Original subtitles

We got a date, remember?

I gotta get home.

My son's sick. Oh, now, why would anybody care about that brat?

Unless, of course, you're meeting somebody else.

No.

I think you're lying.

No. You are lying!

Okay.

Fine. No problem.

Just having a little difference of opinion, that's all. It's nothing for

worry about.

It

won't

bother you again.

We have fucked.

No. No, I promise.

And I'll make sure you keep that promise.

Get out of here.

Jimmy. Hey, you awake?

Hey, sport.

Run some cocktail napkins out to Vern for me, will you?

My hands are kind of full.

They're over here in the box.

Okay.

Yeah, boy.

Thanks, champ. You're a lifesaver.

than Atkinsford. How about you come around and open them?

I need two drafts and a Virgin Mary.

I love it.

Hi, Mom.

What are you doing back there?

He's helping me out.

Ellie went home sick and I'm shorthanded. You're supposed to be

Tomorrow's a school day.

Hey, you want them to sleep? Leave them home.

This is a hockey town, not a dormitory.

If you give me a raise so I can pay a babysitter, I'd be glad to leave.

But I like you here.

Don't worry, champ. It'll be a cold day in hell before old Vern here gives any

of us a raise.

There you go, Mom.

As soon as you're done, get back to the storeroom and get some sleep.

Hey, John.

How you doing?

I'm doing just fine.

Yes, you are. You're doing fine.

What time you get off?

Not till close.

All right.

I'll be waiting.

What about her?

Darling, I'm just teaching her the finer points of pinball. That's all.

this place.

No, it seems like you're hardly ever here anymore.

Yeah, well, I'm busy, you know.

I miss you.

Thank you.

I get a gift.

All right, see you.

Hey, hey!

Come on, buddy, let's get you home.

Good night, you two.

Night, Walt.

You going my way?

No, I don't think so.

You know, you've had an attitude all night. I'm surprised you noticed.

What are you talking about?

Us, Dwayne.

You don't really care, I don't really care. So why don't we just get on with

lives and call it quits?

That's it.

It's over just like that.

You can come by tomorrow morning at 11 and pick up your stuff.

I'll arrange to be out.

Come on.

Hey.

Don't I get to say any of this?

There is nothing between us, Dwayne, and you know it. Oh, I think there is. And

it ain't over until I say it's over. You understand?

I don't think you're getting that far. Get off me a little.

Let go of me.

Jimmy, stand back.

Stay away from Miss Dwayne. I mean it. Do it, Mom.

Get him.

Baby, what are you going to do with that?

Twain.

Leave me alone.

Leave him alone.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

You pick up your stuff tomorrow or it'll be out on the street. And don't you

ever lay a hand on me or my son again.

Twain? Mrs. Johnson?

Why is it every time I get a little time off to do a few

things around the house, like change a few light bulbs, somebody I know has a

friend in trouble? Ben, you gotta defend her. She is such a nice person.

Say she's a waitress?

Well, it's the only job she could get. I mean, you know, the tips, and she's got

this little boy.

Well, how about a public defender?

Ben, you've got a defender.

You'll see, Ann Johnson is one of the nicest, most hardworking, honest, and

courageous people I've ever met.

Well, hell, Conrad, instead of defending her, why don't I just nominate her for

president?

You character, come on.

And I want you to meet Ben Matlock, probably the best lawyer there ever was.

And a real nice man.

Ben and Johnson.

Hello. Hello.

Well, why don't we all sit down?

What was the fellow's name? Dwayne Meeks. He was a real jerk.

Were you living with him?

Oh, not really.

He'd stay over every once in a while.

Often enough, his stuff was starting to pile up.

Is that what he was doing there that morning, getting his stuff?

Yeah.

Let's see.

You said that...

The police found two little burn marks on his neck. Yeah, remember, they think

before he was murdered, he was stunned with one of those stun guns.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. A lot of people carry those for good sense.

You carry one?

I used to.

Dwayne knocked it out of my hand when I had that fight with him.

Well, it's probably still out there in the parking lot.

How many people saw you out there that night?

Uh, everybody worked till closing, I guess.

They probably thought I was getting what I deserved for having the worst taste

in men of any woman in history.

Yeah, she has had bad luck. And like I said to Dwayne, he was a jerk.

You show me a self -centered, mean -spirited jackass, and chances are I've

either dated him or married him.

Boy, he's a hell of an artist, huh?

Oh, Jimmy's been drawing ever since he could hold a pencil.

Of course, a lot of that's because I had to leave him on his own so much.

He got good at drawing because playing wasn't anything else to do.

Yeah, but he got good at it.

Where is he now?

At Walt Thomas'. He's a friend.

He works at Burns, too.

You know, the worst thing about being in here is being without Jimmy.

My arms ache. They feel so empty.

gonna go to the chair and you're gonna wind up in the office with all the other

murderous kids shut up who's gonna make us you i am if

i have to

Can I come in?

Sure.

Lights out, champ. You got school tomorrow.

Hey, what you got there?

You making a comic book?

That's great.

Mr.

Awesome.

That's me.

Come on.

Let's go to bed. Right.

Boy.

Slept me five.

Got it.

Zop!

Good night, champ.

Good night.

I don't believe it. Not Mrs. Johnson.

He's a model tenant.

He's always on time with her rent.

Never plays her stereo too loud.

Of course, she doesn't have one.

Every penny she's got goes to her boy's education.

Got a lot of character, that lady.

Did you notice anybody else coming or going that day?

Well, just Dwayne. He drove up while I was out mowing the front yard.

I said hi.

He just walked right on past.

Guy was a jerk.

What she saw in him is beyond me.

I guess she figured...

Boy needed a father figure or something.

Needs a shrink, if you ask me.

He's always up there on the roof, drawing.

On the roof?

Yeah. Hey, you got a little clubhouse up there.

He made it a little scraps of wood, I give him.

I thought a taste of carpentry might get him interested in, well, you know,

manly pursuits.

Hey, Ben.

Over here.

Slash broke.

Yeah, that was in the police report.

Ann said it's broken most of the time.

Now, wait a minute. Every time he tells me it's broken, I fix it right away.

I wanted to replace it with a new one, but the owner's the biggest tightwad in

Atlanta. Guy makes a half a million a year, and he still clips coupons. Can

believe that?

You think the person that killed Dwayne came in the back?

Well, according to Ann, Dwayne had a key.

Front door and the back lock was pretty flimsy.

Did Jimmy do these?

Boy.

They're not bad for an 11 -year -old, huh?

No. He must be some kind of genius.

Hey, Smart, look at that. Those are the people from Vern's Cowboy Palace.

That's Lorraine Ortega. She's a bartender.

That's the owner, Vern Trudell.

That's Walt Thomas. That's the guy Jimmy's staying with.

That's Ann.

That's Dwayne Meeks.

Looks mean.

He was.

I guess that's the way Jimmy saw him.

Yeah.

Boy, this kid's into violence.

Look at all this fighting and zapping.

Yeah. All little boys draw stuff like that.

I guess.

I guess, yeah.

I do it every time I come here. Why?

It's fun, man.

You ought to try it sometime.

You're nuts, you know that?

Hey, let's just talk a little bit.

You don't pay money to do that to me.

Let's drop it. Did you talk to the owner?

Yeah.

Nobody found a stun gun in the parking lot.

Hey, Conrad. Hey, Lorraine.

Would you like something?

No, not now.

Who is your good -looking friend?

Here's your hat.

Oh.

I'm Ben Matlock, Ann's lawyer.

You gonna be able to get her off?

I hope so.

Dwayne had it coming, that's for sure.

I hear you used to go out with him.

Me and half the women here.

Went through us one by one.

The big stud servicing his herd.

When did you break up?

About a month ago.

Oh. Whose idea was it?

Mine. How did he take it? Well, within a week, he was shacking up with Ann.

How did you take that?

No skin off my hide.

I wasn't his first, and Ann wouldn't have been his last.

That morning that Dwayne died, what was it, 11?

Yeah, Pa. 11.

Do you remember what... In bed, sleeping in, and...

Rediscovering the joys of celibacy. Lorraine, I need a couple of beers.

Law work, didn't I?

Spoke to me. Let the boy see.

Home, Washington, stop. None of these are reading a story to Jimmy.

Keep your pants on, sugar. I'll be right there.

Excuse me. Thanks, Frank.

I told you this would happen, didn't I?

Didn't I?

After next time, I'll break something.

You talk.

You're dead meat.

You got that? Yeah.

Paul Thomas.

Meet Ben Mappler. Nice to meet you.

How's Ann holding?

Pretty well, pretty well.

You're having Jimmy here with you. Sure takes a load off her shoulders, I'll

tell you that.

Ah, it's no problem. He's a great kid.

So, uh, what's gonna happen?

Well, it all depends on whether I can find out what really happened to Dwayne

Meeks.

You doing very well?

Yeah, he came in here just about every night.

A lot of people said he was a jerk.

Yeah, but he was a lady.

Oh, the ladies liked him all right, including Anne.

I don't know why.

Then again, I'm no expert when it comes to women.

Well, it is, yeah.

You didn't approve of him and Anne, huh?

Well, let's just say I think she could have done a whole lot better.

Yo, whoa, get up here quick. I need your help.

Yeah, just a minute.

Is Jimmy here tonight?

Yeah, yeah, he's in the storeroom.

It's the first room on your left past the men's job.

Okay. He's doing his homework.

Yeah. Take care.

All right, just wait.

All right, hey, Jimmy, I'm Ben Matlock, your mother's lawyer.

Could I speak with you for a minute?

Yeah. Oh, don't put it away.

I'd like to see what you're doing, you all right?

You gonna make fun of me?

No.

Stuff I saw at your mom's house was great. I may ask you for your autograph,

I'd never make fun of you.

Oh, boy.

You've got your own comic book going here.

Boy, Mr.

Awesome looks a lot like Walt Thomas, doesn't he?

They have superpowers.

Yeah, he can transmit psychically generated energy through a central

system and out his fingertips by reversing his sensory receptors.

He can zap people.

Oh, boy, that'd be nice to have superpowers, wouldn't it? I've always

could fly like Superman.

You know, put my arms out and just jump and fly anywhere I want to.

Yeah.

I'd like to have super strength so I could beat up all the bad guys.

You would?

Yeah, and I'd be invulnerable, too, so they could hit me all they wanted and

they could never hurt me.

Did Gawain Meeks ever hit you?

He threw me down in the parking lot once.

You didn't like him very much, did you?

I hated him.

I made some tuna salad, get some bread.

No, thanks.

Those hot dogs and bologna and stuff.

Not hungry?

No.

Had this sort of feeling about Jimmy.

What? I went to his school and I talked to his principal.

Yeah?

He wasn't in class the day of the murder.

ain't but then again paul bunyan jimmy ain't you should have seen him barely

lift that saw let alone swing that hammer yeah needs a father that's for

father about five years of shop class they teach shop in school anymore no

probably not look i gotta get back to work you need me i'll be in 2b toilet

won't stop flushing

Hello, Jimmy.

Hi, Mr. Mellick.

I'll meet you guys downstairs.

Okay.

So, um, how was school?

Fine. I talked to your principal the other day.

He said, uh, you don't always make it to school.

Is that right?

Yeah.

He said you weren't there the morning Dwayne died.

Were you up here?

I found the stun gun.

What'd you do with it?

I took it to the police.

Why'd you do that?

What if they find fingerprints or something?

Whose fingerprints are you afraid they'll find on it, Jimmy? Yours?

No.

Who's then?

I know you were up here that day, Jimmy. Tell me what happened.

I was afraid that Dwayne might hurt Mom again.

So I hid up here instead of going to school and kind of kept watch.

Mom was still gone by the time he got here, so I just came up and messed

for a while.

But then I heard somebody open the back door to our place, so I tried to see who

it was, but I couldn't.

I went downstairs.

to go inside, and while I was unlocked in the front door, I could hear somebody

run out the back door.

So by the time I got inside, the only person I saw was Dwayne, and I could

right away that he was dead.

Where was the stun gun?

It was on the floor next to him.

Why'd you pick it up?

Because... Did you think your mom had killed him?

No. When I looked over, her car was gone.

She would have come in the front door, not the back.

Who are you protecting, Jimmy?

Jimmy? I don't want to talk anymore.

Well, sooner or later, you're going to have to tell the police what you just

told me.

You let that be a lesson to you.

Hooray.

Conrad. I never knew you could ride like that.

Well, hell, I didn't either.

You look like you're born, I want to think.

Just goes to show, you never know what you can do until somebody bets you 300

bucks you can't.

Whoa, sugar baby, I know you someplace.

Your dreams, more than likely.

Waco, that's it. Used to live in Waco, Texas.

Waco?

In your bad dreams, doll.

Hey, is Walt around?

No, he just got off.

Can you tell me something?

Sure. How'd he get along with Dwayne?

After Dwayne started sleeping up there with Ann, what do you think?

See, Walt doesn't know it, but he's got a problem.

What's that?

He's in love with Ann.

It's obvious to everybody but him.

Dwayne knew it.

That night after Walt beat him up in the parking lot.

Dwayne went on and on to everybody about how he was going to get her back, how

nobody was ever going to have her but him.

You know, just rubbing Walt's nose.

Dwayne never told me that.

Happened after she drove off.

Thought old Walt was going to pop a blood vessel. He got so mad.

What can I get you?

Ah, nothing, nothing.

Good ride.

Thank you.

Now they got a kid around.

I always seem to be about a half a length behind.

Yeah. Well, I don't know how single parents do it. It's given me a whole new

respect for Annie, that's for sure.

You're pretty fond of her.

Oh, yeah.

Were you a little jealous when she took up with Dwayne?

I got no right to be jealous. She can take up with whoever she wants.

Oh. You remember where you were the morning he was killed?

You think I killed him?

Well, you had that fight with him the night before.

Yeah, and if I wanted to kill him, I'd have done it right then and there. I

certainly wouldn't try to frame Annie for it.

Oh, well, maybe you didn't mean to frame Ann.

Maybe you didn't mean to kill Dwayne. Maybe you just wanted to have it out

him and things went a little too far.

Maybe you had the stun gun and were going to give it back to Ann and used it

Dwayne without even thinking.

That's a bunch of bull.

Well, if you'll tell me where you were that morning, maybe I'll quit slinging

it.

I was with someone.

A woman?

Yeah.

A married woman.

I'm going to have to have her name.

Tina. Tina Sadowski.

Tina.

Mrs. Sadowski?

My name's Conor McMasters. Thanks a lot for coming.

Could we make this quick, you know, on account of my husband? He's been getting

real suspicious lately. Sure, sure. Let's see, um... You and Walt have been

seeing each other for how long?

About six months. I mean weeks. About six weeks.

Six weeks.

I already told you that.

Uh -huh. Well, how'd you two meet?

How'd we meet? Uh -huh.

Uh, she came in here one night with a bunch of ladies and, uh...

I guess we just started talking.

At the bar, we just started talking one night.

Where was your husband?

He was working.

What does he do?

He sells real estate.

He sells real estate.

Oh. What's his name again?

Joe. Joe.

Joe.

And where do you and Walt usually rendezvous?

At his place.

At a motel. Look, you're kind of holding me up here. Look, I really do have to

get going.

Well, thank you for your time. Don't mention it. Thanks for coming.

How you doing, Al?

Hey, can't be time already.

I'm afraid so. Mr. Newston wants his money.

I don't have it.

Al, you don't pay up this time, and I gotta break something.

Look, just give me one more day, okay? I'll have it tomorrow, I swear.

You know the rules, Al.

Here.

180 bucks.

Everything I got. Take it. Yo, 250.

What do you want me to do? You want me to pull it out of the hat? I don't have

it.

I'm sorry, Al.

The left one, okay? The left one, so I can still play ball with my kids, okay?

Please.

I tell you what, you know what you got and I'll throw in the extra 70.

Thanks.

I want it back in one week.

You screw up and I'll break both your arms.

You got it, I swear.

What are you doing here?

Aves dropping.

How much did you hear?

Everything.

When did a nice fellow like you start breaking legs for loan sharks?

I bet on a few too many horses last year. I already nosed it five figures.

He's letting me work it off. That's something I'm real proud of.

I've been following you ever since it became apparent to me that you and Tina

were not having an affair.

Tina's a friend.

She's not married.

She's just... Trying to help me out.

So what were you really doing the morning Dwayne was killed?

Breaking a man's collarbone.

He was $85 short on a payment.

Remember his name?

Yes, Tom Blackburn.

I guess what I do in my spare time makes adultery look downright noble, doesn't

it?

Don't tell Jimmy about this, son.

He looks up to me.

Hell, I'm the hero in that comic book he's always working on.

I mean, there's no reason he needs to know, right?

No, I guess not.

Jimmy, I want you to think real hard.

When you looked to see who was at the back door, did you see anything at all?

mean, like their clothes or their hair or anything?

By the time I got to the edge, they were already inside.

What about when you unlocked the front door? You said you heard footsteps.

What did their shoes sound like? Were their boots loud or sneakers soft?

I don't remember.

Well... I guess you weren't meant to be a private detective. I'll tell you one

thing.

You sure can draw.

You got an eye for detail.

I just draw what's there.

Yeah.

You know when you drew these?

I always put the date on the back.

Mr. Matlock, it's for you.

It's a Conrad.

Sounds exciting.

Yeah?

Yeah, Conrad.

Yeah, that's it.

That's it.

Thanks. Bye.

Miss Ortega, did you know the deceased...

Dwayne Meeks.

Everybody at Burns knew him.

You went out?

For a while, yeah.

We broke up.

When? About a month before he died.

Did you live with him?

No. No?

What about all these checks you wrote to him?

See, here's one for 700, and here's one for 300, and here's one for...

Five hundred, and there's more.

Sure they weren't house payments or something?

No. Well, what were they for?

He... They were loans.

Loans? But he never paid you back.

See, I subpoenaed his bank statements, too, and all that money went from you to

him. See that? Never from him to you. Not once.

How come?

How come, Ms. Ortega?

They weren't loans, were they?

They were blackmail payments, weren't they?

Why would Dwayne be blackmailing me?

Because he found out who you really are.

Not Lorraine Ortega from Memphis, Tennessee, but Sissy Lockwood from

Texas.

The girl of the West Texas Rodeo Association.

Voted Cowgirl of the Year in 1985.

See that?

Mr. Conrad McMasters over there got curious when he saw you riding that

mechanical bull. And when he overheard that cowboy say he knew you from Waco,

he did some investigating.

And sure enough, he found out that you indeed were on the rodeo circuit back in

Texas.

Barrel racing, right?

Then what does that have to do with... He also found out something else that

Dwayne probably found out.

That there's an outstanding warrant for your arrest back in Texas.

You fell in with a pretty bad dude about four years ago, and the two of you

robbed a gas station.

Nearly killed the attendant.

And you drove the car to get away.

I did not.

That's what the fella told the police when they caught up to him. He's lying.

Nevertheless, you're a fugitive.

Imagine that's why you changed your name when you moved here to Atlanta. Why you

gave Dwayne all that money so he wouldn't tell the authorities.

But when you realized the payments were never going to stop, you killed him.

None of that is true.

You knew he would be at Ann's house by himself that morning.

You already had the stun gun. You picked it up probably off the pavement where

he knocked it out of Ann's hand.

You slipped in through her back door. You knew she had a bad lock because she

complained about it all the time. You used the stun gun to incapacitate

Then you killed him with a blow to the head.

Your Honor.

Objection. This is pure, unadulterated speculation.

This is not speculation, Your Honor. This is not speculation.

Look at all the facts we have so far.

She changed her name to start a new life here in Atlanta.

She was barrel racing champion.

Cowgirl of the year kept that secret.

She helped a guy rob a gas station, almost murdering the attendant.

Drove the car to get away.

She's a fugitive.

All those are facts.

Don't you imagine there's more?

We know all you just said, Mr. Matlock. Now get on with it, and it better not be

speculation. All right.

How about this?

What about it? This is pure, unadulterated proof.

It better be.

Would you please tell the judge and the court what this is?

It's a belt buckle.

Not just any belt buckle.

This is the belt buckle they gave you when you were voted American barrel

champion in 1987,

right?

Yes. Yeah.

The police found it in your apartment this morning, with a warrant, of course.

And the reason I subpoenaed it was because of these drawings

done by Jimmy Johnson.

See? Now, here's...

Here's a picture of you wearing the belt. See there? This is in July,

before you started going with Dwayne. See there?

Now, these two are pictures of Dwayne wearing the belt

buckle just before you broke up with him.

See there? Yet, the police found it.

In your possession this morning, how could that be?

Your Honor, these are just drawings. They're drawings by an 11 -year -old

for crying out loud.

I've always had the buckle.

You sure this wasn't a blackmail payment?

No. A gift, maybe? I won that belt buckle because I used to be the best at

something. I'd have never given it to somebody like Dwayne, ever.

Then why was he wearing it when he was killed?

He wasn't wearing it.

Oh, but he was.

Old Dwayne, as you know, had quite a way with the girls.

And when Ann wouldn't sleep with him that night, he just went over to Sally

Redmond's house, slept with her.

She told me. Yeah. She said that he was... But anyway,

he left there the morning he was killed.

Sally's sitting right over there.

ready, willing, and proud to testify that he was wearing this belt buckle

he left her house and went to Ann's house.

She remembers specifically because he bragged on it.

And yet, when the police found his body, he wasn't wearing a belt at all.

We wondered about that.

You took it off him, didn't you?

After you killed him.

Because like you say, this belt buckle means more to you than anything.

And you weren't about to see him with it for all eternity.

Were you?

Has the jury reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor. We find the defendant, Ann Johnson,

not guilty.

Hey,

that's me.

I call him Justice Man.

Got superpowers, huh?

Yeah, he can generate a force field around him that only truth and justice

penetrate.

Oh my gosh, I almost forgot.

What's that?

It's a cape.

Why does he need a cape?

Because Justice Man can fly.