Mud Page #6

Ellis?

You tellin' me I raised a thief?

I'm not a thief.

You take property that's not yours,

property that belongs to another man.

That junk was his livelihood.

- I'm ashamed of you!

- Senior...

Shut your mouth.

You think you can take things

and not have him see it?

Neither one of you's got any respect

for a man's livelihood!

A life that puts clothes on your back

and food in your stomach!

Don't you blame this on me.

One doesn't have a thing to do

with the other and you know it.

You don't tell me what I know.

If you can steal a man's life

out from under him

and think he won't take a lesson from that,

then you're dumber than you look.

- Stop it, Dad!

- And she's raisin' you

a snake, just like herself.

And you can curl up beside her

before I give a goddamn!

But you just remember this, boy.

You just remember, when they come in here

and they tear this place apart

board by board! You hear me?

You are a man who's never had

the strength to support his own life.

Ellis.

You'll return that motor

from where you found it,

and you'll apologize in person

to the man you took it from.

I won't hear about anything like this again.

(EXHALES)

I can't take that motor back.

But I can pay him for it.

I'll give him what he wants.

I don't care what you do, Ellis.

(SIGHS)

NECKBONE:
What

the hell's all this?

It's a bonfire.

I guess he didn't care about bein' seen.

ELLIS:
He had something else on his mind.

What you all hidin' for?

Found your shirt.

You can keep it.

I don't need it no more.

Saw what's left of your bonfire.

Somebody could have seen you.

I guess.

Do some drinkin' last night?

I did a lot of drinkin' last night.

Neck, I'm gonna need you

to stay here and get this motor runnin'.

Ellis, I need you to do

somethin' else for me.

I need you to get that to Juniper.

Okay, Mud.

Neck, let's go.

You still takin' Juniper?

Neck, fetch me that socket wrench.

You be all right?

Yeah. How about you?

He'll be okay.

Can I borrow your bike?

Yeah.

Don't tump it.

I was wonderin' when I'd see you.

Sorry about last night.

I'm supposed to give this to you.

What?

Okay.

Did you read it?

No.

I gotta go.

Ellis.

I said I was sorry.

All you had to do was be there.

I couldn't.

Then why'd you even come here?

I came here to leave with him.

I did.

You know you don't know him, right?

I know he'd do anything for you.

Is that what you think?

Mud's a born liar.

That's why people like him,

he makes them feel good about themselves.

I do love him.

I just

can't spend the rest of my life

runnin' away with him.

Tell him I understand.

What's it say?

Says, "It's over."

Bye, Ellis.

(JUNIPER SOBBING)

Did you get my phone calls?

- What?

- I've been tryin' to call you.

- Who's this guy?

- Get your head out of my car, kid.

- Ellis!

- I called you twice!

MAY:
Stop it, Kyle!

Stop it!

Kyle!

(CROWD CLAMORING)

Stop it, Kyle!

God!

What the hell you doin' here, Ellis?

What?

You can't just run up

and punch people I'm with.

I'm sorry, I just wanted to know

why you hadn't called me back.

Why would I call you back, Ellis?

Because you're my girlfriend.

I'm not your girlfriend.

We've been on one date.

One.

Yeah, but...

But what? What'd you expect, Ellis?

I love you.

(SCOFFS)

You're 14.

I don't know. He's just this kid.

Come on, let's...

NECKBONE:
Try it now.

MUD:
Nothin'.

Son of a b*tch.

(SIGHS)

What she say?

You're a liar!

Makin' two kids run around,

doin' all the work

because you're too scared to do it yourself!

(ELLIS SOBBING)

Makin' me tell her it's over

because you're too scared!

You said you loved her and you lied!

You gave up on her,

and she gave up on you!

Just like everybody else!

I trusted you!

Bonfires and crosses

and wolf's eye... Bullshit!

Now, come on, Ellis.

Every single thing you told me was a lie!

You never cared about her,

and you never cared about us!

Not enough to matter!

You used us.

(INHALES DEEPLY)

You made me a thief!

Let me talk to him.

Ellis!

Ellis, come on!

Ellis, wait a minute.

(SCREAMS)

- (SPLASHES)

- Ellis!

Sh*t.

Mud!

Ellis! He fell in the creek!

He fell into the snakes!

Mud, please!

(GRUNTS)

Get the motor started, Neck!

NECKBONE:
Is he okay? Is he bit?

Sh*t.

What time is it?

What time is it?

NECKBONE:
4:18!

Yell it out every 10 minutes.

Okay.

Is he going to be okay?

Got to get him to the clinic.

Are you bit?

No.

My bike's up there!

Need some help here!

Snake bite!

- It's a snake bite!

- Stay calm.

Cottonmouth.

Just under an hour.

FEMALE NURSE:
Okay, we'll take care of him.

Let's go! Let's go, people.

MALE NURSE:
Sir.

We're going to need

some information from you.

Sir.

Sir!

(RINGING)

Hello?

(GASPS)

MARY LEE:
It's okay.

Just sit back.

Where am I?

You're home.

We brought you home.

Come on, sit up.

Come on.

You had us scared, son.

I'm so glad you're okay.

MARY LEE:
The doctors

gave you some medicine.

You had a snake bite.

How did I get to the doctor?

A man brought you in.

No one knew him.

Oh, no, no, it's all right.

You just rest now. We'll talk about it later.

Do you need anything? Are you hungry?

No.

Come on, let him get some rest.

I'll be back in to check on you.

Mom? Dad?

I love you.

We love you, too, Ellis.

MUD:
The sun does

shine on a dog's ass some days, huh?

It ain't sunk yet.

Wish Ellis could see it.

MUD:
I know.

Mmm.

Well...

Looks like you get your end of the deal.

Where's the bullets?

Deal was for the gun, not the bullets.

Sh*t.

Yeah.

Neck, I've got one more

favor I want to ask of you.

(BOAT APPROACHING)

(WHISTLING)

Mud?

(WHISPERING)

Don't get up.

How'd you get here?

Neck brought me.

We got the boat in the water.

- You did?

- Yeah.

Smooth sailing from here on out.

Wouldn't have felt right leavin' town

without comin' to say goodbye.

I'm sorry about what I said.

No, you were right to be mad.

You were right about a lot of things.

I don't traffic in the truth too often, but

I did love her.

I do

love her.

She loves you, too.

She said it.

Yeah, I just made mistakes.

Heck, we both did, you know.

It's a hard life to keep up with,

can't blame her for gettin' tired of tryin'.

My dad says you can't

count on women loving you.

He said you can't trust them.

That's not true.

You're a good man, Ellis.

You meet a girl half as good as you,

you're going to be all right.

(CHUCKLES)

You're a good man, too, Mud.

No.

No, I ain't, Ellis.

Maybe from here on out, I can...

(GUNFIRE)

Stay put.

Ellis!

Ellis!

(SHUSHING)

Don't move.

(GUN LOADING)

(GUN COCKING)

(RIFLE FIRES)

(SPLASHES)

NECKBONE:
Mud!

Let him go.

(WHISPERS) You still

down there, buddy?

- Yeah.

- All right, stay put.

(C*CKS GUN)

(GROANS)

Flush him out this way.

(GUN FIRING)

Mud!

Mud!

Aah!

(PANTING)

Mud!

Mud!

- Mud!

- SENIOR:
Ellis!

Ellis!

Ellis. Ellis.

It's okay.

(SOBBING)

(SIRENS WAILING)

(CHATTER ON POLICE RADIO)

(RINGING)

(SIGHS)

Hello?

You're speaking to him.

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