The Iceman Cometh Page #2

"Take a bath!"

Jees, look!

He's killed

a half pint or more!

Leave him be,

the poor devil.

(belches)

A half pint of

that dynamite in one swig

will fix him for a while,

if it doesn't kill him.

All right by me,

it ain't my booze.

Who-whose booze?

Give me some!

Where's Hickey?

What time is it,

Rocky?

Getting near time

to open up.

Time you begun

to sweep up in the bar.

Never mind the time.

If Hickey ain't come,

it's time Joe

went to sleep again.

Hey...

I got a idea!

Say, Larry,

what about

that young guy, Parritt?

Come look you up last night

and rented a room.

He's upstairs asleep.

No hope there, Joe,

he's broke.

Me and Rocky

know different.

He had a roll when he

paid you his room rent.

Didn't he, Rocky?

Yeah, he flashed it

like he forgot

and then

tried to hide it quick.

He did, did he?

Yeah.

I figured

he don't belong,

but he said he was

a friend of yours.

He's a liar!

Ah, it's true, his...

his mother and I

were friends

a few years ago

on the coast.

Did you read in the papers

about that

bombing on the coast

where a few people

were killed?

Well, the one woman

they pinched,

Rosa Parritt,

is his mother.

They'll be coming up

for trial soon,

they haven't got a chance.

She'll get life.

I'm telling you all this

so you'll know why,

if Don acts a bit queer

and not jump on him.

He's her only kid.

Why ain't he out there

stickin' by her?

Must be a good reason.

I get it.

Then what kind of a sap is he

to hang on to his right name?

I'm telling you,

I don't know.

And I don't want to know!

The hell with the Movement

and everybody

connected with it.

(laughing)

If there's one thing

more than another

I can't stand

it's the sucker game

you and Hugo calls

"Movement."

Reminds me of

a damn full argument

me and Mose Porter

had the other night.

He's drunk

and I'm drunker,

and he says,

"Socialists and anarchists,

we ought to shoot 'em dead."

I-I said:

"Hold on, hold on."

"You talk as if

the socialists"

"and anarchists

was the same thing."

"Anarchist..."

"never works."

"He drinks,

he never buys,"

and if you do ever

get a nickel,

"he blows it on bombs,

"but he wouldn't

give you nothin'.

"So you can go ahead

and shoot him.

"But, uh, socialists...

"sometimes he gets a job.

"If he gives 10 bucks,

"he's bound

by his religion

"to split it with ya

50-50.

"So you don't shoot

no socialist

"while I'm around.

"Of course,

if they broke,

then they're no-good,

bastards, too."

(giggling)

Be God, Joe!

You've got all

the beauty of human nature

and the practical wisdom

of the world

in that little parable.

(laughing)

Sure.

Larry ain't the only

wise guy in this dump.

Eh, Joe?

Here's your guy.

Hello, Larry.

Hello.

What's up?

Thought you'd be asleep.

I couldn't make it,

I, uh, thought I might see

if you were around.

Well...

sit down

and join the bums then.

The rules of the house

are that drinks may be served

at all hours.

Oh, I get you but, uh,

hell, I'm just about broke.

Oh, I know,

you guys saw...

You think I have a roll,

don't you?

Well, I'll show you

you're wrong.

You see?

They're all one's.

See, I've got to live on this

'till I get a job.

So you think I made

up a phony, don't you?

Well, why the hell

would I do that?

Where would I get

a roll anyway?

You don't get rich doin'

what I've been doin', ask Larry.

You're lucky in the Movement,

you get enough to eat.

What's the song

and dance about?

We ain't said nothin'.

Oh... Oh, I was just tryin'

to put you right.

Hey, I don't want you

to think I'm a tightwad.

I'll buy you a drink

if you want one.

"If?"

Man, if I don't want

a drink,

you call the morgue

and you tell them.

"Come take

Joe's body away,

'cause he sure look dead."

Now gimme the bottle,

quick, Rocky,

before he changes

his mind.

I'll take a cigar

when I go in the bar.

What are you havin'?

Oh, nothin',

I'm on the wagon.

What's the damage?

15 cents.

That must be some booze.

It's cyanide

cut with carbolic acid,

to give it a mellow flavor.

Here's luck.

I guess I'll get back

in the bar

and catch

a couple of winks

before opening up time.

One-drink guy.

No hope till

Harry's birthday party,

unless Hickey

shows up.

If Hickey

do come later,

you wake me up

if you have to bat me

with a chair.

(laughing)

Who's Hickey?

A hardware drummer.

He's an old friend

of Harry Hope's

and all the gang.

He's a grand guy.

Comes here twice

a year regularly

on a periodical drunk,

and blows in

all his dough.

He doesn't run into anyone

he knows in his business here.

Oh, yes, that's what

I want, too, Larry.

But like I told you

last night,

I gotta stay undercover.

You did a lot of hinting,

but you didn't

tell me anything.

Well, you can guess,

can't you?

So what kind

of joint is this, anyway?

This?

This is

"No Chance Saloon,".

"Bedrock Bar,."

"End of The Line Caf,."

"The Bottom of the Sea

Rathskeller."

Don't you notice

the beautiful calm

in the atmosphere?

That's because

this is the last harbor.

No one here has to worry about

where they're going next,

'cause they can

go no further.

Although even here

they keep up

the appearance of life

with a few harmless

pipe dreams

about their yesterdays

and tomorrows.

What's your

pipe dream, Larry?

Oh, I'm the exception...

I haven't any left,

thank God.

Don't complain

about this place,

you couldn't find a better

for lying low.

Oh, I'm glad of that.

I got, uh,

knocked off base

by that business

in the coast.

Since then it's been no fun

dodging around the country

thinking every guy you see

might be a dick.

You're safe here,

cops ignore this dump.

(sighs)

They think it's

as harmless as a graveyard.

And be God, you know,

they're right.

And it's been lonely as hell.

Christ, I'm glad

I found you, Larry.

You know, I kept,

I kept saying to myself:

If I can just find Larry,

he's the one guy in the world

who can understand.

"Understand" what?

All I've been through.

Oh...

Oh, now you're thinking,

"This guy has a hell of a nerve.

I haven't seen him

since he was a kid."

Well, I've never

forgotten you, Larry.

You're the one

friend of mother's

who ever paid any

attention to me.

I remember you used

to ask me questions,

you took what I said

seriously?

I guess I got the feeling

in the years you lived with us,

you'd sort-of, you know,

taken the place of my old man.

I don't suppose

you remember it.

Ah, I remember it

very well.

You were a lonely,

serious little shaver then.

Why didn't they

pick you up

when they got your mother

and the rest?

Oh, I wasn't around.

And, as soon as

I heard the news,

I went under cover.

You've noticed

my glad rags here,

well, I will stake to them

as a disguise,

and then I, you know,

hung around gambling joints

and pool halls,

and hooker shops.

Places where they wouldn't

look for a Wobblie.

By pretending I was a...

a sport.

Anyway, they picked up

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