Dink You bawling like a big baby 'cause you lost that ball game?
What do you know about it? You didn't come you big liar. Leave me alone.
Dink That's how it is, isn't it? You're a hero today, and then you're a goat tomorrow. Now I didn't come because games don't mean nothing to me anymore.
It's not the game. It's Skip. He's gone for good.
Dink For good? Now how do you know that? You some kind of fortune teller?
I got mad at him and I hit him. And he ran away. Just like you ran away. Skip was never afraid of nothing.
Dink You think I don't know what folks are saying? That old Dink's a coward? Huh? Well I know. And you know what? They're right. I got scared. And I ran. You think it was 'cause I was afraid of dying? Because I wished I was dead plenty of times.
Then what was it?
Dink It ain't the dying that scary, boy. It's the killing. Now look, that dog ain't lost. You just need to know where to find him. There's gotta be at least one place around here that you hadn't thought of to look at, right?
Sometimes he gets mad and says things he doesn't mean. He gets it from his mother. When I got back from Spain, I got into accounting. I figured I could hide behind a desk. I looked down, and I didn't so much as look up for a whole year. When I finally did, people weren't staring at me anymore. I guess they kind of forgot about it.
Dink Well, Mr. Morris. You got a purple heart. I got a yellow stripe. You can trust me. They don't forget about cowards.
Well, folks like to keep things small, Dink. Fit you into one pocket or the other. Give a man a label, and you never really need to get to know him. My son, he looks up to you, Dink. Not because you can run or throw a ball. You're his hero because you're his friend. And that's what he needs. A friend.
