A History of Violence

So we keep heading east?

Yeah, that's the idea.

- Stay out of the big cities? - Uh-huh.

I think I'm tired.

Yeah.

Me too.

Here.

Bring it on up to the office.

- I'm gonna go check us out. - All right.

What took you so long?

Nothing.

I had a little trouble with the maid, but, uh, everything's fine now.

Damn.

Eight. It's already this hot.

Yep.

How are we fixed for water?

Probably not enough.

Yeah.

There's a cooler in the back, in the office.

Hey.

Shh.

Sarah, honey, what's wrong, huh?

What is it, sweetie? Hmm?

- Daddy. - Yeah?

- Daddy. - Daddy's here.

- Daddy's here. - There were monsters.

No, sweetie. There's no such thing as monsters.

You were just having a bad dream.

What's wrong, Dad?

Hey, kiddo. Sarah's just having a bad dream.

Oh.

I saw monsters, Jack.

Monsters? What kind?

I don't know.

They came out of my closet and then they were in the shadows.

Mmm. Shadow monsters.

Well, they look pretty scary, but they really can't do anything,

especially when the lights are on.

- They're scared of the light. - What happened, baby?

- You okay? - I'm okay.

Sarah had a bad dream about monsters.

And I was telling her that there's no such thing as monsters.

Aw.

I'm going to turn on my night-light, just in case.

That sounds like a brilliant solution.

- Hey, Jack? - Hey, Mom?

Morning.

Good morning, baby.

Hey, hon, pickup still won't start. Mind dropping me off on the way in?

Sure.

- Did you feed Burrow? - Yeah, I fed him.

Okay. Good.

Night-light worked, didn't it?

I got it, Dad.

What do you got going today, Jack?

Ah, nothing much.

A math test in a few days.

And I think, uh, we're playing baseball in gym class today,

so I can look forward to sucking hard in right field.

Well, just remember, don't let the hitter get the ball over your head.

Unless it's out of the park.

Well, yeah.

Bye.

I get off early today.

All I have is the Watsons' will and Dave Bryant's tractor sale.

Want me to pick you up?

Yeah.

Then we can go to the drive-in and make out tonight.

There hasn't been a drive-in here since the early '70s, but...

- I love you. - I love you.

- Have a good one. - You too.

- Morning. - Derek.

- Hi, Tom. - Good morning, Joseph.

It's wild.

- Hey, Tom. - Morning, Pat.

- Hey, Mick. - Tom.

Charlotte's gonna be a little late this morning.

- Was she drunk again? - Yeah, I guess.

Hey, who's the craziest woman you ever dated?

- Me? - Yeah.

Mick and me were talking about some girls we went with.

Uh-huh.

He once dated a girl who used to attack him in the middle of the night.

- She what? - Yeah.

She used to have these crazy goddamn dreams

where, instead of her boyfriend, I was a demented killer.

I woke up one night, she stuck a goddamn fork in my shoulder.

- You're kidding me. - No.

I'm spurting blood,

she's sitting there, crying, going, "Baby, I love you, I love you."

So, what happened? You broke up with her, right?

No, I married her.

Hey, it lasted six years.

Nobody's perfect, Tom.

I guess not.

- Strike this guy out. - We got them. Let's go.

- Yeah! - Out!

Two outs.

One winning run coming right up, boys.

Go, Bobby!

It's all right, brother.

Look alive, look alive.

Let's get them!

- Ball. - Yeah, that's it.

He's got nothing. He's got nothing. Let's go, let's go. One more. Come on.

- Come on. - Come on, Bobby.

Yeah. He's yours, he's yours.

- Whoo! - Come on, Jack.

- Don't drop it, Jack! - That's yours.

Jinx, Jackie boy!

- Oh! - Game over. Yellows win.

Let's go, guys. Taylor, Dietrich, you're on equipment. Let's go.

Guys, come on. Let's go.

- Good try, Bobby. - Thanks a lot, Bobby.

Everyone hit the showers.

- Awesome. - Nice.

Stall. Nice job on that.

Guess you think you're hot shit, huh, Stall?

What? Uh, no, I don't.

Little hero here, huh? Little superstar here.

Little hero saves the day at the last minute, right?

Bobby, it's just a game, okay? It's just stupid gym class.

Who you calling stupid?

No, I said gym class was stupid.

"No, I said gym class was..."

Listen to this little faggot.

Yeah. You're right.

I'm both little and a faggot.

You got me dead to rights.

Come on, chicken shit, let's do this.

What would be the point?

I mean, you win. You win, you win.

You've established your, uh, alpha-male standing.

Uh, you've established my unworthiness.

But doing violence to me just seems, ahem,

pointless and cruel, don't you think?

Let's do this, you punk bitch.

Shouldn't that be "little, punk-ass, chicken-shit, faggot bitch"?

"Chicken-shit faggot bitch."

God!

Bobby's a chicken shit.

Hey, good-looking.

Where are we going?

Well, Jack's studying over at Judy Danvers',

and Martha's taking care of Sarah.

- Yeah? - Yeah.

So where we going?

We never got to be teenagers together.

Uh-huh.

I'm gonna fix that.

What's going on in there?

Keep your shirt on. I'm coming.

Holy cow.

What?

Do you need some help with that, big boy?

Uh...

Maybe.

Oh, my God.

What have you done with my wife?

Ready? Okay!

Go, Wildcats!

No wives in here, mister.

- Wow. - Shh.

Quiet. My parents are in the next room.

You're naughty.

What are you doing?

Nothing.

You are such a bad boy.

Mm-hmm.

Rah-rah-cis-boom-ba.

Oh.

There wasn't much of that in high school.

What is it?

Huh?

I remember the moment I knew you were in love with me.

I saw it in your eyes.

I can still see it.

Of course you can.

I still love you.

I'm the luckiest son of a bitch alive.

You are the best man I've ever known.

There's no luck involved.

You wanna go down and get some food or something?

You ever wonder what kids did for fun on a Saturday night 100 years ago?

I don't know.

I always figured they got into their parents' wagon

and went cruising up their main drag,

playing loud banjo music and acting like idiots.

So you think this is as good as it gets?

For us?

Yeah.

For now.

Eventually, we, uh...

We grow up, we get jobs, we have affairs, and we become alcoholics.

You know, sometimes... you depress me.

Hey, that's what I'm good at.

All right, give me that.

Give me that.

Hey, isn't that that Stall faggot?

Yeah.