The Fugitive Kind Page #4

"This boy is a peculiar talker. "

Well, what else can you do?

Tell me some more about your self-control.

Well, they say that

a woman can burn a man down, you know?

But I can burn a woman down.

I'm saying that I could.

I'm not saying I would.

What's the matter? Have they tired you out?

No, I'm not tired.

I'm just fed up.

- You're right.

- You know, Lady, there's people bought...

and sold in this world

like carcasses of hogs...

in butcher shops.

You might think that there's many...

There's many kinds of people in this world.

But there's only two kinds:

The buyers and the ones that get bought.

No, there's another kind.

What kind?

It's a kind that don't belong no place at all.

There's a kind of bird that...

don't have any legs

so it can't alight on nothing.

So it has to spend its whole life

on its wings in the air.

I seen one, once.

It died and fell to earth.

Its body was light blue colored.

And it was just as tiny as your little finger.

And it was so light in the palm of your hand

that it didn't weigh more than a feather.

And its wings spread out that wide...

and you could see right through them.

That's why the hawks don't catch them...

because they don't see them.

They don't see them way up

in that high blue sky near the sun.

What about in gray weather?

They fly so high. In gray weather,

the hawks, they'd get dizzy.

See, these little birds

don't have no legs at all...

so they have to live

their whole lives on the wing.

And they sleep on the wind.

That's what they do, they just...

They just spread their wings out

and go to sleep on the wind.

And they only alight on this earth

but one time...

it's when they die.

I want to show you something.

Come with me.

You see?

This is going to be the confectionary.

It's going to open in a short while.

I'm going to compete for the nightlife

in this county.

The after-the-movies trade.

It's going to be like an orchard

in the spring.

My father, he had an orchard on Moon Lake.

He made a wine garden of it.

They burned it up one summer.

Who burned it up?

Take this dollar...

go to eat...

and come back tomorrow morning.

I'll put you to work.

Maybe when the new confectionary

will open...

you can sing, you can play

the guitar in there, who knows?

Take it.

Okay?

- Let's get one thing straight.

- What thing is that?

You don't interest me no more

than the air you stand in.

If that's understood,

we will have a good working relation.

Otherwise, trouble.

Oh, can I...

- Could I leave this here?

- Your life's companion?

Yeah, my life's companion.

- Leave it here, if you want to.

- Thank you.

You know, I...

I don't know much about you...

but I think that you and Mrs. Talbot...

are just about the nicest people

that I ever run into.

And I'm going to be steady...

and honest and hardworking to please you.

And if you ever have any trouble sleeping,

I know how to fix that.

You see...

I met a lady osteopath one time...

that taught me how to make

little adjustments in the back of the neck...

and spine.

Give you a sound, natural sleep.

Okay?

- Goodnight.

- Goodnight.

I don't believe I care for this pair of shoes.

I'm coming, Jabe.

- What you want, Jabe?

- Hypo.

Jabe, I can't do it.

I can't. You ought to have a nurse.

What in hell can you do?

I run your store for you.

I thought you hired a boy

off the road to run it?

He's not a boy. Val's 30.

And how come you never brought him

up here for me to look at?

He been here three weeks now.

- You never asked me.

- I'm asking you now. Go get him.

Not now. I'm not dressed.

Don't you want him to see you

in that new silk wrap?

I know your plans.

I know what your plans are, Lady.

But before I die, you'll be too old for a lover.

Time will be past for you

to work out your plans.

Stop it! Don't do that!

You're still my wife!

You're not my widow yet!

Stop it! It makes my skin crawl.

Did it used to?

It did.

Always.

Mr. Xavier, where have you been

keeping yourself?

- You ought to show yourself around more.

- Janie!

Shoot, Connie. Mr. Xavier understands.

Don't you, Mr. Xavier?

Yeah, I understand.

Okay, Val, I'll take care of them.

What is it?

- I believe we have changed our minds.

- That's fine.

What did they want?

They said they were in the market

for some shoes.

But I guess

they weren't in the market for shoes.

What then? Thrills?

- No, it's nothing to bother about, Lady.

- No?

Thrills are not marketed in this market.

Your shoes squeak.

Pick up that match.

Why do you move that way?

Why do you walk that way?

What way?

- Everything you do, it's like...

- What?

You know you are... You know what I mean.

Yeah, I know what you mean.

Val, what are you doing?

I'm giving you back your suit

you gave me to work in.

- I'll change my pants in there.

- Please, no. I'm sorry.

You hear me? I said I'm sorry.

I didn't sleep well last night.

- Listen, Lady...

- Lady!

Lady, can I use your telephone?

Carol Cutrere's making a big disturbance

at our service station.

She's demanding service.

I'm gonna call her brother

and tell him to get her away from my station.

Helen, give me the Cutrere place.

Anybody there. David Cutrere.

If you can't get him, give me Sheriff Talbot.

Miss Cutrere, I ain't gonna serve you.

Now get out of here!

Mike, get this car out of here!

My money's as good as anybody's!

Don't hurt her!

Let go of me!

Don't hurt her!

Come on. Here.

I woke up thinking about you last night

in New Orleans.

I tried to pour oblivion out of a bottle

but it wouldn't pour out.

So, finally, I just got in my car and I drove

80 and 90 and 100 miles an hour...

because I was afraid

you'd be gone before I got here.

- Hello, Carol.

- Hello, Lady.

Is there anything you want?

I have to give him a message.

Can I see him alone, please?

- Her brother's coming to get her.

- David Cutrere is...

David Cutrere is not coming to my store.

Why, Lady, I thought you'd forgotten

that old flame.

Listen, your brother's plantation

is 10 minutes from here.

I won't let him come in my store.

I don't even want his hand

to touch the door handle.

Give the message.

But when your brother comes,

I want you away from here...

like a shot from a pistol. That fast.

Give the message now.

Come on.

Now you're being kind.

I suspect that's your true nature.

What's the message?

Ashes on your shirt.

- Is that the message?

- No.

That was just an excuse to touch you.

The message is...

I'd love to hold something

the way you hold your guitar.

That's the way I'd love to hold something...

with such tender protection.

I'd love to hold you that way.

With that same tender protection.

'Cause you hang the moon for me.

I'm done with the crowd you run with...

and the night places you run to.

Well, now you're not being kind.

Why?

Haven't I always been very kind to you?

Did I even snitch

when I saw my cousin's watch on you?

Well, you take this Rolex Chronometer.

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