Original subtitles

the 14 day.

God moves on the water.

Everybody has to run and pray.

Titanic left Southampton withall their sport and game,

but when they struck that iceberg,

I know their mind was changed.

God moves on the water April the 14 day.

God moves on the water.

Everybody had to run and pray.

Their mothers told their daughters,

on a pleasure trip they may go.

But when they struck that iceberg,

they haven't been seen anymore.

God moves on the water April the 14 day.

God moves on the water.

Everybody had to run and pray.

One man, John Jacob Astor, wasa man with pluck and brain.

While this great ship was sinking,

all the women he tried to save.

God moves on the water April the 14 day.

God moves on the water.

Everybody had to run and pray.

He was warranted by a freight boat.

Captain Smith would not take heed.

But instead of givin' a warnin'he ran with greater speed.

God moves on the water April the 14th day.

God moves on the water.

Everybody had to run and pray.

Yeah, come on.

DRIVER: Hey, get out of the way!

PAUL : My 10th summeron earth in the year 1935 would

never leave my mind becauseof Shadrach and the way

he brightened and darkenedmy life then and thereafter.

Get your hands out of there, Paul.

Go get washed up for dinner.

It's time.

Hello, son.

Hey.

Get dressed for dinner, Paul.

We thank thee, oh Lord,for these and other blessings

in Jesus' name, amen.

Amen.

Amen.

I ran into NormanDelancey at the pharmacy.

He said, you tell Ms.Whitehurst we need her soprano

for the Humdor this Christmas.

Christmas?

Maybe a little too soon for me.

It's the middle of summer, Pauline.

You said you'd be well by then.

Well, maybe by Easter.

May I go to the Dabney's after dinner?

Oh, Paul.

Not again.

Why not?

Well, just the Dabneys are so--

They've just fallen on hard times.

Who hasn't?

Vernon Dabney provides for his family.

So why here?

Hey, look at that whitey.

PAUL : Oh,how I loved the Dabney's.

I was too young to know thenthat the Dabney's were victims

of countlessmisfortunes, the foremost

among them being the Great Depression, of course.

Instead, I envied the whole team and tribe--

seven children-- which mademy status as an only child

seem so spoiled and lonesome.

Little Mole.

Little Mole, you get over here.

PAUL : All threeDabney boys were called Mole--

differentiated by little,middle, and big Mole

I don't think I ever knew their real names.

None of the Moles had everbeen required to bathe, which

accounted for their phenomenal odor known

in that squeamish decade as BO.

Hey, Paul.

PAUL : By contrast,the four Dabney girls

were fair and fragrant as could be,

and I was especiallysmitten with the youngest

daughter Edmonia.

Hey, Paul.

Hey, little Mole.

Got your marbles?

Right here.

PAUL : Edmonia'sbrother, little Mole,

was undeniably thefamily's stinkiest member

and was my first best friend.

I can't find my anywhere.

Hey, Paul.

How are you doing?

Fine.

Thank you, ma'am.

It's hot enough for you?

Yes, ma'am.

Josephine, did you get that laundry done?

Mhm.

There another beer in there?

No, ma'am.

It's the last one.

Edmonia, come on in for dinner, baby.

Hey, Paul.

- Paul, come on. - Come on.

You're daddy gonna be home soon.

Where is it?

$20 bucks for the load.

$20 bucks?

This here is worth 40, if it's worth a dime.

It ain't worth the dime.

Wait!

All right, 30.

25!

Son of a God damned bitch.

All right, 20.

Get one of your boys to unload.

I've got to get home.

You unload.

Should be part of the service for $20 bucks.

PAUL: Your family owns that place?

LITTLE MOLE: My daddyinherited it just like all

the other Dabney men did.

We used to be one of thebiggest tobacco plantations

in King and Queen County.

Used to be:

Papa says the goddamned tobacco

sucked the goddamned soil dry.

We grow corn there now.

Why don't you live there all the time?

We go there on vacation every July.

Papa goes more on business.

He's poor to do around there.

Must be great having your own farm.

I'll bet I left my tiger eye there.

Don't you boys ever get tired of playing

with those goddamned marbles?

Papa's home.

Jesus Christ.

Thank you, sugar.

Goddamned bitch part wreck of a car.

Ain't worth bat shit.

Now, sug.

Y'all get on in the house!

Goddamned son of a bitch.

Do you know how much I paid for these?

$3 at Tom McCann.

I only wore them once.

Do you have to eat everygoddamned thing in sight?

Here.

Finish it then.

Christ, have mercy!

MR. DABNEY: This is who's fault it is.

Goddamned Franklin D. forDisaster Roosevelt, that's who.

Son of a bitch.

May as well be

Sug.

I'm going to go check on the kids.

You boys OK in here?

You boys going to go blind, I hope you know.

You're such sweet boys.

Son of a bitch, whorehouse, bat-shit, Jesus Christ,

piss-pot, asshole.

Paul!

Come on now, we don't wantto be late for church.

PASTOR: "Charity neverfaileth, but whether there

be prophecies, they shall fail.

Whether there be tongues, they shall cease.

Whether there be knowledge,it shall vanish away.

For we know in part and weprophesy in part, but then

that which is in part shall be done away.

When I was a child, I understood as a child.

But when I became a man, I putaway childish things, for now

we see through a glass darkly."

In the midst of these painful times

we may indeed see through a glass darkly,

but my friends, when we look back on these days,

we shall not see the pain in it, but the joy

we receive from extending ahand to those less fortunate.

Hey there, Paul.

Thank you for coming this Sunday.

You're welcome.

Thank you for bringing him, Bill.

Thank you, Edgar.

And how are you feeling, Pauline?

I'm fine, Edgar.

I so appreciated your reading.

We've become so consumed with our own troubles,

we need to be reminded of the less fortunate.

It's true.

You take care.

Thank you.

Hi there, young fella.

How are you?

GROUP: --and the burning of my heart, roll away.

It was there I I see my sight

and now I am happy all the day.

Morning, Bill.

Ms. Williams.

Vernon.

Lovely day to get wet.

Yes, it is.

Hey there, Paul.

We sure are fond of your boy.

Thank you.

You have to excuse us now.

We need to pack for a trip.

Where you all going?

My brother's mother-in-lawpassed away up in Baltimore.

We have to go uptomorrow for the funeral.

Oh, so sorry to hear that.

I bet you're going to miss her.

I never met her.

We weren't close.

But, you know, my brother's sake.

Family has got to stick together in hard times.

Goddamn right.

That's an awful longtrip for such a young boy.

Paul won't be going.

He's staying with the housekeeper.

Oh.

Well, you know, he's welcomecome stay with us if you like.

We'd love to have him.

Oh, no.

No.

I couldn't impose.

Please, mother.

Bye, Virginia.

I made you some cookies.

And don't you get no troublewith that filthy smelling

Dabney boy. You hear?

Mhm.

Hey, Paul.

Hey, little Mole.

Paul.

Son!

Say goodbye to your mother.

Goodbye, mother.

Have a good time, sweetheart.

And don't forget, washyour hands before you eat.

Yes, ma'am.

And don't forget, you've gotclean clothes for every day.

Yes, ma'am.

And don't forget, brush your teeth.

Yes, ma'am.

Son, why don't take yourfriends to the movies?

Yes, sir!

Hey, Paul.

PAUL: Bye.

We'll take good care of him.

VERNON: Have fun.

WOMAN: Captain!

I ain't going to tell you again.

Now!

Momma, he smells.

OK, now this one are for the final

absolute all-time championforever world championship.

OK.

Me first.

Oh, all right.

Jesus Christ, Paul.

Just shoot the goddamned thing.

Praise the Lord.

Praise is sweet and good.

Eyes are right in Come on.

Come on, climb up on old Shadrach's knee.

Come on.

Climb on up.

My, but you the sweetest pie.

Is you a Dabney?

No.

That's a Dabney.

Come on.

Come on.

Come on.

Come on.

Come on.

You're just as sweet too.

Praise the Lord Water.

Water!

Hurry.

He's going to damn die.

He's got a heat stroke.

No he ain't.

He's having a heart attack.

No! Not ice.

He just had a heart attack.

That'll kill him for sure.

I thought it was heat stroke.

That's what you said, so I put ice.

I know.

What are you doing?

Salt water.

It's good for you.

There you go old uncle.

Well, kiss my ass.

Just kiss my ass.

Who in the hell are you old uncle?

Just who in the goddamned hell are you?

Huh?

Shadrach.

He says his name is Shadrach.

What's he want?

Die Dabney ground.

I think he said he wantsto die on Dabney ground.

Well, I'll be god damned.

What's he saying?

What's he talking about now?

He said he wants you to bury him.

Bury him?

How can I bury him?

He ain't even dead yet?

Ask him how old he is?

99.

He says he's 99 years old.

99.

Kiss my ass.

Just kiss my ass.

What's going on out here, sug.

This here Negro says he's 99 years old

and he wants to die on Dabney ground,

and he wants me to bury him.

Imagine that.

Kiss my ass.

Praise the Lord.

You're hungry aren't you, Shadrach?

He sure does eat a lot.

I know, baby.

He's hungry.

You want some more?

Hey, Shad.

He's awake!

Hey, Shad.

You all right?

I walked--

He said he walked from Alabama.

Alabama?

That's near about 600 miles.

He started out in early spring.

Can't read a map or a road sign neither.

PAUL : Slowly, webegan to discover that this was

Shadrach's return trip to old Virginia

3/4 of a century after hisdeparture from the land out

of which he had sprung.

Come on.

PAUL : Born aslave on the Dabney plantation

in King and Queen County, Shadrach

had labored in the tobaccofields there from an early age.

He was somewhere between 15 and 25 years of age

when his master, VernonDabney's great-grandfather

tore him from the bosom of his family,

selling him to an Alabama slave trader

prowling the worn out Virginia soil

of that stricken bygone era.

We learned that after the Civil War,

Shadrach had become a sharecropper, eking out

a living for his roaming familyfrom a few acres of peanuts

fields.

He married three times and had many children.

Once he said 12, another time 15.

He had outlived them all--

wives and offspring.

So sensing mortality in hisown shriveled flesh and bones,

Shadrach departed Alabama on foot,

just as he had come there, tofind the Virginia of his youth.

Eyes are Dabney.

Shad.

Shad, how come you knew who to look for?

Y'all go to bed.

OK.

All right.

You think it's OK to leave him there?

He seems peaceful.

Me and you are the only oneswho can understand Shadrach.

I guess.

I suppose maws like that because his teeth.

He ain't got many left.

Just think about the daysand nights Shadrach went to bed

and woke up.

More nights than the stars up there.

Good night, Paul.

Good night, Shadrach.

Dead Negro on the back porch in this heat.

Goddamn butt-ache.

- He ain't dead yet, sug.- Ow!

Trixie, God damn it.

Jesus Christ.

Am I bleeding?

Hold still.

Besides, I think the poor old baby will hang

on until he gets to the farm.

Well, he damn hell shouldhave kept on walking there.

Now sug, that ain't no way tobe talking about your kinfolk.

Ain't funny.

God damn it.

The kids are so sweet with him.

You want to go to bed, sug?

Or you want to eat some more chicken?

It ain't funny.

And we ain't takin' him.

Jesus Christ Almighty.

Goddamned son of a bitch fried piece of shit.

Oh.

Papa, he's bleeding.

Hell, it's just a little cut.

Oh, sweetie.

Pick him up, boys.

Damn way to start the day, Shad.

Well, if old days don't killhim, that goddamned rider will.

What's all that for?

Sug, you better get out thecar for going to the farm.

He ain't got much longer.- Jesus Christ.

I already told you, I ain't taking no dying

nigger to the goddamned farm.

God damn it, mama. - I forgot the beer.

You take good care of her.

Love you!

Bye.

Stop it.

Leave me alone.

Quit.

I'm not doing anything.

Yes you are.

You keep sticking your elbow

Leave me alone.

Eww.

Ow!

Y'all shut up back there.

Now sug, it's a long trip ahead of us.

Goddamned piss pot sonof a bitch wreck of a car.

One, two, three, shoot.

Edmonia, honey, go get your mama another beer.

OK?

PAUL: Look, he caught it.

Sug, what kind of bigbirds you reckon those are?

Seagulls.

Ain't you never recognizeseagulls before?

I can't believe such a question.

Seagulls-- dumb greedy bastards.

Beautiful things, all big and white.

Wonder can you eat one.

So tough, you'd like to choke to death.

Mama, Papa, Shadrach has madea horrible mess in his pants.

Oh Lord.

99 years.

Christ Almighty.

He ain't nothing but a 99 years old baby.

It smells just awful.

Why in the goddamned hellcouldn't he go before we left?

And it ain't bad enough we got to drive

all the way to the farm--

Shush now, Vernon.

He can't help it, poor thing.

Let's see how you manage yourbowels 50 years from now.

I ain't going to shit my pants.

There, there now, Shadrach.

It's going to be all right.

It's going to be all right.

Come on, Shad.

It's going to be all right.Come on.

Lord, have mercy.

Phew.

Take a goddamnedphotograph, why don't you?

Careful now.

Here we go.

Son of a bitch.

Now just where the--

Shush now, sug.

I mean it.

OK, Shad.

Trix is going to take care of you.

Baby, get me a pail of water and some rags.

There, there now, Shad.

Everybody does this one time or another.

Ain't nothing to be ashamed of.

You gonna be just fine.

Get me $0.30 worth.

Damn.

Can't win them all.

Get busy.

All you kids, clean out the car.

Yeah, that's better.

Look, there he is.

Hey, Shad.

How you doing, Shad?

How you doing?

He sure smells better.

You coming along all right now, Shad?

Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

Look Pa, there it is.

All right, kids.

We're here.

It's about goddamned time.

You're home, Shad.

Come on.

Let me show you.

All right.

Let's get him inside.

Can I try that?

TRIXIE: Middle Mole, little Mole.

Boys, get back here and eat lunch first.

After lunch, I want you kidsto help me put Shad to bed.

I'll watch him.

Me too.

We're all going to taketurns taking care of Shad.

I don't want you kidsgetting too attached now.

We got some work to do, middle Mole.

Let's get out to--

Let's go.

I'll be goddamned if I cantell whether he's sleeping--

Sug.

Little Mole, you and Paulcome out from under there.

You might wake Shad.

I'm looking for my tiger eye.

I don't care.

Y'all come out from under there right now.

Where you going?

You'll see.

Last one in is a rotten egg.

It's goddamned piss pot freezing in here.

Come on.

You'll get used to it real fast.

So what ever happened to thatbig old house in your picture

in your parlor?

Oh, that's been gone a long time.

The Yankees burned it in the war.

It sure is quiet around here.

Yup.

Where is everybody anyway?

Well, momma and Edmonia are with Shadrach,

Lucinda is fishing, and papaand middle Mole are working.

Farming?

No.

Then what?

It's a secret.

Why.

5 to 10 years in theAtlanta penitentiary is why.

What are you talking about.

My daddy's business.

He says Roosevelt andrevenuers could terminate

our livelihood if they knew.

Knew what?

Where the still is.

Want to see?

Little mole.

Little Mole, get the hell inhere and help middle shuck.

Come on, damn it.

99 years old.

I'll be damned if I live that long.

I'd kill myself.

Well, he's almost dead.

And I got to goddamned bury him.

What's an old coon comingback here for anyway?

Hell if I know.

Maybe life was easier being aslave, leastways he was taken

care of.

If you think about it, Joe.

The cause probably got even harder

for me after they was freed.

Sure as Christ went to hell ina handbasket for the Dabneys.

Yeah.

I'll tell you what I think happened.

I think that Bama Klanburned a cross on his ass

and he come running back here to the master.

I guess that would be me.

That's good.

We can sell that.

Little pitchers have big ears, boy.

Hey, Paul.

Joe Thornton doesn't trust you.

Think you'll spill the beansabout our operation here.

I told him, Pa.

Boy is a Presbyterian, Joe.

Now if you can't trust a goddamned Presbyterian,

who can you?

I can trust you?

Well, that's OK.

Mama.

Hey, baby.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Daddy around?

No.

He and mama are gone.

Huh.

Reckon they didn't go far.

I'll wait.

More Dabneys dead than alive.

We should bring some time come.

They just shrivel up anddie like every goddamned

other thing around here.

Pa, the Sheriff is here.

Is he here about the still?

He's waiting on you.

Let him wait.

Over here is where Shad want to go.

I'll be god damned if I believe there

is a square inch of space left.

They just crowded all the old dead uncles

and aunties they could intothis piece of land here.

They must be shoulder to shoulder down there.

Christ Almighty.

I hate to think of diggingabout half a ton of dirt.

Sug, why don't you just putoff digging to this evening.

It's hot enough to kill a mule.

Yeah.

I suppose we should go see what Tazwell wants.

Good morning, Trixie.

Good morning, Vern.

Good morning, Tazwell.

You want some iced tea.

No, thank you.

Hold on a minute, Vern.

I'd like a word with you.

What's wrong?

Well, I hear you're fixingto bury an elderly colored

man on your property here.

Joe Thornton said you told him that yesterday.

I sure hope you ain't buried him already.

He ain't dead yet.

And Joe Thornton is a goddamnedincurable blabber mouth,

but he's right.

What's wrong with that.

You can't.

Why not.

Because it's against the law.

What do you mean, it's against the law?

Just that.

It's against the law to buryanybody on private property.

Why is it against the law.

- I don't know why, Vern.- It just is.

That's all.

Down in that field, Tazwell--

people have been buriedfor near about 200 years.

I got an old senile man on my hands.

He was a slave and he was born on this place,

and I've got to bury him here.And I am.

Go on, kids.

Vern, let me tell you something.

You will not be permittedto do any such thing,

so please don't try to give me this argument.

He will have to be buried in a place

where it's legally permitted, like one

of the common churchyards around here.

And he will have to be attended to

by a licensed colored undertaker.

That's the law,commonwealth of Virginia,

there any which, whys, and wherefores above it.

That's shit.

Calm yourself, sug.

It is an outrage.

Since when does a taxpaying citizen

have to answer to the government to bury

a homeless sick colored man on his own property.

It goes against every billof rights I ever heard of!

Sug, please.

Vern.

Me and you have been acquainted a long time.

And I know for a fact you and Joe Thornton

weren't cutting hay yesterday, so please

don't give me no trouble.

Vern, I'm telling you forthe last time this namely.

You've got to arrange to get that old man buried

at one of the colored churches around here.

And you will also have him taken care

of by a licensed undertaker.

Now you have your choice.

There's a well known colored undertaker

in Tappahannock and also out here,

and one over in Middlesex.

If you want, I'll give them a telephone

call from the courthouse.

All right then.

All right.

How much you reckon it will cost?

I don't know exactly, but there

was an old washerwoman who worked for Ruby

and she died not long ago.

I heard they buried her for $35.

$35?

Christ have mercy.

Amen to that.

So he really 99?

What in the goddamned hell do you care?

Just curious, Vern.

Would you like to see him, Sheriff?

You boys help me with lunch.

I hate beans.

Too damn bad.

Papa coming home for lunch?

He'll come when he's good and ready.

When do you suppose Shadrach's going to die?

Thought we were only stayinghere a couple of days.

Ain't going to be much longer at all, sweetie.

Well, I want Jesus just to walk with me.

Well, I want Jesus walk with me.

WOMAN : While I'mon this tedious journey,

I want Jesus to be my friend.

Hold my hand, Lord.

Hold my hand.

Hold my hand, Lord.

Hold my hand.

You're a friend of Mrs. McDonald's, sir?

No.

I'm not from around here.

I'm looking for anundertaker for an old Negro.

I see.

When did he pass away?

Any day now.

But I want to line everythingup, find out how much you

charge, get it all lined up.

The man has no family?

No, he ain't got no family.

I'm all he got.

Look, I am destined to bury him.

And I am told by law Ineed a colored undertaker.

Now, are you that?

My name is Irvin Williams and I am

the funeral director here, yes.

What kind of service wouldyou be interested in?

Whatever it is you folks do.

I see.

Well, if the gentleman's death is imminent,

I would have to secure a down payment.

Look, Irving.

Irvin.

Williams.

Irvin.

There must be a way me and you can figure

out how to get this poor old bastard

a proper legal Negro burial.

Certainly, once we settle on the terms.

Now, if you'll follow me to my office,

I'll show you what I haveavailable for Mr. Shadrach.

His name is Shadrach.

He could be 100 years old by now.

Depends on when his birthday is.

That's right, sweetie.

We should find out Shad'sbirthday from his grave marker.

100.

You can't even count that far.

Can too.

Come here, y'all, real quick.

Is he dead.

No.

He's wide awake and talking.

He's so hungry, he started eating this.

Oh Lord.

He kept talking about going to the mill pond.

What do you think he meant?

Well, it could be he justwants to see the mill pond.

Shad, is that what you want?

You want to see the mill pond?

Yes, ma'am.

I want to see the mill pond.

How come you want to see the mill pond?

I-- I want to see the mill pond.

PAUL : In my memory,I can still see Shadrach

atop the wheelbarrow with a lookof composure as we moved him

gently rocking down the path--

a serene African potentate being born

in the fullness of his many years to some

longed for inevitable reward.

Come on, middle Mole.

I'll race you.

Quite cool down there.

Edmonia, come on in.

Paul, watch.

Look, there he goes, mama.

You going in?

I'll watch him.

Is it cold?

PAUL : I peeredinto Shadrach's ancient face

and watched his clouded eyesgazing at the Dabneys swimming

in the mill pond.

And in the brightened gleam, I was certain

that Shadrach had once swunghere too during some sweltering

August nearly 100 years before.

I knew then that Mr. Dabneyhad been wrong about Shadrach.

His return to Virginia was out of no longing

for his former life as a slave, but

to find an earlier innocence.

That afternoon, Shadrach had perhaps

recapture the one pureuntroubled moment of his life.

Shad?

Did you go swimming there too?

I got you.

Clean simple truth.

Seeing is as the fault ofyour Franklin D. for disaster

Roosevelt. And his so-called NewDeal ain't worth diddly squat.

You know how much I made last year?

Legally.

How much?

I can't even tell you.

It would shame me.

These colored folks sellingdeviled crabs for $0.05 apiece

on the streets made more than me.

Things bound to get better.

It can't get no worse.

I can't get a job anywhere.

I'm unqualified.

I'm only qualified for making whisky.

Daddy, I thinkShadrach has passed away.

Daddy, did you here what I said. - I heard.

I was sitting next to him, holding

his hand, when all of a sudden his head

just sort of rolled over.

And he was still and not breathing.

And his hand-- it just got limp.

I mean, cold.

And he never made a sound.

Daddy, I'm afraid.

What are you afraid about?

I don't know.

Dying.

It scares me.

Death ain't nothing to be afraid about.

It's life that's fearsome.

Life.

Life.

Sug.

Life is where you've got to be terrified.

Sometimes I understand why men commit suicide.

How in the goddamned hell can I afford

to put him in the ground.

Niggas have always been the biggest problem.

God damn it.

I was brought up to have acertain respect to say colored,

not niggas.

But they are always a problem, these niggas.

They will just drag you down.

I ain't got $35.

I ain't got $25.

I ain't got $5.

Vernon, you going to get a stroke.

And Franklin D. Roosevelt is a waste.

Nigga lover of them all.

I know, I know.

Poor old man.

He didn't do nothing.

He was a decent pitiful old thing.

Probably never done anybody a slice of harm.

I got ain't got a thing inthe world against Shadrach.

He'll get a decent burial.

Anyway, he got to die on Dabney ground

like he wanted to, even if he got to be buried

in some strange graveyard.

But we promised.

He won't know the difference.

When you're dead, nobody knows the difference.

Death ain't much.

Wash these and hang them outside.

They'll be dry by morning.

Hey, sweetie. Come on in.

Shadrach wanted you to have this.

God damned son of a bitch.

PAUL: Do you believe in heaven?

Yeah.

Think Shadrach's gone there?

I guess so.

He's never done nobody no harm.

He had a good life.

Why do you say that?

My father always says that when somebody dies.

Do you think he'll know that he

ain't buried on Dabney ground?

Your Pa says he won't know the difference.

You think they go to the same place as us?

You mean Negroes?

Uh huh.

I think so.

How do you know?

There's colored churches and toilets.

I think there's only one heaven.

My mother is very religious and she says

god loves all His children.

Damn fool kids.

Crying over somebody they hardly know.

Kids get attached.

They'll get over it.

Imagine, he came all the way just

to be buried with his people.

Is it nice, the graveyardin Tappahannock.

Just a piece ground like any other.

You did all you could, sug.

Maybe.

You kids, come on in bed now.

VERNON: Come on, you heard your mama.

I ain't sleeping in there.

And why the goddamned hell not?

There's a dead man in there.

Well, he sure is bat-shitain't going to bite

you if he'd dead now, is he?

Come on.

Everybody, in your bed right now.

We got a burial to see to tomorrow,

and we better start earlyif we don't want to stink

up all King and Queen County.

Shadrach.

Come on, Shad.

Come on, Shad.

It's time.

Right by your heart.

Little Mole.

Little Mole, did you hear that?

God damned son of a--

Vern?

Trixie?

We'll just it over here for now.

Come on.

Vern?

Oh.

What the heck?

Hi, Sheriff.

Hey.

Your ma and pa inside?

Don't let him see Shad's dead.

- Yes, sir. - Hey, Vern.

It's Tazwell. I need to talk to you.

They're asleep.

Well, I've got some important business

to discuss with Mr. Dabney.

What in the goddamned hell is it now, Tazwell.

Well, here you are.

Vern, Trixie.

You're up and out early.

Been doing $35 worth of work.

How's the elderly colored gentleman doing?

Fine.

Sutton Washington said hedied last night in the middle

of a game of dominoes.

Shadrach was to sick to play dominoes.

No, you and Sutton was playing dominoes.

Is that true?

That we was playing dominoes?

That the old nigger died.

Is it true or is it not?

Nobody knows how to keeptheir goddamned mouth shut

around this son of a bitching place.

That's for goddamned sure.

Yes, he did die and he'sdoing fine for a dead man.

And now you go back to some more useful

kind of work than troubling people

about who's dead and who ain't.

I'd just like to take a look at him if I may.

He ain't in there.

Vern.

I already told you, it's against the law

in the Commonwealth of Virginia to bury

a man on private property--

He's in there.

Yesterday, after you so kindlyinformed me of my rights

and privileges aslandowner in this county,

I contacted a coloredundertaker over in Tappahannock

and made arrangements.

Tappahannock, huh?

It was your goddamned suggestion.

Now, Tazwell, you can makeyourself useful to telephone

Mr. Irvin Williams and tellhim Shadrach is indeed dead

and he can come and get him.

And the sooner the better in this heat.

I'll call him.

You did the right thing, Vern.

Times have changed, law changes too.

Tazwell, just where do youthink I'm going to be buried

you goddamned son of a bitch.

I hope that's not for a long time, Vernon.

What a friend we have in Jesus.

All our sins and grieves to bear.

What a privilege to carryeverything to God in prayer.

Oh what a peace we often forfeit--

Let us bow our heads andpray for our brother Shadrach.

Father, grandfather, one of the last of us

to be born in bondage.

God has delivered him.

Amen.

After nearly 100 years of searching,

God has delivered our brother Shadrach.

Amen.

100 years of wandering in the desert,

100 years as a sojournerin a land that was not his.

God has delivered him.

For the scriptures tells us,God shall pay us judgment.

And Shadrach shall walk in the promised land.

Amen.

And he shall come out with great possessions.

He shall possess greatness.

He shall go to his Father in peace.

He shall be buried in a good old age,

and he shall be young again.

Come on.

We gotta to get going.

Thank you for everything.

You taking off from here?

We'll wait till the sun goes down.

It'll be cooler.

Won't see you for a while, Tazwell.

Oh, unless some other oldslave decides to track

me down and die on me first.

Y'all have a safe trip home.

All right.

I want everybody down to the still.

We've got some loading up to do before we go.

This is Dabney ground.

Sheriff Tazwell Lewis of King and Queen County

can kiss my ass.

Thank you, daddy.

Give me a hand, middle Mole.

Heaven and angels --carry me home.

And if you get there 'foreI do, come and go carry me--

Wait.

There.

Right by your heart.

Easy does it.

PAUL : I had never really thought

about death before that summer and the coming

and going of Shadrach.

I believe then that I hadlearned all there was to learn

about time and its finality.

Home sweet home, Paul.

PAUL : And yetShadrach's peaceful exit

did not prepare me for the death of my mother

two years later after her prolonged

battle against unrelentingpain and suffering.

Still, sensing her agony andwanting desperately for her

to be free of it, I thoughtof Shadrach and the suffering

he had endured for nearly a century.

And I heard in my mind Mr. Dabney's

words, which were certainly themost profound he ever ordered--

death ain't much.