Where God Left His Shoes Page #3

and sleeping in a dirty shelter

on a cold floor for three months.

Imagine that.

I understand, I understand...

- No, but are you imagining that for me?

Yes, I understand your position.

Many of the tenants who live here

were in your shoes at one time or another,

but like I said, there's nothing I can do.

Right.

Nothing you can do.

You know, let me ask you something.

How many of those tenants

that were in my shoes

went into the Gulf War

and fought for this country?

- How many of them, huh?

- Excuse me?

It's a simple question.

How many of them went and fought?

I went and joined up

and fought for this country

when I was 18 years old, okay?

And you're telling me that it's okay

for me to risk my life,

risk my life for your family, but you

don't have to put anything on the line

- for me and my family.

- It's not like that.

Yeah. Yeah, it is like that.

It's just like that.

Wait, wait, uh. Come back, please.

Do you get a check

from the government each month?

I don't get anything.

I don't get a dime. I don't get nothing.

Look, I leave the office at 6 tonight.

If you can find a job by then,

the apartment's yours.

That's the best I can do.

Otherwise, and I'm sorry,

but I'll have to call

the next person on the list.

- Thank you. I know what you're doing.

- Here.

- Thank you so much.

- Mm-hm.

So, what happened in there?

So we didn't get it?

No, we didn't get it, Einstein.

Not yet, anyway.

- Where we going now?

- To get a job.

Why?

Why? Because I need a job

to get an apartment, that's why.

Why didn't you tell her you already

have a job, make something up?

- And when she finds out I lied?

- We'll already have the keys.

We'll get thrown out of

another apartment. Great.

No. But why can't you just...?

No, you could...

- Actually, you could just tell her...

- Guy, you're not making sense.

- Shut up.

- Don't tell me to shut up. You shut up.

I'm just trying to help.

- Know how you can help?

- How?

By shutting up.

MAN:

Stand clear of the closing door.

Oh, man.

I'm hungry.

Well, you should have ate

at the shelter.

Can we eat

when we get off the train?

No, no, no, all the money

I got is for the apartment.

Should have went with Mom.

Yeah, you should have.

Who lives here?

Just mind your business and

don't embarrass me, all right?

- How you doing?

- What are you doing here?

- I told you I got no work today.

- I know, I know,

and I'm sorry to bother you,

but I need to talk to your father.

- About what?

- It's about...

Hello, Mr. Montecello,

how are you?

- How you doing?

- I'm sorry to bother you.

I know it's Christmas Eve

and whatnot,

but I got something very important

to talk to you about, if you got a minute.

We're a little busy right now.

Yeah, I realize this,

but this is really important.

- Come on, it's cold. Let him in, come on.

Thank you, thank you.

You're just gonna leave me out here?

Go over there and play with the kids.

- Play ball, make friends.

- Why can't I...?

It's freezing though. I'm cold.

What's this about

that you gotta come bother us today?

Yeah, well, this isn't easy to say,

but, uh, me and my family,

we're living in a shelter.

- What are you, homeless?

- Just about.

You hungry or something?

- Dad, give him a few meatballs and:

- That's okay, I didn't come here for food.

- I didn't come here for handouts.

- Come on, have a bite. Have a bite.

I'm fine. Thank you very much,

but I'm fine.

Come on, my wife made 200 of them.

Have a bite.

You know, it's an insult to turn down

an Italian woman's cooking.

MoNTECELLo:
Come on.

- I don't wanna be insulting anybody, right?

MoNTECELLo:
It's good.

- Sure, sure.

Be good for you. Have a bite.

- Wow. That's great stuff.

The best.

- You want more?

- No, I'm great. It hit the spot. Thank you.

Look, I know you guys are very busy,

and I don't wanna take up your time,

but the reason I'm here is, uh,

I'm a boxer.

And I was up for this big fight,

and I got taken off the card.

I knew I recognized you.

You're the guy that got his ass kicked

by Rodriguez

back at the Garden,

like two months ago.

- I lost the fight, yeah.

- You threw in the towel.

I saw it on ESPN.

You'd have had a shot if you didn't quit.

Hit him with a couple good punches.

You still would have got your head beat in,

but you would have had a shot, at least.

- As I was saying, um...

- How can we help you?

Well, that's why I'm here, sir.

In order for me to qualify

for this apartment,

we need somebody to tell the people

who are running the building, um,

that I work for you guys on the books.

- But you don't work for us on the books.

I know.

- You want us to lie?

- No, I'm not asking you to lie.

I'm not asking you that.

I just need proof of employment

so I can get my family out of this shelter,

and all I need is a W-2 form

or a paystub, anything like that.

- We can't do that. No way.

My family will be very appreciative.

I'll work it off. I'll work weekends,

I'll come here whenever you guys need it,

- whenever. Holidays, I don't care.

- No can do.

Come on, vinny. It's Christmastime.

The guy's down on his luck.

Let's give him a break.

Maybe we could do something with this.

We can't do it.

We're not hiring anyone on the books,

and we for sh*t sure

ain't lying to the government.

Forget it.

We'll lose our license. What happens

to us when we lose our license? Huh?

- For this?

- All right.

Look, I'm sorry.

My son runs the business.

If there was something we could do,

believe me, Frank, we'd do it.

Thank you, sir, thank you.

Merry Christmas. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for your time.

- Thanks for leaving me out in the cold.

- You're welcome.

I wasn't really thanking you.

Now where are we going now?

- In the city.

- Can we get something to eat?

Yeah, we will, in a little while, okay?

What's that red stuff on your mouth?

What red stuff?

What are you talking about?

The red stuff on the side of your mouth.

Did you eat something

while you were in there?

I bet you didn't know that it's an insult

to turn down Italian cooking, know that?

You suck, you know that?

You really suck.

I can't believe...

I can't believe you ate something in there.

Hey! Hey, stop right there.

Hey, I said stop. Stop right there.

Yo, I said stop.

Police. Stop right there.

Stop. Police!

I said stop!

Stop.

What's the matter? What's the matter?

Come on. Get on my back, quick.

All right, let me see, let me see.

Okay, okay. All right.

- Oh, man.

- All right. Can you bend it back?

Can you? All right, so you didn't break it,

you just sprained it.

Look, I'm gonna have to tie this up

really tight, all right?

- To cut off the swelling. I got to, man.

- No, leave it. Leave it.

All right, see?

Hey, what happened to your hand?

- When I fell, I cut myself.

- Oh, Jesus Christ. Let me see it.

Look, we'll clean it up

when we get into the city, all right?

All right, stick your hand out.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes