Jeanine Tesori
“I saw you writing in that book again…”
[FLICK, spoken]
I saw you writing in that book again. 

[VIOLET, spoken]
I write down what I wanna remember. 

[FLICK, spoken]
You write down me?

[VIOLET, spoken]
Well, yeah. Even before I knew you; playing solitaire on the bus, how you drop cards when you deal them, like a turtle laying eggs. Plop, plop, plop. You know, I never knew a "negro" to talk to before; we don't see too many in the mountains. You're like a foreigner to me. 

[FLICK, spoken]
Is that what you see when you look at me?

[VIOLET, spoken]
Well, I see a man, I guess. 

[FLICK, spoken]
That's all I am, Violet. Just like anyone. Put that in your book. 

[VIOLET, spoken]
No, I mean a man, like a grown-up. Like my father. Confident, no-nonsense. I don't know about the name though. Flick? Where'd you pick that up?

[FLICK, spoken]
Reform school. 
[VIOLET, spoken]
No! What'd you do?

[FLICK, spoken]
Honey, I was born. The rest took care of itself. 

[VIOLET, spoken]
Monty says Johnson could be sending you two to Vietnam. 

[FLICK, spoken]
Mmm-hmm. 'Course when you join the Army, you know the risks goin' in. I always make it a point to know what I'm getting into. How much you know about this TV preacher?

[VIOLET, spoken]
He works miracles, for a start. 

[Flick laughs.]

[VIOLET, spoken]
What? Don't you believe in God?

[FLICK, spoken]
I don't believe he's gonna come at me through a TV screen. 

[VIOLET, spoken]
You would if you needed to bad enough. Remember the first time you looked at me? Like you'd seen worse things? That's what I liked about you. Most people though… I don't like mirrors, but I stare into them sometimes, to prepare myself for the things people say. Because nobody can hurt my feelings if they tell me what I already know. I never could'a left Spruce Pine otherwise. 
[FLICK, spoken]
So what do you need with this TV preacher? You came this far without him. 

[VIOLET, spoken]
I'm gonna be to the Preacher what Goliath was to David, a need so giant I will drive him into action!

[FLICK, spoken]
Violet, let me tell you something. You gotta do what you gotta do, but in the end you do it alone. You choose your road, and then you walk it, one step at a time.