Little Manhattan Page #7

Sorry I'm late.

Miss Telesco, nice

of you to join us.

Wait a minute.

What was that?

Was that a smile,

or is she, like, mad at me?

Why would she be mad at me?

I only kissed her.

Why the heck did I kiss her?

What was I possibly thinking?

Ki-yah!

There are very few things

more painful...

...than watching the woman you

love grapple with another man.

Actually, I take that back.

There are

no things more painful.

The answer lies

within you, Gabriel...

...and you alone.

You must find

your strength.

Your focus.

Your determination.

Ki-yah!

Ki-yah!

Ki-yah! Ki-yah! Ki-yah!

Poor David Betanahu.

He was an innocent victim

in all this.

Collateral damage

in this love affair.

One, two, three, four...

I couldn't

take my eyes offher.

- High block...

- She loves me.

...middle punch,

Ki-yah!

She loves me not.

She loves me.

Loves me not.

She loves me. Not. Not.

Loves. Not.

By 3:
51, I had descended

fully into madness.

Who wants to take

their yellow belt exam?

Me!

Ah, Gabe.

The moment

of reckoning is upon us.

Okay, maybe I was

a little overeager...

...but it was

my only way back to her.

Luckily, I had the great master

of masters in my corner.

Ki-yah!

Ah, very nice. Very nice.

Let's see your Mochizuki now.

Hit, switch.

Hit! Hit!

Sweep.

Oh...

...very nice, very nice.

You've come a long way.

Excellent Gabriel. Excellent.

Now, time for the break.

All that stood between me

and the woman I loved...

...was a half-inch

piece of plywood.

Be the board,

Gabe.

Be the board.

At that moment,

I was the board.

Ki-yah!

Ow! Ow!

Ow! Oh! Aah...!

The pain! The pain!

Oh, my God!

Ow!

Oh, ow... Aw...

Ow...!

I don't remember

much after that.

Gabe...

They, um, they said

I blacked out.

I guess this

is the end of karate, huh?

I'm a placekicker.

If you work hard,

you can achieve anything.

I really believe

that, Gabe.

Whatever.

- Hey.

- Hey.

I came as soon

as I got the message.

What happened?

He went a little too hard

for his yellow belt.

Mm.

Sounds like

we're gonna need...

...some ice cream on

the way home, huh?

No, thanks.

Was this it?

Was this the end

for me and Rosemary?

Two and a half weeks

was all the time...

...we were going to be allowed?

I was not gonna call her.

That would be weak.

And I resolved that night

to be weak no longer.

Hello?

Hello, Mrs. Burton?

No, this is Gabe.

Who cares if she thought

I was my mother? It was her.!

Hello?

No, Mom, I got it.

Who is it?

Mom, I got it.

Hang up now.

Okay, hon.

Hey.

Hey, how's your hand?

My hand?

Oh, it's fine. Barely hurt.

I just got so worried

when you lost consciousness.

Yeah, that was only,

like, for a second or so.

What color cast did you get?

Plain was the best

of my choices.

My cousin got this Hulk one.

Yeah, they had that, too, but

I'm not really into the Hulk.

This was

no time for small talk.

It was time

to lay things on the table.

To reach

through that phone line...

...and dig deep

into that woman's soul.

So when can we hang out?

It's a really

crazy weekend for me.

It is?

It's Thursday night.

She's going to camp

Sunday morning.

Who cares how crazy

the weekend is?

Rehearsal dinner tomorrow night...

...wedding on Saturday,

camp on Sunday.

Sure, right. Of course.

Where's her whole "Wish you

could come to the wedding"?

Where's that Rosemary?

The Rosemary I loved.

Not this alien

with her crazy weekends.

Your new sparring partner,

is he coming to the wedding?

What? Tim?

Oh, is that what you call him?

Are you calling him

after you call me?

What are you talking about?

I'm talking about you and

Tim Staples sitting in a tree.

K- I-S-S-I-N-G

First comes love.

Then comes marriage.

Then comes Tim Staples

in a baby carriage.

You sound crazy, you know that?

Why don't you

have time this weekend?

I'm sorry, Gabe.

I haven't even started packing.

You know what? I hate you.

What?

I hate you.

Why do you even care?

I hate you.

Well, I hate you, too.

I hate you more.

How can you

say something so mean?

I hate you!

Rosemary!

Rosemary!

You want to or should I?

Rosemary!

It was the pain

that had no name.

Oh! Ooh! Ow! Ow! Ow!

Why did Rosemary Telesco

ever have to walk into my life?

Why, why, why?

Maybe not everything

is supposed to last forever.

Certain things are like...

like... Skywriting.

Like, like, like

a really beautiful thing...

...that lasts for

a couple moments and then...

You know?

Mommy!

I know, honey.

Love sucks.

Yeah.

Look at them all.

Rats in their cages...

...their lives destroyed by love.

I'm done with it.

I won't be like them.

The fools.

I remember

my first girl.

We met on

theJersey shore.

She was from Philly...

I was from Brooklyn...

...so, we knew right from

the start, we were cursed.

Ralph, not right now.

I'm not in the mood.

Okay.

Oh, hejsan.

God morgon.

Hejsan.

It's amazing how quickly

time moves.

Just yesterday,

I thought I loved her.

But now I don't even

care about her at all.

The next morning, this kind

of amazing thing happened.

The sun came out again.

See, life is about so much more

than Rosemary.

I have my family, my health,

my kicking career.

I really had no room

for a woman in my life.

How about some rocky road?

I guess.

Dad?

Yeah.

What's the deal

with girls?

I mean, why are they

the way they are?

You're talking

to the wrong man.

Well, how come all love

has to end?

Let me... Let me tell you

something about me and your mom.

Once upon a time,

we really loved each other.

But as... As time went by...

...there just got to be

all these... These things...

...little things...

...stupid things that

were left unsaid.

And all these things

that were left unsaid...

...piled up like... Like

the clutter in our storage room.

And after awhile...

...there was so much

that was left unsaid...

...that we barely said anything

at all.

Well... why didn't you

just say 'em then, Dad?

I don't know, Gabe.

I kinda wish I had.

Who was I kidding, anyway?

I wasn't going to get

any real comfort here.

I mean, the old guy

meant okay.

Let's knock over a hot dog stand

on the way home.

Drown our sorrows in pork

shoulders and nitrates.

Nah, I think it's all right.

I'm just going to, I don't know,

hang out here for awhile.

Okay, champ.

See you

at the homestead.

All right.

You kicked good today.

I'm telling you,

the trajectory you're on...

...to the moon.

Or at least the Big Ten.

Thanks.

Felt good.

Good. I'll see

you at home.

Somewhere,

a million miles away...

...the girl I once loved

was going down her road...

...and I was stuck back on mine.

I couldn't escape the...

...all the little things

I left unsaid.

I was drowning in them.

Suddenly,

I knew what I had to do.

Love isn't about ridiculous

little words.

Love is about grand gestures.

Don't go to Taos,

not without me.

Love is about airplanes

pulling banners over stadiums.

Proposals on Jumbotrons.

Giant words in skywriting.

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