Blaine's mother and father are in the kitchen. Breakfast is on the table.
"Hey, Blaine, your breakfast's gettin' cold."
"I don't want no breakfast, Mama. I got to get going." Blaine shouted still in his bedroom.
"Well, all right..." His mother said
Blaine comes down the steps and he takes his hat off the hall hat-rack and puts it on. Then he walks on into the kitchen. He is carrying a suitcase.
"I made gravy."
"I'll just have coffee."Blaine took a sip of coffee and picks up a biscuit. He moves out the front door with a whole biscuit in his mouth.
Blaine's mother follows him out of the house, carrying two bags, one of brown paper, the other of cellophane. The transparent bag has peas in it.
"Here's some chicken for you to eat on the road."
"Thanks, Mama."
"And here's some field peas for
your Aunt Corene. You don't get
good vegetables in Houston. You'll
see." Blaine's father comes out carrying some of his luggage. The rest of the family follows. They put the luggage in the back of Blaine's pickup. And they ad lib good-byes.
Blaine's father shook his hands.
"Good luck... "
Blaine's mother hugs him and kissed him on the cheek.
"Now, you be careful..."
"I will, Mama."
"Don't drive too fast..."
"I won't."
"Call me the minute you get there."
"Yes, Mama..."
A young man in his early twenties. He has a three day growth of beard. He is tired. He keeps looking off toward
the various exits on the freeway. Behind him the skyline is beautiful and overpowering. Radio in truck is on, tuned throughout the film to the local country-western station.
There's a place not too far away from here
Out with the cows and the Lone Star beer
Where the livin' and lovin' is quite all right with me
Well they call it Texas and it's a mighty fine place to be
Runs from Texarkana to El Paso
And Oklahome down to old Mexico
And there's Houston, Dallas, Austin and San Antone
People in Texas sure do make you feel at home
They just want everybody to leave them alone
While they drink their whiskey and roll their own
And they like their music with a little bit of southern sound
They kick up their heels every evening when the sun goes down
Blaine looks off. That lead him out of Houston proper toward Pasadena, Texas.
As Blaine drives around the loop toward Pasadena. He can see the city in the and eventually the Petrochemical plants as he comes up over a bridge.
Signs lead Blaine to pasadena, texas.
He stares and is amazed at this place. Instant food houses everywhere. A boom town that has grown up around
the plants.
A brand new house in a new development area. Blaine drives
up. His aunt corene, a woman in her early thirties, comes running. She is very excited, dressed in waitress outfit.
"Hi, Aunt Corene, this the place?"
"Sure is, Blaine! Your timing is perfect! I just got in off work. Bob should be here any minute! Lou Sue! Blaine's here! Willie, come meet your cousin Blaine!"
getting out of truck "Hey, what a place!"
"Isn't it wonderful? We just love it!"
Willie is three years old and shy, and looks around. Blaine says hello, but Willie hides. Lou sue, their daughter, is in her teens and very developed.
"Hi, Lou Sue!"
As uncle bob comes driving up. He is in his early forties, has a big belly, wears a construction hat and carries his lunch pail. He drives a pickup with a sleeping arrangement. He is Irish and loves to drink.
"Hey, Blaine!" Uncle bob shouted excitedly.
"Hey, Uncle Bob!" They greet each other, shaking hands, pounding each other on the back.
"I sure do like your new place."
"Come on in, wait till you see the inside every new convenience come on, I'll make you a drink, get you cleaned up. Corene's been cooking for days. " he says moving in the house.
"How's everybody back in Spur? Your mamma all right?"
"Yeah, she's just fine I better call her though, I told her I'd call the minute I got here."
Blaine is on the phone in the living room. Uncle Bob is pouring drinks. Aunt Corene is puttering around in the kitchen. Lou Sue and her boyfriend are wandering around. Willie is staring at his cousin.
"It's ringing" Blaine says as his mother picked up the phone.
"Hi, Mamma -- what? I'm in Houston-- with Uncle Bob -- just drove up -- what? I drove straight through Mamma -- yeah, I made good time -- I didn't drive that fast"
Layer through the day Supper is just about over. Bud sits opposite Lou Sue,
eating. Aunt Corene moves about the kitchen offering more food, more pie, etc. Willie has gotten himself dressed up in a cowboy hat, a gun in a holster hangs on his hips.
He is moving around in the other room, trying to make up his mind whether he wants to show off in front of his cousin, Blaine.
"I can't eat no more." Blaine announced.
The TV is on. Willie is pretending to shoot at everybody. He fires at blaine who takes the shot as he walks into the fire, spins and falls 'dead' on the floor. Willie is surprised. He runs screaming to his mother. Uncle Bob appears, pulling on his jacket.
"Come on,it's after ten."
"Where y'all goin'?" Corene notices them leaveing.
"Going to take him to Gilley's --" he told his wife then faced Blaine. "You better take your truck, you'll want to stay longer'n me."
"Y'all be careful, you hear? All they ever want to do out there is fight, fight, fight."
Uncle Bob is driving up with Blaine right behind him in his truck. A Mexican boy is pasting bumper stickers on the backs of the cars and pickups parked in the lot.
A man is fighting with another man, both in cowboy hats, over a woman. They are yelling at each other. Uncle Bob and Blaine walk past very quickly. Blaine looking back, amused. The two men start swinging at each other.
"Just keep walking. And if they
start shooting, just fall to the ground."
As Uncle Bob leads Blaine through. Cowboys and cowgirl are moving in and out. As they can hear the music get louder when walking closer.