The Rider

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(LOUD BREATHING)

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

(GASPS)

(WATER POURING)

(COUGHS)

(SNIFFS)

(HORSE WHINNIES)

How you doing, part'?

It's good to see you.

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING ON STEREO)

(MUSIC STOPS)

What the hell

are you doing here?

You're supposed to be

up there in the hospital.

I seen Tanner at the bar,

he said you escaped, huh?

Told you to check me out.

Well, doctor said you're

supposed to stay up there.

Give me a hug.

Why don't you go inside

and sober up?

Sober up?

Let me see you rope that.

Checking yourself out of the

hospital like your Uncle Roddy?

What the hell?

(SNORTS)

Can't you rope anymore?

Got any chew?

Just give me a hug.

Love you.

ANNOUNCER:

Ladies and gentlemen,

how about another round

of applause?

You get a little bit

out of time,

and that's all it takes

to put you down on the ground.

Next in the livestock bucking

chute, here's Brady Jandreau.

(CROWD CHEERING)

ANNOUNCER:
Bucking chute.

Here comes Brady.

WOMAN:
Go, Brady. Go, Brady!

(ANNOUNCER CONTINUES

INDISTINCTLY)

(VIDEO STOPS)

WOMAN:
Go, Brady!

ANNOUNCER:

Well, folks, it's...

Our rear pickup can't get a hold

of that horse. The cowboy...

(MICROWAVE BEEPS)

Hmm.

WAYNE:
There's supper.

Better have a bite

of that chuckwagon.

Just look at it

for a second.

Mmm-mmm.

I'm sick of it.

It makes me all mad.

- WAYNE:
I'll make a deal with you.

- Hmm?

A bite of the chuckwagon

or wear a bra.

But I don't like

that bra ever!

WAYNE:
Brady,

get her that bra.

You shouldn't try to force her

to eat things

she doesn't want to eat.

But I just want to eat

fruit or not

or respect about your

favorite thing to do or not.

You're as stubborn

as your brother.

Look how he ended up.

- LILLY:
That's dirty.

- Big old gash on the side of his head.

I told him not to go over there and

ride that son of a b*tch anyway.

Well, I would have won the rodeo

if I would've got her rode.

LILLY:
Excuse me, guys.

Whole point of it is,

is I told you to stay home.

I had a bad feeling

the whole time.

(SPITS)

(HORSE WHINNYING)

FRANK:
You got him

backing up pretty good?

BRADY:
How you doing, Frank?

Hey, Brady. How you doing?

Sh*t, I'm healing up.

- It looks pretty wicked there.

- Yeah.

I'll be good to go

before long.

Bullshit. Don't let him

lie to you, Frank.

F*** that.

I'll come and see you, Frank.

Don't worry about it.

You should lay off that

horse's face a little bit,

and he wouldn't be putting his

head in there like a goose.

Well, you can tell me

what to do

when you're riding

the son of a b*tch.

Too bad you went to the rodeo

and got all f***ed up

and you ain't showing him.

BRADY:
I was doing

what I needed to do.

Well, I'm doing

what I need to do.

Finishing something

that you should be doing.

Well, see you, Brady.

Take care.

(TINKLING)

I was tough, Mom.

(COUGHING)

(COUGHS)

(DOOR OPENS)

LILLY:
What's the matter,

Brady?

Sit down, Lilly.

- You okay?

- Sure.

- Are you okay?

- Yeah, I'm okay.

All right.

You won't get hurt yourself.

I didn't mean to.

Aw, it's okay.

Come here.

- Listen.

- What?

This time, you don't...

Your hurt boo-boo?

- Yeah.

- I...

That... This is a head.

- Yeah.

- It's called "skull."

Yeah, I hurt my skull.

- You know what they had to do?

- What?

They had to do surgery.

Surgery? Don't joke me.

You know what they do

when they do surgery?

- What?

- What do they do?

- Got broke.

- Yeah.

I broke it.

Broke my skull.

Yeah, "broke my skull,"

right.

And then you have

to cut it with a knife.

Uh-huh.

- Cut it.

- Yeah.

- And then they put a plate in there.

- Uh-huh.

And then they sewed it up.

(STAMMERS) But you said...

- "Not gonna, either"?

- Not gonna what?

Bucking horse anymore.

Uh, maybe.

Oh, dear, that's terrible.

I'm not gonna die.

- No, I'm not gonna die, either.

- No.

- I'm staying alive.

- Yeah.

Lil, can you sing me a song

so I can take a nap?

- Yes.

- Okay.

(SINGING IN SPANISH)

(CHUCKLES)

(DOOR OPENS)

Holy piss.

Jesus Christ,

he looks like Frankenstein.

That's f***ing right.

F*** that.

That's just a scratch.

(LAUGHS)

Some smoke will help it.

(BLOWS)

Get the f*** out of here.

(GUYS LAUGHING)

You can wrap it up, right?

BRADY:
Why?

What are you guys doing?

Put your Wranglers on, man.

- Yeah, let's go get f***ed up, bud.

- Let's go.

CAT:
Last of the Mohics.

(ALL LAUGH)

(DISTANT CHATTER)

Yeah!

(WHOOPING)

Your turn, James. Do it.

Yee!

Yeah!

F*** yeah, dude.

(STRUMMING GUITAR)

Come on, Brady!

Let's go!

Come on, Brady!

- Brades, come on!

- Yeah.

(WHOOPS)

That horse I got on

in Fargo was...

Everything I heard

about her was sh*t,

but I got on her

and said, "F*** it," and...

She was good out there

for a while, and...

Until the whistle,

she got real trashy

and started turning there

by the fence, sucking back,

and I went over

the front of her.

She stepped on my head,

popped me out.

Didn't knock me out until they got

me back to the hospital there.

I had a seizure

and went into a coma.

CAT:
Yeah, I been going

for 10-plus years, you know?

Probably had

10-plus concussions.

I probably should...

I mean, by NFL standards,

I should be dead,

you know what I mean?

Got kicked in Kadoka

at Rodeo Bible Camp.

Went out the back door.

That wasn't so bad.

It was kind of a stinger there

for about a week, but...

Started riding and it

loosened up a little more.

TANNER:
Got on this big,

gray mare.

I was getting pretty stretched

out towards the end,

and thank God

I heard the whistle blow.

But, anyway, right at the end,

she slammed me down

in the dirt.

Hardest I've ever been

slammed before.

Brady over there told me

to get on my short-go horse

even though my ribs hurt

like a son of a b*tch.

Ain't that right, Brady?

You don't let no pain

put you down.

You ain't gonna be turning out

horses left and right

just 'cause your head hurts

a little bit now, are you?

I'm not... I'm not drawing out

of anything.

I'm just taking some time off.

Your brain's a little

different than your ribs.

Yeah, I know, but it's all

the same to a cowboy.

Ride through the pain.

You gotta make sure this head

of yours don't get you scared.

I know how that goes

with some guys.

They get scared

to get on again,

and then they

end up becoming farmers.

Hey, Brady.

You seen Lane?

Well, I didn't get a chance

to see him there for a while,

while I was rodeoing.

They just checked him into a

brand-new rehab facility.

He probably could have won the World

if he'd had an honest chance.

Remember when he went three for three

in McCool Junction and won it?

Yeah, that was a good night

for Lane.

Remember when he

broke his riding arm

and won the bull riding

first time ever

riding a bull with his right hand?

Eighty-four points.

Sh*t, one time, me and Lane

was coming back from a party.

We was driving

in Tanner's brother's car,

and we was kind of

talking about women.

We was a little drunk,

and Lane looks over at me

and says,

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