Frailty

What's that ambulance doing out there?

I don't know. I'll check it out.

-Evening, sir. -How's it going, Griff?

I can't complain and won't.

-That him? -Yep.

Might just be some crackpot, but I figured I should call you anyway.

-Did he ask for me by name? -Nope.

Asked for the agent in charge of the God's Hand case.

Said he had important info.

-Didn't say what? -Nope.

Said he'd only talk to you.

You the agent in charge of the God's Hand case?

That's right. Wesley Doyle.

That's a picture of you and your mother, huh?

I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't take things off of my desk.

I'm sorry about that. Guess I've been in here a while.

Already had a look at all your plaques and your citations.

Didn't really care to have a look at those.

So, what can I do for you, Mr...?

Meiks. Name's Fenton Meiks.

Now, listen, this may sound a little bit crazy, but...

...I know who the God's Hand killer is.

All right, I'll bite.

Who?

You haven't even heard me out yet and already you doubt me.

Why is that?

Because in a case like this...

...nobody just walks in and tells you who the killer is.

It just doesn't happen that way.

Sometimes truth defies reason, Agent Doyle.

Yeah?

So who is it, then?

My brother.

What makes you think that?

I got a call from him.

Last night.

I wonder where he could be, I'm getting worried.

Are you, darling? What about?

Hello?

-Hello? -Demons are taking over the world.

-to be going on a honeymoon....

Adam?

I can't destroy them all.

They're everywhere. I can't take it anymore.

Now, let's talk about this, Adam.

Look, there's nothing to talk about. It's over.

Whatever happens, you have to take me to the rose garden.

You promised. Remember?

-Now, sit still, listen to-- Adam. -Remember?

Remember, you promised.

We will find him. Go on, go on. Go find your dog. Hurry up.

Meat?

That's where all this took place.

It's about 200 miles west of here, just north of Abilene.

Now, why'd you go to Thurman?

To bury Adam in the rose garden.

Why would you do that?

I promised him I would a long time ago.

Now, that's a pretty wild story, Mr. Meiks.

I don't see what, if anything, this has got to do with my case.

Adam is the God's Hand killer, Agent Doyle.

He's the one you're looking for.

Did he tell you that before he asked you to take him to Thurman?

-If that's the case, you left that part out. -I haven't finished yet.

-Oh, there's more? -A lot more.

Excuse me a minute.

Meat sheriff's office.

Can I talk to the sheriff there, please?

This is Agent Wesley Doyle of the FBI.

He's not in right now. May I help you?

Well, we got a man here in my office, name of Fenton Meiks.

Fenton Meiks? What's he doing there?

-You know him? -Well, yeah.

He caused a bit of a ruckus here earlier.

He stole an ambulance and his brother's body too.

Did my story check out?

Yeah, it did.

So am I under arrest now?

You damn sure should be.

Apparently the sheriff there is willing to forgive and forget...

...as long as you'll bring that ambulance back.

Nobody wants to press any charges.

Well, you gotta love small towns.

Why would you go to all that trouble, just walk in here and confess it to me?

I'm here because I can't live with what I know anymore.

What exactly do you know?

That is your mother, isn't it?

-Yeah, it is. -I knew it.

You got the same eyes.

Why don't we get back to your story?

What makes you think that your brother is the God's Hand killer?

I know it was him.

How do you know?

He started back in Thurman.

It was near the summer of 1979.

I got the joy, joy, joy, joy Down in my heart

-You're supposed to say "where?" -I don't wanna sing that dumb song.

You don't have to sing it. Just say "where?"

All right. Where?

Not now. I'll point to you when it's time.

I got the joy, joy, joy, joy Down in my heart

-Where? -Down in my heart

-Where? -Down in my heart

I got the joy, joy, joy, joy Down in my heart to stay

And if the devil doesn't like it He can sit on a tack

Sit on a tack

Sit on a tack

And if the devil doesn't like it He can sit on a tack to stay

So who was that chick that--? Who threw up?

Oh, that was Katie Hagen. She is sure pretty, though.

-That was real nasty, though. -Oh, yeah.

All over the floor. And when the principal fell?

I got the joy, joy....

We lived right behind the Thurman public rose garden...

...in the house where they used to keep the gardeners back in the '50s.

Dad had gotten a good deal on it back when he and Mom got married.

The unexpected incident that creates those dangerous moments.

The ropes were suddenly off the alligator.

Adam was 3 years younger than me.

Our mom had died giving birth to him...

...so I basically took care of him ever since I can remember.

Our dad worked as a mechanic over in Jupiter.

He usually got home around 5:30 and we'd all have dinner together.

-escape behavior of gators.

-Hey, kiddos. -Hey, Dad.

Something sure smells good.

The next job was to get a rope over his mouth to tie up....

-How was your day? -It was all right.

Let's eat.

Whoa, there, tiger. Save some for us.

-I sure love peas. -You must.

You better be careful, though. You just might turn into one.

Say, how'd you do on that math test?

Barely passed.

Well, I was never any good at math either.

I still can't do anything without a calculator.

Yeah, but there's gonna be another test next week.

-That one's gonna be even harder. -Hey, don't sound so glum.

Tell you what. We'll sit down this weekend...

...see if we can't figure out that junk together, okay?

All right.

Hey, Fenton, can we go see Meatballs after school tomorrow?

We've already seen it.

I wanna see it again.

No, we're gonna go see The Warriors.

-Can't. It's rated R. -We'll sneak in.

Teeth all brushed?

You sure about that, Adam?

All right, breath-test time.

Dad, I did brush them.

I'm just yolking with you, egghead.

Don't worry, Fenton. I know you're too big for a good-night kiss.

-Good night, boys. Sleep tight. -Don't let those bedbugs bite.

That's right.

-Love you guys. -Love you too, Dad.

Night, Dad.

Good night, Curtis.

-I wanna see Meatballs again. -Fine.

You can see Meatballs and I'll see The Warriors.

But I don't like to watch movies by myself.

Too bad.

Please?

Fine.

Fine. Just go to bed.

And that was our family.

Just the three of us.

All of Mom and Dad's relatives had died off...

...so there was no one left but us.

We didn't mind, though.

We didn't need anybody else.

We were happy together.

Until....

-Fenton, wake up. -Dad?

-I've got something to tell you. -What's wrong?

It's okay.

Adam, wake up and listen.

I need you both to listen to me very carefully.

Something's happened.

He said he'd had a vision that night.

A vision from God.

An angel came to him and told him the truth of this world...

...and revealed God's special purpose for our family.

The end of the world is coming. It's near.

The angel showed me.

There are demons among us.

The devil has released them for the final battle.

It's being fought right now.

But nobody knows it except us and others like us.

I'm scared, Dad.

There's nothing to be afraid of, tiger.

We've been chosen by God. He will protect us.

He's given us special jobs to do.

We don't fear these demons. We destroy them.

We pick them up one by one and we pitch them out of this world.

That's God's purpose for us.

-The angel called us God's hands. -So we're like superheroes?

That's right.

We're a family of superheroes that are gonna help save the world.

But, Dad, that doesn't make any sense.

I know it sounds that way, son, but it's the truth.