Fat City Page #4

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- Leave me alone then.

I have a right to my moods.

All right. I can take a hint.

Don't think I don't know what's wrong.

You're unfulfilled.

I know.

I'm fulfilled.

I'm perfectly fulfilled.

That's not what's bothering me.

You didn't get real fulfillment.

Don't worry about that.

I'm fulfilled.

That's not it at all.

You're mad about something.

I'm not mad.

Just a little worried, that's all.

About what?

You know what.

God, we've been pretty careful.

If I was careful, I never would have

come out here in the first place.

You wouldn't marry me now.

I just know you wouldn't.

Men just don't

after the mystery's gone.

They do too. They do it all the time.

What are you talking about?

You wouldn't.

- I would too.

- When?

When it'd be right

for both of us.

We don't want to rush into a mess

when we've got each other anyway.

But don't you want to be with me

every night?

Sure.

Maybe I can get a day job.

Not what I meant.

We don't want to rush into something.

Look, don't think I'm proposing to you.

That's a thing I certainly

would never do.

I wouldn't want anybody

who didn't want me.

I want you.

Certainly wouldn't force myself

on anyone.

It's just, I like to know

where I stand, that's all.

Supposing you got drafted. Would you

expect me to be here when you came back?

Yeah.

Then why should we wait?

I could quit school

and get a job.

I want to be with you all the time.

I want to cook for you.

I don't know how you feel.

I wouldn't want you to marry me

just because you thought you had to.

Huh? Oh, sure.

No one has to, I guess.

I mean, we could do something

about it easy enough.

Yeah.

Sure we could.

But I wouldn't want to.

If I was, I'd want to have it.

Wouldn't you?

Wouldn't you feel anything?

Sure.

Maybe you'd better see a doctor.

Give me a cup of coffee.

- How's it going, Ruben?

- Well, lost another one.

- Ernie snuck off and got married.

- I might have known it.

What kind of pie you want?

Never mind. Give me what he's got.

Boy, she sure knows how

to fill a skirt.

Yeah, I talked to his mother

on the phone. He got married.

- What can you expect?

- All that energy they waste.

If they're not getting married, they're

getting arrested or joining the navy...

or killing themselves on motorcycles.

You know why I think he did it?

I think that beating discouraged him.

If you don't have confidence in yourself

you're never gonna get anywhere.

I remember the first time

I passed blood.

That was one scared kid.

Sure, when I got my jaw broken and had

to suck liquids through a straw...

I started wondering

if it was all worthwhile.

Tell you what bothered me.

Getting my throat ruined.

You didn't keep your chin down.

How's your nose.

Can you breathe?

Yeah, can't you?

Not on a wet day.

- Hi, honey.

- Hi.

How'd it go?

Well...

canneries weren't hiring today.

Did you try the box factory?

I've already been fired

from the box factory.

You know...

I guess I'm just gonna have to

start fighting again.

- Honey!

- Yeah?

- I wish you wouldn't do that.

- Do what?

Kick Earl's box.

I didn't kick it.

I fell over it.

I don't believe in

kicking a man when he's down.

Honey, it is not Earl in the box.

It's just his clothes.

Clothes make the man.

You know something, honey? You ought to

spruce yourself up a little.

You are a good-looking man.

You should put your best foot forward.

I know how I look.

I look like a bum.

- A am a bum.

- You're not a bum.

If you took more pains in appearance,

you could get a job you really liked.

The job I really like

hasn't been invented.

You're handsome.

You are.

All you need

is a little more flair.

Flair?

Come here.

Try this on.

- Oh, no.

- Go on. Try this on.

- I don't want to try that on.

- Why not?

I don't want to try it on.

It belongs to Earl.

Earl would understand.

Come on, now. He's

the kindest-hearted man in the world.

For me?

Honey?

Get over there.

What do you think?

Have I got flair now?

- What's the matter?

- Poor bastard.

- Who?

- Earl.

Eating his heart out

in the pokey.

Oh, boy.

I'm in worse shape

than I thought I was.

How long before a man

gets used to this?

I've been doing it for 25 years

and ain't got used to it yet.

All a man needs is a woman

with a good job.

I had that. She left.

I got one now

that won't work at all.

That's the easiest kind to get.

I had a good woman once,

but she divorced me.

- How come?

- Because of wine.

- Wine?

- Uh-huh.

My wife would go to work

and I'd sit home and drink wine.

There was this girl that lived

across the hall.

She was a friend of my wife.

My door would be open,

and I'd see her walk by.

I asked if she wanted a drink.

So we started drinking together...

and she looking better and better...

until I'm over there

as soon as my wife leaves...

and coming back

just before she gets home.

So my wife figures something's up...

'cause I'm all the time yawning

and fall asleep as soon as I get in bed.

So she goes across the hall

and sees this girl...

and a big bunch of roses

in a jar.

So she asks this girl,

"Where'd you get these roses?"

That girl, she say, "I don't know.

They just come."

So my wife go down to the corner

to the florist...

and asked did I buy

a big bunch of red roses.

So he said, "Yes."

That's how wine broke up my marriage.

- Sounds like it was roses to me.

- It was wine and roses.

So now I'm out here

chopping weeds.

I'll tell you girls something.

- Esteban here...

- Can I have a match?

Esteban here

is one hell of a fighter.

Could've made champ,

except for his hands.

Show them your hands. He hits

too hard for the size of his hands.

You know what happened to me?

Mismanagement.

Ruben.

Remember my fight with Soto?

To save a lousy

couple of hundred bucks...

he flew me down to Panama

all by myself and blew my chance.

- You know who Soto was then?

- Number five. He was good boy.

Good? I had that bum hanging on.

I was knocking him silly for six rounds.

So I'm back in my corner.

I'm not paying attention

to anything they're doing to me.

I know I got him. The bell rings.

I come out in the seventh.

He pops me a couple of times, and

suddenly the referee stops the fight.

There's blood pouring down me.

Can you believe that?

Both of my eyes are cut.

Everybody's happy.

The audience is screaming

their heads off.

So they patch me up

and put me on a plane...

and they're all smiles.

I get back to Stockton. I go see Ruben.

He looks at the butterflies.

He takes them off.

He takes a peek at the cuts...

tells me they were done

with a razor.

- Were they?

- They sure were.

- How could he tell?

- By looking at them!

Then we went out of Sacramento and filed

a complaint with the commissioner.

- What happened?

- Nothing.

I'm gonna start doing some running.

If I get into shape,

I know I can still fight.

- Why don't you then?

- I'm gonna.

Yeah, sure.

I heard that one before.

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