Cardboard Boxer Page #4

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Come on, Willie.

Yeah, that's my boy, Willie!

That's my money!

- Give me my money, motherf***er.

- JJ!

JJ, let's go!

JJ, come on.

F***! Come on, let's go, man.

Get in the f***ing car, you piece of sh*t.

Get in!

Let's go. Move it.

Come on, let's go. Get up.

I need to take a trip,

and you... you have to come with me, okay?

Okay.

This is my dad.

He had to watch me grow up...

from heaven. Just like your mommy

is watching you grow up from heaven.

I don't know if he's happy or...

if he's sad watching me.

I didn't grow up so... so good.

I didn't want him to have to see...

all of the sad parts.

But you have to remember...

you don't wanna make

your mom sad in heaven, okay?

You want her to be happy

when she's watching you.

So don't make her sad, okay?

I miss my dad.

I'll say goodbye to him.

Goodbye, Daddy.

I'll see you soon.

I have seen a lot of people die.

And one day I know I will die.

You start to wonder if people

will remember you

as a good person or a bad person...

or if they'll even remember you at all.

That's why your mom was okay when she died,

because she knew why she was here...

to have you...

and you're a good person.

And you make me a better person.

And I don't have anything, but...

if you're getting these letters...

then maybe, my thing

could be that I helped you.

Maybe I can be the angel

your mom sent to hug you.

That would be enough for me.

Pinky.

You sleeping?

You sleeping, buddy?

It's pretty cold tonight.

I'm gonna put this around you. All right?

You have your picture?

Yeah.

Yeah, that's good.

You keep that close

to your heart, all right?

Let me put this over your head, buddy.

It's so cold.

You're my only friend, Pinky.

Who's Willie?

Which one is he?

You know where Willie's at?

- Yeah, right there.

- Hey, Willie.

Willie!

Get out!

You Willie?

So you the motherf***er been beating up

on all these people for money?

Huh?

I'm not the only one.

Wait a minute.

I gave you my blanket.

Where's my f***ing blanket, n*gger?

I... I don't have it.

Yeah, 'course you don't.

The way those kids have been

paying you to beat up my friends.

You know who I'm talking about!

Them punk motherfuckers.

Who are they?

- They're my friends.

- Your friends?

They're not your friends, Willie.

Yes, they are.

Are they sleeping down here with you?

They're not sleeping

in a goddamn box, are they?

They're not your friends.

Are you out of your f***ing mind

letting 'em do that sh*t?

If they bring their ass on the nickel again,

I'm gonna knock the sh*t

out of them. You got that?

- No, you won't.

- No, I wont?

Why?

I'll kill you.

You're gonna f***ing kill me?

F*** your ass.

They come here again,

some dead motherfuckers. You got that?

Where's your friends?

How come you're always down here

with us all the time?

You don't have any friends.

This is my friend.

Watch your ass.

You don't have any friends!

Nobody knows any of you!

Nobody knows you people!

They know me!

They know me!

They know me.

I'm the cardboard boxer.

What are you looking at?

Stupid.

So stupid.

You're stupid, Willie.

You're stupid.

Just like everyone says. You're stupid.

I don't think we should talk anymore.

I'm not a good person.

I hurt people.

And I don't do it by accident.

I... I do it for money.

I don't think I'll be seeing you

and your mother in heaven.

I think I'm gonna have to go to hell.

And it scares me.

So, I won't be able to talk to you anymore.

But I wanted to thank you

for being my friend.

You and Pinky were

the only friends that I had.

I'm gonna go on and go pretty soon.

Like you said, I, uh...

I don't want to have a big sad part

of my life anymore.

But I wanted to say goodbye.

Yeah.

- What do you want me to tell him?

- I got it.

Willie.

I'm Staff Sergeant Thompson.

I really appreciate your willingness

to serve your country.

Unfortunately, you don't meet

our age requirements for enlistment.

I'm sorry.

Please.

There's nothing I can do. It's a firm rule.

Listen, if you need any help,

I can contact homeless shelters

in the area...

I'll be a human shield.

What?

You can use me to protect

the soldiers from bullets.

You can just throw me away.

I want you to.

I want you to throw me away.

All right, all right. Back up, back up.

Make some room. Come on.

Ah!

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen.

I'm JJ,

your doorman to the poor man.

Now, tonight,

as promised,

you're going to see something

you can't see anywhere else.

Two men fighting for their lives.

No time limits,

no judges' decisions, just real.

So, starting tonight

and every night you come down here,

you're no longer business majors

or f***ing trust fund babies.

No, no, no, no.

From now on, you are Romans,

and these bums...

your gladiators.

So...

let's get this show started.

Who's up? Willie!

You out here?

Come on, Willie.

All right, no Willie.

Uh... Who else? Who else?

Somebody else? A 100 bucks. Come on.

What you all had a long day at work?

Come on! Hundred f***ing bucks.

Someone?

For f***'s sake. Come on!

Someone doesn't step up,

me and your money are leaving. For real.

I'll do it.

All right. Somebody still

got some balls to speak up.

Methuselah, come on, man.

- You don't need to do this, brother.

- All right.

I'm hungry, man.

What about the rest of you?

- Pope said, "No more fighting."

- Oh, the Pope?

- Yeah.

- "The Pope" said, "No more fighting"?

That's right.

Well, yeah. The Pope's...

not putting food in your belly

tomorrow morning, is he?

No. I am.

The only salvation out here, boys, is me.

- Just get going.

- Come on, go.

Willie!

I know you're out here, Willie-bear.

Come on. Show yourself.

What are you doing, man?

Come on. Get in here.

Not tonight, JJ.

"Not tonight, JJ"?

What are you... what are you, my girlfriend?

Come on, cardboard boxer. Get in here.

This is your thing now.

I need you, man. I brought all these...

these are important people.

I brought them all here for you.

Can you f***ing be my friend?

Come on!

What the hell?

Look at that. Look at that old man.

Go ahead. Look at him.

Look at that old man, right now.

You want someone else to

throwing those punches at him? Hmm?

Or you wanna throw 'em?

All right! Whoo! All right, we are on!

Folks!

For the first fight let's go with, uh,

four to one odds on Methuselah

to go the distance. Yeah?

All right, thank you. Sounds good.

- Take that. All of it. All of it.

- Thank you, sir. Thank you.

You don't have to do this.

I'm sorry, Willie.

Now, the bets are officially closed.

In this corner, the oldest man alive

coming direct to you from Skid Row...

Methuselah!

And in the other corner,

undefeated reigning champion

of all time, my good friend,

Willie, the cardboard boxer.

Whoo! Okay.

Three, two, one, fight!

Woo-hoo!

- Yo, man.

- What's going on?

Come on! Go!

Come on. Get in there. Go, go, go.

That's it.

Hit him!

Come on. What are you doing?

Fight, come on!

Hit him, come on!

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