BY
MATT ASENDORF
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Version 1.0 - September 20,
2003; 29kb
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 Brother
Justin and Ben Hawkins enter a diner
and sit themselves at the counter.
"Love Me or Leave Me,"
sung by Ruth Etting plays. Justin
and Ben both silently watch as two
more men enter the diner. One man
wears a tuxedo and top hat, the
other is dressed in a WWI uniform.
The two strangers sit at a booth
and begin to dine as a waitress
makes an enigmatic comment: "Every
prophet in his house." Then,
the strangers toast their glasses
of wine and the window behind them
all shatters-- Justin and Ben wake
up from their shared dream. Justin
is in his bed, in Mintern. Ben is
lying outside on the ground, underneath
a trailer.
It's morning.
Ben stands
shirtless at a water pump. He's
wetting a rag to clean himself.
Behind him, Libby, the elder Dreifuss
daughter and Cootch dancer, leans
against a trailer with a cup of
coffee. She prattles on about "staying
clean" in all the dust, but
Ben doesn't reciprocate her come
ons. Libby's mother, Rita Sue, watches
nearby and gives her daughter encouraging
looks. Libby asks Ben if he has
any "jills" back home
and Ben lies, saying he's got a
couple. Libby takes a rag and begins
to wash Ben's back for him, but
he snatches it away from her. Libby
and her mother proceed to tease
Ben about his sexual hangups, and
Rita Sue accuses him of staring
at her breasts during the Gay Paree.
BEN:
"Y'all don't know me. You
don't know nothin' about me."
RITA SUE: "I know I saw you
staring at my titties during the
show."
LIBBY: "Practically hypnotized."
RITA SUE: "But that's okay,
honey. That's what they're there
for."
Rita Sue
leans over and shakes her breasts
for Ben's benefit. Meanwhile, Sofie
is in her trailer, carrying on a
"conversation" with her
mother, Apollonia. Apollonia insists
Sofie bring Ben by later that night,
and after much insistence, Sofie
relents and says she will. Outside,
Jonesy assigns duties to the other
roustabouts. While Jonesy speaks,
Ben's attention drifts toward Ruthie,
who is standing naked in the outdoor
shower. Jonesy shouts for Ben to
pay attention and gives Ben the
job of cleaning out the baggage
trailer, "a rundown trailer
with a big ole roof rack on her."
 Ben
finds the dilapidated trailer at
the edge of the carnival grounds.
Inside, the air is all dust and
the ceilings, floors and walls are
cluttered with all manner of curiosities
and junk. On one shelf, Ben spots
a glass jar with a fetus in it...
Then, Ben takes a suitcase off another
shelf. When he opens the suitcase,
"Love Me or Leave Me"
plays faintly for an instant. Inside
the suitcase are a tuxedo, a top
hat, and a photograph of a woman
standing in front of a truck marked
"Big Sky Farms." On the
other side of the photo is writing:
"H.S. and FLD." Suddenly,
the door to the baggage trailer
slams shut and everything goes dark.
Ben flicks open a lighter and makes
his way outside. He doesn't notice
the eyes of the fetus opening....
Samson asks
Ben where he's been hiding, and
Ben tells him that he's been cleaning
out the baggage trailer. Samson
explains to Ben that there is no
baggage trailer and that Jonesy
is just having a bit of fun with
him. But when Ben insists that he
*was* in the trailer, Samson asks
Ben to show him. They walk to the
edge of the grounds... but the trailer
has vanished. To prove what he said
actually happened, Ben shows Samson
the photograph he found. Samson
returns to his trailer and flips
through an album of carnival performers
until he comes across an identical
photo. Convinced that Ben didn't
steal the photograph from him, and
that the he's in fact telling the
truth, Samson turns around and addresses
the curtains behind him. "What
in the hell are you up to?"
he asks.
Brother Justin
shuts the door to his bedroom and
begins to walk down the hallway,
when he hears humming coming from
the bathroom. His sister, Iris,
steps out of the shower. Justin
watches through the open door as
she dries herself off. Later, at
church, the congregation is singing
the hymn "Old Rugged Cross"
but one of the parishioners, Lester,
is out of key and is attracting
attention. Carroll Templeton, his
wife Emma, and their daughter, gawk
at the migrants. After the service,
Eleanor McGill, the woman who had
vomited coins in one of Justin's
visions, introduces her sons Lester
and Tom to Justin and Iris. As she
rattles off the names of her family
members, the other parishioners
listen and make disgusted faces
and comments to each other. Eleanor
tells her grandchildren that Justin's
put her on the "righteous path."
"Bless you sister," Justin
replies. At that moment, The Templetons
force the migrants out of the way.
CARROLL:
"Gettin' a bit crowded in
there these days."
JUSTIN: "Yes, it certainly
is. Splendid, isn't it?"
CARROLL: "Yes... splendid.
I was just thinkin' of stoppin'
by this afternoon, havin' a little
chat."
JUSTIN: "Always a pleasure.
This afternoon, then."
The Templetons
get in their car to leave. |
