The Gambler Page #2

You hear?

What's the matter? Handsome kid

like you can't find no girls?

You haven't missed a beat.

Okay, buddy, this is it.

You'll find him inside.

Yeah.

How will I know it's him?

Don't worry.

Bernie will know you.

- "Alex" Freed?

- That's close enough.

Sit down.

What do you want? Some clams?

They'll fix you some clams.

Jerry, bring over two dozen

littlenecks. What are you drinking?

- Nothing.

- Good.

You should put some weight on you.

You're too skinny.

Yeah.

- How much does that school pay you?

- Fifteen hundred.

- A week?

- A month.

What else you got?

Who's lending, who's borrowing?

- You got any collateral?

- Collateral?

- Automobile, jewelry?

- What is this, Chase Manhattan?

You don't seem to comprehend

the situation.

You have to pay three percent

a week every week.

I know what I have to do.

- Where are you gonna get it?

- I'll get it.

You will, huh?

How much you want?

Twenty thousand.

- Hysterical.

- Did you tell that to the Monkey?

I didn't really mention a figure.

- You should've.

- Yes, I should've.

I would've if he'd told me

he was sending me to a clerk.

Hey, fella.

Hey, come here, you!

Hey, buddy!

- Hey, it's me.

- So what?

So what your ass.

What are you tryin' to do?

Chase away the whole neighborhood?

- F*** 'em.

- I gotta use your phone.

- Go ahead.

- Do me a favor. Turn that lower.

Hey, listen. I tried

to call your office before.

Hello? This is Hips. What the f***

are you tryin' to pull?

Yeah? Well, I wouldn't count

on that if I was you.

You could get the marines

and the Arab guerrillas...

and 20 n*ggers with chains and

they could all be protectin' you...

and I'd still kick your f***in'

face in if I ain't paid tomorrow.

Yeah?

I'll come throw lye in your eyes.

I'll boil your lungs in oil.

You dirty, lowdown stool pigeon,

motherfuckin' degenerate dog!

Die!

What is that Italian?

What? It don't mean nothin'.

But anything that sounds Italian

scares the sh*t out of them.

That's pretty good.

No, it ain't. You don't got

to flatter me, Axel.

Anybody reads Shakespeare,

he ain't impressed by match tricks.

- To the contrary.

- "To the contrary"!

I love the way you talk. Nobody

uses expressions the way you do.

Would you like something to eat?

Little yogurt or something?

I didn't come to eat.

How much you got for me?

Nothing today.

Tomorrow.

You know what's standing between

your skull and a baseball bat?

My word.

I told my people you're legitimate,

so for now they ain't too crazy.

But that could change tonight.

What is this? You never gave me

this sh*t before, Hips.

You never been in this trouble.

Let me tell you somethin'.

It's bullshit when they say

that a man which owe 50,000...

is in the same doghouse

with a man which owe 15.

I have to finish getting dressed.

I'll get it for you, all right?

I hope you're not gettin' it by

bettin' with some other bookmaker.

I'll get it!

You let me worry about how!

I'll see youse.

Rebecca has a little present

for you.

Silver cuff links!

How lovely!

- My darling boy.

- Happy birthday, Gramp.

I see you're wearing

your favorite tie.

Well, I take my style

from the master.

Let there be silence.

Silence.

My grandson, the distinguished

professor of literature...

and future author

of immortal books...

has requested your attention.

We are living in an age...

that subverts the breeding

of men like A.R. Lowenthal.

Hear, hear.

In Lithuania,

when he was 13...

he stuck a knife in the back

of a Cossack pig...

who had knocked his mother

to the ground.

At 15, he prowled New York

as a bandit...

until he had the cash to feed

a family of five.

At 20, he opened

a furniture store.

Which he built into two,

then fifteen...

then fifty, then a hundred.

Until finally he had the largest

chain America had ever seen.

But no matter where he went...

or what he did...

he always found a place for every

person bound to him by blood.

Your families and

your families' families...

to say nothing of his own children,

my Uncle Hy here...

my dear mother Naomi...

whose rare intelligence

he nurtured...

and to whom he gave

an extra measure of support...

when she was widowed early

by my father's death.

But I'm the one

most deeply in his debt.

Because every time I think

my reach has stretched too far...

I remember the moves

that he has dared.

So...

I drink this toast

on his 80th birthday.

This man that seized what he wanted

with nothing there to back him up...

but wit and balls...

and will.

This killer, this king.

Beautiful!

"I drink to the general joy...

of the whole table."

Shakespeare.

Are you out of trouble

or are you just playing a game?

- I'm dancing with you.

- Don't take that tone with me!

I'm not playing any games.

Do you still need the money?

- Truthfully?

- Truthfully.

I don't know whether

to believe you or not anymore.

Look at my grandson and my daughter

cavorting around like Gypsies.

Hy, go on, dance.

You can dance. Go ahead, dance.

- Any objections if I cut in?

- In a minute, Hy.

That's all right. Go ahead.

I'll take you swimming later.

Thank you.

Hy, be careful with all

that weight you're carrying.

The water's warmer than the air.

Thanks.

That feels good.

- How's that?

- Oh, it's nice.

What's that?

It's what I owe.

How is that possible?

Well, I gambled and I lost.

You gambled and you lost.

Is that all you have to say?

$44,000?

Are you so naive,

you don't know...

what those monsters do

with the money you give them?

They shoot it right in the arms

of ten-year-old schoolchildren.

I see them every day

at the clinic.

My God, Axel!

Have I been such a failure...

that I've raised a son

to have the morals of a snail?

You gonna help me or not?

Axel, what will they do to you?

Axel, I asked you a question.

What will those people do to you?

For ten thousand,

they break your arms.

For 20, your legs.

For 50, you get a whole new face.

- Axel, what will they do?

- I don't know.

Threaten me. Kill me.

Five thousand, fifteen thousand,

twenty-five thousand.

May I have an envelope, please?

You know you're responsible

if you don't count it.

Yes, I know.

Here, here, here.

Can you help me, please?

Let me call you back.

Bye.

You have identification?

- Do you have anything else?

- What for? What's wrong with that?

This is $ 15,000

you want to withdraw.

I know how much it is.

Will you give me your okay, please?

I'm sorry. You need

two pieces of identification.

Listen. I'm a doctor.

I have patients waiting to see me.

Are you going to help me

or do I have to see the manager?

The manager will tell you, you need

two pieces of identification.

Yes? You said you were having

dinner at your parents' house.

- What do you think you're doing?

- Look.

This lady is trying to be polite,

and you're taking advantage of her.

- Give her the money that's hers.

- I must see proof that...

Look.

I came out of her womb...

and I am telling you

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