The Bad Seed Page #10

- No! Give me that!

- Let me see what's in the...

- Give it!

Let me see.

- Let me see what's in the package.

- Give me that!

You hit him with the shoes, didn't you?

You hit him with the shoes.

That's how he got those half-moon marks...

...on his forehead and on his hands.

Answer me, Rhoda.

Answer me!

I hit him with the shoes.

I had to hit him with the shoes!

- What else could I do?

- Do you realize that you murdered him?

But it was his fault.

If he gave me the medal like I told him to,

I wouldn't have hit him.

All right.

All right, now, we're gonna...

We're gonna start at the beginning

and you're gonna tell me the truth.

I know you killed him,

so there's no sense lying.

- Rhoda, I want you to tell me the truth!

- I can't tell you, Mother.

I want you to...

I'm waiting for your answer.

He wouldn't give me the medal

like I told him to, that's all.

So then he ran away from me

and hid on the wharf.

But I found him there...

...and I told him I'd hit him with my shoe

if he didn't give me the medal!

But he shook his head and said no.

So I hit him the first time.

Then he took off the medal

and gave it to me.

And then what happened?

Tried to run away from me.

So I hit him with my shoe again!

But he kept on crying

and making a noise...

...and I was afraid

somebody would hear him...

...so I kept on hitting him, Mother!

I hit him harder that time...

...and he fell in the water.

Oh, my God. My God.

What are we gonna do?

What are we gonna do?

Oh, I've got the prettiest mother.

- I've got the nicest mother.

- How did...?

How did the marks

get on the backs of his hands?

He tried to pull himself

back on the wharf...

...after he fell in the water.

I wouldn't have hit him anymore.

Only he kept saying

he was going to tell on me.

Oh, Mommy, Mommy, please say

you won't let them hurt me.

I won't let them hurt you.

I don't know what must be done now,

but I promise you nobody will hurt you.

I wanna play the way

we used to, Mommy.

Will you play with me?

- If I give you a basket of kisses...?

- Oh, Rhoda, Rhoda, please.

- Please.

- Can't you give me an answer, Mother?

- If I give you a basket of kisses...?

- Rhoda, I want you to...

I want you to go in your bedroom now

and read...

...because I have to think

about what to do.

Promise me you won't tell anyone

what you've told me. Do you understand?

- Why would I tell and get killed?

- Rhoda.

What happened

to old Mrs. Post in Wichita?

There was ice on the steps...

...and I slipped and fell against her...

...and that was all.

That was all?

No.

I slipped on purpose.

Rhoda, get the shoes.

Get the shoes and put them

in the incinerator. Hurry.

Put them in the incinerator

and burn them.

- What will you do with the medal, Mother?

- I'll think of something to do.

You won't give it to Miss Fern?

No.

I won't give it to Miss Fern.

So your grand pappy finally left, huh?

My mother and I just came

from taking him to the plane.

That's really none of your business.

Maybe he don't like you so much.

Maybe he sees through you, like I do.

You know so much.

His editor called from long distance

and he had to go to work...

...and you better do yours.

And I found out about one lie

that you told.

There is no such thing

as a stick bloodhound.

I ain't supposed to talk

to little Miss Goody-Goody.

Then don't.

Where's your mama?

She had to go back to the grocery store,

and that's none of your business, either.

And I'm busy with my puzzle.

Puzzle, huh?

Well, you don't puzzle me none,

Little Miss Sweet-Looking.

Just for your own sake,

I'll tell you something.

There may not be any stick bloodhound,

but there's a stick, all right.

You better find that stick before they do,

because they're going to turn blue.

And then they're gonna fry you

in the electric chair.

There isn't any stick any more than

there's a stick bloodhound.

You know the noise

the electric chair makes? It goes:

And when that juice hits you,

it parts your hair neat.

Like lightning struck you.

Oh, go on with your lawn mower.

They don't put little girls

in the electric chair.

They don't?

They got a little blue chair

for little boys...

...and a little pink chair for little gals.

I just remembered something.

Just the morning of the picnic,

I wiped off your shoes with the cleats.

You used to go tap-tap-tap

on the walk.

How come you don't wear them

anymore?

You're silly.

- I never had a pair of shoes like that.

- You used to go tap-tap-tap on the walk.

I'd squirt water on them

and wiped them off.

They hurt my feet and I gave them away.

You know something?

You didn't hit that little boy

with no stick.

You hit him with them shoes.

- Ain't I right this time?

- You're silly.

You think I'm silly

because I said about the stick.

All I was trying was to make you say,

"It wasn't no stick, it was my shoes."

- I knew what it was.

- You lie all the time. All the time.

How come I got those shoes, then?

Where did you get them?

Just walked right into the apartment,

right into your room, and took them.

It's just more lies,

because I burned those shoes.

I put them down the incinerator

and burned them.

Nobody's got them.

I don't say that ain't

smart, because it is.

Only suppose I say I heard something

come rattling down the incinerator...

...and I says to myself, "Sounds to me

like a pair of shoes with cleats."

I don't say you didn't

burn them a little...

...but you didn't burn them all up

like you wanted to.

- Yes.

- You listen to this, then figure out...

...which of us is the silly one.

I'm working down the cellar and I hear

them shoes come down that incinerator.

I open the door quick and there they is...

...just sitting up on top of the coals,

only smoking the least little bit.

I pull them out.

They're scorched.

Sure, they're scorched,

but there's plenty left to turn blue...

...and show where

that little boy's blood was.

Plenty left to put you

in the electric chair.

- Give me those shoes back.

- Oh, no.

I got them shoes hid

where nobody but me can find them.

You'd better give me those shoes.

They're mine. Give them back to me.

I ain't giving them shoes back to nobody.

You'd better give them back to me, Leroy.

I'm keeping them shoes.

Who says I got anybody's shoes

except my own?

You did.

You get them and give them back!

I'm fooling you, I'm teasing you.

I got nobody's shoes.

- I got work to do.

- Give me back my shoes!

Don't you know

when anybody's teasing you?

Will you bring them back?

Play with your puzzle.

I got no shoes, I tell you.

You bring them back.

I believe you did it.

I was fooling before,

but now I believe you killed him.

You killed that little boy with your shoes.

You've got them hid...

...but you'd better get them

and bring them back here...

...right here to me!

- What is Leroy saying to you?

- Nothing.

I heard you yelling,

"Bring them back here."

- He said he had my shoes.

- I got nobody's shoes, Miss Penmark.

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