Somebody Up There Likes Me Page #7

champion of the world.

Norma, he'll be all right.

Sure, he will.

He's hard and tough.

He can take anything. But I can't.

He had to lose some time.

It isn't whether he loses or wins.

All he has to do is step into that ring

and I like to run and hide...

...knowing maybe they'll hurt him,

cripple him.

Did you ever tell this to Rocky?

Did you ever ask him to stop fighting?

It's his whole life. Everything he's got.

Then it's your whole life too.

Don't ever make the mistake

of forgetting that, like I did.

That's right.

I didn't marry a man, did I?

I married a middleweight.

Come, Yolanda, we must go.

Norma has to fix her face.

Soon her husband will be coming home.

A husband who's just been knocked out

for the first time in his life.

Hi.

Yeah, hi.

What are you doing?

Ironing.

What? Tonight?

Has to be done sometime. You hungry?

Hey, look, did you hear the fight tonight

or didn't you?

Yes, I heard it.

There's some chicken in the refrigerator

and I saved you a piece of blueberry pie.

What? Is that all you got to say to me?

- You were terrible.

- Oh, thanks. That's all I need.

You hit him with everything you had

and couldn't finish him.

You had him flat on his back

and still couldn't finish him.

Then he hits you, one punch...

One punch in that spaghetti basket

of yours and... you're through.

Yeah, wait till next time.

It's all set in March.

What I'm gonna do to Tony Zale,

I'll murder him.

I'll kill him. I'll tear his head off.

I'll bust his skull. I'll... I'll cream him.

Hey, come here.

That ain't what I'm gonna do

to Tony Zale. Definitely.

Zale, Zale, Zale.

All he thinks about is Zale.

What's so bad about that?

My job, gentlemen, is to keep

his mind on one fight at a time.

- Cowboy Shank comes first, then Zale.

- Who you kidding, Irving?

Rocky's a sure thing over Shank

and you know it.

It's strictly a warm-up bout.

Save that for your readers.

The only sure thing I ever heard of

was Billy Arnold at 6-1...

...the night Graziano knocked him out

in the third.

- How's it look?

- Still too low.

You gotta keep it up there like a cop.

Can we throw

a couple of punch lines at you?

Not right now, guys,

I got a date with a couple dames.

Don't you guys dare print that.

I'm taking Norma and Audrey to the zoo.

Don't print that either.

- Hey, what do you say, Rocky big shot?

- Hey, Peppo.

Hey. They sprung you, huh?

Yeah, all bad things

gotta come to an end.

- Hey, boy, you look great.

- The rest agreed with me.

Get dressed. We'll have a beer

downstairs.

Well, I can't right now.

My wife is picking me up.

How about that? Me with a wife and kid.

I think maybe you and me

better have a beer just the same.

We got something important

to talk about.

Like what?

Like this guy I run into.

He done a stretch at Leavenworth.

We got to figure out how to handle him.

Well, what do you mean?

What handle?

This guy figures it might be

worth something...

...to the title contender

everybody thinks is a big hero...

...that no one should know

he was kicked out of the Army.

Done a year at hard labor

in the federal pen.

I'll wait for you downstairs, Rocky.

What I done, I done.

It's just that I never got around to

telling my wife about it.

- It'll make no difference with her.

- Of course not.

You know, all these boys' clubs

that I go to...

...I gotta think what they'd say

and the neighbors...

...and, you know, the kids

that my Audrey plays with.

It wouldn't do nobody no good.

Which is why we gotta take care of him.

So, what does he want?

I mean... A couple C's.

I'll give him a couple of C's.

No, not him.

He just wants to make a killing

on the Cowboy Shank fight.

Are you kidding? There ain't no

book gonna take no dough on me.

They know I can take Shank

with no hands.

Not on you, Rocky.

He wants to bet on Shank.

Get maybe 5-, 6-1

with the out-of-town books.

- You mean I should go in the tank?

- Yeah, an upset.

- You're getting sore at the wrong guy.

- No, I ain't.

There ain't no other guy.

You're the guy.

Suppose I was to tell you

there's 100 G's in it for you.

I'll tell you to drop dead.

What are you trying to do to me?

I'm clean. Can't you understand?

There's... A lot of people think I'm okay.

I ain't gonna let you or me

or nobody louse that up for me.

I'm not gonna let you.

I'm not gonna let nobody.

I'm with you all the way, Rocky.

That's why I don't wanna see

no sad stories in the papers about you...

...and all them prisons and

a dishonorable discharge...

...and all the rest.

- Get off my back.

You're crowding me.

I can't think straight.

There's plenty of time to think.

Relax. Sit down here. Rock.

- Hey, Rocky.

- Any extra change, Rocky?

Can I have your autograph for my sister?

Rocky, how do you feel?

Hey, hey, hey, what are you kids doing

out in the street, huh?

Why aren't you at home where

you belong or in a playground?

- You looking for trouble?

- We was only waiting for you.

Go on home or some place where

there's a playground before I flatten you.

Come on, beat it. Come on, all of you,

beat it. Out of the street.

Hi, darling.

Rocky, I want you to meet

two friends of mine.

Lou, Willie, meet Rocky Graziano.

Lou and Willie just come back

from a little trip.

They was up around Minneapolis

and St. Paul...

...where they get 6-1 on Shank

with the books up there...

...and they go for

quite a little bit of action.

They figure when I tell them something

is in the satchel...

...I know what I'm talking about.

The bets are down, Rocky.

Don't go winning no fight now...

...and wind up with a bundle of

very bad newspaper clippings.

Come here, kid.

Let's see them.

Funny, they look just like any other pair

of ordinary dukes to me.

Go tell that to the crowd hanging

from the rafters downstairs...

...waiting to see these ordinary dukes

knock some ordinary bum's brains out.

Lou Stillman says you're the world's

most popular Italian...

...with the possible exception of

Michelangelo and Frank Sinatra.

- Where's Irving?

- Downstairs.

Go get him,

we gotta call off the fight.

What's the matter?

l...

It's my back. Yeah, that's what it is.

I must have pulled a muscle or something

and it hurts me when I throw the right.

- Let me see.

- Look, I told you I hurt myself.

We gotta call off the fight.

Go get Irving.

Sure. Sure.

We're back two days,

already I'm losing my tan.

Easy come, easy go.

- Mr. Graziano?

- Yeah.

D.A.'s office. They want to talk to you

down there. Just talk, that's all.

What about?

They just need some information.

Look, anybody wants tickets

to the Zale fight...

...let them call me up. I'm in the book.

Why don't you come along,

Mr. Graziano?

- I'll be right back.

- Are you sure?

Don't worry about a thing.

I don't know. I'm telling you,

I don't know.

Now, look, Rocky.

You have an opportunity...

...to do boxing and the community

a real service.

Just tell us who approached you

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