Sling Blade

Hey, Sheriff.

A Mercury... is a real good car.

That was the car I was driving that day.

I have a lot of cars.

Yeah. Different kinds.

A lot of different kinds of cars.

She was standing, this girl,

where there was this chicken stand.

It wasn't the Colonel,

but a chicken stand nevertheless.

I pulled the Mercury

right up alongside,

and I rolled down the window,

see, by electric power.

And she had this leather skirt on.

And she had a lot of hair on her arms.

I like that, I like that a lot.

It means a big bush. I like a big bush.

So she says, "Are you dating?" You know?

I said, "Sure." So she gets in.

And we pull off

into this remote location, you know,

that was comfortable for both she and I.

And she says to me,

"How much do you wanna spend?"

I said, "Whatever it takes to see

that bush, 'cause I know it's big."

And she says to me, "$25."

That's not chicken feed,

you know, to a working man.

So I produce the $25

and she sticks it down into her shoe

and pulls up her skirt.

And there before me lay this thin,

crooked, uncircumcised penis.

You can imagine how bad

I wanted my $25 back.

I don't know why you're weirded out.

This is not San Quentin.

It's a nuthouse.

These people don't know where they are.

They're not gonna hurt you.

We're gonna be in a room with a killer.

That doesn't bother you?

You're the one

that wanted to major in journalism.

These are the people

from that newspaper.

- Yeah. From the college?

- Yes, sir.

- Jerry Woolridge.

- Nice to meet you. I'm Marsha Dwiggins.

This is Theresa Evans.

She's here to take the pictures.

Y'all sit down.

There was a young man

named John Legit Hunter

who was in a good

filling station business.

But he was one of these young men

we run across, I'm sure you have,

who didn't deserve what he had.

And one of the things he had was this...

beautiful young bride,

Sarah.

She was a Georgia peach.

In fact, she was more like

the picture I had in my mind

than any woman I had ever seen.

So I took it upon myself

to take her away from John Legit Hunter,

who did not deserve her, you know?

I don't know if I told you,

but he was a Frenchman

who claimed to be an Englishman.

Took a lot of strong nylon cord

to get her away from him,

'cause she was a fighter

as well as being a Georgia peach.

I think there must

have been a little mix-up.

I talked to your sponsor or teacher,

or whoever he is,

and I told him that

there couldn't be any pictures.

It's supposed to be an article or story,

something like that, isn't that right?

Well, it's for the school newspaper,

but it has pictures.

I mean, it's a regular paper.

Karl's real sensitive

about having his picture made.

He wouldn't even be on the

bulletin board for the Easter collage.

Now...

a shovel just makes

too goddamn much racket.

All I can do is talk to him,

see what he says.

You gotta make something explode

to truly understand it,

examine all those little tiny particles

while they're still on fire.

Karl, I've gotta take you

down to the old classroom.

Mr. Woolridge has some people

for you to see down there.

Come on, let's go.

You remember me telling you about

those people from that newspaper?

They wanna ask you some questions

about your release.

They think it'll make a good story.

Will you talk to 'em?

Get interviewed?

Now, they're women.

Think it'd be good for you, too.

You're gonna be seeing all kinds

of people when you get on the outside.

This'll help, I believe.

Now, here's the thing.

He'll only talk to you,

Now, here's the thing.

He'll only talk to you,

but he doesn't want you to ask anything.

And you really shouldn't stare at him.

How am I going to interview

if I can't ask questions?

It's the best it's gonna get. I'm sorry.

Can I ask you a question? If he's so

troubled, why are you letting him out?

What if he does it again?

It happens all the time.

He's free, his time's up.

That's the rules.

He's been treated, re-evaluated

and doesn't show any signs anymore.

- Signs?

- Homicidal signs.

Miss. I'm sorry,

but you're gonna have to step outside.

Why?

Please?

I gotta change the light

in here for Karl.

I hope you can still see to write.

I reckon what you is wanting to know

is what I'm a-doin' in here.

I reckon the reason I'm in here

is 'cause I've killed somebody.

I reckon what you is a-wantin' to know

is how come me to kill somebody,

so I reckon I'll start

at the front and tell you.

I lived out back of my mother

and father's place most of my life,

in a little old shed

that my daddy had built for me.

They didn't want me up there

in the house with the rest of 'em.

So mostly, I just sat around out there

in the shed, a-lookin' at the ground.

I didn't have no floor out there.

But I had me a hole dug out

to lay down in.

A quilt or two to put down there.

My father was a hardworking man

most of his life.

Not that I can say the same for myself.

I mostly sat around

out there in the shed,

tinkered around

with a lawn mower or two.

Went to school off and on

from time to time.

But the children out there,

they were very cruel to me.

Made quite a bit of sport of me.

Made fun of me quite a bit.

So mostly, I just sat around

out there in the shed.

My daddy worked down there

at the saw mill,

down at the planer mill

for an old man named Dixon.

Old man Dixon was a very cruel fella.

Didn't treat his employees well.

Didn't pay 'em much of a wage.

Didn't pay my daddy too much of a wage.

Just barely enough to get by on,

I reckon.

But I reckon he got by all right.

They used to come out,

one or the other of 'em,

usually my mother,

feed me pretty regular.

I know he made enough where I could have

mustard and biscuits

three or four times a week.

But old man Dixon, he had a boy.

His name was Jesse Dixon.

Jesse was really more cruel

than his daddy was.

He used to make

quite a bit of sport of me

when I was down there

at the schoolhouse.

He used to take advantage of little

girls there in the neighborhood an' all.

He used to say that my mother

was a very pretty woman.

He said that quite a bit

from time to time

when I'd be down there

at the schoolhouse.

Well... I reckon

you want me to get on with it

and tell you what happened,

so I reckon I'll tell you.

I was sittin' out in the shed

one evening, not doing too much,

just kindly staring at the wall,

waiting on my mother to come out

and give me my Bible lesson.

Well, I heard a commotion

up there in the house.

So I run up on the screened-in porch

to see what was a-goin' on.

I looked in the window

and seen my mother on the floor,

without any clothes on.

I seen Jesse Dixon

a-layin' on top of her.

He was having his way with her.

Well, I just seen red.

I picked up a Kaiser blade that was

sitting there by the screen door.

Some folks call it a sling blade,

I call it a Kaiser blade.

It's kindly a long wood handle,

kind of like an axe handle.

With a long blade on it

shaped kind of like a banana.

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