The Keeping Room

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WAR IS CRUELTY:

WAR IS CRUELTY:

THERE IS NO USE TRYING TO REFORM I THE CRUELER IT IS, THE SOONER IT WILL BE OVER

~ ~

WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN, UNION ARMY GENERAL

THE AMERICAN SOUTH

~

THE KEEPING ROOM

Heard you shoot.

What was it?

Somethin' small n' fast.

Rabbit?

Maybe.

I don't know if it was

even really there.

Once that gun goes off,

everythin' livin' is gone.

Why's it so hard when the only thing

there's you and the rabbit?

The wood is big

and the rabbit's small.

Can I start?

Yes, we all goin' to.

I was asking my sister.

No need to talk

to Mad like that.

Don't you want to eat?

I'm cold.

What?

What is it?

I saw 'em.

Saw who?

Daddy and Nathaniel.

It's only a dream.

But I was right there.

Go back to sleep.

I can't stop hopin'

they might come home.

Our father and brother

ain't desertin' no duty.

It was like it was

really happenin',

they needed me.

What happens when

you sleep ain't real.

Come here.

Come sleep next to me.

I look like her.

You do.

This dress feel so

nice on my skin.

Almost fits me now.

You should take it off.

But I just put it on.

Louise, I best not see

that dress movin' again.

Thought I told you

to take that off?

I didn't feel like it.

Louise, I'm asking you, please.

- Why you care so much?

- Because you gonna ruin it.

Don't feel like hoein'.

Don't like her lookin'

at me that way either!

Go change and come back to work.

She's the n*gger,

she should do it.

Like I told you, Louise:

We all n*ggers now.

Augusta!

Louise!

What happened?

- Louise, what happened?

- Raccoon.

She was suppose to

be workin' with you!

I can't keep eyes

on her all the time.

There's work to do and sometimes

she's gotta learn what's right.

We best get her inside.

One, two, three.

We need medcin'.

Maybe they got somethin'

at the Weaver place.

Let me.

You should go.

Clara?

Hello?

Mary?

Clara?

Mary?

Thank you, girl.

- Augusta.

- Caleb.

You shouldn't be here.

Have you seen anybody from out of the

Weaver place? Have you seen Clara?

Mary was the last one I saw.

Mary's dead.

No.

- Drank herself some poison.

- God forgive her.

She just sitting up there.

You come out here

just to tell me that?

No.

Louise. Raccoon bit her.

You need to turn around

and get yourself out of here.

- Here.

- What's this for?

You'll know it soon enough.

Good girl.

I went to the Weaver place

lookin' for medicine.

Came here hopin' for better luck.

There ain't been medcin'

here in a long time.

- You should go 'fore they sober up.

- I can't go back with nothin'.

Wait here.

- Thought you said there wasn't no...

- I wouldn't call that medcin'.

But it'll work?

It might work.

Where you ridin' to?

Due east.

Night's ride.

- What you ridin'?

- A dead horse.

You're gettin' Captain.

He's a good horse.

Why are you bein'

so nice to me?

I knew your daddy.

He was a good man.

He was alright.

Hey, how much uh

that you gonna...

We're only savin' it for

someone who needs it.

- I see you found more liquor.

- Sure thing.

Yeah.

Here you go.

Oh, what'd ya know?

Eh, Moses. This place is

luckier than we thought.

I didn't think they still made them...

... pretty as this.

You comin' over?

Maybe later.

- This' half empty!

- Yes.

I have got some more, yeah.

Plenty more at... back.

Go upstairs.

You boys hungry for me?

I bet you want some too?

Hmm.

Hey, where you goin', honey?

Ain't nothin' up there.

Better things to do with

your mouth than talk.

Don't think the dog

likes what you're doing.

From what I seen that dog

don't like much 'uh anything.

Battle.

What?

The dog.

His name is Battle.

He sure sounds like one.

That's a mighty big horse

for a girl like you.

You go on now, Augusta.

Some place you got to be?

I do.

All on your own?

No.

She's got people.

You should go.

Go on now.

Go.

Go on.

Don't cry.

You should try 'n sleep.

Don't want to.

I can just keep talkin' til you do...

I remember daddy tellin' a story

about a girl 'n her sister.

A girl was goin' to

be killed by a king.

What king?

- I don't know, some king somewhere.

- Why was he gonna kill her?

I guess she musta done

somethin' he didn't like.

Anyway.

The whole town shows up for the

execution, includin' the girl's sister.

And the sister goes over

to the girl, who's crying now,

and she says,

"When the king asks you

if you have any last words,

you tell him that you want me

to tell you a story."

So the king asks

and the girl says,

"I want my sister

to tell me a story."

And the king grants the request.

The sister gets up

to the scaffold..

She starts tellin' a story so good,

the king can't help himself but listen.

And dawn has come and gone

and now its twilight.

And the whole town

is still standin' there

stock still,

their hearts in their throats.

And all of a sudden,

at just the most excitin' part,

she stops.

- Why?

- She says to the king,

"You want to know the end?

I'll tell you tomorrow.

If you give my sister

one more day."

Now the town's people know that mean

old king is goin' to kill 'em both for sure,

but the King,

needin' to know the end,

says yes.

What was the story she was tellin'?

I only remember the part

'bout he tellin' it.

Did the king kill the girl after?

But, the next day, just as soon as

the sister finished telling that story,

she starts another one, and she

stops that one 'fore the best part.

and the same thing happens

the next night

and the next night

and the next night

for near a thousand nights.

What happens to the girl?

Well.

As long as her sister

kept tellin' stories,

she never dies.

And her sister...

I think after she told

all those stories,

the king married her.

Didn't know you needed

your mouth to walk proper.

If you were the one bit, wed still be sitting

back at the whorehouse instead of moving.

I won't actually call

what youre doing moving.

- You sure were going the right way?

- Road only goes one way.

You know as well as I do, you can

go any way you want to on a...

On a what?

Road.

We're going the right way.

- Maybe we should stop a minute?

- Uh, Henry?

What's he got?

Looks like we're going

the right way after all.

Days half over.

Didnt wanna wake you.

She up too?

No.

Comin' back to life aint easy.

She needs the rest.

We got anything to drink?

Yeah.

Goat's milk.

Thats not what I meant.

Gets easier the more you drink.

Gets real easier.

I like the way I feel.

Bill was the only one

your Daddy let drink it.

He used to come back

at night stinkin' and proud.

You was with him?

Bill?

I was.

You wanted to have his babies.

Oh, lord.

You miss him?

I do.

Was he...

Go on.

With this moonshine in me Im fixed

to answer any question you got.

What's it feel like?

You'll know.

What If I don't?

What if all the men

kill all the other men?

What if its the end of the world

and we're the last ones left?

It aint the end of the world.

Think 'bout all the women

sittin' in their houses.

Were supposed to be taken,

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