Same Kind of Different as Me Page #3

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No. No.

My wife's concerned

you're not eating, so--

made you

a little something here.

Man to man,

you'd be doing me

a big favor to just,

you know,

have a little something.

You don't have to eat

the whole thing.

Just a few bites. No?

You don't like Italian?

You're walking away, aren't you?

He's walking away.

I tried.

You the CIA?

No.

Can you get control

of your woman

and tell her

to stop bothering me?

No, I can't.

What do you want

from me, then?

Nothing.

We don't want anything

from you. We just--

take it easy

on my car over there.

How about that?

When we come around,

you could be nicer.

Little more friendly.

You wanna be my friend?

Uh-huh.

Well, I'm gonna

have to think about that.

I ain't gonna hurt you

or nothing.

You and your wife

been trying to be nice to me

for some time now.

And I avoided you.

What's your name?

I know it ain't suicide.

Denver. Name's Denver.

You hungry?

You didn't eat anything

in there. Kitchen's closed.

Before I answer your question

about us being friends...

Something I wanna ask you.

Yeah?

Something about white folks

that really bothers me.

I hear when white folks

go fishing...

They do this thing

they call "catch and release."

Yeah.

Well, you know,

it's just a sport.

You know? Sometimes

you just fish for fun.

Fun?

Mmm.

See--

where I growed up,

on a plantation...

We'd go out in the morning...

Dig us up some worms...

Cut us a cane pole...

Sit on the riverbank all day.

When we finally caught

something on the line...

We was real proud

of what we caught.

We'd take it back home,

show it off...

And share it

with all the folk.

See, it bothers me

that white folk go through

all of that trouble...

And when they finally

got something on the line,

they throw it back.

So--

it occurred to me

that if you is a white man

that is fishing for a friend...

And you're just gonna

catch and release...

Then I got no desire

to be your friend.

You understand me?

You hear me?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Where you from?

Louisiana.

Got any family?

Never knowed my mama.

I hear she was

too young to care for me.

So I was raised by my grandma.

We called her big mama.

She was big sideways,

north or south,

all the way around.

She was my best friend.

Denver. Denver!

She had a lot of pain.

I used to take care of her.

Her and my cousin chook.

Oh, Denver!

I needs to get easy.

I don't quite know what

kind of pill they was...

But she called them red devils.

Denver.

I needs to get easy.

She was actually

my daddy's mama.

But I hardly ever saw him

and never called him daddy.

I used to like it

when big mama was sleeping.

'Cause that's

when she had no pain.

Had a window by my bed.

I'd look up at the stars

winking at me.

Weren't no electric lights

blotting out the sky,

except for the moon

cutting a hole in the dark.

The nights was

just as black as molasses.

And the stars glittered

like broken glass in the sun.

Big mama.

Big mama!

After big mama die,

my uncle James came by

and picked me and chook up.

I went to live

on his man's plantation

to do a little sharecropping.

Now, all that work

didn't stop uncle James

and those working in the fields

from going to church

every Sunday.

And of course,

putting on their Sunday best.

Uncle James,

he was a good man.

He was a praying man

and got worried that

all the bad stuff circling me

might be from black magic.

Come on,

little brother.

So he took me down the river

to get baptized.

It was a dunking

I'll never forget.

Kinda felt strange

going into that water

in a full set of clothes.

The river mud squished

between my toes while I kept

one eye out for the gators.

Do you believe that Jesus

died on the cross for your sins,

was buried,

and rose again on the third day?

Yes, sir, I do.

I now baptize thee...

In the name of the father,

the son, and the holy ghost.

As quick as lightning,

like I was gonna

change my mind...

He pinched my nose

and slammed me backwards

in the water.

Amen!

Problem was, he lost his grip,

and I sunk right to the bottom.

I didn't know I was supposed

to come right back up.

When I finally ran out of air,

I popped up down the river...

A few shades paler,

but full of the holy ghost.

You?

You ever seen your daddy?

He still around?

He's not worth seeing.

It's pretty sexy,

what you did today.

Oh, yeah?

Hanging out

with a homeless guy?

Exactly. How was it?

Actually,

it was, uh, kind of amazing.

Oh. Kind of like you?

Hmm?

Thought I'd lost you.

At 8:
30

is the pissarro appraisal

for the thompsons.

And I need your shipping list

for the art fair

no later than noon.

Uh, then you're on

for that suit fitting

at one o'clock.

Ron. Hey, you still there?

Yeah, let's cancel all that.

Cancel? All of them?

You've already

pushed the thompsons

three times.

Well, now it's four.

I'll call you later.

You ever been

to a museum?

I don't know nothing

about no mausoleum.

No, no.

Not a mausoleum, a museum.

You're wearing that?

Wh--

yeah.

What do you like?

Like that?

Yeah.

Yeah.

- This the stuff you sell?

- Pretty much.

You like that one?

That's by Pablo Picasso.

Who that?

He's probably

the most famous artist

of the 20th century.

Yeah.

Looks to me that he done

broke that lady apart

then tried

to put her back together again,

but got her all mess up.

Well, actually, that is

exactly what he's doing--

cause of that, makes you

look at her different

than you would

if she looked real.

You can see

what she's really like

from the inside,

not just the outside.

How much that one cost?

Oh, that? That's, uh--

that's only about $12 million.

Whoa!

Yeah.

Well,

it don't blow my lid off.

-No?

-But I sure am glad

they bought it,

so somebody like me could see

what a $12 million picture

look like.

I feel the same way.

What's that?

Twelve million dollar.

Yeah, it's a lot.

Shock art.

It's by Andres serrano. It's--

it's meant to provoke people.

Get 'em riled up.

As a boy...

I made a promise to myself

that I'd never again

be speaking to no whites.

Especially white ladies.

You's only the second

white friend I ever had.

The first was Bobby,

the man's son.

When I wasn't working,

we was in business.

We was partners in crime.

He got something to eat,

I did too.

Hey, you wanna see

my daddy's barn? Come on.

Lotta white folk back then

like the thing the way they was.

'Specially sheriffs

and plantation farmers.

People like the man.

Here. Come on. Put this on.

I didn't know it,

but that would be the last time

me and Bobby

would ever play together.

Here, Denver.

Come on. You wanna play kkk?

Must've lost track of time

down there, playing swords.

Soon the man's wife was home.

Bobby, where are you?

That was the first time I ever

had a white woman talk to me.

Son, I told you

this barn is off-limits.

You're gonna

get your butt whipped

when your daddy gets home.

I don't know what you doing

back in my barn, boy,

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