A Fighting Man Page #4

He can't do it.

No. But I'll bet you're gonna

be in his corner though, right?

What am I gonna do? It's Sailor.

"What am I gonna do?" I mean,

you could try talking to him.

- Did you?

- Yes, I did.

You know what this is all about.

Well, I don't know.

He told me he missed it.

Yeah, well, that's all well and

good, but it's his mother.

His mom's dying.

Huh.

That's kind of

inconvenient for her.

Rose wants to visit the old

country again before she passes.

He gets 4 grand, even if he loses.

Yeah, but, I mean, you and I could

put up that money for him, and...

- He wouldn't take it.

- You tried already?

I offered him money.

I said, "All you gotta do, come by

the shop a couple times a week.

Tell stories to the guys." And he

goes, "No, I don't take handouts."

Are you a religious man?

Why do you ask?

Oh, just to see if you reside in

that papas camp of blind obedience.

Well, no, no, I'm not

especially religious.

But they call you Brother Albright.

Ah, yeah, well...

That's down at the harbor,

it's more of a term of affection.

You know? "Hey, brother, hey,

bro." You know, that's all.

What do you do down there?

We're just a group of

people that do service.

Service?

Service, you know,

helping others in need.

- Well, that's much better than religion.

- Yes.

Ahem. You know that,

um... Yeah, thanks.

...Sailor has another

fight lined up.

I know.

And he wants me to

be in the corner.

He said you couldn't do it.

Probably more correct is

you don't want to do it.

That would be correct.

- You don't want him to fight, do you?

- No, no, no.

- And I don't suppose you do either.

- No, certainly not.

God only knows why his

brains aren't scrambled.

Look, um, Rose, I, uh...

I hope I'm not talking out of turn

here, but Max told me that the reason

he's taking the fight is because

he wants to take you to Ireland.

No need to be delicate. He wants

to take me to Ireland before I die.

I got it, but...

see, the thing is that

Max and I could easily,

easily cover that trip.

No. Sailor would never

go for it, nor would I.

But I would appreciate it if you and

Max would be in my boy's corner.

You gonna be at the fight?

No. I've never seen one of

Sailor's fights. Never will.

Sixty-four fights. This

will be his 64th fight.

My boy has a terrible

record, doesn't he?

Yes, ma'am, he does. Ha, ha.

But the man has never been down.

Never.

But you see, a man should

know when to go down.

A man should know when to quit.

Yes, you think he

should. But, your boy...

I mean, the guy is, um... I just

never seen anything like it.

I mean, I thought I

was tough, but I'm...

I'm like Tinker Bell or

something. I mean...

I mean, I see him

get hit with, uh...

With hammers, with...

I mean, and...

It would kill an elephant.

He just will not go down.

I just don't believe

it and I don't get it.

Yeah, well...

When he was a little boy, about 10,

we were driving in the car.

His father had been drinking.

He started hitting me hard.

Keep my mouth shut?

Yes, your mouth shut.

- Our boy's in the back...

- Unh!

- Dad!

- You think I don't know

the kid's in the backseat?

You... You need help.

You know what I need?

For you to shut up!

Dad!

- Get off!

- Sailor.

Get off!

His father slammed his head

against the side window

so hard, it cracked the glass.

Sailor passed out.

George hit me some more

and then he threw us

both out of the car.

When Sailor came to, we were

at the side of the road.

It wasn't your fault.

My face was a mess.

Are you okay?

He said he was okay,

but he really wasn't.

He knocked you out, Sailor.

Sailor vowed it would

never happen again.

Maybe that's it. I don't know.

Or maybe he's just got a stupid

Irish head made of pig iron.

But my boy's got sand.

That's for sure.

Yes, he does.

Um, what happened to your husband?

I don't know. He left the day it

happened. I never saw him again.

Never heard from him.

- Sorry.

- Oh. There's no need to be.

Please just be in my boy's corner.

Yes, ma'am. Max and I will be.

And you tell him when

it's time, you got that?

You tell him when it's time.

Because... Well, Sailor

just doesn't know.

- I'm fine!

- King, let's have a look at that.

I'm fine! You check him!

Okay, that's clock.

Aw...

Come on, you're standing

like an ape. Come on!

- Quick on your feet, Sailor!

- Double up the left hand, baby.

Come on, boy! Hurry up now!

Double that up, baby.

That's it. Now, watch out for that.

Break it up! Break it up!

Come on, Sailor!

Come on, King!

You're getting schooled, Sailor!

Break it up. Come on, break it up!

Grab him.

Come on. Knock him out!

Let's go home, boy.

- Break it up, guys.

- Hit him again.

You got him, King! Take him down!

Hey, come on, guys. Back

to your corners. Let's go!

Get going!

Put him out of his misery!

Come on, King!

Sit the f*** down. Stop, come here.

Come on, Sailor! Get the kid!

Let me have a look at you here.

You're letting that

old man beat you!

- Get me a mirror.

- You don't need no mirror. Not now.

- Send him to his grave!

- Put him in the hospital, King!

- Hey.

- Hi.

Are you okay?

- I couldn't...

- It's okay, I'm a doctor.

How far?

Fourth month.

Okay. We should get

you out of here.

We need to get you in an ambulance.

Come on. Come with me.

It's okay. Come on.

Hey. That old man is messing

you up pretty good.

You gonna let him

get away with that?

What you smiling about?

You got nothing to smile about.

I never liked being pretty.

You ain't pretty no more.

Best not to take any chances.

King Soloman's my baby's daddy.

- The young guy fighting?

- Yeah.

We just got married.

I don't have a ring yet, but he

says he's gonna get me a nice one

- after he wins the fight.

- Oh, that's good. That's good.

Why are you here?

Sailor O'Connor, the guy

your husband's fighting.

- The old guy.

- Yeah. What's your name?

- Peg.

- Peg, I'm Diane.

Mm. You got kids with Sailor?

They are going crazy

with the presents.

No. Not with Sailor.

- Are you the lady that phoned 911?

- Yes.

- What's the problem?

- Preterm contractions.

She's in her second trimester.

Do you have a heart monitor?

- Are you a doctor? Okay.

- Yes.

You don't need to do this, okay?

There's no need to go on.

We can end this with dignity.

You understand? With dignity.

Look.

Come on, Sailor, come on!

Fight back! Come on! Fight back,

you little wuss. Come on!

Come on, come on! Fight back!

Get up, Sailor.

Get up, you little wuss, get up!

Get up.

Get up!

Get up!

You don't need to do this.

There's no need to go on.

You done yourself real good. You should

be proud. You made me damn proud.

You're doing great.

There's no shame in

throwing in the towel.

You still got the record.

You still haven't gone down.

- We can... I don't wanna do this.

- We can do this, Mike.

What for? You still got...

You haven't gone down yet.

- I ain't going down, Mike.

- Well, if you go down,

you might not get up, okay?

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