Lonely Are the Brave Page #3

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Breaking into a jail's the

easiest thing a fella can do.

I guess you found that out for yourself.

Yeah.

See Jerry?

She's a little burned up right now,

but these things aren't

hard to straighten out.

What's outside that wall?

Bernal Boulevard.

Yeah, it would be.

Overlooks an alley in the

back of a department store.

You see Seth?

No, he was in school.

Darn, I wanted to see that little fella.

Come on, let's join the parade.

Okay.

Floor's harder than I thought.

Don't step on this lndian here.

I'm not sure, but I

think he carries a knife.

Smart lndian.

When do they begin shoving

supper through that slot?

Shouldn't be long now.

I'm so hungry, every

time I take a deep breath

my stomach squeaks like a wet balloon.

Okay, Cliff.

Hey, amigo. Look at

those mountains, huh?

Chow down!

Come on, let's get the

squeaks out of your stomach.

MAN:
Chow. Chow!

Good afternoon, college boy.

Hey, you.

Too good to talk to me?

You too smart to have

anything to do with me?

What do you want?

Come here, college boy.

Come here!

Take it easy. Temper like

that, and one of these days

you'll find yourself riding through

town with your belly to the sun,

your best suit on, and

no place to go but hell.

Believe me, buddy, you better watch it.

Come on, let's sit over there.

Hey, cowboy, what's your name?

John W. Burns. Let's eat.

Jack, for short.

Okay, Burns.

Okay, John W. Burns.

GUARD 1 :
Open up.

There's not much music in these bars.

I'm afraid the sons of guns are solid.

Are you sure you didn't

get kicked in the head?

What do you mean?

You act like a man who thinks

he's going to break out of jail.

Come here, college boy.

You crazy fool.

Nothing crazy about

hacksaws in a jailhouse.

Do you know the penalty in

this state for jail breaking?

Never broke one in this state.

Five years.

It'll take 'em an awful

long time to catch us, amigo.

Don't worry about that.

You know,

a fella just might be

able to crawl through

by cutting only one bar just about here.

Go through on your side. One shoulder

at a time. Slow and easy, like.

Hey, when do these lights go out?

Around 9:
00.

Guards?

They're gone.

Well, then let's get to work.

Jack, I've got two years as it is.

I'm not gonna break

jail and risk five more.

I mean that.

Sure, amigo, but give

yourself a fair shake.

Wait till we get one of

those bars cut, then decide.

Long time between now and sun-up.

You might change your mind.

Not a chance.

But I'm sure gonna change yours.

You were in a bar fight.

You'll get 30 days at the most.

You wanna risk five years

in the penitentiary for that?

Not 30 days, amigo. I'd get a year.

A year? I hit a deputy.

They charged me with criminal assault.

Criminal assault? How did you...

I had to. They wouldn't let me in.

I'm telling you, I won't

serve a year in this place.

I couldn't.

My guts get all tied up

just by thinking about it.

I'd go nuts. I'd kill somebody.

You know, amigo, I'd

kill somebody. Sure.

Yes. I guess maybe you would.

Look, amigo.

I've got two hacksaws.

It'll take two men.

You don't want to get involved.

Which one of these involvements is mine?

Come on. We'll work the same bar.

The same place. She'll cut fast.

Hombre, what do you fellas do?

Working our way through college.

Makes trouble for everybody.

Not if you don't see it.

MAN:
Hey, you boys

sharpening your toenails?

Brushing our teeth.

You sure got bony teeth.

Hey.

If I hear somebody coming,

I'll give you the word.

Thanks, amigo.

She's all cut through, boss.

Good.

Let's see how this son of a gun bends.

Hand me that blanket rope.

PAUL:
You can't get through that.

You'd be surprised how flexible

a man can be when he has to.

Let's hide all the gear. Come on!

GUTlERREZ:
John W. Burns!

Yeah?

I want you!

Jack, what are you...

Nose of mine cracks easy.

Man gives me fair notice, no

reason I shouldn't prop up a little.

Telephone call.

In the office.

Who'd be calling me this time of night?

It's a surprise.

Come on.

I'm all right.

What a phone call.

What did he use on you?

Just his fists.

Lucky I had these.

Hate to lose those big ones.

Navajos took off, huh?

Well, time to get moving.

Daylight pretty soon.

Well?

Listen, amigo.

I know a place in Sinaloa

just aching to hide us.

Good cabin, lots of rain.

You'd write your book, I'd run

a cow or two, Jerry could paint.

And Seth, he'd learn.

Like we used to talk about. Natural man.

You got a bad case of something.

I don't know what it is, but it

sure loused up your good sense.

You think they should've given

you two years for what you did?

No. Then why let 'em win?

Nobody's winning.

I knew what it was going to cost

and I went right ahead and did it.

Now I have a debt to pay off.

You can pay off a third, amigo.

Jerry and Seth, they pay the rest.

I know.

In a half hour, Jerry'll be

frying eggs for both of us.

I'm not going to break jail.

You shouldn't have come

here in the first place.

I'm staying here.

Can't you understand that?

How many times do I have to tell you?

Okay.

Okay, amigo.

Jack.

You've gotta go. I know that.

But it's different with me.

I can take jail because I've got

two people out there waiting for me.

I've got something to go back to.

Don't you see? I...

I don't want Seth to grow

up and be the way we were.

I don't want Jerry and Seth to

have to run from anything, ever.

If I broke out tonight,

they'd be running alongside me

for the rest of their lives.

Do you understand, Jack?

Sure, I understand.

You grew up on me, didn't you?

No, Jack. I just changed.

Yeah, that's what I mean. You changed.

God.

God, Jack, I hope you make it.

I'll make it, all right.

You take a loner, he travels awful fast.

Who is it? Who's there?

Me.

I was hoping you'd wake up.

You were in jail, weren't you?

In and out.

Was Paul all right? Sure.

Has anything happened? Paul's just fine.

He sends you his love.

You broke out of jail, didn't you?

What else could I do?

Are the police after you?

Well, I hope not yet, but they will be

before that sun is very far up.

Well, if you're on the

run, you'll need some food.

You sure feed me good.

What did they do to you?

I got rousted a little.

Well, it's just lucky I

washed that shirt of yours.

You can't go anywhere that way.

Well, thanks.

You men just make me sick.

You just act like children, all of you.

Why, even Seth or that crazy

horse of yours out there

would have better sense than you do.

Here you are, all cut up and

running away from the police.

And there's Paul sitting there in jail,

and all you do is grin about it.

Believe you me,

if it didn't take men to make babies,

I wouldn't have anything

to do with any of you.

Well, at least you'll have some food.

Oh, thanks.

You know, those paintings of yours,

I never did understand

the darned things.

But whatever point they're

making, they sure make it big.

They're lousy.

I could use that ammunition

I left in that bandoleer.

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