Cannery Row Page #4

And that was their undoing.

Hit it!

They must have collected

close to 1,000 frogs.

Their impact would soon be felt

on Cannery Row.

I never seen you in a jacket before.

You look real sharp, though.

You're gonna be a killer in that.

Nah, it's too much.

She'll probably wear a day outfit

and make me look like a fool.

I don't want her to think

I'm trying to impress her.

She's a hooker. What would I want

to impress her for?

If I was your age with your face

and shape and what I know,

there wouldn't be no man safe.

I've got the know-how,

but that's all I've got.

I'm scared, Fauna.

I ain't got the class of a duck.

What are we going to talk about?

I know nothing compared to him.

You've got a lot to talk about.

Nothing will go wrong if you don't

pretend to know something you don't.

Act like an expert all the time

and you'll fall on your ass.

If he wants to do something

nice for you, let him.

Ain't no disgrace to accept a favour.

Okay, girls, that's enough.

Come on, scram.

It's still too much. Why am I

putting myself through this?

I should wear what I normally wear.

So she thinks I'm underdressed.

- Who cares what she thinks?

- Don't look at me, Doc.

Hi, Doc. I'm all set.

Excuse me,

I've got to make a phone call.

I'll be right back.

All right.

Good evening, sir. Good to see you.

Your table is ready. This way.

Your secretary called. It's fixed.

You have a secretary now, Doc?

Just part-time.

It's good that you telephoned.

I had trouble

finding the pompano, but I got it.

I'll have your drinks sent over.

- Enjoy your dinner.

- Thank you, Sonny.

- This is really something, Doc.

- Hell, it's nothing.

Thank you.

I'm glad you came with me tonight.

Here's to both of us.

Suzy soon discovered something

for herself.

When in doubt, move slowly.

Slowness...

..it made everything regal.

The crab required an

eating technique she didn't know.

She did everything

a little behind Doc

and he wasn't aware she watched

every move he made.

- Do you like champagne?

- I love it.

I mean I will as soon as I taste it.

You know, out in the sand dunes

there are little gullies

covered with pines.

When you can, let's take some meat

and make a fire and cook dinner.

- This fire make you think of it?

- That's right.

Look, Doc, I hope you

don't mind me asking this.

Why did you get out of baseball?

I had two bad years so I quit.

But you were 21 and 10 with

three weeks left in the season.

I looked it up in the almanac.

I don't mean to be prying.

- If we're...

- I threw a bad pitch.

- One bad pitch?

- It hit a guy.

- Everybody hits a guy now and then.

- It hit him in the head.

At first I thought I'd killed him.

He was in a coma for two weeks.

He came out of it,

but he was

never the same after that.

I yelled at him,

but he never saw the ball coming.

You didn't mean to hit him.

It was an accident.

- You shouldn't have had to quit.

- My heart wasn't in it any more.

So I decided to get out.

You don't have to bury Ed Daniels.

He's not wanted by the FBI.

I'm not burying Eddie Daniels.

I hate people feeling sorry for me

because I could have been great.

And now they think I play

with sea shells for a living.

I'm sorry I brought all this up.

We were having a good time...

No. It's all right.

I meant it when I said I was

glad you came with me tonight.

Yeah?

I was planning on

a much worse time than this...

..but you screwed it up.

You know that place in the sand

dunes? Could we see it sometime?

- Whenever you want.

- On the way back?

- You'll ruin your shoes.

- I know.

- You should take them off.

- I will.

Oh, my God...

What have I gotten myself into?

The boys returned knowing

they had enough frogs

to bankroll a party

of shocking proportions.

Now they needed to convert them all

to hard cash.

You know that Doc set the price

on frogs at 20 for a buck.

Doc's gone away

and we're a little hungry.

We need some steaks for Doc's party.

What we thought was this,

we don't want you to suffer none,

so we'll make over to you

You got a five-frog profit there.

Nobody loses his shirt.

Joseph and Mary couldn't really find

anything wrong with the proposition.

Okay, you got a deal.

But I don't want no dead frogs.

You hear that?

After that, business was brisk.

Joseph and Mary knew he had

a stranglehold on the consumer.

He was pretty sure the Thrift Mart

wouldn't approve of this new system.

If the boys wanted food for frogs,

they'd pay Joseph and Mary's price.

Bitterness began to arise

as time wore on and prices went up.

Canned peaches were sky high

at eight frogs a can.

Steak shouldn't have been

more than 10 frogs/lb.

One frog, right?

- Two.

- I only got one frog!

Two.

- Play ball!

- All right, Mac!

- All right, Mac.

- Go for it, Mac.

Big one! Big hit. Come on, Mack!

- We've got an easy out.

- Come on, Mack. Hit one to me.

Come on, Mack. Keep your eye on it.

Strike one!

I'm waiting. Right here.

- Show them where you live.

- She's got a candy arm.

- Strike two!

- Mack, you're swatting high.

- We got him now.

- Take it easy, honey.

- One more. Let's go, baby.

- We're going to sleep out here.

Come on, Mack. You're more

of a man than she'll ever be.

I don't think you're

going to hit her like that.

Have you ever played baseball?

Not that I know of, but it seems

you're going about it all wrong.

We'll see.

Okay, Mack.

Big base knock.

Strike three! Adios, amigo.

I told you so.

Maybe you'd like

to try hitting off her?

If you won't believe me otherwise,

I guess I'll have to.

- How should I pitch to him?

- Pitch slow. Real slow.

Why are you pitching so slow?

To make it easy on you.

How's he going to know if my advice

is any good if you make it easy?

You asked for it.

You know, I think bringing

the hands up is the key.

Since its conception, Mack's party

idea had caught on all over the Row.

A meeting was called

at the Bear Flag to finalise plans.

They all agreed it should be

a surprise party at Doc's house,

with a theme

to lend it some class.

The boys chose

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

They had just seen the movie

and couldn't think of anything else.

The meeting would have adjourned

had not Hazel asked a question.

Did you ever do that horoscope

you said you was going to do on me?

Yeah, as a matter of fact I did,

but I don't think

you'd be interested in it.

- Why not? Is it bad?

- Well, it ain't good.

I can take it.

- No. Forget it.

- Fauna, I got a right to know.

Well, all right.

The stars say you are gonna be...

..that you are gonna be...

..President of the United States.

- I don't believe it.

- I don't want to be President.

The stars have spoken.

You just have to go to Washington.

I don't want to.

I don't know nobody there.

- I'm sorry, Hazel.

- Can't I say I won't do it?

No.

A thing like this

could ruin my whole life.

We're gonna miss you, Hazel.

As the big party approached,

Hazel became increasingly troubled.

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