Slow Burn

1

Of all the ways

this desert tests you,

the most dangerous

is the mirage.

In those shimmering, sparkling

depths, you see whatever you want...

water, wealth, dreams.

That's the promise,

and that's the curse.

When the sand swallowed

the widow mcteague,

the desert turned her silver box

into a mirage.

In 1907, her second husband

squandered his last pesos...

Pursuing what he'd almost had.

Thirty years later, her grown

children began to believe...

They saw a way

to recover their lost glory.

After the war, one of their

sons imagined he saw a way...

To get back the life he'd discarded

at the recruiting office.

Finally, 12 years ago,

his granddaughter saw me.

Humidity's about six percent.

That means it takes a grown-up

four quarts a day just to sweat.

If you run dry, your blood gets

thick, your tongue turns hard,

and you're dead in 19 hours.

I'll remember that.

Oh, she was the last thing

you'd expect to find out here.

She belonged.

Hi, mom.

Which is more than I can say

for catalina.

- Hey, dad.

- Hi. Jacob mcteague.

Come on up.

Frank Norris.

A couple of handshakes.

The ordinary greetings. Just what

you'd do with any strangers.

But out here you don't stay

strangers for long. Trina.

Over the next months,

we became a family... of sorts.

I didn't catch your name.

Catalina.

Catalina. Oh.

I even shared their secrets.

- You sold the house, didn't you?

- I sold the trailer, yeah,

to get the truck so we don't get

stranded out here. Stranded?

What were you thinking?

Come on. Piece...

trina, come here. There's

something I wanna show you.

I'm sick and tired of hearing... we found

her watch, the key, we found the Bible.

We're so close. Jacob, we found Paulina's

watch two and a half years ago!

- Did I ever show you this?

- Here. It's volcanic.

Stop it! Come here. Come here.

I've had it with you! Stop it!

There are steam vents on the

other side of the salt flats.

Five thousand degrees.

What? I can't... I can't

take this anymore.

I can't do this anymore.

Oh, come on.

No, leave me alone! It takes thousands

of years to lay those things down.

We're gonna find it.

It's out there.

Hey, it doesn't matter.

Is it for me?

Yes, it is.

I got somethin' else for you.

Somethin' very special.

That's for you.

Put it around your neck.

I won't disappoint you,

daddy. I promise.

I know you won't.

What do you say

we light your cake?

I miss mama.

Tell me what to do.

But even then, we all knew

catalina wasn't coming back.

Three hundred and fifteen

degrees.

Three hundred and forty.

- It's probably over there.

- Maybe.

"Maybe." It is!

Probably. So they went on,

day after day, year after year,

until there was only her...

And the search.

I'm sorry. Your geodes aren't

bringin' in what they used to.

Since you promised this'd be your last

season, that shouldn't be a problem, right?

What you got planned, Frank?

A surprise.

Oh, yeah?

What is this?

A little Dutch courage,

a nice new dress,

and then you walk me into town?

No, it's to celebrate your new life...

In Cancun.

I know this guy who works in one

of these resorts they have.

They need people who can speak both languages.

You know, fit in with the clientele.

I told him you'd be just right for it.

No. For you.

- For people that belong there.

- Oh, come on.

- You're a beautiful young lady.

- What are you now, my dad?

No. No.

Tsk. Aw, gee.

Let me do it.

- No.

- Come on! You can't do...

I have this dream, Frank.

I'm in a grocery store.

Just a regular grocery store.

I wake up

and my heart is pounding,

because I don't

belong there, and...

Any place I go

is a foreign country.

I've never been to a dance.

I've never been to a library.

I never had a phone number.

I've never been

in a swimming pool.

I never... never...

I'm not gonna wake up

and sprout wings and fly.

Right? I mean, um,

this is, um...

this is me. This is it.

Uh...

I've grown up.

I mean, look at me, Frank.

Look hard.

Who would want this?

Jesus! Look at you.

You're catalina's little girl.

Get your money back! And I'm

not goin' to Cancun either.

- We had a deal.

- No deal!

This desert killed

four generations of my family!

- Do you wanna make it five?

- I will not be the last loser in a chain of losers!

You know why? Because I

learned about this desert.

I respect it,

and I listen to it.

- Why do you have to be so goddamn stubborn over this?

- Because this is all I got!

What if you find Paulina

and the diamonds aren't there?

- Shut up! Shut up!

- Then what are you gonna have?

You're never gonna find

those diamonds!

Oh, Jesus, I'm sorry.

No, you know what?

Don't need a daddy anymore.

Maybe tomorrow, Tracy.

Some dreams die hard.

Because in this desert,

under that burning eye,

there's always another dreamer.

You're thinkin' again, aren't ya?

Yeah.

I was thinkin' about what's gonna

happen when we get across the border.

See? I'm in this hellhole,

fightin' for our lives,

you're sittin' in some ice cream parlor

in El Paso with a banana in your mouth.

Come on.

I still... I still say...

That if we never plan where we wanna

go, we ain't never gonna get there.

When are you

gonna learn, duster?

The future ain't gonna happen unless you make

the most of it right here and right now.

It could be so good, Marcus.

You hit the jackpot when you got

chained to me, and what did I get?

Hey! There we go.

See, discipline.

Mental toughness.

Get some, if you

wanna be like me.

What if I don't wanna be like you?

I heard that.

Marcus, wait up.

You think bugs

get itchy, Marcus?

Because if they get itchy,

they'd itch on the inside,

'cause the skeleton's

on the outside.

Bugs don't get itchy! Why not?

Their lives are too goddamn

short, that's why. What is that?

What is that?

Holy sh*t!

Congratulations, pal. You ain't the only

one out here dead between the ears.

You sure know how

to pick an easy mark.

This sucker's been

out here so long,

we might find

some antique jewelry.

Marcus, I'm gonna

leave this for it, okay?

Ain't that sweet? Sending flowers

while I grope the stiff.

Hey, Marcus, these little

pictures are everywhere.

- Huh?

- You think they mean somethin'?

What have we got here? Ring.

Oh, Jesus! Na...

hey, duster, you remember

our little conversation?

Which one?

The one about all the things you miss if

you ain't livin' in the here and now.

Aah, f*** ya.

The here and now here or wh-when

you were talking before?

Forget it. I take it all back.

Don't need no chain,

to have you drag me down.

I knew it the day mama said,

"meet your cousin."

In the lottery of life, how

the hell did I draw you?

I don't know why we got what we got,

but we gave ourselves a combine.

And no matter what, we put everything we

are, everything we got in the combine,

'cause that's what's

gotten us through.

Sometimes what we share is good,

and sometimes it's bad.

But right now...

right now it's this, Marcus.

You did it.

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