American Gun

Martin: the first gun I ever held

belonged to my grandfather.

Grandpa said he fought alongside Teddy Roosevelt

at San Juan hill.

But we really never believed him.

Whatever it was he did there in Cuba,

one thing is for sure.

He brought home a service revolver.

It was the most beautiful thing i ever saw.

The first time I ever fired a gun, I was 16.

Gentlemen! ready.

Aim. fire.

It took a while to get the hang of it.

What are you ladies laughing at?!

We're gonna do that again, gentlemen!

Ready. aim.

Fire.

Good shot, tillman.

Ready.

Aim. fire.

Oh, god! Oh, my god!

Medic, come here! Come here! Come here!

Move! move! Go!

Watch out! Watch out!

Aah!

Man: go, go, go!

No!

Oh! oh!

Oh! oh, sh--

Sweetheart, sweetheart, sweetheart.

You want a drink, hmm?

hmm?

You need a new pair of gloves.

Jeez! you scared me.

Oh. how are you, kid?

I'm good.

Are you?

You look great, dad.

Ah, well.

Not bad for a... An old man, anyway.

Oh.

Let's go see mama now.

Penny? penny! Hi, ma.

She just got here.

oh. Sweet darling.

Oh! how was your trip?

It was fine. Yeah?

We could have picked you up, you know.

I know. But I wanted to rent a car.

Come on in.

Wash up. Dinner's almost ready.

Are you coming? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll be in in a minute.

Come on!

In a minute!

You, uh, you need anything?

I mean, you have, uh, plenty of, uh, hangers and all?

Oh, yeah. There's plenty here.

Oh, good.

Uh, h-how would you like to see, uh...

What you got your mother for Christmas?

Okay.

Oh!

Dad.

You know what?

I think it's too small.

You don't like it.

No, I -- it's...

The snowmen.

I mean, it's -- it's so christmasy.

Why don't you let me take it back and get another size?

All right.

Here's the receipt.

But now, listen. I want the same sweater.

Don't be telling me that, uh, they're out of stock.

They'll never be out of stock in this one, dad.

Martin: thank you, father,

for the food we're about to receive.

And bless the food as it enters our body.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Okay, mama. Are you serving?

Yes, I am. Okay.

It looks so great. It's gonna be.

It turned out pretty good for a change.

It's beautiful.

What do you hear from your daughter?

Mia? mm-hmm.

Her name is Mia.

Why do you always refer to her as "your daughter"?

Well, where is she and what is she doing?

I have no idea, mother.

You don't know where she is?

Annie.

Just take it easy, huh?

She ran away.

The whole point of running away

is so that I don't know where she is.

And she never writes or she never calls --

mom...

Well, I've never heard of anything like that.

Well, now you have.

I'm -- I'm sure she's fine.

She blames me for her father leaving.

She blamesyou?

She blames me for everything.

Every child blames his parents.

That's why we're here.

Aw, well.

Oh.

thank you for the dinner.

Did you have to go and upset her?

Well, I didn't mean to upset her.

Well, I know. But you did.

Penny?

Penny?

Penny.

Penny. honey.

Listen. sit down here a minute.

Now, listen. Never mind your mother.

She's a -- she's a sweet soul.

But...she's a worrier, you know.

She even worries that I don't worry enough.

Hell, they all go away.

You -- you ran away.

That was different. I was only gone for three days.

Yeah, but you came back.

Why did you come back?

I mean, not that we weren't happy to see you.

But why'd you come back?

I ran out of clean clothes.

Aw, Mia's all right.

I know in my heart that she's all right.

You're gonna find her.

And, uh, I'll do whatever I can.

You know that. I'll help.

Any way I can.

Thanks.

Okay.

Man: ready?

Woman: Martin tillman, please report to your office.

Martin tillman, please report to your office.

So...

Where you living now?

I moved.

Mm.

Your mother said you, uh, ran away.

Well, it depends how you look at it.

Listen, why don't you, uh...

Why don't you stay here for a while?

You know, you can run away again after the holidays.

Funny.

Well, we've got -- we've got the guest room all fixed up,

and you'd have a room all by yourself.

I don't think so.

How much you need?

What?

How much do you need?

You didn't come here just to have lunch with me.

Can you spare a couple hundred?

Are you in trouble?

No.

No, not at all.

All right. I think I can...

I can give you, uh, a hundred.

There you go.

That ought to hold you for a while.

Thank you, grandpa.

You're welcome, granddaughter.

You promise you won't tell my mother that I was here?

Why can't you just come home? I can't.

We'll talk to your mom. We can do it together. Soon.

Soon, okay?

Okay.

Um, I'll be -- I'll be right back, okay?

Okay.

Hi. I need to exchange this for another size.

Okay.

Here you go. You're all set.

Thank you.

[ Horn honking, car door slams ]

Hey!

Give me the purse!

Fuck off!

No.

No!

[ Woman speaking indistinctly on radio ]

What's your daughter's date of birth, ma'am?

No. no! no!

No! no! No! No! Annie. Annie.

Annie. Annie. Annie.

No.

Anne: what do you think we should dress her in?