The Good Lie Page #4

life, Mamere? Do you remember? I do.

Do not tell me what I remember.

I remember everything! Everything!

You did not deserve to come here!

Your brothers died so you could leave!

No, Theo died so you could leave.

Theo didn't want us to stop.

He knew it was unsafe. But you made him.

You put us in danger.

You should have stood up on that grass

that day, not Theo. I saw everything!

- Guys. You gotta...

- This has nothing to do with you.

This is not your war. I'm still your chief.

You're not my chief. I know.

We all know. You killed Theo.

You are not my chief!

You have never been my chief!

Oh, my God! Get off of him!

Carrie! Let them be!

- You guys, stop!

- Let them be!

Stop it!

Get him off of him!

- Paul, come on!

- Paul!

You are not my chief!

You are not my chief!

Mamere, are you okay?

Don't look at me.

Who's there?

Hello?

My God, you're half frozen.

I want to see my cows.

I cannot make it stop, Jack.

- What can't you make stop?

- I can't make it stop.

Sit down.

It's my fault. It's all my fault.

What's your fault?

I let my brother be taken away

by soldiers instead of me.

They took him away thinking he was me.

Theo told these soldiers he was all alone.

To protect us. To protect me.

- It should have been me. I know this.

- You don't know that, Mamere.

Look at me.

I was in the Army. I have been to war.

But most of us were just average guys...

being faced with unimaginable things...

being asked to make choices

no one should have to make.

Your brother made a choice

that night that was only his to make.

It wasn't your choice.

You didn't have that power.

You never did.

I still hear the sounds of guns

and the crying of children.

The cries...

There were so many, Jack.

I want you to be my brother, not my chief.

No more.

You don't have an appointment.

Yeah. I know. I just stood in line

for two hours for you to tell me that?

We have an opening in three months.

Oh, no, I'm not leaving here

until I see a supervisor.

If you'll step to the side and wait

until I help everyone in line here...

I'm not stepping to the side

and I'm not waiting any more.

Now, who do I have to screw around here

to see a goddamn immigration supervisor?

Uh... Me.

Great.

Thanks, cupcake.

- Name?

- Abital Deng. D-E-N-G.

- Age?

- She's probably 21.

Probably? Where is she from?

Sudan.

That's gonna be a problem.

Sudan has sponsored terrorist activity.

We're not gonna be able to move her

across state lines so easily.

We're talking about a kid here.

She's a child refugee of war.

I know. It's absurd.

But she's caught in a bureaucratic

crossfire, and it's gonna take a while.

What can I do to make it move faster?

You could hire a good immigration lawyer.

But if you're telling me the reason

they were separated...

is because there was no host family here for

her, then you're going to have to find one.

Otherwise, there's no chance.

- Hey.

- Hey.

- Thanks for coming over on

such short notice. - Yeah, sure.

I know you're busy on Sundays

with church and everything...

so thanks for coming.

- Uh-huh.

- I need your help.

Yeah. You do.

I'm just wondering

what you think of this room.

Whether I could turn it into a bedroom...

maybe fix it up,

get rid of some of this stuff.

I'm wondering if you think

it'd be good enough...

for the INS to approve me

hosting a refugee?

Or if your agency

would even back me up on that?

If you can get the whole house presentable,

and not just this room, yeah.

- I think you can get approval.

- What's wrong with the rest of the house?

Really?

All right. So where do we begin?

Why don't you make us some coffee?

- I have tequila.

- Praise the Lord.

Great.

- Wow, this is amazing.

- This looks really clean.

We did it!

Mm.

So how many kids do you have anyway?

- Ugh. Too many.

- Ha-ha-ha!

Um... I don't know what I was thinking

to be honest.

Hey-

You sure you're ready to take this on?

Yeah. Definitely.

Okay, just one more.

These Christmas decorations

are very elaborate, yes?

I go all out for Christmas.

I make my own baby Jesuses

out of papier-mch.

But Santa Claus doesn't come to Sudan.

Well, he's coming here.

So, what time should we be expecting him?

- Ha-ha-ha. - Very late at night.

And only if you're good.

He sounds like a burglar to me.

Mamere, I left some groceries on the porch.

Can you help me?

- Yes.

- Thanks.

Abital!

I like this Christmas!

You okay?

You're doing really good!

You look like an old bison!

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday, dear lost boys

My brothers. It is wonderful to see you all

here as we celebrate the day of our birth.

We may not know the exact day we were born,

but we know about the day.

Our mothers told us.

Our mothers were very tall,

liked to tell us stories.

We remember her words, even if we do not

remember the sound of her voice.

She told us to remember who we are...

and all who came before us.

Thank you.

Abital!

Mm. This reminds me

of when I was a little girl.

My sister and I used to sneak downstairs

when our parents were asleep...

and we'd steal all the ice cream

and eat all of it.

Is she like you, your sister?

No.

She was nice.

My mom used to say that I was born

pissed off and Kelly was born chipper.

"Chipper"?

Happy. She was always happy.

I used to tease her.

I used to call her Chipper.

She hated it.

Where is she?

Oh, she got cancer two

years ago, and, uh...

It just ripped through

her like a firestorm.

And then, ahem, one day she was just gone.

And you wonder why it was her

and not you?

- What?

- My brother is doing laundry?

You are good to marry.

Ha-ha-ha!

I got a letter from Kenya yesterday,

and I'm not sure what to believe.

What?

A man came into the camp a month

ago looking for us.

It is possible he might have taken

our names off the list of people...

who have immigrated in order

to pretend he's someone we know.

It is not possible.

But what if it is?

What if it's really him and he's alive?

Theo.

I don't understand. He's a refugee of war.

He needs asylum.

All flights from the Kakuma Refugee Camp

have been stopped since 9/11.

They have thousands there

waiting for the same opportunity.

But he has his family here.

Faith Based Charities is ready to step in.

I'll sponsor him. I'll pay for his ticket.

He can live with me.

We could get him a work visa.

He knows cattle.

You know, this might not even be

your brother, Mamere.

There have been people who faked their identities

just to get out of situations like this.

Which is why I need to go

and see for myself.

Cat, could you give us a second, please?

Thank you.

You could try some embassy shopping.

- Explain that.

- Okay.

You go to Nairobi, you get into every

embassy you can and ask for asylum.

You tell them your brother's story.

And you see if you can get a country...

in good standing with the U.S.

to write him a visa. Okay?

So he has to go halfway

around the world to do this?

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