Edge of the City

Excuse me.

- Are you in charge here?

- Yeah.

I'm looking for a guy

named Charlie Malik.

He ain't here. He works the day shift.

- Excuse me.

- Yeah?

Thing is, I'm looking for work.

Nothing I can do for you, kid.

You'll have to come back in the morning.

Long-distance.

Long-distance, what's the night rate

to Gary, Indiana, please?

- Person-to-person.

- One moment, please.

One dollar and 80 cents, sir.

I want to call Gary, 2860.

And I wanna talk to

Mrs. George Nordmann.

That's Nordmann.

N- O-R-D-M-A-N-N.

- Hello.

Is this Gary, 2860?

Yeah, that's right.

Mrs. George Nordmann there?

Yeah, she's here,

but I wanna know who's calling.

One dollar and 80 cents, sir.

George, who is it?

- It's him again. Operator...

- Please, George, let me.

Now, listen, Katherine,

there's no point in your talking to him.

Find out where

the call is coming from.

Tell him to knock this business off

or I'll break his neck.

Please.

Hello?

Axel, is it you?

Hello.

Hello, Mom. Hello.

Axel?

Is anyone there?

I'm here, Mom. I miss you.

- Operator? Operator?

Yes?

- No one answers. No one is there.

- But the line is open, madam.

But nobody answers.

Where is this coming from?

- New York.

- Three times...

San Francisco, Denver and St. Louis,

and no one ever answers.

Axel, please say something.

I'm here, Mom.

Mama, I want to talk to you.

You quit this now, do you hear me?

Haven't you done enough?

You're killing your mother.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

You're killing your mother.

The party disconnected, sir.

Operator, I want to know

exactly where this call came from.

I'll check and call you, sir.

Come on, Katherine. Come on.

What did we do to him?

What did we do to make him like this?

We didn't do anything.

It isn't our fault.

What did we do?

Hey, man, wake up.

Hey, wake up.

I don't know if you left a call

with the desk, but it's about that time.

- It's morning?

- It is.

Gendarmes are about,

don't wanna get pulled in as a vag.

Thanks. I didn't mean to fall asleep,

I was waiting for the morning shift.

Well, you're looking at a cat that's

exactly seven minutes late for that shift.

- You looking for a job?

- Yeah.

Listen, who do I ask for

in the front office?

Guy named Davis.

You shouldn't have any trouble.

If you do, ask for me.

My name's Tyler.

Should be okay,

I got a contact inside named Malik.

- Charlie Malik. Do you know him?

- Yeah, I know him.

And you don't need my help,

good friend.

Adios.

Mr. Davis, he's been out four weeks

with appendicitis.

Here's a doctor's certificate.

- You feel okay?

- Oh, yes, sir.

There's a lot of work to do out there.

I don't want you to work

unless you feel okay.

- Oh, I'm okay.

- All right, then. Get to work.

Thanks.

- Mr. Davis?

- That's right.

I'm a friend of Charlie Malik's.

I was told I could get a job here.

- Wallace, send Malik in here, will you?

- Right away.

- Pull up a chair, kid. Sit down.

- Yes, sir.

- You want coffee?

- No, just a job.

Here, take a look at this application.

- Can you read and write?

- Yes, sir.

Well, you'd be surprised.

We got some guys can't read and write.

Well, they can read and write numbers,

that's all.

We can use them for truckers,

but not for stevedores.

Hey, you wanted to see me, Ray?

I mean, a lot of work out there.

Don't yell at me if it ain't done,

you know what I mean?

Friend of yours here, looking for work.

Some friend of mine?

Yeah. We met through Ed Fabre.

Remember?

Oh, yeah.

- How is Ed?

- Fine, fine, last time I saw him.

- Where was that?

- Frisco.

- What's your name?

- North. Axel North.

Yeah. Yeah, this guy's all right.

Yeah, he's a good man.

You can start him off as a stevedore.

You can put him in my gang, huh?

- Okay.

- Thanks.

Don't let them send you anyplace else.

You come right to me, huh?

You gotta fill the application out

in front of me.

Sixty-day probationary,

and then you have to join the union.

Wallace.

Wallace.

- Put this man on with Malik's gang.

- Okay, Ray.

Thanks.

Hey, Malik.

Hey, Brother. Check that stuff, huh?

Give me the clipboard.

- I got the clipboard. Get out of here.

Hold it, Pop, hold it.

Let the gentleman through.

All right.

This guy will work for you.

You do like he says.

- Come on, you work on the trucks.

- Wait a second.

What?

Well, I'd like to thank you

for helping me get the job.

This job pays you 1.71 an hour.

For every hour you work,

you pay me a quarter.

- That's how you thank me.

- Oh, I see.

All right? Come on.

Do I work here?

- No, you work over there.

- Charlie, you know, I don't understand.

How do you get all these guys

to work in your gang?

You know, I could use some help too.

I thought you could do

everything yourself, hotshot.

Touch.

You don't know how lucky you are.

I mean, it ain't everybody

that can work in Charlie Malik's gang.

I can remember when they didn't let

guys like you work around here.

You know that, hotshot?

What kind of guy am I exactly,

Charlie?

A wise guy.

Well, we sneak through

every now and then, you know.

Take that Williams' automotive lot

over there. Six pieces.

- Where do I get it from?

- Over there, by the truck.

Where do I take it to?

First get it,

then I'll tell you where, stupid.

- Now, wait a second.

- Wait a second what?

Just because you got me this lousy job

doesn't mean you own me, understand?

You want this lousy job or don't you?

You don't have to get rough about it,

that's all.

All right, I'll be real nice.

Now, you get the Williams'

automotive lot. Six pieces.

Then find a hand truck and put it

on the hand truck and you move.

Okay, stupid?

Okay, knock off.

Let's play some rummy, huh?

- Hey, Arab, you got the cards?

- You okay?

- Yeah.

- You look beat.

- Yeah, well, I'm all right.

Why don't you come down

to the waterfront and get some salt air?

- It'll rejuvenate you.

- I'll stay here for a while.

- So who's dealing the cards?

- I am, Charlie.

So deal them, will you?

We get a lousy 45 minutes

for a lousy lunch.

You still got those crummy cards too,

haven't you?

- I thought I told you to get new cards.

- Tomorrow.

Yeah, tomorrow, tomorrow.

Everything's tomorrow with this guy.

Hey, North.

- Wanna play some rummy?

Uh, no, thanks.

Exclusive.

So deal them.

- Hi.

- Hi.

- Join me.

- Is it okay?

This is Freedomsville, man.

The guy who usually reserves this spot

is out on the links today.

Boy, you look beat.

Have some soup, it's hot.

Give you that strength.

No, I think if I ate anything,

I'd get sick.

Well, a couple or three days,

you'll be over that.

- Hey, we never introduced ourselves.

- My name is Tyler. Tommy Tyler.

Everybody calls me Tee Tee.

Tommy Tyler, Tee Tee, you dig?

What's your name?

Axel North.

Axel. Axle grease. Ha-ha-ha.

Grease job.

Anybody ever call you grease job?

Hey, where are you from?

- Man, I ask a lot of questions, don't I?

- Yeah.

And you don't answer them, do you?

- No.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes