A Hatful of Rain Page #7

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What are you going to do?

I don't know. I'll get rid

of the old man first,

and then I'll think

of something.

Nothing. I don't know.

- Come on.

- No, no. Forget it.

Come on up, will you?

Come on, get me out of there

as soon as you can.

I'm fighting the clock.

Well, then what

are you going to do?

I don't know. You better go

to the ballgame with Pop.

Yeah, I'm coming.

Hiya, Pop.

Hi. Good morning,

Johnny. Come on in.

Hey.

Good morning.

I said good morning, Pop.

Pop, I'm-- I'm awfully sorry

about not showing up

for dinner last night.

I got kind of looped.

Come on, let's--

let's shake hands on it.

Huh? What do you say?

You know what I'm doing, Johnny?

I'm renovating a building

I'll never be able to buy.

Why don't you get shaved, Pop?

Look, Pop, I said I was

sorry, and I mean it.

You said a lot

of other things, too.

Aw, come on, Pop.

Let's-- let's shake hands

on it. What do you say?

He's got his hand out

waiting for yours.

He made a jackass out of me.

They'll be laughing at me

down there.

I tell all my friends

about you kids.

I said I was sorry, Pop.

Polo, why don't you

go get the laundry?

Look, Pop, I don't

have the money.

I'm not holding out on you.

Get the laundry, Polo.

I don't

want to go get the laundry.

You go and get the laundry

and stop begging him

to shake your hand.

I heard everything

you said last night,

and you got nothing

to be sorry about.

No, come on, get out of here,

and pick me up later.

Now, why didn't you

shake his hand?

The kid said he was sorry.

Well, I wanted to,

Johnny. I couldn't.

How about taking Polo

to the ballgame, huh?

I'm not taking him anywhere.

Oh. O-Okay, Pop.

Lucky I got you to believe in.

You got a wife, a little house,

a kid on the way. You--

You're making a home

for your brother.

You had a tough life, but you--

you did a good job of

bringing yourself up.

What's your brother doing?

He got a dame stashed

away somewhere?

I don't know, Pop.

Twenty-five hundred.

How else could he blow it?

I don't know, Pop.

You talk in awful

short phrases, Johnny.

I'm just not used

to talking to you, Pop.

That's right.

Life plays funny

tricks on people.

Hello and goodbye,

nothing in between.

I like the letters

you write me, though.

I always wanted

to talk to you, Pop,

but it's like you never

wanted to talk to me.

Well, some people can talk.

They got all the words.

What I want to say is that

I care what happens to you.

Thanks, Pop.

And I love you.

See, that's the thing.

You what?

You heard me the first time.

Don't make me say it again.

I feel the same way

about you, Pop.

Okay. Let's forget

about it, huh?

Sure, Pop.

I always kind of thought that you and

your brother and me had a special thing.

I thought that we were just

kind of-- three men.

Pop, would you do

something for me?

When Polo comes back, tell him

it's all water under the bridge.

Ehh.

What's the matter?

Oh, it's just a headache.

Well, sure. You need

some breakfast in you.

Will you, huh, Pop?

Would you do it

when Polo comes back?

Well, he did a lot

of yelling just now.

You know, every time he gets

a letter from you,

he runs in his room

and reads it.

- Yeah?

- Yeah,

he's got a whole

box of them in there.

Well, how would I

know how he feels?

He's missed you an

awful long time, Pop.

You always shipped him

out to uncles and aunts.

What was I doing?

Gambling? Drinking?

Laying on my back in Bermuda?

You ask him about that time

in the orphanage

when he wet the bed.

They made him stand

all day long on a staircase

with a wet sheet over his head.

What else could I do

on that big 55 a week?

I shipped him? Ha.

Thank God he had

uncles and aunts.

All right, Pop.

- A man's only got two hands.

- All right, Pop.

Don't go around all-righting me.

You know, when I

came here yesterday,

I had a funny feeling.

Right now I got it again.

You ain't glad

to see me, are you?

Nobody's blaming you

for anything, Pop.

You call us son, we call

you Pop, but it never was.

Why, you're a pretty

cold-hearted cookie, Johnny.

No, I don't save

your letters, Pop,

and I never saved up any

money to help you out.

So don't go knocking Polo to me

because he's my brother.

As I listen to you, it sounds

like I don't even know you.

All right,

you don't even know me.

- I don't even know you.

- How could you know me?

When were you ever around?

Last time I saw you,

it was in the hospital.

You came in,

you said, "Gee, kid,

it must have been rough,

but it's all over now."

That's all you had to say,

so we shook hands like two

big men, and you ran out.

All the time, I remember

just lying there smiling,

thinking at last the old man's

come to take me home.

I live in a hotel, Johnny.

Your wife came to take you home

right after I left.

I'd known my wife for one year.

I knew you for 27.

Your Johnny boy.

My son!

Let me tell you

something, old--

What--

What's the matter

with your brother?

Johnny, Johnny, come here.

Sit down.

- Take it easy.

- No, no, no.

Let me stand up, Polo.

Let me stand up.

I want to tell you right now

what's standing in front of you,

and it's not your Johnny boy.

- No, Johnny, don't.

- I told you

about that sergeant,

didn't I, Polo?

I told you all about

that lousy sergeant.

Well, he ran out, just like

the sergeant ran out.

Go on, tell him, Polo.

Tell him what they give you.

Go on, tell him what

they give you.

- Johnny--

- The nurse comes in,

and then the doctor, and

they roll up your sleeve--

- Let's take a walk.

- One, two, and then another.

Johnny, let's take a walk.

You know what I'm talking about?

I'm trying to tell you

something!

What have you been doing,

hitting cheap gin?

- Tell you something, old man!

- Get him out of here!

Johnny.

Ohh...

Hold, on, Johnny.

Hold on.

It's all right.

It's all right.

Every man for himself.

I got your number.

Hey, Johnny, what's

the matter with you?

Going down?

Now, at AB&M, they're smart.

They're selling.

Lower prices and

a two-year guarantee.

Not just on one machine,

on the entire line.

- Take it easy, will you?

- Listen,

they're going to be

putting us out of business--

in six months if this keeps up.

W-Where are we going?

I'm going to turn you in,

Johnny.

No.

- I got to, Johnny. I got to.

- No!

- Johnny!

- Let go!

Johnny!

Let go.

- Don't jump, Johnny.

- Let me go. I'll jump.

I'll do anything you want.

Don't jump, Johnny.

Go to the playground

on 14th Street.

What happened?

They're picking him up, Johnny.

We're gonna go in

the back way, Johnny.

Hey, Chuchie-duchie,

your friend Johnny

just hobbled in.

All right, Johnny,

try to get up.

- Try to walk around.

- No. Don't, Sarge, it's cold.

Sarge?

Johnny, what are you--

Johnny, I'm going

to turn you in.

Hey, Johnny.

Johnny, tell me to pick it up.

Nobody will hate you.

Please, Johnny, tell me to--

Come on!

Don't touch that, Sarge!

Don't touch it!

Don't worry.

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