We got cenizo...
...that's purple sage...
...agave, nopal....
What's that stuff?
That's whatchamacallit.
That's horse crippler.
This place is a gold mine.
Lead mine.
What?
I said it's a lead mine.
- Right.
- Why am I talking to you?
You got that thing on your head.
You find lots of cactus and sh*t?
Not just cactus. There's acacias...
- ...the yuccas....
- Looks like a lot of cactus to me.
Man knows 150 varieties of beer,
can't tell a poinsettia from a prickly pear.
Cliff!
You live in a place,
you should learn about it.
- Explore.
- You've got to look at this.
Don't tell me.
Spanish treasure, right?
Pieces of eight...
...from the Coronado Expedition.
Jesus!
Was Coronado in the Masons?
The forensics fella's coming down
from San Marcos.
There's no way to know how old
the body is without lab work.
That ring?
Mason's been around a long while.
He a treasure hunter?
Old b*ll*ts.
Makes art out of them.
Sheriff says
we shouldn't touch anything.
He can't hear with that rig on.
Mikey!
Hey, what have we got here?
We're supposed to leave everything
where we found it.
They're real particular about that.
The scene of the crime.
No telling yet if there's been a crime...
...but this country's seen a good number
of disagreements over the years.
He went to school on the post
when we were in Korea.
It's all kids in the same boat, army brats--
His record shows
he's a good student.
I'm more worried about the social thing.
Are there, like, gangs or g*ns--
We haven't had any
serious v*olence, if that's what you mean.
But we've got a pretty lively mix.
Mexican kids...
...anglo kids, black kids.
- And the blacks are what?
- The smallest group.
Except for a couple...
...of Kickapoo kids.
Look, you're obviously a concerned parent.
Chet has no history of getting into trouble.
Pilar....
Is Amado okay?
He's not here?
Is he sick?
He's going to wish he was dead.
Somebody hand me a CD player.
They've come a long way
since those old eight-tracks, ain't they?
Something wrong?
Stolen property. I'm hauling
the bunch of you to jail.
If anything else is wrong,
tell me on the way to the station.
Cleaning his toenails
with a pocketknife.
He was the most hygienic
of all the McHenry's.
"Fishbait," Buddy says,
in that quiet way of his...
..."what do you know about the tires
that went missing from Merkel's?"
Fishbait thinks for a minute...
...then lifts up a loose board
from the porch floor...
...and calls down into it.
"Come on out, Hooter, they caught us!"
Buddy Deeds, he had a way.
He'd known who it was
from the tire tracks in the dirt...
...leading from the back of the garage
to where they loaded up.
"Old Fishbait," he said...
..."never lifted a thing,
if there was a way he could roll it."
Never be another like him.
You know that boy of his can't cut it.
He's all hat and no cattle.
Hey, fellas.
We was telling a few on your old man.
He was a unique individual.
He was that.
Big day coming up.
I wish we'd have thought of it
while he was still living.
Went so unexpected.
Better late than never.
Korean w*r hero,
sheriff for nearly 30 years....
The Buddy Deeds Memorial Courthouse.
I heard there was a bit of a fuss.
Well, the usual troublemakers.
Danny Padilla from the Sentinel.
That crowd.
We call everything else in the country
after Martin Luther King.
We can't have one measly courthouse?
King wasn't Mexican, Fenton.
Bad enough
that all the street names are in Spanish.
They were here first.
Then let's call it after Big Chief
sh*t-In-The-Bucket. That Tonkawa had...
...the Mexes b*at by centuries.
Nineteen out of 20 people here
are Mexican.
There was a faction pulling
for that boy k*lled in the Gulf w*r--
Yeah. Santiago.
Mexicans that know remember what...
...Buddy was for their people.
Hell, it was Mercedes over there
who swung...
...the deciding vote for him.
She made it an even 3-3.
As mayor, I get to cast the tiebreaker.
The old-timers won't have a problem.
They know how Buddy come to be sheriff.
Tell that story, Hollis.
Everybody heard it a million times.
I'd like to hear it.
Your version of it.
Yeah, come on, Hollis.
Well, the two of us...
...were the only deputies back then.
Me and Buddy, in what, '58?
'57, I think.
The sheriff at the time
was big Charlie Wade.
Charlie...
...was one of your old-fashioned
bribe-or-b*ll*ts kind of sheriffs.
He took a healthy bite out of whatever
moved through this country.
It was in here one night...
...back when Jimmy Herrera run the place.
Started over a basket of tortillas.
This beaner fare doesn't agree with me
but the price sure is right.
Jimmy got a kitchen full of w*tbacks,
most of them relatives.
Those people breed like chickens.
So?
I roust some muchacho on the street
with no papers, all he's got to say is:
I work for Jimmy Herrera.
Sort of a...
...I-scratch-his-back-he-washes-mine
arrangement, if you know what I mean.
This'll be one of your pickups.
First of the month, like the rent.
Get the car, Hollis.
I'm not doing it.
Come again?
It's your deal.
There's going to be some left over for you.
I take care of my boys.
That's not the point, Charlie.
You feeling bad about Jimmy?
Ask him how big a mordida they took
when he run a place on the other side.
Those old boys from Ciudad Le?n--
I'm not picking it up.
You do whatever I say you do
or else you put it on the trail, son.
How about this, Charlie?
How about you lay that shield
on this table and vanish...
...before you end up dead...
...or in jail?
You're not making sense, Buddy.
Stick around and I'm bringing up charges
on the county road project.
Two-thirds of that money went straight
into your pocket.
You're being mighty careless
with your mouth, son.
You ever sh**t a man
who's looking you in the eye?
It's a whole different story, isn't it?
You're fired.
Not a soul in this county isn't sick to death
of your bullshit.
Make yourself scarce and you'll make a lot
of people happy.
- You little piss ant.
- Now...
...or later.
You won't have any trouble finding me.
You're a dead man.
Get the g*dd*mn car.
We're going to Roderick's.
Boy...
...another beer, please.
Yeah,
that Buddy was a cool breeze.
Wade was known to put quite a few people
in the ground...
...and your daddy gets eyeball-to-eyeball
with him.
We made our pickup
at Roderick's place.
Nobody's seen hide nor hair of him since.
He went missing the next day along
with $10,000 in county funds from the safe.
Never heard from him again.
Buddy Deeds said a thing,
he damn well backed it up.
Never be another like him.
So, I suppose then he arrested
all of Jimmy Herrera's people and...
...sent them back to the other side?
He came to an accommodation.
Money doesn't always have to change
hands to keep the wheels turning.
I know you had problems with your father.
- And he and Muriel--
- Your mother was a saint.
But Buddy Deeds was my salvation.
Won't be another like him.
It is an honor for me...
...to assume command of this unit.
I look forward to working with all of you.
I'm sure you're all aware
of the Army's decision...
...to shut this post down.
That doesn't mean, however,
that we're here to mark time...
...until we're reassigned.
You may have heard rumors...
...that I run a very tight operation.
These rumors...
...are not exaggerated.
Somebody call a doctor!
You weren't in here tonight, were you?
No, no, sir.
Go out the back way.
Somebody call a doctor!
Tearing everything down.
Our heritage, the memory of the people
who fought and d*ed for this land.
We fought and d*ed for this land too.
We fought the U.S. Army,
the Texas Rangers--
Yeah, and you lost.
Winners get the bragging rights.
People. It'd be best if we don't view this
in terms of winners and losers.
The way she teaches,
she's got everything backward.
I was on the textbook committee.
Her version--
We think of the textbook...
...as a guide, not as an absolute.
It is not what we set as the standard.
Now, you people can believe
whatever you want...
...but when it comes to teaching--
They're our children too. As the majority
in this community, we have the right.
The men who founded this state
have the right to have their story told.
The men who founded this state
broke from Mexico.
They needed sl*very to be legal
to make a fortune in the cotton business.
I think that's a bit of an oversimplification.
- You reporting or running this meeting?
- Adding some historical perspective.
You call it history, I call it propaganda.
I'm sure they've got their own account
of the Alamo on the other side...
...but our schools shouldn't teach it
that way.
Excuse me.
I've only been trying to get across part
of the complexity of our situation here.
Cultures coming together
in both negative and positive ways.
If you mean food and music and all,
I have no problem.
But when you start changing...
...who did what to who--
We're just trying to present
a more complete picture.
That's what's got to stop!
There's enough ignorance in the world
without us encouraging it in school.
Now, who are you calling ignorant?
I hope the sucker dies.
Mess with me, that's what you get.
Hospital says the kid is in bad shape.
The sh**t local?
Houston. I think he knew the girl
from before.
We'll take a statement from the GI's
before they go back to post.
You can get the story from Otis.
Any poop on the John Doe
we found today?
No, nothing much.
Rangers put Ben Wetzel on it.
I'll catch you later.
He's only 15. He's about 5 foot 5--
Pilar.
Something wrong?
They've got my son.
Here?
Somebody called about a house that was
broken into. They say they don't have--
All right, I know what he looks like.
I'll see what's going on.
I was....
I was real sorry about Nando.
He was a good fella.
We haven't talked--
We haven't talked since high school.
Yeah.
I'll go check on your boy.
Ritchie didn't say nothing,
'cause he didn't want to get in it.
Then, next thing I know
there's sh*ts and Ritchie's down.
You got some boys you run in earlier?
They tell me you're good at fixing things.
Your father was a hell of a mechanic.
You know, if you figure minimum wage...
...on the time most thieves spend in jail...
...they could have bought
most everything they stole.
They asked me to hook it up for them.
I didn't steal anything.
Well, I didn't say you did.
My name's Sam, by the way.
- He's all yours.
- Are you okay?
What's the big deal?
You'll find out when I get you home.
Thanks, Sam.
It's no problem.
It was good seeing you again.
Big O's is the only place
where African American soldiers...
...feel comfortable, sir.
- Have we had trouble there before?
- Fistfight now and then.
- This town isn't much.
- They didn't come for a vacation.
For many, it's their first time away
from home, dealing with new people....
- I remember my first hitch--
- Substance abuse?
Yes, sir, but I went through the program.
I haven't drunk--
I meant on the post.
How are you dealing with it?
We throw a urine test at them
once a month.
Random numbers...
...maybe 100 people at a time.
- Let's make it once a week for a while.
- Yes, sir.
I sprint the last quarter mile.
You don't have to keep up.
Appreciate it, sir.
Guy cracks walnuts with his assh*le.
You get the feeling
he doesn't want to be here?
Sam the Man.
Hey, Ben. Thanks for coming down.
So, how's business?
Business is booming.
Got your dr*gs, got your illegals.
Had a sh**ting the other night
at O's place. Soldier got ventilated.
I hear they're closing Fort McKenzie.
It'll pull a lot of jobs out of this county.
We'll have folks swimming over to Mexico
to work in the sweat shops.
Is that the word on our boy?
This is Skinny.
Skinny?
When we find a body, it's Skinny or Stinky.
Depends on how much meat's left
on the bones.
That's a nice job.
"A male Caucasian...
"...40 to 60 years old...
"...5 foot 9...
"...5 foot 11.
"Chewed tobacco."
Then we'll get the dental records
and personal effects.
It's Charlie Wade.
That badge....
- Didn't come out of a cereal box.
- No.
You know the popular version
of how he left town.
Everybody on the border knows that story.
You got a cause of death?
Skull was intact.
No signs of trauma on what we found.
Not much to go on.
So, he could have gone out to the post,
just hopped the fence...
...dug into the dirt on the r*fle range...
...and had a heart att*ck.
You remember what old Buddy carried
for a side arm?
Colt Peacemaker.
.45.
He swore by it.
What?
I was just wondering.
Is Buddy on your short list?
If it were some poor majadero
who swam across, got lost in the brush...
...and starved out there
it wouldn't go much further, but...
...this is a once prominent citizen
who disappeared.
You've got to investigate.
There's no question about it.
I'll keep names out of it until we get
some answers or hit a dead end.
You know how the press is when they get
ahold of a m*rder story, even 40 years old.
Yeah, yeah. They can do a number on you.
I remember...
...Charlie Wade come
to my father's hardware store once.
I was just a little boy.
I'd heard stories
about how he sh*t this one...
...how he sh*t that one.
The man winked at me.
I peed my pants.
Winked at me.
The fight against the Spanish,
a bloody conflict for dozens of years...
...till they are finally defeated in 1821...
...and Mexican independence is declared.
Anglo settlers are invited
to colonize the area.
By the time they begin the movement
against Santa Anna...
...they outnumber the Mexicans here
by four to one.
The w*r between Mexico
and the anglo forces ends...
...in 1836...
...with the formation
of the Texas republic. Texas...
...joins the United States...
...as a state where sl*very
is legal in 1845...
...after the so-called Mexican w*r,
then secedes to join...
...the Confederacy in 1861.
The Confederacy is beaten...
...and the Reformation period here
is marked by range wars...
...and race wars and all this...
...paralleled by the constant battles...
...between the Mexican
and anglo settlers...
...and the various Indian nations.
What are we seeing here, Chet?
Everybody's k*lling everybody else?
I always wondered
what you mayors do...
...when you're not cutting ribbons.
Sam!
Partner.
You caught me playing hooky.
Floating around out here,
playing hell with them bass.
Sounds great! Where do I sign up?
You been by your old place lately?
No.
New people painted it some awful color.
We found a body out
by Fort McKenzie yesterday.
It'd been there a long time.
Was it Davy Crockett or Jim Bowie?
You recall if Charlie Wade was a Mason?
Charlie?
I believe he used to go for Lodge meetings
over to Laredo.
What's Charlie Wade got to do
with your body?
All he was wearing was
a big old Masonic ring...
...and a Rio County sheriff's badge.
You remember anything else
from the last night you saw him?
I told the story enough times.
We were in the car. He was stewing about
his fight with Buddy as we drove over...
...to Roderick Bledsoe's.
Bledsoe?
He owned the colored roadhouse
before Otis.
He's still living?
No.
I think his widow's still in their place
in Darktown, though.
You think it was Charlie Wade, huh?
Forensics people are sure of it.
You got any idea
who might have put him there?
Besides my father, I mean.
There's no call for that, Sam.
Wade made himself a pile of enemies
over the years.
- Buddy was one of them.
- The dedication's tomorrow.
It's a hell of a time
to bring up old business.
People have made this whole big thing
around my father. If it's built on a crime...
...they deserve to know.
I understand why you might want
to believe he couldn't do it.
I understand why you might want
to think he could.
Thanks for your time, Hollis.
Look at all this.
Tackle, boat....
All just to catch a little old fish...
...minding his own business
down at the bottom of the lake.
Hardly seems worth the effort,
does it, Sam?
You knew this young man before?
From back in Houston.
We both come up off the street.
Did you know
he'd be there last night?
If I had, I wouldn't have gone in.
And you
and Private Graves were....
We were just dancing.
We're not running a dating service.
I know that, Sergeant.
We were just dancing.
There was a bunch of us there.
Shadow... just come down
looking for trouble.
I don't like to get involved
with soldiers' personal lives...
...but when it interferes with training....
Shadow just gets crazy.
Sergeant, how is Ritchie doing?
Private Graves?
He'll live.
He'll be transferred to Fort Sam...
...as soon as he's stabilized.
He'll probably be getting
a medical discharge.
Will this go on my record?
The incident will be noted.
If it happened the way you say...
...there hasn't been an infraction.
Thank you, Sergeant.
You're dismissed.
Thank you, Sergeant.
You spoil them, Cliff.
- You don't believe her?
- That wasn't an interrogation.
I'm in charge of her sorry ass and frankly--
I won't give her the third-degree
because her ex-boyfriend's a thug.
She's pulled herself out
of a rough neighborhood.
And if she isn't careful,
she's gonna slide right back into it.
Mrs. Bledsoe?
That's me.
I'm Sheriff Deeds.
Sheriff Deeds is dead, honey.
You're just Sheriff Junior.
Yeah, that's the story of my life.
You ever play one of these?
Yeah, I've seen them.
Don't ever start up on them,
because...
...once you do, you can't stop.
I tell myself I'll just play
three little games after breakfast...
...and here I am...
...with half the day gone.
May I ask you a few questions
about your husband?
Roderick.
I ain't gonna say nothing bad
about the man...
...but you can ask away.
He had the club on Old Trail Road.
We run that club for over 20 years.
Give it over to Otis Payne...
...in 1967, April.
You must remember Sheriff Wade.
Them days...
...you deal with Sheriff Wade
or you didn't deal.
First of the month, every month...
...he'd remind you
who you really working for.
So, he squeezed money out of you?
It wasn't legal to sell liquor in a glass
back then, unless you was a club, see?
Roderick used to say:
"Buy yourself a glass,
get a free membership."
Sheriff Wade...
...he could close you down anytime.
And my father?
Sheriff Buddy was a different story.
As long as Roderick throw his weight
the right way at election day...
...make sure all the colored come to vote,
throw a barbecue for the right folks....
Sheriff Buddy kept to his word.
That Sheriff Wade, though...
...he could get ugly.
People didn't complain?
Not if you was colored or Mexican.
Not if you wanted to keep breathing.
I remember the last time I seen him
before he gone missing.
He come fussing around our place.
He used to come in
whilst we was in full swing.
Making everybody nervous.
Had him a smile like the Grim Reaper.
He used to sit there
with his hand on his old g*n...
...acting the kingfish with everybody.
Otis Payne come...
...to work for us about that time...
...and that boy had him some attitude.
Pour it.
What?
Pour it.
I know you?
Name's Otis.
Otis what?
Payne.
They call me "O."
One of Cleroe Payne's boys?
I sent your daddy to the farm once.
Yeah, I know that.
Why you think that was?
Some crop needed picking
and the man was short-handed.
As I remember, it was 'cause
he had a sassy mouth on him.
Must run in the family.
You wouldn't be running numbers
out of this club?
Running numbers is illegal, sir.
Running numbers without I knowin'
about it is both illegal and unhealthy.
You remember that.
Son, you're not finished.
Pour his.
I prefer it in the bottle.
Shut up, Hollis.
How come you don't look familiar?
I've been away, up in Houston.
Houston?
I hear they let you boys run wild up there.
Look what you've done now.
Better get something to wipe it up, son.
You spilled it.
Maybe you should wipe it up.
I told you to do something. Will you hop
to it or will we have a problem?
You don't want to turn tail
in front of your people?
I understand.
Come on, Houston, give it a try.
Come to Papa.
Don't mind him.
He's a bit slow, is all.
He don't mean nothing by it.
That the problem, son?
You slow?
Otis!
Apologize to the sheriff.
Sheriff, you got him too scared to peep.
Maybe if you'd put that g*n up.
You telling me what to do?
No, Sheriff, I'm just....
Is that whisky in them glasses?
I'll have to cite you
for violation of a state law.
This is a club, Sheriff. You've been here.
You people better clear out of here now!
Learn how to act your place, son.
This isn't Houston.
'Course, I was young...
...and full of beans back then.
I didn't understand the spot
I was putting Roderick in.
And that was the last time you saw him?
I think he came in one more time...
...with Hollis and....
No, no, your daddy wasn't with him.
Made their monthly pickup.
Roderick wasn't in, so I kept my mouth
shut and handed over that envelope.
That was the night he disappeared?
Could have been.
You own a g*n?
Back then?
No.
How about Roderick?
Oh, he kept...
...a big old piece back behind the bar,
just so folks knew it was there.
I don't keep one here now.
Don't much care for them.
And when my father was sheriff?
What about him?
What was your deal with him?
Buddy was more part of the big picture:
County political machine...
...Chamber of Commerce, zoning Board....
If I kept those people happy,
he was pretty much on my side.
When somebody thought of starting up
a new bar for the black folks, they'd be....
How should I say this?
They'd be officially discouraged.
He ever accept cash for a favor?
I don't recall a prisoner ever d*ed...
...in your daddy's custody.
I don't recall a man in this county...
...black, white, Mexican...
...who'd hesitate for a minute...
...before they'd call on Buddy Deeds
to solve a problem.
More than that...
...I wouldn't care to say.
I'm supposed to tell my friends
they're too low-class to hang with?
Come on, Amado.
'Cause I'm not like Miss Honor Roll?
Leave your sister out of it.
You and those teachers in that dump....
Your story's over, so nobody can have fun.
You jerk.
You have no friends.
Who'd be friends with a pachuco wannabe?
I don't pretend I came on the Mayflower.
And those stupid girls.
Shut up.
Joanie Orozco's telling the whole school
she's in love with Santo Guerra.
So?
You can't be desperately in love
when you're 14.
Not if you have half a brain in your head.
Of course, you can.
What?
It's got nothing to do with being smart.
It's ancient g*dd*mn history, Danny.
1963, they dam up the north branch
to make Lake Pescadero...
...and a whole town disappears.
A squatter's town!
People lived in Perdido for over 100 years!
Mexicans and Chicanos are deported...
...forcibly evicted by our local hero,
Buddy Deeds, and his department.
There was a bill from the state legislature.
Families were split apart!
A whole community was destroyed!
And who gets Lakefront property
bought for a fraction of the market price?
Buddy Deeds, Sheriff of Rio County,
and his Chief Deputy, Hollis Pogue.
Are you finished?
Look, I'm not after you, Sam.
I just think people ought to know
the full story on Buddy Deeds.
That makes two of us.
What's the big deal? Go back over,
talk to the man, and bury the hatchet.
Why me? He's had almost 40 years
and I haven't heard from him.
He was probably embarrassed.
Otis Payne was never embarrassed
about a thing in his life.
You were 8 when he left.
He moved three houses down
with my mother's best friend.
Dad.
"Delmore, where's your daddy?"
Godforsaken town.
Everybody in everybody else's business.
Everybody loved Otis. Big "O."
Always there with a smile or a loan...
- ...or a free drink.
- Dad, can I talk to you about track?
People change.
Not that much.
I talked to the coach.
I told you. Next year,
if your grades are high.
I have a B average!
How many B students do you think
they take at West Point?
We'll be here for three years.
We'll have to see him.
No, we don't.
Get off the phone.
We've got a big wedding.
Mommy....
They are getting stupider
every year.
Maybe you're getting less patient.
If they're going to survive,
they have to know how to work.
You hire illegals,
what do you expect?
Nobody's illegal in my cafe!
They've got green cards,
relatives who were born here.
If they only had a little common sense,
I'd be happy.
If you took more time training them,
you wouldn't have to--
Did you come here to teach me
how to run my business?
Do you want to take a trip...
...down south with us?
Maybe see where you grew up?
Why would I want to go there?
You must be curious...
...how it's changed. Amado is
into this big tejano-roots thing...
...and I've never been further
than Ciudad Le?n.
You want to see Mexicans?
Open your eyes and look around you.
We're up to our ears in them.
Mommy...
...how old were you when my father d*ed?
He was k*lled.
Right, when he was k*lled.
A little older than Paloma is now.
How come you never remarried?
It just didn't happen.
There must have been...
...somebody.
I was too busy.
Nobody is too busy.
Maybe now.
It was different back then.
I had to do all the shopping,
all the cooking....
What do I need some chulo with grease
under his nails to drink up the profit?
Thank you.
I don't mean Fernando.
When I brought him home,
those were your exact words:
"A chulo with grease under his nails."
I never said that.
You made it pretty damn clear.
You thought he was nobody.
I thought you could do better.
What? What?
Become a nun? You didn't even want me
to go out with anglos.
I never said that. Just that boy.
"That boy."
Say his name, for Christ's sake.
You people are stealing from me.
Is she your mother?
I'm sorry.
Now, I'm as liberal as the next guy.
If the next guy is a redneck.
But I got to say...
...I think there's something
to this cold-climate business.
I mean, you go to the beach...
...what do you do?
Drink a few beers, wait for that fish
to flop up on the sand.
You can't build no civilization that way.
But you got a cold winter coming on...
...you got to plan ahead.
That gives your old cerebral cortex
a workout.
Good thing you were born down here then.
You joke about it, Sam,
but we are in a state of crisis.
The lines of demarcation are getting fuzzy.
To run a successful civilization, you've got
to have your lines of demarcation...
...between right and wrong,
this one and that one.
Your daddy understood that.
He was.... What do you call it?
The referee in this damn menudo
we got down here.
He understood how most folks don't want
their salt and sugar in the same jar.
If you mixed drinks...
...as bad as you mix metaphors...
...you'd be out of a job.
You're the last white sheriff
this town will see.
Hollis retires next year.
Jorge Guerra will take over.
This is it, right here, Sam.
This bar is the last stand.
Se habla American, g*dd*mn it!
And even in here, it's sliding away.
Take that pair over there in the corner.
A place like this, 20 years ago...
...Buddy'd been on them.
He'd have went over there...
...and given them a warning.
Not that he had it in for the colored,
but just as a kind of a safety tip.
Yeah, bet he would.
The day that man d*ed...
...they broke the g*dd*mn mold.
- Seriously.
- Seriously?
I think we should get married.
We've been through this before.
We should just do it.
And if I get transferred to another post?
Germany or Korea?
I'd ask for a transfer too.
Which they'd most likely turn down.
I'd quit the Army for you, if it came to that.
You know, you are something.
Man's going to retire in two years
and he offers to quit.
Big g*dd*mn deal.
Excuse me.
Sheriff.
This is Sergeant....
This is Priscilla Worth.
Sheriff Deeds was with us
on our archeological find.
They're building a shopping mall there?
If certain people have their way,
it's gonna be a new jail.
They're closing down m*llitary
and putting up jails...
...like 7-11 stores.
Do either of you have any idea
when they stopped using that site...
...as a r*fle range?
Fort McKenzie stopped training infantry...
...there in the late '50s. It was just
a playground for the jackrabbits...
...till they gave it to the county last year.
You know who it was they dug up?
Not for sure yet.
But I kind of wish they hadn't.
In English, Enrique.
This is the United States.
We speak English.
Is very beautiful, your car.
- Good night, Enrique.
- Buenas noches, se?ora.
Carolyn....
Knock that off.
Black Seminoles?
Hobby of mine.
A few artifacts...
...couple of pieces one of your men
out on the base made.
Admission's free.
This is where he was sh*t?
He fell right by the door.
You get much of that here?
It's a bar.
Folks come together...
...drink, fall in love, fall out of love...
...hear their grudges out.
Deal dr*gs in the bathroom.
If I thought it would do any good...
...I'd put up a sign telling them not to...
...right next to the one about
the employees washing their hands.
This here is Carolyn.
Honey...
...this is my son, Delmore.
Nice to meet you, ma'am.
I'll be in the back waiting for that delivery.
So?
So.
Tell me why I shouldn't make
this place off-limits.
This is an official visit then.
I assume most of your business
is with our people.
Your boys are cooped up together.
They need a place to let the steam out.
If they're black, there's not but one spot
in this county...
...where they feel welcome.
It's been that way...
...since before you were born.
We have an enlisted man's club
at the post.
You the man out there now, ain't you?
It's your call.
That's right.
I've been hearing about
this new command out there...
...for a couple of weeks now.
The boys say they hear he's a hard case...
...a real spit-and-polish man.
Full bird colonel by the name of Payne.
Bet you never figured
you'd end up back here.
When the Army offers you a command,
you go...
...wherever it is.
Right.
I hear things too.
They call you...
...the mayor of Darktown.
Over the years this is the one place
that's always been there.
I loan a little money out,
I've settled a few arguments.
I got a cot in the back. Folks get scared
to go home, they spend the night.
There's not enough of us
to run anything in this town.
It's the Holiness Church...
...or Big O's.
And the people make a choice.
Most of them choose both.
It's not like there's a borderline...
...between the good people
and the bad people.
You're not on either...
...one side or the other.
Right.
Will I meet that family of yours?
Why would you want to do that?
Because I'm your father.
You'll get official notification
when I make my decision.
So, that's him.
Yeah, that's him.
Historic occasion, ain't it?
Seems like we have another one
every week.
Jorge and the boys down at the Chamber
of Commerce got to keep things humming.
Building up tourism, Sam.
Most people come here to catch bass and
get laid at the Boy's Town in Ciudad Le?n.
You ought to put up a banner, "Frontera,
Texas - Gateway to Inexpensive p*ssy."
That kind of talk doesn't help.
I'd rather have that
than a 10-foot-high catfish statue.
Eddie Richter at the Sentinel
will k*ll that story.
The Perdido thing?
He agreed it wasn't exactly news.
Danny will be out for blood the next time.
That's why we need to talk to you
about the new jail.
Come on, we don't need a new jail.
That's a matter of opinion.
We're already renting cells
to the Feds for their overflow.
It wouldn't be your construction company
who'd get the bid on building this thing?
And, Jorge....
You wouldn't be thinking
about a couple dozen new jobs...
...to dangle by the voters when you run
for mayor next election?
Damn it, Sam! The people
are concerned about crime.
I'm not gonna campaign
against your deal here.
But if anybody asks...
...I've got to tell them the truth.
We don't need a new jail.
We backed you--
When you backed me,
you needed somebody named Deeds...
...to bump the other fella out of office.
- Hey, folks.
- Fenton, what's up, buddy?
- How you doing?
- Let's get this thing over with.
I never thought I'd see
a buddy of mine dating a woman...
...with three bars on her shoulder.
It's beyond what you'd call dating.
You're going to get married?
Maybe.
You met her family?
They gonna be cool
about you being a white guy?
Priscilla says they think a woman over 30
who's not married must be a lesbian.
She figures they'll be so relieved
I'm a man....
It's always heartwarming to see
a prejudice defeated by a deeper prejudice.
But marriage, man, I don't know.
Let's see....
I did two tours of duty in Southeast Asia...
...and I was married for five years.
I couldn't tell you
which experience was worse.
Mikey?
I knew she was Japanese,
but she didn't tell me...
...the Ninja-assassin part.
Parents acted like I'd blow my nose
on their curtains.
If I stayed out past 10:00,
she'd do a Madam Butterfly routine.
Mikey, look at this.
What?
It's a b*llet. I'm lousy with b*ll*ts.
It's a .45.
This is the stuff we picked up
the other day, right?
- Rest of this is all .30 caliber.
- They used M-1s.
So what's a p*stol slug doing
on a r*fle range?
We'd better call that sheriff.
Back in the early '70s...
...a reporter from a national magazine
asked the governor of our Lone Star state:
"Governor...
"...what's your ideal...
"...of what a real Texan ought to be?"
Governor said:
"Son, that's easy.
"Just go down to...
"...Rio County and look at...
"...Sheriff Buddy Deeds."
Thank you.
There's...
...one more person
we ought to hear from and...
...I think he's somebody that knew Buddy
better than any of us.
Sam....
Say a few words?
Well, you folks who remember my father...
...knew him as sheriff.
But at home he was also judge, jury...
...and executioner.
This is a real honor you're doing him today.
If Buddy was around, I know his hat size
would be getting bigger every minute.
I used to think there wasn't a place here
you could hide from my old man.
And now I'm sure of it.
I do appreciate it, though.
And wherever he is, Buddy's putting
the beer on ice for you. So, thank you.
And now, my favorite council member...
...and one of Frontera's
most respected businesswomen...
...Mrs. Mercedes Cruz...
...will do the honors.
It does look kind of like Buddy.
I think he'll run
that Mexican kid in for loitering.
Nice to see you, Mrs. Cruz.
Field trip?
Lunch hour.
My next class isn't until 1:30.
You want to take a walk?
They cooked the whole thing up
without asking me.
People liked him.
Most people did, yeah.
I remember him watching me once...
...when I was little...
...before you and I....
I was in the playground
with all the other kids.
I thought he was only looking at me.
I was afraid he was going to arrest me.
He had those eyes, and that....
Yeah.
It's weird what you remember.
Your boy there.
Amado.
Nice looking kid.
He hates me.
No.
With Paloma, it's like she pities
and tolerates me, totally age-appropriate.
But with Amado...
...you know, he's always had
difficulty reading and me...
...being a teacher and caring
about those things, it's like a betrayal.
But Fernando did okay.
He dropped out.
Fernando wasn't pissed off at everybody.
He just wanted to fix their cars.
I spent my first 15 years
trying to be just like Buddy.
The next 15 trying
to give him a heart att*ck.
So, why did you come back here, Sam?
I got divorced...
...and I wouldn't work
for my father-in-law anymore.
And the fellas down here...
...they said they'd back me.
You don't want to be sheriff.
I got to admit,
it's not what I thought it'd be.
Back when Buddy had it....
Hell, I'm just a jailer.
Run a 60-room hotel
with bars on the windows.
Do you remember this?
I ought to head back.
It looks real bad
if a teacher's late for class.
It's real nice to talk with you, Sam.
Are you going to tell her?
Are you going to tell him?
He doesn't need to know my business.
He's going to find out.
What is he going to do, arrest us?
It's supposed to be a big sin
even if you love each other.
Do you believe that?
No.
Me neither.
Private Johnson!
Report to the sergeant
in the orderly's room.
The doctor will have a look at you.
No, I'm feeling okay.
I'm happy to hear it.
You go put some pee-pee in the cup
for Dr. Innis and I'll feel okay too.
You testing me?
You and 119 other fortunate individuals.
Put it in gear.
- Take this sh*t off now.
- You've talked so much trash today!
You better be good, boy.
"Boy"? You're the good boy.
The man say "fetch" and you fetch.
Just doing my job.
White man's using you
to keep the black man down.
This isn't Houston. We run things now.
Our good day has come.
You chumps haven't had a good day
since the Alamo.
Lupe....
Can you get me Ben Wetzel up in Austin?
w*tbacks again.
Border Patrol?
Mom?
Yeah.
You staying out here?
For a while.
What's she singing about?
What do you think?
Hey, 'morning, sir!
Hey, Pete. How's it going?
Time marches on.
How much you got left?
Three months.
Stop growing that locoweed at your
place, you'd see more daylight.
It was for personal consumption.
You going to smoke an acre and a half
of marijuana?
I got a bad stomach.
It helps me to digest.
Your father never bothered me about it.
Leastways not till the drug people
got on his case in the late '60s.
I thought he busted you
a couple of times.
No.
Different charge.
I had a still.
Made my own mescal.
That's how come I ruined my stomach.
I'm surprised he bothered with it.
He was afraid I'd poison somebody.
Your father tried to do good for people.
- So I've heard.
- And your mother...
...she was a saint.
Remember that summer I built that patio
at your house?
She made me lunch every day.
You were working there.
It could have been another box lunch
from the jail.
So you built our patio
while you were on the county?
Out in the fresh air?
Nice gringo lady making you pies?
Who'd sit in that jail cell all day?
Sheriff Buddy, man.
There's no one like him.
After that cabr?n, Charlie Wade.
I heard Wade was a bit tough
on the Mexicans.
He m*rder*d Eladio Cruz.
Is that tough enough for you?
m*rder*d him?
Chucho Montoya saw it with his own eyes.
sh*t him in cold blood.
Charlie Wade was a big assh*le.
Sam....
Wait up.
You're out early.
Haven't seen much of you at the jail lately.
Well, I'm working on a few things.
I'm going over to the other side.
Republicans?
No, Mexico.
Got to talk to someone.
They got telephones.
No.
It's got to be in person.
Sam, I....
The Committee....
Jorge and Fenton and all, they...
...they've asked me--
They want you to stand for sheriff
next election.
Yeah.
You'd do a good job.
Thanks.
What about you?
I don't know if I'll still want it.
I just didn't want to go around your back.
I appreciate you telling me.
You think we need a new jail?
Well, Sam....
It's a complicated issue.
Yeah, Ray.
You'd be a hell of a sheriff.
Down here...
...we don't throw everything away
like you gringos do.
Recycling, right?
We invented that.
The government doesn't have
to tell people to do it.
You own this place, huh?
This place...
...the one across the street...
...three or four others in Ciudad Le?n.
"King of the Tires."
A lot of your people rolling over that bridge
on my rubber.
You lived in the States for a while?
Fifteen years.
Made some money, came back here?
Something like that.
Hey, you ever know
a fella named Eladio Cruz?
You're the sheriff of Rio County, right?
Step across this line.
You're not the sheriff of nothing anymore.
Just some tejano with a lot of questions
I don't have to answer.
A bird flying south...
...you think he sees this line?
Rattlesnake, jabalina...
...whatever you got.
You think halfway across that line
they start thinking different?
Why should a man?
Your government's been pretty happy
to have that line.
The question's just been where to draw it.
My government can go f*ck itself
and so can yours.
I'm talking about people here.
Men.
Eladio Cruz...
...is giving his friends a lift one day
in his cami?n.
But since they're on one side
of this invisible line and not the other...
...they got to hide
in the back como criminales.
And because over there
he's just another Mex bracero...
...any man with a badge is his jefe.
CHUCHO:
What's in the back?
Not much, jefe. Some watermelons.
I'm driving them up to the market.
They could bring a good price.
I heard somebody's been
hauling wets on this road.
I haven't seen anybody doing that.
That person's been bragging
all over the county...
...how he doesn't have to cut
that gringo sheriff in on it.
Run his own operation without any help.
What's your name?
Eladio Cruz.
You know this road's got a bad reputation.
Reputation?
Bandidos, Injuns.
Many an unfortunate soul
has been ambushed out on this stretch.
I hope you're carrying some protection.
Protection?
You carrying a firearm, son?
Don't lie to me now.
Just a shotgun.
Just a shotgun.
Then let me have a look at that.
Little greaser son of a bitch is running
a g*dd*mn bus service.
Thinks he can make a fool
out of Charlie Wade.
Get them wets out of the back.
See what we've got.
You k*lled him!
You got a talent
for stating the obvious, son.
Steve called for you.
Steve?
Steve.
Board of Education Steve, who likes you.
He goes for us hot-blooded Mexican girls,
I can tell.
Spanish. My mother would have
a heart att*ck.
Your mother's family is Spanish?
They go back to Cort?s.
When he was riding by they were squatting
in a hut cooking hamsters for dinner.
You've got to be interested in somebody.
All you do is work.
All my mother does is work.
It's how you get to be Spanish.
How about this sheriff?
Sheriff?
The old high-school heartthrob sheriff?
I thought you were crazy about each other.
He's available. You're available.
I'm unmarried. I'm not available.
You told me one time it was true love.
Nobody stays in love for 23 years.
Let's go.
g*dd*mn it.
Come here. Come on.
- What the hell are you doing, assh*le?
- How old is that girl?
Get your clothes in order, missy.
Where's your g*dd*mn sense?
You got no f*cking right!
Stay out of my life!
Give me the keys.
What should I do with her?
Drive her home.
Tell her mother where we found her.
- Leave her alone!
- Move it, boy!
Don't tell my mother. She'll k*ll me.
Pilar!
Don't eye me.
Git!
Follow me.
We thought we were something,
didn't we?
Yeah.
And I look at my kids in school...
...10th, 1 1th-graders.
That's who we were. Children.
I mean, what did we know about anything?
Nothing.
When Nando d*ed...
...it was so sudden...
...I kind of went into shock for a while...
...and then I woke up and...
...there was the rest of my life
and I had no idea what to do with it.
You know, the other day you asked...
...why I came back.
Yeah?
I came back 'cause you were here.
My mother hasn't changed a song
since I was 10.
Wow.
Yeah.
How come it feels the same?
I don't know.
It just feels good.
Always did.
So....
What are we going to do about this?
More...
...I hope.
How long have you lived here?
Two years.
There's nothing on the walls.
No pictures.
I don't have kids.
Other pictures....
I don't know. It's nothing I want
to look back on.
Like your story's over.
I've felt that way...
...yeah.
It isn't.
Not by a long sh*t.
Pilar....
What was your father's name?
Eladio.
Eladio Cruz.
That's John Horse.
The Spanish down in Florida call him...
..."Juan Caballo."
John Horse.
He a black man or an Indian?
Both.
He was part of the Seminole nation.
Got pushed down into the Florida
Everglades back in pioneer days.
African people run off from slaveholders...
...hooked up with them...
...married up, had children.
When the Spanish gave up Florida...
...the U.S. Army come down
to move all the Indian people to Oklahoma.
A couple of them held out.
That man, John Horse...
...his friend, Wildcat, another fella named...
...Osceola...
...formed a fighting band...
...held out for another 10, 15 years...
...and b*at zach Taylor and 1,000 troops
at Lake Okeechobee.
So they stayed in Florida?
One night they packed up,
rode out to Mexico.
Men went to work
for General Santa Anna down there.
After the Civil w*r they came north
to Texas, put up at Fort Duncan...
...and the men joined what was called
the Seminole n*gro Indian Scouts.
The best trackers...
...on either side of the border.
They chased after bandits...
...rustlers, Texas rednecks,
Kiowas, Comanches....
They fought against the Indians?
Just like they did in Mexico.
But they were Indians themselves.
They were in the Army...
...like your father.
You know who I am?
I got a pretty good guess.
That guy who got sh*t.
You didn't go telling your father
you were here?
Are you kidding?
And face a court-martial?
Pretty tough old man.
Every time he moves up a rank...
...he tightens the screws a little more.
Just 'cause....
You know, he didn't have....
Didn't have a father.
He's still pissed off about it.
When you're his age...
...you'll still be pissed off about him.
How come you got into this?
These are our people.
There are Paynes in Florida,
Oklahoma, Piedras Negras--
So I'm part Indian?
By blood you are.
But blood only means what you let it.
My father says from the day you're born
you start from scratch.
No breaks.
No excuses.
You got to pull yourself up on your own.
He's living proof of that, son.
Living proof.
'Morning, Hollis.
Sam!
Sit down.
Big to-do the other day.
Meant a lot to folks you said something.
You thought anymore about our m*rder?
I wish I could tell you I remembered
something new, but I can't.
Well, I got an idea what happened.
You do?
I think somewhere between
Roderick Bledsoe's club and his house...
...Wade ran into Buddy Deeds.
I think Buddy put a b*llet in him.
Waited for him to die,
threw him in the trunk of the sheriff's car...
...and drove him out by Fort McKenzie.
I think he buried him under four feet
of sand and never looked back.
You lived in the man's house, how long?
17, 18 years...
...but didn't get to know him
any better than that.
I got to go see somebody
up in San Antonio.
Now, your memory gets any better...
...I'll be back tonight.
She finally got up.
It's Saturday.
You got in late last night.
I had some...
...some school business.
Could I get this?
Paloma.
Nobody really wears that stuff.
Just 'cause you went to Catholic school
and wore a uniform.
I only went for my last two years.
How come?
My mother wanted
to keep me away from...
...from boys.
Did it work?
Longhorns go for 10 times the price.
But longhorns are hard
to come by these days.
Sell much out here?
How am I going to sell things?
Nobody comes around.
This stretch of road...
...runs between Nowhere and...
...Not Much Else.
A hell of a spot to put a business.
Don't see much competition, do you?
Used to sell these things like hotcakes.
Now...
...if it can't play those disks,
they won't look at it.
I like it here.
Once I tried going
onto the reservation to live.
Couldn't take the politics.
Damn Indians will drive you crazy
with that.
Now, your father,
this wasn't what he had in mind.
He come out of Korea...
...bought a Chevy with too much engine.
Used to come roaring up and down
this road all hours of the day and night...
...looking for somebody to race.
Here.
Buffalo chips.
A fella down in Santa Fe told me...
...he sells these as fast
as a buffalo can squeeze them out.
You think he k*lled anybody in Korea?
They don't hand those medals out
for hiding in your foxhole.
Would you buy this?
No.
Yeah, neither would I.
If he hadn't found the deputy's job...
...I believe Buddy might've gone down
the other path, got into serious trouble.
It settled him right down.
That and your mother.
Of course, he had that other one later.
He had another woman?
Your mother was not one
to be chased off her patch.
Half the damn county knew about it.
Nobody thought the worse of her
for seeing it through.
You know who it was?
The other one?
At my age...
...you learn a new name...
...you got to forget an old one.
Here.
This big fella was sleeping
in a crate at Cisco's junkyard.
When I was going to open
to see what was in her...
...jumped right at my face.
Scared me so bad I had to k*ll him
without thinking.
Be careful where you go poking.
Who knows what you'll find.
Private Johnson...
...are you unhappy...
...in the Army?
No, sir.
Then how would you explain...
...that out of 120 people...
...you were the only one...
...who tested positive for dr*gs?
I'm sorry, sir.
When you were given
the opportunity to enlist...
...a kind of contract was agreed upon.
I think the Army has honored its part...
...of that agreement.
Yes, sir.
Do you believe in what we do
in here, Private?
I can do the job, sir.
What exactly do you think your job is?
Follow orders, do whatever they say.
Who's "they"?
The officers.
And that's the job?
Nothing about serving your country?
These are not trick questions,
Private Johnson.
You'll get an Article 15...
...and we'll go through the process
one way or another.
I'm just trying to understand...
...how someone like you thinks.
You really want to know?
Please.
It's their country. This is one
of the best deals they offer.
How do you think I got to be a colonel?
Being good at your job.
Doing what they tell you.
Do what they tell you?
I mean, follow orders, sir.
With your attitude, Private...
...I'm surprised you want to stay
in the service.
I do, sir.
Because it's a job?
Outside it's such a mess. It's....
Chaos.
Why do you think...
...they let us in on the deal?
'Cause they got people to fight:
Arabs, yellow people, whatever.
Might as well use us.
It works like this, Private.
Every soldier in the w*r
doesn't have to believe...
...in what he's fighting for.
Most of them fight just to back up
the other soldiers in their squad.
You try not to get them k*lled.
You try not to get them extra duty.
You try not embarrass yourself...
...in front of them.
Why don't you start with that?
Yes, sir.
Dismissed.
Thank you, sir.
ANSELMA:
Fred Zenito for Pager
and the Aggies jump to a 1 4-point lead.
Sooners back to punt on their own 27.
Longhorns are going to kick some serious
butt this Saturday. You just watch.
We got a kid, a tailback from
down your way, out of El Indio--
That's in Maverick County.
Right, and you're in?
In Rio.
This kid, Hosea Brown...
...he does the 40 in 3.4.
Soft hands, lateral movement,
the whole package.
- Only a sophomore.
- Still go to all the home games?
Daddy's got his box in the stadium
and I'll fly to the Cowboy away games.
And Friday nights there's high school.
Churchill's got this boy, 6 foot 6,
310, moves like a cat.
High school, we're talking.
Guess how much he can bench-press?
Bunny, you....
You on that same medication?
- Why, do I seem jumpy?
- No.
You look good. I was just wondering.
Last year was awful with Mama
passing on and this business with O.J.
It's not Don Meredith or...
...one of our boys,
but it kind of threw me for a loop.
You look good.
Then that squeaker,
the Aggies dropped to Oklahoma.
That son of a bitch stepped in some
lucky sh*t before he kicked that goal.
If they hadn't pulled me off that woman,
I'd have jerked a knot in her.
Were you in a fight?
Daddy calls it an altercation.
How you doing, Sam? You look skinny.
No, I'm the same weight I always was.
Daddy hired a pinhead to take your job.
Says so himself:
"Even my son-in-law was better
than this pinhead I got now."
Bunny....
That stuff I left in the garage still there?
Least he never called me that.
With me it was always "high-strung."
"Bunny would've done something
with her life if she wasn't so high-strung."
Or "tightly wound."
You haven't had one of your fires,
have you?
The stuff I left in the garage,
some of it was my father's.
Did you watch the draft this year?
Of course not. Idiot question.
They try to make it dramatic...
...like it's a surprise who picks who
in the first round...
...but they went over it for months
with their experts, computers...
...doctor's reports, coach's evaluations...
...highlight reels, psychological profiles....
I wouldn't be surprised if they collected
stool samples on them, had them analyzed.
All that to pick...
...a football player for your squad.
Compared to that, what you know about
a person when you get married to them...
...doesn't amount to diddly, does it?
No, I suppose not.
You kind of bought yourself
a pig in a poke, didn't you?
The whole time we were seeing each other,
you didn't know that I was tightly wound.
It wasn't just you, Bunny.
No, it wasn't, was it?
You didn't exactly throw yourself
into it heart and soul.
Your sh*t's still in the garage,
if that's what you came for.
Three hundred and fifty pounds.
That boy Churchill's got.
He plays tackle both ways.
Bench-presses 350 pounds.
Imagine having that much weight on you,
pressing down.
Be hard to breathe, hard to swallow.
I think they have another fella there
to keep it off your chest.
A spotter.
"I only got my little girl now," he says.
"She's my lifeline."
Then he says I can't sit in the box anymore
if I don't control myself.
Son of a bitch!
He doesn't even watch the games,
just sits there drinking.
Looks up at the TV now and then.
I'd be better off in the cheap seats
with some real football people.
You look good, Bunny.
It was nice to see you.
Thanks.
I like it when you say that, Sam.
"Dearest Buddy."
Hey, it's the general.
Colonel. Is Otis in?
- Come on in.
- If it's too late--
Come on in.
Otis is sitting up with some people
at the club. I don't think he'll be long.
His hot sauce recipe
won a contest last year.
They're selling it as far away...
...as San Antonio.
You've been in this house for a while?
I've been here with him eight years.
He built it when he was with Leora.
Never met her.
There's a bunch of them you never met.
Well, me neither.
Let me show you around.
He got into this cowboys-and-Indians stuff
a while back.
Spent half his time poking...
...around the library, way up to Austin.
Kind of like a shrine, isn't it?
Where did he get all this stuff?
Your mother's got a brother, Alphonse.
Uncle Al.
Otis stood on good terms
with him. Whenever you make the news...
...he sends it on.
When they made you general...
...Otis almost drove away
our customers going on about it.
I'm a colonel.
I know.
The man made me memorize
the whole Army chain of command...
...before he'd marry me.
My mother said that
he never asked about me.
He never asked her.
Tell him I stopped by?
Thanks.
Catch you later...
...Colonel.
JAIME:
ENRIQUE:
ANSELMA:
Se?ora Cruz.
Who is it?
What are you doing out here?
Are you crazy?
In English. We're in the United States.
I have some friends
and they have had an accident.
- You have somebody else out there?
- We was...
...by the river and I heard my friend
calling for help...
...and I look...
...and she has fallen in the water.
Don't tell me lies. What happened?
We was crossing the river.
What are you doing out there?
Wait. Who are they?
Why bring them here?
I need help, se?ora.
I'll call Border Patrol.
They'll get her to the hospital.
ENRIQUE:
You think you're doing
these people a favor?
What are they going to do?
They get on welfare...
...or they become criminals.
This girl is a friend of yours?
I thought you were married.
I am married to the cousin of a friend
but only to live here.
This is the mother of my child.
Typical.
Homework?
I finished that.
I'm just messing around.
Tanks, huh?
Yeah, well....
If you've got to be in the Army,
better to have something slick to drive.
So....
You're going in the Army?
That's the general plan, isn't it?
That's up to you.
The Army isn't for everybody.
It's not that I think
you wouldn't be good at it.
You know....
I wouldn't be disappointed if you decided
to do something else with your life.
You wouldn't?
No.
So....
How's your room shaping up?
It's fine. I'm pretty much moved in.
Good.
Are we ever going to see your father?
My father?
He lives here, right?
Yes, he does.
Maybe we'll....
We'll fix that thing out back and have...
...a barbecue.
We could invite him and...
...and his wife over.
He makes his own sauce.
ELADIO:
Let's go! Hurry up!
Everybody in the world will see.
He was a doctor on the other side.
Don't worry about it.
He owes me a few favors.
In English, Enrique. In English!
Hollis!
Hollis!
You in there?
Fellas.
You're open late.
I'm not open. We're just talking.
So, Hollis probably told you.
We found Charlie Wade.
Is that right?
Start digging holes in this county,
no telling what'll come up.
You two saw it, didn't you?
You two saw it when Buddy k*lled him.
I'm going to find out one way or the other.
Your father had the finest sense
of justice...
...of any man I've ever known.
And my mother was a saint.
For 15 years the whole damn town...
...knew he had another woman on the side.
He stole $10,000
and set her up in business...
...but hell, what's that?
You got a problem, old Buddy'll fix it.
You facing some time in jail?
Buddy'll knock half of it off,
if you do what he says when he says.
You got some business
that's not exactly legal?
Just talk to Buddy.
Buddy Deeds--
Buddy Deeds was a m*rder*r.
That night at the cafe...
...he didn't stay long after you left,
did he, Hollis?
Maybe he'd decided
he'd gone too far with Wade.
He figured he'd better not wait
for the sheriff to get behind him.
So he stepped out to see
if he could catch up...
...and you were here that night...
...weren't you, "O"?
I was here.
I'd been running a game
on the side after hours.
Craps.
Draw poker on the weekends.
Roderick didn't know about it.
More important...
...Charlie Wade didn't know about it...
...'cause I didn't want to cut him in on it.
I was pretty full of myself
back in those days.
Hell, I just didn't expect the man so early.
Wade!
Sheriff Charlie was the whip hand
for old Judge Tibbs...
...who pretty much owned
this county back then.
If the truth came out...
...he wasn't going to go easy on Hollis.
I don't know why I trusted Buddy with it...
...don't know why he trusted me.
The first time I talked with him...
...was right there and then...
...with a dead white man leaking blood
on the floor between us.
The three of us cleaned up
and took him out by the post...
...and put him under.
I can't say I was much help.
And the $10,000?
Widow's benefits.
He figured it'd make
the disappearance look better.
And Mercedes was scraping by
after Charlie k*lled her man.
Buddy and her...
...didn't get hooked up until later.
Time went on...
...people liked the story we told...
...better than what the truth
might have been.
It's your call, Sam.
I don't think the Rangers are likely to...
...find out any more
than they already know.
And as for me...
...it's just one of your unsolved mysteries.
Word gets out who the body was...
...people'll think Buddy done it.
Buddy's a g*dd*mn legend.
He can handle it.
'Night, fellas.
When does the picture start?
Are you going to tell your mother
we've been seeing each other?
She'll find out sooner or later.
I don't have to ask permission anymore,
if that's what you mean.
You have any idea when your father d*ed?
Eladio?
Couple of months before I was born.
Try a year and half.
Buddy bought the cafe for her
with money he took from the county.
They can't pull this on me.
It's not fair.
I don't believe this.
He paid the hospital bill
when you were born.
Your mother...
...she always called you...
..."a beautiful daughter"...
...in the letters she wrote to him.
From the first time I saw you at school...
...all those years we were married
to other people, I always felt...
...like we were connected.
I remember thinking...
...you were the one part of my life...
...that Buddy didn't have a piece of.
I can't have any more children.
After Amado, I had complications.
I can't get pregnant anymore,
if that's what the rule is about.
So that's it?
You won't want to be with me anymore?
If I met you...
...for the first time today...
...I'd still want to be with you.
Start from scratch?
Yeah.
All that other stuff and all that history...
...the hell with it, right?
Forget the Alamo.
Lone Star (1996)
Moderator: Maskath3