Ragamuffin Page #7

the crowds got louder,

Man' and Bryan were

a little biz' nicer

to me.

But at the end of the day,

I mean,

the fame, the money,

the attention,

it just didn't

mean much to me.

In fact, I got sick

of it pretty fast.

Life on the road

had taken its toll on me.

One thing became

painfully obvious.

I needed a change.

Look, here

he comes, hey, hey.

Yes!

There he is!

Man of the hour!

Yeah, I bet you thought

this day would never

come, huh?

Hoped it would

never come, actually.

(Matt)

We got some great news.

We got you booked

solid for the next

six months.

No more little church gigs

or youth camps.

And you're no longer

an opening act, Rich.

From now on, this town's

going to be begging

to open for you.

Not only that.

You can finally afford

a proper tour bus.

Yeah, you're

ready, Rich.

Everything is changed.

Yeah.

I'm moving to Wichita.

[loud laughter]

Yeah, okay, Rich.

No, I'm serious.

I'm moving to Wichita.

But you're finally on top.

If you leave now,

you risk losing everything.

I don't know

if I'm concerned

about it either way.

Look, I've seen you.

I know you like

those new toys.

I just saw you

on that new

motorcycle, right? Huh?

Rich, come on.

You know

what the problem is?

I hadn't seen myself

on that new motorcycle.

Here, you guys

can have it.

I don't even want it.

Rich!

You know what a person is

that doesn't want anything

and doesn't fear anybody?

What?

Dangerous.

Rich?

Can I help you?

Um, I'm Justin.

Holy cow!

Good to see

you, man!

It's been a while.

You remember me?

Yeah, absolutely.

I hope you don't mind

I got--

No, not at all.

You kind of picked

the worst possible time.

I'm literally

just getting

ready to leave

but if you need

a place to crash

you know, it's yours.

Where are you going?

I'm moving

to Wichita, actually.

Oh.

What are you doing

in Nashville anyway?

Looking for a job.

I'll tell you what,

if you want a crappy job,

you can come join the band.

Really?

Yeah. Sure,

why not?

You're just going

to let me join

the band?

Yeah!

Awesome.

Come in.

Let's get

this crappy job started.

Here, take that

to the jeep, will you?

[laughter]

(Rich, off)

It turns out Justin

is just as broken as I was

when he landed

on my doorstep.

That was one

of the many things

we had in common.

Along with enjoying

Aaron Copeland

and road trips

broken relationships

with our fathers,

and greasy truck stop food,

stale motel lobby coffee,

it goes on and on.

And more than anything,

if was just' nice

to have a friend

on the road.

So what?

You want to be

like Saint Frank?

It's not about being

like Saint Francis

necessarily,

it's about following Jesus,

it's about being

like Christ.

I mean,

how do you do that?

I'm not good

at being perfect.

But it's

not about being perfect.

Look at Saint Francis.

He took vows.

He took a vow of chastity,

he took a vow of poverty,

a vow of obedience.

I think that's what

we're really missing.

That's what I want to do.

I think

I want to start living

on whatever

the average American salary is.

Whatever the average

American worker makes.

Says the man

making millions.

Who cares?

Money destroys

people, man.

Money doesn't have

to destroy people.

Well, it's destroying me.

(radio intervie wer)

You moved

to Wichita, Kansas

to go back to college

at Friends University

and do I have this right

that you went to get

a music education degree?

No, I mean, yeah.

It's true that I went

to get a music degree.

I wanted

to be able to teach kids

but the real reason

I went back to Wichita

was Morris.

I thought maybe being

around him may make me

walk a little straighter.

To be honest,

it's the closest

thing to home

I've found

in a long, long time.

What' up, man?

I'm Rich.

Hey, I'm Mitch.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

Nice guitar.

Yeah.

Thanks.

I'm just starting out.

Sweet.

This is James

Bryan Smith's class, right?

Yeah. What,

you weren't

here last week?

No, no,

I was bummed.

I had to miss it.

I was

actually in Ireland.

And Ireland's incredible so

I wasn't really that bummed

to be honest but--

Yeah. You're seeing

friends, family?

Actually I was shooting

a music video.

It's not as cool

as it seems.

Hey, everyone.

Glad to see

you all made

it back to class.

Can I help you?

This is Intro

to Religion, right?

Yes.

What's your name?

Do you have

a student ID?

Uh, my name

is Rich Mullins.

I'm not sure

about the student ID.

The Rich Mullins?

Awesome God guy.

I do have

other songs.

All right, and you're

taking this class?

(Rich)

Yeah.

Why?

I was hoping

you would tell me

that part.

Yeah, okay, sorry.

Glad to have you, Rich.

Everyone, take out

your copies of G.K.

Chesterton's Orthodoxy.

(Rich)

Good morning.

Yes, it is.

Barely.

[chuckling]

I think this

is the earliest

I've seen you, man.

Good job.

That's funny.

Justin up?

Well, I haven't seen him

down by the coffee pot

so chances are

he's not up yet.

Sam called.

Oh, yeah?

Said hi, yeah.

Does he, uh,

got the beard

going these days?

Uh, no.

He's on a diet.

[chuckles]

So you call

your dad yet?

Why should I, Morris?

I don't know

the history

between you guys--

but if you're blessed

enough to have a dad

to call,

you should call him.

You've been

more of a father to me

these last three months.

Yeah, but I'm

not your dad.

I am your friend.

And as your friend,

I'm telling you...

Call your dad.

[Morris, coughing]

[glass breaking]

Morris, you okay?

[Shout]

Morris!

Hey, hey, hey, hey!

Hey, Morris!

Morris! Hey, talk

to me, buddy.

Talk to me.

Morris!

Mo--Help!

Morris! Hey, hey,

come on, come on.

Justin!

Doris!

[weeping]

Call an ambulance!

Oh, my God.

Don't leave me.

Don't leave me.

Don't leave me.

Morris!

Don't leave me!

Help!

Help

I'm sorry,

I'm sorry.

Everything's fine.

I'm sorry.

Everything's fine.

Everything's fine,

I'm sorry.

Everything's fine.

Rich'?

Sam!

Are you drunk?

Shhh.

I don't want

anyone to know.

Everyone knows.

Can I talk to you outside?

[panting]

Look, man--

you got to understand.

People in my family

don't come

to these things sober.

Sam, I'm sorry.

He was like

a father to me.

[weeping]

(Sam)

He wasn't your dad.

He was mine.

You're not going

to hit me, are you?

No.

Well--

probably not.

But if I would,

you would deserve it.

Yeah, I would.

I do.

[sigh]

Now what?

I was thinking

the same thing.

You sticking

around Wichita?

You know

I left Nashville

to be with your dad.

Okay, Richard.

So now what are

you going to do?

I don't know.

[Sigh]

What would you

tell somebody

in your exact situation?

And I know you know

the answer to this.

If I was talking

to somebody else,

I'd give them

the Sunday School answer.

And what

is wrong with that?

My dad was a--

My dad was

a Sunday School teacher

for 20 years.

If there's one thing

that I learned from him,

I learned that sometimes

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