The Young Savages Page #4

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about emotional problems or environment,

or broken homes.

A little mass execution now and then,

- that'll stop them.

- Nothing else has.

Look, Doctor, I came here to ask

a couple of questions about these boys.

I've already talked with

Reardon and Aposto.

They're old pros.

Those two have been through the mill here

regularly since they were 10 or 11.

- Di Pace been in here before?

- No. This is his first.

Tell me something about him.

He's bright.

IQ 135.

Likes to read.

Of course, the psychological tests show

aggression and fear, just like the others.

What about Reardon?

Delusions of grandeur.

Deep feeling of inferiority.

Hates anybody whose skin or religion

is different.

Underneath, scared of course.

But scared more than the others.

Is Aposto as stupid as he seems?

Retarded.

Very.

As a psychiatrist,

would you say he's legally sane?

Now you know that the words sane and

insane have no meaning in medicine?

- They have in law.

- I deal in people, Mr. Bell.

Not in legal technicalities.

Where is Di Pace?

- In the juvenile section.

- Thank you.

And, by the way,

I hope you'll forgive my bad manners.

It's a conditioned reflex

with public officials, I'm afraid.

Think nothing of it, Doctor.

We all have our emotional problems.

Sit down.

- Cigarette?

- Ram it.

I'd like to hear your side

of the story, Danny.

So you can help fry me?

Do I look like a kook?

Did my lawyers give you an okay

to talk to me?

They know I'm here.

They must have told you

you're in serious trouble.

They told me I'm innocent

till proven guilty.

You'll get a fair trial,

if that's what you mean.

But not in a children's court,

a grown-up murder trial.

You better tell me your story.

Okay.

In two words, self-defense.

Danny, that's stupid and you know it.

And you're stupid to stick to it.

Tough and a half. So, I'm stupid.

And a little scared, too?

Nobody scares me,

especially a bum like you.

Don't get fresh with me, Danny.

I'm here because

I'm a friend of your mother's.

Don't con me, Mr. Bell.

Bell. Your name's Bellini,

and you're a wop just like me.

What's the matter, Mr. Bellini?

You ashamed of being a wop?

Let me tell you something,

Mr. Bellini.

Don't walk down any dark streets alone.

You haven't got the guts to handle a

skinny broad, much less the Thunderbirds.

You look kind of fruity to me anyway.

And, stay away from my mother,

you fake wop!

Excuse me. I'm looking for Zorro.

Go away, don't bother me. Vamos, Seor.

Mr. Bell, what brings you to my turf?

- I'd like to talk with Louisa Escalante.

- Why?

She was there the day it happened.

I'd like to talk with her.

A few minutes.

Come on, I'll buy you a beer.

- They think I'm a C-man, huh?

- Why do you think so?

You know, this white shirt, the suit.

You know Harlem, huh?

I used to live here.

They think I'm a cop and they

don't wanna be around

if there's gonna be a pinch.

You know, this place is all right.

A guy gets pinched, he like throws

stuff away. Might land at your feet.

Next thing you know,

you're arrested for holding.

Or maybe even for intent to sell.

Let's have two beers, Miguel.

Good beer here. You'll like it.

So, you're working for Roberto?

Well, that's one way of putting it.

The birds ain't got a chance,

or have they?

I think we've got a very good case.

Yeah? My man, you give it to them good.

The others are bad, but they are the worst.

You don't like them, do you, any of them?

Well, man, put yourself in my shoes.

The n*ggers look down on us.

The wops look down on us.

The Irish were here before the Indians.

Man, my people are a proud race.

Puerto Rico ain't no African jungle.

And the wops,

what the hell did they ever have?

Mussolini, a big stink.

Michelangelo, so what?

You ever heard of a guy named Picasso?

- Yes.

- Now Pablo Picasso, man,

I went all the way down to the

museum to look at his paintings.

Now, that cat is great.

He's the greatest artist that

ever lived, man. He sings.

And you know...

That's the delivery kid

that don't wanna pay.

You know, Picasso, he's got the same

blood in his veins that I got in mine.

And you know the first

fiddle at the Minsk hall?

Puerto Rican. Come on.

That a contribution to your war chest?

Look, we got three square blocks here.

Like this is our island, little Puerto Rico.

You know what I mean, Mr. Bell?

And we are busting to get out.

But while we here,

we gotta protect our turf.

People gotta respect it.

And, you know what people respect.

Force.

Here, our contribution

to your favorite charity.

You know that that ain't the point.

It ain't the money.

We just can't let people come in and out

of here without knowing whose place it is.

- Like the Thunderbirds?

- Yeah, like the Thunderbirds.

Look what happened to poor Roberto.

Poor, innocent, blind kid

who never did anyone no wrong.

Tell me something.

Thunderbirds know you protect your turf.

How do you explain three of them

coming down here and invading it?

The Thunderbirds are all on junk,

that's why.

They're dope addicts, you know.

That's right.

Those boys weren't on junk.

You're right.

They weren't on junk, not then anyway.

But it's that Reardon.

- What about the other two?

- Aposto?

Man, that cat does anything

anybody tells him.

And Di Pace?

He's a wild one.

You know, he helped one of our guys

out of trouble once.

Now why would a wop wanna help a spic?

No. It's that Reardon.

He's got holes in his head.

I put one of them there.

When I smacked that chump, he went

down and I stomp him in the head.

- You know why?

- So he wouldn't get up again.

If he did, you might go down

and he'd stomp you.

You sound like you've

been stomped before.

A touch here and there.

Man, this popping is for no one, man.

It's for writing on toilet walls.

It stinks, man, it stinks.

That's what this popping is.

Well, the old lady won't let her

baby come down to this place.

So, you can talk to her at her house. Okay?

What do I owe you, bartender?

- The beer's on me.

- Let me.

I said the beer's on me.

Thanks.

Mrs. Escalante.

I'd like to talk with your daughter.

You can talk to her right here.

Louisa, I'd like to ask you,

just what happened the

night Roberto was killed?

I told the cops many times.

I know, but I...

I'd like you to tell me.

I was sitting here.

Maria was there.

We saw them coming.

They jumped for Roberto and

started killing him, that's all.

Did Roberto have a knife?

A knife?

Your policeman keep asking for this knife.

And why? It is not true.

Roberto never have a knife.

Three boys said he pulled a knife.

This is a lie.

A girl saw it, too.

That is not so. Who is this girl?

Louisa, can you tell me something?

This girl said she saw

something that glittered.

What was it that glittered?

- Glitter?

- Shine.

His harmonica.

The harmonica on which

he plays his music.

This is what shined.

This is what you mean.

Ladies and gentlemen,

meet our next governor,

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