EXT. TEXAS SCRUB -- DAY

Two men in shorts and Hawaiian shirts are poking around a

sandy section in the middle of scrub flats.

SERGEANT CLIFF POTTS is in the f.g., a plant-and-tree

guidebook in hand, as SERGEANT "MIKEY" HOGAN works a metal

detector over a large, sandy bank in the b.g. Both are Army

career men with a morning off to pursue their hobbies.

CLIFF

We got ocotillo, devil's walking

stick--what's this stuff--it's

that whattayoucallit--horse-

crippler.

Mikey bends to scoop something out of the sand, putting it

in a canvas bag slung on his bip

MIKEY

This place is a gold mine.

CLIFF

Lead mine.

MIKEY sees that Cliff is talking, pulls his headset off.

MIKEY

What?

CLIFF

It's a lead mine.

MIKEY

Right.

CLIFF

I don't know why I'm talking to

you, you've got that thing on

your head.

MIKEY

You finding lots of cactus and

shit?

CLIFF

It's not just cactus. There's

the nopals, the yuccas--

MIKEY

(Puts headset on)

Looks like a lot of cactus to me.

CLIFF

(Grumbles)

Man knows a hundred-fifty varieties

of beer, he can't tell a poinsettia

from a prickly pear.

MIKEY

(Troubled)

Cliff--

CLIFF

You live in a place, you should

know something about it. Explore--

MIKEY

Cliff--

CU MIKEY

MIKEY in the f.g. now, looking down at something as he pulls

his headset off again --

MIKEY

Cliff, you gotta look at this--

Cliff wearily turns and approaches from the b.g.

CLIFF

Don't tell me--Spanish treasure,

right? Pieces of eight from the

Coronado expedition--

He stops by Mikey and looks down, his expression changing

CLIFF

Jesus--

GROUND -- CU BONES

Sticking out from the sand bank are the SKELETAL BONES of a

MAN'S HAND. There is a ring on one finger.

MIKEY (O.S.)

Was Coronado in the Masons?

EXT. ROAD -- DAY

A distant cloud of DUST appears on the horizon MUSIC

underscores that we are in Texas, and we SUPERIMPOSE the

OPENING CREDITS as the dust takes form around an APPROACHING

CAR. The car comes close enough to see it has a County

Sheriff's insignia on the side.

INT. CAR

We see SAM DEEDS, the Sheriff, driving. Sam is 40, quietly

competent to the point of seeming a bit moody.

He sees something up ahead. MUSIC, CREDITS END as Sam pulls

off the road and we see the sergeants standing in the scrub

EXT. SCRUB -- DAY -- BONES

The hand and forearm down to the elbow of the skeleton are

visible now.

WIDER

Cliff stands looking at the arm with Sam. MIKEY is a few

yards behind them, playing with his metal detector. Beyond

him we see the Sheriff's car parked.

SAM

I was driving back from Apache

Wells when they got me on the

radio.

CLIFF

This was a rifle range way back

when. But we figured it isn't

Army land anymore, it's your

jurisdiction.

SAM

(Nods)

I've got the forensics fella coming

down from the Rangers. No way to

know how old the body is without

some lab work.

CLIFF

That ring--

SAM

Masons been around a long while.

Mikey has come up to them, still sweeping with the metal

detector.

SAM

Treasure hunter?

CLIFF

(Apologetic)

Old bullets. He uhm--makes art

with them.

Sam just nods. Mikey frowns, goes down on one knee and

scratches something out of the dirt at their feet--

CLIFF

The Sheriff says we shouldn't

touch anything,

MIKEY

(To Sam)

He can't hear with that rig on--

Mikey!

Mikey comes up with something, holds it before them. An

encrusted piece of metal--

MIKEY

What've we got here?

Sam takes the thing, lays it back down where Mikey found it.

SAM

S'posed to leave everything right

where we found it. They're real

particular about that.

MIKEY

The scene of the crime.

SAM

No telling yet if there's been a

crime.

Sam frowns down at the piece of metal as he rubs the face of

it.

CU METAL

Sam's thumb wipes across the face of the encrusted metal.

It is roughly star-shaped.

SAM (O.S.)

But this country's seen a good

number of disagreements over the

years.

INT. HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM -- DAY -- TEXAS MAP

We look at a beautiful old pull-down map of Texas.

PILAR (O.S.)

We do the best we can here--

A teacher in her late 30s, PILAR CRUZ, steps in front of the

map and we FOLLOW her across the room, carrying a poster

PILAR

--but hey, public education these

days is a bit of a battleground.

Posters bung on the walls beyond her show luminaries from

Texas history--Sam Houston, Stephen Austin, Juan Seguin. A

new parent, CELIE PAYNE, stands in the middle of the otherwise

empty classroom.

CELIE

He went to school on base when we

were in Okinawa. it's all--you

know--kids in the same boat--Army

brats.

PILAR

His record shows that he's a good

student.

CELIE

I'm more worried about the social

thing. Are there like--gangs,

or...?

PILAR starts to put the poster up. CELIE moves to hold it

in place for her.

PILAR

We haven't had any serious

violence, if that's what you mean.

We've got a pretty lively mix

though--you walk into the cafeteria

and the Anglo kids are in one

section, the Mexican kids in

another and the Black kids have a

table in the back--thanks--

CELIE

So Blacks are--

PILAR

They're the smallest group except

for a couple Kickapoo kids. Look,

you're obviously a concerned

parent. Chet has no history of

getting into trouble--I'm happy

to have him in my class.

She steps back to see if the poster, an old pboto of Geronimo,

looks straight. Another teacher, MOLLY sticks her head in

the door---

MOLLY

(Uncomfortable)

Pilar, is uhm--is Amado okay?

PILAR

Okay? He's not here?

MOLLY

No. Is he sick?

PILAR

(Mutters)

He's going to wish he was dead.

EXT. STREET -- DAY -- CU VAQUERO PICTURE

On the door of a deluxe pickup truck is an airbrushed picture

of a Pancho Villa-looking vaquero with bandoliers crossing

his chest and a gun blazing in each hand. We hear LOUD MUSIC --

AMADO (O.S.)

Luis! Give me that Phillips-head

back--

WIDER

A small group of teenage Chicano BOYS hang around the truck

in the bed, on the hood, leaning against it. A BOOMBOX placed

on top of the cab blasts RANCHA MUSIC out at the neighborhood.

Somebody's legs are hanging out the open passenger-side door.

The kids suddenly look as a Sheriff's Department car slides

into the f.g. A Deputy Sheriff, TRAVIS, gets out

KIDS

Trying to look tough and unworried as we TRACK across the

street toward them. Travis's hand reaches out from behind

the camera to flick the MUSIC OFF.

INT. PICKUP

Amado CRUZ, Pilar's 15-year-old son, lies on the front seat

installing a compact disc player into the dash slot.

He reaches up to the dash, can't find what he wants

AMADO

Somebody hand me the CD player--

damelo pendejos--

He looks up and we TILT to see Travis leaning in the window,

examining the new radio

TRAVIS

They come a long way from those

old 8-track jobs, haven't they?

AMADO

Something wrong?

TRAVIS

(Waves radio)

This is stolen property. Alla

you fellas are coming down to the

station.

INT. CAFE SANTA BARBARA -- AFTERNOON -- ENRIQUE

Sweat beads the forehead of a thin, tired-looking recent

immigrant, ENRIQUE, as he delivers platters of chile rellenos

to a booth. MEXICAN MUSIC plays on a jukebox in the b.g.

We HOLD on the booth, where HOLLIS POGUE, in his 60s

entertains two GOOD OLD BOYS--

HOLLIS

So Buddy walks up to the porch

and there's old Fishbait McHenry,

cleanin' the dirt out his toenails

with a pocketknife--he was the

most hygienic of all the McHenrys--

The breakfast companions are laughing already--

HOLLIS

"Fishbait," says Buddy, in that

quiet way of his, "what you know

about them tires that went missing

from markets?" Fishbait thinks

for a minute, then he lifts up a

loose board from the porch floor

and calls down into it, "C'mon

out, Pooter, they caught us!"

FENTON

(Laughing)

Buddy Deeds. He had a way.

HOLLIS

He known who it was onnaconna the

tire tracks in the dirt from the

back of the garage to where they

loaded up. "Old Fishbait," he

says, "never lifted a thing in

this world if there was a way he

could roll it."

More laughter--

FENTON

Won't be another like him. That

boy of his doesn't come near it.

You ask me, he's all hat and no

cattle

SAM (O.S.)

Fellas--

We WIDEN to see Sam standing by their booth. No telling how

long he's been listening, Fenton is embarrassed.

HOLLIS

Sam! I was just telling a few

about your old man.

FENTON

He was a unique individual.

SAM

Yeah, he was that.

We sense a little strain when Sam has to talk about his father--

HOLLIS

Big day coming up--I wish we'd

have thought of it while he was

still living. But he went so

unexpected

FENTON

Better late than never. Korean

War hero, Sheriff for near thirty

years--Buddy Deeds Memorial P---

SAM

I heard there was a bit of a fuss.

HOLLIS

Oh, you know, the usual

troublemakers. Danny Padilla

from the Sentinel, that crowd.

FENTON

Every other damn thing in the

country is called after Martin

Luther King, they can't let our

side have one measly park?

HOLLIS

King wasn't Mexican, Fenton--

FENTON

Bad enough all the street names

are in Spanish--

SAM

They were here first.

FENTON

Then name it after Big Chief

Shitinabucket! Whoever that

Tonkawa fella was. He had the

Mexes beat by centuries.

HOLLIS

There was a faction pulling for

that boy who was killed in the

Gulf War--Ruben--

SAM

--Santiago.

HOLLIS

Right. But nobody here ever

noticed him till they read his

name on the national news--

FENTON

They just wanted it to be one of

theirs--

HOLLIS

That's not the whole story. The

Mexicans that know, that remember,

understand what Buddy was for

their people. Hell, it was

Mercedes over there who swung the

deciding vote for him.

Sam looks to the register where Pilar's mother, MERCEDES

CRUZ, whacks rolls of change apart on the counter. She seems

to be avoiding looking toward him.

SAM

That so?

HOLLIS

She put it even at three to three,

so as the Mayor I get to cast the

tiebreaker. The older generation

won't have any problem with it.

They remember how Buddy come to

be Sheriff, that it was all 'cause

he took their part.

FENTON

Tell that one, Hollis--

HOLLIS

Hell, everybody heard that story

a million times.

SAM

I'd like to hear it. Your version

of it.

Something about the way Sam says it puts Hollis on guard.

FENTON

Go ahead, Hollis.

CU HOLLIS

Hollis is hooked into it now --

HOLLIS

The two of us were the only

deputies back then me and Buddy--

it's what--'58--

FENTON (O.S.)

'57, 1 believe--

HOLLIS

And the Sheriff at the time was

Big Charley Wade. Charley was

one of your old-fashioned bribe-

or-bullets kind of Sheriffs, he

took a healthy bite out of whatever

moved through this county.

He looks down at the table--

HOLLIS

It was in here one night, back

when Jimmy Herrera run the place.

Started right here in this booth.

We PAN down to the table, The food has changed. The tortillas

are in a straw basket instead of plastic. The jukebox changes

to ANOTHER SONG and the LIGHT DIMS slightly. A hand with a

big Masonic ring on one finger appears to lift a tortilla --

underneath it lie three ten-dollar bills. The hand lifts

them up and we TILT to see the face of SHERIFF CHARLEY WADE,

a big, mean redneck with shrewd eyes

It is 1957 --

WADE

(Grins)

This beaner fare doesn't agree

with me, but the price sure is

right.

WIDER

Wade sits across from his young deputies, YOUNG HOLLIS (30s)

and BUDDY DEEDS (20s). A chicken-fried steak sits untouched

in front of Buddy. Hollis has the anxious look of an errand

boy, while Buddy is self-contained and quietly forceful for

his age.

BUDDY

What's that for?

WADE

Jimmy got a kitchen full of

wetbacks, most of 'em relatives.

People breed like chickens.

BUDDY

So?

WADE

I roust some muchacho on the

street, doesn't have his papers,

all he got to say is "Yo trabajo

para Jimmy Herrera."

Wade folds the money and stuffs if in his pocket--

WADE

You got to keep the wheels greased,

son. Sheriff does his job right,

everybody makes out. Now this is

gonna be one of your pickups,

Buddy. First of the month, just

like the rent. Get the car,

Hollis.

Wade and Hollis slide out of the booth to stand.

BUDDY

I'm not doing it.

Hollis stops a few feet away, shocked. Wade just stares

down at Buddy.

WADE

Come again?

Buddy looks Wade in the eye, seemingly unafraid.

BUDDY

It's your deal. You sweated it

out of him, you pick it up.

WADE

There's gonna be some left over

for you, Buddy. I take care of

my boys

BUDDY

That's not the point.

WADE

You feeling bad for Jimmy? Have

him tell you the size of the

mordida they took out of his hide

when he run a place on the other

side. Those old boys in Ciudad

Leon--

BUDDY

I'm not picking it up.

WADE

You do whatever I say you do or

else you put it on the trail,

son.

The CUSTOMERS are all watching now, nervous.

Buddy thinks for a moment, not taking his eyes off Wade.

BUDDY

How 'bout this--how 'bout you put

that shield on this table and

vanish before you end up dead or

in jail?

Wade rests his hand on his pistol. It is dead silent but

for the MUSIC on the box

BUDDY

You ever shoot anybody was looking

you in the eye?

WADE

Who said anything about shootin'

anybody?

Buddy has his gun out under the table. He slowly brings it

up and lays it flat on the table, not taking his hand off it

or his eyes off Wade.

BUDDY

Whole different story; isn't it?

WADE

You're fired. You're outta the

department.

BUDDY

There's not a soul in this county

isn't sick to death of your

bullshit, Charley. You made

yourself scarce, you could make a

lot of people happy.

WADE

You little pissant--

BUDDY

Now or later, Charley. You won't

have any trouble finding me.

Wade feels the people around him waiting for a reaction. He

leans close to Buddy to croak in a hoarse whisper

WADE

You're a dead man.

He turns and nearly bumps into Hollis. He gives the Deputy

a shove.

WADE

Get the goddam car. We're going

to Roderick's.

CU BUDDY

He watches till the screen door shuts behind them, then

holsters his gun and begins to saw at the steak as if nothing

had happened. He calls softly--

BUDDY

Muchacho--mas cerveza por favor.

He looks up at somebody and we PAN till we see Sam, still

standing over the booth, listening.

We are back in 1995 --

HOLLIS (O.S.)

"Mas cerveza por favor."

FENTON (O.S.)

That Buddy was a cool breeze.

We PULL BACK to see Hollis and his buddies at the table,

eating their lunches as they listen

FENTON

Charley Wade were known to have

put a good number of people in

the ground, and your daddy gets

eyeball to eyeball with him.

HOLLIS

We made our collection at

Roderick's place and that was the

last anybody seen hide nor hair

of him. He went missing the next

day, along with ten thousand

dollars in county funds from the

safe at the jail.

SAM

Never heard from him again?

HOLLIS

Not a peep. Buddy run the man

out of town.

FENTON

Buddy Deeds said a thing, he damn

well backed it up. Won't be

another like him.

SAM

So he arrested all of Jimmy

Herrera's people and sent 'em

back to the other side?

Hollis sees what Sam is getting at, grins--

HOLLIS

Oh--he come to an accommodation.

Money doesn't always need to change

hands to keep the wheels turning.

SAM

Right.

HOLLIS

Look, I know you had some problems

with your father, and he and Muriel--

well--

FENTON

Your mother was a saint.

HOLLIS

--but Buddy Deeds was my salvation.

Sam nods, speaks softly--

SAM

Won't be another like him.

EXT. ARMY INSTALLATION -- DAY -- CU DEL PAYNE

COLONEL DELMORE PAYNE (DEL), a very direct, by-the-book Black

officer, addresses them. Artillery pieces angle toward the

sky behind him--

DEL

--it's an honor for me to assume

command of this unit, and I look

forward to working with all of

you.

OFFICERS

Cliff and Mikey, in uniform now, flank SERGEANT PRISCILLA

WORTH, a Black woman in her early 40s, as they stand in

formation--

DEL (O.S.)

I'm sure you're all aware of the

Army's decision to close this

installation under the Reduction

in Force plan. That does not

mean, however--

REVERSE

We look over the shoulders of assembled OFFICERS and NCOs

toward Del.

DEL

--that we've been sent here to

mark time until we are absorbed

by another unit.

CU DEL

DEL

You may have heard rumors that I

run a very tight operation. These

rumors are not exaggerated.

INT. SHERIFF'S OFFICE -- AFTERNOON -- BUDDY PHOTO

We are looking through a magnifying glass at an old photo.

Buddy's face is slightly distorted by the glass.

SECRETARY (O.S.)

Sam? I got Danny Padilla from

the paper for you--

Sam sits at his desk in the Sheriff's office, looking down

at the photo--

SAM

Tell him I'll catch him later.

CU PHOTOGRAPH

An old photo of the 1957 Sheriff's Department officers on

the courthouse steps. Wade, Hollis, Buddy, a few others,

all in uniform

SECRETARY (O.S.)

He says he needs to talk to you

before the ceremony.

SAM

Sam puts a magnifying glass over the photo and bends close

to look.

SAM

Tell him to try me tomorrow.

EXTREME CU PHOTO -- BADGE

MAGNIFIED POV of the badge on Wade's chest swims into view.

A metal star. We hear the secretary getting rid of the

caller.

SECRETARY (O.S.)

He thinks you're trying to duck

him.

CU SAM

Looking at the photo, troubled--

SAM

(Mutters)

He's right.

EXT. BIG O'S ROADHOUSE -- NIGHT -- NEON SIGN

We start on a BLINKING SIGN -- BIG O'S, then PAN to see a

full parking lot outside the low, neon-lit roadhouse. R&B

MUSIC blasts from inside

EXT. DOORWAY -- CHET

CHET, a Black kid around 15, stands nervously at the door

building up his courage. He takes a deep breath, plunges in

INT. BIG O'S

We TRACK with Chet, very nervous, as he makes his way through

the crowded roadhouse. The customers are all Black, many

from the nearby Army post, SHOUTING and LAUGHING over the

loud MUSIC. Chet, edgy, is looking for somebody. He sees

CHET'S POV -- OTIS

Seen through the crush is OTIS "BIG O" PAYNE, a large man in

his early 60s, laughing as he stands behind the bar

CHET

He nervously puts his hand under his jacket. A gun? He

pushes forward to get a better view.

CHET'S POV -- OTIS

Moving in on him. Otis looks over, sees the boy, frowns --

CHET

Reaching under his jacket, he pulls out -- a photograph.

He looks at it -- suddenly there is a SCREAM from behind,

then GUNSHOTS, patrons diving for the floor.

Chet whirls around and we WHIP PAN to see a young man, SHADOW,

emptying his pistol into RICHIE, a young soldier, as a young

woman, ATHENA, screams and tries to pull the gun away. With

the last shot, Shadow turns and heads for the door, but is

tackled and swarmed by angry men, SHOUTING. We PAN to Athena,

kneeling over the bleeding, twitching body of Richie --

CHET

Chet backs up, horrified. A large hand grasps him on the

shoulder from behind. He turns to see Otis standing over

him, strangely calm amid the chaos

OTIS

You weren't in here tonight, were

you?

CHET

No sir.

OTIS

(Points)

Go out through the back.

Chet hurries away. Otis watches him for a moment, then turns

to the mess in his club.

INT. AUDITORIUM -- NIGHT -- CU ANGLO MOTHER

An angry woman stands from her auditorium chair --

ANGLO MOTHER

You're just tearin' everything

down! Tearin' down our heritage,

tearin' down the memory of people

that fought and died for this

land

CHICANO FATHER (O.S.)

We fought and died for this land,

too!

We WHIP PAN to see another standing parent --

CHICANO FATHER

We fought the U.S. Army, the

Texas Rangers--

ANGLO FATHER (O.S.)

Yeah, but you lost, buddy!

We WHIP PAN to a man in the rear --

ANGLO FATHER

Winners get the bragging rights,

that's how it goes.

PRINCIPAL (O.S.)

People--people--

WIDER

We are in the High School auditorium, a hot-and-heavy teachers-

and -parents meeting in progress. Pilar sits at the end of

a long table facing the agitated parents, taking some heat.

DANNY PADILLA, a young, long-haired reporter, sits in the

front taking notes, enjoying the show

PRINCIPAL

I think it would be best not to

put things in terms of winners

and losers--

ANGLO MOTHER

(Points at Pilar)

Well, the way she's teachin' it

has got everything switched around.

I was on the textbook committee,

and her version is not--

PRINCIPAL

We think of the textbook as kind

of a guide, not an absolute--

ANGLO MOTHER

--it is not what we set as the

standard! Now you people can

believe what you want, but when

it comes to teaching our children--

CHICANO MOTHER

They're our children, too!

ANGLO FATHER

The men who founded this state

have a right to have their story--

DANNY

The men who founded this state

broke from Mexico because they

needed slavery to be legal to

make a fortune in the cotton

business!

PILAR

I think that's a bit of an

oversimplification--

ANGLO FATHER

Are you reporting this meeting or

runnin' it, Danny?

DANNY

Just adding a little historical

perspective--

REAR OF AUDITORIUM

PALOMA CRUZ, Pilar's teenage daughter, peeks into the room,

then moves down the side toward the stage.

ANGLO FATHER

You may call it history, but I

call it propaganda. I'm sure

they got their own account of the

Alamo on the other side, but we're

not on the other side, so we're

not about to have it taught in

our schools!

PILAR

There's no reason to be so

threatened by this--

Pilar is trying to stay calm despite her anger.

PILAR

I've only been trying to get across

some of the complexity of our

situation down here---cultures

coming together in both negative

and positive ways

ANGLO MOTHER (O.S.)

If you mean like music and food

and all, I have no problem with

that.

REVERSE

We shoot past Pilar toward the parents in their seats.

PALOMA steps up to whisper to her.

ANGLO MOTHER

--but when you start changing who

did what to who.

TEACHER

We're not changing anything, we're

presenting a more complete picture

ANGLO MOTHER

And that's what's got to stop!

Pilar looks troubled by what she's heard. She shoots a look

toward the others at the table, then slips away with Paloma--

TEACHER

There's enough ignorance in the

world without us encouraging it

in the classroom--

ANGLO MOTHER

Now who are you calling ignorant?

PRINCIPAL

Folks, I know this is a very

emotional issue for some of you,

but we do have other business to

attend to--

CHICANO FATHER

We're not going to get some

resolution on this?

CU PRINCIPAL

Weary --

PRINCIPAL

Would you people like to form

another committee?

GROANS from the parents--

INT. SHERIFF'S OFFICE -- NIGHT -- SHADOW

Shadow, face bruised, hands cuffed behind him, is pushed in

through the door to be booked.

SHADOW

I hope the sucker does die, man!

Mess with me, that's what you

get!

Sam steps in behind him and meets his Chief Deputy RAY

HERNANDEZ, coming from the other direction.

RAY

Hospital says the other kid is in

bad shape--

SAM

(Glances ahead)

The shooter local?

RAY

(Shakes his bead)

Down from Houston. I think he

knew the girl before.

SAM

Okay--we'll take a statement from

all the GIs before they go back

to post. You can get the story

from Otis over at the club.

RAY

Any poop on the John Doe you found

out there today?

SAM

Nothin' much. The Rangers put

Ben Wetzel on it. Catch you later.

As Ray steps out, Pilar looking distraught, walks into the

station, passing right by Sam without seeing him.

CU SAM

Wonders what she's doing there --

SAM'S POV -- PILAR

She stands by an unoccupied reception desk, very upset, unable

to attract anyone's attention because of the activity around

the shooting. She looks tired and a bit scared under the

harsh overhead light

SAM (O.S.)

Pilar.

PILAR AND SAM

Pilar looks around. Sam is standing by her. We can tell

there is some history between these two.

SAM

Something wrong?

PILAR

They've got my Amado.

SAM

Got him here?

PILAR

Somebody called--something about

an electronics store.

SAM

I'll see what's going on.

He starts away, stops, comes back--

SAM

I was--I was real sorry about

Nando. He was a good fella. We

haven't talked since.

PILAR

We haven't talked since high

school.

SAM

Yeah. I'll go check on your boy.

Pilar watches Sam go--

REAR OF OFFICE

Travis sits typing away at a word processor as Athena, in

tears, gives testimony.

ATHENA

--so Richie just didn't say nothin'

'cause he didn't want to get into

it, see, and the next thing I

know there's shots and Richie is

down. It happened so fast--

SAM (O.S.)

Excuse me--

We WIDEN to see Sam standing over the desk --

SAM

We got some boys you run in earlier

today?

TRAVIS

Yeah. I pulled the bunch that

hangs at Pico Bernal's place. We

finally caught them with something.

SAM

You got a juvenile with 'ern--

Amado Cruz?

Travis looks at his booking sheets--

TRAVIS

Yeah--let's see--the other ones

say he wasn't in on the theft,

lie just knows how to hook things

up. We've been trying to contact

a parent

INT. JAIL HALLWAY

Sam walks with Amado, who is trying to look defiant --

SAM

They tell me you're good at fixing

things.

Nothin--

SAM

Your father was a hell of a

mechanic

Still nothing--

SAM

You know, if you figure minimum

wage on the time most thieves

spend in jail, they could have

bought most everything they stole.

AMADO

I didn't steal anything.

SAM

I didn't say you did. My name is

Sam, by the way.

Amado just gives him a look--

INT. SHERIFF'S OFFICE

Sam and AMADO step out into the office, where Pilar stands

waiting.

SAM

He's all yours.

PILAR

Are you okay?

AMADO

I don't know what the big deal

is.

PILAR

You'll find out when I get you

home. Thanks, Sam.

SAM

No problem.

Pilar yanks AMADO outside by his arm. She turns to shoot a

look back at Sam, then steps out through the glass door.

CU SAM

Watching her go--

SAM

Any time.

FADE OUT:

EXT. OBSTACLE COURSE -- MORNING -- PIT

We shoot up from a pit in the ground. WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP!

Three men leap over, landing on the far side and running

away from us.

MEN

Del Payne runs with Cliff and Mikey on a pathway along a

security fence, the two sergeants struggling to keep up,

occasionally vaulting or scaling some mild obstacle

MIKEY

There's not that much down here,

Colonel. Big O's is the only

place in the county that our

African American soldiers are uhm--

that they feel comfortable in.

DEL

Have we had trouble there before?

CLIFF

Since I've been stationed here?

A fistfight now and then--

MIKEY

We had a kid pass out in the men's

room. The town isn't much.

DEL

They didn't come for a vacation.

CLIFF

Yes sir.

MIKEY

You know how it is, Colonel--first

time away from home, dealing with

new people--I remember my first

hitch--

DEL

Substance abuse?

MIKEY

Well, yeah, but I went through

the Program. I haven't had a

drink since--

DEL

I meant on the post. In general.

How are you dealing with it?

CLIFF

We throw a urine test at them

once a month. Random numbers,

maybe a hundred people at a time

DEL

Why don't we make it once a week

for a while?

CLIFF

No problem, sir.

Del notices bow hard they are breathing--

DEL

I sprint the last quarter mile.

You gentlemen don't have to keep

up if you don't care to.

MIKEY

Appreciate it, sir.

Del accelerates and we HOLD with the sergeants, slowing to a

near-walk.

MIKEY

Guy cracks walnuts with his

asshole.

CLIFF

(Grins)

You get the feeling he doesn't

want to be here?

INT. FORENSICS LAB -- VARIOUS SHOTS

We hear Hank Williams' gospel song "I'll Have a New Body

(I'll Have a New Life)" as we see the gathered bones of the

skeleton tagged and photographed and measured, impressions

made of the dental work in the skull, photographs of the

excavation of the body at various stages marked with Fed

grease pencil, the piece of metal laid in a detarnishing

dish, the ring put under a microscope

CU METAL

MUSIC CONTINUES as we TIGHTEN on the piece of metal, a pair

of tongs pulling it from the detarnishing solution. It is a

star-shaped badge, bearing the words "SHERIFF -- RIO COUNTY."

INT. COUNTRY AND WESTERN BAR -- AFTERNOON

C&W MUSIC playing, the regulars starting to show up. Sam

makes his way to a table where BEN WETZEL, a Texas Ranger,

sits with a file of forensic reports

BEN

Sam the Man.

SAM

Hey, Ben. Thanks for coming down.

They shake, Sam sits.

BEN

How's business?

SAM

Business is booming. Got your

drugs, got your illegals--had a

shooting the other night at Big

O's--Soldier got ventilated.

BEN

I hear they're closing that post

down.

SAM

September '97, that's all she

wrote.

BEN

Gonna pull a lot of jobs out of

this county.

SAM

Yeah, we'll have folks swimming

over to Mexico to work in the

sweatshops.

Sam looks at the folder of reports.

SAM

That the word on our boy?

BEN

Yeah, this is Skinny.

SAM

Skinny?

BEN

We find a body, it's either Skinny

or Stinky, depending on how much

meat there is on the bones.

SAM

Nice job.

BEN

(Opens folder)

Male, 40 to 50 years old, five-

foot-eleven, chewed tobacco--then

we get into the dental records--

SAM

Charley Wade.

BEN

(Nods)

That badge--

SAM

--it didn't come out of a cereal

box.

BEN

Yeah.

SAM

You know the popular version of

how he left town.

BEN

Everybody on the border knows

that story.

SAM

You got a cause of death?

BEN

Skull was intact, no soft tissue

left--not much to go on.

SAM

So he could have gone out to the

base, hopped the fence, dug down

into the dirt on the old rifle

range and had a heart attack.

Ben smiles, closes the folder--

BEN

You uhm--you remember what old

Buddy carried for a side arm?

SAM

Colt Peacemaker.

BEN

A .45--

SAM

He swore by it.

(Ben frowns)

What?

BEN

Just wondering.

SAM

So is Buddy on your short list?

BEN

If it was some poor mojado, swam

across at night, got lost in the

scrub and starved out there, we

wouldn't go any further. But

this is a formerly prominent

citizen.

SAM

You got to investigate. No

question about it.

BEN

What I will do is keep names out

of it till we got some answers or

hit a dead end. You know how the

press is with a murder story--

even if it's forty years old.

SAM

Yeah, it's a pretty cold trail.

They sit in awkward silence for a moment. Ben feels bad

about it.

BEN

I remember Charley Wade come to

my father's hardware store once

when I was a little boy. I'd

heard stories how he shot this

one, how he shot that one--man

winked at me and I peed in my

pants.

(Shakes his head)

Winked at me.

INT. CLASSROOM -- DAY

Pilar stands at the blackboard by her outline of 19th century

Texas history.

PILAR

Okay, we have the fight against

the Spanish with bloody conflict

for dozens of years till they're

finally defeated in 1821 and

Mexican independence is declared.

Anglo settlers are invited--

CU DRAWING

Somebody making a skillful pencil drawing on the corner of a

sheet of lined notebook paper. A bald, muscular shotputter

after releasing the shot, his hand large in the f.g.

PILAR (O.S.)

--to colonize the area and by the

time they begin the movement

against Santa Anna they outnumber

the Mexicans here by four to one.

The war between Mexico--

CHET

Drawing intently. He takes the notebook and lays his thumb

over the corner

PILAR (O.S.)

-and the Anglo forces ends in

1836 with the formation of the

Texas Republic. Texas joins the

United States as a state where

slavery is legal in 1845--

NOTEBOOK

Chet "flips" the corner of the notebook and the series Of

drawings he's made form a brief cartoon of the shot-putter

blowing his cheeks out and heaving the shot right past us.

Extremely well-drawn--

PILAR (O.S.)

-after the so-called Mexican war

and then secedes to join the

Confederacy in 1861. The

Confederacy is beaten, and the

Reformation period here is marked

by range wars and race wars--

PILAR

Looking out at the class --

PILAR

--and all this paralleled by

constant battles between both

the Mexican and Anglo settlers

and the various Indian nations in

the area. What are we seeing

here? Chet?

CHET

Startled, he hides the notebook under his hands --

CHET

Uhm--everybody is killing everybody

else?

EXT. LAKE -- DAY -- CU FISHING LURE

A nasty-looking thing. Only a bass would want to eat this.

Hollis leans in to peer at the thing dangling before his

face.

WIDER

Hollis sits in the swivel chair of a bass boa