"Stop!" "Give me a pound of unsalted cottage cheese." "Somebody"s fur is going!" "He"s stealing your fur piece!" " Stop him!" " No!" "Stop!" "Arnold, I saw a man killed in the street today." "It made me sick." " No cream, no sugar, right?" " Yes." " Arnold, I didn't come here for coffee." " For what did you come for?" "The $30 I owe you." " I don"t want your $30." " I don"t have it." "This is what you've come to tell me?" "The money you owe me, you don't have?" "Arnold, I've discovered that, in this life, nobody cares." " I care!" " And what do you do about it?" "I put up with you." "I keep Fanny comfortable." "The comfort she's in, nobody should know from." "Mishkin, I've told you before, get yourself another doctor." "I can't offer you what you want." "I can't perform miracles." " Hey, where are you going?" " Home." "Fanny is waiting for me." "Arnold, I can't take anymore." "You're telling me this as a doctor?" "No, not as a doctor, as a friend." "Arnold, you know I'm not a person who talks so easily about his suffering." "You don't have to remind me of this." "I must tell you something that I can't say to anyone, not even to my wife." "I don't want to live anymore." "I know it's a sin to talk that way but the hurt in me is so great, I want to scream." "I don't understand why God has turned against me." "At least, if I were able to understand..." "He's finishing me." "God is finishing me." "I can't take anymore." " What kind of work do you do?" " I was a tailor." "You're not working now?" "You're unemployed?" "I don't work because of my back." "How long has your wife been ill?" "Two years." "I don't have hope." "What about this daughter, Ruth, here?" " I don't see her anymore." " Does she live in the state?" "Where can we get in touch with her?" "I mean, do you have an address for her?" "I don't have an address for her." "She married an Italian." "For me, she's dead, finished." "You understand what I'm telling you?" "I understand what you're saying." "You're finished with your daughter, Ruth, because she didn't marry a Jew." "Why are you applying for welfare assistance?" "Your physical injury?" "Your wife's illness?" "I mean, what?" "God!" "My tailor shop caught on fire." "I wasn't carrying enough insurance, so God cursed me with a fire." "Mr. Mishkin, I am sure God couldn't care less whether or not you paid your insurance." "Don't be too sure." "I know him better than you." "First, he destroyed my shop I spent a lifetime working for then my back, so I couldn't sit at the machine." "Then my daughter, out of nowhere, marries a bum who doesn't know what it is to work." "And my wife, Fanny, who took care of the house for 40 years without complaint suddenly collapses into her bed." "This is not an accident." "This is a curse." "I don't expect too much help from God." "I rely on you." "Yes, well, we'll send an investigator." "With my luck and God's help, on the way, he'll break his leg." " Morris, is that you?" " Who else?" "Make the television lower." "Beautiful outside, but very cold." "How are you feeling today, Fanny?" "Like yesterday." "Better?" "L'll put away the shopping." "L'll be right back." " Morris, you went to the welfare?" " Yes." " So?" " What?" "I asked, 'So?" "'" "So, my case is progressing." "What does it mean, 'progressing'?" "'What does it mean,'progressing'?" "'" "It means, that everything I tell them now is put down in ink." "Then, from the ink, is transferred into the typewriters." " It's very complicated." " So?" "So, this is progressing." "You took the medicine?" " I don't want the medicine." " L'll fill the hot water bag for you." "L'm hot enough." "Sit down." "Why don't you take the medicine?" "Because it makes me sick." "You told them about your back?" "I told them." " They know of my sickness?" " They know." "And Ruthie?" "I told them everything." "So, when are they going to help us?" "If they tell me, I'll tell you." "With them, relief is not so immediate." " You want I should open a window for you?" " No." "You watch the television." "L'll go and read the paper." "Morris?" "What?" "Open the window a little bit." "The phone company called." "For what?" "They want the phone on Tuesday or the bill." "What did you tell them?" "I told them you'd pay on Monday." "With what?" "Morris, I need my phone." "L'm here all alone." "Suppose I need someone?" "What will I do if they take the phone away?" "What did you say?" "I said, I'll pay the bill somehow!" "Morris?" "What?" "Do me a favor." "Shut the television off." "So many hours watching, it gives me a headache." "Mrs. Grossman comes by today with little Sammy who's got his first haircut." "Mazal Tov." "Mrs. Grossman is so excited." "Anyway she wants you should cut down Mickey's blue suit for Sammy." "You should make it the same size as the brown." "Morris?" "You heard what I said?" " I heard." " No?" "Better tell her she should pay me what she owes me for cutting down the brown." "I don't do any more work for her until she pays me for the brown." "Morris." "She's a very poor woman." "Her son is away in the army." " Her husband is dead." " So?" "So I told her she should forget about paying for the brown." "Just a little something for the blue." "So she's going to crochet me a bed jacket." "Let her crochet for Sammy a blue suit." "What are you talking about?" "What are you laying there and telling me?" "They're taking the phone out on Tuesday, because I can't pay the money." "You lay in bed drinking medicine like wine!" "How dare you tell me she should forget paying me for the brown suit!" " Stop it!" " How dare you talk like that!" "I won't sit at that machine for a bed jacket!" "I won't kill myself for nothing!" "Fanny!" "L'll make the suit." "L'll call Mrs. Grossman." "L'll make the suit." "Forget the..." "Arnold?" "Mishkin." "Come quickly, please." "Fanny." "Yes." "God should help me." "I don't know." "We were talking the way we always talk." "Will you come?" "Thank you, Arnold." "Dear God, sweetheart, did I deserve that this should happen to me?" "Give Fanny back her health." "Help now, or tomorrow is too late." "This I don't have to tell you." "Who are you?" "What are you doing here?" "Help!" "Get out!" "What are you gonna do with that spoon?" " It's a spoon." " So?" "That's not a knife, it's a spoon." "So, it's a spoon." " That's what I said." " I could kill you with this spoon." " Man, let's get off to..." " Don't move!" "Shit!" "Water, a little water." "Don't take it away from me." "That's all I have." "I don't have anything else." " Give me the jar." " No." "Give me the jar." "Drink." "My pill..." " You want some more?" " No." "You all right?" " I want to talk to you." " My wife is very sick." " I know." " L'd like to see her." "Go ahead." "She's asleep." "She's asleep." "I know." "Who are you?" "What are you doing?" "I was sent here to help you." " I know you from someplace." " I don't think so." "You're from the welfare." "I applied today." "You did?" "I know you and your wife need assistance." "Yes, things are very bad with us." "Forgive me for not hearing you knock, but I was very nervous calling the doctor for my wife." "He's coming at any minute." "I didn't know before that help was so immediate." "Sometimes it's quicker than you think." "Excuse me." "I didn't catch your name." "L'm awfully sorry." "I have here a small piece of paper that I must read to you." "It's a little ceremony." "'If I may... '... insofar as one is able to identify myself, I bear the name... '..." "Alexander Levine. '" "Levine?" "You're maybe Jewish?" "All my life, I was, willingly." "You ain't Jewish anymore?" "Let me read the paper." "'I have recently been disincarnated into an angel. '" "Into a what?" "'I have recently been disincarnated into an angel. '" "This is from the welfare department?" " No." " No, Mr. Mishkin, I don't come from the welfare." "I come from God." "He's a meshugeh." "'As such... '..." "I offer you my humble assistance... '... if to offer is within my province and ability in the best sense. '" " Now I understand." "L'll sign the paper." "There's nothing to sign, Mr. Mishkin." "All you have to do is listen." "'I... '" "Look, come here, man." "They gave me this to read." "I can't make it out, the writing..." "Right there, 'I am... '" "'I am what I am granted to be, and at present... '... the completion is in the future. '" "'A bona fide angel of God... ' Again with the angels." "'A bona fide angel of God. ' Continue." "'... within prescribed limitations, not to be confused..." " '... with the numbers of the... ' - 'Members. ' '... members of any particular sect, order, or organization... '... here on earth, operating under a similar name. '" "This is what you came into my house to tell me?" "Yeah." "This is your message to me from God?" " That's it." " Azoy." "Tell God, when you see him, I appreciate the message." " Now maybe, I think I'll go check on my wife." "Wait." "I told you, she's all right." "Listen to me." "Listen to what I'm telling you, man." "L'm here to help you." "I am an angel of God." " L'll tell you something, Mr..." " Levine." "Levine." "Mr. Levine." "By me, angels have wings." "So, when you have the wings you'll come back, and we'll talk." "L'm not coming back." "This is it." "There's no tomorrow." "It's today or never." "So, why don't you just forget that wing shit?" " Without wings, there are no angels." " Wait a minute." "We're not through yet." "I have another paper here." "Go ahead, read it." "'Under certain circumstances, we lose privileges and prerogatives... '... upon returning to earth. '" "'We lose privileges and prerogatives upon returning to earth. '" "Go ahead." "'" " No matter for what purpose or endeavoring to assist whosoever... '" "He's meshugeh!" "That's the scroll!" "You can't throw away a message from God!" "Pick it up!" "I don't have to take this crap." "I am an angel, and I was sent here to help you, nigger!" " Nigger?" "That's the way a Jewish angel talks?" "L'm sorry." "L'm sorry, too." "Look, Mishkin, sit down." "Let's start all over again." "Everything's cool." "So, without wings, how did you get down here?" "I was transmitted." "If you're Jewish, say the blessing for bread." "You have a very good accent." "Are you circumcised?" " What?" " Are you circumcised?" "Of course I'm circumcised!" "Well, then maybe I think you're Jewish." "But in the meantime, will you do me a favor?" "Transmit yourself someplace else." " What about the rest?" " What rest?" " The part about being an angel." " It's enough that I believe you're Jewish." "It's not enough." "I can save you, Mishkin." "I can help you and your wife, if you'd only believe in me." "I believe you." "You say you're an angel, I believe you." "But now you must leave this house immediately." "But you don't believe me." "Because if you did, something would happen." "What should happen?" "I don't know." "Something." "Something wonderful." " Something only I could do for you." " All right." "Make a miracle." " What?" " Make a miracle." " What kind of miracle?" " Any kind of miracle!" "Walk into the stove." "Make a flood of seltzer." "Fill the icebox full of halvah." "Something, anything." "Go ahead." " Now, look, Mishkin." "I can't make a miracle." "I can't even make a near-miracle." "L'm on probation." "How long I stay on depends on you." "Me?" "What have I got to do with it?" "Everything." "Listen, Mishkin." "If you would believe in me, I could pass a miracle." " No." "First you pass a miracle, then I'll believe you're an angel." " No, first you believe in me, then I'll pass a miracle." "I believe you're a faker." "Say that again." "Excuse me, Mr..." " Levine." " Levine." "Let me ask you something." "If God would send me an angel, why a black one?" " What did you say?" " To a white person comes a white angel!" "When you die, if they let your fat, white ass through the pearly gates when you see God, you ask him!" "But until then, you take what he sends you, and that's me!" "Arnold, is that you?" "Who do you think it is?" "What's the matter?" "How's Fanny?" "Arnold, there's a black man in the kitchen." "Is he sick?" "He says he was sent down by God to help me." "He's a maniac, although I don't think he's dangerous." "He also says he's Jewish." "He's in there." "You think I'm crazy!" "Yes." "But you'll be all right." " Now, I'll take a look at Fanny." "What exactly happened?" "Fanny, yes!" "She started to cough and cough." "So, she coughed until she was going to die!" "That's why I called you." "Hello, Arnold." "What a pleasant surprise!" "You called me all this way because you say it's urgent." " This is urgent?" " Fanny, you were so sick!" "She was so sick." "She had an attack." "She was coughing worse than I ever heard her cough." "I had an attack?" " But now I am well." " I don't understand how that could be." "I don't mind killing myself in traffic in an emergency." "But do me a favor, Mishkin, don't kill me for no reason." "Let me live." "Well, how are you feeling, Fanny?" "I was dreaming such a nice dream." "Yeah, well, just give me your hand." "Such a wonderful dream, Arnold." "I was floating in the sky." "And then I was on some beach." "And children..." "They were playing in the sand with their pails." "Such sweet children." "The sun was so bright." "And the water was so clear." "And everybody was so quiet and peaceful." "Such a nice day." "I could have stayed there forever." "All right, Fanny, don't talk so much." " She even stopped breathing." " Out!" " Now, I'll just finish my examination." "Then I want you to go to sleep." "I want you to get some rest." "L'm very sorry." "I have to make a call." "It's very important." " Go away!" " But..." "Go away!" "Sally, it's good to hear your voice." "Where are you, Al?" " You all right?" " Yeah, I'm all right now." "You know I was a million miles away, and all I wanted to do was hear your voice." "They're looking for you, Al." "There isn't a bum in Harlem that doesn't have the word from Crazy Andrew." "They've been standing out front all day, waiting for you." "Are they hurting you?" "Look, have you got their money?" "Have you got the $1,500 you owe that woman?" " Forget them." " What?" " Look, it doesn't matter anymore." " All right, that's fine." "But don't you know they're gonna kill you?" "There's nobody gonna kill me no more." "Look, I want to see you." "I want you to come to me." "Why?" "L'm doing something." "I can't explain it to you on the phone." " No, I'm sorry, Al." "I don't want to see you." "Look, Sally, I love you." "I told you before, Alexander, I don't want to see you." "Please, baby, just one more time." "Leave me alone, Al." "There's a place near where I'm at." "It's called Murray's Bar." "It's on 68th Street and First Avenue." "Meet me there in an hour." "L'm not coming, Al." "See you in an hour." " Not coming." "One more time, baby, please." "She's fine, so don't call me again for nothing." " Now he's in there." " Who's in there?" " The maniac." " Why don't you call the police?" " I can't, he's using the telephone." " Where are you going?" " Let me look." "The door is locked." " Now he won't be there." "He's here." "See?" "You thought I was crazy." "Let's get rid of him." "I wonder if I could use the telephone?" "Thank you." " How's Fanny?" " Ask God." "Morris, what are you doing there?" "I need you." "Would you like me to leave the room?" "What?" "If you got a call, I could go in the living room." " No, you stay where you are." "She wants a glass of cold water." "Get rid of him." "Hello?" "Hello, Mrs. Fleischmann?" "Yes, the emergency is over." "Yes, I'm coming back." "Keep the bed warm." "L'm the doctor here." "Arnold Berg." "L'm Alexander Levine." "I understand you're an angel." "Yeah." "From God." "Yeah." "Does it surprise you?" "Well, why should it surprise me?" "Well, I mean, most people would be surprised." "Well, I've seen too much to be surprised." "You tell me you're an angel, I believe you." "Just like that?" "Just like that." "And you've come to the right place." " My patient floats between two worlds." " Now she wants a hot drink." " What's the matter with her, Doc?" " You don't know?" " No." "They should keep you better informed up there." "All right, I will give you a free consultation." "Do what?" "I say, I will give you a free consultation." "So, if you want to help, you can appreciate what lies before you." "So that if what?" " Let me cut the lemon." " Out!" " Call me when it's ready." " All right." "What was I saying?" "You were just about getting ready to give me something for free." "A free consultation." "Yes." "The left ventricle of my patient's heart is very weak." "The what?" "The left ventricle." "You know what the left ventricle is?" " No, I don't." "Here, open your jacket." "Come on, open your jacket." "L'll show you." " Now, the left ventricle, here, is very weak and is not accepting the full return of blood from the pulmonary veins." "The pulmonary veins." " Now, the fluid, which should be flowing out into the heart, is backing up into the pulmonary vessels, causing pulmonary edema or pleural effusion." " Now, the case has progressed to the point where fluid lies in the lower tissues of the lungs for all I know, in the lower pleural cavity." "Understand?" " No." "Well, my friend Mishkin has a wife whose heartbeats wouldn't keep a grasshopper going for two hours." "Mishkin, come out!" "Fanny Mishkin has progressed beyond the hope of doctors, lunatics, and angels." "Fanny Mishkin, God himself is too late." "You see, there are no miracles today, no magic." "After 30 years experience, 30 years in practice I'll tell you straight out..." "You say that you're an angel?" "Yeah." "Well, these days, all of us need angels more than we admit." "You know, we sit here, mighty men of medicine boasting of our achievements..." "Come in." "All right, now I'm gonna tell you something." "He can't do anything for your old lady." "There ain't a bag of medicine he's got can do a thing." " Not a pill, not a needle, nothing!" "L'm gonna tell you something else, Mr. Doctor." "I haven't understood one word you've been putting on me." "But I know one thing." "I can do something you can't do." "You jive mother, why don't you just take your little bag of pills and just split?" "Shame on you!" "That's the way you talk to a doctor?" "The respect you show?" "Get out of here!" "I want you out!" " But I want to help you." " I don't want your help." "Out!" " Why don't you ever listen to me?" " God doesn't know what to send me." "He finds schwartzes on the street, and he sticks them into my house." "You call me a schwartze one more time, and I'll knock you on your ass!" " Arnold, get him out of here." " Good night." "Okay, baby, it's your life." "A mouth on him like a sewer." "You don't know what walks in this neighborhood." "Animals, madmen!" " Remember to lock your door next time." " I locked my door." "You think I'm crazy?" "Don't think I'd lock my door?" " Then how did he get in?" " Through the fire escape." "I was in the kitchen." "I turned around, and there he is, sitting at the..." "Fanny, what happened to you?" "I feel like I am drowning, Arnold." "I can't breathe." "Lie down." "Does your chest hurt?" "Get my bag." "Has she had any medicine within the last three hours?" "She wouldn't take it." "What am I prescribing for, if you don't give it to her?" "I gave it to her, but you know how stubborn she is." "Fanny, you were feeling much better." "I don't understand what happened." "Doctor, what happened?" "In one minute, look how she turned!" "L'll be in the living room." "Do me a favor." "When you come here don't pay so much attention to me." " Who should I pay attention to?" " To him." "To Morris." "He doesn't take care of himself." "He's a fool." "If Fanny has any more difficulty give her the dosage I prescribed on the bottle." "And if, by some miracle, she sleeps, let me sleep also." "Good night." "Arnold!" "Where can I reach you tonight if I need you?" "Don't need me." "L'll be at home." "Officer!" "Yes?" "Could you tell me where there's a drugstore?" " Next block, around the corner." " Thank you very much." " $7?" " That's right." " That's a lot of money." " It's a brand new drug." " Could you make it a little cheaper for me?" " We have to charge the same price." "The drug manufacturer places a high cost on that, too." "You know, there's very little profit on this side." "Do you know where there's a discount store around here?" "Believe me, even if I did, it still wouldn't do any good." "The price is the same anywhere you go." "Wait a minute, here's your prescription." "You wait here." " What were you doing in there?" " Let's get out of here." " Where's my prescription?" " L'll explain later." "She's asleep." "I know." "How do you know?" "I just feel it." "What does it feel like?" "I don't know." "You don't know what it feels like?" "How do you know when you know?" "I just know when I know." "Why are you sitting over there?" "L'm waiting." "For what?" "My miracle." "Do you want I should sew a button on your jacket while you wait?" "It ain't necessary." "Mr. Levine..." " I'm gonna make some tea." " L'll go with you." "L'm only going into the kitchen." "L'll go with you." "Thank you." "By the way, Mr. Levine what did you pay for the medicine?" "I don't remember." "$5?" "$7?" "What?" "I don't remember." "I hope you didn't do anything crooked." "What do you call crooked, Mr. Mishkin?" "I think that somebody is out $7 somewhere." "Look, man you needed the medicine, you got the medicine." "Thank you very much." "But with stealing, I don't go along with." " Man, you're a son of a bitch." " Son of a bitch?" "What right have you got to call me that?" "I want you to stay out of here!" "I don't want anything to do with you!" " Now get out, you hustler, you crook, you thief!" "Yes, I'm a thief." "L'm a crook." "L'm a hustler." "Count it!" "That's my food money." "Man, I don't care what it is." "You count it." "$1, $2 $3, $4 $5, $6, $7..." " Now, you come with me." "Don't you want your tea?" "Let's go." "L'm very tired." "Where are you taking me?" "We're gonna take your ass over to that drugstore and you're gonna pay that bastard before he goes bankrupt." "This is my food money." "You're honest, you don't eat." "Go." "What do you want from me?" "Leave me alone." "I can't give my food money." "Sure you can." "It's the easiest thing in the world." "Man, I envy you, being so honest." "All that goddamn honesty just hanging over your head like a great halo." "Move!" "Lordy me." "I wonder what makes you white folks so honest?" "I wonder what makes you all so honest and all us black folks so dishonest?" "Ain't because we ain't got a pot to piss in, is it?" "Ain't because we ain't got nothing, is it?" "Ain't because somebody's cheating us all the time, is it?" "I ain't cheating anybody." "L'm an honest man." "What I take, I pay." "Yeah, you pay when you got the money." "When you don't have the money, you steal." "You dig me, pops?" "You steal." " Can't we sit down and discuss this?" " Move, man." "You are not an angel." "L'm an angel, and you better believe it." "L'm the only one you're ever gonna get." " Let's go." " No, I don't want to go to the drugstore." "Don't make me go to the drugstore." "You better shape up with me or both of us will get our asses cut off before the sun comes up." "Come on." "I try to understand what you're saying to me." "They did a goddamn lousy job with you." "Every white mother up there is going through them gates." "But me?" "They put me on probation." "The same kind of shit I've been having down here all my life." "I don't know how to talk to you." "What should I say?" "Forget it." "It ain't your problem." "Let's go." " Where are you going?" " Upstairs." "I don't want to go upstairs." "Sit down." "Mr. Levine, I'd like to buy you a drink." " A what?" " L'd like to buy you a drink." "If there's no law against an angel having a drink I'd like to take $1 or $2 and buy you a whiskey." "You mean, you're gonna spend your food money?" "Just one drink." " Upstairs, Mishkin." " No, I don't want to go upstairs." "Do you know where there's a bar around here?" "You want to go to a bar?" "All right, we'll go to a bar." "We'll have a drink, and everything will look better." "You're something else, Mishkin." "What did you say to that cop on the corner?" "I asked him where the drugstore was." "Thought you knew where the drugstore was." "You were going to turn me in, weren't you?" "To tell the truth, the idea occurred to me." "So, why didn't you?" "You didn't do anything to me except cause a little excitement." "And why should one Jew turn in another Jew?" "And if I wasn't Jewish?" "Still, you'd be a person." "You're very American, Mishkin." "L'll tell you something, Mr. Levine." "Be patient with what's doing here." "Everything will be better for you." "They're not nice to you now, but tomorrow, they'll be ashamed of themselves and do better." "Bullshit!" "L'd like you to meet a friend of mine." "Mr. Morris Mishkin, Sally Turner." "How do you do?" "How do you do?" "Mr. Mishkin and I, we're in a deal together." " No, it's straight." "I owe him a pair of pants." "He's bringing me some material, and I'm going to make him a pair of pants." "Where?" "In the bar?" "Look, why don't we just all have a drink together?" "Mr. Levine." "Here, enjoy yourself." "I gotta get back to my wife." "I left her alone too long." "L'll see you again sometime." " Nice meeting you." "Good night." "Is that a new blouse?" "I don't remember ever seeing it before." "But it looks good on you." " You've seen it a dozen times, Al." " $5 for everything." "Thanks." "I don't know what to say to you anymore, Al." "What do you want, Al?" "You want me to say that everything is all right?" "That nothing makes any difference?" " Now, what do you want?" "I want it to be like it was." "Like we was making it for the first time." "You remember?" "Oh, man!" "That was the best day of my life." "The best day." " What are you doing, Morris?" " L'm getting undressed." " Why are you getting undressed?" " Because I'm very tired." "I was on my feet all day." "I want to go lay down." "But I've been sleeping all day." "I don't want to go to sleep." "What do you want to do?" "I want to talk." "All right, talk." "L've been thinking about my brother, Aaron." "He's a fool." "He's all right." "He's paying for his mistake." "What mistake?" "That he married Pearl." " You're not listening." " L'm listening, Fanny, I'm listening." "Ruthie should come back." "One day I will open the door and Ruthie's standing there." " Who is that?" " I don't know." " Go see." " Yes." " Who is it?" " It's me, Mishkin." " What do you want?" " I want to talk." " What do you want now?" " I want you to do me a favor." "What?" "Morris?" "L'll be right there." "Who was it?" "An angel from heaven." "I could use an angel from heaven." "But who was it?" "Who was it?" "It was nobody." "It was a collector from the March of Dimes." "Collector?" "So late at night?" "They collect when they want to collect." " You give him something?" " Why should I give them something?" "Let them give me something first." "Don't be so generous with my money." "Why'd you bring me here?" " Because I want to talk to you." " What's the matter with talking in the bar?" "Lt's better here." "We've talked in too many goddamn bars." "Come on, sit down, baby." "I never noticed you complaining about it before." "It's not the same as it was before." "Sit down." "I would like to see an angel from heaven." "I would make a wish and everything would be different." "Watch the television." "I have to go to the bathroom." "What the hell is this anyway?" " It's okay." "Come on, it's all right." " No!" "You're not going to ball me in somebody's back room, so just forget it." "I didn't bring you here for that." "Well, then for what?" "Come sit here." "I been thinking." "If there wasn't gonna be more to my life than what I've had up to now what would I walk out of this world with?" "What would I have?" "Just what you've been working toward." " Nothing." " No, not nothing, baby." "You." "L'd have you." "L'd remember you." "If everything else went out of my mind, I'd remember you." "What are you doing there?" "L'm making Sammy's suit." "Why are you doing that now?" "You wanted Sammy's suit, I'm making Sammy's suit." "You don't have to make it now." "Make it tomorrow." "Come to me." "What are you getting dressed for?" "You wanted to go to sleep." "You wanted to stay up." "I wanted to stay up, but you wanted to go to sleep." "And you will go to sleep." "We'll stay up." "L'm not tired anymore." "Listen to me, Alexander." "What we had was nothing." "But that's not true." "You better face it, baby, it was lousy." "Had a few good days out of four years?" "That's lousy." "There were others." "One good day in" "New Jersey, one good morning in my apartment a good minute somewhere else." "What's it all add up to?" "It should have been four good years, Al." "Four years, not half a dozen days." "But there was more than that." "Tell me about it." "Come on." "Gimme the times, Al." "I thought there was more." " What are you thinking?" " What am I thinking?" "Suddenly I remember the first time I saw you, working behind the counter in your father's store." "Such a long time ago." "Everybody in my cleaning place knew I had a girlfriend." "My pockets were stuffed with the fruits you gave me from the store." "You were so skinny and so shy." "I never saw a man so shy." " I was afraid of your father." " Why?" "Every time I came into the store, he looked at me like I was a robber." "You should have said something to me." "From pressing suits I knew, but not from girls." "I wasn't so used to speaking to girls." "I thought such a pretty girl was already promised." "I wanted to marry you but I didn't know what to say." "Do you love me, Al?" "Yes." " No, not just words." "I mean inside." "Do you mean what you're saying to me inside?" "Because if you do, I'm gonna believe you, knowing you love me." "L've always loved you." "Then marry me, Al." "Marry me." "I don't wanna remember what could have been." "I want a future, Al." "I want us to have a future." "I can't marry you." "Listen, baby, come here." " You're walking out?" " That's right." " Just like that?" " Yeah, just like that." "You want a fast trick, go hustle up one on the street." "They got a quick bang going on every corner in this town." "I always loved you, but if you walk out on me, I'll have nothing." "Sing that song to some other chick, man, because that crap don't mean nothing to me." "You dig?" "L've been listening to it for four years now." "L've seen it going up one wall and down the other." "Out of a whole lifetime, all I have is you!" "You ain't got nothing but what you're hustling!" "And baby, that don't mean nothing to me no more." "Shut up, will you?" "You wanna run the streets numbering the grocery man and the whores?" " Shut up!" " You just go right on." "You pick up on the five and dime, get your belly cut in some alley." "What the hell are you telling me?" "You go die if you want to, but get out of my life!" "You gave me nothing, man." " Nothing." "What was that?" "Morris?" "Who is in the apartment?" "Is somebody there, Morris?" "There's nobody here." "I left one of the windows open, and it blew the door shut." "L'll go close the window." "Your girlfriend left?" "What's the matter?" "Mr. Levine, are you all right?" "You had a fight with your girlfriend?" "Morris?" "Tell me about it." "Maybe I could help you." "You wait here." "L'll be right back." "I had a strange feeling, Morris like a dream, only it wasn't a dream." "I saw my Ruthie here with her husband and a little child in her arms." "And I couldn't get up to give them something to eat." "What are you doing up there?" "Get away from me, pops." "Go on downstairs!" "Be careful." "Come on down." "You're on your own." "L'm not servicing you anymore." "L'm not an angel anymore." "What are you now, if you're not an angel?" "You told me you were an angel, I believe you're an angel." "Come on down." "What a goddamn, lousy, stinking joke to play." "How the hell did they expect you to believe in me as an angel when I couldn't make anybody believe in me as man?" "I believe you're a man." "Come on down." "I wanted to tell her that I loved her." "That's all I wanted to do." "Shit." "Mr. Levine." " Nothing!" " Nothing!" "A whole goddamn lifetime, and nothing to show for it!" "What the hell did I ever want that was so great that I couldn't have it?" "To stay alive, a stinking place to sleep a couple of bucks in my pocket, shit!" "Why don't we go downstairs?" "We can talk there." " Man." " It's useless what we're doing here." "L'd see some dudes walking in a new set of vines and I'd say,'Yeah, baby, that's what you want. '" "L'd see a Caddy cutting out on the highway like it owned the world and I'd say,'Yeah, baby that's what you want. '" "Everything like I was in the middle of a department store, everybody grabbing." "And me, I jumped right in the middle, with both hands, and I was grabbing." "And I didn't know what the hell I was grabbing for." "To want something is only natural." "You know what my whole life was, man?" "Just running and running on somebody else's track and nothing ever coming up right!" " Nothing!" " Nothing ever meaning anything." "You have meaning to me." "I wish only good things should be for you." "Please, Mr. Levine, let's go downstairs." "Come." "When I was down in the room with Sally, I began to forget." "But she kept reminding me of things I couldn't remember all the lousy things she said I did to her." "This morning, I remembered everything." " Now it's all gone." "Sometimes it's good we don't remember bad things." "What are you laughing at?" "You can't do this, Mr. Levine." "Why are you jumping around like this?" "I can't take this." "Listen, man, it won't make any difference, because tomorrow I won't remember." " I won't remember." " You'll remember." "Only, come down." "How about that, man?" "Tomorrow morning, there'll be nothing left of me." " Nothing!" "I remember we went to the beach." "It was..." "What was it?" "I remember..." " No, goddamn it, I don't." "It was..." "I'm cold, Mishkin." "Come with me." "Come to my house, and be welcome." "Why are you up?" "You're not supposed to be out of bed." "I feel much better." "Who is with you, Morris?" "A friend." "You are welcome." "Mr. Levine is Jewish." "I don't care." "A friend is welcome." "Fanny?" "You know my name?" "Yes." "I am an angel." "Have you come to take me away?" " No." "L've come to give you life." "Mr. Levine helped me get your prescription, so I'm making him a pair of pants when he brings me some material." "I didn't want to live." "I was in pain for a long time." "I know." "You cry." "Why?" "I was lost and God came after me." "I was a cheat." "God would not cheat me." "God be with you, Fanny." "Give him some wine." "Why were you talking to him that way?" "Let him eat with you." "He'll be gone in a minute." "He shouldn't go before eating something." "Would you like some wine?" "Look at this place." "Look what Fanny did here." "It reminds me of my mother." "One night, she got up out of her sick bed, cleaned up the house went into the kitchen, put a chicken in the pot to boil." "While she was watching it, she died." "Just like that." "But Fanny's not going to die, Mishkin." "You're a very kind person, Mr. Levine." "I don't know what will be with me or my Fannilla, but for you I wish a new beginning." "For all of us life." "L'Chaim." "What's the matter?" "You don't like my wine?" " I was just thinking." " What?" "I was just thinking that, soon, I'll be gone forever." "You'll blink an eye or the wind will blow or a clock will sound it's over." " Nobody will even know I was ever here." "L'll remember you, Mr. Levine." "Will you?" "Yes." "L'll always remember you." " L'Chaim." " L'Chaim." " Now let's see what Fanny made for us." "A Matzah Brei." "You like Matzah Brei?" "L'll eat anything." "L'm starving." "How long have you been married, Mishkin?" "Forty-three years." "That's a long time." "You know, she was so beautiful." "I didn't think she ever was going to marry me." "What do you mean, 'was'?" "She still is." "You should have seen that wedding." "From my side of the family, there was no one." "I came to this country alone." "But from her side of the family, 10,000 relatives." "Her relatives ate everything that wasn't still breathing a half a million chickens, a half a million lamb chops a half a million potato latkes, endless." " And you know what I ate?" " What?" " Nothing." "A man doesn't eat at his own wedding." "He runs around like a chicken without a head." "Al, when you get married, you'll know what I'm talking about." " L'll never get married, Mishkin." " You'll get married." " Nobody escapes." "How can I get married when I'm dead?" "Mr. Levine?" "It was wonderful having you here this evening, but now I'm very tired." "My back is killing me, and I'd like to go to sleep." "So, good night, and maybe you'll come another time." " No." " I can't go." " Why not?" "Something's happening." "I feel it." "L'm changing into something." "Mr. Levine, you're not changing into anything." "I can feel the difference." " L'll never be what I was again." " You'll always be what you were." " No, never." "From the moment Fanny looked at me, everything began changing." " What has my wife got to do with you?" " Everything." "She understood." "Mr. Levine, my wife is a very sick woman." " No." "She was sick." "She was dying." " But now she will live." " Don't make out of nothing something." "Wait a minute." "You saw it, right here in this room, the miracle." " What did I see?" " The miracle!" "I saw nothing." "Let me go to sleep." "What do you mean, nothing?" "Fanny is well." "I was sent here to do a miracle, and it was done!" "Mr. Levine, don't make me crazy!" "What happened here was that a sick old woman dragged herself into the kitchen to make us something to eat." " No, I won't let you do this." "Goddamn it, don't wipe out my miracle, man." "Don't destroy my miracle." "What's wrong with your eyes?" "Why are you looking at me that way?" " What were you saying on the roof?" " I wasn't saying anything, just talking." " No, you weren't just talking." "You came after me." "Why?" "I thought you would jump." "What could I do?" " No, it wasn't that." " It had to be more than that!" " I stopped you because I felt sorry for you." " You what?" " I felt pity for you." "Shit on your pity!" "Who in the hell are you to pity me?" "All right, I don't pity you." " What did you see when you came in?" " I saw nothing!" "You lousy son of a bitch." "L'm an angel." " I am and you won't believe me!" " I don't need angels in my life!" " It's too late for angels!" " Killing me!" " I never killed anybody!" " You're killing us!" " You leave me alone!" " I can never leave you alone until it's done!" "You're the one chance they gave me." "You're my only hope." "You're crazy, Levine." "If I don't cut it with you, they're gonna kill me all over again." "I deserve that one good thing should happen to me." " All my life I've had nothing!" " What have I had?" "All my life suffering, with Ruthie, with my sick wife, with my broken back." "Man, all I ever wanted was to stay alive." "And you could save me!" "I wake up every morning praying to God that he finishes me off!" "If you don't believe in me, then there's nothing left for me!" "I can't believe anymore in anything!" "Then they knew, all along they knew, that you would never believe in me." "I never had a chance with you!" "And they hustled me." "Why?" "What am I, a dog?" "An animal in the streets?" "First I should be tortured, and then I should believe?" "Lt's too late!" "Stop!" "I will go to my grave cursing God for what he's done to me!" "You're killing me!" "I will never forgive him for what he's done to me!" "You're killing all of us!" "When we die, we die!" "I will never forgive him!" " Never!" "Mr. Levine?" "Lt's you." "Me." " Did I wake you?" " L'm up." "Well, let me in." "What's the matter with you?" "You look terrible." " What are you doing here?" " Well, I was in the neighborhood." "Look, make me a cup of coffee." "I want to have a look at Fanny." "Fanny's all right." "You make the coffee, I'll make the medical judgments." "Fanny?" "Arnold." "I saw an angel." " Now, listen to me, Fanny I'm going to call the ambulance to take you to the hospital." " No." "I don't want a hospital." "I can't do anything for you here." "I know." "I'll die in my home." " I'll get Morris.I'll be right back." " No." "I don't want him to see me." "But I can't keep him out." "A man has a right." "Everything, for a lifetime, we shared." "This I don't want to share with him." "I was a lucky woman in spite of everything." "Come to him sometime." "See what is happening with him what is happening with my Ruth." "Your coffee will be ready soon, Arnold." "Bring me some soda from the grocery." "I'm thirsty." "I have in the icebox." "Morris do as she says." "Morris." "Fanny." "Subtitles by Zenart"