Million Dollar Baby Page #5

- Thought I said I'd see you Monday.

- You sure did, boss.

That was last night.

You said not to argue with you.

Damn woman won't do a thing I tell her.

You want my advice?

What?

Where are your shoes?

I'm airing out my feet.

You got big holes in your socks.

Oh, they're not that big.

Didn't I give you money

for some new ones?

These are my sleeping socks.

My feet like a little air at night.

How come you're wearing them

in the daytime, then?

Because my daytime socks

got too many holes in them.

Well, if I give you some more money,

you buy some new socks.

Please?

Well, I'd be tempted,

but I couldn't say for sure.

Might find its way to the track.

It's over. It's over.

Didn't take Maggie long

to hit her stride.

I got the breathing thing down.

No, you ain't breathing because you're

knocking them out in the first round.

- Thought that was the point.

- The point is to get good.

Can't get good if you keep

knocking them out first round.

How am I gonna get you fights?

Nobody wants to see

their fighter embarrassed, now.

Why am I still doing

four-rounders, boss?

Because you haven't got the lungs

for six rounds.

I do if I keep knocking them out

in the first round.

Frankie made her fight

one more four-rounder...

... just to let her know who was boss.

Three, four, five...

...six, seven...

Sorry, boss.

Maggie left no doubt about it.

All right, let's do it.

Her first six-rounder

didn't go quite as smooth.

Get up!

To your corner.

- Three, four, five...

- Get up.

...six, seven...

- Get up.

...eight, nine, ten. It's over.

- You can do this.

Maggie didn't knock her out

till the end of the first round.

After that, no manager wanted

to put his fighter in with Maggie.

Frankie had to go into his pocket

to get her decent fights...

... sweetening the purse

by paying managers on the side.

That only worked for so long.

Then Frankie did something

he hated doing.

He took a chance.

Box.

He moved her up in class.

That could've been a mistake.

Watch the right!

Watch it. Watch it.

Break, break. Step back. Break. Time.

Damn, damn, damn.

Give us two seconds, will you?

- Okay.

- Just two seconds.

- Your nose is broke.

- Oh, damn.

- Fix it.

- I can't, I can't.

- You can fix it.

- I can't. I've gotta call it.

I've seen what you can do. Fix it.

I can snap it back into place,

but I can't stop the bleeding.

The ring doctor's gonna call it.

Please, Frankie, if you

can stop the blood, I can beat her.

Bite down on this.

- Inhale.

- What?

- Inhale.

- What?

Breathe in.

- Okay, huh?

- Yeah, it's okay.

All right, you got 20 seconds

before this turns into a geyser...

...and it's gonna spray

all over the front row.

Twenty seconds, that's all you've got.

Now get going.

Go to your corner.

Three, four, five...

- Come on, breathe. Breathe.

...six, seven, eight...

...nine, ten.

Mo cuishle.

- All right!

- Yeah!

Right.

What you reading?

What's she saying?

Wants to know what you're reading.

It's Yeats. Keep your head back.

Why don't you talk

a little Yeats to her.

Show her what a treat that is.

When the hell they gonna get to her?

I'm okay, Frankie.

- What'd you learn tonight?

- Always protect myself.

- What's the rule?

- Always protect myself.

- Margaret Fitzgerald?

- Here.

I'll be right here.

- How you doing?

- Me?

- Yeah, you.

- I'm not the one who's hurt.

Broken nose don't hurt that much.

Why are you telling me that?

No reason.

But some wounds are too deep

or too close to the bone.

And no matter how hard you work at it,

you just can't stop the bleeding.

- Did you write your daughter?

- Every week.

I've no idea why you come to church.

After her 12th straight knockout,

Frankie got a couple of real good offers.

The first was to fight

Billie "The Blue Bear" Osterman...

... for the WBA welterweight title.

Billie "The Blue Bear."

Billie was a former prostitute

out of East Berlin.

Had a reputation for being

the dirtiest fighter in the ranks.

Didn't seem to matter to her...

... that something like that

could kill a person.

And the crowds loved her.

He turned it down

without even telling her.

The next was to fight

the British champ...

- ... a Jamaican girl Billie just beat.

- Hello?

Not interested.

He turned that down too.

That's a lot of money, boss.

Yeah, you're making money.

What are you still working here for?

It's a title match, right?

Are you British?

It's a title you can't take away.

She's got nothing to lose,

you got nothing to win.

Might still be a good fight.

Yeah, I just... I just brought you up

to welterweight.

Too good to fight these contenders,

you'd rather fight some bullshit champ?

Didn't notice I was fighting

any contenders.

Well, you can get yourself

another manager any time you want.

In fact, if you'd learn

to protect your face a little better...

...I wouldn't have

to turn down this money.

My face is out there so much it's a miracle

I haven't been knocked out yet.

No, you can't work here

anymore tonight.

I made us a reservation.

You might wanna shower.

Here you go.

Here you go.

What's this?

Well, it ain't no big secret

what you're wishing for.

Go on and blow.

Thank you.

Thirty-three ain't so old.

I was still fighting at 39.

Fought for 23 years.

How's it going, Scrap?

Doing good, Mickey.

Doing good.

- What'll you have?

- Coffee.

You two not speaking?

Don't hardly know him.

I met Frankie right after

my 37th birthday.

He was picking up cut work.

He used to patch me up

when I thought it was impossible.

Good man to have in your corner.

Yes, he is.

He stayed with me

through my last fight in San Berdu.

My manager was off

getting drunk somewhere...

...and it was just Frankie and me.

I was taking a hellacious beating.

Everybody's got a particular number

of fights in him.

Nobody tells you what that number is.

Mine was 109.

I just didn't want to admit it.

Fourth round, this...

...cut opens up.

Blood starts pouring into my eye.

They should've stopped the fight, but,

hell, I was a black man in San Berdu.

Blood was what I was there for.

Round after round, I kept getting

Frankie to patch me up.

He's talking about

throwing in the towel...

...but he ain't my manager,

he can't throw in nothing.

Round after round...

...he's arguing with me.

And I'm almost laughing because, hell,

it's getting more to him than to me.

I go 15 rounds...

...Iose by decision.

Next morning, I lose the eye.

In 23 years, he's never said

a thing about it.

Doesn't have to. I can see it

in his face every time he looks at me.

Somehow...

...Frankie thinks he should've

stopped that fight...

...should've saved my eye.

Spends his life wishing he could

take back that 109th fight.

I wanted to go to 110.

Thing is...

...if you wanna get to the title...

...maybe he's not the one

to take you there.

You tell Mr. Mack we'd be here tonight?

You go on, eat your cupcake.

No, I got it.

It's the rule.

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