South of Heaven

Would you state your name for the record, please?

James ray.

James ray.

You are currently serving a 15-year sentence

following a guilty plea

for armed robbery

and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Correct?

Yes, ma'am.

I believe you have some medical files for us to examine,

and that you've also prepared a statement you wish to read.

Would you like to do that now?

No, ma'am.

I'm sorry. I don't understand.

Well, I had this long speech ready for y'all, and.

Been working on it every day for the last three weeks now.

I even did rehearsals,

and not just like in a mirror by myself

but you know with my cellmate,

a few of the prison guards,

even the prison doctor.

You know, I'd say to anybody who'd, you know, listen to me.

Sadly though, you're not gonna hear it today.

See, life has its own way of planning things.

While I was putting the finishing touches

on my heartfelt confession about my glorious redemption

courtesy of this here state correctional facility,

my one true love, Annie,

she got the death sentence.

Lung cancer.

Doctors gave her a year.

Well, I ain't going to waste my time with y'all

talking about what a huge mistake I made

with that stupid goddamn bank robbery.

But I am going to ask you to let...

No, I'm gonna... I'm gonna beg you to let me out.

So that I can give Annie,

my sweet Annie,

the life I robbed from her.

She never let me down.

We promised each other we'd get married

once I was on the outside.

Why wait so long?

Well, ma'am, I don't know

how familiar you are with prison weddings,

but they're about as far as you can get

from the kind of wedding

a little girl dreams of, you know.

There ain't no roses or guests.

No bridesmaids and pink dresses.

No... fancy food.

No music to dance to.

And well, there sure as hell ain't no car

with a "just married" sign ready to drive you away.

No, ma'am, all you get is the prison chaplain

to wed you and your loved one in holy matrimony.

And that's the same man that consoles prisoners on death row.

That ain't very romantic, now is it?

But if by y'all's good graces,

I'm destined to get out of here,

I'm gonna make sure she gets the wedding she deserves.

I'm gonna give Annie the best year of her life.

Do you hate it?

You look beautiful.

Liar.

I'm not lying, Annie.

You look like an angel.

And soon to be.

No, no, that's not what I meant.

I'm just teasing you, Jimmy.

Come on.

Still remember how to drive, right?

I guess we'll find out now, won't we?

What?

I-I.

I just can't stop staring at you.

Well, in that case, maybe I should drive.

Oh, no. I'm sorry, miss.

You're not gonna lift another finger for a long time now.

I'm here to serve.

Your wish is my command.

I can get used to that.

You kept the trailer.

Yep.

It was our home. Couldn't get rid of it.

Yeah, of course not.

I'll tell you what.

I'm gonna go inside, turn on the water heater.

And you just come in when you're good and ready. Okay?

Hi.

Hi.

What's wrong?

I just can't believe I'm actually here.

You're here.

But you're way over there.

I'm so sorry, Annie.

I'm sorry.

I know.

I know.

Thank you.

Hey, come on now.

Listen to me.

Warts and all, remember?

Yeah. Yeah, warts and all.

Yeah.

Come in.

Take a seat.

Ah, Raines, is it?

Ray. Jimmy ray.

Oh, that's right.

Fifteen years for picking the wrong kind of friends.

Am I right or am I right?

More or less. Yeah.

Why don't we make that "more or less, sir."

That's easy enough for you to remember, ain't it.

Yes, sir.

Good.

You just keep that "yes sir" attitude

and maybe me and you, we won't have a problem.

Oh, boy. They sure gave you full package, didn't they?

This whole sorry business with the lady friend

is truly unfortunate.

I tell you, if it were me,

I'd be carrying a whole bagful of grudge right about now.

Most men would.

Not me, sir.

Oh yeah? Why is that?

Well, obviously because of that sorry business

with my lady friend that you mentioned.

Mm.

I owe it to her to stay straight.

Well, that is truly admirable, ray.

- But I gotta... - It's Jimmy.

Sir.

Look, I'm gonna shoot you straight, buddy.

Because I don't want to come off

like some kind of dick or nothing.

And you seem a tad sharper than most fellows passin' this hall.

Truth be told,

I don't give a damn if your name's Jesus of nazareth.

All I care is you abide by my rules.

You do that, I'll be the best friend you got

on this side of the walls.

If you so much as drink in excess...

You do know what excess means, right?

Not according to my girl.

You're a funny fella.

Yeah, that's a good one.

Having a good sense of humor can go a long way

in keeping a man afloat during hard times.

But I got a rule of my own

and it don't show up on these here papers.

And that rule says wisecracking is a waste of my valuable time.

And I don't think you have much time to waste neither,

am I correct, or am I correct?

No, I don't, sir.

Good.

If you fail to abide by any of my rules,

well, you're gonna find yourself right back in chains.

I got you a job at the loading docks.

I hope you can appreciate the chance you're getting here.

I do, sir.

It ain't much in the way of a paycheck,

I know, but I'm sure a smart fella like yourself.

Well, we'll meet again every week till further notice.

While you report to me as required by law,

as long as I see you keeping on the up and up.

Well, then you might have yourself a bright future.

No offense to the lady friend of course.

We'll be just fine.

Yeah, we'll see about that.

Just make sure you're there tomorrow morning.

Yes, sir.

Mm-mm. Go on, now.

You all right?

Yeah, no. I'm good.

Come on, Jimmy. I can read you like a book.

What's wrong?

Oh, you know.

I got a new job. I start tomorrow morning.

That's it.

- Mm-hm. - Yeah.

Jimmy!

Okay, fine.

Look, I just got a bad feeling

about my parole officer, that's all.

Well, he's your parole officer.

You're supposed to have a bad feeling about him.

Yeah, yeah.

But something don't sit right.

I don't know.

I'll tell you what. This, um, what's his name?

Schmidt.

This schmidt here does anything to cross my man

and I will be all over his ass.

I'll make grass out of his ass.

Mm.

I think you mean to say his ass is grass.

- Yes. - Yeah.

That is exactly what I mean.