Permanent Vacation Page #2

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I can hear the planes sometimes.

I haven't heard them since the

war when we were bombed.

Is there another war going on?

Excuse me, ladies.

It's time for your medication.

Would you mind leaving the room

for a few moments,

and then you can come right back.

Yeah, sure.

Is there another war?

[Speaking in Spanish...]

Are you alright?

What are you singing?

I want you to leave.

What?

Go!

Get out of here.

Why? I just wanted to

know what you are saying.

[Speaking Spanish]

You got to... you got to be quiet.

Get out! Get out!

All right. All right.

Hi, I'd like to buy some popcorn.

Uh, 75 cents.

Do you think I would like this movie?

The Quinn Eskimo film?

Um, well, the only parts that I remember

were, uh, the first part where,

uh, he's eating -- they're eating --

maggots and

the second part where the old lady tells

the pregnant daughter, uh,

that the first-born, if it's a boy, um,

they rub it with blubber for good luck.

And, the second, if it's a girl, uh,

they stuff snow in its mouth and kill it.

Hey, have you ever heard of the Doppler effect?

The Doppler effect.

Yeah, yeah, I've heard of it.

Yeah, sure, it's, uh...

I know it's... it's, it's when Saturn

changes, when it moves.

Yeah, that's the Doppler effect.

That's right.

That's the name of my joke.

The Doppler effect.

The Doppler effect.

You, see, back...

Back in the 50s there was this guy

who played a sax.

He played a mean sax. Oh, yeah!

But he was out of his time.

His sound was different, way out,

too advanced for all those others.

He couldn't get no work 'cause

he didn't want to, he didn't want to

conform to the traditional style of playing.

Times was rough for him.

So his friends got together and they said:

"Look, Ned, you ought to go on over to Europe...

...see, over there they play a different sound."

"You know, they... you fit in.

You'll be able to play."

And they, uh, got together some money

and bought a ticket to Paris.

So he goes over there, and when he gets over there

-- huh, it's the same old thing.

His sound is too advanced for them.

Nobody know where he coming from.

And he couldn't get no job playing

'cause he...he still doesn't want to

conform to the traditional style of playing at the time.

So he gets real depressed, gets upset.

And he's broke. He ain't got no money.

So he's got to go out in the street to start playing.

He plays all day, and he gets into junk.

All kinds of stuff.

And it's just too much for him. He's not making it.

So one day he decides

to climb up some stairs and go up on a roof

and jump off. End it all.

He up there, and it's a... it's a grey day.

Everything is grey. The sky is all grey.

And, uh, looking down,

then he looked up. And,

just as he was about ready to jump,

skies open up,

and there's this ray of light

hit him

like a spotlight.

For no reason at all, he just...

he picked up his horn,

and started playing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

And that's as far as he got.

He couldn't remember no more.

He just kept on playing that same

song over and over and over again...

He couldn't remember no further.

Just couldn't.

Then, all of a sudden, people... people all around

gathered around, and started

looking up at him.

And the... And the police

come up to the roof,

sneaking up on him from the back.

And he's still trying to remember the next phrase.

He turn around and look and see the police coming and he

jumps down!

And there he is down there.

He ain't dead from the fall.

And then he was conscious.

He heard in the distance the sound of an ambulance coming.

And, uh...

he was going...

The Doppler effect!

What do you want to hear, kid?

I don't care as long as it's vibrating

and dug downtown.

Man, what a sax!

This gun is my legislative gun!

Now I get it.

It's "This gun is my legislative branch."

Now, that's good. That's good.

Hey, could you put this in the box for me?

Come on. Give me a break.

What do I look like? A mailman?

F***ing Christ!

I don't believe it. That dude just stole my car!

Did you see him?

That's my car!

That's my f***ing car! Oh my God!

That dude was wild style! Oh, no, man!

You better get your ass out of here

before he snags that up, too!

Is this the car?

Yup. This's it.

What's your name again?

Allie. Aloysious.

Man, what do you want?

Well?

I'll give you 800 dollars for it.

800?

Ah, it's worth more than that. I could get more than that for it.

Go ahead.

800 is all you can give me?

I need the money. Okay.

Okay.

Going on the boat, too?

No, I just got here.

Where you from?

From France, from Paris.

You born there?

Yeah, I was born there. Were you born in New York?

Yeah, but I'm leaving.

Yeah, I had to leave, too.

How come?

See, I had a lot of trouble, so I have to get out of Paris.

And now my friends are crying.

See, I never cry.

'Cause I know when things change, I have to go somewhere.

And now I think that New York is going to be Babylon for me.

Well, that's where I've got to live.

Think I would like it in Paris?

Yeah, Paris wouldn't be a Babylon.

Yeah.

I just got a tattoo the other day.

Oh, yeah?

I kind of wanted to get one before I went away.

I got a tattoo here last year.

What's it say?

It means "mommy."

Oh, you have a diamond shape?

Very good.

I got to go. It's my boat.

I got to go, too.

I was thinking about the note I

left her when I got on the boat.

But how can you explain something

like this to someone?

I'm just not the kind of person that

settles into anything.

I don't think I ever will be.

Isn't really anything left to

explain that can be.

And that's what I was trying to

explain in the first place.

Just not like that.

I don't want a job, or a house, or taxes

although I wouldn't mind a car, but... I don't know.

Now that I'm away, I wish I was back there

more than even when I was there.

Let's just say I'm a certain kind of tourist...

A tourist that's on a... permanent vacation.

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