Rounders Page #6

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You just told me you felt alive for

the first time at a f***ing card table.

- No, what...

- What's that supposed to

make me understand?

[Sighs]

[Rock]

Midnight, gettin' uptight

Where are you

- You said you need me

but it's quarter to 2:00

- I heard you was out.

Hey, f***in' Grama.

How you doin'?

- I was just thinkin' about you.

You know, I could use you.

- Oh, yeah?

See me in, like, two weeks.

I'll put you back on the payroll.

Well, I got some bad news for ya, Worm.

I'm out on my own now.

- Really?

- Yeah.

Go figure.

There were a lot of angry people when

you went away. A lot of people were mad.

I know, Grama, that's why I'm trying

to put together a roll here.

A lot of people coming up to me,

asking if I could help,

asking if I knew

where to find you.

- So, it got me to thinkin'.

- Really, you thinkin' now? That's big.

Hey, Jesus! Come on!

Take it easy.

It's just

a friend of mine.

Hey! Easy, easy, easy, easy.

God!

Get the f*** outta here.

What did I say?

- Hey, man, take it easy!

- Get the f*** outta here!

Okay.

Here's what I'm thinkin'.

Instead of you owing 15 grand spread out

to five guys, you owe 25 to me.

What? Where the f***

do you get off? 25 grand?

Where the f***

do I get off?

[Grunts]

Ohh.

Here's how it is. 25 grand,

and the juice is still runnin'.

Jesus Christ.

What the f*** are you doin', man?

You were my partner.

No, no,

I was your lackey.

But I learned

a few things, Worm.

I consolidated

your outstanding debt.

[Scoffs] Where'd you get

the scratch for that?

You've been rolling fags

in the Village again. [Grunts]

- Still a wise ass. Unbelievable.

- [Spits]

What I did was go partners

with an old friend of yours.

Teddy KGB backed me.

Bullshit.

Bullshit.

[Spits]

Teddy's got plenty of goons.

Why would he put you

under his flag?

Because as soon as he heard your name,

he became real excited for the prospect.

What, so you bought me up, Grama?

[Scoffs]

Yeah, got a real sweet deal, too.

There's not a lot of faith in you

out there in the business community.

Great, so you're a banker now, Grama.

That's really classy.

Not exactly. I don't have to tell you

my collection methods.

[Sighs]

Oh, God. All right, look.

Just take it easy,

all right?

I'll scrape something together,

and I'll find you this week.

- That's just what I figured.

- No, no, no.

- So I'm gonna take what you

got on you right now.

- Here. Fine.

Have yourself

a ball, okay?

[Sighs, Chuckles]

[Groans]

God!

Damn!

[Groans]

Excuse me.

Mind if I sit?

Michael.

Please, please.

Sit, sit.

That was a nifty trick

the other night.

- It was wonderful.

- [Chuckles] Thank you.

Marinacci and the D.A. were ready to cut

cards for your services at that point.

[Chuckles]

Of course,

it was an altogether different trick,

that disappearing act...

you pulled today

at your group's meeting.

- Yeah. Well, I figure

I owe you an explanation.

- Ah, not to me.

I'm sure there's

a good reason you left.

You'll just have to

work harder. Prepare.

- [Chuckles]

- And smooth things out with the others.

Right. Yeah.

Okay.

- Okay, well, thanks.

- Stay. Take a drink.

- Jamie?

- Yeah?

- Another glass, darling.

- Sure.

- What are you drinking?

- Gin. Always gin.

- Here you go.

- Thanks, dear.

Thank you.

I know a magician doesn't

divulge his secrets, but...

[Chuckles]

I'm no magician.

Well, if it wasn't magic,

how did you know

what everyone held?

It's a combination

of things.

Um, I was watching

when the cards came out.

That's... That's just an old habit

with me, like breathing.

You watch the cards.

I watch the cards also, but I watch

the players reacting to the cards.

That's how I knew the D.A.

made his two pair,

and Judge Kaplan

missed the flush.

I was watching their eyes

when they checked their river cards.

- Their faces tell you everything.

- You watch the man.

l... I never knew you had

to calculate so much at cards.

All right, here's the thing.

You only play premium hands.

You only start

with jacks or better split,

nines or better wired,

three high cards to a flush.

If it's good enough to call, you gotta

be in there raising, all right?

I mean, tight, but aggressive.

And I do mean aggressive.

That's your style, Professor.

I mean, you gotta...

you gotta think of it as a war.

You are officially never

invited to our game again. [Chuckles]

I don't blame you. Put a guy

like me in a game like that,

the cards don't even matter.

I'll play it blind.

Michael,

- May I tell you a story?

- Please.

For generations,

men of my family have been rabbis.

In Israel,

before that in Europe.

It was to be my calling.

I was quite a prodigy.

The pride of my yeshiva.

The elders said I had

a 40-year-old's understanding...

of the midrash

by the time I was 12.

But by the time

I was 13,

I knew I could never

be a rabbi.

Why not?

Because for all

I understood of the Talmud,

I never saw

God there.

- You couldn't lie to yourself.

- I tried.

Tried like crazy.

I mean, people were

counting on me.

But yours is

a respectable profession.

Not to my family.

My parents were destroyed,

devastated by my decision.

My father sent me away

to New York...

to live

with distant cousins.

Eventually, l...

I found my place,

my life's work.

What then?

I immersed myself fully,

I studied the minutiae,

I learned everything I could

about the law.

I mean, I felt deeply inside

that it was what I was born to do.

- And did your parents get over it?

- No.

I always hoped

that I would find...

some way to change

their minds, but...

They were

inconsolable.

My father never spoke

to me again.

If you had to do it

all over again,

would you make

the same choices?

What choice?

The last thing I took away

from the yeshiva is this...

We can't run

from who we are.

Our destiny chooses us.

Hey.

L'chayim.

Hey.

Hey, where you been?

I've been freezing my ass off.

- What happened?

- Ah, ran into a door.

Don't worry about it.

- What happened?

- Hey! She crossed her legs

too fast, all right?

- Just mind your own business.

- You comin' up?

No, I've been standing out here

all this time just to say hi.

Listen, things haven't

been that smooth on the home front,

so tone it down

a little, all right?

- Tone down what, motherf***er?

- Great.

- Never mind.

- [Laughs]

When you become a big shot lawyer,

could you find us an elevator building?

Shut up.

What, did you

get robbed?

Um, not exactly.

Wait, wait, wait.

Did she split on you?

[Scoffs]

Oh, God.

Oh, my God. Mike, she made off

with your sheets.

I always told her she'd be

a good card player.

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