Free Ride

[first lines]

Shell:
[narrating] Gas, grass or ass. Nobody rides for free. At least that's what my mom says.

[Christina picks her kids up from school to drive them to Florida]

Christina:
Come on, get in. I'm going to need a co-pilot. [Christina holds the maps up to her oldest daughter MJ] I'll be damned if I'm going to take any lame asses across state line. We either do this together or not at all.

Shell:
I'm not a lame ass.

MJ:
Why are we going to Florida?

Christina:
[Christina takes off her sunglasses and shows MJ the bruises her boyfriend gave her] I called Sandy. She said she could get me a job. It's as simple as that.

MJ:
Does Grandma know?

Christina:
I'll tell her when we get there. I need to get down there and make some money first. I'm not going to sit here and listen to her tell me what a f***ing loser I am for having to move us back in her house. You're either in or you're out.

[MJ takes the maps]

Christina:
Travellin' '77 south.

[Christina and her daughters lay together for bed in the back seat of the car while on their way to Florida]

Christina:
Lock your doors. We wouldn't want some trucker crawling in here looking for a warm bed full of ladies.

MJ:
Yeah, sure you wouldn't.

Shell:
Good night, John-Boy.

Christina:
It's not going to be forever.

MJ:
What if it sucks?

Christina:
Then we go back to Grandma's.

Shell:
Is it just going to be the three of us?

Christina:
Just the three of us.

MJ:
Do you promise?

Christina:
Yeah, I promise.

Shell:
Good night, John-Boy.

MJ:
Good night, Elizabeth.

Christina:
Good night, Mary Ellen.

[MJ and Shell walk back to their motel room from the store]

MJ:
Where did you get that?

Shell:
What?

MJ:
That gum in your mouth.

Shell:
Um... Back there.

MJ:
Back where?

Shell:
In the store.

MJ:
We didn't buy any gum, Shell.

Shell:
Well, I couldn't hold it, so I put it in my pocket and I forgot it was there.

MJ:
Spit it out. [MJ holds her hand out] Spit it out. [Shell spits the gum into MJ's hand]

MJ:
Okay, we're going to go back, and you're going to tell the story lady you stole it. She'll probably make you give something back.

Shell:
Why?

MJ:
We're not trash, Shell. We don't steal.

Shell:
I didn't mean to.

MJ:
Okay, but you did. Come on.

Shell:
This sucks.

MJ:
Sorry, bud.

[Christina meets Ray the pick-up driver]

Ray:
Wow, Sandy. Either you got better-looking or I'm about to meet the new girl boss man's been talking about.

Christina:
You better not let Sandy here you say that.

Ray:
I'll be our little secret.

Christina:
How do you know I can keep a secret?

Ray:
Just a feeling. You got some change for me?

[Christina bends over into the passenger seat of her car, then giving him the bag]

Ray:
Look, if you ever need a tour guide or anything, my hourly rate is pretty reasonable.

Christina:
[laughs and holds her hand out] Chris.

Ray:
Ray. So I guess the position of the tour guide is taken.

Christina:
Nah. I just like to get first names. Part of my redneck upbringing.

Ray:
In that case... [gets a paper and pen to write his phone number] I'll show you around the everglades. You, uh... you might recognize some family members there.

Christina:
[laughs taking the paper] Well, now I'm definitely not calling.

[Sandy explains the rules of drug smuggling to Christina]

Sandy:
All right, first things first. The rules. One: no sampling the load. Two: never, ever throw a load. Three: no relationships inside the organization. The boss man does not like the right hand knowing what the left hand's doing. Comprende?

Christina:
What?

Sandy:
I'm not f***ing around here, Chris. You got to pay attention.

Christina:
I'm here for you, Sandy. Whatever you need.

Sandy:
First thing we got to do is find a boat.

Christina:
How about that one?

Sandy:
Too big. We're looking for a 30- to 40-foot fishing boat. Anything bigger draws too much attention. Anything smaller doesn't have enough storage. [the girls show up to the right size boat]

Sandy:
All right, Chris. Let's see what you got. This guy's cool. Anyone aboard?

Boat Owner:
Can I help you?

Christina:
Hi. [Sandy hits Christina in the arm] Uh, I was wondering if we can rent your boat.

Boat Owner:
Sure do, but I won't be around to run it. I got some relatives in town.

Sandy:
You got to start thinking like a sailor. So you only want to buy food that keeps, because you never know how long you're going to be out there. You want canned, dry, pickled, smoked, but only the good stuff. Look, Chris, we're moving drugs, not rockets. Just be good at your job, and look good doing it.

[MJ and Shell lay together on the back of the horse while looking up at the stars]

Shell:
Why do some look bigger than others?

MJ:
I don't know.

Shell:
Why are some brighter?

MJ:
Maybe they were born that way.

Shell:
Why?

MJ:
God wanted it that way, I guess.

Shell:
I don't think so. I think they were all born bright, and then after a while, all the stuff around them, dust and stuff, covered them up. So you just can't see them. But they're still bright underneath. It's still there if you look closely.

MJ:
That's why you're going to be the doctor and I'm going to ride horses.

[Christina sits with her daughter MJ in the hospital]

Christina:
[Christina in tears watches her daughter in bed laying beside her] Shh. Baby, I'm right here. Don't try to talk. I'm right here. I'm right here. Shh. In case you need it. [Christina slides MJ a notepad of paper to her hand]

Christina:
[Christina whispers to her daughter about letting her go to the party] I've never been very good at this. I failed at... almost everything. But... I'm trying, MJ. I'm really trying. I shouldn't have let you go. It's just that... I was in a hurry. And your face... you just wanted to go so badly. I am so... f***ing stupid. So stupid. [crying]

Christina:
[MJ begins to move her hand to write something down, she writes, Your My Mom] Thank you, baby. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. [the two cry together as Christina holds onto MJ]

[Shell reads an article out of a newspaper for show and tell in school]

Shell:
Miss Milland was arrested in front of the house at 3:30 a.m., just one hour after the initial raid. They seized over 15,000 pounds of marijuana, with a street value over $3 million. It is the largest drug seizure in the county's history.

Teacher:
Well, thank you for sharing, Shell, and, uh, being at show and tell. Is the person in the article someone you know?

Shell:
She's my mom.

[the teacher and class students look dumbfounded when the school bell rings]

End Title Card:
Christina was sentenced to fifteen years but served only one in the West Palm Beach County Jail. Five attorneys were employed by an anonymous donor to plead the case. She never gave names.

End Title Card:
Christina and MJ shared a house together and worked the night shift at a local factory. Incidentally, they had the run of the joint.

End Title Card:
Sandy and the Captain disappeared and were never heard from again.

End Title Card:
Ray stayed and worked for the Bossman.

End Title Card:
And Shell went on to make this film.

[last lines]

Christina Milland:
[the real-life Christina Milland narrates] Being a mom, the only... the only thing that a mother thinks about is taking care of her children, no matter what. And I think a lot of the drug stuff where all of the women are in jail, I think that's a big part of just trying to take care of your family, you know? If you can't get any government help, or you can't find a job, then you resort to other things. That's the way it is. You do what you got to do, you know, to take care of your kids and your family. And that's what I did.

[Christina must confront to the bossman after her and two others lose a load of drugs on the boat]

Bossman:
Did you know that the study of human behaviour first began with the study of animals? Darwin discovered that animals exhibit patterns of behaviour based on survival and natural selection. And once you control the variables, those behaviours also can be limited, manipulated. In theory, if an animal is taken care of, nurtured, fed, it will exhibit behavior that can be predicted. But every so often a random gene enters the mix and changes the direction of the group. And it has to be extracted, before the entire herd can duplicate the pattern.

Christina:
Boss, I did not throw that load, I swear to God.

Bossman:
You tell me exactly what happened.

[we see the bossman in the next scene help Christina into her car]

Bossman:
The rules exist for a reason, Christina. But I'm sure you already understand that. [the bos pulls out a bundle of cash] Dollar a pound. Your cut, plus BK and Duane's. They won't be needing theirs. It pays to be more intelligent than an animal. [the bossman walks off]

[Christina, Ray, and Captain Jim stare up at the moon]

Ray:
It's a nice moon tonight.

Captain Jim:
Going to rain tomorrow.

Christina:
How do you know?

Captain Jim:
Ring around the moon, rain soon. See the light reflecting off the cirrostratus in front of the moon? It's associated with warm fronts and moisture.

Captain Jim:
You learn something new every day.

Captain Jim:
You can certainly try.

You do what you have to do So you can do what you want to do