Sweet Virginia

Plot

Tom, Lou, and Mitchel are playing poker at Lou's bar. A man enters and asks to be served. When Mitchel tells him to leave because the bar is closed, the man threatens him and angrily leaves. The man returns and shoots Lou, Mitchel, and Tom. The next morning Sam wakes up after dreaming about his former days as a bull rider. He starts his morning at the motel by reading about the shootings in the paper and then responding to a disturbance in room 128. Sam politely and shyly asks the guest to quiet down, only to have the door shut in his face. Later that day, Tom's wife, Bernadette, goes on the porch during a gathering for her deceased husband and asks Sam if he can come by to no avail. Sam has trouble lifting his right arm and walks with a limp due to injuries suffered from bull riding. Bernadette, ignoring Sam's earlier wish, wakes Sam in the middle of the night for sex to which he obliges. They discuss whether Tom is in heaven or hell and Sam seems regretful of his relationship with Bernadette. Upon leaving the next morning, Bernadette picks up the picture Sam laid down. The photo is of a woman and a young girl.

Lila meets the man who shot Mitchel, her husband, and asks why he killed Tom and Lou instead of only killing Mitchel as planned. Showing no remorse, he blames her for the circumstances because Mitchel didn't leave the bar as she said he would. The man then tells her she should be celebrating because Mitchel has been killed as she wanted. He asks about his payment, and Lila tells him she will have it by the end of the week after she meets with Mitchel's lawyer. Lila tells the man she wanted Mitchel dead because he'd been unfaithful. Upon visiting Mitchel's lawyer, Lila learns that Mitchel was bankrupt, had lied about his life-insurance policies, and was being sued by former business partners. The bank now owns her home and there is no money. Mitchel's killer later approaches Sam at the motel and introduces himself as Elwood. He extends his stay at the motel and begins giving Sam praise as a famous bull rider. He tells Sam that his father was a huge fan of Sam and would have loved to meet him but he's now deceased. Sam befriends Elwood, and they go to a local diner where Sam talks about his health and why he shakes. Sam seems puzzled when Elwood tells him about his mother's death and how his father was absent due to incarceration. Elwood says his father died in a prison riot in 1996 and shows a strong disdain for him. Elwood asks Sam if he has a girlfriend, and Sam admits he does. When Lila enters the diner after riding with Bernadette to get milkshakes, Sam calls her over to the table and introduces her to Elwood. Taken aback, she pretends not to know Elwood before quickly leaving. Later that night, on the way home from Bernadette's house, Lila is followed by Elwood but is able to evade him.