Sling Blade

Hey, sheriff.

A Mercury is a real good car.

That was the car I was driving that day.

I owned a lot of cars.

Yeah, different kinds.

A lot of different kinds of cars.

She was standing, this girl...

on the side of the street by this chicken stand.

Not the Colonel's, a different chicken stand.

I pulled the Mercury up alongside...

and rolled down the window by electric power.

And she had this leather skirt on...

and she had a lot of hair on her arms.

I like that. It means a big bush, which I like.

She says, "Are you dating?" You know?

I said, "Sure." So she gets in...

and we pull off into...

this remote location comfortable for both of us.

She says, "How much do you want to spend?"

I said, "Enough to see your bush. I know it's big."

She says, "$25."

That's not chicken feed to a working man.

I produce the $25, she sticks it in her shoe...

pulls up her skirt...

and there is thin, crooked, uncircumcised penis.

You can imagine I wanted my $25 back.

Why are you weirded out?

It's not San Quentin. It's a nut house.

Most patients don't know where they are. They won't hurt you.

It doesn't bother you we'll be facing a killer in a few minutes?

You wanted to major in journalism.

They're from that newspaper deal.

- From the college? - Yes, sir.

- I'm Jerry Woolridge. - I'm Marsha Dwiggins.

She's Theresa Evans. She's here to take pictures.

Y'all sit down.

A man named John Leggitt Hunter had a filling station.

A good filling station business.

He was the type of person that I'm sure you've met too...

who didn't deserve what he had.

One thing he had was...

this beautiful, young bride, Sarah.

She was a Georgia peach.

She was more like the picture I had in my mind than any woman I'd seen.

So I took her away from John Leggitt Hunter...

who did not deserve her.

Oh, I don't know if I told you...

but he was a Frenchman who claimed to be an Englishman.

Took strong nylon cord to get her away from him.

She was a fighter and a Georgia peach.

There must have been a mix-up.

I talked to your sponsor, teacher or whoever...

and told him no pictures.

This is for an article or something, right?

Yeah, it's for the school newspaper which has pictures.

It's a regular paper.

Karl's real sensitive about having his picture made.

He wouldn't be on the bulletin board for the Easter collage.

Now...

a shovel just makes too goddamn much racket.

I'll talk to him, see what he says.

You gotta make something explode to truly understand it.

You gotta examine all those particles while they're still on fire.

Karl, let's go down to the old classroom.

Mr. Woolridge has some people for you to see.

Let's go.

Remember I told you about those newspaper people?

They want to ask you questions about your release.

They think it'll make a good story.

Will you talk to them? Get interviewed?

They're women.

I think it'd be good for you. You'll see all kinds of people on the outside.

This'll help.

Now, he'll only talk to you but you can't ask him anything...

and don't stare at him.

How can I interview him if I can't ask any questions?

Sorry, that's the best it's gonna get.

Can I ask you a question?

If he's so troubled, why are you letting him out?

What if he does it again? It happens.

His time's up. That's the rules.

He's been treated, reevaluated, doesn't show any signs anymore.

- Signs? - Homicidal signs.

Miss, I'm sorry, but you'll have to step outside.

- Why? - Please?

I have to change the light in here for Karl.

I hope you can still see to write.

I reckon what you want to know is what I'm doing in here.

I reckon it's because I killed somebody.

But I reckon you want to know how come I killed somebody...

so I'll start at the front and tell you.

I lived out in back of my parents' place most of my life...

in a little old shed that my daddy'd built for me.

They didn't want me in the house with the rest of them...

so I sat around in the shed looking at the ground.

I didn't have no floor...

but I had me a hole dug out to lay down in...

a quilt or two to put down there.

My father...

was a hardworking man most of his life...

not that I can say the same for myself.

I mostly just sat around in the shed...

tinkered around with a lawn mower or two...

went to school off and on from time to time.

But the children out there, they were very cruel to me...

and made quite a bit of sport of me, made fun of me quite a bit.

So mostly I just sat around out there in the shed.

My daddy...

worked at the sawmill, down at the planer mill...

for an old man named Dixon.

Old man Dixon was a very cruel fellow.

Didn't treat his employees well or pay them well.

Didn't pay my daddy too much of a wage.

Just barely enough to get by, I reckon.

I reckon he got by all right.

They used to come out, one or the other of them...

usually my mother...

feed me pretty regular.

So I know he made enough so I could have mustard and biscuits...

three or four times a week.

But old man Dixon...

he had a boy...

name of Jesse Dixon.

Jesse was more cruel than his daddy was.

He used to make quite a bit of sport of me...

when I was down there at the schoolhouse.

Used to take advantage of the girls in the neighborhood.

They used to say...

that my mother was a very pretty woman.

They said that quite a bit when I'd be there at the schoolhouse.

I reckon you want me to get on with it and tell you what happened.

So I reckon I'll tell you.

I was setting out in the shed one evening, not doing much...

just staring at the wall...

and waiting on my mother to give me my Bible lesson.

I heard a commotion in the house...

so I run up on the screened-in porch to look inside.

I looked in and seen my mother laying on the floor without any clothes on.

I seen Jesse Dixon laying on top of her.

He was having his way with her.

I just seen red.

I picked up a Kaiser blade that was sitting by the door.

Some folks called it a sling blade. I called it a Kaiser blade.

It's got a long, wood handle, kind of like an ax handle...

with a long blade shaped like a banana.

Sharp on one edge and dull on the other.

It's what the highway boys use to cut down weeds and whatnot. Yeah.

I went in the house...

and I hit Jesse Dixon upside the head with it...

knocked him off my mother.

I reckon that didn't satisfy me...

so I hit him again in the neck with the sharp edge...

and just plumb near cut his head off, killed him.

My mother jumped up and started hollering...

"What did you kill Jesse for?"

Well, come to find out...

my mother didn't mind what Jesse was doing to her.

That made me madder than what Jesse'd made me...

so I took the Kaiser blade--

some folks called it a sling blade, I called it a Kaiser blade--

and I hit my mother upside the head with it.

Killed her.

Some folks asked me: if you had it to do over again, would you do it the same way?

I reckon I would.

Anyhow, they put me in here...

and here I been for a great, long while.

I've learned to read some.

Took me four years to read the Bible.

I reckon I understand a great deal of it.

Wasn't what I expected in some places.

I've slept in a good bed for a great, long while.

Now they've seen fit to put me out of here.

They say they're setting me free today.

I reckon that's all you was needing to know.

You want more details. I reckon I can tell them.

I don't know whether that's enough for your newspaper or not.

Will you ever kill again, Karl?

I don't reckon I got no reason to kill nobody.

- Where will he go? - Anywhere he wants.

I think he's going to Millsburg where he's from, about 20 miles from here.

- Will he be supervised? - As much as anybody, I guess.

Y'all have a nice day, now.

I'll get Melvin to walk y'all out.

Would you walk these girls out?

Thank you.

I reckon I'll have to get used to looking at pretty people.

Guess you will.

Reckon I'll have to get used to them looking at me too.

Better go get your things.

Ain't got nothing but them books.

Better go get them.

All right, then.

All right, then.

Can I help you?

I was kinda wanting something to eat.

Well, what would you like?

You got any biscuits in there?

No, this is a Frosty Cream. We don't serve biscuits.

We got a lot of other stuff.

What you got in there that's good to eat?