"Harry, answer that." "So what do you wanna hack for, Bickle?" "I can't sleep nights." " There's porno theaters for that." " I know." "I tried that." "So what do you do now?" "Now?" "Ride around nights mostly." "Subways, buses." "Figure I might as well get paid for it." "You wanna work uptown?" "South Bronx, Harlem?" "I'll work anytime, anywhere." "Will you work Jewish holidays?" "Anytime, anywhere." "Let me see your chauffeur's license." "How's your record?" "It's clean." "It's real clean, like my conscience." "You gonna break my chops?" "I got enough trouble with guys like you." "If you're gonna, you can take it on the arches." "Sorry, sir, I didn't mean that." " Physical?" " Clean." " Age?" " 26." "Education?" "Some." "Here, there." "Military record?" "Honorable discharge." "May 1973." " Were you in the Army?" " Marines." "I was in the Marines too." "So what is it?" "You need an extra job?" "Are you moonlighting?" "Well, I just wanna work long hours." "What's moonlighting?" "Look just fill these out and check back tomorrow." "O'Brien, please step up." "Take the car out through 58th Street, please." "Because it's crowded on 57th." "May 10th." "Thank God for the rain, which washed away  the garbage and the trash off the sidewalks." "I'm working long hours now." "Six in the afternoon to six in the morning, sometimes even eight." "Six days a week, sometimes seven days a week." "It's a long hustle, but it keeps me real busy." "I can take in $300, $350 a week." "Sometimes even more, when I do it off the meter." "All the animals come out at night." "Whores, skunk-pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies." "Sick, venal." "Someday, a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets." "I go all over." "I take people to the Bronx, Brooklyn, Harlem." "I don't care." "Don't make no difference to me." "It does to some." "Some won't even take spooks." "Don't make no difference to me." "48th and 6th, please." "Man, you are gorgeous!" "Beautiful little girl." "I can't afford to get stopped." "We wouldn't want that to happen." "There'll be a big tip for you if you do the right things." "You got a way." "You got a way." "Now you're talking!" "Driver, hurry up, will you?" "Each night when I return the cab, I clean the come off the back seat." "Some nights, I clean off the blood." "Can I help you?" "Yeah, what's your name?" "My name is Travis." "That's nice." "What can I do for you?" "I'd like to know what your name is." "Gimme a break." "You can tell me what your name is." "I'm not gonna do anything." " Do you want me to call the manager?" " You don't have to" "Troy!" "All right." "Okay, I mean..." "Can I have a Chuckles there?" "Do you have any Jujus?" "They last longer." "I'd like to get them too." "What you see is what we got." "I'll take these." "Coca-Cola." "We don't have Coca-Cola." "Royal Crown Cola is all we got." "A dollar eighty-five." "Twelve hours of work and I still can't sleep." "Damn." "Days go on and on." "And they don't end." "All my life needed was a sense of someplace to go." "I don't believe that one should devote his life to morbid self-attention." "I believe someone should become a person like other people." "I first saw her at Palantine campaign headquarters at 63rd and Broadway." "She was wearing a white dress." "She appeared like an angel  out of this filthy mass." "She is alone." "They  cannot  touch  her." "You delivered two boxes." "I think it's a total of 5000 campaign buttons." "Now, all the ones we had before and our slogan is "We are the people," and "are" is underlined." "These new buttons have "we" underlined." "That reads, "We are the people." Well, I think there's a difference." ""We are the people" is not the same as " We are the people."" "Let's not fight." "Look, we'll make it real simple." "We don't pay for the buttons." " We throw the buttons away, all right?" " Tom, come here a minute." "What?" "If Andy okay's this canvass report, send a copy to all headquarters." "I gotta xerox that New York Times article." " Don't forget the new photos." " I didn't." "We have to emphasize mandatory welfare." "That's the issue to push." "First push the man, then the issue." "Senator Palantine is a dynamic man." "An intelligent, interesting, fresh, fascinating man." "You forgot sexy." "I did not forget sexy." "You sound like you're selling mouthwash." "We are selling it." " Are we authorized to do that?" " Very funny." "You can get in trouble selling pharmaceuticals here." "My uncle's in jail because of that." "It's not really jail." "Of course, with his wife, anything would be jail." "Look over there." "I love you." "Notice anything?" " No." " Well, put your glasses on." "Okay, just a minute." "All right." "That taxi driver's been staring at us." "What taxi driver?" "The one that's sitting there." " How long has he been there?" " It feels like a long time." " Does he bother you?" " No." "You mean yes." "You're being sarcastic." "You're quick." "You're really quick." "I try to be real quick." "I'll play the male in this relationship" "Good luck." " and tell him to move." "And I don't need good luck." "Oh yes, you do." "You just think you don't." "You're blocking our doorway." "You think you might move your cab?" "You know, eye shadow, mascara lipstick, rouge." "Not rouge." "Blush-on, they call it." " The kind with the brush." " Yeah, it's Blush-on." " Hey, Wiz." " That's Blush- on." "My wife uses it." "Ask Travis." "He's a ladies' man." "A cup of coffee." "Whatever the fuck it is, she uses a lot of it." "And then perfume." "The spray kind." "Then in the middle of the Triboro Bridge" "And this woman is beautiful, she changes her pantyhose." " No." " Oh, yeah." "What'd you do?" "I throw the man out, and I jump in the back seat and whip it out." "And I said, "You know what this is?"" "She says, "It's love." I fuck her brains out." "She goes wild and says, "That's the greatest single experience of my life."" "Then she gave me a $200 tip and her phone number in Acapulco." "You know Doughboy, Charlie T." "Hey, Travis." "Got change for a nickel?" "Doughboy will do anything for a buck." "So how's it hanging?" "What's that?" "I turn on the radio." "Some fleet driver from Bell just got all cut up." "Stickup?" "No, he got cut up by some crazy fucker." "Cut half his ear off." "Where?" "It was on 122nd Street." "Fucking Mau Mau land." "You run all over town, don't you, Travis?" "You run all over town, don't you?" "You handle some pretty rough customers." "Yeah, I have." "You carry a piece?" "You need one?" "I know a fella who can get you a real nice deal." "Lots of shit around." "I never use mine." "I'm conservative." "But it's a good thing to have just as a threat." "I'm gonna go dig my dirt." "Look." "Piece of Errol Flynn's bathtub." "Dig the symbols." "F-4-0-5-4-3-4." "And the watermark." "There's one person there's two persons and there's three persons." "I got this at his estate, The Pines." "Take it, and if you can sell it, you give me half of what you got." "I don't want to." "I'm gonna get in my cab and boogie." "Oh, I'm so terribly sorry." "Nothing." "That's very cute." "Thank you." "Hey, you wanna see something?" "Wait, I just typed, "You wanna see something?"" "If you had these three fingers missing on this hand and that hand missing on that hand..." " ...how would you light the match?" " I wouldn't." "Go ahead." "Give it a try." "Well, I don't think I could do it." "No?" "It's gonna be difficult." "I'll give it a try." "I got my thumb back for a second." "Thank God." "Just a minute." "I can't do it." "The guy at the newsstand can." "Well, I don't work at a newsstand." " Anyway, he's probably Italian." " No." " You're sure?" " He's black." "If he had been Italian, he might've been a thief." "If a thief screws up on the job, the mob blows his fingers off." "This sounds like a joke, but it's true." "If they kill a stool pigeon, they leave a canary on the body." " It's symbolic." " Why not a pigeon instead of a canary?" "I don't know why not." "Wait a minute." "You gotta catch a pigeon." "A canary, you can walk into a pet store kill it right there." "Put it on anyone you want." " I'd like to volunteer." " I'll take you right over here." "I'd rather volunteer to her, if you don't mind." "Why do you have to volunteer to me?" "Because you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." "Thanks." "But what do you think of Palantine?" "The man you're volunteering to help elect President." "I don't know what his policies are, but I'm sure he'll make a good one." " Do you want to canvass?" " Yeah, I'll canvass." "How do you feel about his stand on welfare?" "I don't really know his stand on welfare, but I'm sure it's a good stand." "You're sure of that?" "We all work together here, day and night so I'm sure the gentlemen will sign you up over there." "The thing is, I drive a taxi at night, so it's kind of hard for me to work in the day." "Then what exactly do you want?" "Would you like to have coffee and pie with me?" "Why?" "Why?" "I'll tell you why." "I think you're a lonely person." "I drive by a lot, and I see you here." "I see a lot of people around you and I see these phones and all this stuff on your desk and it means nothing." "And when I came inside and met you I saw in your eyes and how you carried yourself that you're not a happy person." "And I think you need something." "If you wanna call it a friend, you can call it that." "You're gonna be my friend?" "What do you say?" "It's a little hard standing here and asking you, so..." "Five minutes, that's all." "Just outside." "Right around here." "I'm there to protect you." "Come on." "Just take a little break." "I have a break at 4:00." "If you're here-- 4:00 today?" " I'll be here." " I'm sure you will." " All right." "Four p.m." " Right." " Outside in the front?" " Yes." "Oh, my name is Travis." "Betsy?" "I appreciate this, Betsy." "May 26th, four o'clock p.m." "I took Betsy to Charles' Coffee Shop on Columbus Circle." "I had black coffee and apple pie with a slice of melted yellow cheese." "I think that was a good selection." "Betsy had coffee and a fruit salad dish." "She could've had anything she wanted." "15,000 volunteers in New York alone isn't bad." "But the organizational problems!" "Yeah, I know what you mean." "I got the same problems." "I gotta get organized." "Little things, like my apartment, my possessions." "I should get a sign: "One of these days, I'll get organiz-ized."" "You mean "organized"?" "Organiz-ized." "Organiz-ized." "It's a joke." "O-R-G-A-N-E-Z-I-E-Z-D." "You mean "organiz-ized." Like those signs in offices that say, "Thimk."" "Do you like where you work?" "We've got some good people." "Palantine's got a good chance." "You know you have beautiful eyes?" "Do you like the guy you work with?" "He's okay." "But do you like him?" "He's funny and very good at his job." "Though he does have a few problems." "I'd say he has quite a few problems." "His energy seems to go in the wrong places." "When I walked in and I saw you two sitting there I could just tell that there was no connection whatsoever." "And when I walked in, there was something between us." "There was an impulse we were both following." "So that gave me the right to talk to you." "Otherwise, I never would've had the right to talk to you." "I never would've had the courage to talk to you." "And with him, I felt there was nothing." "When I walked in, I knew I was right." "Did you feel that way?" "I wouldn't be here if I didn't." "Where are you from?" "Upstate." "That fellow, I don't like him." "Not that I don't like him, I just think he's silly." "I don't think he respects you." "I don't believe I've ever met anyone quite like you." "You wanna go to a movie with me?" " I have to go back to work now." " I don't mean now." "Another time?" "Sure." "You know what you remind me of?" "What?" "That song by Kris Kristofferson." "Who's that?" "The songwriter." ""He's a prophet..." "He's a prophet and a pusher partly truth, partly fiction, a walking contradiction."" "You saying that about me?" "Who else would I be talking about?" "I'm no pusher." "I've never pushed." "Just the part about the contradictions." "You are that." "I called Betsy again." "She said maybe we'd go to a movie  after work tomorrow." "That's my day off." "At first she hesitated, but I called her again and she agreed." "Betsy, Betsy." "Oh, no." "Betsy what?" "I forgot to ask her last name." "Damn!" "I gotta remember stuff like that." "Don't worry about anyone committing themselves until things come in from California." "Listen, I think we should've waited for the limo." "I don't mind the cab, but I mind going to California without the right preparation." "Are you Charles Palantine, the candidate?" "Yes, I am." "I tell everybody that comes in this taxi that they have to vote for you." "Why, thank you Travis." "I'm sure you'll win." "Everybody I know will vote for you." "I was gonna put your sticker in my taxi but the company said it was against their policy." "They're a bunch of jerks." "Let me tell you, I have learned more about America from riding in cabs than in all the limos in the U.S." " Oh, yeah?" " That's true." " Can I ask you something, Travis?" " Sure." "What bugs you the most about this country?" "Well, I don't know." "I don't follow political issues that closely, sir." "Well, there must be something." "Well, whatever it is, he should clean up this city here because it's like an open sewer." "It's full of filth and scum." "Sometimes I can hardly take it." "Whatever becomes the President should just really clean it up." "You know?" "Sometimes I go out and I smell it." "I get headaches, it's so bad." "And they just never go away, you know?" "I think that the President should just clean up this mess." "He should flush it right down the fucking toilet." "I think I know what you mean, Travis." "But it's not gonna be easy." " We'll have to make radical changes." " Damn straight." "Here you go." "Keep the change." "Thank you." " Nice talking to you." " Nice talking to you." "You're a good man." "I know you're gonna win." "Thank you, I think." "Just get me outta here, all right?" "Come on!" "Come on, baby." "This is a real drag." "Now, come on!" "Don't make a scene." "You wanna get busted?" "Bitch, be cool!" "Don't start no trouble." "Cabbie, just forget about this." "Be cool, bitch!" "Get your ass out of here!" "Hi there." " Have a nice day today?" " Not particularly." "Got a present for you." "Now back to Gene Krupa's syncopated style shortly." "Why'd you do that?" "What else am I gonna do with my money?" "I wish you'd have listened to this." "I would have, except my record player doesn't work now." "Your stereo's broken?" "How do you stand it?" "I can't live without music." "I don't follow music too much, but I would really like to." "Then you haven't played this record yet." "But I was thinking maybe we could listen to it on your record player." "Now, going back through 40 years of Chick Webb." "You gotta be kidding." "What?" "This is a dirty movie." "No, no." "This is a movie that a lot of couples come to." " All kinds of couples go here." " You sure about that?" "Yeah, I see them all the time." "Come on." " Where are you going?" " I have to leave." " Why?" " I don't know why I came in here." " I don't like these movies." " Well, I mean" "I didn't know you'd feel that way about this movie." " If I had" " Are these the only movies you go to?" "Yeah, I mean I come and-- This is not so bad." "Taking me here is as exciting to me as saying, "Let's fuck."" "There are other movies I can take you to." "I don't know much about them, but I can take you other places." "We're just different." " Wait a second." " I have to go." "I've got to go now." " Wait a second, I want to talk." " But I have to go." "Taxi!" "Can I talk to you at least?" "Won't you at least to talk to me?" "Take the record." " I've already got it." " But, please." " I bought it for you, Betsy." " Okay, now I've got two." "Let's go." "Can I call you?" "Jesus Christ, I got a taxi." "Hello, Betsy." "Hi, it's Travis." "Listen, I'm sorry about the other night." "I didn't know that was the way you felt about it." "Well, I didn't know." "If I-- I'd have taken you somewhere else." "Are you feeling better or...?" "Maybe you had a virus or something." "A 24-hour virus, you know." "It can happen." "Yeah." "You've been working hard, huh?" "Would you like to have some dinner with me in the next few days or something?" "How about a cup of coffee?" "I could come by the headquarters or something, and we could..." "Okay, okay." "Did you get my flowers and the...?" "You didn't get them?" "But I sent some flowers." "Can I call you again?" "Tomorrow or the next day?" "No, I'm gonna-- Okay, yeah, sure." "So long." "I tried several times to call her  but after the first call, she wouldn't come to the phone." "I also sent flowers, but with no luck." "The smell of the flowers made me sicker." "The headaches got worse." "I think I got stomach cancer." "I shouldn't complain, though." "You're only as healthy..." "You're only as healthy as you feel." "You're only  as healthy  as  you  feel." " Let's not have trouble." " Why won't you talk to me?" "You think I don't know you're here?" "You think I don't know?" " Please leave." " Take your hands off!" "I just want you to know" "Please." "This is no place to do this." " Take your hands off!" " Just leave." " All right, leave, then!" " I wanna tell you you're in hell!" "And you'll die in hell." " There's a cop over there." " You're like the rest of them." "Look, I'm calling the cop." "Officer!" "Officer!" "Don't come around here, because I'll call the police!" "I realize now, how much she's just like the others, cold and distant." "Many people are like that." "Women for sure." "They're like a union." "Yo, cabbie!" "Pull over to the curb over there." "Right over there." "No, don't." "The fucking meter." "What are you doing?" "What are you doing with the meter?" "Did I tell you to do that with the meter?" "Put the meter back." "I don't care what I have to pay." "I'm not getting out." "Put the meter back on." "Put it down." "That's right." "Put it down!" "That's right." "Why are you writing?" "Don't write!" "Put the thing down." "Just sit." "I didn't tell you to write." "I just said, "Pull over."" "Pull over to the curb and sit here." "We're gonna sit." "Cabbie, you see that light up there?" "In the window?" "The light?" "The window in the second floor." "The one that's closest to the edge of the building." "The light up in the window." "Second story." "What are you, blind?" "Do you see the light?" "Yeah, you see it." "Good." "See the woman?" "Do you see the woman in the window?" "Yeah." "I want you to see that woman because that's my wife." "But that's not my apartment." "It's not my apartment." "You know who lives there?" "No, you wouldn't know." "But you know who lives there?" "A nigger lives there." "How do you like that?" "And I'm gonna kill her." "There's nothing else." "I'm gonna kill her." "What do you think of that?" "I said, "What do you think of that?"" "Don't answer." "You don't have to answer everything." "I'm gonna kill her with a .44" "Magnum pistol." "I have a .44" "Magnum pistol." "I'm gonna kill her with that gun." "Did you ever see what a .44" "Magnum can do to a woman's face?" "It'd fucking destroy it." "Just blow it right apart." "That's what it can do to a face." "Did you ever see what it can do to a woman's pussy?" "You should see what a .44" "Magnum's gonna do to a woman's pussy." "What's that?" "I know you must think that I'm, you know..." "You must think I'm pretty sick or something." "Right?" "You must think I'm pretty sick?" "Right?" "I bet you really think I'm sick, right?" "You think I'm sick?" "You don't have to answer." "I'm paying for the ride." "I picked up this midget, you know." "He's very well-dressed, Italian suit good-looking, with a beautiful blond." " A lady midget?" " No, the guy was a midget." " The blond was a lady." " I got you." "Those midgets are funny." "Sometimes I like to hold a midget." "They always want to sit in the front seat." "Then I pick up these two fags." "They're going downtown." "They're wearing rhinestone T-shirts." "They start arguing and yelling." "The other one says, "You bitch," and starts beating him." "I say, " I don't care what you do in the privacy of your own home, behind closed doors."" "This is a free country." "We got a pursuit of happiness thing." "You're consenting, you're adult." "But, you know, in my fucking cab, don't go busting heads." " Do what you want." " Tell them to go to California." "In California, when two fags split up, one's got to pay the other alimony." "Not bad." "They're way ahead out there, you know?" "California." "So I tell them to get out." "One time, I saw a cop chase this guy with one leg." " He was on crutches, you know." " The cop?" "No, the dude he was chasing." "Fucking cops, they chase anything." "You got that five you owe me?" "My man is loading, loading." "I be broke if I hadn't caught me some people from Ohio out at Kennedy." "I took them into Manhattan by way of Long Beach, tipped me $5." "How's the action around?" "It's very slow." "I'm shoving on." "Hey, Wiz, wait." " Can I talk to you for a second?" " Bye, Killer." "You can have them!" "Hey, don't be hitting my man!" "You better take your ass out, boy!" "I know you and I ain't talked too much, you know." "But you've been around, so..." "Shoot, that's why they call me the Wizard." "I got..." "It's just that I got a..." "Things got you down?" "Yeah, happens to the best of them." "Yeah, they got me real down." "Real..." "I just want to go out and you know, really, really do something." "Taxi life, you mean?" "No, it's..." "I don't know." "I just want to go out..." "I really want to..." "I got some bad ideas in my head." "Look at it this way." "A man takes a job." "And that job you know, that becomes what he is." "You know, like..." "You do a thing, and that's what you are." "I've been a cabbie for 17 years." "Ten years at night." "And I still don't own my own cab." "You know why?" "Because I don't want to." "That must be what I want." "To be on the night shift, driving somebody else's cab." "You understand?" "You get a job, you become the job." "One guy lives in Brooklyn, one guy lives in Sutton Place." "You get a lawyer, another guy's a doctor." "Another guy dies, another guy gets well and people are born." "I envy you, your youth." "Go out and get laid." "Get drunk." "Do anything." "You got no choice, anyway." "I mean, we're all fucked." "More or less, you know?" "I don't know." "That's about the dumbest thing I ever heard of." "It's not Bertrand Russell, but what do you want?" "I'm a cabbie." "I don't even know what you're talking about." "Maybe I don't know either." "Don't worry so much." "Relax, kid, you're gonna be all right." "I know." "I've seen a lot of people and I know." "Okay." "Thanks, man." "Yeah, you know." "You're all right." "What do you think of your opponent's chances in the upcoming primary?" "Mr. Goodman is a fine man." "I would certainly, if it came to it, prefer him  to our opponent in the other party." "I think that my programs are better defined than his." "They're more imaginative." "I have a better chance of winning." "It's academic, though." "He's not going to win." "I am." "I see." "Well, one more thing I'd like to ask you." "How do you feel your campaign is going?" "When we came up with our slogan "We are the people"  when I said "Let the people rule"  I felt I was being overly optimistic." "I must tell you that I am more optimistic now than ever before." "The people are rising to the demands that I have made on them." "The people are beginning to rule." "I feel it is a groundswell." "I know  it will continue through the primary and in Miami." "And I know it will rise  to an unprecedented swell in November." "That bitch!" "I'll blow her brains out!" "I'll kill her, goddamn it!" "I'm gonna get my hands and kill her!" "Shoot, goddamn it!" "Hey, Sport." " That guy keeps following us." " Don't look at him." "Hey, guys." "Wanna take a walk?" "Loneliness has followed me my whole life, everywhere." "In bars, in cars  sidewalks, stores, everywhere." "There's no escape." "I'm God's lonely man." "June 8th." "My life has taken another turn again." "The days move along with regularity, over and over  one day indistinguishable from the next." "A long, continuous chain." "And then suddenly  there is change." "This here's Easy Andy." "He's a traveling salesman." "How are you doing, Travis?" " You got a .44" "Magnum?" " It's an expensive weapon." "It's all right." "I got money." "It's a real monster." "Stop a car at 100 yards, put a round right through the engine." "Here you go." "It's a premium, high resale weapon." "Look at that." "That's a beauty." "I could sell this gun to some jungle bunny in Harlem for $500." "But I just deal high-quality goods to the right people." "How about that?" "This might be too big for practical purposes." "In which case, for you, I'd recommend 38 snub-nosed." "Look at this." "That's a beautiful little gun." "It's nickel-plated, snub-nosed, but basically a service revolver." "It'll stop anything that moves." "The Magnum, they use that in Africa for killing elephants." "That .38 that's a funny gun." "Some of these guns are like toys." "That .38, you go out and hammer nails with it all day..." "It's got a really nice action to it and a heck of a wallop." "You interested in an automatic?" "It's a Colt .25 automatic." "It's a nice little gun." "It's a beautiful gun." "Holds six shots in the clip, one in the chamber." "If you're dumb enough to put one there." "Here." "Look at this." ".380 Walther." "Holds eight shots in the clip." "That's a nice gun." "That's a beautiful little gun." "Look at that." "During World War II, they used this gun to replace the P 38." "Just given out to officers." "Ain't that a little honey?" " How much for everything?" " All together?" "Only a jackass would carry that cannon in the streets like that." "Here's a beautiful handmade holster I had made in Mexico." "Forty dollars." "Three-fifty for the Magnum, two-fifty for the .38 one and a quarter for the .25, one- fifty for the .380." "Take this and wait here." "I'll walk down with you." "How about dope?" "Grass?" "Hash?" "Coke?" "Mescaline?" "Downers?" "Nebutal?" "Chloral hydrates?" " Uppers, amphetamines?" " I'm not interested in that stuff." "I can get you crystal meth, nitrous oxide." "How about a Cadillac?" "A brand-new Cadillac with the pink slip, two grand." "June 29th." "I gotta get in shape." "Too much sitting has ruined my body." "Too much abuse has gone on for too long." "From now on, it'll be 50 push ups each morning." "Fifty pull-ups." "There will be no more pills." "There will be no more bad food, no more destroyers of my body." "It'll be total organization." "Every muscle must be tight." "Look at the size of that." "Oh, yeah." "Oh, it looks so good." "It's getting harder and harder, and it's throbbing now." "The idea had been growing in my brain for some time." "True force." "All the king's men cannot put it back together again." " Where do we get more?" " Where do you think?" "At headquarters." "All the way back there?" " Come on." " They'll work." " Maybe it's the speakers." " I've done this 100 times." " You've done this before?" " Yes, don't worry." " When was the last time?" " I've never done this before." "What?" "Come here, come here." "You're a Secret Service man, aren't you?" "Just waiting for the senator." "You're waiting for the senator?" "That's a very good answer." "Shit, man." "I'm waiting for the sun to shine." "No, the reason I asked if you were a Secret Service man" "I won't say anything" "Is because I" "I saw some suspicious-looking people over there." " You did?" " They were right over there." "They were just here." "They were very, very..." "Suspicious." "Where did they go?" "Is it hard to get to be in the Secret Service?" "Why?" "I was just curious, because I think I'd be good at it." "I'm very observant." "I was in the Marine Corps, you know." "I'm good with crowds." "I noticed your little pin there." "It's like a signal, isn't it?" "Sort of." "A signal." "A secret signal for the Secret Service." "What kind of guns you guys carry?" ".38s?" ".45s?" ".357" "Magnums?" "Something bigger, maybe?" "Look, if you're really interested, if you give me your name and address we'll send you all the information on how to apply." "How's that?" " You will?" " Sure." "Why not?" "My name is Henry Krinkle." "K-R-I-N-K-L-E." "154 Hopper Avenue." "Hopper?" "You know, like a rabbit?" "Hip, hop." "Fair Lawn, New Jersey." "Is there a zip code?" "6-1- 0-4-5-2." "That's six digits. 6, 1..." "Oh, well, 6-1- 0-4-5." "I was thinking of my telephone number." "Well, I've got it all." "Henry, we'll get all the stuff right out to you." "Thanks a lot." "Hey, great." "Thanks a lot." "Hell." "Jesus." " Be careful today." " Right." "Will do." "You have to be careful around a place like this." "Bye." "Faster than you." "Fucking sick." "I saw you coming, you fuck." "Shitheel!" "I'm standing here." "You make the move." "You make the move." "It's your move." "Don't try it, you fuck." "You talking to me?" "You talking to me?" "You talking to me?" "Then who the hell else are you talking to?" "You talking to me?" "Well, I'm the only one here." "Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?" "Oh, yeah?" "Listen, you fuckers, you screwheads." "Here is a man who would not take it anymore." "Who would not let" "Listen, you fuckers, you screwheads." "Here is a man who would not take it anymore." "Who stood up against the scum  the cunts, the dogs, the filth, the shit." "Here is someone who stood up." "Here is..." "You're dead." "Hey, Travis, qué pasa?" "Hi, Melio." "Qué pasa?" "Yeah, man?" "Shut your fucking mouth and give me the cash out the drawer." "Come on!" " Let's go." "Give me the damn cash." " Don't shoot." "Stop taking so long." "Come on!" "Let me have it." "Give me the bread." " This all you got?" " That's it." "I don't have any more money, man." " That's all I got!" " You got more." " I tell you, I got no money!" " Reach in your sock." "Give me the rest of the fucking bread." " Did you get him?" " Yeah, I got him." "Shit, man." " Is he dead?" " I don't know." "His eyes are moving." "I ain't got a permit." "I don't know what I'm gonna do." "Don't worry." "I'll take care of it." "Can I pay you?" "Just get out of here." "No, man." "I'll take care of it." "Go ahead." "That's the fifth motherfucker this year!" "Walt Whitman, that great American poet  spoke for all of us when he said  "I am the man." "I suffered." "I was there." Today I say to you  we are the people." "We suffered." "We were there." "We, the people, suffered in Vietnam." "We, the people, suffered." "We still suffer  from unemployment, inflation  crime and corruption." "Dear Father and Mother  July is the month I remember  which brings not only your wedding anniversary  but also Father's Day and Mother's birthday." "I'm sorry I can't remember the exact dates  but I hope this card will take care of them all." "I'm sorry, again, I cannot send you my address  like I promised to last year." "But the sensitive nature of my work for the government demands utmost secrecy." "I know you will understand." "I am healthy and well and making lots of money." "I've been dating a girl for a few months  and I know you'd be proud if you could see her." "Her name is Betsy, but I can tell you no more than that." "Hey, cabbie, you can't park here." "Come on!" "Come on, let's go!" "Let's go!" "Move it!" " bear the burden of suffering for the few." "No more will we fight the wars of the few  through the heart of the many." "I hope this card finds you all well, as it does me." "I hope no one has died." "Don't worry about me." "One day there will be a knock on the door and it'll be me." "Love, Travis." "Don't you have some idea?" "I'm not the one who wants to talk." "You must know that the reason that I didn't marry him  is because I couldn't stand to be a cause of divorce." "Now he's getting a divorce anyway." "Phillip wants to marry me, Brock." "I do love him." "What about us, June?" "Our marriage?" "You know our marriage wasn't legal." "In the eyes of God, we are married." "Brock, please don't do this to me." "I love him" "Damn." "God damn!" " Are you looking for some action?" " Yeah." "See that guy over there?" "Go talk to him." "His name is Matthew." "I'll be over there waiting for you." "Your name Matthew?" "I want some action." "Officer." "I swear I'm clean." "I'm just waiting here for a friend." "You're gonna bust me for nothing, man?" "I'm not a cop." "I ain't a" "Then why are you asking me for action?" "Because she sent me over." "I suppose that ain't a .38" "you got in your sock." ".38?" "I'm clean, man." "Shit, you're a real cowboy?" "That's nice, man." "All right." "That's all right." "15 dollars, 15 minutes." "25 dollars, half an hour." "Shit." "Cowboy, huh?" "I once had a horse." "On Coney Island." "She got hit by a car." "Well, take it or leave it." "If you wanna save yourself some money, don't fuck her." "She'll be back for more." "She's 12 years old." "You ain't never had no pussy like that." "Do anything you want." "Come on her fuck her in the mouth, in the ass." "Come on her face." "She'll get your cock so hard, she'll make it explode." "But no rough stuff." "All right?" "All right, I'll take it." "Hey, man!" "Don't take out no money over here." "You gonna fuck me?" "You're gonna fuck her." "You give her the money." "Catch you later, copper." "What'd you say?" "See you later, copper." "I'm no cop, man." "Well, if you are, it's entrapment already." "I'm hip." "Funny, you don't look hip." "Have yourself a good time." "Go ahead, man." "You're a funny guy." "But looks aren't everything." "Go ahead, man." "Have a good time." "The room'll cost you ten bucks." "I'm timing you too." "Come on." "Are you really twelve?" "Listen, mister, it's your time." "15 minutes ain't long." "When that cigarette burns out, your time is up." "How old are you?" "You won't tell me?" "What's your name?" "Easy." "That's not any kind of name." "It's easy to remember." "Yeah, but what's your real name?" "I don't like my real name." "What's your real name?" "Iris." "What's wrong?" "It's a nice name." "That's what you think." "No, don't do that." "Don't you remember me?" "Remember when you got into a taxi?" "It was a checkered taxi." "You got in and that guy Matthew came by and he said he wanted to take you away." "He pulled you away." "I don't remember that." "You don't remember?" "I'm gonna get you out of here." "We better make it or Sport will get mad." " How do you wanna make it?" " I don't want to." "Who's Sport?" "That's Matthew." "I call him Sport." "Wanna make it like this?" "Listen, I..." "Can't you understand something?" "You came into my cab." "You wanted to get out of here." "I must've been stoned." "Why?" "They drug you?" "Come off it, man." "What are you doing?" "Don't you wanna make it?" "I don't wanna make it." "I wanna help you." "Well, I could help you." "Damn, man!" "Goddamn it!" "Shit, man." "What the hell's the matter with you?" "We don't have to make it, mister." "Damn it!" "Don't you want out of here?" "Can you understand why I'm here?" "I think I understand." "I tried to get into your cab and now you wanna come and take me away." "Is that it?" "Yeah, but don't you wanna go?" "I can leave any time I want." "Then what about that one night?" "Look, I was stoned." "That's why they stopped me." "When I'm not stoned I got no place else to go." "So they just protect me from myself." "I don't know." "I don't know." "Okay, I tried." "I understand." "And it means something, really." "Well look, can I see you again?" " That's not hard to do." " Not like that." "I mean, you know, regularly." "This is nothing for a person to do." "How about breakfast tomorrow?" " Tomorrow?" " I get up at 1:00." "One o'clock?" "Well, I got that thing." "I don't know" "Do you want to or not?" "Yeah, I want-- Okay, all right." " One o'clock." " One o'clock." "Okay." "See you tomorrow." "Oh, Iris." "My name is Travis." "Thanks a lot, Travis." "So long, Iris." "See you tomorrow." "Sweet Iris." "This is yours." "Spend it right." "Come back anytime, cowboy." "I will." "Why do you want me to go back to my parents?" "They hate me." "Why do you think I split?" "There ain't nothing there." "But you can't live like this." "It's a hell." "A girl should live at home." "Didn't you ever hear of women's lib?" "What do you mean, "women's lib"?" "You're a young girl." "You should be at home now." "You should be dressed up, going out with boys." "You should be going to school." " You know, that kind of stuff." " Oh, God, are you square." "I'm not square." "You're square." "You're full of shit, man." "What do you mean?" "You walk out with fucking creeps, lowlifes and degenerates and you sell your little pussy for nothing, man?" "For some low-life pimp?" "Stands in a hall." "I'm square?" "You're the one that's square, man." "I don't go screw and fuck with killers and junkies like you." "You call that being hip?" "What world you from?" "Who's a killer?" "That guy Sport's a killer." "Sport never killed nobody." " He killed" " He's a Libra." "He's a what?" "I'm a Libra too." "That's why we get along so well." "He looks like a killer to me." "I think that Cancers make the best lovers but my whole family's air signs." "He's also a dope-shooter." "What makes you so high and mighty?" "Will you tell me that?" "Don't you ever look at your own eyeballs in the mirror?" "What'll you do about Sport and that old guy?" " When?" " When you leave." "I'll just leave them." " Just leave?" " They got other girls." "You can't just do that." "What are you gonna do?" "Want me to call the cops?" "The cops don't do nothing." "You know that." "Sport never treated me bad." "He didn't beat me up once." "But you can't allow him to do the same to other girls." "You can't allow him to do that." "He's the lowest kind of person." "Somebody's got to do something to him." "He's the scum of the earth." "He's the worst sucking scum I have ever, ever seen." "You know what he told me about you?" "He called you names." "He called you a little piece of chicken." "He doesn't mean it." "I'll move up to one of them communes in Vermont." "I never seen a commune before, but I don't know..." "I saw some photos once in a magazine." "It didn't look very clean." "Why don't you come with me?" "What?" "Come to the commune with you?" "No, no." "Why not?" "I don't go to places like that." "Come on, why not?" "I don't get along with people like that." "Are you a Scorpion?" "That's it." "You're a Scorpion." "I can tell every time." "Besides, I gotta stay here." "Come on." "Why?" "I got something important to do." "So what's so important?" "Doing something for the government." "The cab thing is just part-time." "Are you a narc?" "Do I look like a narc?" "I am a narc." "God!" "I don't know who's weirder, you or me." " Sure you don't wanna come with me?" " I'll give you the money to go." " You don't have to." " I want you to take it." "I don't want you to take anything from them." "And I wanna do it." "I don't have anything better to do with my money." "I might be going away for a while." "You're just a little tense, that's all." "I don't like what I'm doing, Sport." "Baby, I never wanted you to like what you're doing." "If you ever liked what you were doing, you wouldn't be my woman." "You never spend any time with me anymore." "Well, I got to attend to business, baby." "You miss your man, don't you?" "I don't like to be away from you either." "You know how I feel about you." "I depend on you." "I'd be lost without you." "Don't you ever forget that." "How much I need you." "Come to me, baby." "Let me hold you." "When you're close to me like this, I feel so good." "I only wish every man could know what it's like to be loved by you." "That every woman, everywhere had a man who loves her like I love you." "God, it's good so close." "You know, at times like this I know I'm a lucky man." "Touching a woman who wants me and needs me." "It's only you that keeps me together." "Now I see it clearly." "My whole life is pointed  in one direction." "I see that now." "There never has been any choice for me." "Ladies and gentlemen the next president of the U.S., Senator Charles Palantine." "Thank you, Tom." "Ladies and gentlemen we are met today at a crossroads, Columbus Circle." "This is no ordinary place." "It is a place where many roads and many lives intersect." "It is appropriate that we meet here today because these are not ordinary times." "We meet at a crossroads in history." "For far too long, the wrong roads have been taken." "The wrong roads have led us into war, into poverty into unemployment and inflation." "Today I say to you, we have reached the turning point." "No longer will we, the people, suffer for the few." "I would lie to you if I told you the new roads would be easy." "They will not be easy." "Nothing that is right and good has ever been easy." "We, the people, know that." "And we, the people, know the right roads and the good." "Today I say to you, we are the people, you and I." "And it is time to let the people rule!" "Thank you." "All right, let him through." "Pull back." "Over there." "Get that man." "Give him some air!" "Give him some air, will you?" " I never saw him." " I saw him run." " I saw him." " Where was he?" "What's happening?" "Got the money?" "Iris in her room?" "Hey, Sport, how you doing?" "Okay, okay, my man." "How" " Where do I know you from, man?" " I don't know." "How's everything in the pimp business?" "Do I know you?" "No." "Do I know you?" "Get out of here." "Get lost." "Do I know you?" "How's Iris?" "You know Iris." "No, I don't know nobody named Iris." "Iris?" "Come on, get out of here, man." "You don't know Iris?" "I don't know nobody named Iris." "No?" "Get back to your tribe before you get hurt." "I don't want no trouble, okay?" "You got a gun?" "Get the fuck out of here, man." "Get out of here." "Suck on this." "You crazy son of a bitch!" "Fucking son of a bitch!" "I'll kill you!" "I'll kill you!" "I'll kill you!" "I'll fucking kill you!" "Son of a bitch!" "I'll kill you!" "You fucking bastard!" "I'll kill you!" "You crazy son of a bitch!" "I'll kill you!" "Don't shoot him!" "Dear Mr. Bickle." "I can't say how happy Mrs. Steensma and I were  to hear that you are well and recuperating." "We tried to visit you at the hospital  when we were in New York to pick up Iris  but you were still in a coma." "There is no way we can repay you  for returning our Iris to us." "We thought we had lost her  and now our lives are full again." "Needless to say  you are something of a hero around this household." "I'm sure you want to know about Iris." "She's back in school and working hard." "The transition has been very hard for her  as you can well imagine." "But we have taken steps to see  she has never cause to run away again." "In conclusion  Mrs. Steensma and I would like to again thank you  from the bottom of our hearts." "Unfortunately, we cannot afford to come to New York again  to thank you in person, or we surely would." "But if you should ever come to Pittsburgh  you would find yourself a most welcome guest in our home." "Our deepest thanks, Burt and Ivy Steensma." "Eddie, the owner-operator, comes up and says, "I want to swap tires."" "I say, "These are new tires." "Why not throw in something else, like your wife?"" "She was Miss New Jersey, 1957." "That's why the fleet has no spares." "Doughboy, Wizard, Killer." " Charlie T." " What's happening?" "Hey, Travis, you got a fare." "Shit." "Well, see you later." "See you, Travis." "Hello, Travis." "Hello." "I hear Palantine got the nomination." "Yeah, won't be long now." "Seventeen days." "Well, I hope he wins." "I read about you in the papers." "How are you?" "It was nothing, really." "I got over that." "Papers always blow these things up." "Just a little stiffness." "That's all." "Travis..." "I'm..." "How much was it?" "So long."