Somebody Up There Likes Me Page #9

I mean, not a word

all the way back from the theater.

He just looks at me in the mirror

and not a word.

What did you expect him to say?

I mean, it wouldn't have killed

him to say good luck, Rocky...

...or drop dead or something.

He just looks.

Maybe he didn't know who you were.

Well, then what was he staring for?

He was probably wondering

who does your hair.

- You hear what she said?

- Yes.

- What's the idea?

- I would've give her a shot.

- That certainly would have helped.

- Hello.

- Hi, Mommy.

A fine babysitter you are. Hi.

Who taught her how to cheat at casino?

She beat me for $3.

Who do you think? Wait till you see

how good she takes a dive...

...in a game of jacks.

Come, darling, kiss Uncle Irving

good night, huh?

- Good night, cards and spades.

- Good night, Uncle Irving.

- Say good night to Daddy. Good night.

- Good night, Daddy.

- Yeah, good night.

- I'll tuck you in in a few minutes.

- So how was the movie tonight, Rocky?

- Tell him what that dame said.

- Tell him what I had to listen to.

- What's the difference what she said?

Maybe there are people who are never

gonna forget who you were.

Maybe it's the only way they have of

getting any pleasure out of life.

Doesn't mean you have to dance

when they look at you sideways.

- Now, wait...

- Wait a minute, Norma.

That isn't why we brought you along,

to make Rocky worse.

- She didn't mean it, kid.

- I meant every word of it.

He has got a past, you know,

and it's time he learned to live with it.

It's time you and I

stop looking the other way...

...every time he gets mad at the world

for the trouble he gets into.

It was Rocky who broke a regulation,

not the commissioner...

...not the district attorney.

To listen to him, you'd think he was

just an innocent bystander.

Please, Norma, I thought

you were gonna help.

- I thought you wanted Rocky to win.

- All right.

But what about all the fights

after that one?

What about the years after

he has to give up fighting?

- But, Norma...

- I'm his wife, not his manager.

I'm gonna be living with him long after

you stopped worrying...

...about his weight and his footwork...

...and whether or not

he's getting enough sleep.

Rocky.

Rocky.

- Rocky.

- Yeah, yeah, I know.

What am I doing here?

I'm supposed to be in Chicago.

Mix a black and white.

Don't ask questions.

Sure, sure, Rocky.

The trouble with the phone book

is you always know...

...how it's going to come

out in the end:
Z ybysky.

Frankie Peppo, please.

Well, when he comes back,

tell him to call...

You got a pencil?

Yeah, Bowling Green, 39970.

Yeah, tell him to ask for Rocky.

Tell him...

Tell him...

...if he still wants to talk...

...I'm willing to listen.

Yeah.

You don't know how good

it is to have you around, Rocky.

Oh, yeah, yeah, come on.

Many of the old 10th Street gang

are gone.

Fidel killed in a holdup.

Sammy doing 30 years.

And Shorty the Greek broke his spine...

...driving a getaway car.

- Put more seltzer in this.

Sure, sure, sure, Rocky, sure.

And Frenchy they put away for life.

Remember little Frenchy?

And Lou Parisi...

...he got the chair, you know.

And so did Tony

and Willy Esposito. Yep.

It gets so quiet in here some nights,

you can hear the ice cream melt.

You can make it a lot more quiet

if you force yourself.

A prison cell is quieter.

A grave has no sound at all.

But I'm just a two-cent seltzer schlepper.

What do I know? Nothing.

Only that the whole world is not

so different from my candy store.

Someone comes in, sits down

at the fountain, asks for a soda.

I give him a soda. He drinks the soda.

I give him a check.

He's got to pay for it.

It's the same out there.

He who wants a soda must be willing

to pay the check.

You do something wrong, Rocky,

you got to pay the check.

It's a very simple truth, yet some

men find it difficult to understand.

They get angry

when time for payment comes.

"Who me?" they cry.

"For what?" For the soda.

That's for what, Rocky.

Never ask for a soda unless you are

prepared to pay the check.

- Rocky.

- lf a guy calls...

...tell him I'll call him back.

- Where are you going, Rock?

Rocky. Hey, Rocky.

Hey, Romolo.

What happened to you?

I ain't feeling so sharp,

it's a temporary condition.

You okay, Rocky?

Been worried about you.

- Hey, what's the matter? You hot?

- It's a temporary condition.

Got big plans, Rocky.

Going into business for myself.

Gonna buy me a flower stand.

You wanna...? You wanna invest?

Oh, yeah, how much?

- A hundred.

- What? A flower stand for 100 bucks?

There's this warehouse

over on Avenue A...

...with an old grandpop

of a night watchman.

With a C-note I figure

I can buy me a heater...

...pay some slob to point it at

the old guy while I make a score inside.

- Then I'll have enough to get the stand.

- You gotta get off this kick.

- You're gonna wind up with a bullet.

- What are you talking?

It ain't worth it.

Don't you understand?

You can't make

any real dough selling flowers.

So who's gonna sell flowers?

That's just a front, Rocky.

I'm gonna have the prettiest...

...the sweetest- smelling bookie joint

in the East Side.

- All I need is a heater...

- I don't wanna lose you...

...you're gonna get killed

if you don't wise up and turn a leaf...

...you pathetic little jerk.

- What's the use?

Look at you. You tried it, didn't you?

They wouldn't let you

get away with it.

We ain't got a chance,

guys like us, do we?

Do we, Rocky?

Here.

Get in there. You no-good

little greaseball.

Come on.

I saw the light from downstairs,

and I figured maybe somebody's still up.

Your mother's at the seashore.

So how you been?

I mean, you look tired.

Why don't you ask me

how I've been, huh?

Why don't you ask me

what I'm doing here?

Come to see your mother.

She's not here now.

You don't ask nothing.

You never ask nothing.

You just tell things. Why don't

you ask me, like, " How's Norma?

How's...?" What am I doing here in

New York when I got a fight in Chicago?

If you don't like it,

why don't you get out?

Get out of here. Get out.

That's all you can do is talk tough,

but you ain't so tough.

You wasn't tough enough to take the

decision to hang up the gloves and quit.

And you been fighting that one in your

head ever since, haven't you?

Yeah, and you still ain't won it.

And you never will.

Because it's all over for you, no matter

how much booze you take.

But it ain't over for me.

I got a wife. I got a kid.

I got a home in Ocean Parkway.

And I'm fighting Tony Zale

for the championship of the world.

I ain't gonna be decisioned

out of nothing, especially by you.

Come on.

Hey, don't cry, will you?

Look, Pa, I was just talking.

You don't have

to take everything I say.

Look, I ain't so tough.

You wanna hit me?

Come on, hit me, will you?

Look, Pa, I was just talking.

I mean, look, you couldn't help

yourself none.

You had nothing but bad breaks.

Me, I been lucky.

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