The Subject Was Roses Page #3

That's still no answer.

No, I am not loaded.

How much do you have?

What?

How much money do you have?

What is this, your idea of a joke?

I don't want to take any money

from you if you can't afford it.

I can afford it.

Some places I applied at are expensive.

I can afford it.

You must be loaded.

I am not loaded!

You have a summer home, a car.

Now you're telling me you can

afford any school in the country.

You must be fairly loaded.

If I hear that word once more,

I'll march out the door.

You haven't changed a bit.

A:

I really had you going.

Yeah. Some joke.

Say, pop.

What is it?

How much do you have?

Enough's enough, now!

And I think we better change the subject.

How did you meet mother?

You said change the subject.

You know all about that.

Just that you picked her up on a subway.

It wasn't like that.

Now you see, I don't know all about it.

"Pick her up" makes it sound cheap.

I'm sorry.

The first time I spoke to her

was on the subway,

but there's more to it.

Tell me.

Why?

I might become a writer

and want to do a story about it someday.

A writer?

Maybe...

The first I heard about that.

Me, too.

Must be the beer.

One evening, I happened to

be leaving same time she did.

Turned out we took the same subway.

To make a long story short,

I got the seat next to her,

and we started talking.

That's it?

That's it.

Sounds like an ordinary pickup to me.

Well, it wasn't.

I left some things out.

Such as?

I don't remember.

That was 25 years ago.

I heard you followed her for a month

before you got nerve enough to speak.

I thought you didn't know the story?

To convince her your

intentions were honorable,

you asked to call at her home.

True or false?

True.

And you'll never believe

how nervous I was.

And she didn't make it any easier.

Pretended the whole thing

was a complete surprise.

Bernhardt couldn't have done it nicer.

Or looked nicer.

She was all in blue...

blue dress, blue hat, blue shoes.

Everything blue.

Light blue.

And dignified.

One look at her,

and you knew she was a lady.

That's what my family called her...

"the lady."

To their minds, it was an insult.

Hey, not so fast.

And keep your eyes on the road.

Anybody home?

Still at her mother's.

I better put these in water.

Stand another beer?

Sure.

Maybe we shouldn't.

Why?

Your mother blames me for

your getting sick last night.

Says I encourage you to drink too much.

It wasn't what I drank.

It was the excitement.

That's what I told her.

I'll open two more.

O.k.

Her father used to send

her roses every birthday...

a dozen red ones.

Never missed, even at the end.

Tell her they were your idea.

Tell her the roses were your idea.

Why?

She'd get a kick out of it.

All right?

All right, if you like.

Here you go.

You call it this time.

To the two nicest fellas in the house.

I'll buy that.

Well, join the party.

How was the lake?

Still there.

I finally got the lowdown

on how you and pop first met.

He asked me.

His version is a little

different than yours.

What do you mean?

Well, he says you chased him.

That'll be the day.

Says you did everything

but stand on your head

to attract his attention.

How about a beer?

No, thanks.

Come on.

Be a sport.

Just a glass.

That-a girl.

What did he tell you?

He said that you were dressed in blue...

And that nobody ever looked nicer.

I'll bet.

Didn't you say that?

I'm a stranger here.

Did he tell you

about how he used

his friend Eddie Barnes?

Bless us and save us.

Every night, they'd get on the subway,

stand right in front of me,

and have a loud conversation

about how well

they were doing in business.

It wasn't every night.

Poor Eddie. Went

an hour out of his way.

That's what I call a friend.

Best I ever had.

Well, here you go.

Here's your beer.

Where did they come from?

Pop got them.

For you.

You did?

Yeah.

They're beautiful.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

What made you think of it?

We just happened to pass a place.

I know you like them.

I haven't had red roses since papa died.

I'm going to cry.

You don't bring them flowers, they cry.

You do, they cry.

I'm sorry.

What's to be sorry?

Here. Here's

what you need.

Maybe so.

To happy days.

To happy days.

Happy days.

They're just beautiful.

Speaking of Eddie Barnes,

god rest his soul,

it reminds me of the time he took us

to that place in Connecticut.

Big, fat red-headed dame ran it.

Mrs. Hanlon.

Yeah. "My friends

all call me Daisy."

I dubbed her the will

Rogers of Connecticut.

She never met a man she didn't like.

Remember the night

you, Eddie, and a couple of others

picked her up, bed and all,

and left her sleeping

in the middle of the baseball field?

We went to play in the morning,

she was still there.

What did you do?

Any ball hitting her on the fly

was a ground-rule double.

We had a lot of fun at that place.

I wonder if it's still there.

Let's take a ride someday and see.

All right.

Where you going?

I have to cook supper.

Forget it.

We're eating out.

Where would you like to go, champ?

Maybe he has a date.

Well bring her along.

I don't have a date.

I thought you'd be

seeing that Davis girl.

It's finished.

She was a nice girl.

She was a dunce.

John.

Pop's right.

You men are terrible.

You're too kind.

Come on.

Where will we go?

You settle it while I

see a man about a dog.

Had a nice time today.

So did I.

We talked about things...

Really talked.

The way Eddie and I used to.

The hell with eating around here.

Let's go downtown.

You are in a good mood.

Because I want to go downtown?

That and the roses.

Are you going to talk about

those roses all night?

I just wanted to thank you for them.

You already have.

You sound as though

you're sorry you got them.

Don't be ridiculous.

Then what are you angry about?

I'm just tired of hearing about them.

Guy gets some roses... big deal.

You're embarrassed.

I am not.

You did something nice,

and you're embarrassed.

You don't know what you're talking about.

Don't worry.

I won't tell anyone.

Nettie, please.

All right.

But I just want to let you know

how much I appreciate it.

Good. I'm glad.

I do.

I really do.

Do we have reservations?

I don't think we can get in anywhere

on a Saturday night.

What did you decide?

We're going downtown.

Well, digga, digga, doo!

Hit some high spots and some low ones.

Sounds like our night to howl.

That's what it is.

Aroo!

You call that a howl?

Aroo!

Aroo!

Where do we go from here?

I know just the place.

No cover. No minimum.

It's called home.

No. One more spot

we have to hit.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I see a very dear friend of mine

and a faithful patron

in our audience this evening.

With your encouragement, folks,

I'm sure Mr. John Cleary

can be persuaded

to come up here and do a number

that he performed

for the crown heads of Europe.

No. I don't

want to.

No, no.

Come on, John!

All right.

Come on.

Come on up and sing.

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