The Pope of Greenwich Village Page #6

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talk to him. Get him back inside.

F***ing shut up! Paulie, come out here!

Come out here. Come out here.

- Paulie, get the f*** out here!

- Charlie! Charlie, the cops!

I wanna know what the f***

is going on right now, you tell me.

You're not telling me something.

I wanna know now.

I ain't holding back nothing!

- Charlie, what the f*** are you doing?

- Shut up! You tell me right now.

I ain't holding back nothing. I swear.

I wanna know. I want answers.

You talk to me.

I wanna know what's going on.

- I ain't holding back nothing. I swear.

- Paulie, Don't you lie to me.

- I swear.

- You swear on your kid brother, Vito.

Say "Vito should get stomach cancer

if I'm lying to Charlie." Say that.

That ain't fair, Charlie,

Vito got nothing to do...

Say it. Say it. "Vito should get slow

stomach cancer if I'm lying to Charlie."

Jesus Christ, Barney...

- Tell me right now.

- Vito should...

Jesus Christ,

you don't leave a guy no room.

Tell me. Tell me.

I didn't wanna bother you

with every last detail.

There are things

I can take care of, you know.

Like what? Huh? Like what?

Like about Eddie Grant.

Like what?

You know, Bed Bug Eddie.

What about Bed Bug Eddie?

What's the use

of kidding ourselves, Charlie?

That's his trucking company.

Paulie, what's wrong with you?

I don't...

- What is wrong with you?

- What's the matter?

What is wrong with you? Huh?

What is wrong with you?

What's the matter with a score

like we made tonight, man?!

You been living

with that WASP girl too long.

I don't wanna tell you

things to worry you, man.

I brought you guys together, man.

Kid who tipped you, what was his name?

Frankie Wheels.

He's from the neighborhood.

Frankie Wheels

is gonna know you did it too, Paulie.

Charlie, I wormed it out of him, man.

Bed Bug Eddie,

whoever hung that name on him

sure knew what the hell

he was talking about.

The Bed Bug's got a thing

about hacking people up.

What do you mean, hack up?

Look, we got one shot here.

We don't spend a nickel. Capisce?

Well, we don't have to be crazy

about this either, you know?

100 bucks here for a couple of suits...

Paulie, we don't spend a nickel,

all right?

Not a f***ing penny.

You understand me? Not a penny.

Okay, not a penny. Sh*t.

Just talking about

a couple of suits, you know?

Nickel-and-dime stuff, man.

- Nothing major.

- Hey, not a f***ing penny.

You understand me?

We don't spend...

we don't spend a penny.

Not a f***ing dime.

Ain't he charming? The f***ing idiot.

You all right, honey?

Yeah, everything's fine. Go back

to bed. I'll be there in a minute.

You woke her.

Charlie, relax, man.

I mean, God forbid, things really

go sour, I could reach out for us.

- To who?

- Pete.

Uncle Pete would bail us out, man.

He's my goombah and, Charlie,

I still call him Uncle.

And he's on Eddie Grant's crew, man.

You can't do sh*t, Paulie.

Aw, Charlie.

Charlie, I never knew nothing

about no payoff to cops, I swear.

I never knew nothing, man. But

what I said would be there was there.

If I'd left it up to you,

we'd have gone out and robbed

that candy store over there, man.

Hey, there comes a time

you got to cowboy it, Charlucc'.

Yeah.

I got five grand for anybody

who brings me these thieves.

I want that all over the street.

- Five?

- That's right!

Where do we stand with the cops, Eddie?

Let those Irish hard-ons

take care of themselves.

I want those guys.

They found him at the bottom

of an elevator shaft.

I got the call just

as I was leaving the house.

Jesus, that means the Internal Affairs

shoo-flies will be poking around.

Brace yourself for worse news, John.

Ritter was wired.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

They found the adhesive marks

and the microphone.

I've worked 27 years putting together

a little something

for myself and the family.

There's 27 years hoarding in there.

Stinking inflation eating it up

just as fast as I could fill it.

Ease up, John.

I'm drinking what I always have.

You're drinking three martinis

in place of lunch every day.

Then chewing up a whole

raw onion like it was an apple.

You look like a neon sign

for Gordon's gin.

Can I offer you a drink?

We're on duty.

Hey! Excuse me.

You on duty, too?

Yeah.

Just a few questions, Mrs. Ritter.

Did Bunky act peculiar

the last few months or so?

Different?

What the hell has that got to do

with some thief

pushing him down the elevator shaft?

He was wearing a tape recorder,

Mrs. Ritter.

Do you know anything about that?

How the hell would I know?

You're the policeman.

Did Bunky have a girlfriend?

Who were some of his friends?

No one.

He went to church a lot.

Sacred Heart.

Most of his free time he spent there.

He must have had some friends.

It's important that we locate any tapes

that Bunky may have had.

Yeah, I bet it's important.

I bet it's very important

to the two of yous.

The Internal Affairs people

were here hours ago.

Two college-educated little pricks.

Acted like they was

born and bred in Ohio.

I'm gonna tell you what I told them.

Walter neither drank nor gambled.

He disapproved of the lottery.

His spare time was spent making novenas

over at the Sacred Heart.

Did they dig around in his room?

I wouldn't let 'em.

Well, we're going to have to.

It's important.

Now, uh... which room is Bunky's?

You are not poking around

in Walter's room.

We're going through this place, madam.

You obstruct me and I'll personally see

that you never see a cent

of his pension.

Get out. Get outta here,

the two of yous.

After you're gone, I'm gonna tear this

place upside down like a cyclone hit it.

I'm gonna call The Daily News

to do a story on how

the New York City Police Department

treats the mother of a hero.

My brother's a priest.

He is an old-fashioned

parish priest with gray hair.

The two of us could do a scene

on the 6:
00 news

would have this city in tears.

My Walter was as tough as a bar of iron,

and he didn't get that from his father.

Now, you wanna fight, officer?

Or do you get the hell out of my house?

Seven, eight! And one, two, three, four.

One, two, three, four,

five, six, seven, eight!

To the side, two, three, four!

To the side, two, three, four!

Shoulders.

One, two, three, four! Reverse!

- What are you doing here?

- I have to talk to you.

Three, four, keep going.

Tina, can you take over for me

for a minute, please?

They're trying out for a commercial.

We got a lot of work to do.

Diane, I have to talk to you.

Come on, Diane.

Five, six, seven, eight, and one...

What are you doing here, Paulie?

Thinking of joining?

Maybe. Very possible. Looks nice.

Seven, eight, and smile!

Paulie, give me a break.

Seven and one, two, three,

four, five, six, seven, eight, and hold!

Oka, gang, shake it out

a little bit, loosen up,

and we'll start from the beginning.

How could you have

put me in this, Charlie? Huh?

I'm not... you're not in this.

A policeman died, Charlie.

Do you know what I'm saying?

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