Family Business Page #2

for a man my age.

The little Mr. McMullen was able to do

seems to have been pretty effective.

The officer has taken 18 stitches

in his face, his nose is broken...

...and his jaw is wired up.

I must've hit him harder than I knew.

Fright, fear, whatever it was, Your Honor.

Your Honor, here is the BCI

on Mr. Jessie McMullen.

It begins in 1947 with a three-year term

for assault just after he was naturalized.

It goes on and on and on and...

Your Honor, before the prosecutor

sentences my client...

...perhaps he will agree to a trial?

We're only here to set bail.

I'd like to point out that the defendant's

grandson is present in court.

My client has roots in this community.

Bail is set at $5000.

A $500 cash bail bond is acceptable.

Next.

Docket number 178649326.

Did you bring the 500?

You don't travel light, I see.

Vito gave me 800.

Good thing he had the cash.

Your father's always got a few grand

swag money in his pocket.

He robs the tax collector,

your father.

It's never been easy for me

having a thief in the family.

You've grown, Adam.

It's been a long time.

- Money.

- Oh, money.

Look at this. It's become a shithouse.

Never been in a jail before.

You haven't missed a lot. It's got some

good points too, when you're young.

- Like what?

- It helps build character...

...like a hitch in the Army.

A wallet. A watch.

A handkerchief, pure silk.

Not to mention $270,000.

I'm just kidding. $270.

- Hey, Jessie.

- Hi, John.

- This place keeps going downhill.

- Yeah, just like the rest of the city.

You're looking good, Adam. These fancy

schools must be agreeing with you.

MIT's not fancy.

And they don't, Jessie.

They really don't agree with me at all.

Last night in the bar,

did that cop land the first punch?

Adam, I've never been

in a bar fight yet...

...where the other guy landed the first

punch. It's a sure recipe for losing.

- So when did you get back in town?

- I left school in January.

I was this far away from getting

my master's in molecular biology.

- And your old man's paying for all this?

- No way. I'm on full scholarship.

I was a Westinghouse Scholar.

It's a big deal.

They only have six each year.

I hated it. It felt worse than that cell.

They've got your whole life

mapped out for you.

You don't know the half of it.

I would have had my own lab...

...terrific salary, the works.

They were already talking to me

about a retirement plan.

I've been living with a girl

up on 23rd Street. An older girl.

Nothing wrong with an older woman.

For a young man.

My mother's okay. Vito tries,

but he makes me feel guilty.

- Your father can be pretty good at that.

- Hey, Jess.

Hi, Phil. Say hello to Adam,

my grandson.

- Vito's boy.

- Hi, Phil.

I remember you. What've you

been doing with yourself lately?

Finding myself.

Well, I hope you've been

getting laid in the process.

- What do you got?

- Ferragamos.

fell off a truck this morning.

- Fifty dollars a pair. 13C?

- Right.

- You got it.

- What do you take?

- 91 l2C.

- No problem.

- There you go.

- Thanks.

Say hello to your father for me.

Me and him used to cut a lot of corners

when we were kids. Take it easy.

Not in the bar, bad luck.

You can get trees for them.

You're a class act, Jessie.

I still remember those stretch limos

out to Shea when I was 12.

Yeah, the driver was working off

a gambling debt.

It was a wonderful way to travel, no?

Cheers.

Those piers used to hum.

Half the West Side worked on the docks.

The pickings were great.

That's where I landed, right over there.

- September '46.

- My grandmother?

Yeah.

Those happy years for the two of you?

Happy? Married to a Sicilian?

Happiness is against their nature.

She spent every waking hour cooking

pasta. She had me pissing olive oil.

You be careful,

you got some of that blood.

Try to encourage

the Scottish genes, Adam.

Wonder how Vito would've turned out

if you'd married somebody Scottish.

He'd have had a proper first name,

for a start. Instead of Vito.

And he'd have been at least

five inches taller.

That was a terrific night, Jessie.

Some bacon and eggs,

a couple drinks.

When I called, it wasn't just

to get together after all this time.

- No?

- No. I wanted...

I really wanted to ask you

about something. Your opinion.

What?

There's an ex-professor of mine,

he's a brilliant Chinese-American guy...

...and he's got a scam.

Says it's a good deal,

as easy as could be.

Nobody ever tells you a deal's hard, kid.

Well, he needs an answer.

I've stalled him for a couple of weeks,

but now he says he needs an answer.

Says it means a lot of money.

What's a Chinaman's idea

of a lot of money?

A million dollars.

More coffee, fellas?

- Leave it to me. I'll get Vito here.

- See you later.

I'm going upstairs

for a shower and a shave.

- So I'll meet you here at 3?

- Right.

Leave your old man to me.

I know which buttons to press.

All right.

Hello, stranger. When they become

a success, they forget their roots.

Vito, glad to see you back

on the West Side.

I remember Vito here

before he could talk.

Your grandfather was

running numbers out of this bar.

He'd bring Vito down in his baby

carriage and park him right here...

...then tuck his policy slips

in your old man's blanket.

That's how I learned to count.

How are you, Jessie?

- I pinched your father more than once.

- You're Doheny the cop?

That's me.

You were too little to run in.

He means Vito was too little to shake

down. Danny here would pinch me.

Then when I made bail, he'd come

upstairs and sell me back my own slips.

- You retired?

- I took early retirement.

- The commissioner insisted on it.

- Thank the good Lord...

...I had a little money put by.

- You still hide it in the coffee cans?

- What do you drink?

- Dewar's rocks, Danny.

- Nice guy.

- You gotta learn to judge people better.

You two seem pretty cozy

all of a sudden.

Hey, I'm his granddad,

for chrissakes.

Whatever craziness you're

cooking up these days, Jessie...

...Adam can do without.

I'm a man trying his best

to enjoy his golden years.

Just keep my son away

from your criminal schemes.

Criminal schemes.

It's eating you up

that you're getting old.

Let no man say that Jessie Mac

went out lying down.

Criminal schemes. That's a little rich

coming from an ex-con.

You told him about that?

Pop, Pop, 20 years in the same house.

Some things can't stay secret.

- Just don't f*** up his life too.

- Too?

Any deal you ever made with me,

you never saw a speck of trouble.

It's when you took off on your own, like

an a**hole with that retarded Polack...

...that you wound up doing

your 27 months in the shitter.

And he's still blaming me.

If you'd stuck with me, you'd have been

a part of that Westport Bank caper.

So sweet.

Ask him where the money is now.

Just where it ought to be.

It didn't have handles on it.

Always remember, Adam. It only

costs 100% more to go first class.

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