"#THREE DAYS OF RAIN#" "It's 18 past the hour at listener-supported WLOH, Cleveland's" "Jazz Station." "They say music is the balm of the soul, so keep that in mind as the big storm heads our way." "We'll continue broadcasting to you all week long at Cleveland's Tri-C Jazz Fest." "Despite the forecast, we have a lot of great players coming to town." "You're listening to a couple of them right now composition arranged and composed by Mr. Bob" "Belden and Mr. Joe Lovano on the horn." "Operator to 4129...4129..." "Copy?" "4129..." "Copy?" "Fare at 3308 Ellington." "3308 Ellington..." "Copy." "Ah, shit!" "God-dammit." "C'mon." "You can't do this!" "You know I'm struggling here." "I'm a tile-maker." "That's all I ever did - huh?" "That's my crime?" "You're gonna' sink me." "You're gonna' do me in?" "For what?" "For what?" "I'm just a god-dam tile maker!" "What's up, Denis?" " Nothing." "You know my cousin Reggie right?" " Yes." "Hello." "What's happening?" " Nothing." "Three times." "Annbella and Stella?" "What?" "I didn't say anything." " All right." "Oh, shit!" "Can I sweep the platform?" "Yeah, you can do that." "That motherfucker distracted me." " It's too easy." "Edward?" "Yes?" "One more?" "Just one more, if you don't mind." "Thank you, Edward." "That's it." "I'm sorry?" "That's it, Mr. K." "What's it?" " The money's gone." "Oh, my goodness gracious." "You're right." "The money is gone." "That is it." "Exactly." "All right." "Thank you very much?" "Eddie, if you don't mind, if it's possible, could you just top it off with a few drops?" "It's not my call, buddy." "If I owned the bar, you could drink forever." "I understand." "Thank you very much Edward." "You are my friend." "I love you." "You gotta' pay for your drinks, Waldo." "I know you gotta' pay." "Yes." "Yes." "...56." "Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, it's pretty much the same." "Variable cloudiness with a chance of rain in the higher regions." "Stay tuned for the latest weather updates." "It makes me feel like sticking an ice pick through my temple." "Yeah, yeah, I get that sometimes?" "How much you want?" "I don't know." "Enough to get me out of Cleveland." "How far out you want to go?" "How about Wyoming?" "Yeah, Wyoming sounds good." "Wyoming, big old Wyoming." "Collect call to Mary from John." "This is her brother." "John?" "All right." "I told her that you called last time." "I think she'll be back later tonight." "Can you try back then?" " I need to leave a message." "Sir, your party's not there." "Would you like to change your calling..." "There's been a death in the family." "Sir, would you like to change your calling request?" "No." "You guys aren't going to rule out eating at home forever, are you?" "That depends on how long you're going to live with us." "I'm not leaving, so..." " You sure you don't want to come?" "No, thanks." "Besides, the rain's no good for my hair." " You're hair?" "Yeah, it'd be a frizz ball by the time we got there, and I'd have to put the whole thing on my list of the bad moments in life, and on my death bed?" "Not a good idea." " Have a laugh on me, why don't you?" "One day you'll wish you'd listened to me, you know." "I always listen to you." " Yeah right." "Okay, honey." "You ready?" " Absolutely." "It's a beautiful rainy night, and we're making the most of it, and life is good!" " Oh boy." "Good luck." "Have fun." "It's really coming down out there, as the rain begins to pound upon this" "Land of Cleve." "And I'm happy to be here with you all week long from the" "Tri-C Jazz Fest and WLOH." "This is Cleveland's Jazz Station, and we will brave this storm together." "What?" "I didn't say anything." " I thought I heard you say something." "No, you didn't." " Well, that's what I thought." "What was it?" " What?" "What was it you thought I said?" "I don't know." " You heard something, right?" "Yes, I did." "So, what'd it sound like - phonetically?" "I don't know, Jim." "I didn't hear you." "You don't know." " No, I don't." "You heard a noise, and you don't have any fuckin' idea what it sounded like?" "I want to talk to you in the morning, Denis." " Okay, Jim." "I'll see you tomorrow." "Thank you." "That was excellent." "Thank you sir." " Here you go." " I will be right back." " Thank you." "You really like this place, don't you?" "Yeah." "I just, I just feel good in general." "I have love." "I have my health." "I have a job that's not nearly as shitty as most people's jobs." "And on top of that, I got all the little thing." "Good meals, nice nights and I'm incredibly handsome." "God." " I'm serious, Jen." "You forget about these things, and they go flying by." "You're either regretting the past or counting on the future, but..." "We've been through some tough times, but if you can look back at the end of your life?" "If you see that column of good moments, good things, is longer then a list of bad ones." "Then you've done all right." " Then you've done all right." "What the hell are you talking about?" "I don't have a idea." "No, they won't fire him." "Probably stick him in a mail room somewhere..." "'Cause the don't want the National Association of Forrest Gumps to file a law suit on their ass..." "That's why?" "Yeah..." "Yeah..." "So, listen, man, why don't you come on down and try out his broom?" "See it it fits?" "Yeah, we're gonna' get you transferred." "Don't worry about that?" "All right." "Cool..." "So I'll see you tomorrow." "Hey Don't forget them squares." "C'mon, c'mon, change." "Excuse me, ma'am" " I'm sorry." "We can't help you." "No, ma'am." "I wasn't going ask for money." "I just wanted to know are you going to throw that food away?" "No, we're not." " Okay, I didn't mean to disturb you." "I'm sorry." "Why don't you just give it to him?" " Are you kidding?" "It's Liza's." " We'll just get her something else." "No." "How 'bout the dessert?" "Hey, buddy, you want a dessert?" "Yeah, sure." " Alex, what are you doing?" "I'm not giving him the dessert." "What difference does it make?" " It's my sister's dinner." "I'm not splitting it up with some stranger." "C'mon." "He's hungry, and she won't even know it's gone." "I don't care." "What do you mean?" " Alex, I'm not giving him the damn dessert." "Hey, I understand." "It's okay." "Sorry man." " No worries." "Yeah, yeah, that is exactly what I said there, and he had both of the regional vice-presidents with him." "So they must have been there waiting for the other guy to come in from Atlanta." "Yeah, hold on a second?" "Hey, pal, take the Memorial Shoreline." "Yeah, I'm going to be over there next Thursday." "Thank you very much." "Have a pleasant evening, ma'am." "Oh, dear." "Good heavens." "What an appalling night!" "Horrible!" " It's a bad one." "Cleveland!" "I think Cleveland and my first husband were the two biggest mistakes of my life." "I mean, look at this." "Hillcrest, please. 64 Normandy, and I'm running a little late so..." "You seem a little down tonight." "Something the matter?" "You got a cold, or something?" "Nope." "Don't have a cold." " Just having a bad night?" "Oh, boy, I know how that goes." "There's nothing you can do." "It's my son." " I'm sorry, I really don't want to seem pushy, but do you think you could drive a little more pfffft, because, you know, I've really got there." "Sure, I'm sorry." " What about your son?" "What happened?" "Well, he died." " What?" "My son died." "My God!" "When, when when did he die?" " He died this week." "He died this week?" "Oh, no, please, please don't tell me that." "Please." "I try, try so hard not to have this happen." "I can't afford it." "This is my calling." "You know, it has nothing to do with you." "I hurt so bad." "You have no idea." "I'm here, I'm here to suffer pain." "These things, I'm destined to hear them." "God, I've had the worst time." "You have no idea." "Are you all right?" " God!" "No, I've got to get out of here." "You okay?" "I'm fine." "Hillcrest, please. 64 Normandy." "I'm a little late." "Thanks." "Hey." "You stoned." " No, I'm just..." "Don't feed me the bullshit, Tess." "I hear it all day long;" "I don't want hear it from you." "Sorry." " How am I going to trust you with my daughter when you're as high as a god-dam kite?" " She's not your daughter." "You know what your problem is?" "You still think that you belong here." "Well, you lost your daughter, Tess, and I had nothing to do with it." "You lost her because you're a junkie little thief and the courts knew it." "They could arrest you right now." "Gee, that would be ironic." "Get out of my car." "C'mon, I was just..." "I am jeopardizing my career." "Do you know what that means?" "Yes, I know." " I don't think you do." " I appreciate what you are doi..." "You what?" "What are you?" "I'm grateful." "Good." "Now, pull your pants down... to your feet." "Leave the panties on." "That was really stupid, you know." "That could have been a dangerous situation." " Please." "You could have just given him some change." "I was giving him the dessert." "He didn't ask for change." "He would have taken the money." " I don't know Jen." "He said he wouldn't." "That's because I turned him down before he had a chance to ask." "I don't know why you care anyway." "I've seen you pass them up a million times." "See?" "That's what I'm talking about, Jen." "I'm talking about appreciating the position that we're in and having empathy for those who aren't." "The guy was homeless; he was hungry; he was soaking wet." "God, let's not argue about this." "We were having a good time in the restaurant." "Let's just forget about it." "C'mon, forget about it." "Hey, forgeddaboutit, eh?" "Forgeddaboutit." "Hi, honey." "Lillian's here." " And Lillian, how are you?" "I'm fine." "I'm just fine." "I don't know about the weather though." "I thought you were going to clear it up for me." "This is, um, Erin's babysitter, Tess." "It's nice to meet you." "I'll just go up and check on her then." "She's been sleeping, dear." "She probably needs changing." "Darling girl." "Where did you find her?" "Eamon found her actually, through some agency." "Right, honey?" " Ah, yeah." "Hey, sweetie." "Oh...that's my girl." "Mommy's here now, sweetie." "It's gonna' be okay." "Yeah." "As the rain continues to burden our souls, let me remind you that we are together in this thin realm." "That's what keeps us going, and that's what keeps us great." "So stay tuned as we continue bringing you the best music on the planet from down at the Tri-C Jazzfest." "Ronnie Jordan and Jason Moran coming up..." "God I miss you." "It's ruined, complete garbage" "Well, they say it's wonderful in New York." "Oh, I know it was good in New York." "But, a lot of times, they change the cast, and you could wind up with something from, like, Cleveland" "Community College." "And then it's not the same show." "Hey." " Hi, Alex." "Nice breakfast" " Hey, honey, how can you find out if a play still has the original cast?" "Can you look it up on the internet or something?" "I don't know." "Couldn't you call the theater and ask them?" "Logical." "Don't you hate it when they do that?" "Hey, hey, hey, Alex." "What are you doing?" "She's still eating." "You want her to lose her appetite?" "Tar." "That's really disgusting." "I know." "I know." "Makes me kind of sick to my stomach." "Interesting gene pool." "Oh, my god." "Chocó-mousse." "This is breakfast?" "What?" "What did I say?" "Denis, Denis, this is Mr. Garret." "He's from the commission." "He's here to investigate something." "Why don't you grab a seat?" " I need a chair, please." "Denis, look, we're trying to straighten something out here, and we could really use your help." "Okay?" " Okay." "Have you ever seen that before?" "No, I have not." " You never saw one of those before?" "Yes, I've seen one." " Do you know where that particular one came from?" "Anywhere?" " Anywhere how do you mean?" "How do I mean?" " Denis?" "I don't know!" "Well, this sleeper, now this was found hidden on top of your locker." "I don't think it just got up there by itself." "I'm just trying to figure out what happened." "How'd it get there, Denis?" "I don't know!" "Good morning." " Yeah, hi." "This is John Thunderking." "I'm trying to reach Helen Robinson." "Who?" " The widow, man." "Helen Robinson." "No, I'm aware of Mrs. Robinson." "I've only worked here for 15 years." "I was asking your name." "Well, I guess I got a little confused, since I already gave you my name." "You gave me her name too." "Why didn't that confuse you?" " Wha..." "Who is this?" "Look, generally speaking, when you're calling someone, you don't ask who they are." "It works the other way around." "If you want to contact Mrs. Robinson, you'll need to send her a letter." " Listen, man." "I did the widow's tiles, and she hasn't paid, and I'm trying..." "Fucking dick!" "These sleeper nuts they hold the rail together." "And if you can get a little bit of space in here, just a little bit, it causes a vibration." "Anyway, that vibration travels down the tracks, picking up speed as it goes along." "When it meets up with the wheel of a train, it drives it right off into the rocks." "And that's when a lot of innocent people get hurt." "Hi, how you doing?" "I was here last night, and, there was a guy up against your wall." "What did he do?" " No, nothing." "He was very nice actually." "I was just a little concerned about him with the weather and everything." "Has he been around today?" "Nope." "You know him?" "No. - 50 cents." "Okay." "Thank you." "This rain's something else?" " Yeah, it's supposed to last until, I think, Friday?" "Now, his name is Joseph, the guy you're looking for, a Vietnam Vet, and you know, there's going to be guys standing around here all night, it might as well be him." "I mean, he ain't that bad." " Yeah." "I wonder if you'd do me a favor?" "If he comes by again, would you, like, you know, give him a sandwich or something warm to, you know, get him through the bad weather." "Sure." "Who can I say?" " No." "He doesn't know me." "He just asked me for some food the other night, and I thought I'd help him out." "Sure." "You know I brew him coffee now and then, in the back when I change the pots and all." " Yeah, good man." "I'll tell him you came?" "Thanks." "Get up, girlfriend." "Get up and check out the goods." "We've got cultural attractions in there." "Historical landmarks." "Annual events." "Natural phenomenon." "Cowboy watering holes." "Yee-haw!" "Ride me like a bronco, baby'" "Where'd you get all this stuff?" "Triple A. The only good deal left in America." "They got everything!" "They got books, maps, leaflets, bumper stickers, all that shit." "And it's all free." " But you don't have a car." "It doesn't matter." "It's still a good deal." "Jeez." "Look at these guys." "I know, cowgirl." "I'm trying to tell you." "You see, we hook up with one of these guys, and we only have to see him about one weekend a month." "He'll be out on the range." "But when he does come home, he'll be windblown, tan, a Marlboro Man." "Takin' off his hat, throwing you on the bed, tearing off your clothes, like rawhide." "You're not even gonna' be able to walk straight till the next time he comes home." "Well, hey, Pop." " Michael, my angel, give me a hug, bug." "I'm sorry, darlin'." "I've had too much to drink." "Sure." "Don't worry about it, Pop." "Michael, this is important." "Did you give up on me?" "No." " Good." "I want to ask you something." "What day is it?" "Wednesday." "That's good, 'cause on Friday I get my pension check." "Okay." " I was wondering Could you lend me $100 till Friday?" "It's the back rent." "They caught me with my pants empty." "I think I've only got 40 bucks, Pop." "I can probably get the rest for you tomorrow." "Oh, that's great." "Thank you." "How you been?" "It's been a while." " Yeah, it's been a while." "But you know, Michael, five times..." "five times, I tried to come see you, but pressing things piled up, and this and that and the other." "That is not true." "That is a lie." "I did not try to see you." "And you know it, and I know it." "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry Mike," "you think you could treat your old man to a bottle of beer?" "Gramcracker, listen, I'd love to talk but I'm in a really bad way here, and I need your help." "We've got a fuckin' monsoon here in Cleveland, and the moisture in the air ruined all my tiles again." "Now, I've got an order waiting, but I need some money to buy some more clay." "I can get it back to you in a week, tops." "I need two thousand;" "I know it's your savings; but, yeah..." "What?" "The horse races?" "All right, Gram." "Thank you, Mike." "Ah, gracias, senor." "Michael, the other day, Phil and I went to the track." "No, actually, there was three of us;" "and we each chipped in 2 bucks, and we bet on a long shot, Viva LaRue in the 5th." "Well, Michael, that horse had wings!" "Coming down the final stretch, its hoofs never touched the ground, and we made a 130 bucks, and we never looked back." "It's a wonderful sport, horse racing." "You okay, Pop?" "Hey, Pop, I got some shoes from one of those catalogs the other day, and they came in too small." "I don't know if you're looking for a pair." "I was hoping you could buy them off me." "I could give them to you for half-price." "I'm not interested in any discount." "I'm very happy to look at them, but I pay the full price or there's no deal." "We can just make it part of the loan?" " That's fair enough." "Let's see what you have." "How about that?" "These are very becoming." "Yes, they look like they fit just my size." "Okay, my boy, you've got a deal." "I get my pension next Thursday, and I'll send it to you." "What?" "It's a joke, Michael." "I keep feeding you all this horseshit." "There ain't no pension." "I owe it all." "I lied about it." "And I lied about the god-dam races too." "I make it up." "You can get me next month." " Yeah, yeah" "I'll give it to you next month." "So, what time are you going'?" "I don't know." "They had a guest from out of town supposedly." "Maybe that's good." "Doesn't matter." "He always does it to me in the car anyway." "You know, I think this is really fucked up." "It just seems like you should do something." "Kidnap her, and just report the fucking guy." "Set him up." "He's a judge." "What do you think is gonna' happen if I report him?" "They're going to call me a liar, and they're going to revoke my probation, and then he's gonna' cut me off." "And if I'm lucky, at the very best, they're gonna' take Erin and they're gonna' shove into some other foster home." "They're sure as shit not gonna' give her back to me?" "I don't know." "Maybe this time it's not in Cleveland." "Maybe it's in fucking Wyoming." "I don't know." "Maybe Wyoming's the answer." "It's my daughter, Lisa." "I'm a mother." "Nothing personal, but that's something you don't know anything about." "Denis?" " Yes?" "Garrett wants you over at the main office in the morning instead of coming over here." "All right." " All right, so go over there first." "What for?" "He's gonna' show you some training videos or something." "I don't know." "I do not know how that bolt got on top of my locker." "Yeah." "Well." "I guess that's what he's trying to figure out." "It's probably been up there for a long time, Jim." "I've still got to report it, Denis." "It's not me trying to accuse you of anything." "I'm just doing my job." "All right." "Look, if Reinhart's over there tomorrow, I hope you don't go telling him some bullshit. 'Cause I'm not doing anything wrong to you." "Now, I've been around here for a while." "I'm just following the rules." "All right." "I won't tell anything." "There's nothing to tell." "I'm just saying..." "He wants you over there by ten." "Okay." "I'll see you tomorrow." "We'll see you." "'Night, Jim." "Taxi!" "Are you operational?" "Yeah, sure." "Oh, my god!" "Keep to the left?" "Are you all right?" "You know, we can take another cab." "Sorry..." "My son died this week." "Your son died?" " Yes." "I'm sorry to hear that." "You okay to drive?" "Yeah, I'm fine." "Nobody knows what happened." "He was healthy." "I'm sorry." "Listen, you might want to turn on your windshield wipers." "You know, I felt a little like it was me, you know." "Maybe it was supposed to be me." "I don't know." "You don't know how to feel." "Listen, listen." "I'm terribly sorry about your son, my condolences;" "but my sister here just lost her husband, so it's just a difficult topic of discussion right now death." "You understand?" "I hope I didn't upset her." " No, no, she was already upset." "Who is it?" " Ghost." "Hey, Ghost." " Hey, what's up?" "Not much." " Hey, man, I cover for you, right?" "I cover for you every month." "But what am I doing here?" " What are you talking about?" "They're coming down on me, man, and that's not cool." "I mean, we all hit the rent late, but you've got a real problem." "Ghost?" " No, no, no." "Now, listen to me, all right." "I just want to play my drums." "I mean I know I live here for free, and all I gotta' do is collect the rent." "But you know what an asshole that makes me feel like?" "I mean, do you know how much that wrecks my life?" "I don't have it, Ghost." "I'm tapped." "Nothing's working out for me this month." "Rain came through again and ruined my tile." "Something's out to get me, man." "I know how that goes all right." "But just try paying rent 2 months late instead of three." "You know, 'cause it's just a bunch of bad energy, I mean like real bad energy." "Tickets are still available for venues located throughout the metro area with the exception of the Great Lakes Music Auditorium." "Apparently due to faulty engineering, the entire building flooded and half the ceiling caved in." "I guess it could have been worse." "The place never had good acoustics to start with." "Good morning." " Good morning." "I'm here for the training video." "Great." "You're a new employee?" " No." "I'm an old one." "An old one?" " I'm an old employee." "Are you meeting someone here today?" " I'm Denis Baggerly." "I'm here to see Mr. Garrett." "Okay." " Thank you." "Hey, Pop?" "C'mon." "I got a cab." "Michael!" "C'mon in." " C'mon, Pop." "He's not going to wait." "No." "C'mon in." "I want to be with you." "Come on." "Dad?" " Forget about it." "It don't mean nothing." "Come on in." "Come, my angel." "I love you, darling." "Forget the rooming house." "You don't want to go to the rooming house." "The ladies in there forget it." "They'll wait." "Forget about it." "I love you." "Denis this way." "Sit there." "What is this?" " It's your competency test." "Competency?" "I already took this." "You need to take it again." " Last time I studied." "You need to study to be competent." "You're either competent or you're not." "Ready?" "Yes?" "Is Mr. Rhineheart here yet?" "Now look, Denis You're not going to be getting any more special treatment around here." "Okay?" " All right." "You're an employee of the railroad." "And if you're not capable of doing you job, then you shouldn't have it." "It's as simple as that." "Nothing personal." "Don't you agree?" " Don't I agree?" "Don't you agree, that if you're not capable of doing your job, then you really shouldn't have it?" " Right." "Great, then." "I'll put that in my report." "You have forty-five minutes." " All right." "Michael, listen." "I want to tell you something." "I am not proud of what I do." "What do you mean, Pop?" " You know what I mean." "Dad, listen." "You've got no reason to be ashamed." "All right?" "You can't work with your hip, and your pension doesn't cover the bills." "The pension does cover the bills." "No, it doesn't." " It's just that sometimes it's hard to sleep at night you know?" "It's like that letter I sent last week about being sick." "I wasn't sick." "I wanted to by some rum, and you know I got the old women down there." "Your brother is the same way." "I sponge on him even worse than you." "Time's up." "You didn't finish." "Okay, Denis." "I'm going to show you some slides to help you put a visual on what we were talking about yesterday you know, about the trains getting derailed and everything." "Have you seen these before?" "Well, I hope not, because these are kinda' hard to forget." "Good memories teaching you how to skate." "You remember?" "Yeah." " You kept falling down, falling down, falling down." "What were you, seven?" "A little tyke, like this here." "Miguel" "Miguelito. "Miguelito," "Miguelito, get up!" "It's easy to skate." "It's easy!" And what did you say?" "I said, "It's easy to skate, but it's hard to learn." Okay?" "I must've told that story twenty times?" "Driver Driver, stop!" "Pull over!" "I'll just be a few minutes." "Yeah, this is John Thunderking." "You left a note on my Stud baker a couple of weeks ago that said you wanted to buy it for two grand?" "Yeah." "Well, if you still have the cash, I'll sell you my car?" "Yeah, okay?" "All right, Dude?" "Yeah, same place." "Fruitcake, man." "How'd it go over there yesterday?" "You finish up?" "I failed the test, and I have to wait and see." "What test?" " Compencsy." "Competency, Denis." "What did you take that for?" "I don't know." " Garret give it to you?" "Yeah." " It ain't like they're gonna' fire you or nothing, right?" "You got immunity?" "Oh, shit." "Why didn't you pass it?" "You passed the last time, right?" "Yes." "Here it is." "Are you the original owner?" " No." "It's a '66, so it's five." "Right." " Listen, the truth is, I don't want to get rid of the thing." "Have you been using synthetic oil?" "Yeah." " Good, good." "Well, let's start her up, shall we?" "No rust." "This little girl's been pampered, hasn't she?" "Pampered like a little child." "Good smell." "No stench." "Where's she from?" " I bought her here in Cleveland." "Down South, most likely." "She's a little southern belle?" "Aren't you a kinky little southern belle?" "Do you know how I knew she's a southern belle?" " No." "Because she's sexy, very sexy." "I'll probably take her home." "All right, but I can't take less than two thousand." "I'm in kind of a jam." "Two thousand's nothing." "I've got it right here in my pocket." "Great!" "Why?" "Why did you kill the engine?" "What?" " The car why did you turn it off?" "Because I thought we were going to make a deal." " No, no." "Start her up again." "You know, it's not good to let her idle for too long." "She can get a little hot." "What are you talking about?" "You think I don't know these cars?" "Turn it on." "All right, all right." "I'll take it." "You have the title?" "Yeah, it's right here." "Will you take it for a thousand?" "Sorry about that." "There was a gal in there that I had to talk to." "So, what happened to Emily?" "Is she still in school?" "No." "She finished last May." "She moved in with a friend of hers." "What are you talking about?" "She left school?" "Oh, my God!" "Well, how did she do it?" "No mother, no family." "Michael, does she know that I'm still alive?" "I used to call her my little buttercup." "Do you remember that?" "I'd love to see her again." "You think there's any chance?" "You can see her whenever you want." "She won't object?" "Dad, she loves you." "She's tried to call you herself couple times since last Christmas." "Work it out, Miguelito." "Please, do that for me." "Sure." " Of course, she must be a young lady now." "Refined, right?" "I couldn't exactly go to see her in this getup." "We have to stop by your house, and you fix me up with one of your suits." "And then we can drive over and see her, okay?" "Okay." "Michael, when we get to the rooming house, you don't have to come in." "That way, you can keep the cab." "I'd like to finally see your place." "Oh, of course." "I'm looking for Scott, please." "Do you know where he is?" "Just tell him Thunder called, and I'm in kind of a jam." "No, I said I'm in a jam." "I need a loan for a couple of days." "Yeah, okay." "You all right?" " Yeah, I'm fine." "Why?" "This kinda' reminds me of a hospital." "Yes, it probably was a hospital at one time." "Michael, if the old lady says anything anything rude or anything, don't pay any attention to her." "Just try to be polite." "She's an ugly, ignorant old goat, but she's a good person underneath." "And, they have big hearts." "All of them have big hearts." "But they just might tend to hate you a little bit." "Tend to hate me?" "." "Well, you know how it is." "Why would they hate me?" " It's, gosh, I don't know what it is." "I assume the part of an abused father sometimes to get a little sympathy now and then." "I need that, but it's nothing to worry about." "Entrevous." "This is it." "This is my cell." "Not much to see." "Pop, don't you think I ought to meet these ladies?" "Oh, sure." "Why not?" "Just give me a second to make sure they're appropriately dressed." "It was the same thing they proposed in that Woody Allen movie?" "Which was..." " There was a..." " No, let me talk please." "There's a cat, and the only known copy of the complete works of William Shakespeare in a burning house; you can only save one;" "which do you save?" " Is it a cat, or a kitten?" "Seriously, it's a tough question." "I say, the cat." " You do?" "Of course, I do." " So do I." "You see I don't know if I could do that." "If it were a human being definitely." "But we're talking about one of the most substantial volumes of literature ever written." "Exactly." " Yeah, but..." " It's changed lives." " It's probably saved lives." "Some people treat Shakespeare like it's the Bible." "But you're weighing it against the value of a life." "Right." "A living thing." "What you'd let it burn to death?" "I'd have to let it fend for itself." "What a surprise." "I never would have guessed." "What's that supposed to mean?" "It means I'm not surprised, and I could have guessed." "Congratulations." "Actually, the way I heard it was a little different." "The way I heard it, it was a burning house, and there was a man in it - a homeless man - ironically enough, and you have to choose between the man and a piece of chocolate mousse." " Mousse?" "Alex, give it a rest." "I went looking for him yesterday, actually, and he's gone." "That's wonderful." "I hope it made you feel better." "Alex has decided that he's personally responsible for the homeless population of Greater Cleveland at least as long as it's raining." "One man, one piece of food." "Alex, this is not the time or the place." "It's not the time or the place, because you don't have an answer." "It was none of our business, Alex." "That's my answer." "It was a he." "Please." "Would anyone like some dessert?" "I promise you, it's not mousse." "Be polite." "Michael, come in." "Do us the honor of sitting down and having a cup of coffee." "So, did you get it?" " Got it?" "And Michael, the ladies are delighted to see you." "This is Rose Judith and Dorinda." "Nice to meet you." "Good evening." "Well, sit down, Michael." "Nothing fancy here, my son." "We're all plain, ordinary people." "I need another glass, after the mushrooms." "What about your son, Waldo?" "Does he want a glass?" "Well, pour him a glass." "He'll drink it." "We're all friends here." "I'm afraid our humble abode doesn't suit him very well." "Our abode is just fine." "Leave him alone." "What was so wrong?" "Not giving him a ten dollar piece of chocolate mousse?" "That was wrong?" "You're not hearing a word I've said, Jen." "I'm talking about a man's life." "No, you're not!" "Alex, you don't even know what we're talking about." "You are pissed off at me for some unknown reason, and this is your little vehicle of attack." "Alex, when did you ever give a shit about the homeless?" "And in front of my god-dam friends!" "You know you ruined the entire dinner." "You know, Jen, there is man curled up in a ball as we speak, and you're worried about your fucking dinner!" "For Christ's sake, they ruined his life, Jen, before he was old enough to drink." "And now he's hungry, he's wet, he's sleeping in an alley somewhere, and..." "There are thousands of homeless people all over the world." "You know, if we stopped to think about how much suffering there is on this planet, our heads would explode." "His name's Joseph." "There's nothing we can do." "Yes, there is." "No, there isn't, Alex and you are a fool if you think that giving a sandwich to a guy on some street is going to change something well, you are just wrong." "I cannot believe that you are being so stupid." "You're not a kind person, Jen." "I've spent my whole life with you, and you are not kind person." " The food was for Liza, Alex." "Forget about the food!" "I'm talking about you." "So what if I'm not?" "So what if I'm not a kind person?" "What are you going to do about it?" "Are you going to leave me over a piece of chocolate mousse?" "I'm not going to start giving up everything I have worked hard for to every drunk that comes up to me on a street corner?" "Okay?" "He was drunk?" "Of course, he was." "You have the older generation, half of them anyway, completely forgotten." "Homeless." "I've seen them on the street." "And don't you think their ungrateful children don't know exactly where they are?" "They let them suffer." "I don't know that I think that's entirely true." "What?" " I think some of them are." "Why don't you say what you're really thinking?" "You're think I'm a fallen man an object of pity." "Well, let me tell you something, young man, my mind, the simple life is far more natural way to live than yours." "Look around here." "We don't need anything especially your opinions coming down from the mountaintop" "I'm afraid I have to be going." "Far be it from us to hold you up." "I'll go." "Excuse me, ladies." "Michael, Michael!" "Michael." "Dad?" " No, no, listen to me, Michael." "Just do one thing for me." "Talk to Emily." "I'm sorry about what happened in there." "It's just..." "I'll clean myself up." "Would you do it for me?" " Ok Pop." "Well, the heavy rain is continuing to pour down on us, which might be good for some farmer or something;" "but as far as the Jazz Fest is concerned, it tends to put a damper on things." "The term "relentless" comes to mind." "Maybe that's just me." "Or maybe it's just nature's way of reminding all of us of exactly where we stand." "If it keeps us like this, it'll probably wash out the tracks." "Maybe." " What's that supposed to mean?" "Like you don't care?" "There's no trains here." " Well, there could be a train." "You think 'cause they're bypassing this place, they're never going to use it again?" "That's the point." "They're using us for overflow." "You wouldn't know what to do if a train came by here anyway.." " Maybe not." "You know what your problem is, Dennis?" "You're a victim." "You're always playing the part of a victim." "You know what happens to victims?" "They get victimized." "You got nobody to blame but yourself." "Okay..." "I think I'll get on." "What?" " The train." "If a train came by, I'd get on and ride it wherever I wanted to go." "You can barely get on a bus." "What the hell you talking about?" " I think I'll get on." "Where you think you're gonna' go?" "Where you gonna' ride to anyway?" "I don't know." "A better place." "A better place than this." "I'd like to see you try." "You look kinda' rough today." "You have a tough night?" "Yeah." "Any word from Joseph?" "I haven't seen him." "You know, the heavy rain hasn't let up for a minute." "I don't know where the hell he is." "Probably holed up until the weather breaks." "Terrible storm, huh?" " Yeah." "You know, I wonder?" "I look out there and I see the rain washing the streets, and I wonder, where the hell does it all go?" "You know I look down at that gutter there, and I see toys, photographs, everything, floating down to that tree over there, where there's a whirlpool that goes round and round and you wonder where the hell it goes after that." "To the ocean an island, maybe a tropical island and or maybe it just stays there till it rots." "Oh, the hell with it." "Maybe I've just been at this job too long, eh?" "Yeah, I'm trying to reach Helen Robinson." "It's very important." "Is she there, please?" "As I already told you on Tuesday, she doesn't receive calls." "She hasn't received calls since the day of her husband's death." "If you need to contact her, you'll have to send a letter." "Look, my name is Johnathan Thunderking." " Right." "I have a very urgent business matter to discuss with Mrs. Robinson." "You know, if you don't mind, I'd like to know to whom it is I'm speaking with." "Well, the person to whom it is you're speaking with does happen to mind, and..." "Listen, you fucking asshole!" "I'm going to come over and wrap that phone around your fucking..." "Fuck!" "Yes?" " Excuse me." "I'm looking for Mrs. Robinson." "So I've heard." " Yeah." "Well, is she in?" "I am she." "I'm Mrs. Robinson." "I have a business matter to discuss with you." "I'm sorry to disturb you, but it's very important." "Thank you." "Won't you sit down?" " Thank you." "Look I'm sorry to barge in on you like this." "This isn't how I usually operate at all." "It's just that I'm in a very tough predicament right now, and I just need to take care of it." "My tile dealer I'm a tile maker" "I'm the one who made the tiles for your bathroom." "Anyway, my dealer's been trying to collect the debt from your ex-husband." "Late." " What?" "My late husband." "Oh yeah late." "I'm sorry about that, by the way." "Anyway, he has to be billed for those tiles twenty-four hundred dollars." "I'll go through our files, and if we owe you the money, I'll be more than happy..." "Actually, I have the original invoice here, and you can see that it has your husband's signature on it, and it says "Unpaid."" "My accountant will send you a check." "Yeah." "Normally, that would be great." "But like I said, I'm in kind of a jam." "I mean this has nothing to do with you, but the rain came in and ruined all my tiles - and my landlord filed a final eviction notice on me." "He'd love to kick me out because I've got a twenty year old lease and..." "I'm so sorry, but there's nothing else I can do." "Actually, I was hoping you could write a check." "I don't have a check..." "It's been seven months to the day since my husband died." "I'm in no fit state to discuss business." "So, what?" "Am I supposed to lose my loft because you can't deal with paying a bill?" "I told you will be paid tomorrow." "That's too late!" " Well, that's too bad!" "Look... sorry... it's just... you're the last chance I have." "I've tried everybody else." "I mean, you do have a checkbook, don't you?" "Have his card." "Call him yourself." "He'll be back in the morning." "I can't wait for your accountant!" "Haven't you listened to anything I've said?" "I have explained to you the situation." "Now, as far as I'm concerned, this conversation is over." "Well, as far as I'm concerned, it's not over." "Show yourself out." "No, I don't think so." "I can't leave until I get my money." "What did you say?" "I'm not leaving until you pay me." "Get out." "Hello." " Hey, John." "Yeah." " This is Mark down at the garage." "Listen, you got Julian in a piss last night by not turning in." "You showing up today?" "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming over." "You know my son passed away." "Yeah, yeah." "That's probably what's going to get you off the hook." "Listen, if I were you, I would just pick up my keys and head out." "I wouldn't bother trying to explain nothing to Julian." "You know how he gets." "Yeah." "Okay." "I'll do that." "Okay, buddy." "See you later then." " Thanks for calling." "Mrs. Robinson?" "Mrs. Rob..." "All right, Mr. King?" "It's Thunderking, Junior, and I'm warning you right now, if you piss me off," "I'm going to cut you with my boot knife." " Yes, that's very amusing, Mr. King." "But Mrs. Robinson has asked me to show you out." "Did you hear what I said, you little cream puff?" "Don't mess with me." "Let's go!" "Oh, you're going to regret that." " Yeah?" "What are you going to do about it, you little sissy?" "You gonna' tell on me?" "I'm not leaving until I get my money." "Hamhock!" "What are you still doing in my house?" "What the hell is that?" "What - are you gonna' mace me?" "Police issue pepper spray." "And I'm going to nail you between the eyes if you don't get the hell out of here now." "You invited me in here." "I'm not breaking any laws." "And now, I'm telling you to get out!" "And I'm telling you I'm not going." "I'm going to walk over there and sit on that couch until I get my money." "If you want to spray me in the eyes, go right ahead." "I have told you five times that you will receive your money tomorrow." "And I've told you five times that if I don't get my money today, I must as well walk into your kitchen and stick my head in the god-dam oven." "You think I'm making this shit up?" "You think I'm lying to you?" "I might even be able to understand the kind of pain you're going through right now." "The woman I loved my whole god-dam life walked out on me seven months ago too." "I don't want to bore you with the details, but I've lost fifteen pounds and I haven't slept a full night since." "I'm very sorry." " God-dammit, you should be." "You remind me of her." "What?" "I don't know, Jim." "You don't know?" "No." " Good-night." "Okay." "Fourth man up front." "He who has less hair sits up there." " Don't be mad at me." "You guys out chasing women?" " Bird-dogging, Pop." "That's what we call it these days." "That's not what I call it." " It's fucking freezing." "Turn the heat on up there." "Where we going, Wendell?" " South." " I can't feel my fucking toes." "John?" "Fake I.D. there, John?" "Is that you?" "Are you an immigrant?" "Let the man drive his cab, man." "Please!" "You're from Greenland, aren't you, John?" " No, sir." "I'm not from Greenland." "Then why's the cab so fucking cold?" " It's not that cold." "He's trying to freeze me." " Maybe he's with the enemy." "From Helsinki or Moscow." "Look at his mannerisms and things like that his after you." "John - what are you playing on the radio, my friend?" "What's that?" " Football game." " Football." "You know football, John?" "Oh, yeah, yeah." "What team's playing?" "The Browns." "They have a pretty good team this year." "The Browns?" "Where they from now?" "They're, they're from here, sir." "They're from Cleveland." "You want me to throw these guys out, John?" "They're just having some fun." " Yeah, we are." "But you're not, are you, John?" "I'm hanging in there." "I don't think so, John." "I think you have a dismal life in this freezing cab." "You find humor in nothing." "I know, because I'm funny." "I don't know what it is though." "Is it something about youth?" "Fuck you, man." " Well tell me what it is." "We're drunk." "Brother John, you can spill your soul to me." "I don't know." "Maybe it's the rain." "Yes, the rain." "You're late." " Why do you always do that?" "You sound like you're on a TV show instead of real life." "This is real life, so deal with it." " Yeah, yeah." "Sorry." "You have your stuff:" " Yeah, yeah..." "Nice jacket." "I'm on the clock." "This isn't a social visit." "You still on the horse?" "No one's called it "horse" for a really long time." "Have you been in lockup lately?" "I'm in there every day with the habituals." "Well, I'm not shooting." "See you're doing it again right now, like that New York Blue or whatever." "If you don't clean yourself up, I'm going to have to do a refile." "Oh, come on, Sharon..." " I'm serious." "I'm not fucking around with you." "I had a bad week." "All right?" "That's it." "I just had a really bad week." "We all have bad weeks." "It's just part of life." "Now I know you're hurting, and I know the future looks like shit." "And I can't even imagine what kind of pain you're going through over your daughter, but you gotta' change your life." "I don't even know how." "But I know that the first step is to clean yourself up." "You gotta' start the methadone." "I know." "My friend called me last night, and she's my age, and her parents just had a baby, a little girl." "But she's afraid for her little sister because her father, he molested her the whole time she was growing up, so now she thinks he's going to do it to the baby when it gets older." "But she's not sure." "She should be sure." "She should get the child out of the house, because it will happen." "I know." "I see it every day." "What are you doing?" " I missed the bus." "Probably late because of the rain." "Can you wait it out?" "Yeah, I can catch the next one." "I'd give you a ride, but I've got... to pick up some stuff." " Oh, no." "That's okay." "I can catch the next one." "See you tomorrow." " Yeah, we'll see." "Hello." " Greg?" "Is that you?" "Dad?" " Oh, my angel, you always know my voice, don't you?" "What's the matter, Dad?" "It's after midnight." "Well, it's nothing bad." "It's just... well, we just had a little flooding down here." "Flooding?" " Yeah, you know the rain kept trying to get in, and I guess the damn stuff finally made it." "Are you all right?" "Was anybody hurt?" "Oh, my, no." "No, nobody's hurt." "But we got a lot of water down here." "In fact, I'm standing in about six inches of it right now." "All right." "Do you need anything?" " Oh, no." "I'm all right." "Some of my stuff got ruined, some of my amenities and such." "I'll be able to take care of the myself, but the damn pension hasn't turned up." "How much do you need?" "Probably a hundred should take care of it." "I'll give it back to you in a week." "Don't worry about it." "It's not a problem." "At 7:30 p.m., the Reinburger Chamber Hall will host the 25th annual Tri-C" "Jam Session." "In attendance will be Burno, Hays, Wendholt, Lovano," "Reuchert, and rumor has it that the great Joe Chambers might make an appearance." "If there is any way you can catch the session, I highly recommend it." "When these guys get together, it's a ray of sunshine breaking through the clouds." "Hi." " Oh, hi." " How is she?" " Oh, she's fine." "Sorry we're late." " That's okay." "Speaking of which, we saved the cab for you, if you're ready to go." "Great, great." " He's waiting downstairs." " I'll just be a second." "Flooding continues throughout the state, and the fire department and the local MAS struggle to field an overabundance of emergency calls." "Now let's go to Gloria Rice in the field." "That's absolutely right, John." "The roads have been commuter danger zones..." "Where you going?" " To make a sandwich." "It's a little early for a picnic." "Yeah." "Not the best weather either." " No." "Can I come?" "Taxi!" "Taxi, stop!" "Breakfast?" "No, just coffee for now." "Thanks." "That's a lot of syrup you've got there." "Yeah." "I used to be really big on pancakes." "My son recently died, but before that, I used to make them all the time." "You have any kids?" " No." "Yeah." "I'm a cab driver, you know." "We were both drivers." "Today should have been his day, actually." "That's how it is, though." "He said good-bye to me, and he went and died." "I had to go back down there to get his clothes, too." "They made me go back to his room." "He just got sick, you know, just for no reason." "I stayed with him until they had to make me leave." "And he knew." "He knew." "He said, "Good-bye."" "He was so brave." "He was just a kid, just a kid." "Maybe it is just a midlife crisis." "I don't know what it is." "I just have this feeling in my gut like it's some kind of test, you know." "Like God sent and angel or a saint down here, and I missed my chance of being a good person." "You know?" "I really feel like that's important" "It is." "It's everything." "Yeah." "You live your life and acquire wealth, power, and you haven't been decent." " You'll regret at all." "That's right." "You're on your death bed and you regret every day you've spent." "Who you spent it with." "And that you didn't have the sense to change." "You know that?" "Are you leaving my sister?" "No." "I don't know." "I don't know." "I just feel like I'm seeing things a little more clearly now." "She'll take you for all you're worth." "I'm not saying I'm going to leave her, Liza." "That's not what I'm saying." "I just feel that I need to take some time and think things out." "I don't care about things." "She can have it all." "I just feel like I should be spending my time with?" " With somebody else?" "Maybe that is what I'm saying." "Like who?" " I don't know." "I don't know." "Maybe I don't have a clue what I'm saying." "Maybe I'm losing my mind." "You might be." "There's nobody here." "Let's check by Carnegie Bridge." "Okay." "It's 2 minutes past the hour and I'll leave you with a final composition as I slip out of here." "It seems that we've managed to weather the storm together." "And I want to thank you for tuning in and being part of the show." "Here is Belden's Trio off the Blue Note Label with a piece entitled "Extensions in Time."" "From Radio Square in downtown Cleveland, this is WLOH signing off until tomorrow."