The Pope of Greenwich Village Page #9

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instead of busted suitcases, you know?

Starry Hope. Ba-boom.

See "TR"? That means "trainer."

- No kidding?

- Yeah.

See where it says "F"?

"F," that means "filly."

They call girl horses fillies.

And if you see a "G," Charlie,

that means "gelding."

That's when they whack

the horse's dick off.

- Ba-boom, it's a memory, man.

- The balls, the balls.

- The balls. The dick, man.

- No, they whack the balls.

They whack the balls off.

They don't whack the dick off.

Yeah, okay.

Look at that pile of garbage

she's up against, man.

There'll be a flock of seagulls

following 'em around the track, man.

- What's going on with you today?

- What?

You're acting really, uh... nervous.

I'm excited, man. We're gonna

win money here today, Charlie.

I feel it in my bones, man.

How do you wanna go?

How do you wanna bet her?

- What do you mean, man?

- What do you want to do?

Wanna go straight across the board?

Jesus Christ, Charlie, don't jinx her

with place and show bets.

For once in your life,

don't hedge, okay?

You got a chance to win here today,

Charlie, play to win.

Hey, Paulie, sometimes if you play it

a little safe, it don't hurt.

Charlie, think like a winner, okay?

That's what it takes to bounce back,

and I should know, no?

Johnny Black, rocks, man.

What you having, man?

- The usual.

- J&B over here.

Starry Hope.

Post position four. That's okay.

Let's see. Okay, look here.

They tell you the color the jockey

wears, you know,

so you can tell one horse from another.

Okay, let's see. Orange, pink yuk.

- Pink what?

- Yuk.

What the f*** is a yuk?

It's the thing that goes

around their neck.

Hey, stupid, that's a yoke.

- Yeah.

- A pink yoke.

Yeah, pink blocks on sleeves.

Orange cap with pink pompom and visser.

Can you believe that get-up?

What's a visser?

A visser, it's the thing

on the front of the cap.

See, you always do this.

That's a visor. That's a yoke.

That's a visor.

You say "visser" and "yuk."

You get everything f***ed up.

You better bet on the right horse.

I'm not worried

about how to say the words.

I'm worried

about how the jock's gonna look.

The Cheese Man has him looking like

some fag partying at Fire Island, man.

Paulie, why don't you

forget about the colors?

Is this horse gonna win here today?

Are we gonna make some money?

Is she gonna win? Is she gonna win?

He asks me "Is she gonna win?"

Charlie, you laughed

when I told you about the champion gene,

but she got it, man.

The champion gene?

The groom who jerked her father off...

was not just winding his watch, okay?

Salut', Charlucc'.

You're a strange man, you know that?

You're gonna be kissing me

at the finish line.

You're a very strange man,

Paulie Gibonni.

Salut', Sambrini.

Easy, baby.

In you go. In there. That's it.

Whoa. Attaboy.

Come on already. Come on already.

They're all in line.

Moving out to get the lead, Persian Rug.

Come on, Starry Hope.

Come on, Starry Hope.

- Starry Hope moves up on the inside...

- Where is she?

Down the back stretch...

There goes Starry Hope now

to get the lead.

Starry Hope. Starry Hope.

Starry Hope. Starry Hope.

All right! Go, Starry Hope!

Go, Starry Hope. Starry Hope.

Hemmings Way moves up quickly

between horses

Starry Hope. Starry Hope. Starry Hope.

Watch, Paulie. Watch.

Come on, baby. Paulie, watch!

Hope, Hope, Hope...

Starry Hope, Starry Hope...

It's Starry Hope on the outside...

Go, Starry. Starry Hope.

- Tell me she won, Charlie.

- This result is not official.

Charlie, tell me she won, Charlie.

Tell me she won, man.

- Tell me she won, Charlie.

- It's a photo.

Our Father who art in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

thy kingdom come, thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Starry f***ing Hope. Please, God.

Please, please, please.

Please, God, please, please God.

What do you wanna do?

You wanna go somewhere?

Wanna go have a drink, huh?

- I wanna go to Miami.

- You wanna go to Miami?

Yeah. It's warm there, Charlie.

Sit down over here.

I gotta go take a leak.

- You gotta take a leak?

- Sit down here, I gotta take a leak.

- Okay, hurry.

- All right.

- Just stay there.

- Okay, but hurry up.

Stay there.

Damn. Sh*t.

By a nose, man.

By a f***ing nose.

Hey, you know,

she ran her heart out though, no?

What are you gonna do?

Be nice to get a photo of that finish.

We could blow it up, poster size.

Yeah. I don't need no pictures.

Hey, Paulie, money comes, and it goes.

Things are gonna work out.

You just gotta take 'em

how they come, you know?

You gotta be a... good sport about it.

- Got a dollar?

- You need 50 cents.

Here.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

You didn't tip him.

Poor son of a b*tch

stands in a booth all day long.

F*** him. What am I? Santa Claus?

F*** him? Hey, Paulie,

let me tell you something.

Don't worry about it

'cause when you connect,

you're gonna connect to big bucks.

Me, I only connected

with a lousy 20 grand.

Charlie.

I knew you kept some of Barney's money.

I knew you weren't no dummy.

No, baby, I, uh... bet

Starry Hope across the board.

That's why she lost!

You jinxed her, Charlie!

You jinxed her, man.

Hey, Charlie, that's a hydrant.

We can't park here.

Hey, please, give me a break.

What do you want me to do,

drive round the block?

It's a $25 ticket, Charlie.

Hey, Paulie, thank God it's here.

It's worth every cent.

Hey, man, this is crazy.

We ought to be on our way

to Miami right this second.

It's warm there, Charlie.

Let's have one drink, huh?

- Okay, one drink.

- Yeah.

- One.

- Yeah.

Absolutely.

I'll have a Remy, soda back.

- I'll have the same, Tony.

- Things could be worse, huh?

Yeah.

Things could be worse.

I mean, I got the restaurant after all.

To the restaurant.

Salut', Charlucc'.

Okay, that's our one drink.

Let's go, Charlie.

Whoa, Paulie, what is the hurry?

Can we stay here, have a drink

and relax a little bit? Huh? Huh?

Yeah.

By the way, I didn't ask, uh...

- How's your pop doing?

- Oh, good. Good, yeah.

Good? Oh, hey.

He's doing good.

He'll be all right.

Charlie, there's something

I gotta tell you.

I'm really sorry about

this whole mess, you know?

Hey, Paulie. Hey.

Don't worry about it, all right?

Okay? Things are gonna work out.

I mean, aside from Diane leaving and...

you know, what happened to your hand.

It's gonna be all right.

Hey, ci andiamo, huh?

Forever. Absolutely.

Okay, that's it, Charlie. Let's go, man.

Put your money away. I got it.

Anthony.

Keep it.

Can we please take a walk

for a minute, Charlie?

What for?

There's something I gotta tell you, man.

So tell me here.

Barney.

Something funny must have gone down

up there in the Bronx, you know?

Uh, those... those cops

who grabbed Barney, you know?

Uh, they must have

made a deal or something, Charlie.

Where you going?

Where the f*** are you going?

Talk to me. What are you talking about?

The Bed Bug knows about you, Charlie.

What?

You f***ing little... you f***ing rat!

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