Papa Hemingway in Cuba Page #3

Kind, loyal, gentle.

You can't judge him like an ordinary man

because he's not ordinary

in any sense of the word.

A hundred years from now,

people will read his work

and know his name.

Kid, you should know

what's going on around here.

This character, is he a good guy?

Yeah, you know, he's a political reporter,

Pulitzer winner.

Pulitzer doesn't make you a good character.

I'm living proof of that.

So, she left him to be with you, huh?

Yeah.

Do you love her?

Yeah.

What do you want?

I don't know.

I'm trying to write about Hadley.

My first wife.

The only true love I ever felt was from her.

I'm trying to get one, true sentence

to start it, you know.

The fun we had,

loving each other in a warm bed

in Austria that winter.

And then I had to go back to New York

to deal with publishers.

And when I came back the next spring,

I stopped off in Paris

to f*** the woman

that would later be my second wife,

my rich wife.

And then on to Austria.

Seeing Hadley at the station with our son...

How beautiful she looked.

Unforgivable.

When you make a decision, kid,

make it carefully.

Know what you truly want.

Consider every possible consequence,

or you'll wind up at 59

wondering what the hell happened.

Did the cab come?

Not yet.

What are you reading?

Reading about your new friend Hemingway.

I can see that.

Eddie, what's California like?

California? You know,

it's like here, but, without the humidity.

I want you to run away

to California with me.

Don't go to Havana, Eddie.

Deb, I got...

They're waiting for me, it's his birthday.

The flight's about to leave, I'm late.

What are you afraid of?

Will you listen to something?

It's Hemingway.

"The celebrated develop a technique to

deal with the persons they come across.

"They show the world a mask,

but take care to conceal their real selves.

"They play the part

that is expected from them..."

- I gotta go.

- "...but with practice play it very well."

- Let's talk about this later.

- "But you are stupid

"if you think that this public performance

of theirs corresponds with the man within."

I'll be back Tuesday.

Deb certainly deserved someone

who could commit to her.

Even though I loved her,

how could I give her something

I had never known?

I guess it started about a month ago.

Papa started to complain

that he's living with his "deads,"

as he calls them.

Every morning he'd go to work

and there they are,

all his dear old dead friends,

talking to him, as if they were alive.

I guess they're real enough in his mind,

but that's plenty close to madness.

Oh...

This water's glorious.

Oh...

I'm so glad you're here, lamb.

Oh, yes, yes, yes.

Dunhills.

Every day he's just become more depressed.

You know, more moody.

When I

saw him at his desk this morning

with that pistol...

I've never been that terrified in my life.

I didn't know what to do.

He just sat there staring at the gun.

So, I got angry and I said,

that if he was going to do

such a stupid, idiotic thing

to at least go outside where

I wouldn't have to clean up the mess.

I've been waiting all morning

to hear a shot.

Evan said that he has

threatened suicide before.

Yeah, but this is different.

It's very different.

The other times, he's always been able to

get himself out of

the dark places he goes to.

But, this time...

He doesn't even want to

celebrate his birthday.

But I do. I want to have a party.

You know. Lots of people and good talk,

good booze, good food.

Lamb, can you help me?

Whatever you need.

I have a plan.

Eddie, you will play General Buck Lanham,

a commander of the 22nd Infantry Regiment

in France during World War ll.

And Evan, you will play Papa's

African white hunter hero.

Philip Percival.

We'll be reinforced at lunch

by Papa's old Cuban friends.

There's Sinsky. He's a Basque seaman

who now captains cargo ships

between New Orleans and Havana.

The Herrara brothers. Roberto and Luis.

Luis was a surgeon for the loyalists

during the Spanish Civil War.

Paxtchi Ibarlucia and Fernando Mesa,

both Spanish Civil War veterans

exiled in Cuba.

Oh, and one other survivor

of that crew, I know only as Lucas.

He's Cuban,

he's a very mysterious character.

Only Papa seems to know him.

Colonel Buck Lanham

and the 22nd Infantry Division wishing you

a happy birthday, Ernie.

Jolly good, Bob.

Down, good lion. And happy birthday

from you know who, huh?

You've all gone crazy.

Oh!

So, we're sitting on the steps of

San Cristbal Cathedral in Havana,

Sinsky and I get drunk.

So I said, "Papa, when was

the last time you went to confession?"

Oh, 15, 16 years at least. Maybe more.

"Let's go!" Papa says.

The priest began sweating immediately.

It took eight hours.

Eight hours? Oh, poo.

It couldn't have taken that long.

Oh, you don't understand.

No, eight hours. No one can have

that much sin, you made it up.

The priest fainted.

Yeah, I tried to revive him

with some Napoleon brandy,

but he just passed out

before he could give his absolution.

Miss Mary, you were

a correspondent in the war?

Oh, yes. For Time Magazine.

And before that the Chicago Daily News.

Yeah, I was in Paris when the Germans

took the city.

And in London during the Blitz.

London's where I met Papa.

So, after the Normandy Invasion,

you know, I decided to stay with the troops

all throughout France.

I had a good life on my own.

Okay, Papa.

So this was just after the war started?

Oh, yes, Eddie.

U-boats were everywhere out there.

Nothing would stop them.

From my house in Havana, at night,

you'd see tankers burning, out at sea.

Ooh! I wanted to get me a U-boat.

Oh, so did I. We all did.

Yeah, but you never even got close

to a U-boat.

What the hell do you know about it?

We were the ones out there.

We had Pilarrigged

like a real U-boat. Right, Papa?

Hell, yes!

Oh, we had bazookas, .50 caliber

machine guns,

and N1 rifles, Thompson's, grenades,

short-fuse bombs!

But you never saw... You never saw one?

We came this close, didn't we? Remember?

Oh, yes!

But we gave that bastard a chase.

He took off like a pig with a pole

up his posterior!

Yep, like a bunch of schoolkids

playing at war.

F***ing IRS just hit me with income tax.

40,000!

Everything I had in savings

after all these years.

They knew exactly what I had in my accounts.

Government's out to get me.

For God's sakes, stop being so paranoid.

F***ing FBI will be after me next.

Don't be so ridiculous.

How does government taking $40,000

translate to "ridiculous"?

You're exaggerating, but you always

exaggerate when you're drunk.

I'm not drunk.

At least not yet.

Fact is, you're drunk.

If you don't love me, mama

I don't care at all

'Cause I can get more womens

than a passenger train can haul

One more for the road, gentlemen.

We'll drink to Operation Friendless.

We were the best.

We did it for free.

I've never seen them like this.

Yeah, well.

Now we have the evening to look forward to.

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