Mud Page #5

I can tell you this helmet

smells like my duck butter.

(LAUGHS)

Where'd you get that black eye?

A kid in town. He got his, too.

What was y'all fightin' for?

About this girl.

What girl?

My girlfriend.

You got a girlfriend?

Yes, sir.

When did that happen?

Other day.

What's her name?

May Pearl.

May Pearl.

Two first names, just like your mother.

Have you seen your mother today?

No.

You're not talkin' to me now?

I'm talkin'. I'm talkin' to both of you.

All y'all want to do is talk.

That's your mother now.

She'd rather tongue lash a problem

than step up and handle it.

You'll see one day.

Women are tough, boy.

They set you up for things.

You can't trust love, Ellis.

If you're not careful,

it'll up and run out on you.

Daddy, this is Miller. He's one of ours.

Appreciate your help.

Yes, sir.

We'll be in, in a minute.

Catch me up.

We're working in shifts.

Got two outside her motel.

The others are either out searchin'

or sleepin' here.

I met the county sheriff,

but he wasn't much help.

Said they handle their own business.

But I got two of his people on payroll

and a person inside

at the state police.

Ellis, let's go, boy. Come on.

Okay.

Let's meet the men.

Yes, sir.

(MUSIC PLAYING ON TV)

Sh*t.

Get up.

Y'all pay attention.

This is my father, King.

He runs the show.

Men.

(FLY BUZZING)

All right, everybody up.

Gather around.

Now form a circle.

Everybody, take a knee.

Want you to join hands.

We're gonna pray for the death of

the man who killed my son.

Everybody, bow your heads.

NECKBONE:
You touch her titty?

A little.

That's great, man.

Thanks.

(ELLIS SIGHS)

We could take it apart,

bring it out piece by piece.

It's welded, we'd just tear it up.

What if we float it out?

With what?

Come on.

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

Oh, Jesus!

What do you think?

That's great, Galen.

GALEN:
Come here, Ellis.

See that ceiling fan up there?

I found it in the river.

Works great.

Best ceiling fan I've ever owned.

This river brings a lot of trash down it.

Some of that trash is worth a lot of money.

Some of it's not.

You got to know what's worth keepin'

and what's worth lettin' go.

You know the difference?

I think so.

Neck looks up to you.

Don't get my nephew into anything

you can't get him out of. Okay?

(PLAYING GUITAR)

Help Me, Rhonda's just about a guy needin'

to get a piece to get over

a girl that put one over on him.

So, you get your heart broke?

Don't walk around with

a sh*t look on your face.

Get back in there, get your tip wet.

You hear me?

- You know what I'm sayin'.

- Let's go.

Want to hang out? Allen's comin' over,

we're going to pump it up.

NECKBONE:
No. We got stuff to do.

Whatever.

What were y'all talking about?

I don't know.

MUD:
King! That's what they call him.

Y'all didn't go near him, did ya?

No.

Good.

How we lookin' on that motor?

There's one in the scrap yard

that might work.

We're gonna need one that runs.

- I can get it runnin'. Tell him, Ellis.

- Let's pull this.

It's true, he built his own dirt bike.

Little more.

Neck, take a shot at it.

I don't know, that motor's worth somethin'.

It's not like all the rest of that junk.

It's been there for months.

Nobody will even know it's gone.

Ellis.

We need a motor.

MAN ON TV:
Winds out of

the west at 22 miles per hour...

(RINGING)

Hello?

ELLIS:
Juniper?

Ellis.

Hey, it's me.

Thank God. I'm goin' crazy in this room.

Is Mud okay?

Yeah, it's time to take you out to him.

NOW?

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow, we'll come get you.

He's got a plan for y'all to get away.

Be ready tomorrow at 5:00.

Neckbone'll be waitin' at the side

of the motel with a dirt bike.

Wait, just...

Just wait a minute.

I don't know about all that.

Where does he think we're gonna go?

What are we even gonna do?

This is Mud, this is exactly what he does.

It's okay.

It's a good plan.

Just be ready.

Why are you doing this?

What do you mean?

Why are you helping us?

Because y'all love each other.

I'll see you tomorrow.

- Wait.

- (HANGS UP)

- How'd it go?

- We're good.

Give me a quarter.

May Pearl!

May Pearl!

It's all right, man, she's with her family.

Come on, I want to get

that motor before dark.

CARVER:
Hey.

Y'all remember me, don't ya?

Sorry about that.

You caught me at a real bad time.

Hold on a second.

Just a sec.

I don't want you to get the wrong idea.

Y'all were just doin' a job

and I got in the way.

What do you say I buy a whole batch

of fish y'all were sellin'?

Forty cover it?

That'll about do it.

We don't want your money.

Hold on. Hold on.

Y'all get around, don't you?

Bet ya know every

hole and ditch in this town.

You haven't come across that man

whose picture I showed you?

Have you?

Sure about that?

Take a look with your good eye.

I'm sure.

What about that girl from the motel?

The pretty one.

Talk to her some more?

There's a number on there.

Let me know if you do.

(BIKE MOTOR STARTING)

(SIGHS)

NECKBONE:
This is it. This is it.

All right, it's loose.

Sh*t's heavy.

Sh*t!

Was she there?

No.

Come on.

Excuse me, sir.

What?

We're lookin' for the girl in room 210.

You seen her?

Yeah, I've seen her.

You seen her today?

Yeah, she came down here

lookin' for a bar nearby.

Sent her up to that place off 61.

(COUNTRY MUSIC PLAYING)

(PEOPLE TALKING INDISTINCTLY)

(INAUDIBLE)

Just leave it there,

Mud's going to have to help us with it.

What are you going to tell him?

I'll just tell him the truth.

Hey, what you say there, Ellis?

Tom left this for you.

Where's Juniper?

Ellis, what happened?

Is she okay?

Was it Carver?

It wasn't Carver.

What's goin' on, Ellis?

She was supposed to meet us

on the side of the motel.

She never showed up.

We went around looking for her.

Motel clerk said she went out to a bar on 61.

We tracked her down.

She was there with another guy.

They were together.

She must've thought Carver

was onto her.

She knew the plan, Mud.

She just didn't show up.

What was she doin' with that guy?

What was she doin' with that guy, Ellis?

They were playing pool.

And they were drinkin'.

And laughin'.

He was close up on her.

He kissed her neck.

(SNIFFLES)

So that's how it is, huh?

We got that motor.

What do you want us to do?

Just go home, Ellis.

Hello?

Is May Pearl there?

This is Ellis.

I called yesterday,

you didn't give her my messages?

I said it's Ellis.

I'm her boyfriend.

- Oh, she's asleep...

- SENIOR:
Mary Lee!

Mary Lee!

What the hell have you been doin'?

What have you been doin'?

- Senior, damn it! Damn it! Stop it!

- You tell her what you've been doin'.

- I don't know what you're sayin'.

- Take your hands off him, Senior!

J.J. Crawford said a boat motor

went missin' from his stockyard!

He said his daughter saw this one

and his friend haulin' it off!

Now, you tell me, right now,

did you steal that motor?

We didn't steal it.

You lie to me again.

We thought it was junk.

We didn't think it was worth anything.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes