"I'll get the breakfast special, all right?" "You got it." " What'll it be?" " The usual." "Corned beef hash and eggs." "More coffee with that?" "Oh sure." "Thank you." "Hey, good to see you." "All right, thanks." "You're a credit to the force." "Your leg again?" "I should've let them cut it off." "Well, this'll make you feel better:" "That was my cop." "Your pal Liam... the mug who slashed Pearl...  Apparently he takes his meals at a joint on the north side." "I'm warning you." "Don't come near me, God damn it." "Don't come any closer to me." "Get back." "Get back, you little son of a bitch." "Carlisle, don't make me use this." "That's right." "Hey hey hey, get out all of you, little turds." "Ahh." "Everybody stay back." "Hey!" "Come here, I'll..." "Help!" "Help!" "Where was the surgery done?" "A field hospital outside of Verdun." "Three mo at Walter Reed." "This is some fine work." "So why does it hurt?" "The screws in the femur... could be a problem there, trauma to the nerve." "So I got a screw loose?" "Do you think you do?" "It was a joke." "No numbness or weakness?" "It's more of a dull ache inside." "It started recently." "It hurts like hell." "How's your sleep?" "Off and on." "I'm up a lot." "What do you do?" "I go for walks." "I read mostly." "You're employed?" "What do you do?" "Oh, bell telephone." "Have you ever heard of Dr. Robert Woodworth?" "He developed a test during the war to help the soldiers." "We're giving it to all the men who come in." "What kind of test?" "It's called a personal inventory." "The war's over." "It might be useful anyway for the country." ""Set a high standard for a clean America."" "What do I have to do?" "Just answer a few questions about yourself." "It could help you feel better." "Sure, why not?" "How are you doing?" "The doctor will be right with you." "Are you all right?" "Try and hold still now." "Good God almighty." "Pop, come on." "One, two, three." "You fucking butcher." "Whoa whoa whoa!" "Pop, just let us get you situated, okay?" "Ho ho ho, look who's come to pay a visit." "I came as soon as I heard." "I called your office." "Eddie said you were out with your lady-friend." "Who's that?" "Mabel?" "Mabel was my wife." "You know what." " One, two, three." " Argh!" "God almighty!" " Get him in there." " Easy." " It's all right." " Oh God." "Five goddamn hours." "I could have lost my leg if your brother hadn't come by." "Thank you, Dr. Surran." "All right, Mr. Thompson, here we go." " You got it?" " Yeah, I got it." "I'll stop by the hospital later, pop." "So this woman... this Margaret Schroeder." "Yes?" "What's going on there?" " She's a lovely person, Eli." " I'm sure she's a peach." "She's also a widow, remember... pretty tragic circumstances?" "She knows nothing and she never will." "It smells like piss in here." "Cat piss." "That too." "I'll call sailor's haven, see if they have an extra room." " We can't do that." " Now I'm supposed to get him a private nurse?" "June and I will take him." "He can live with us." "What about your kids?" "The kids love him." "I suppose it is time to sell, huh?" "A lot of memories in this place." "We should give it to fleming, let him fix it up." "They just had another baby, more to come probably." "Just give it to him?" "Let some decent family make a home of this shitpile." "Goddamn toaster..." "it cost me nine bucks." "He never even plugged it in." "Who done these?" "Ferschke over on Illinois." "Ink don't even stick." "Said he'd take 50 dollar off." "I don't care he pay me." "I can't use this shit." "" " Mr. White?" "Mr. Chalky White?" "Hello?" "Hello?" "How do you do?" "You are, I assume, Mr. White." "May I say it is both an honor and a privilege to be making your acquaintance?" "Fuck are you, shortpants?" "My name is Michael Lewis." "I am a businessman." "I have traveled here today from the borough of Manhattan in the city of New York to discuss a proposition with you." "May I approach?" "You may stay where the fuck you're standing." "What proposition?" "A boy, let us say, wants to buy a boiled wool coat for his sweetheart." "At Gimbels this coat puts him" "$12.46 out of pocket." "On Rivington street this identical coat costs what?" "This ain't no coat store, son." "But the principle, you'd agree, is the same." "You make a certain product, yes?" "It sells for a certain price based on quality, cost, competition." "So what do you say, Mr. White?" "About what?" "About my buying, let's call it, 1000 cases of spirituous liquor directly from you to our mutual benefit." "Cut out the middleman." "Nobody ever gotta know except you and me." "Precisely right." "Your mama know you're out wearing your daddy's Sunday suit?" "No sir, she does not." "She also doesn't know that I have this." "$10,000 in U.S. currency... $500 notes." "And all you have do is recognize an opportunity." "Would you like to share the punchline?" "Well, the punchline is you tell Nucky Thompson it's gonna take a lot more than 10 grand to get me to fuck him over." "Well, you can't blame a fellow for trying." "Gentlemen." "So it's me, Eleanor and the baby, with the thunder booming right outside the window." "Next thing I know..." "thanks, Nuck... next thing I know, little Georgie, his sister and the cat are all crammed in with us under the covers." "I tell you, a bedbug crawled in... the whole Megillah would have collapsed under the weight." "How old's the baby now anyway?" "A little over five months." "It flies, boy." "It was just yesterday we brought her home... a scrawny little thing, came seven weeks early." "I owe it all to her mom though." "Night and day she fed that kid, bundled her up close." "I swear she didn't put her down for a month." "Anyway, enough of my yammering." "No, actually it's your family that I wanted to discuss." "Get off of me!" " He's in a very important meeting." " Eddie, stop." "Why won't you return my calls?" " I am so sorry." " Lucy, I'm in a meeting." "I don't care." "I love you." "What does she have that I don't have?" " Lucy..." " She's a fucking shopgirl." "Calm down, okay?" "I left some of my clothes here." "I'll call you, okay?" "We'll have dinner." "I want to go to the pictures." " Whatever you'd like." " "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."" "Fine." "We'll talk about it later." "I feel empty without you inside of me." "We'll talk about that as well." "I'm sorry about that." "So you're still in that flat over on Vermont?" "We are." "You need a house, Damien, with a yard for the kids." "That's the plan." "We're saving up." "I want you to have my father's place." "He doesn't need it anymore and I sure as hell don't want it." "That sounds great, but we couldn't afford it yet." "I'm giving it to you, no strings." "You fix it up, make it livable." "Gee, Nuck, I..." "I don't know what to say." "Say thank you." "Well, thank you." "Thanks a million." "You just made Eleanor and me about the happiest people on earth." "That's all I wanted to hear." "Sometimes I'm not sure what he wants from me." "Then what's that big bed for?" "Besides that." "The more important thing is what do you want from him?" "Well, I don't want to lose this." "He'll never marry you, you know." "I know, I know." "The last girl..." "Lucy... he'd been with her for ages." "It would be nice to have some certainty in our lives." "I've been with Harry three years now, and the only certainty I've got is stashed under a floorboard in my bedroom... almost $4,000 worth of certainty." "You make him pay you?" "Not exactly." "Rich men can be careless with their money, especially the married ones." "The occasional 10-spot kited from his trousers while he's asleep... it adds up after awhile." "I could never do that." "You might surprise yourself someday." "Do you love him?" "I'm fond of him." "Is he in love with you?" "I don't think he's gotten over his wife." "What does he say about her?" "Not much." "It's just the impression I get." "He's rather parsimonious with his sentiments." "That's probably just as well." "The last thing you want is him talking too much." "What do you mean?" "One thing I learned... not from Harry, but from the one before him... much." "Let them keep their secrets to themselves." "You let him open up and bare his soul, you'll be a constant reminder of how weak he really is." "Mama, come play." "In a minute, my dear." "Look at those curls." "Why, you'll have no trouble getting a man at all." "Shut up." "Anybody got change of a nickel?" "Oh, look who it is." "Last time I saw you fellas was in back of a paddy." " This is Charlie Luciano." " And my pal meyer." " Mickey Doyle." " How do you do?" "He says you're a real solid fella." "So why didn't you tell me you was in town, eh?" " What are you doing here?" " Business." "Why else would I come to this shithole-by-the-sea?" "Oh, Ganuzz." "So let me ask you, how many times you think you can knock over" "Nucky Thompson's bagman before he bites back?" "It was easy pickings." "So it was you fellas." "We're getting a toehold on the alcohol business." "Needed a little scratch to get things rolling." "That's a nice take..." "3,000 clams." "It ain't hay." "You do realize you owe Mr. Rothstein for the privilege." "You ain't got no jurisdiction down in Atlantic City." "They came here from Philly on their own accord." "Have you been noticing the cost of gasoline?" "Last week goes from 18 to 20¢ a gallon." " Who is this kike?" " The name's Meyer Lansky." "And he's a pal of mine, like I said." "Gasoline, like I said..." "it's what moves America." "Once you got the hooch, you gotta distribute it, right?" "You gotta set up stills, warehouses to store the stuff, payoffs for the bulls, politicians." "Bottles, crates, labels... it adds up." "You wanna run a top-shelf operation, you're gonna need a lot more than 3,000 bucks." " We got muscle." " Yeah, you and your brothers against the whole city?" "So what are you saying?" "Is Rothstein willing to back us?" "Show him you're capable." "You been to Lolly Steinman's?" " The delicatessen?" " It's a casino." "Nucky Thompson owns it." "End of a Saturday they got 150 grand in the cage." "You fixing we rob the joint?" "And he's the smart one." "We're gonna work out the details, but 50% goes to a.R. In New York." "The other 50 we use to bankroll our next move." ""We"?" "The name's Billy winslow." "We got him dead to rights on an armed robbery... a jewelry store." "His mother's sick and he's terrified of going to jail." "And why is this my concern?" "As soon as I leveled the charges against him, he started bawling like a baby, said he wanted to talk to a fed from Atlantic City." "Who are you?" "My name is Nelson van Alden." "I'm a special Agent with the bureau of internal revenue in Atlantic county." "This is my colleague..." "Agent Sebso." "Hello." "So I gather you've got a story to tell, Mr. winslow." "That depends." "What's in it for me?" "You're looking at 10 years hard labor at Rahway." "You're not exactly in a position to bargain." "There was a hijacking in the woods last January." "It was a truckloadful of hooch headed to New York." "They left five bodies behind." "How do you know this?" "'Cause I was there as a decoy." "I blocked the road with my car." "I wasn't involved in any killing." "It wasn't supposed to happen like that." "Nobody was supposed to get hurt." "Then why did they?" "Look, I can give you the ringleader and you can just ask him." "What's his name?" "If I tell you, do we have a deal?" "You'll get me off?" "If you agree to testify," "I'll use my influence as best I can." "His name's" "Jimmy Darmody." "Was him and this fella called al." "Ronald Tineo." "Yes ma'am." "You like to read?" "It keeps me occupied." "What is the book?" "It's, uh..." "Jesus." "It's called "the tin soldier."" "It's a bunch of malarkey." "Mm." "Smoke?" "Mmm." "Not possible." "Thomas farina." "James Darmody." "Richard harrow." "Nice to meet you." "Would you want this?" "My sister sends them to me because I used to enjoy them." "You don't anymore?" "Mmm." "It occurred to me the basis of fiction is that people have some sort of connection with each other." "But they don't." "Thomas decatur." "That's me." "Thank you." "They're making you take the test?" "The nutcase test?" "Yeah." "And then they'll tell us if we're normal or not." "I hear some of the questions are embarrassing." "Just lie." "I find that difficult now." "They're interested in what's in our heads, so that next time we'll fight better." "I should leave this in my room." "But if I don't have it with me, I become anxious." "A German sniper mask." "Mm, I had to wait a very long time for him to take it off." "You were a marksman?" "I watched him from a blind for three days." "He lifted it to scratch his nose." "I put a bullet one inch below his eye." "Well, fuck him, right?" "Yeah." "Mm, on the test they ask if you ever made love to a girl." "James Darmody." "James Darmody." " He left." " Did he say why?" "He said he was feeling fine and then he left." "Durier Frost." "Richard harrow." "He left too." "Go ahead, try lying." "Mm, yep, that's right." "?" "Got the cutest little way ?" "?" "like to watch you all the day ?" "?" "and it certainly seems fine ?" "?" "just to think that you'll be mine ?" "?" "when I see your pretty smile ?" "?" "makes the living worth the while... ?" "more chianti?" "You're sweeter than wine." "?" "Telling people what I've found ?" "?" "but when I told them ?" "?" "how beautiful you are ?" "?" "they didn't believe me... ?" "I'm still tingling." "?" "They didn't believe me ?" "?" "your lips, your eyes, your cheeks, your hair ?" "?" "are in a class beyond compare ?" "?" "you're the loveliest girl ?" "?" "that one could see ?" "?" "but when I tell them... ?" "what are we gonna do, Mary?" "Relax." "It's not like he saw us together." "Nucky Thompson didn't get where he is by being naive." "That look on his face... he knows something's amiss." "So he knows." "And then what?" "Well, he could stop giving me money." "You're so good." "I depend on this man." "What about Jimmy?" "I would have thought he'd send something... if not for me, for Tommy." "You just may have to get a job, my sweet." "I know." "Anything from that art dealer in New York?" "No but Robert's friend Jonathan is coming in town to look at some real estate." "He works at Washington square gallery in greenwich village." "He's agreed to assess your work." "Greenwich village?" "Can you imagine?" "It's everything you've ever heard it is." "?" "They'll never believe me ?" "?" "they'll never believe me ?" "?" "that from this great big world ?" "?" "you've chosen me. ?" "I can't thank you enough for coming out here and helping me out like this." "Here's a little something extra for you and the boys." "Make sure the guys get the beers, okay?" " Watch out for rusty nails." " And don't wander off." "Chief sweeney, I see you brought the whole company." " And half of ladder 38." " I couldn't afford it otherwise." "Let's hope there are no fires in town." "Why don't you and the boys take a breather?" " Mind if we take a look?" " Be my guest." "Oh, that's just a bunch of junk your dad didn't want." "No no, just bring it in the house." "Just do it now." " Right there." " Where's the 2x4?" "The 2x4s are all piled up over there to the right." "Got it." "Okay boys, take a break." "You got about 10 minutes." "So this is it?" "You seem surprised." "It's nicer than you described." "It is now." "It was filthy, shameful actually." "I used to dream about fixing it up." "Well, it's quite cozy." "It's funny... it didn't seem all that small when I was a kid." "Because you were small yourself." "I look at my father now... he's this frail little man." "When I was a kid, he was the giant in "Jack and the beanstalk."" "He frightened you." "With good reason." "Does he still?" "He can't hurt me now." "On my ninth birthday I made the mistake of reaching for a piece of bread ahead of my dad at the dinner table." "He used this hot poker to remind me that he eats first." "I wondered how you'd gotten that." "There are times, even to this day, where I'll lay awake in bed, thinking about the fact that my father... the man who was supposed to protect us, to provide..." "I'm no stranger to a man's cruelty." "Sometimes it's best to leave the past where it is." "I should check on the children." "You live here?" "This is a whorehouse." "Yeah." "You want a drink?" "Bourbon." "Two bourbons, the real stuff." "Uh..." "You got a straw back there?" "A straw?" "The second drawer down..." "down." "To the lost." "Again?" "Mmm." "You have a gun under your jacket." "It's a colt 1903." "Mmm, I have one of those and a Smith  Wesson triple lock..." "A Roth-Steyr, a Webley .455, a mauser 1914... very small, mm," "Enfield 1917 30-06, telescopic sight..." "very accurate, accurate to 700 yards." "Mmm." "But I like the colt in the hand." "How do you use yours?" "How do you think?" "Oh... you use it to kill people." "It's very good for that." "I want to introduce you to someone." "Odette!" "Odette." "Hi." "This is Richard harrow." "He's a friend of mine." "He's a war hero." "He needs to know how grateful the nation is for his sacrifice." "You're a patriot, right?" "I'm whatever you want me to be." "I'll watch your things." "I'll watch them." "It's okay." "Come on, baby." "I got a whole ticker-tape parade ready." "?" "So now I've got the crazy blues ?" "?" "since my baby went away ?" "?" "I ain't got no time to lose... ?" "I'm sorry, Harry." "I'm not following you." "International reply coupons." "This Italian fella up in Boston buys 'em in bulk, then sells 'em here at face value, locking in his profit." "Well, if it's so easy, why doesn't everyone do it?" "All I know is he pays 50% on your investment within 45 days." "I just re-upped third time in a row, the whole nest egg." "I'll let you know." "Mr. White, say hello to Harry price." "Get a load of that." "Chalky White..." "the proprietor." "Quite a place." "You people certainly are a lively bunch." "So..." "I met your boy." "I'm sure you heard by now." " What?" " Mr. Lewis... that little kid you sent round with the bankroll to test me out." "I don't know what you're talking about." "That's how it's gonna be, huh?" "Y'all have a good time." "Where the hell are our dates already?" "Garcon, more giggle juice." "Right away, sir." "And what were you boys gabbing about?" "Business, what else?" "What else is there?" " Politics." " His two favorite topics." " His only two." " That's not true." "I'll talk baseball anytime." "Baseball fan, eh?" "I once owned a catcher's mitt signed by Hardy Richardson..." "my prize possession." "Come on, y'all." "Get up off of your seats." "Harry, let's dance." "I'm beat, doll." "Let's sit awhile." "You can sit later." "You can even lie down if you want." "Well, I'll certainly take you up on that offer." "Quite a couple." "A bit of a mismatch, you ask me." "She seems to like him." "She seemed to like the last one too." "So you played baseball as a boy." "Do you still have your mitt?" "What?" "Oh, uh, no." "It was stolen." "That's too bad." "What happened?" "Nothing." "I don't know." "A bunch of kids robbed it, beat me up." "My goodness." "Were you hurt?" "I don't want to talk about it." "Is it ready yet?" "Commodore, you barely ate nothin'." "My stomach's on fire." "Jerry." "Come here, God damn it." "That ain't no proper food for a dog." "Oh Louanne, what the hell are you doing out there?" "Just a minute now." "Been near three months, commodore, and Dr. Surran said that maybe... hey, I told you no doctors, damn it." "Maybe you got worms." "Worms my ass." "I'm dying." "Now now, hush up with that." "Nucky Thompson come by?" "No sir, but he sent Mr. Boyd on by with your envelope." "He's getting too big for his britches." "Mr. Boyd, sir?" "Thompson, God damn it... sends one of his fat-assed minions." "I put the son of a bitch where he is, and they put me in jail." "I left the envelope on your desk, commodore." "Oh man." "Jesus Christ, that's awful." "You just lay down now." "And I'll make my porridge paste with the tea leaves and rub it on your belly." ""In these days of indigestion it is oftentimes a question as of what to eat and what to leave alone." "Every microbe and bacillus has a different way to kill us and in time will claim us for their own." "There are germs of every kind in every food that will can find in the market or upon the bill of fare." "Drinking water's just as risky as the so-called deadly whiskey and it's often a mistake to breathe the air."" "Bravo." "Hooray!" "More coffee?" "No, thank you." " Can I be excused?" " You may." " Me too, please." " Off you go." "I've been feeling regretful about something I said." "I'm afraid I took some bad advice." "Oh?" "In your house- your father's house you began to tell me of your troubles and I was quite selfish." "It's all right." "It's not." "I want you to confide in me, to feel safe in doing so." "We're obviously intimate in many ways, but I'd like you to feel that you can talk to me." "The baseball mitt... some kids stole it, so my father marched me down and made me challenge them to a fight." "There were four of them, years older than me." "I got beaten unconscious and was in the hospital for 11 days." "That's horrible." "Life can be that way." "Hello." "Who's on the telephone?" " A friend of Mr. Thompson's." " Of course." " Be quiet." " Come get me and we'll drive over." "And give fleming a call." "I'm sure he'd like to see it." "My father's house..." "it's all done." "Would you care to have a look?" "Oh, I'd love to, but I need to put Emily down for her nap." " Can I come?" " Mr. Thompson's busy, dear." "Uncle Nucky." "Get your coat, kiddo." "Remember me?" "Keep your hands on the table." "The whore..." "Pearl..." "I was just doing Sheridan's bidding." "Relax, I'm not gonna kill you." "Did you serve, Liam, in the war?" "I had rheumatic fever." "Three years." "France mostly." "It's almost impossible to describe the horror." "It's a living waking nightmare." "There was a soldier..." "a German." "Him and his men tried to attack our position in the argonne forest." "It was nighttime." "And while he was trying to climb through some barbed wire," "I shot him twice... once in the stomach, once in the neck." "He slumped over the barbed wire." "And no matter what he did to try and wriggle free, it just got worse for him." "I left him there like that for days, listening to him moaning, crying," ""mutti, mutti, mutti!"" "That's German for "mama, mama!"" "That's what he kept saying." "The curious thing is that despite the fact that his situation was utterly hopeless, he didn't want to die." "I offered to kill him several times, but he just kept fighting, li some miracle would befall him and get him out of his predicament." "We hold on so desperately to life." "Some people feel, certainly in that soldier's situation, that being alive is..." "Is much much worse." "I'm gonna go now." "I don't want to ever see you again." "You won't." "May I offer you a glass of water, sir?" "You're very welcome." "Oh, ladies, how are you doing?" "Oh jeez." "Pretty amazing, huh, pop?" "Can you believe it's the same place?" "What's he doing here?" "I wanted him to see it all fixed up." "Well, he's seen it." "Now get out." "You may think you're king, but you're not worth a goddamn." "Yeah, get me out of here." "Go wait in the car." "?" "I've been a-thinkin' about you, daddy ?" "?" "thinking of you night and day ?" "?" "I've been afraid that you'd leave me, daddy ?" "?" "leave me to go far away ?" "?" "think of the day when we first met each other ?" "?" "you promised me then... ?" "Jesus." "Jesus Christ, did you call the department?" "?" "Don't you leave me ?" "?" "it sure will grieve me ?" "?" "don't go away to stay... ?" "Find a better place to live." "?" "life to me is cheery ?" "?" "oh oh ?" "?" "such a feeling ?" "?" "think what you're missing ?" "?" "lots of hugging ?" "?" "and some kissing ?" "?" "I don't care ?" "?" "how mean you are to me ?" "?" "daddy, don't yo leave me now ?" "?" "why did you love me?" "?" "?" "and why did you tease me?" "?" "?" "why did you kiss me?" "?" "?" "and now to just leave me ?" "?" "I'm tired of crying ?" "?" "there's no use sighing ?" "?" "life without you ?" "?" "is pain ?" "?" "don't leave me, daddy ?" "?" "won't you tell me why you're leaving?" "?" "?" "when you're near me, dearie ?" "?" "life to me is cheery ?" "?" "oh oh ?" "?" "such a feeling ?" "?" "I don't care ?" "?" "how mean you are to me ?" "?" "daddy, don't you leave me ?" "?" "sweet papa ?" "?" "daddy, don'you leave me now. ?"