Little Murders Page #8

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"Dear sir...

"I'm not that different from you.

"All men are brothers.

"Tomorrow, instead of reading

my mail in that dark, dusty hall...

why not bring it upstairs so

we can check it out together."

I never got an answer.

So I wrote another letter.

"Dear sir...

"There are no heroes, no villains...

"no good guys, no bad guys.

"The world's more

complicated than that.

Come on upstairs where we can open

a couple of beers and talk it all out."

Again, no answer.

So I wrote...

"Dear sir...

"I've been thinking too much

of my own problems...

"too little of yours.

"Yours can't be a happy task,

reading another man's mail.

"It's dull, it's unimaginative...

"it's a job... and let's not mince words...

for a hack.

"Yet I wonder...

"can this be the way

you see yourself?

"Do you see yourself as a hack?

"Do you see yourself

as the office slob?

"Have you ever wondered why they

stuck you with this particular job...

instead of others

who have less seniority?"

That letter never

got delivered to me.

So then I wrote...

"Dear friend...

"Just a note to advise.

"You may retain my letters

as long as you deem fit.

"Study them, reread them,

think them out.

"Who back at the home office

is out to get you?

"Who, at this very moment...

"is sitting at your desk...

"reading your mail?

I don't say this to be cruel, but because

I'm the only one left you can trust."

No answer.

But the next day, a man saying he was

from the telephone company showed up...

no complaint had been made...

to check my telephone.

Shaky hands...

bloodshot eyes.

And as he dismembered

my telephone...

he said...

"Look, what nobody understands...

"is that everybody's

got his job to do.

"I got my job.

"In this case,

it's preparing telephones.

"I like it or I don't like it...

"but it's my job.

"If I had another job,

say with the F.B. I...

"or someplace putting in

a wiretap, for example...

"or maybe even reading a guy's mail...

"like it or don't like it,

it would be my job.

Does anybody got the right

to destroy a man for doing his job?"

I wrote one more letter...

expressing my deep satisfaction

that we had at last made contact...

and informing him that the next time

he came, say to read the meter...

I had valuable information...

photostats, recordings,

names and dates...

about the conspiracy against him.

That letter showed up

a week after I mailed it.

It was torn in half and clumsily glued

together again.

In the margin on the bottom

in large, shaky letters...

was written the word, "Please."

I wasn't bothered again.

[Sighs]

It was after this

that I began to wonder.

If they're that...

unformidable...

why bother to fight back?

It's very dangerous.

It's dangerous

to challenge a system...

unless you're completely at peace...

with the thought that you're not gonna

miss it when it collapses.

Patsy, you can't be

the one to change.

I'm the one

who has to... change.

Alfred, what are you

talking about?

[Sighs]

When I first met you...

I remember thinking to myself...

this is the most formidable

person I've ever met.

I don't stand a chance.

I'll try to stay the way I am.

I'll try desperately,

but I don't stand a chance.

It's only a matter of time, Patsy.

Very soon I'll be different.

I'll be able to look at...

a half-empty glass of water and say...

"My God, this glass isn't half-empty.

This glass is half-full."

Patsy, I'm the one who has to change.

You're not the one who has to change.

You see what happens

when you start...

fooling around with the rules?

It begins with weddings,

and it ends with...

[Chuckles]

Well, there's no telling where it ends.

There are reasons

for doing things the old way.

Don't look for trouble

and trouble won't look for you.

I'm not saying there aren't problems.

But you have to fight.

You're going to fight,

starting now. Is that right?

And you're going to feel,

starting right now. Is that right?

I don't want a nod.

I want an answer.

Say, "Yes, Patsy."

- Yes, Patsy.

- Yes, Patsy, what?

Yes, Patsy, I'm gonna feel.

Starting when?

Starting as soon as I can manage it.

Starting when?

Starting now.

And what's your first feeling?

Uh...

- It's sort of distant.

- Don't be ashamed of it.

Okay.

It's worship.

- Of God?

- Of you.

You're doing just fine.

[Door Opening]

[Sobs]

[Door Opens]

[Door Closes]

Did you tell 'em silver

for the bedroom?

It was either silver,

brown or black.

- There's still not much of a selection in steel.

- Make it brown then.

- Not in my bedroom.

- It's my bedroom too.

I told you I didn't

want them in my room!

They have to be put in every room, Kenny.

It says so in the building code.

- They block out all the light!

- What light?

That's what shutters are for, dear.

It's for your own good.

Don't I have any rights

around here?

- You'll love them when you get used to them.

- [Stammering]

[Drill Whirring]

That noise!

What a mess they make. I remember when

workmen were neat, quiet, mannerly.

I brought you some tea.

- Will you do me a favor and cut it out.

- I was only trying to help.

Come on, Alfred.

Come on.

Here. Come on.

You're doing fine. Go ahead.

Uh-uh. Don't gulp.

Take it easy now, huh?

Nice and easy, Alfred.

Big deal. Big deal.

[Carol]

Will you get out ofhere, goddamn it!

Big deal. Big deal.

You little son of a b*tch.

Christ, I hope it's only a phase.

Come on, Alfred.

Come on.

It's always darkest

before the dawn.

Alfred, I paid an unexpected call on

police headquarters this afternoon.

Keep this under your hat, huh?

I had a 15-minute talk

with Lieutenant Practice.

Busy as hell, but he found

15 minutes to talk to me.

He's convinced they're closing in

on the conspiracy.

Three hundred and forty-five

unsolved murders in six months.

[Sighs]

I feel sorry for those poor bastards.

I don't understand

anything anymore, Alfred.

[Sighs] You know how I get

through the day, Alfred?

In planned segments.

I get up in the morning

and I think...

okay, a sniper didn't

get me for breakfast.

Let's see if I can take my morning walk

without being mugged.

Okay, I finished my walk.

Let's see if I can make it

back home without getting a brick...

dropped on my head

from the top of a building.

Okay, I'm safe in the lobby.

Let's see if I can make it up in the elevator

without getting a knife in my ribs.

Okay, I made it to the hall.

Let's see if I can walk in

and not find burglars in the hallway.

Okay, I made it to the hall.

Let's see if I can walk

into my living room...

and not find the rest

of my family dead.

This goddamn city.

- What happened?

- They shot a hole in my shopping bag.

- You could have been killed!

- I get shot at every day.

We all do, Carol.

Don't make more of it than it is.

I ran into that nice

Lieutenant Practice in the lobby.

- He looked simply awful.

- [Doorbell Buzzing]

I invited him up for coffee as soon as

he finishes investigating the new murder.

- Who got it this time?

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