You are Kunta Kinte.
Behold!
The only thing greater than yourself.
The first duty of a Mandinka warrior is to raise a family.
[Laughs]
[Cheering]
It's time your family paid for all the trouble
they have caused me, Kunta.
Run!
Sell the boy to the British with the other captives.
[Screams]
[Thunder crashes]
[Gunshots, indistinct shouting]
- No more running for you, boy. - No! No!
No, please don't!
[Screams]
I'm so relieved you're gonna make it.
My name is Belle.
Let's make it official.
[Both laugh]
[Applause]
I never thought I'd be able to have another child.
I'll protect our child.
Kizzy, I think I was selfish
to have you born into a world like this.
Don't worry, Fa. You trained me well.
Kizzy! No! No, Kizzy!
[Crying]
No!
Run!
Kizzy!
Where the hell do you think you're going?
This is my right!
Help me!
[Baby crying]
I'm gonna name you after my daddy...
George Lea II.
One day, one day
I were walking along
And I heard a little voice
Didn't see no one
Synced and corrected by MasterCookie - www.addic7ed.com -
It was old lost John
He said he was long gone
Like a turkey through the corn
With his long clothes on
- With his long clothes on - [Moaning and grunting]
[Breathing heavily]
[Sighing deeply]
[Sighs]
[Chickens clucking]
Seems hotter today than yesterday.
Yes, Massa.
Sky just sits on you.
When I was a boy, I'd spend a day like this
just sitting buck naked in the creek.
[Spits]
_
[Rooster clucking]
[Whistles]
[Gasps]
Why are you here?
He pretty. I wanted to touch him.
He could scratch the prying eyes from your head.
I'm gonna tell Massa Tom to beat the hell out of you.
Make sure you stay away from my chickens.
Now get!
[Rooster crows]
Mama.
N-Not in my front of my boy, Massa Tom.
Get up, George.
You need to learn!
George, what'd you do? What... What'd he do, Massa?
Little monkey keeps bothering Mingo,
messing with my birds in the range walk.
Mingo's got too much work to do, boy.
George, them birds will hurt you.
You scared of them birds?
Then I'm gonna put your yellow ass up on the wagon
when Mingo and me go out and fight.
You're gonna help.
Mingo don't like children.
He... He don't like people.
Get your clothes on, boy.
You look pretty in this light, Kizzy.
Please. He watching us.
Can I hold the bird, Massa Tom?
You do what Mingo tells you to do.
And you be on your best behavior,
or I'll sell you to Cherokee savages.
Oh, Fa.
Papa, he trying to take my boy.
George: Massa Tom, why you start fighting chickens?
Gamecocks, George, not chickens.
And I fight them 'cause they're magic.
Carried me from a backwoods shack
with 10 brothers and sisters...
[Snaps] Abracadabra.
Bought my own farm.
Bought my first nigger.
His name was George, like yourn.
Tough old boy. Died too fast.
He my daddy?
Your daddy's long gone.
No-account white man passing through.
Gave you that yellow skin.
Second nigger I bought was Mingo.
Best move I ever made.
Man: Wants this all clear by sundown.
See that land over there?
Biggest farm in Carolina ain't enough
for Mr. William Byrd.
That bastard hates me 'cause I'm Irish
and 'cause my daddy was backwoods poor.
Thinks he knows who I am.
He don't know a damn thing about Tom Lea.
Thinks he's prince of Caswell County.
Hell, I'm gonna be king of Caswell County.
Pay what you owe, Irish!
I'll pay you in a week!
Oyez! Oyez!
Whoa! Hit him! Don't tickle him!
Ooh!
Oyez! Oyez!
The main match... a struggle to the death.
I give you Tom Lea...
Yeah! Whoo-hoo!
... and Farnie Deets.
Man: Bring that cock to the pen, Mingo.
You get him, Mingo!
Let's go, Mingo!
Look at my Red.
- You ever seen anything so beautiful? - Unh-unh.
- Huh? - Yeah.
- Gonna bring me luck, boy? - Yes, Massa.
Go and add $200 to my bet.
Bill your cocks.
[Roosters clucking]
Man: Come on now, Mingo!
- Step back, gentlemen. - Come on, Mingo!
Step back.
- Come on, boy. - Come on, Mingo!
Pit your cocks!
[Roosters clucking]
[Indistinct shouting]
Man: Go, Red!
Come on.
Come on!
- Come on! - Come on!
Come on!
Get him, Red!
Ah, shit!
Mingo, what the hell you doing, boy?
Fight them cocks.
Come on, Red!
- Come on, Red! - Fight the cock, boy!
Red! Come on!
Come on!
Come on, Red!
Get him! Come on, boy! Get him!
[Crowd murmurs]
And the match goes to Tom Lea!
Ah, yeah!
Yes!
Yeah!
[Cheering]
What a row! [Laughs]
Nobody beats my Red! Nobody beats my Red!
Nobody beats the Red! Nobody!
Yeah!
- Good job, there, Mingo? - Attaboy, Mingo!
- Yeah, Mingo! - Come on.
Hey! Mingo!
Oh, I love your money, boys!
You can all win it back at the next county fair.
Mingo, big Red all right?
[Spits]
Piss.
Piss on the damn bird, boy.
You sure this good for the bird?
You think you Massa Tom?
Don't ever question me about these birds.
I tell you to do something, you just do it.
Think you know. Don't know nothing.
Don't know the Lord gave chickens
worst things in the world... pip, distemper, apoplexy,
cholera, lime leg, and canker.
You don't know pee clean like a good turpentine.
Yeah.
All right.
I don't know why we even brought you along, no way.
'Cause Massa Tom says I can help.
How?
I talk to your birds.
Talk nothing but hot air.
Birds use they eyes to talk.
Got to hold your stare.
Turn your head away, show you weak.
[Grunts]
Stand up.
Got to be a man when you messing with these birds.
Such a big help you is, Chicken George.
Patricia: "The first cut of...
w-wheat is...
m-most... most...
f-fa... fav... "
What's this say, Kizzy?
Favorable.
"... favorable on a cool day."
Yes.
[Laughs]
Never thought nobody could learn farming by reading, Kizzy.
Need to read something to tell me how to act
around fancy ladies.
Bit of gossip, weather, fashion.
The more you talk about nothing,
the smarter them ladies think you be.
- Whoa! - [Horse whinnies]
You won't tell Massa Tom I been teaching you.
Whew!
Why don't you pour me a drink, Kizzy?
Can't you see I'm parched?
George!
Oh, my God.
Whose blood that is?
What Mingo do to you?
I got clawed.
Did they hurt you?
Massa Tom said I held 'em real good,
and they true killers.
Still waiting on that drink, Kizzy.
George, get over here.
I got a question for ya.
You want to keep fighting gamecocks with Mingo and me,
or you want to get sunburned working them fields?
Want to work with Mingo... and you!
Massa, he a big help with all my chores.
Mama, I like them birds, and they like me.
Good boy.
Now, you know you got to sleep with them birds, too.
Down by old Mingo.
That ain't no place for no little boy.
Ah, you can visit him every Sunday.
I'm a fair man, Kizzy. You know that.
Be good for the boy.
He gonna be my good luck charm.
Ain't that right, Tricia?
Well, uh, maybe he could wait a year.
What the hell you know about children?
Since you can't have none.
Boy, why you still standing there?
Go help Mingo with the birds.
Yes, sir.
[Door closes]
Boy's gonna be my good luck charm, Kizzy.
[Chickens clucking]
Here, boy.
That's bird food, Mingo.
Barley, milk, corn, rice, and my secret...
my own brewed hops.
Let them niggers on the farm eat flesh.
What's good for birds is good for men.
You can game a bird for 10 years.
Take him from the cage, leave him one step in the trees,
he gonna turn back wild just like that.
'Cause these birds, they from across the sea.
In they hearts they always free.
Mingo, can you teach me all about birds?
Teach me to fight them?
What you think we is, friends?
Come on, boy.
I'll teach you how to clean these cages.
Oh, Mama.
You look awful, and you stink.
It's the cocks.
Ain't no cocks in here.
Mama, I let all the birds free, cage by cage!
Big ones, Mama!
And fed them and helped Mingo fix them.
Oh, you should've seen it, Mama.
All these white men saying, "Hey, Mingo,"
patting him on his back.
Can you believe that,
white man respecting an old nigger like Mingo?
And it was fun watching Massa Tom
smiling and strutting around.
Hey, look. He gave me money.
Ain't nothing fun about being with that man,
no matter how they make Mingo feel.
But Mama...
Come here.
Tom Lea ain't no better than no other Toubob.
No matter how much laughing they do,
no matter how much you get to play with them damn birds,
Mingo a slave at the end of it all.
And you one, too.
But Massa Tom likes me, Mama.
He don't know how to like nobody.
And don't nobody love ya like your mama.
Go on, eat.
Wash up. Go to bed.
Massa Tom like me.
[Bell tolling]
[Indistinct conversations]
Whoa!
Uh...
Miss Patricia.
Thank you, George.
I'll be at the church in the trees when you want me,
ready to go home.
Since when you a man of faith?
Since you seen that preacher's daughter?
Go on.
Thank you, sir.
Excuse me.
Only last week, and I...
Morning.
Keep walking.
Patricia.
Mr. Byrd.
[Organ playing]
How come I always end up at the back?
See, the Lord say that... that he that keepeth his mouth
keepeth his life.
Man: All right, Reverend. All right.
But he who opens his lips...
Woman: Yes, sir.
... shall face destruction.
- Uh-huh. - Amen!
- Amen!
- Hallelujah - Amen!
You see, wealth gathered by vanity will diminish.
And see, my eyes is old,
but I can see what the Lord says.
See, the Lord tells us beware of flattering lips
and men who speak with double hearts.
Truth is your sustenance.
And beware that man who talk about money and worship money.
See, that, too, is vanity.
[Laughter]
The righteous man eateth to satisfy his soul!
But the belly of the wicked shall want chicken!
[Laughter]
And taters!
'Cause a full belly is a righteous belly!
Whoo!
[Bawking] Chicken! Oh, chicken!
Everybody need chicken!
I told you what I'd do.
You keep it up every Sunday.
So rude and disrespectful to my daddy.
Oh, Lord, help me now. I got a she-wolf on me.
My daddy is a kind man.
You just a flim-flam fool
not fit to walk in my daddy's shadow.
Don't you have love in your heart
for anybody but yourself?
Hang on, now.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
- Hold on. Hold on. - Move away or I'll whop you again.
And I deserve it.
Ain't got no right to be mocking your daddy.
He a fine preacher.
Look around.
More folks watching me than listening to him.
Now, if all these folk,
tired from working so hard every day,
will stop to hear the word of the Lord,
does it really matter if it comes
from the mouth of a fool like me?
"Thy lips are as the honeycomb.
Honey and milk are on thy tongue.
Thou art all fair, my love."
I heard your daddy preach that from King Solomon's songs.
Save your pretty talk.
You see me giggling and swooning?
Hm. I know one thing.
You ain't never met a girl like me.
Well, maybe not.
I'm not a pious man like your daddy,
but I know you ain't let go of my hand yet.
[Gasps]
I'm George. Live on the Lea farm.
I know who you is,
and I know all you care about is fighting chickens.
I do. Know about other birds, too...
starling, sparrow,
morning doves sing so sweet and soft,
make you want to open your eyes to a new day.
And I'm gonna see you again, my morning dove.
My daddy decides who courts me.
Well, I ain't afraid of your daddy.
Then why don't you try me out?
Hold this, Til.
You got something to say to me, boy?
Now, I can feel the Holy Spirit right here...
right now!
Mm! Whoo!
Hallelujah! You my one and only.
He gonna put the fear of God in them other handlers.
[Rooster clucking]
What the hell you doing, boy?
Letting him see me eye-to-eye.
I want him to know my hands
till he thinks we the same, me and him.
Just feed him, clean him, and put him away.
Mingo, I got a notion from watching all these fights.
Keep a count.
Times we lose mostly when some other bird
get over Massa's bird, gaff him from the top.
I think we need to give Massa's birds
a whole lot of training for they wings,
make them stronger so they fly higher,
win even more than they do now.
I figured out special exercises.
You good at exercising your mouth,
but you don't know birds.
Killing bred into the bird.
Don't need no wing training.
You don't do nothing till I say so.
Been doing this fore you was alive.
[Rooster crows]
Get back here!
What you doing to that bird?
What'd I tell you?
You don't listen.
Damn fool.
Look how high I got him to fly.
Told you I could do it.
I know what I see. Damn truth.
[Coughing]
Want my mama to look at that cough?
Don't need no African medicine.
And don't you say nothing about this to Massa Tom.
[Coughs]
There's a gathering down by the river tonight.
Boys stopping by to play for everybody.
Come with me.
Don't need to see nobody.
Malizy said she ain't never see you come by to visit.
Only see you driving out or coming back here.
Can't stay by yourself all the time.
Leave me be.
You a shadow on a moonless night.
You ain't hardly here, Mingo.
The way I like it.
People say they know who I am.
They don't know me.
Say they care about me.
Had too many people taken away
'cause of gossip and tall tale.
Can't trust nobody.
These birds, they can cut my flesh,
not my inside.
Trust my birds, no one else.
Don't trust you, neither.
[Sighs]
Man: Your bid is clear and ready.
Pit your cock!
Come on!
Come on! Come on!
- Get up! - Get him!
Tom: Come on!
Come on up! Come on! Get him!
Come on, you son of a bitch!
Fight him!
That's it! Come on!
Fight him, Mingo!
Get him!
Aw, come on!
Come on! Come on, now!
Come on!
Get him! Get him!
- Fight him, Mingo! - Get him!
Come on! Rise up!
Show him who we are!
[Indistinct shouting]
Mingo!
It's over. It's done.
Man: He's done.
Man: Tom Lea resigns. Match to Francis Dunnery.
Shit.
Get your bets in, gentlemen.
God damn me!
I'll take a French pox and a screw
fore I lose this goddamn bet.
Massa, I got a scheme.
Mingo said his bird was sure to win.
I'm tired of working land.
I ain't gonna wait till I'm old to rise up where I should be.
We need these goddamn birds to win!
I'll fetch the white.
You can bet him hard. Can't lose.
Nuh-unh. Use the Red for the next fight.
Red?
No. No, he ain't trained.
I trained him... myself.
You sneaking 'round 'hind my back?
Massa, all these birds attack head on,
maybe with a little jump.
Now, I trained my Red out in the woods.
I dropped from a chestnut tree high as a hawk,
so he got wings stronger than nothing else.
Ain't no bird gonna get above him.
Ain't no bird gonna beat him.
You think you can throw me out like some used-up old bird
just 'cause you kissing Massa's ass?
I raised these birds since they was chicks.
But I trained them right.
I trained them better.
Massa.
I can still make you money.
Whole lot.
George, next fight's yours.
Let's see if your scheme works.
But, George, if you lose this fight,
you can forget about me buying that Matilda gal.
Son of a bitch.
Tom Lea ain't never gonna forgive poor old Mingo
for losing his money.
Tom Lea dreams of every penny slipped through.
I'm gonna win back all them pennies and more.
I hope not.
You and me hack fighting next.
Then, your Massa gonna be terribly disappointed.
I fight for myself.
Bought my papers three years ago.
Now these my birds, my money.
You a free man?
Whole lot more than just me.
Durham, Fayetteville. You'll find us.
But, yeah, I'm free.
Till some sheriff wakes up in a bad mood,
has a sore tooth.
Being free takes a watchful eye,
but I prefer it to the alternative.
But how'd you get the money?
Kept my hand in my own pocket, coin by coin.
Went without a lot of things.
Kept looking ahead,
not regretting what got left behind.
Way you carry yourself,
I thought for a minute you was free, too.
I got a good Massa.
Good enough to let you buy yourself?
He is giving you a fine cut of his winnings.
Think I'll take your good Massa's money today.
'Course, nobody knows you.
Might be a skinny purse.
These boys might need a push to risk their money.
Gentlemen, a hack fight!
Birds... four pound six.
Last wagers!
Whoo!
The ear of man has not heard nor head has felt
nor eye has seen a bird such as this.
[Crowd murmurs]
Wait. Hang on now.
I mislead you boys.
This ain't no bird at all.
This is a creature you ain't never seen...
half bird, half man,
half of the forest, half of my own soul.
Now, what do y'all think of that?
[Cheers]
I'll take $500, sir.
And I'll give it.
All right, all right, all right, all right.
Now, you are all men of refinement and discretion,
but why'd y'all come here today?
For a simple gambling diversion?
To take a chance against a fine man like my Massa Tom Lea?
No.
You crave wonderment, jubilation, revelation!
Ooh, glory! That's what you came to see!
This bird, this uncommon, fearsome campaigner leaves
the barn in victory, you will cry tears
that you've seen the last of him,
and you will yearn for more!
I yearn to win my money back, Chicken George.
- [Laughter] - All right.
[Crowd chanting "Chicken George"]
I like it. Yes, sir!
[Chanting continues]
Come on! Put your money on me, boys!
Bet $1,000?
If you have faith in your Chicken George.
Always happy to take your money, Jewett.
What you got, boy? What you got?
Man: Place your birds.
You put on a good show for your Massa, didn't you?
Come on now, George.
Step out.
Pit your cocks!
[Rooster squawks]
[Indistinct conversations]
No hard feelings, right?
None at all.
Just make sure some of that pot is yours.
You staying around these parts?
For a while, long as it's safe.
Come by the Easter picnic.
I want to hear more about what it takes
to get that paper make you free.
Now, if you'll excuse me...
go ask Massa for my cut.
Man: Pay the man his money.
Thank you.
Your Chicken George has skill.
I had more skill to see it.
[Chuckles]
Mr. Lea, as one gentlemen to another,
I'd like to buy the boy from you.
Buy my George?
I inquire merely because I understand
you've acquired debt on your farm
for equipment, seed, and stock.
What happened to your nigger?
I heard he was a good man with the birds.
Boy forgot his pass
while traveling to buy gamecocks for me.
Patrol scared him.
He ran, and they shot him.
Sorry for your inconvenience.
Name your price, but I'd have this boy.
No.
Not now. Not never.
Never is a long time.
And never to you, sir.
May I invite you and your lovely wife
to dine at our table at the Easter picnic?
You can expect it.
I look forward to it.
Mr. Jewett.
Mr. Lea.
Gentlemen.
Man: Got lucky this time.
[Laughs]
Here we come, George, just like I said.
Here we come.
Look, Massa, some folks saying it's a custom
to give me a bigger piece of the pot when I win big.
Did Mingo tell you that?
Son of a bitch.
[Sighs]
You won me lots of money, sir.
Thanks, George. You won me plenty today.
Thank you. Thank you.
All right.
I think I'm gonna save up my money, just like you, Massa.
You earned it.
Thank you.
Mm-hmm.
Thank you, Massa. Thank you.
Ah, we're winning, George.
Boy, come on. You ain't got no money.
Shit.
I'm gonna do something for you, George.
I need younger field hands.
Old Pompey and Malizy gonna be used up sooner than later.
Old Sarah don't work so hard right now.
So if that gal's fool enough to jump the broom
with someone who loves running tail as much as you,
I'll ride over and talk to MacGregor.
If he's got as many hands as you say,
he ought not to miss a field gal.
Thank you, Massa.
That's if we come to a decent price.
Then you can move that gal...
What's her name?
Matilda.
You can build Matilda a cabin at my place.
Long as you understand your first place is with my birds.
The way it should be.
And I expect you to keep her belly full.
Keep them babies sliding out, increase my stock.
I'll make my money back, and more.
Kizzy like this gal?
I wouldn't want to get on her bad side if I were you.
Kizzy: [Chuckles]
All this spinning is making me dizzy.
One, two, three.
That's how they do it.
[Both laugh]
Where you get all this finery?
Oh, I bought these.
Massa pays us a little when our birds win.
Money ain't nothing but a butterfly to you...
come pretty and go fast.
You don't need no fancy clothes.
Mama, you need to meet somebody.
What you need me to come for?
She Matilda.
She hardheaded, but I like her.
Come on.
I thought you said tonight was our night.
You and that girl connived this whole coming together.
Matilda.
I'm Matilda, ma'am.
This my father, Reverend Lyon.
Your son say you a woman of, uh, faith.
I am.
But it ain't your faith.
I ain't interested in the white man's God.
My daddy say the only reason our folk is
is 'cause it got beat into us.
The Lord say that...
Mama, why don't we get our guests something to eat?
Uh, I ain't offended.
I know my God's real.
He love me, and he love you, too.
Amen. Let's dance, Mama.
You ever preach from the book of Exodus?
Well, yeah.
White preacher don't let no slave preacher man
talk about the Israelites or Pharaoh, do they?
No slaves marching across the sea to be free.
Bet them pages cut right out your bible.
Start preaching about Exodus,
find yourself swinging from a low limb.
Mama, folks say make the best of a hard situation.
Maybe that's all folks who belive in God trying to do.
Have his God make slavery go away,
I'll meet you in church every Sunday.
[Laughter]
My daddy likely to beat you
if he hear you playing like that.
Mama, I make Massa money.
Truth is, I know the white gamblers
bet more just to see me.
All that stuff matter more to him than you.
It ain't our way.
I heard about some slaves buying their freedom nowadays.
More famous I get,
more I get a chance to buy my freedom.
You think you gonna buy your freedom?
Mine, yours.
Mama, I want to marry Matilda.
I can look after all of us.
Do you love her?
She a good woman, Mama.
Different than everybody else.
She's smart, stubborn, like you.
She's so pretty.
Not as pretty as me, but she pretty.
You can't make no plans depend on Massa.
You mean so much to me.
Let me teach you how to read so you can be your own man.
I'll always be my own man.
Only knew one other somebody live his life
trying to be his own man...
your grandpapa, Kunta Kinte.
With them roosters, I can do anything.
That's how I'm getting free.
That's how we're all getting free.
Come on, Mama. They ain't gonna play all night.
You go.
I'm gonna stay here,
spend some time talking with my daddy.
Mama, you can't...
You go.
[Indistinct conversations]
Mrs. Shubal, breakfast looks delightful, does it not?
Man: It's a beautiful day, isn't it?
My favorite holiday.
Mr. Lea, Miss Patricia.
Morning, Reverend.
Your hat, sir?
George, what are you doing?
Well, there's Tom Lea and his lovely wife, Patricia.
Good morning, Mr. Lea.
Good morning, Mr. Jewett.
Mrs. Lea.
Morning.
Woman: Good morning, Mrs. Lea.
Morning, Mrs. Jewett.
[Chuckles]
Please, allow me.
[Chuckles] Thank you, Mr. Jewett.
There you are.
Now, our table is complete.
Mama, this is Marcellus, free man I told you about.
I'm not sure which one of y'all is the bad influence.
I'm not sure anyone has much sway over your boy.
Seems like his spark can dazzle anyone.
Now it's obvious he gets that from you,
which makes his daddy a lucky man.
My mama lives alone.
Just like I like it.
I'd never have some man bossing me around,
acting like he my second massa.
Ma'am, there are two things I'll never understand.
A man who mistreats a woman who loves him.
That's one.
Oh, the other would be a man who can't appreciate
a woman who knows her own mind.
I thought you were a free man.
Who's freely deciding to carry this tray
for a beautiful woman.
Anyone can see that Jackson is too boorish to be president.
He's a warmonger and an adulterer.
Only ignorant men without land or education would back him.
Tom.
I say Old Hickory's gonna be a damn good president.
He'll protect cotton investors clearing out woods
in Mississippi and Alabama.
Yeah, I'll vote Jackson.
My point proven.
This country will sink into a cesspool
if we keep giving lowborn men a vote.
Woman: We're going by train to New York to visit my cousin.
Her husband has a position with new clothiers...
Mr. Lord and Mr. Taylor.
But she warned us that the streets are foul
with horse droppings and Irish.
[Chuckles]
What have I ever done to you, sir?
I pay no attention to you at all...
sir.
I offer conversation and good cheer on a fine holiday.
And yet you poke, poke, poke me like a damn hog.
[Laughs]
I demand you tell me why.
Take your hands off me.
Let's go.
Can't stop these men once they start.
I have no idea if they're clean.
God damn me.
On Easter Sunday,
in front of my wife and these good people.
- [Screams] - Look at me, Byrd!
I see you clearly, sir, exactly as they all see you.
You bungle you farm till it's near in ruin,
waste your money on drink and gambling.
Earn a penny, spend a dollar...
Oh, that's the Irish. I know them.
Scrub all you will, sir.
The dirt is not under your nails, sir.
It's in your soul.
And I'd dine with niggers before I'd dine with you.
[Indistinct shouting]
Get off of me! Get off me!
Get your hands off me, you son of a bitch!
I'll geld you, you bastard.
You need to come home, Massa!
I'm worth 10 like you.
You never did a hard day's work in your life.
Soft hands, like a woman.
You think your money makes you a man?
I'm the only real man in this goddamn county.
Son of a bitch!
I do not settle my battles with fisticuffs
like some drunken bar brawler.
You settle this however the hell you will.
For what? Act like a gentleman.
Allow me satisfaction in the field... a duel.
Face-to-face.
Whenever and wherever you say.
[Spits]
You bucket of piss!
You'll stand by me, George.
Attend my weapons, be my second.
You ain't fired a gun in a while, Massa.
Let it be. We got...
George, I need you to do this for me.
I depend on you.
Yes, Massa.
Patricia.
Can't no slave be 'round no white men
when they get like this.
Massa Byrd can kill you without thinking.
And ain't no sheriff gonna do nothing 'bout it.
Kizzy, he can't say no.
Yes, he can.
But he too caught up and concerned
about that no-count cracker and his birds.
What you think gonna happen if Massa Tom get killed?
Think Miss Patricia gonna sell us all together?
She gonna run off to the woods she came from,
and we gonna end up on paddle-wheelers
for cotton Mississippi.
Why can't you understand?
You can't risk your life for that man.
Not for him... for us.
I need to keep Tom Lea alive for us.
George.
Not by chance, not any of this.
There's the man wants your massa dead.
Massa Jewett?
If Tom Lea is killed, he's gonna buy your son.
Tom Lea made a mistake refusing his offer for George.
And the thing about rich white men,
they'll take 10 steps at a tilt
just to take one step straight to what they want.
[Thunder rumbles]
[Horse whinnies]
Mingo: Whoa.
You think you doing this for your family.
But I known you since you was a little boy.
I know the love you got inside you for Massa.
You thinking maybe one tiny piece of him inside the same.
Make you as stupid as he is.
He ain't never gonna see you for what you truly is
no matter what you think.
Pardon me if I don't wish him luck.
[Horse whinnies]
[Smooches]
I'll look after him.
Less likely to string the two of us up,
but I've been wrong before.
High card will decide who fires first.
You will then separate and face each other.
On my command, you will each
discharge your pistols in succession.
If you both remain alive,
you will proceed with swords until one of you is dead.
- Five diamonds. - [Chuckles]
Three clubs.
Mr. Lea will shoot first.
And may God have mercy on your souls.
[Horse neighs]
This your day.
Take your time.
Got to wait till your eyes see clear,
breathing even.
You hear me?
Take your time.
I know, George.
I intend to kill him with my first shot.
[Sighs]
You're my only true friend.
Do this friend a favor.
Kill that son of a bitch.
Your first shot, Mr. Lea.
Still shaking, didn't even take aim.
Mr. Byrd.
First shot.
[Pistol cocks]
Goddamn. This can't be.
Aah! [Grunts]
You do this next shot right, now.
Take your time. Nice and steady.
If you niggers interfere, we'll kill you!
Be sure of that!
Man: Second shot, Mr. Lea.
[Pistol cocks]
[Screams]
Mr. Byrd, second shot.
Aah!
Man: Gentleman.
[Screams]
Gentlemen, do either of you yield?
No.
No!
Mr. Lea does not yield!
Gentlemen, swords.
Sword.
Man: Damn it, Byrd, yield.
He's bleeding hard. Can't let him find his legs.
Get right at him.
No! Get away.
I can't feel my hand, George.
You take this sword.
You got to fight hard if you want to stay alive.
Now get on your damn feet! Get up!
[Grunts]
Get up!
Sword! Put it in my hand.
Come on!
Got it.
Get up!
[Grunts]
Aah!
No, no.
[Groans]
Massa, you stay down, you gonna die.
That what you want?
Is that what you came here for today?
[Groans]
Him on his feet, looking down on you?
The way everybody look down on you?
He say you dirt.
That's how we'll bury you if you want,
deep in the damn dirt!
Mr. Lea, do you yield?
George, it hurts so bad.
Oh, you in the pit now, Massa.
Want to let him jeer you,
throw you carcass in a dung hole?
Step back, boy!
Rise up high. You the gamecock now.
Get up, George.
Rise up! Come down on this son of a bitch!
Rise up, Tom Lea, come on!
Come on, show them all!
Show him, Tom.
[Screams]
Aah!
- No, Massa! - I yield! I yield!
I yield.
He yields. Let him be.
I'm a better man than you.
He yielded. It's time for mercy.
All right. I got you, I got you.
- I got you. - Mr. Byrd! Mr. Byrd!
Folks are gonna talk about what you did today.
All across Carolina, they'll say,
"Tom Lea is a gentleman."
I was a fine gentleman.
They're gonna say my name, ain't they... Tom Lea.
For sure.
Take me home, George.
Take me home.
[Rooster crows]
You over there?
[Coughs]
I'd have bled my soul out on that field.
You pushed me hard.
Kept me strong.
You don't win, what happen to all of us?
Damn right.
I want to tell you something.
I was 11 years old when I hit the road,
asking a for a job.
I ate scraps.
Nights I'd chew bark.
Dry leaves my only blanket.
Froze my ass.
[Coughs]
The whole lot of you has it a damn lot easier.
Oh, any man with eyes can see that.
[Chuckles]
Oh, hell, George.
I ain't as bad as some.
What do I always say?
Make me rich.
Raise yourself up.
That's how money works.
Then I'd like some of that money to start working
to get me papers... to be free.
[Grunts]
I intend to work hard.
Win every cock fight, make you real rich.
I got to know a time gonna come when I can buy me free.
I don't see why not, George.
It's all dollars and cents.
When the number's right,
I promise I'm gonna write those papers for you.
Then I'm gonna make you so damn dirty rich,
gonna need to buy a new wagon just to load the moneybags.
[Laughs]
Oh, you and me think the same way, George.
I brought you up right.
She ought to thank me.
One, two, three.
Oh!
[Applause]
Thank y'all. Thank y'all.
Man: Congratulations. Bless you.
Oh.
[Laughter]
I promise to stay by your side forever.
I never had a daddy,
but my baby's gonna have me all the time.
Nothing ever gonna pull me away from you.
That's all I want, George.
May the Lord keep and bless this holy union.
Hallelujah!
- Hallelujah! - [Applause]
All right.
Woman: Yes, sir.
It was so nice of Mama Kizzy
to lend me her dress for the wedding.
So beautiful.
[Laughs]
What you know about that?
You ain't the only one know about African tradition.
You declaring your intention?
Expect so.
[Laughs]
That make you dizzy?
No, dance didn't make me dizzy.
Just feel like I fit right in your arms.
My arms can go wide.
They can come tight.
[Laughs]
But I do what I can to make the fit work.
[Hoarse] George.
Why is that man always showing off your boy?
For better or worse, they got a bond.
What we got is a bond.
What they got, something completely different.
George: Glad to see you're feeling better, Massa.
We can get back on the road, make some money.
Of course it's gonna take your first year's salary,
pay me back for buying
that Matilda gal from MacGregor.
She worth every penny.
You get to making babies, increase my stock.
And when a boy comes,
Tom would be a fine name for a boy.
Ain't that right, Sarah?
Strong name, Massa.
Tom it'll be, Massa.
If it's a boy.
Patricia: George.
I think you mama's sweet on that boy.
I ain't never seen Mama in a mood like this.
Wakes up happy.
She always prettier when she smiles.
Mm-hmm.
[Drumming]
You know what they call a free nigger in North Carolina?
Nigger.
[Clears throat]
Folks sure did miss you at the wedding.
Smoothest liar I ever met.
Thank you.
[Chickens clucking]
[Rooster crows]
Bet your mama gonna be after you
to hatch some chickens of your own.
Not if he gonna name the first one Tom.
Miss Kizzy.
Congratulations on your happy day.
It was happy, till I heard my boy
promised his firstborn son gonna carry Massa's name.
Me and Matilda gonna have lots of babies.
Plenty of names to go around.
Maybe even Mingo.
You can't name no one in this family after that man.
Gonna go gather up some wood for my fire.
I know how to handle Tom Lea, Mama.
Ain't no handling no massa,
especially not one like Tom Lea.
It's just a name, Mama.
A name is who you is.
My daddy took whippings night and day
to protect his name.
What is it you want from me?
Wouldn't make no sense to say
'cause I ain't never gonna get it.
I shouldn't be surprised you act the way you do.
But don't you ever get no shame, George.
I'm famous up and down this county.
I know who I am, and you should, too.
Only time I knew who you was
was when I took your yellow ass
out to the spot where I stood and named you.
Well, I ain't trying to be
no beat-down African with half a foot!
You ain't nowhere near the man my daddy was.
Some time I look at you, and I see Tom Lea.
I can't even tell you 'part.
And it break my heart.
[Goat bleats]
[Humming]
It's pretty.
Came up from Durham way?
[Chuckles]
Came from my papa.
Came from Juffure, from Africa.
What don't come from Africa, according to you?
Hey.
[Chuckles]
I spent my life in a cabin like this.
And now that I'm free,
I'd rather sleep under the stars.
Kizzy.
I'm always passing through places,
so I find it best to speak my mind.
I want you to come with me.
What would we do?
Go north...
Pennsylvania, Vermont.
I'm tired of pulling out my papers
every time some sheriff gets in a mood
or some cracker don't like my look.
I like your look.
Getting free was all my daddy ever wanted.
But I'd be so far from George.
Far is free.
Your boy has his own life now.
It's time you loved yours.
[Footsteps approach]
That's Massa Lea.
Didn't know you were entertaining, Kizzy.
Now you see, so you can go on home.
This is my property, boy.
I own it and everything on it.
Then turn a profit on what you own.
I want to buy Kizzy.
Is that right?
Mm-hmm.
I'd have to reckon it.
Name your price... any number.
I can pay it.
Ain't you a businessman?
[Chuckles]
Well, she's almost past having babies.
That's in your favor.
But she's strong as a woman half her age.
That's in my favor.
Reads, too, by my good graces.
Other masters wouldn't have it.
Cooks, sews, handles the house.
Understands a man's needs.
$2,000.
You can't.
[Laughs]
You don't have half it.
It's everything, but I have it.
Make her free to leave with me tomorrow,
and I'll give it to you.
I think we can come to some kind of agreement.
[Humming]
[Humming stops]
Something you need, Massa?
Miss Patricia need something?
She's sleeping.
Not that that matters.
[Sighs]
I'm making sweet rolls for tomorrow.
Ah. Tomorrow.
Way of saying goodbye?
Tell me you want to go.
He gonna pay you well.
You expect me to sell you
to that nigger bastard who looks down on me?!
Pick that nigger over me?!
Over George?!
[Glass shatters]
You have a place here with people who love you,
and you just want to go somewheres else.
Please!
Please, Massa! Don't.
You ain't never been beat. I don't overwork you.
I have more right than that free nigger!
You've been bragging to George
about how you gonna be leaving me.
I ain't been bragging.
You just expect me to let you go?
I can't go.
Ungrateful.
You think I'm just gonna let you go?
I can't go.
Ungrateful.
I ain't leaving! I ain't leaving!
You think I'd leave my family here with you?
And the time they start having babies,
I'd be a thousand miles gone.
And I see you still they massa, I'd die every day.
But when George and Matilda have children,
if you ever touch just one, I'll kill you.
And I'll hang for it gladly.
Now, now, Kizzy.
They're gonna be my grandchildren, too.
Now be quick about it.
If you won't come with me, take this.
Day might come when you're able to buy yourself free.
I can't.
You start a new life.
Keep traveling north and find some...
Find somebody else.
My daddy would have liked you.
Marcellus: Get up, now.
[Clicking tongue]
[Hooves clop]
_
[Sobs]
George: Give me that.
Don't need no help.
You sure Massa say I should come?
Long ride, lots to do.
Greensville County in Virginia.
A thousand men come for this match.
Six tents. We taking 20 birds.
20?
Told Massa he want that many, he can't do it without Mingo.
Clear as day to those got eyes.
To watch the cages.
Tend the birds.
Oh.
You got my feed?
Just like I told you, boy.
Birds leave they marks on a man.
But still so pretty, women cry when I pass by.
[Chuckles] You're still a slave, too.
That may be.
I've been saving up. Got me a scheme.
Scheme? Uh-huh.
Mm-hmm.
I'm gonna buy Matilda, then all my babies free.
Man saving up money got to pinch every penny.
Damn hard scheme for the likes of you.
You toss away money like you feeding it to the hens.
[Rooster clucking]
All your bragging and carrying on,
I know how much time you spend with my birds.
Folks say birds are stupid.
Birds know who they can trust, know who love them.
Folks is mostly fools when it come to knowing that.
Birds know a man by his touch, by the sweat.
You a better bird man than me.
Only 'cause I had the best damn teacher Carolina.
You damn right you did.
[Gunshot]
Hyah! Hyah!
[Gunshot]
Man: The Prophet's coming! The Prophet's coming!
He's on his way!
River of blood is what's speeding him on his way!
Whoa, you! Hup!
Man: Got plenty of ammunition.
[Dogs barking]
Everybody carrying guns.
Tom: Damn. What the hell is this?
Where's everybody going?
Never heard of canceling no match, rain or shine, Massa.
[Gunshot in distance]
[Horse neighs]
I don't think we should stay, Massa.
We just drove four days to Virginia.
Pretty penny out of pocket, too.
I need an explanation,
or someone's gonna pay me for my trouble.
Savages! That's all they are, is savages!
What's going on here?
Nigger from Sam Turner's farm named Nat
running loose with hundreds of other niggers.
I hear thousands.
Killing men, women, children, any white folks they come upon.
Whole families dead.
Babies in their beds, using axes, swords, clubs.
They beat Margaret Whitehead to death with a fence post.
Reading the bible over their bloody bodies,
calling himself the Prophet.
He ain't just killing. He's a cannibal.
Burning up little babies, serving them to his gang to eat.
Why ain't nobody find him yet?
Other slaves hiding these killers on farms,
in barns, cabins... right under our noses.
I'm warning you boys... murder's spreading everywhere!
I'm six days from home, and I got five little ones.
God!
I'll kill any nigger that gets in my way!
[Rooster clucking]
Hey! What y'all doing?
Don't hurt my birds. Don't hurt my birds.
You got any guns and knives in this wagon?
Get away from Massa Lea's birds.
Mingo! Mingo!
Hey, boy!
No, please! Please, Massa!
Please!
He a good ol' boy. Good ol' boy, no problem.
- We with Massa Tom... - Hey!
These yours?
Yeah.
You vouch for them?
Came with me to fight birds.
Can't find that devil's prophet.
Niggers. [Spits]
Hiding guns and knives any place they can.
I don't care how long you own them sons of bitches.
I wouldn't trust no one.
We need a doctor for Mingo, Massa.
We need to go home now. Patricia's by herself.
Mama there for Miss Patricia. She be fine.
You take us home. Now!
Yes, Massa.
Now, come on. I got you.
You strong. You fine, you hear me?
[Grunts] You fine!
Hurry up, George!
Yes, Massa. [Grunts]
Come on, let's go!
That nigger Turner's the devil on earth.
Mingo's hurt real bad, Massa.
We've been riding like this for three days.
You'd never think of rising up with no slaves
against me and Tricia, would you, George?
No, Massa. You know me.
We got to find a doctor somewhere.
'Cause if you did, George, I'd blow your goddamn head off.
[Horse neighs]
Stop the wagon.
Ho! Ho!
Hold up now. Hold up.
Where y'all coming from?
Southampton.
Trying to get home before the Prophet reaches my farm.
We got every man with a gun out looking for him.
Uh-huh.
This your boy?
Yes, sir.
Well, you a damn fool if you ain't got him tied up good.
That Nat Turner's a fever.
You never know which nigger's gonna catch it.
Massa, what you doing?
Chain yourself to the wagon, George.
Massa, it's me.
It's George. You trust me.
Do it, George, or I will shoot you.
Go on!
Man: Let 'em through.
You've known me since I was a child.
I can trust a child.
It's when y'all get growed is when you get ideas.
God help you if anything's happened to Tricia.
Hyah!
[Horse neighs]
Hyah!
Ho!
What have you niggers done to my farm?
[Gunshot]
Tricia!
[Barking]
Don't you move, boy. Stay in that wagon.
Tricia!
- Tom! - Tom!
I come to make sure Miss Patricia's all right.
[Crying]
Dirty nigger. Dirty bastards!
Get inside, Tricia.
Now! Go on!
Man: Five militiamen came over here looking for slaves.
They set the cabins on fire.
Thank God you're back. I was so scared.
Reverend Lyon, what the hell you doing here?
This ain't no place to be right now.
Heard some riders was heading for the Lea farm,
so I come over to check on Matilda and the family.
But them white boys came up on... on the cabins so fast.
I had to hide.
They burned down everything they could.
[Crying] I don't know where Kizzy and Tilda are.
Guess I talk a lot, but I can't help nobody.
Look at me, look at me.
Get me that ax. Get me that ax.
Get the wood.
Gonna find Mama and Matilda.
I need to find my children, but I'll be back.
You can watch Mingo till I can find help, all right?
I'll stay with him.
All right.
Promise me you'll hold on, all right?
You strong like nobody else.
Watch out for Massa Tom.
He ain't never gonna see you for who you truly is.
Hold on. I'll be back.
Take my secret feed.
I got something for you.
For your scheme.
All right.
Patricia: I see you, George!
You ain't gonna slit my throat while I sleep!
I see you!
Tilda!
Matilda, it's me!
George: Tilda!
Mama?
Matilda!
Mama!
Matilda, it's me, George!
Oh, George.
[Sighs] I thought you was dead.
Come see the babies.
[Baby crying]
Matilda was scared to death
she was never gonna see you again.
Sister Sarah.
George! Oh, child!
- Thank God. - Oh, God.
Glad to see you. Thank God!
Tilda, come on out.
Come on.
Matilda: George. [Whimpers]
- George! George! George! - Tilda!
[Cries]
George.
Oh, George.
Your mama the only reason we're alive.
She brought us out here, been catching food for us, too.
Cabins was on fire.
I didn't know what happened to you.
We heard them coming in the night.
Me and Mama Kizzy went to Miss Patricia with babies,
but she had locked everything up,
and we couldn't get in.
Then the militiamen showed up,
set fire everywhere.
Screaming about some man named Turner and an uprising.
They was hunting us, George.
We barely made it out here to the woods.
It's all right now. It's all right now.
Where my babies?
[Baby crying]
It's all right. It's all right.
I'm home now.
He's gone.
Never did talk about hisself.
Just talked about them birds.
I don't even know where he was born.
I don't know if he had one damn person cry for him!
He had you.
Let me go. [Sniffles]
You need to be with Matilda now.
Son of a bitch!
Too goddamn good to come down here.
Mingo worked his life away for him.
That's what that bastard want for all of them...
just work till we dead.
George, no.
You gonna kill Massa Tom?
That gonna make anything better for us?
You think I've been ignorant about that man my whole life?
Look at me!
You think I don't know I'm his son?
I've been drowning that truth in my head
'cause I want so bad for us to be away from him.
And I ain't never gonna be that.
We're all gonna be like Mingo.
And I've been waiting for the right moment
to give him everything he gave us,
and right now I'm gonna kill him.
No, you can't kill him.
'Cause then they gonna kill you, and that would rip me apart.
All I know is how to make all this livable.
And can't do that no more.
I almost took my life when you was born.
And yours, too.
For a while, I didn't know how to feel nothing.
Nothing but shame and sorrow.
And so far away from my mama and daddy,
but it would have been a terrible sin
against everything my daddy taught me.
It seemed like I could hear his voice right here
stopping me.
He came to me, and I decided to live.
You a fine man, George.
And I ain't told you enough.
Maybe I was scared you got too much of Massa's blood.
But you have honored my father.
You here to keep this family going, to survive.
He always said we fight when we need,
but first, we got to survive.
Tom Lea whole life gonna be a waste, but not yours.
What keeps me living.
I love you.
I love you too much.
Stay with me.
Please.
Live.
[Chickens clucking]
[Rooster crows]
Oh, uh, Mingo wanted you to have this bucket
with his secret feed in it.
Hey, that's too heavy for you.
Oh, shit.
[Slaves singing indistinctly]
[Baby crying]
Kizzy: George, you and Matilda got two girls and two boys,
and ain't none of them named Tom yet.
I ain't giving them that man's name.
Mama, you said...
I know what I said,
and I knew what he'd do if you don't name that boy Tom.
He'll ride him the rest of his living days.
Do it, George.
Name him Tom.
Tilda.
Morning Dove, you need to rest.
And I want you to name him
the way Mama Kizzy says her daddy taught her.
The way Kunta Kinte would do it.
I know I didn't pay it no mind with all our other babies.
It ain't the way my daddy taught me.
But I heard Mama Kizzy telling the stories
to the boys one night.
Something passed through me, George.
I don't see how both ways...
mine and Mama Kizzy's... can't be true.
And I believe it will protect this baby and all of us.
I don't know how.
Moving too fast for me, Mama.
I ain't hardly trying, George.
Like I say, them birds a soft kind of work.
Here.
How you know it's the right spot?
I know.
Look up, little one.
That's the only thing greater than yourself.
Gonna be more money at that Charleston jamboree
than we ever seen, and I am gonna win it.
And turn it to ash in a bonfire of foolishness...
the way you always do.
Matilda.
After George leaves,
get the children weaving new grain baskets.
Ashford and George Jr. can start clearing out
that stand of walnut trees.
Matilda: Yes, ma'am.
How we looking, George?
George: We got 10 strong killers,
five young stags hungry for blood.
I say we be fine,
long as you listen to me.
Can't ever talk to me like that, George.
Goddamn.
I swear I'll sell your ass in New Orleans.
And fight your own birds.
Look, George,
there's more money to be won in that Charleston jamboree
than we ever seen,
and we got to win big.
That's what we'll do.
George, you and me used to be best friends.
Ever since Mingo died,
I can barely get a word out of you.
It's a long road to Charleston, Massa Tom.
I'm gonna go help our boys in the field.
I'll bring back gifts for everybody,
my morning dove.
Just bring yourself home safe.
Hey, hey, hey.
You ain't never been gone this long before, George.
Well, got you to watch over everybody.
Ain't got no worries.
And my daddy gonna watch over you.
Charleston's a long ways away.
Yes, Mama.
Hyah!
George.
There's more money here than I ever thought could be.
Where we going, Massa?
[Clears throat]
Here he is, Jewett.
Oh, Chicken George.
Meet my cousin from Hampshire, Sir C. Eric Russell.
Jewett tells me you're a sovereign of avifauna.
I look forward to testing your prowess against my birds.
Thank you, sir.
Tom Lea and I have wanted to settle once and for all
who's best in our noble sport.
But it's gonna cost you to find out.
Mr. Lea, while I understand your confidence
about a bird or two,
I did not get wealthy by betting small.
A man who bets a mere thousand here or there
is a man who won't risk enough to take what he wants.
Or perhaps Chicken George is only a small-time fighter.
Oh, you ain't never seen a fighter like me before...
sir.
$10,000.
Plus side bets.
Accepted.
[Cheering]
$10,000 it is.
And, boys, I'll be open to all offers.
[Spits]
Gentlemen.
Feel good about the birds?
Best I ever felt.
Today's the day, George.
I'm gonna rise up above every man who ever looked down on me.
$10,000? Massa, you ain't got that much.
Don't matter how much I got if we win, do it, George?
Besides, my farm's worth half that much.
No.
Can't bet our home.
Not where my family live.
You win this for me, and I'll set you free.
I swear.
Write it.
Write that paper, right here.
Be waiting for you when you're done.
This ain't no dream, George. Wide awake as I ever been.
We're gonna be rich, just like I said.
Who that Englishman think he is?
How dare he fight us.
We faster, smarter, stronger, prettier.
Insult to be in the same pit with you and me.
Come on now, you little bastard.
I gave you blood and sweat.
Make George a free man today.
[Indistinct conversations]
George.
Man: Oyez! Oyez!
Our final pair of the Charleston Main!
A heavy match of birds.
Six pounds four,
Sir C. Eric Russell of Hampshire, England.
And Tom Lea of Caswell County, North Carolina.
[Cheers and applause]
Gentlemen, face your birds!
Come on now, George!
[Roosters squawking]
Rile 'em up.
Step out.
Ready!
Tom: Come on now, George.
Pit your cocks!
- Kill him! - Fight him!
Come on now!
Come down on him!
Come on, George.
Come on! Get him, boy!
Come on now, Red! Come on, Red!
Man: The match goes to Tom Lea!
Yes!
Yeah!
Whoo!
Yeah, boys!
[Cheering]
Thanks, boys.
I'm free.
[Laughs]
I'm free!
I'm free! [Laughs]
Now you can get the cock out.
Tom: [Laughs]
Come on. Get in it.
Get in, boys.
Glad y'all made money.
I know you can read it, George.
Know Kizzy been teaching you.
It looks fine.
[Laughs] It look real fine.
Sir Eric: Your man has a rare skill.
Plain to see.
And yet why do I feel like a marionette,
my strings pulled by a clever manipulator.
Did you set me up, Mr. Lea?
[Chuckles]
You challenged me.
I had the courage to take it, and I had the man to win it.
Then I assume your courage will permit me
an opportunity to recoup my losses,
penny for penny.
Well, even an Irishman understands fair play.
Sir Eric is willing to wager another $10,000.
[Crowd murmurs]
Can your damn English cousin handle $20,000?
[Crowd murmurs]
I relish the opportunity.
Done.
[Cheering]
Come with me, cousin.
I have something I want to show you.
Here you are, sir.
His line has fought for kings.
He'll have no ouble with an Irishman and a nigger.
[Rooster squawks]
My money's on you.
My money's on you. You can do it.
Do it, George.
Man: Come on, clear the ring!
Man: Look at the size of that.
That's a big cock.
Look at the bird. He's looking well.
Oyez! Oyez!
A private hack between Tom Lea
of Caswell County, North Carolina...
[Applause]
... and Sir C. Eric Russell of Hampshire, England.
[Applause]
Gentlemen, face your birds!
[Cheering]
[Roosters squawking]
That's it, George.
Step out!
Man: Oh, he smells blood, Chicken George! I know it!
Man: Let's go, Chicken George!
Gentlemen...
pit your cocks!
Come on! Come on, now!
Damn it!
Man: That's it! That's it!
Just like that!
Come on, boy!
Down! Down! Down! Come down hard on him!
[Rooster crows]
[Rooster squawks]
Come on, George!
Come on!
Come on.
Shit!
Finish him!
Man: Match to Sir C. Eric Russell.
[Melancholy music plays]
George.
I don't know what happened.
We need to set up another fight.
They gamed us, George, like fish at the end of a line.
I lost everything...
every penny.
Look, George, the farm ain't gonna cover my bets.
Ain't even gonna cover what I borrowed against it.
I'm ruined,
but that English bastard's offering me a way out.
[Sighs]
Said he never saw a man with a touch for the birds like you.
Said you was a magician. Used that very word.
What you saying?
[Sighs]
Not to drag it out,
that Englishman will call me even if I give you to him...
take back to England.
England?!
Mm-hmm.
Now you ain't making no sense.
Train his birds and his handlers.
I don't understand the hell you saying to me.
I'm free! That's what we agreed.
Money was in my hand, George.
What's worse than being rich for one day?
You can't tell me to leave my family!
I ain't going nowhere for you, you understand me?!
I'm sorry, George.
I ain't got no other way to survive.
The time will pass like a summer squall.
No, you bastard. I am a free man.
You ain't free, George.
Not unless I register them papers with the county.
Now I will tell you something.
When you come back, I'll have papers
for your whole family waiting in a lockbox.
I'm not going!
I'm tired of explaining it to you!
I don't have to give no damn explanation to no damn slave!
Sir Eric's carriage is leaving.
Do not resist. Do not waste his time.
You can't do this! You hear me?!
I earned it! I'm free!
You low bastard, Tom Lea!
You ain't a man!
You don't love nothing but money and a whiskey jug!
That's all you love!
- Get this nigger off of me! - Stop him!
You really are the trash everybody says you is!
Ain't got no honor and ain't got no pride!
Not even say goodbye to my family?!
Matilda?! My children and my mama?!
You a lying dog, Tom Lea!
Who gonna watch 'em, Tom?! Who gonna watch my family?!
Tom Lea! [Grunts]
[Coughing]
[Horse neighs]
[Screams]
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