mean, this dude is white.

Ever since Prince turned

himself into a symbol...

"White."

That's affirmative.

- Yeah. Yeah.

- White is right.

- Word to God.

- This is coming out of a white mouth?

A white sewer mouth.

- Bullshit.

- Mm, nope.

I bullshit you not.

- Mm-hmm.

- F*** me.

Hey

Well, then, I ought to be

a little ashamed.

Only I never really identified

with the white race.

Oh, really?

- No. Nothing.

- Oh, now I'm curious.

Nope.

Now, what race do you, uh,

identify with?

Green.

Green?

Yeah. The corps.

- Okay.

- I mean,

it's really the only culture

I ever...

really thought made sense.

Nah-nah, nah-nah-nah

All right.

Let me ask you something.

Hmm?

Nah, nah-nah, nah-nah...

Do you ever miss it?

Not for one blessed minute.

I don't believe you.

That's all right.

You don't believe in God either,

but trust and believe

He believes in you.

Hey.

- No problems?

- No, no problem.

Not unless being trapped

on a bus for seven hours

is a problem.

I don't know.

Buses are real nice now.

They got recliners and...

shitters in the back.

Hey, maybe you'll meet some

poor redneck and save his soul.

You get extra points for that?

I mean, does it work

off a point system?

I'll tell you when I get there.

Look, I just hope

I can get some sleep.

I didn't sleep so good

last night.

Yeah, I know, me neither.

Hey.

This will keep you awake.

Want it?

Oh, no. That'd play havoc

with my teeth.

You remember when we could

sleep in a hole in the ground,

bullets whizzing overhead?

Jesus.

You can't go back, Sal.

No.

- Who'd want to?

- We can't redo

the choices we made back then.

The best we can do

is learn from them

and try to do better

in the future.

- I hear that.

- But you're still

gonna do it anyway, huh?

Huh?

You're gonna take Doc and his

dead boy back to Portsmouth,

try to make it fun.

Hey, you ought to come with.

Ah?

Come on.

Eh.

Ah, well.

I better get back.

I still can't believe it.

You, of all people,

a preacher.

That's goddamn right.

Oh...

Hey, you ever think that, uh...

I don't know, we might bump

into each other again,

you know, from time to time?

I don't know. I mean...

He moves in mysterious ways.

That He does.

All right, Padre,

take care of yourself.

I'll, uh, I'll see you

for Sunday supper.

- Bless you.

- Thanks.

Why? Did I sneeze?

I-I got ya.

All right.

Hang on, Doc.

One, two, three.

You know...

keep wondering, Doc, what...

what your kid would have wanted.

To drink beer with his friends.

Um... to chase girls.

He was only 21.

He wasn't thinking about dying.

Yeah.

You know, Doc, you can make this

a whole lot easier on yourself.

Yeah, I don't

want to make it easy on myself.

Yeah, you're right.

Guys like us, we...

take all that sh*t

till it's a disaster.

And then we're cool.

The worst has happened,

like we knew it would.

They sent him off

to a godforsaken desert.

Why?

Who knows?

It wasn't to protect America.

It's like that jungle

they sent us to.

It was no threat to us.

And then they send him

back to me in this,

with more lies.

A hero. Honors. Arlington.

Well, I am not going

to bury a marine.

I'm just gonna bury my son.

Yeah.

Taking a bus today?

Yes, to Richmond. You?

- Richmond, huh?

- Mm.

That home for you?

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