"Oh, God, it's too damn cold out here." "Hey, Francis." "Hey, Pee Wee." "Get back in town?" "Yeah." "Have you seen Helen around?" "No, I haven't seen her in a couple of days." "Well, I'll catch up with her." "Hey, bum." "Hey." "You're looking good." "Where'd you get them shoes?" "The hospital." "I got the..." "I got the whole outfit up at the hospital." "Oh." "Doc says I got cancer." "First thing I ever got." "Cancer?" "No shit." "He says, "You're gonna die in six months. "" "I said, "Well," "I'm gonna wine myself to death. "" "He said, "Man, it don't make no difference whether you wine or you dine." "You're going. "" "Shit." "Well, Grandma..." "Too bad." "Got a jug?" "I got a dollar." "Nurse Hopper..." "Nurse Hopper gave a dollar." "You're in business." "Want to work with me today, get some money?" "I had some last night but I blew it." "Get us a jug, a place to flop." "Could be cold tonight." "Work where?" "Up at the cemetery, shoveling dirt." "A fella told me they was hiring." "Do they pay you money or do they give you a free grave when you croak?" "If it ain't money, forget it." "I ain't shoveling out my own goddamn grave." "Little streams of alcohol" "Come a-trickling down the rocks..." "I knew that guy Grogan when I was a kid." "He used to own all the electricity in this town." "Well, he ain't got much of it now." "Don't bet on it." "Them kind of guys never give up on a good thing." "Say, Franny... you looking for anybody special up there?" "Might be." "You want to be buried under a stone like that?" "I never knew no bum buried under a gravestone." "I don't need me no stone." "This soldier is gonna have to die alone." "If you die first I'll send out the invites." "Hey, Gerald." "How are you doing, kid?" "Kind of nice up here." "Pretty across the creek." "I don't know if you know it or not, but you're up here with the rest of the family." "Your grandfather's just four graves down." "Oh, Jesus God." "I'm sorry, boy." "It wasn't because I was drunk that I dropped you." "All's I had was four beers after I come home from work." "You slipped out of that diaper and your mother..." ""Sweet Jesus!"... crouched down and snatched you up." "And I didn't touch you because of the way you looked." "Your brother..." "Billy comes in and says," ""Why is Gerald so crooked?"" "Jesus Christ, I remember everything." "I remember everything." "I even remember the red and yellow squares on the linoleum... when you fell." "Hey, Franny." "Hey, Franny, the truck's here to take us back down." "Yeah." "You know somebody that's buried up there?" "Yeah, a little kid." "A little kid?" "What did he do, die young?" "Pretty young, yeah." "Damn." "What happened?" "He fell." "Fell where?" "On the floor." "Fell on the floor?" "Well, I fall on the floor about twice a day." "I ain't dead yet." "That's what you think." "Well, where are we headed now?" "What do you care where we're headed?" "Got an appointment?" "No." "You got tickets to the opera?" "No." "Go ahead, sweetheart." "Go ahead, sweetheart." "I just like to know where I'm headed, that's all." "You ain't known where you've been headed for 20 years." "You got a point there." "Go by the mission and see if anybody knows where Helen is." "What is Helen's name?" "Helen." "No, what's her other name?" "She's only got one name." "You don't want to tell me, that's all right." "Damn right it's all right." "You gonna eat over at the mission tonight?" "That preacher puts out a pretty good spread." "I had a bowl of soup over there yesterday 'cause I was starving, but, God, it was sour." "Them old bums are just hungry." "They don't believe in nothing." "I used to live around here when I was married... that house right there." "Oh, yeah?" "When was the last time you were here?" "22 years ago." "Who lives there now?" "Some people I used to know." "Still got the diamond." "I used to play there when I was a kid." "I had a pretty good throwing arm." "What year was that?" "I don't know, 1901." "Yeah, I was five years old." "How old are you now, eight?" "We had a trolley strike that year." " Hey, wait up." " Hey, come on." "Hey, you old grumpy, give us some candy." "Hey, give us some candy." "Scabs." "Come on, you scabs." "Lousy scabs." "You see what's up ahead?" "I don't want to hit anybody." "Keep the speed." "Scabs!" "Scabs!" "You don't belong here." "Go on home." "Scabs off that car!" "Get that scab off that car!" " He's got no right to run it." " Yeah!" "You get off the tracks." "You take this car back to the barns." "You won't get through here!" "They busted his head." "At the ready!" "Fire!" "I think you killed him, Francis." "You'd better run." "Why did you kill me?" "I didn't mean to kill you." "Was that why you threw that stone that broke open my skull?" "My brains float out and I die." "Scabs get what they ask for." "Then you feel no remorse." "You dirty bastards, taking our jobs, keeping us from feeding our families." "Odd logic coming from a man who abandoned his own family." "You haven't been home in 22 years." "I dropped my baby son." "He died." "I couldn't face that." "A coward... he'll run." "You have no arguments to justify what you did." "I got arguments!" "I got arguments!" "What do you got arguments about?" "I ain't gonna sit here and argue with some goddamn dead scab, see?" "See?" "Why don't you please sit down?" "I ain't no dead scab." "Well, you look like one." "Blessed be the name" "Blessed be the name" "Blessed be the name" "Of the Lord" "He breaks the power of canceled sin" "He sets the prisoner free" "His blood can make the foulest clean" "His blood availed for me..." "Never mind the blood." "Just pass the soup." "Blessed be the name" "Blessed be the name" "Blessed be the name" "Of the Lord" "Blessed be the name" "Blessed be the name" "Blessed be the name" "Of the Lord." "Now I'd like to ask all you lost and hopeless men, who will give you a ride on the turnpike to salvation?" "Jesus will." "Jesus delivers." "Is there a man here who wants a different life?" "God says, "Come unto Me. "" "Take Him at His word." "Come down front now and kneel and be saved." "All right then." "Mmm." " Amen, brothers." " Amen." "Wake up, bum." "The soup's on." "Hey, Pee Wee, Helen still didn't come in?" "No, and I've been here all day." "Glad to see you staying straight, Franny." "I believe that I've got a job for you." "I worked today up at the cemetery." "Splendid." "Well, shoveling dirt ain't all that splendid." "Well, maybe this one's a better one." "It's old man Rosskam, the rag picker." "He needs a helper." "If you're serious about staying off the hooch he might put together a decent pay." "Well, I'm gonna talk to him." " I appreciate it." " Fine." "I'll tell you what else I'd appreciate is a pair of socks if you could spare 'em." "The ones I got's all rotted out." "Hey, God damn it, where'd you grow up, in a barn?" "Close the door." "It's cold in here." "Where have you been hiding?" "Oh, a fat lot you care where anybody is or isn't." "I could have been dead in the street three times over." "You wouldn't have known a thing about it." "How the hell could I, with you walking away like a goddamn crazy woman?" "Oh, who wouldn't be crazy around you?" "Spending every penny we get and drinking whisky." " Stop that screaming." " God, Francis, you're bad enough on wine, but on whisky... oh, you're a devil." "I got six bucks." "Yeah?" "Where did you get it?" "Working all the damn day out at the cemetery, shoveling graves." "Wonderful." "Wonderful." "Splendid." "Hmm?" "And you're sober." "And you're eating." "Yeah, and I ain't drinking tonight either." "Oh, that's so lovely." "I'm very proud of my good boy." "Try these on for size." "They're good and warm." "Just what I needed." "I thank you for them, Chester." "It's fine you're off the drink." "You've got a strong look about you today." "Oh, just a false face for Halloween." "Don't run yourself down." "How are you, little lady?" "I see you're doing well." "I'm perfectly delightful." "Good." "He says I'm doing well." "I'm doing just fine and I don't need any Methodists telling me..." "Don't fight him." "He'll just take the socks away." "Oh, Franny, with $6 we could rent a room and get our suitcase and phonograph back, huh?" "Hey, you see who's in town, Francis?" "Oscar Reo." "Oscar Reo that used to sing on the radio?" "That's the fellow." "He blew the big time on booze, but he dried out and tends bar now at the Gilded Cage." "Ooh, I was in love with his voice, you know." "I wrote him fan letters." "Well, we threw a drunk with him down in New York, didn't we, Pee?" "Two, three days, wasn't it?" "The most musical drunk I ever seen." "Yeah." "Okay, folks, time to close up." "Francis, where do you plan to sleep tonight, do you know?" "The weeds." "Where did you sleep last night," "Finny's car?" "No, not in Finny's car." "I will absolutely not stay in that car another night." "I was at Jack's." "I thought you didn't like Jack no more, and Clara neither." "They're not my favorite people, but they gave me a bed when I needed one." "Look at this." "Is she dead?" "Hey, Sandra, it's me, Rudy." "Are you dead or just drunk?" "She's just drunk." "She can't hold it no more." "She's a goddamn Eskimo." " Yeah?" " Yeah." "Whether she's an Eskimo or whether she ain't, she'll freeze out here." "Then dogs will come along and eat her ass up." "Is she a bum or just plain drunk?" "She's been a bum all her life." "Oh, nobody has been a bum all their life." "She had to be something else before she was a bum." "Well, she was a whore, you know, in Alaska." "What about before that?" "Well, I don't know." "I guess maybe she was just a little kid." "Well, that's something." "A little kid's something." "It ain't a bum." "It ain't a whore." "Come on." "Let's get her up." "Yeah yeah yeah." "You're gonna freeze to death tonight." "I slept outside last night." "It was cold." "I'm gonna get you a bowl of hot soup and you won't freeze up so fast." "Who are you?" "Just a bum." "But I can get you some soup." "Get me a drink." "No, I don't have money for that." "Ooh, she can't come in here." "Chester won't let her." "What are we supposed to do with her, let her freeze?" "You know him." "All right, God damn it." "Get her a bowl of hot soup and a blanket." "Franny, the ambulance this morning wouldn't take her anymore when she was bleeding to death." "Slit her throat." "Maybe they'll take her." "She doesn't want an ambulance." "She just wants to sleep it all away." "I'll bet she doesn't even feel cold." "She's a cake of ice." "Just 'cause you're drunk don't mean you don't feel cold." "Here's soup." "Soup." " You got soup." " Got soup, yeah." "Here, have it." "See?" "She don't even want it." "She wants it." "She's just pissed it ain't wine." "She told me she wanted to be a nurse up in Alaska." " A doctor." " She wanted to be a doctor." "No." "A doctor wanted me to be a nurse." "You didn't want that?" "I did, but he died." "Ah, love." "Love." "I can't look at her no more." "Watch yourself there." "Hold your horses there." "We're walking here." "We're walking here." "But what I dreamed" "Of thee" "I love you" "As I never" "Loved before" "When first I met you" "On the village green" "Come to me" "For my dream of love" "Is all" "I love you" "As I loved you" "When you were sweet" "When you were sweet 16." "Wonderful." "Oh, that's just won..." " God bless your voice." " Yeah." "Why thank you, miss." "Can I get you a drink?" "That beer looks a tad light." " You said you wouldn't drink." " I said wine." "Thank you so much." "I think I know you two Turks." "Well, you'll be thinking right, except you wasn't sporting that pussy-tickler last time I seen you." "You guys got me drunk in New York." "And vice versa." "Francis Phelan, Oscar." " And this here is Rudy the Kraut." " Francis." "He's okay but he's nuts." "My kind of fella." " Pee Wee Packer." "Good to see you." " Pee Wee." " Introduce me." " And this here is Helen Archer." "She hangs out with me." "I'll be goddamned if I know why." "Have one of those yourself, Oscar." "No, I don't drink anymore." " Me neither." " Oh, that's wonderful." "Well, I haven't managed to turn it off yet." "I'm gonna wait till I retire." " Still getting rich." " You're a sport." "Can't tell you from those swells over there." "A flower." "Thank you." "Swells and bums..." "ain't no difference." "Except that swells want to look like swells and bums want to look like bums." " Am I right?" " You're a smart fellow." "That was such a wonderful song you just sang." "I remember when you sang that on the radio." "Oh, I used to sing that song myself." "A singer?" "Where was that?" "Oh, everywhere..." "concerts, and then I sang every night on the air." " You should do us a tune." " Yeah." "No, I couldn't, the way I look." "You look as good as anybody in here." " Oh, stop it." " Come on, huh?" " Flowers?" " Yeah." "Now if you're gonna get up there and sing, you're gonna have to put on the dog a little." "Oh, Francis." "He'd get a little money and the first thing he'd do would be to buy me roses." "Wouldn't you, Fran?" " Sure would." " Yeah, we were lovebirds then." "We had a beautiful apartment up on Hamilton Street there." "Goddamn dead men, traveling around together... wearing flowers." " Yeah." " When was that?" "I don't remember you living anyplace that long." "Oh, sure." "'35." "We was here six weeks or something like that." "No, it was more." "Months." "We were here almost a year." "Well, Helen would know." " I can't call one day different from the next." " Francis wouldn't stop drinking and then we couldn't pay the rent, you see, so we had to give up my old Steinway piano and the Havilland china, the very best you could buy." "When you buy, buy the best." "My father taught me that." "Why don't you sing us a tune, Helen?" " No." " Sing us a tune." " No no." " Yeah yeah, come on." " Sing us a tune." " Well..." "Just a little one, huh?" " Yeah." " Come on, Helen." " Come on." " Oh, well..." "Listen, does your friend know "He's Me Pal"?" "He knows everything." "Huh?" "Yeah." "Well, people used to like the way I sang that." "A real old-time trouper will now sing us a song... the lovely Miss..." "Helen Archer." "...Helen Archer." "I would like to sing this for my man Francis." "I know a lad" "And when I feel bad" "He scares all my troubles away" "When he's your friend" "He's yours till the end" "No matter what others may say" "He don't tell me" "How I ought to be" "He likes me just as I am" "And when I feel blue" "He's the one I go to" "'Cause his heart is as big" "As a ham" "He's me pal, he's me pal" "There ain't nobody else I can see" "I know he's dead tough, but his love is no bluff" "He'd share his last dollar with me" "I'd rather have him and his 15 a week" "Than be some old millionaire's gal" "He's the best ever was and I loves him because" "He's me pal, he's me pal..." "My pal is poor" "But I am dead sure" "He's better than most millionaires..." "Am I right?" "I'm satisfied" "When he's by my side" "The joys and the sorrow we share" "I'd give my arm" "To keep him from harm" "He'd do the same thing for me" "He'll always be there" "Stormy weather or fair" "That's the reason" "I likes him, you see" "He's me pal, he's me pal" "There ain't nobody else I can see" "I know he's dead tough, but his love is no bluff" "He'd share his last dollar with me..." "Wouldn't ya?" "I'd rather be his with his 15 a week" "Than be some old millionaire's gal" "He's the best" "And I loves him" "He's me pal" "By God, Helen, that's as good as it gets." "You were born to be a star." "Oh, you think so, honey?" "He's the best ever was" "And I loves him because" "He's me pal" "Nice tune." "Thanks." "Mighty nice, old gal." "Not bad at all." "Have a glass on me." "It's a nice night, isn't it, Fran?" "Oh, yeah, nice." "Yeah." "Hey!" "Get out!" "Damn it, get out of there!" "Those animals are always here." "Damn them." "Jesus Christ." "The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out" "They crawl all over your nose and mouth" "They eat the puss between your toes..." "Get away from me." "I got the money!" "He got my money." "He got my money." "Oh!" "Little bastards!" "Oh, gee." " What's wrong with you?" " $15." "They got away." "$15!" "$15, Francis." "Forget about the money." "We'll get more money tomorrow." " Oh, Jeez." " Don't worry about the money." "$15, Francis." "Where'd you get $15?" "$15 that Billy gave me to get you out of jail." "God damn you, woman, and your sneaky ways!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Sandra's dead." "I'll bet she prayed to die." "Her life wasn't human anymore." "I want to go to church in the morning." "Good." "What am I gonna do with you now?" "Hey, you can stay here." "The beds are full but you can sleep on a bench." " I'd rather not." " Sounds good to me, Pee." "Listen, we can go up to Jack's." "He told me I could come back." " He said that?" " Yeah, "Come back anytime," he said." "Well, let's shag then." "You'll take care of Sandra, Pee Wee?" " Yeah." " What was her last name?" "Never heard it." "It don't matter now." "Never did." "Rudy." "I went to Gerald's grave today." "Gerald's?" "You did?" "That was the first time, wasn't it?" "Right." "Yeah, you've been thinking about him these days." "I know." "I never stopped thinking about him." "I went to his grave and talked to him." "You talked to him, huh?" "How did you talk to him?" "I stood there and talked to the grass." "Boy, I'm getting nutsier than Rudy." "Oh, you're not nutsy, Francis." "You're back in this town." "No, that ain't it." "Something Billy said..." "I never told you that." "He says" "Annie never told anybody about me dropping the kid." "She never told who, the police?" "Nobody, not Billy, not Peggy... nobody in the family." "Ain't that something?" "I can't believe a woman going through all that stuff and not telling nobody." "Oh, you got these people on your mind lately." "Maybe you ought to go see them." "That wouldn't help nothing." "Get it out of your system." "Dead sons of bitches... being friendly." "What ails you now?" "Everything ails me." "Oh, come on." "At least you got to sing a song." "Yeah, I did." "I sang." "I sang while Sandra was dying over there." "Oh, come on, she was gonna die anyway." "Her time was up." "Oh, well, I don't believe that." "I believe you die when you can't stand it anymore." "Take as much as you can, then you... you die when you can." "Well, that's as good a saying as there is... die when you can." "Yeah, well, I'm glad that we agree on something for once." "We get along all right... not a penny, with no place to flop." " We're on the bum." " No, that's for sure." "Come on, let's get over to Jack's before he turns the lights out on us." "Hey, Jack." "We've come by to see you." "What's the chances of a bum getting a drink?" "Oh, it's cold for October." "They're calling for snow." "Feel my hands." "This is my home." "I ain't about to feel your hands, your head either." "I don't see any snow." "I had a bowl of soup at 6:00 but it disappeared." "I gotta get something to eat." "I don't care whether you eat or not." "How about a soda pop, Helen?" "What?" "Sure, Jack." "What kind of soda?" "Come here." "You feel any better, Clara?" "No." "What's wrong with your shoe?" "I have a piece of twine in it." "I got a shoelace but I didn't put it in yet." "Then put it in." "Well, it's a new sweater or something." " Do you know where it is?" " Don't ask me." "Find it and put it in." "I'm reneging." "You're what?" "I'm reneging." "I don't like to do that." "Can I ask you a question?" "No." "She said no." "What do you mean, no?" "What's he gonna ask?" "Find out what's he gonna ask." "How's everything been going?" "I always thought you were an intelligent man, Franny." "But you can't be, the way you drink." " You could be a charming man." " That's right." "You could have $20 in your pocket at all times." "Yeah, I told him that." "If I had $20 I'd spend it all on her." "Oh, sure." "I don't want her sleeping down in the weeds." "The weeds?" "I never have gone that far down." " It's not that far to go." " Oh, pfft." "You slept in Finny's car last night." "No, it was two nights ago and that was the last time." "If it comes to that again I will simply get in touch with my people." "My people are very high class." "You really ought to get in touch with them, deary." "You ought to get straight, Franny." "They need men like you." "You can get yourself a Victrola like that one." "Eh?" "Eh?" "I had all that shit." "If you don't shape up you'll die." "Maybe you're right, Jack." "May I use your bathroom?" "Help yourself." "Remember that tune, hotshot?" "Poor little lamb" "Now his fleece has gone cold" "Wakes up in the morning alone" "Poor little lamb knows what's coming" "Life is an empty cup" "So let's go on a bummer this summer..." "Hold it right there!" "Stop, damn it." "Get 'em!" "Come on!" "Help." "Give me your hand." "Give me your hand." "Come on." "You got him." "Who was the guy that didn't make it?" "Some Guinea horse thief." "What are they chasing you for, buddy?" "I forgot to shine my shoes this morning." "So let's go on a bummer this summer" "Where we won't have to be afraid" "Where the world will be" "On a hummer, boys" "And we'll laugh" "And we'll drink lemonade." "Lemonade." "Lemonade." "I used to sell it out at the ballpark when I was a kid." "That's when I first started hanging out with those older fellows, playing ball." "Windy Evans used to play in his jockstrap and catch flies behind his back... a great ballplayer." "Hey, where did you get them shoes?" "I found them." "God damn it, them's nice shoes." "That's why I wear 'em." "I'm gonna cut off your goddamn feet." "Well," "I'm real sorry that I hurt your head so bad." "But I had good reasons 'cause, you know," "I almost lost a finger." "I couldn't do anything right-handed for a long time." "But I don't hold grudges for more than five years." "See ya." "Thanks for what you did." "Francis, are you all right in there?" "Who are you talking to?" "Huh?" "Yeah." "It broke." "Who are you talking to?" "Just thinking about some of them old bums that froze." "Foxy Phil Tooker... the little guy froze all scrunched up with a red icicle coming out of his nose." "Yeah." "Didn't even bother to straighten him out." "Just buried him in a half a coffin." "Yeah." "Hey, bum, how about a bum getting a drink?" "I ain't no bum." "I know you ain't, God damn it." "You're a good man... a working man." "I knew a fellow once looked a lot like Francis." "Oh, I had the hots for him." "I'll bet you did." "Clara never lacked for boyfriends." "She's pretty sick." "That's why you can't stay." "I'm gonna tell you something..." "I always thought a lot of Clara." "You're drunk, Francis." "You just stay drunk for the rest of your life." "I'm really leaving you now." "What am I gonna do with this woman?" "Oh, it's late." "Yeah, people." "Gotta hit the hay." "Fix me a sandwich... to go." "No!" "You forget when you were hungry you came to my place begging for food." " I never begged!" " He only asked you for a sandwich." " Women." " I'll go and make him a sandwich." "Jeez, Fran." "Sharp cheese..." "you like sharp cheese?" "It's my favorite." "Good night, pal." "Best of luck." "See you around." "Toodle-oo." "Now where in the hell are you gonna sleep?" "I wouldn't stay there if they gave me mink pillows and silk sheets." "That's right." "I remember her when she was whoring and always broke." "I had to speak my mind, that's all." "Yeah, well, it didn't accomplish anything." "Here, have a piece of sandwich." "I don't want that." "It'll choke me." "It won't choke you." "You'll be glad for it." "I'm not a phony." " I'm not a phony either." " Oh, you're not, eh?" "Hey, I'll kill you..." "what I'm gonna do!" "I'm gonna knock you across the goddamn street." "Now be a goddamn woman." "That's why you can't find nowhere to flop." "I asked for a sandwich." "Did I get it?" "Yeah, you're stupendous and colossal." "Don't you squint your eyes at me or I'll knock you across a goddamn automobile." "You've been a pain in the ass for nine years!" "Jack told me that I could stay, but you can't because you're a pain in the ass!" "They don't want you." "Now I'm gonna eat that sandwich." "Go head, eat it." "And I'm gonna be thankful for everything." "Well, you're a perfect saint." "Jesus wept." "You are a woman for abuse." "I won't eat it." "It's rat food." "I'm gonna kill you." "Don't drive me insane." "Be a goddamn woman and go and find a bed somewhere." "Get off, Fran!" "I'm gonna call my brother." "Good." "Why don't you call him twice so he can hang up on you again, huh?" "And where are you gonna get a nickel for the call?" "That's my business." "God, Francis, you were all right till you started on the wine." "Wine wine wine." "Now we're gonna get some cardboard and we're gonna go down to that old building." "No, I'm going down below." "Who are you kidding?" "You got nowheres to go." "You want to get knocked over the head, huh?" "It wouldn't be the worst that ever happened to me." "Are you gonna hit me now?" "I'm not gonna hit you." "Shh." "I love you, soul mate." "Now don't go walking away from me." "You'd be lost in the world." "Yeah yeah yeah." " Are you awful cold?" " Yeah." "I couldn't stay outside tonight, Francis." "I would die." "Here." "Finny, you got visitors." "Who the hell is it?" "It's Francis." "Move over." "Make room for Helen." "I'll get you a jug for this, buddy." "Yeah, sure." " Don't be afraid." " No, it's not that." "She knows." "She's been here before." "I'll see you here in the AM or I'll meet you up at the mission." "Why don't you just get in too?" "There's no legroom." "Keep the faith." "Now I lay me down to sleep," "I pray the Lord my soul to keep." "If I die before I wake" "I pray the Lord my soul to take." "Oh, ow ow." "Don't touch me here, Finny." "It hurts too much." "Sands of the desert, salt of the sea." "Oh, forgive me." "Forgive me for I have sinned." "If you must call them sins, you know, I call them decisions." "I'm not a drunk and I'm not a whore." "And I never let a man use me for money." "You know, I went Dutch lots of times and I... well, I would let them buy the drinks, but that's because it's a man's place to buy the drinks." "But I never ever betrayed anybody." "And that's what counts with me." "Of course" "I know living with Francis was sinful in the eyes of some people and I took a certain amount of liberty with the Commandments of the Church." "But nobody's gonna compel me ever..." "I couldn't declare to anybody, not even you, St. Joseph, that loving Francis was sinful." "Because it was probably... the greatest thing in my life." "That's... that's all." "Thank you, St. Joseph." "Oh, thank you." "Oh, thank you." "Preacher said you was looking for a strong back." "Could be." "And you've got one maybe?" "Pick up that barrel." "You pick up stuff like this yourself?" "Do you?" "I do a lifetime of lifting." "I pay you $7 and work till dark." "Back work ought to be $8, $9." "Families eat for a whole week on $7." "$7.50." "$7." "All right, what the hell is the difference?" "Get up the wagon." "In Albany, Dr. Benjamin Boss, director of Dudley Observatory, a noted astronomer, said he did believe life exists on Mars but that he could not imagine Martian spaceships reaching the Earth." "Orson Welles, the director of the radio program that paralyzed the nation in fear said he regretted the terror he'd created and that the whole thing seems like a dream." "Now back to the Swingtime Hour." "Yours for the second half of our morning program... this sparkling little ditty." "Here, would you like the rest of this toast?" "It's good toast, but I can't eat a thing now." "A friend wanted to give me a cheese sandwich last night... not a chance." "Come on, get up." "So how do you like it?" "Like what?" "Sex business, woman stuff." "I don't think about it that much anymore." "To tell you the truth, I'm over the hill." "Over the hill?" "How old are you, 62?" "Not that old." "7 1 here." "I don't go over no hills." "Four, five times a night" "I get it with the old woman and in the daylight I go house to house," "I get offers." "I never went house to house." "Listen, half my life I go house to house and I know how it is." "You get offers." "Boy oh boy, you get offers." "Dregs!" "Dregs!" "I'm sorry." "My dear, you may stay as long as you read." "We don't allow sleeping." "I wasn't sleeping." "I was waiting for the fire to die there." "Helen." "Helen Archer." "Yes." "Nora, Helen." "Nora Lawlor." "I haven't seen you in 20 years." "Nora." "Of course." "Well, how are you?" "I used to hear you on the radio, but the I lost track." "What have you been doing?" "Well, I went on concert tour as a pianist." "And then I was abroad for years..." "Oh." "...living in Paris and Vienna and everywhere." "How exciting." "What an exciting life." "I envy you, Helen, I really do." "I never go anywhere." "Are you staying with your brother while you're here?" "Well, I suppose." "We're very close." "I saw him in church only last week." " In church?" " Mm-hmm." "Imagine that." "I go past his home all the time." " It's so..." " Hypocrite." "What's he doing in church after what he did to me?" "What?" "Well, you know, he and my mother..." " they stole all the money my father left me." " No." " Oh, yes." " Shh!" " For 15 years, you see, they hid the will." " Oh, I'm so sorry." " 11 of those years I knew..." " I'm sorry, but you have to leave." "Don't feel sorry for me." "I always knew." " You're making much too much noise." " I wanted to be free even if I had to suffer for it." "Oh, I got even." "I left her with the peacock there." "Thieves they were." "Thieves." "Thieves." "They were thieves." "Thieves." "Thieves they were, thieves." "Common thieves." "Thieves." "On account of the will, you know, she just laughed at me." "That's right." "Well, after I left your loving son took care of you, didn't he, Mother?" "Mm-hmm, the poorhouse..." "that's where the peacock put you." "And where did your plumage go then, Mother?" "You old cripple, where did your plumage go then, huh?" "Where did your plu...?" "Dregs!" "Dregs!" "Dregs!" "Dregs!" "Yoo-hoo!" "Dregs man!" "Whoa." "Whoa." "On the back porch..." "papers, a washtub and some old clothes." "I don't want to go in." "I know her." "So what's that?" "Mrs. Dillon." "I was born on this street." "I don't want people I know seeing me looking like a bum." "But you are a bum." "You and me know that, but they don't." "I'll carry anything you want next time we stop." "Sensitive bum." "Sensitive bum I got working for me." "Miss Dougherty, are you all right?" "I'm going downtown, Francis." "Shouldn't you put on some clothes?" "Clothes?" "Do you think I'm crazy, Francis?" "Not exactly, ma'am." "To whom have you mentioned my spell?" "No one, ma'am." "No one?" "May I ask why?" "Well, people with no clothes ain't what you call regular business, ma'am." "Please don't call me ma'am." "Makes you sound like a servant." "Call me Katrina." "I couldn't." "I couldn't get it out." "But it's my name." "Say it." "Say Katrina." "Katrina." "So there." "You've gotten it out." "You know, a great poet once said that love enters through the eyes." "You must be very careful not to see too much." "Have you ever seen anyone faint?" "Faint?" "No." "Then I shall faint for you, dear Francis." "You've done that pretty good." "You can get up now." "Hey, bum, come here." "I'm sorry." "I'd like to buy this shirt from you." "Will you take two bits for it?" "Why does a bum need a clean shirt?" "Clothes make the man, they say." "Tidy bum." "Sensitive, tidy bum I got on my wagon." "Pfft." "You love music, don't you?" "It's the greatest thing there is in this life, you know." "We ought to be willing to die for our music." "What does she mean, Mommy?" "She means it's nice to be able to play the latest tunes, dear, just like you're doing." "Easy." "Whoa." "Get up." "Get up." "Dregs!" "Dregs!" "I think I'm gonna get off up ahead." "I'm gonna see some people I haven't seen in a long time." "Of course I want my pay now." "You quit before dark?" "I've worked seven hours, must be, no lunch." "Take a dollar off for that." "That'd be fair." "25 cents for the shirt... $5.75." "Half a day's work..." "you get half pay." "$3.50." "I am the boss." "Yeah, you're the boss and you're one strong fellow too, but I know when I'm getting skinned." "This hand's seen it all." "Whoa." "Threats, eh?" "Threats I don't like." "$5.25, that's all I pay." "$5.75 is fair." "You gotta be fair in this life." "$5.75." "A bum is a bum." "You I don't like." "Well, I sort of liked you." "And I ain't half bad once you get to know me." "Get up." "Excuse me, lady, do you know where I can get a nice little turkey?" "What did you say to my wife?" "I asked her where I could get a turkey." "What for?" "Well, my duck died." "Just keep moving, bud." "Got you." "Ain't seen you much." "Francis got a job." "It's possible we'll take an apartment soon." " You're back in the chips." " Oh, yeah." "Francis coming in tonight?" "He might be and he might not be." "It all depends on his work and how busy he might or might not be." "I get it." "Oh." "Right on the bed there, Donovan." "$6 for the bags and $1 for the room." "Oh, yeah." "Same room, same bed." "I'm gonna pay you for two days in case I don't die tonight." "You want to eat something?" "I'm making coffee." "No no, no coffee." "Thank you, Donovan." "Yes?" "Howdy." "I brought you a turkey." "A turkey?" "It's a 1 2 1/2 pounder." "Billy said to drop by every Sunday and I know it ain't Sunday, but I..." "I come by anyway." "Is that you, Fran?" "It ain't one of those men from Mars." "Oh my God." "My God." "My God." "My God." "Hi, Annie." "How are you doing?" "You're looking good." "This is a surprise." "Yeah." "Here, take this critter." "It's freezing me up." "You'll stay while I fix it?" "Come in." "Come on, come in." "Sit while I get it in the oven." "Danny can go get cranberries." " Who's Danny?" " Peg's boy." "He's in the fourth grade." "He's smart as a cracker." "Gerald would be 22." "I... well, I saw his grave yesterday." "I talked to him." "I told him a lot of stuff." "I'll bet he was glad to hear from you." "Maybe." "Maybe." "Tell me about Bill." "How's he doing?" "He's a gambler, not a very good one." "He told me that you never told nobody about how I lost my grip on Gerald." "Not till the other day." "There's nothing to be gained by talking about it." "It wasn't your fault any more than it was my fault." "There's no way that I can thank you for that, Annie." " Oh, please." " Thanks don't touch something like that." "Never mind that." "Tell me, what is it made you come see us?" "Well, I'd like to say that it was" "Billy invited me to come by." "I never thought I'd get invited." "Billy said you had a wife." "No, not a wife." "I only ever had one wife." "I only ever had one husband." "I only had one man." "It's religion." "It wasn't only religion." "Hmm." "I never could marry again." "But I did live with Helen nine years on and off." "She nursed me when I was sick as a pup." "She's a damn good woman." "Where is she now?" "Downtown somewheres, you know." "She's like a little kid." "She... she's gonna drop dead in the street someday if she keeps wandering off like that." "She needs you." "And what do you need, Fran?" "I think I need a shoelace." "I'm so awful sorry, Annie." "There's things to say, you know." "They're... lousy things, lousy lousy things." "I never stopped loving you and the kids." "I know that don't entitle me to nothing, you know." "I don't want nothing." "I went my whole life just remembering things here... whatever was on the table." "I want nothing, just a cup of tea, a sandwich." "You still make that Irish breakfast tea?" "Yeah." "Danny, this is your grandfather." "He came to see us and he's staying for dinner." " Hi." " Hello." "You come from school?" "Are you Grandpa Phelan or Grandpa Quinn?" "Phelan." "Francis Aloysius Phelan." "You're the Big Leaguer." "You played with the Washington Senators." "Billy says you taught him how to throw an inshoot." "Oh, he remembers that, does he?" "Will you teach me?" "Yeah, sure." "Get a baseball." "I'll show you." "Yeah, you put your fingers across the seams like that." "See?" "And you snap... snap your wrist." "Like this." "That's right." "It'll do a nice little jig for you." "Yeah." "Let's go out and try it." "I'll get another glove." "A glove?" "Annie, you wouldn't by a fluke have my old glove around, would you?" "There's a whole trunk of your things up in the attic." "Maybe you'd want to have a look at them." "You saved my stuff?" "No point throwing things away." "Get up, Billy." "Grandpa's here." "Hey, Bill." "How have you been getting on?" "You made it." "I'd have bet against it happening." "Well, you'd have lost." "I brought a turkey." "We're having it for dinner." "You like turkey?" "Who the hell don't like turkey?" "Listen, you can use my razor in the bathroom if you want to shave." "Don't be telling people what to do." "Brother, most of my life is in this picture." "Half the neighborhood turned out for that ballgame." "There's your great-grandfather, old Iron Joe." "And that's me." "Handsome devil, eh?" "Some people thought so." "Some didn't." "Here, look at this in the light and you'll see where Ty Cobb signed it... 1911, the year he hit 420." "He was a mean guy, Cobb, come at me many times with his spikes up." "But he was the best." "Better than Babe Ruth?" "Better and tougher and meaner and faster." "Couldn't hit home runs like Babe, though." "Would you like to have that ball?" "Sure I would, sure." "Who wouldn't?" "Then have it." "But you'd better look Cobb up." "See?" "I remember this suit." "You wore it for dress up." "I wonder if it'd still fit me." "I'll take it downstairs and press it." "I'll carry the glove." "All right." "That's Danny's room." "It's a nice, big room." "It gets the morning light." "It's nice." "And what if I did drink too much wine?" "Whose business is that anyway?" "Who knows how much I didn't drink, huh?" "Do you have a place to stay tonight?" "Sure." "I always got a place to stay." "Do you want to come home permanent?" "I thought about it." "I admit that." "But I see it wouldn't work out." "Stranger things have happened." "Name one." "You at the cemetery talking to Gerald." "Nice out there where he is." "There's a grave there for you right by that stone... one for me and two for the children." "You bought me a grave after I ran off?" "You're part of the family." "Uh, Peg... well, she's kind of bitter about you staying away." "I was too for years, but that's all done with." "I don't want no fight with Peg." "I can't say nothing that means anything." "I know it's hard what you're doing, but it's something Danny will always know about." "And Billy... he was so glad to help you, but he'd never say it." "Yeah, he got a bum out of jail." "You're so mean to yourself." "Hell, I'm mean to everything and everybody." "You goddamn spooks." "You ain't real." "You're dead." "Of if you ain't, you ought to be." "I'd rather be dying out in the weeds than standing here watching you pining away." "I'm the one that's living." "I'm the one that put you on the map." "You don't know nothing that I don't know." "See?" "So get your asses gone." "I'm sick to death of looking at the bunch of youse anyway." "Fran, Fran." "Annie," "I'd eat all the dirt in this yard for you and all the weeds and all the dog bones too if you asked me." "I think you probably ate all that already." "How are you doing, Margaret?" "I'm doing fine." "No thanks to you." "Yep." "Let's give the man a break, for chrissake." "He just got here." "What break did he ever give me or you?" "You don't just pop up here one day and all is forgiven." "I ain't expecting to be forgiven." "I'm way past that." "Oh." "So why have you come back here like a ghost to force this scrawny turkey on us?" "That's 1 2 1/2 pounds." "Why did you come here, is what I want to know." "This is a home you didn't build." "I built you." "I built Bill... helped to." " I wish you never did." " Shut up!" "Rotten tongue of yours... shut it the hell up." "He only came to visit." "That's all." "I asked if he wanted to stay and he said no." "Oh." "Then it's all decided." "Nothing to decide." "Like your mother says, I'll be going on." "Mm, fine." "That's good." "That's it!" "You've got the feelings of a goddamn rattlesnake." "Would you pardon me?" "Pardon me for having any feelings at all." "Tough lady." "She'll calm down." "How about the boy?" "Did he hear that?" "No, he's out playing with the ball and the glove that you gave him." "I gave him the ball, not the glove." "The glove is yours." "It ain't much of a glove compared to today, but..." "You want to give it to him... go ahead, but I always thought," ""I want to give that old glove to Bill so's he could say he had something from the Bigs around the house. "" "That turkey smells nice." "I bought you this plum pudding." "Mama said that you liked it for dessert." "Thank you." "That's nice that she remembered that." "I got a letter here that come to me up in Canada." "I was playing ball with Toronto." "Maybe you'd all like to hear it." ""Dear Poppy," "I suppose you never think you have a daughter waiting for a letter." "I was so mad that I was gonna join the circus." "I hope you have good luck with the team." "Mama has 14 new little chickens out and there's a Wild West show coming." "Won't you come home and see it?" "Billy is just going to bed and Mama's watching me." "Do not let me find you with another girl or I will pull her hair." "Yours truly," "Peggy. "" "You know, it's funny..." "I don't remember writing that." "Well, probably a lot you don't remember about them days, you know." "You were only nine years old." "Yeah." "I remember Toronto, 191 3." "We had one ump named Bates." "The game was getting dark and he won't call the game because he's in with the other club and we're winning." "So Pudge Howard who was catching for us has a three-way confab on the mound with me and High Pockets Wilson who's pitching for us." "And Pudge squats down behind the plate and High Pockets lets go with a blazer... boom!" "right down the pipe... pow!" ""Ball," says the ump." ""Well, if that's a ball I'm gonna eat it," Pudge tells him." "And the ump said, "Well, then get eatin'."" "Pudge takes the ball and takes a bit out of it like this." "Of course it ain't a ball at all." "It's a yellow apple like this that I give him out on the mound." "Bates goes down in history as Old Blindy Bates that can't tell a baseball from a yellow apple." "Great stuff happening in them days." "Yeah." "Great stuff happening all the time." "I do believe that turkey should be ready." "Hey." "Hey." "Wake up, you crazy kraut." "That you, Franny?" "No, it's Buffalo Bill." "I'm looking for the Indians." "The Indians?" "Oh, God." "You seen Helen?" "No." "Where did you get the new suit, Fran?" " Up a tree." " Up a tree?" "You don't tell me nothing that's true, man." "Every lousy goddamn thing you can think of is true." "Look at you... a new suit." "Look at me..." "I look like a goddamn bum." "You are a bum." "You know why... you know why people call you a bum?" "Because it makes them feel better when they say it." "The truth can't hurt you." "If you're a bum, you're a bum." "Oh my God, Franny, there must be a God that protects some bums." "Look at me." "Franny," "I'm gonna kill myself." "You ain't intelligent enough to kill yourself." " Hey." " Hey." "How are you doing, Andy?" "The hotel open?" "Okay, Francis." "You strike it rich?" "Oh, yeah." "Here, lubricate your soul." "All right." "This here is Rudy the Cootie." "Rudy." "He says he's gonna kill himself." "I got me a form of cancer." "Ain't nothing wrong with you a little work ain't gonna cure, buddy." "Cops was in here tonight, shining in their lights... didn't come in." "Cops want to do something..." "they ought to fix those goddamn houses down there, eh?" "I fell through the floor last week, could have broke my neck." "Did you break it?" "If I broke my neck" "I'd be dead, wouldn't I?" "Oh, and you're alive, is that it?" "You ain't dead?" "You wise guy." "Well, Charles Darwin..." "he's dead, master of botany, died in 1936 and born of two midwives." "What the fuck is he talking about?" "He ain't talking about nothing." "He's just talking." "Hey, then give us a sip of that hooch." "My leg is killing me." "I got TB." "Wow, TB." "Jesus Christ." "I'm sorry for anybody who got TB." "You know that Sir Isaac Newton... you know what he done with that apple?" "I know that." "He discovered gravity." "And you know when that was?" "1936." " Oh, Christ." " Born of two midwives." "Driving me nuts with all this jabber." "Hey, you giving orders around here?" "In the Big Rock Candy Mountains" "All the cops have wooden legs" "Bulldogs all have rubber teeth" "And the hens lay soft-boiled eggs..." "Oh, shut up, you goddamn idiot." "Shut the fuck up!" "God damn, you got me, buddy." "You got me." "I don't like it when anybody gets in an uproar." "Gotta be nice." " Hey, you all right there?" " I'm all right, Franny." " You like your spot?" " Yeah, I'm all right." "When I leave this earth," "I want it to be with a blessing to everybody." "Mockingbirds will sing when you die, Francis." "What's that?" "The guy over there behind this shed has got a baby." "A baby?" "Yeah." "I had a little kid." "He broke his neck and died, 1 3 days old." "I'm the one that dropped him... 22 years ago." "My wife never told a soul that I did it." "22 years she kept a secret, protecting a bum like me." "You can't figure women." "My old lady told me I was the only man that ever touched her." "I came home one day and she was banging two guys at once." "I'm talking about a real woman, not some trash-barrel whore." "My wife was good-looking, though." "She had a terrific personality." "Yeah, all in her ass." "Screw you, guys." "I told you nothing." "Hey, Franny... you know where that Milky Way is?" "It's right up over there." "You know, on the outskirts" "I'm a restless person." "I'm a traveler, really." "On the Big Rock Candy Mountain" "You never change your socks" "Little streams of alcohol" "Come a-trickling down the rocks" "Oh, I'm bound to go" "Where the wind don't blow" "On the Big Rock Candy Mountain" "On the Big Rock" "Candy Mountain" "There's a land that's fair and bright" "Handouts grow on bushes" "And you sleep out every night" "Oh, I want to go" "Where the wind don't blow..." "Get the hell out of here!" "Raiders!" "Raiders!" "Raiders!" "Get out!" "Wake up, wake up." "Raiders!" "Raiders!" "Raiders!" "Raiders!" "Bastards, get out of this car!" "You bum!" "Move it, move it!" "Oh, Jeez." "Jesus." "There." "How are you making it, pal?" "Goodbye." "He's dead, sir." "What was his name?" "Sir, sir, what was his name?" "Rudy." "His name was Rudy." "Rudy what?" "Rudy Newton." "He new where the Milky Way was." "That's what he knew." "Hey, sweetie." "Hey." "Hey." "I have to run now, baby." "I..." "Looks nice." "You've found all our stuff." "Looks nice." "Pretty." "Mighty pretty, old gal." "Mighty pretty." "I'm gonna come back sooner or later." "I'm gonna get you that gravestone that you always wanted." "You know what I want to put on it?" ""Helen Marie Archer, a great soul. "" "What do you need, Fran?" "Oh, I ain't fussy." "A turkey sandwich will do me just fine." "I always want that tea." "That's Danny's room." "It's a nice, big room." "It gets the morning light." "It's nice." "The room's got some space to it." "We could set up an extra cot." "It's a mighty nice room." "It's the morning light."