18 Shades of Dust (1999) - full transcript

Adios, give me 10
bucks for Louis here.

$10?

$10, what's wrong
with that, $10?

That's a lot of freaking
money for three cups of coffee.

What do you want from me?

The guy is from
Boston, you know?

Hey, Louis, tell Tommy
Cucci to hurry up.

We got a job.

Hey, and, Louis, tell him nice.

We don't want to
piss off the prince.

You know what I'm saying?



So Tommy's old man is away?

-Yeah.
-Where?

He's in Marion.

Jesus, how long?

Two 20s, consecutive.

So they wanted Mr.
Tommy Cucci, Sr.?

Yeah, they wanted him bad.

The freaking guy does
Jackie Brancato a favor,

then Jackie has him set up.

My people don't know Jackie.

You're not related.

Same last name is all, all
my Brancatos were smart enough

to settle in Boston.

Your Brancatos?



What's the story with
Tommy, ain't got no juice now

that the old man is away?

I don't know what he's got.

I know that we're sitting
here waiting for him.

He ain't sitting in
here waiting for us.

They make 'em?

No, not yet.

Well, are they going to?

What am I, a
freaking librarian?

I'm just asking.

Penucci said Lamb
would give him a shot.

Don't call him Lamb.

Everybody in Boston
calls him Lamb.

Yeah, well, you
ain't in Boston.

Down here, we call
him Mr. Joseph.

Mr. Joseph?

Sounds like a
freaking hair dresser.

The only hair
dressing he's gonna

do for you, Matty, is
gonna put a new part

in that freaking rug of yours.

This ain't no rug.

Yeah, right, and I
ain't freaking handsome.

This ain't no rug.
It's a weave.

It's a what?

A weave, they got these
girls in Thailand that grow

their hair down to the ankles.

They sell it to the
hair club for men guy,

and he attaches it to the head.

So it's plugs?

It's not plugs.

It's a freaking weave.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I've been reading
the book you gave me.

Which one?

You know, the one
about the painter.

Monet?

No, not that one, the-- the
other guy, the one that painted

all those women in doors.

Vermer?

Vermeer, that's one of
the ones Jackie loaned me.

They didn't know
much about him.

Who, Jackie?

He works at the museum.

Not him, the other
guy, the painter,

Vermeer-- all those
paintings he did,

nobody knows anything about him.

Yeah, the guy is a
mystery, all right.

Yeah, you men like that.

What's that?

You know, being
mysterious, right?

Here he comes.

What the heck's he doing?
Come on.

We ain't got all
freaking day here.

Hey, Jimmy the Pope,
what in the heck's up?

Tommy Cucci, Matty Horse
Brancato from Boston.

Hey, Boston, uh, Massachusetts,
hey, I've been there.

I had to lay off some money
one time for some animals down

in Southy.

Yeah, remember his name?

Nah, it was one
of those schools,

one of those fag schools.

Are you talking about BU?

BU, BO, what the
heck's the difference?

Boston sucks anyway, right?

So, Tommy, I'm sorry to hear
about your old man, you know?

Oh, yeah, what are
you sorry about?

I mean, what's it got
to do with you, huh?

It ain't got nothing
to do with me.

Yeah, then why are you sorry?

Tommy, he says he's sorry.

It's a figure of
speech, for Pete sakes.

Oh, yeah?

Well, so is freak you, Jimmy.

That's a figure of speech, too.

Hey, you can drop that.

Hey, Tommy, you don't
say that to a made guy,

even if he is from Boston.

That's right, you fool.

I don't give a
freak who you are.

I didn't come down here
to be freaking insulted.

What did you come
down here for then,

huh, get yourself a better wig?

Go screw yourself.

I'll blow your
mother-freaking head off.

Will you look at this
big mess, will ya?

So what do we do
now, Matty, huh?

Now come on, Matty Horse.

Me and you, we freaking
break each others' bones,

but we're all
right, right, Matty?

I don't give a freak.

You hear me?

I'll blow your
mother-freaking head off.

Matty, I gotta
deliver this kid to Mr.

Joseph in a couple hours.

If that don't freaking
happen, it's on my head.

This kid has got to
freaking apologize to me,

or this gun don't freaking move.

Now you let me
take care of this,

and you'll get the
freaking apology you want.

I promise you.

Now put the freaking gun away.

Put the freaking gun away.

Put it away, Matty.

I said, put it away.

Get the hell out of my
car, the both of youse.

Sorry about that, Matty, his
freaking old man, you know.

Yeah, Jimmy, get out
of the freaking car.

Hey, Matty, your hair,
it looks pretty good.

I mean--

Jimmy, get your face
out of my freaking car.

Macaroni is good,
the sauce, I mean.

I was thinking, though,
maybe, uh, maybe you

could add a little more salt.

I don't know.

You need salt. I'll
get you some salt.

Yeah, maybe-- you know, no.

On second thought, no,
no need, it's fine.

Wine is good, though.

-What do you mean, though?
-What?

I'm sorry.

You know, like, when
you say, the wine

is good, though, it's
like you're saying

something else isn't so good.

Did I say that?

Yeah, you said it.

You said, the
wine's good, though.

And I'm wondering, though, what?

Well, sometimes I like,
um, you know, to have

a little ice cube in mine.

Ice cube in what?

In my wine, where did
you think I wanted it?

I don't know.

If you want some ice,
I'll get you some ice.

No, no, no, you're fine.

You know, I just wanted
a little taste, anyways.

I don't want Father Scapali
thinking I'm drinking, right?

Hey, you never told me
what you thought of him.

I didn't?

Remember when you took me
over there the other week?

You said, someday, I'm
gonna tell you what I think

of that guy, but you never did.

What do I know about priests?

I haven't been down
to church since I

made my first communion.

But you were baptized.

I guess.

It's nothing I remember.

Oh, no, you were.

I'm sure.

How are you sure?

Well, because, you know,
you-- you're a good person.

I am?

Yeah, I think you are.

You are to me.

You know, you help me
with stuff and everything.

So you're saying you've
got to be baptized

before you can be good?

Yeah, pretty much, yeah.

That don't make much sense.

Why not?

Well, take for
instance Steinberg.

Right, she used to come by every
night to make sure you were OK.

You thought she
was a good person.

Now you gotta figure
she wasn't baptized.

The way I figure
it, Jewish people

don't have to be baptized
because Jesus was Jewish.

John the Baptist was
Jewish, so I figure,

you know, they got baptized
enough for the whole, you know,

race.

That's nuts, Marilyn.

Well, maybe it's nuts to you.

That's the way I see it.

What about Mr. Hwang, the
guy from the laundry store?

Now he's always helping
you carry your laundry

upstairs and stuff.

Oh, by the way,
did you remember

to pick up the laundry today?

I picked it up.

I put it away this afternoon.

OK, so what about Mr. Hwang?

He wasn't baptized,
and he ain't Jewish.

But he's a nice man.

Mr. Hwang was not baptized,
but he can still be a nice man.

He just can't be saved.

How can you say this stuff?

You asked me, so
I'm telling you.

Mr. Hwang can come back next
time as another person, see?

That's why the Asians
believe in reincarnation,

because this is the best they
got going this time around.

Does that Father
Scapali fill your head

with all this nonsense?

No, Father Scapali is too
damn happy for his own good.

He thinks everybody goes
to heaven, no matter what.

No matter what?

No matter what.

What about a guy who
robs and steals and stuff?

Goes to heaven, according
to Father Scapali.

What about a guy who
does even worse stuff?

Heaven, according
to Father Scapali.

-So do you think so, too?
-Me?

Of course not, I'm not crazy.

That's just Father Scapali's
crazy take on everything,

and even he don't say it
when the bishop is around.

-Who is the bishop?
-The bishop?

He's Father Scapali's boss.

Who's the bishop's boss?

The cardinal.

And what does he think?

Oh, he thinks what
the pope thinks.

And what does the pope think?

He thinks what God thinks.

Yeah?

Yeah, what?

So what does God think?

Frankly, Vincent, I think that
is something you're gonna have

to figure out for yourself.

It's good macaroni.

What time do you
have to be at work?

Father Scapali likes us at
the shelter before midnight,

but most women of the
women are down before then.

But he likes someone
at the phones.

I've got to meet this guy.

Who?

What guy?

Father what's-his-name, the
everybody goes to heaven guy.

Yeah, well, he's
there every night.

You could meet him.
He wants to meet you anyway.

He said that?

When?

He said it.

He said it when you came
to pick me up that time.

Remember?

He said, I'd like
to meet that guy.

Hey, V.

-How you doing, Tommy?
-I'm all right.

You know, what can I say?

Yeah, what can you say?

V, do you know this guy named
Matty Brancato from Boston?

They call him Matty the Horse.

No, I mean, I heard
his name is all.

What's the matter?

Is this guy a problem to you?

Yeah, Brancato,
that's the problem.

Well, you say he's from Boston.

There's a lot of
people from Boston.

Same name don't mean nothing.

Yeah.

Unless you're talking about
you and your old man, of course.

Now that last name
means something.

-Yeah.
-How's he doing?

Oh, you know, he's got
his health and everything,

but he can't stand
being locked up.

You know?

I don't know what
happened there.

I mean, yeah, Jackie
Brancato set him up, but--

But what, V?

Tommy, nothing is easy.

Nothing is what it really is.

Do you know what I'm saying?

Yeah, listen.

I gotta go down to the club
tonight to see Mr. Joseph.

Yeah, I figured.

When you get time for
something, though,

just remember what I told you.

In this life we got here,
nothing is what it seems to be.

-Yeah, nothing's nothing, right?
-What do you think?

Are they gonna make you?

Yeah, I guess so.

Do you want that?

Yeah, of course, I want that.

Why wouldn't I want it?

Because maybe it ain't all
what it's supposed to be.

Looks like it's done
all right by you.

Tommy, it's like this.

Who is your best friend?

I ain't got no best friend.

All right, let's say--
let's say you did, all right?

And let's say Mr.
Joseph says, Tommy, I

want you to go out there
and kill your best friend.

But I don't have a best friend.

You've got no choice.

I mean, if Mr. Joseph says,
kill your best friend,

and you're not made,
you can say no.

But if you're made,
you got no choice.

They'll make you do it
just to make a point.

What point is that?

That they can.

They own you, Tommy.

You're theirs.

Well, like I said, it
ain't done you any harm, V.

I'm only saying is all.

Look, I've gotta
get going, you know?

Tommy, tell your old man, OK?

What do you want
me to tell him?

I was thinking of him, OK?

That's all.

Take care, V.

VINCENT (VOICEOVER): Tommy,
Sr., used to say to me,

think of it this way, Vincent.

You're walking down the street
and you turn to the right.

And whatever's
waiting for you there,

that's your life, Vincent.

And there's no sense worrying
about what would have been

or could have been if you'd
taken the left because that's

not to your life.

That's just a lot of noise
taking up room in your hand.

And now Tommy, Sr., don't
turn anyway no more.

He's just sitting
in a cell someplace.

And because he's sitting
there, my life has taken a turn

I didn't want it to take.

Nobody fools with me,
this guys says, nobody.

So I say to Jimmy,
Jimmy, what about this?

And he says, the guy comes
from Boston, somewhere.

His name was, um--

Freaking Manny the Horse,
he wants to whack this kid.

He wants to freaking
break his head,

and he don't give a damn,
if that's what you mean.

This guy is serious.

I mean, he means it.

I said, you know, he don't
give $0.02 about his father,

whether he's a wise
guy, a made guy.

He's gonna freaking teach
this kid some respect.

Can you believe this stuff?

You know, Tommy, he's
gonna freaking whack him.

So I say to Jimmy, Jimmy, this
is somebody who means business.

And he says, don't
worry about it.

I've got everything
under control.

I said, he don't give a
damn who his father is.

He knows this guy is
a made guy, and he's

still gonna freaking whack him.

Ready?

Let me tell you,
V. Let me tell you.

I grew up in this, uh,
neighborhood, right here.

My old man, he was
a bowling ball.

My brother was a
freaking animal.

And me, I'm the skinny kid.

And my mother says, where
did we get you from?

Petey, hold up a second.

I gotta ask you.

I mean, maybe you can help
me with something here.

Where did we get you
from, as if she don't know,

like I'm gonna be able
to freaking tell her

where did she get me from.

Where the hell did she
think she got me from?

-Petey.
-So I eat.

I freaking eat, and I don't
have no natural appetite,

let me tell you.

But I figure, hey, I'm not gonna
be no pussy freaking willow,

you know?

And one day, I'm
reading this comic,

'cause I love the
freaking comics.

And there's this one.

It's called Metal Men, right?

Petey, Petey, hey,
I gotta talk to you.

I'm reading this
thing, and on the back,

there's this Charles
Atlas ad for turn yourself

into one of these muscle guys.

So I figure, hey, this is it.

You know, I turn myself into
one of these big freaks.

No bully is ever gonna
fool with me, right,

because I am sick of
getting my head kicked

every time I go to school.

Yeah, so, uh, I figured
I'd send away for it.

I end up with these muscles
making back split out

like a freaking cobra's head.

Do you know what I'm saying?

Petey, please, I
want to talk to you.

So I ask my brother, John.
I ask him.

I say, hey, John, loan me
$3.95 so I can send away

for this Charles Atlas stuff.

My brother says, that Charles
Atlas stuff is for fags, Petey.

That's for big freaking uptown
Johnny Marine type fags.

And he starts
slapping me around,

and he throws me
against the wall.

And I fall, like, between the
wall and where the bed is.

This freaking gun drops out
from under his mattress.

So I pick up the gun, and
I say, this ends here,

just like that, because
now I got the power

to say what I want to say.

My brother says, put
down the gun, Petey.

And I say, what gun?
This gun here?

I mean, just like that,
acting cool and ice, you know?

And I said, first thing,
Johnny, you're gonna

stop telling me what to do.

I said, because I'm sick of you
always telling me what to do.

And he's beginning to back
off a bit because he's

never seen me like this.

I mean, not in his own
freaking room or anything.

And I can feel it, V.
I was standing there.

I'm holding that thing,
playing with Johnny's head.

And I aimed the thing right
for his freaking forehead,

right between his eyes.

So what did you do?

Did you shoot him?
-I don't know.

The gun jammed, or it
wasn't loaded, or something.

It don't matter.

How the hell don't it matter?

It don't matter.

I learned what I had to learn.

I didn't have to shoot
my freaking brother

to learn anymore.

All right, so you didn't shoot.

He's my freaking brother,
for crying out loud.

Petey, Petey, I'm not
sleeping these days.

I mean, every night, like,
I sleep an hour, two hours,

then I'm up, walking the floor.

It's like my stomach, you know?

I love Cutty.

You drink Cutty?

Yeah, I like Cutty.

Sometimes I drink Cutty.

Sometimes I drink Dewar's.

Most of the time I
don't give a crap.

I thought you drank rum.

Yeah, when I was
a kid, but not now.

What about when you're working?

What are you ask
me, when I work?

You know about when you work.

You know about when I work.

I don't drink when I work.

I drink after I work.

Yeah, well, I
don't drink either.

Most of the time, I don't drink.

Sometimes I do, if it's easy,
if it's a freaking cookbook sort

of-- what the-- freak frig me.

What are you freaking
asking me, huh?

What, because I
popped some freaking

guy, the wrong freaking
guy, and I had to go

pop his freaking wife and kids?

Is that what you
want to know about?

Is that what you're asking
me about, because I wrote

the wrong freaking number down?

Well, frig me.

That's the freaking price of
doing business in this town.

Petey, do you believe in God?

What the-- what are you, crazy?

Asking me a question like that,
what's the matter with you?

Well, do you?

OK, you want to know?

You really want to know?

Yeah, I want to know.

Yeah, I believe in God.

I figure you go all
the way back there.

I mean, you go all the way
back to that big freaking bang

there.

I think God was sitting around,
getting wasted with his angels.

It was getting late, so he
said, it's time to go home.

Only he can't go home
because wherever he is,

he's already there, right?

So he tells his angels to
screw 'cause he's tired.

So he gets pissed.

And he takes this gun that
he invents right there

on the spot, and he goes, bang.
There you go.

You got your freaking universe.

He goes to sleep.

End of story.

Know what I mean?

You going?
-I got a job I gotta do.

Hey, V, do you know
how Charles Atlas died?

I don't know, old age?

No, his liver gave out.

No kidding?

I don't know, V. Sometimes
I just say, forget it.

I mean, as long as I can shoot
you, what's it matter, right?

VINCENT (VOICEOVER): I wonder
why they always put the morgue

in the basement,
as if they can't

wait to set dead
things underground,

even before they bury them.

Tommy, Sr., would have
never sent me to the morgue.

If I told him the job was
done, the job was done,

end of story, like
two professionals,

not this errand-boy bull.

Mr. Cucci would say, yes,
Vincent, that problem

you wanted taken care of.

And he'd say, thank you,
Vincent, simple as that,

quiet-like.

[MAN TALKING ANGRILY]

So why did I put
that down, hmm?

Why did I put that down then?

Because that's
what I am, damn it.

Look, hey, what do you mean,
who gave me that title?

I gave me that title.

Well, you know, Oxford
gave me that title but--

Do you have any idea who the
heck you're talking to, huh?

Well, why did I
put that down then?

Why did I put that down then?

Hey, what do you mean,
who gave me that title?

I gave me that title.

That-- that's not the point.
Look.

[TALKING ANGRILY]

Don't you know who I am?

What are you
gonna come back as?

[STARTLED GASP]

Now you gotta remember
Zandy is a freaking whale.

He's the original Moby
Dick, this freaking guy.

[ARGUING]

Do you know how
to freaking read?

Shut up.

Connie, no more
playing around now.

If I say we split
the baby in two,

we split the freaking
baby in two, end of story.

This is our thing now,
and sometimes it takes

a baby to make a mother scream.

He means, make a mother's
mother scream maybe.

What was that?

What are you guys
saying over there?

How you doing, Mr. Joseph?

Go sit down, Tommy.

Sometimes my consolior, he
likes to argue history with me.

Do you like history, Tommy?

Yeah, well, I read
some in school,

you know, Germans, World
War II, that kind of stuff.

I'm talking about
real history, Tommy,

like Roman history,
your history.

I'm a little too young to
have a history, Mr. Joseph.

What do you mean, too young?

There's your family's history,
your father, his family.

You know, Tommy,
I've known every boss

of every family in New
York since Lucky Lou John.

I even knew Capone,
and I can say-- yeah,

I can say he was a thug.

He died in Florida
of syphilis, right?

He died of being a thug.

And some of these new
boys are no better

because they forget what this
thing, our thing, is all about.

Well, what's it
about, Mr. Joseph?

Your father knew, Tommy.

My father's not dead.

Don't interrupt me.

I said, your father knew.

He knew about respect.

He know about silence,
and he knew about loyalty.

Your father was a man, Tommy.

He still is.

And if scumbag Jackie Brancato
dragged him into his big mess

and set your father
up, those Brancatos

in New York, Connecticut, Rhode
Island, Boston, all of them,

no freaking good.

I'm going to take
care of this trouble

you had with Matty Brancato.

I know he's just a
pick from Boston,

but I got business with him now.

So you let me take care of it.

You already know
about that, huh?

I'm the boss of this
family, Tommy of course,

I know about that.

Well, my father told me that--

Your father is in a
cell in Marion, Tommy.

Were you wondering whether
an old man with oxygen

can be the boss?

My father still
alive, Mr. Joseph.

You know, Tommy,
I was made three

bosses ago by Don Vito hisself.

And it's because I respect
your father's memory--

because he is dead, Tommy.

He's never gonna leave Marion.
You know it.

I know it.
-You don't know that.

Nobody knows that.

But because I
respect history more,

I called you here tonight.

Did you know the
freaking FBI tried

to bug this freaking apartment?

You know, they try to
bug everything else.

And did you know
they almost did it

because some
mother-freaking rat talked?

What rat?

I'm talking about V Dianni.

V Dianni?

Mr. Joseph, V Dianni
is a stand-up guy.

There's no way he's a rat.

Is that right?

Then maybe you ask your
father in his cell in Marion

if no way V Dianni is a rat.

You go ask him
while he sits there

for the rest of
his freaking life

because of V Dianni the rat.

Are you saying that V
ratted out my old man?

I'm saying this.

I know a man, and he's a smart
man, very smart, very clever,

not a thug.

In fact, he wants to learn about
things like culture and art,

so every Friday night
he visits a museum

and his Russian drunk dogs tell
him about this useless crap.

Well, tonight I want you
to visit this museum.

A guard named Kylie
will let you in.

Once inside, you're
gonna find this man.

And then what, Mr. Joseph?

Well, the museum is a
very old building, Tommy,

and it's got a rat problem.

I want you to get rid
of the rat problem.

Anything you say, Mr. Joseph.

And about this Matty Brancato--

Hey, hey, you forget about
this Matty Brancato thing

because I got business with him.

You forget about that, OK?

And he looks like he's
gonna have a heart attack.

So I said, hey,
Zandy, take it easy.

Take it easy.

Do you want to die on me?

What are you gonna do?

He says, hey, Sammy,
how old is this girl?

I says, what are
you worried about?

She's in good shape.

She looks great, and she
does all this exotic dancing,

those things, eh, you know.

And, you know, Zandy ways
280 pounds, 300 pounds.

I mean, they gotta
weigh him on the scale.

That's it, Eddie,
back and forth-like.

You gotta get your
breathing right.

I breathe beautifully
when I don't

smoke my mind with this BS.

I don't know about it.

You've been smoking
them cancer sticks.

You gotta figure, you know,
that with that cough and all,

you got the big C
or something, huh?

What are you, a
general surgeon?

We're doing you a favor, there.

Uh, we don't want
to see you, you

know, uh, fall over and, uh--

Yeah, well-- oh,
look who we got

here, Vincent Dianni himself.

V, did you take care of that
problem at Saint Alfonso's?

What problem is that, Eddie?

You know what
freaking problem, V.

Yeah, I just got back.

I took care of it.

Is that scumbag,
Ianello still breathing?

Hmm-mm.

Cold?

Stone cold.

You're the best,
V. You are the best.

There's one other thing I
need you to do for me, V.

I was supposed to
give it to Benno, but,

uh, take a look at it.

I think I pigeon
kicked him in the head.

Tommy Cucci, he pissed
off this guy from Boston,

some guy, Matty the Horse.

He's some freaking idiot.

But Mr. Joseph is
doing business with him

and wants him to
go back to Boston

happy because he's doing
something else with him.

Matty the Horse Brancato?

You know him?

No, I, uh, I just
heard his name.

That's all.

Well, forget him.

He's a big mook, OK?

But Mr. Joseph, uh, wants
to give him this money, OK?

He wants to smooth his
feathers, all right?

You take care of that.

You save Tommy a lot
of embarrassment,

and you save Mr. Joseph
a pain in the neck.

But I don't know this guy.

Know this guy?

He's a guy, like any
other freaking guy.

OK, but I told you, Mr. Joseph
wants him to go back to Boston

happy.

Do you understand?

He don't want no
freaking problems

with these Boston animals.

So it's all in here?

Take care of it, Mr.
V. Take care of it.

You're the best.

You're the freaking best.

If Mr. Joseph says you're
the best, you're the best.

Come on, Eddie.

We figure you only did
two minutes over here.

Yeah, I know.
You figured too much.

Hey, Eddie, just where the hell
am I supposed to find this guy?

You freaking
ingrate, you freaking,

mother-freaking ingrate.

What do I have to do,
take you by the hand?

If I tell you to do
something, you freaking do it.

You don't come back here and
ask me stupid freaking questions

and piss me off.

Hey, Eddie, screw you.

Screw me?

Screw you, you mongoloid idiot.

Who do you think you're
talking to, you old retard?

What do you think, I'm blowing
smoke up your fat butt?

Where are you going, you
scumbag, you [ITALIAN]?

I make the wind blow.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

VINCENT (VOICEOVER):
They got everything

now, all kinds of computers.

Just push that first
button, Mr. Jones,

and you got your info
in, your info out.

Chunk in, chunk out,
just like humans--

we are what we download.

Hey.

Oh, buddy--

VINCENT (VOICEOVER):
So what do we got here?

Some kid and his
piece-of-trash girlfriend.

I'm talking to you.

Why don't you watch
where you're going, man?

You almost knocked me over.

Take it easy.
-Joe, come on.

Let's go.

Why don't you
answer my question

when I'm talking to you?

What's your problem?

Joey, what are you doing?

Oh, look, he's deaf.
Come on, honey.

Let's go.
-Deaf?

He ain't blind, though.
He can see.

VINCENT (VOICEOVER): Deaf?

Yeah, that's right,
deaf as a post.

I'll see him again, not
tonight, but sometime.

Breathe now, deep breaths, easy.

It's hard to swallow, though.

Once you're a pro, you can't
let yourself take the bait,

get into that amateur stuff.

Like a box, the
hands are registered.

Cops on the scene, dying to
find a bad guy, any bad guy.

Seagulls, I remember when
my father took me fishing

with my uncle north of Boston.

The old man wasn't used
to the boat, the waves.

He looked scared.

Then again, the old man
spent most of his life being

scared, like he was
always gonna tip something

over, scared somebody
would come along

and tell him to
go back to Naples.

Most people think it's
the fear of death.

The real fear is the fear
of not having enough.

People will die for that.

Ah, Mr. Dianni, a
pleasure to see you again,

it's been a long time.

May I show you to
your usual table?

No, not now, Anthony,
uh, I'm here on an errand.

You don't mind if I look around?

Oh, of course, it's
always a pleasure.

Thanks.

VINCENT (VOICEOVER):
Jesus, God, is this what we

look like when we're feeding?

Freaking Baggs, makes me the
mailman 'cause Tommy Cucci

pisses off Matty
the freaking Horse.

Here you go, Dianni.

Track him down and give
it to him, like they

don't have steak in Boston.

Now I gotta check every freaking
steak house in Manhattan.

Hey, V, V, my man,
how you dong, V?

Hey, there, Fast Eddie.

What have you been
doing with yourself?

Geez, I was talking
with Jimmy Pope.

He said you've been
feeling under the weather.

No, not really, uh, a
touch of the flu, maybe.

All right, right,
'cause you look good, V,

and we need you looking good.

I mean, the ladies here
need you looking good.

Ain't that right?

We don't want you girls
dropping dead on us, huh?

I think your friend is
looking just fine, Eddie.

Oh, you do, huh?

How about you, Angie?

Oh, yeah, I definitely do, too.

I bet, sweetheart.

Have you seen this,
uh, guy Matty Horse?

Matty who?

Who's that, V?

He's a guy from Boston.

Yeah, maybe, I don't know.

-Never mind, Eddie.
-Come on in.

Join us for dinner, huh?

Not tonight, I
gotta find this guy.

All right, take it easy, V.

Hello, Mr. Dianni.

Glad to see you.

How does it look
for an hour or so?

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

Vic, at least until
the meetings is over.

Have they been
hitting the bottle?

Certainly, Mr. Dianni.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

So how long do
you think I have?

I don't know, Mr. Dianni.

Here, why you
don't come with me?

I will make some tea, and
we can talk for a while.

And then we will see
about the gallery.

I can hear the rain, the
wind earlier, now the rain.

[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]

Russian proverb?

No, I just made it up.

You know, the last Russian
allowed to paint in Moscow,

Dropicha Vorkosmonov.

So much for the art of
the state, isn't it?

What's the matter
with you, Mr. Dianni?

You look troubled.

What can I say, Jackie?

Is it your job?

Americans invest too
much in their jobs

and just a little
in their lives.

Yeah, well, what
did that guy say?

This is the work we have chosen.

I said it was a movie, or the
man was a fool Please, come in.

The last few stragglers
have just left.

Now if we give McBronner time
to fall asleep and avoid Kylie--

You can hear that from here?

In Russia, we grew up listening
for every single footstep.

I bet.

You said, uh, your father
did time in Siberia?

He died in Siberia, so Stalin
could feel safe at night

when he was drunk.

And what about your
father, Mr. Dianni?

What about him?

Were you close to him?

[COUGHING]

Well?

I don't really like to
talk about my father.

And why is that?

OK, never mind, do you
remember that painting

by Jacques Louis David?

"The Death of Socrates?"

No, another one, one with
Brutus where they are bringing

bags of bodies of his sons.

Yeah, I do.

Sometimes, a society
will praise a man

who murders their children.

Yet only a totalitarian state
will praise the children

who murders their parents.

So you didn't answer me.

Is it your job, or is it
the woman, your lover?

That's good, Jackie.

My job or a woman, I like that.

If only it were that simple.

In this life, you
navigate between the two.

God forbid, we are
unhappy with boss.

And then our life fills
space between them.

How small is that space
for you, Mr. Dianni?

Sometimes, I think every
place I've ever lived just

seems like it's small.

Look at this place.

What are the
dimensions, 8-foot cube?

And still it's large enough.

Well, you're a lucky man.

Luck is bull.

There are only two forces in
the universe-- love and fear.

And I thought it
was love and hate.

Most Americans
made this mistake.

You can blame your
puritans for that.

So what have I got
to be afraid of?

I didn't say you
were, but fear is

the force that
make us small, tell

us there will never be enough.

And what does love do?

Love, it's made a
hovel like this large.

McBronner is asleep.

How long can I
stay, you figure?

I suggest half hour.

Kylie walks this
wing at midnight.

Another man came here tonight.

A friend of yours?

No, this man was looking
for you, Mr. Dianni.

Kylie let him in.

He was very nervous.

I think he's still
in the museum.

What did he look like?

He looked like you, Mr.
Dianni, just younger.

Like me?

All faces tied by fear
look alike, Mr. Dianni.

This is a Russian poem.
Never mind.

This is a very safe place.

I have to hear that poem.

Jackie, why did you
choose this painting?

Because you wouldn't have.

This is a painting
for the space between.

Between what?

Between the old
and the new, life,

death, the serpent and
the flood, fear and love,

do you remember?

This is the last painting
made before the world decided

to commit suicide, Mr. Dianni.

Jackie, what did you mean,
that part about the serpent

and the flood?

It's how the world survive
all of the time, Mr. Dianni,

making its way
between two of them.

Jesus, Jackie, where
do you get this stuff?

From this, Mr. Dianni.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Come on, Jackie.

Let's take care down here first.
-OK.

MAN'S VOICE: Tommy, Tommy,
Tommy, get out, Tommy.

Dad.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Hello, Mr. V. It's
nice to see you.

I might have to hold you down.

The girls are looking
fabulous tonight.

Mr. Cooz, how the hell
did you get this job?

An equal opportunity ball
buster, now what will it be,

the usual?

No, water.

You know, you had me going
in that freaking car there.

Yeah, well, you weren't going,
Jimmy, 'cause I wasn't going.

I swear to God, that
freaking Tommy Cucci,

he deserves a freaking--

Whoa, hey, settle down.

What's done is done.

Mr. Jo told Eddie Baggs to
take care of [INAUDIBLE].

Ain't V caught up with you yet?

V, what the hell is the V?

Can't the guy afford
a whole freaking name?

He's got some money
for you, Matty.

Money don't take
care of everything.

How long have the
boys been here?

Mr. Pope?

Just long enough for
a round from the bar.

Who's the other guy?

Oh, that guy's from Boston.

What's he talking about?

Tommy.

Tommy, he's a little
strange, that one.

Hey, his old man, you
know, it ain't easy.

I don't know.

I always thought he was
this big feeling fag.

Hey, nobody talks
to me the way he did.

He thinks that
you know how Jackie

Shoes turned on his old man.

Jackie Shoes Brancato,
Matty Horse Brancato,

same last freaking name.

Hey, you piece of garbage.

Hey, hey, take
it easy, hey, hey.

Hey, man.

Matty, Matty, it
was an accident.

Hey, take it easy.
Come on.

You having a bad day?

Hey, hey, hey,
hey, I'm sorry, man.

Take it easy.

Have some fun with
this freaking kid.

Take it easy.

I think I gotta ask him.

Hold on.

Wait.

Please, just settle down.

Something tells me
this is the best

place for you at the moment.

Take this $100.
Keep it.

What?

And go put it in one of
those pretty lady's garters

over there.
-Get out of here.

You're kidding me.

I'm not kidding you.

Hey, hey, hey, hey, are you
out of your freaking mind?

[PUNCHING]

Well, it appears
this place remains

an unsafe passage for you.

Yeah, no kidding, Mr. Cooz.

Would you, uh,
accept an invitation

to a safe place,
you know, a place

designed for things like this?

Show me the way.

-Give it to him.
-Come on, jerk.

Let's get out of here.

Where the hell are we going?

Hey, Cooz, where
the hell are we?

Cooz?

Don't you have a
flashlight or something?

I almost put my
eye out down here.

Where the freak is this place?

VINCENT (VOICEOVER):
What am I doing here?

Have I been here before?

It don't look familiar.

[OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING]

I hate you.
Do you hear me?

I hate you!

Get off me.

I hate him.
[GUNSHOT]

[MAN SCREAMING]

VINCENT (VOICEOVER): Easy
now, easy, breathe slowly.

Stay relaxed.

There's no problem, easy.

It's just your imagination.

Breathe easy.

What took you so long?

Just show me the
way out of here.

You ain't done yet.

I said, show me
the way out of here,

or I'll blow your
freaking brains out.

No, you won't.

You're done with that life.

What are you saying?

I'm saying, a
couple of memories

should have been enough for you.

Just tell me how to get
out of here, all right?

We don't want no trouble here.

That way.

That better be right.

It's right.

This time, you can go.

Next time, you stay.

What do you mean, next--

Brooklyn, Brooklyn's a
freaking paradise, my friend.

It's the other side
of the river, it is.

Yeah, my father
settled there right off

the boat down on Fulton Street.

Of course, he had
papers, you understand.

He paid some guy a
big load of money.

The old man spent
his first day there,

yo know, looking for
work down on the docks

because this guy he
knew was supposed

to get him a good-paying job.

The only trouble was
there were a thousand

other guys just like
him, and so he paid

all that money for nothing.

And then he had nothing.

We had nothing.

So the old man gets himself
liquored up, drops me off

with the nuns at Staten Island.

Oh, God forgive me, but
those nuns, oh, they

were something else-- every
freaking day with their prayers

for the dead.

You say they made you
pray for the dead, huh?

Every day, twice on Sunday.

What's the point?

A person dies.

He either goes to
heaven or to hell.

So then if a guy dies and
finds himself in heaven,

you gotta figure he don't
need any prayers for the dead.

And if a rat bastard dies
and winds up in hell,

then those prayers ain't
gonna do him much good either.

The good souls in
heaven don't need them,

and the lost souls in
hell can't use them.

So who in Christ's name
are they praying for?

Just go up.

Go ahead.

She'll give you something.

Go ahead.

How you doing, guy?

What did you bring tonight?

Lots of stuff.

-Are you all right?
-Yes.

Good, good, you
take care, all right.

All right?

OK, hi, sweetheart.

What you doing?

Oh, I'm so glad you came back.

Take care, all right.

Oh, Barney, are
you gonna wheel me?

How long you been
standing there?

A while.

You're not from the
cardinal's office, are you?

No, sir.

That's good 'cause
if they ever found out

that I was letting these
poor folk in the church,

they'd take my parish away.

It's funny, huh?

Milton Berle was funny.

You tell me, what's
so funny about this?

I meant, you know--

What?

Churches were supposed to
be built for people instead

of the other way around.

Is that what you're
trying to say?

Yeah, I think it is.

God bless you then.

You're closer to heaven than
most of the cardinals in Rome.

I don't think so, Father.

Oh, you don't, do you?

I'm afraid I--

Don't be afraid.

You ever read the good book?

You'll see the first thing that
God says is, don't be afraid.

No kidding?

Nice, huh, not to be afraid?

I don't know what
to feel anymore.

We all lose our way.

It's because somebody somewhere
must have hurt you badly.

No, no, nobody ever hurt me.

It's the other way
around, Father.

The tragedy is that we
always try to help people,

and we end up hurting them.

It must remind us
that we're all human.

Those people inside, did you
ever wonder how many of them

volunteered to be homeless?

Well, can't they
work or something?

Yeah, they could work
in the physical sense,

but what you're missing is that
everything flows from here.

And then it makes sense here.

But once this is wounded,
life gets confusing.

So that's why you do what you
do, huh, like healing people?

I can't heal a thing.

All I try to do is
treat those people

with a little bit of
dignity so that maybe

some day they'll let the God
within them heal themselves.

What do you mean,
the God within them?

Well, that might be a
good thing for both of us

to think about.

Marilyn told me you're
the guy who believes

everybody goes to heaven.

She's always scolding
me about that one.

She's a fierce judge.

She is, nah, not really.

So is that what you believe?

About going to heaven?

Absolutely, every
last one of us.

But what about--

What about what-- Liars,
thieves, child molesters,

murderers?
-Yeah, what about all of them?

Make room then
because someday you're

gonna be breaking bread with all
of them when we're all healed.

But how-- I mean,
what about, you know--

The last judgment and all that?

Yeah, yeah, what about going
to hell and all of that?

Well, frankly, don't tell
anybody I told you this.

But it's all a lot of malarkey.

I mean, think about it.

What does God gain, giving
us the freedom to screw up

if only to damn us when we do?

I mean, what kind of God would
that be, setting traps for us

like he's playing a video game?

Yeah, but murder?

Life isn't a test.

It isn't a game.

It isn't a school.

The fact is it's more like
what everybody says it isn't.

What's that?

Life's a dress rehearsal,
so don't worry so much.

There's only one target,
and he's too big to miss.

Are you saying
I can't miss him?

No, you can't.

Nobody can.

You're saying, no
matter what I've done?

We're a lot
tougher on ourselves

than God ever thought of Peter.

I can't-- I can't believe that.

Vincent, would you
take a walk with me?

Vincent, I know who
you are, and I can only

guess what you might have done.

I also know that you're
troubled tonight,

feeling guilty, depressed,
looking for help,

and not finding it.

But it doesn't
end here, Vincent.

You can't help being what you
are here, inside, where God

is, forever, no matter what.

Are you sure you don't
want to see Marilyn?

No, I've got a
thing to do, Father.

She loves you, Vincent.

Come back again and
see me sometime.

I can learn a lot from you.

From me?

MAN: Hey, Tommy, what's
she telling you there, huh?

What, do you need a wife?

Hey, Tommy, don't
listen to them.

They're pigs, swine,
animals, like most men.

Here.

-What is it?
-Well--

Hey, Tommy, did
your old man go away

because he was embarrassed by
your taste in girls, or what,

huh?
He goes away.

He can't take it.

Hey, Tommy, concentrate
on the cards with me.

I'll take care of them later.

Look.

Come here.

What does it mean?

Very soon, you're gonna
have to make a choice.

Choice, what do you mean?

-Hey, up yours, I paid $10.
-Come on.

Tell me what you mean.

Your father.

Hey, hey, hey, Tommy,
hey, Jimmy the Pope

tells me that your
old man goes away.

He went away 'cause he knows
you don't want to do this life.

You ain't got the guts
for this freaking life.

[LAUGHTER]

Your father has gone away, so
now they tell lies about him.

Don't listen.

You put wax in your ears.

You can't go into the
darkness because if you do,

you're not gonna come out.

And that is your choice.

-Hey, there's V over there.
-That's V?

Where's V?
That's V?

Yeah.

Hey, V, you freaking loser,
where's my freaking money,

you freaking loser?

And you, you freaking
faggot, your mother's

up at home sucking eggs.

Hey, fool--

[GUNSHOT]

Get your hands off of me.

Come on.

Stay away from me,
you red bastards.

Stay away.
-Where did he hit you?

It's nothing.
It's all right.

I'll shoot all you
freaking New Yorkers.

Torro, go get Eddie Baggs.

I don't know I'm
gonna do with this.

Come on.
Come and get me.

Come and get me.

You're gonna want to
get this stitched up.

Vincent, it's all right.

Come on.
Come on.

You come and get me.
Come on.

Put it away,
while you still got

a chance of leaving New York.

I'll freaking blow you away.

Calm down.
Step back.

Step the freak back.
-Come and get me, yeah?

You got a cigarette on you?

What do you want
a cigarette for?

Right now, you gotta
breathe nothing but air.

What, are you,
like, my old man now?

[ARGUING]

Easy, Tommy, I'm just trying
to make sure you're OK here.

Come on.
Come on.

You want a freaking piece of me?

Hey, hey, you big loser.

Keep your hand on that.

Keep the pressure on.

I'll be back in a minute.

You big shot, look at you.

Who the hell are you?

Just put the freaking
thing away, Horse.

All I want to do is give
you this money from Lamb

so I can get the
hell out of here.

You got my freaking money?

Of course, I've got
your freaking money.

I mean, Jesus, if you
had waited a minute,

I would have brought it over.
But you went nu--

I don't know, V. Mr.
Joseph said we were to take

care of this guy tonight.

That's what I did.

Well, what he's
saying, V, is that, uh,

nothing was supposed
to happen to Matty

the Horse while he's in town.

Him and Mr. Joseph have got
some things going on, you know?

Jimmy, you little freaking
weasel, who's that over there?

Come on.
What are you talking about?

Over there, Tommy Cucci,
do you remember that name?

Yeah, I remember that name.

Open your freaking eyes, V.
It's time to move on, all right?

His old man is as good as dead.

20 years in that stinking
cell, 20 freaking years,

how many of us guys are
still gonna be on this corner

20 freaking years from now?

Shame on you, Jimmy.

You betray his old man.

You betray him.

You betray me.

Freak you!

Hey, now, V, don't go
spitting at Jimmy there.

Well, what is it, huh?

Nothing matters no more?

Sucker, you screw
your brother, huh?

You screw your mother, huh?

You screw me.

Screw me.

Screw you.

Screw all of you,
lying bads, all of you.

No, Benno, no, no.

Take care of this later.

Come on, Tommy.
Come on.

Get up.

Taxi.

You couldn't bring him
to an emergency room?

I told you.

You know what this is.

Oh, I know what this is.

-What it's about, you know.
-Mm-hmm.

Look, I'm gonna
pay you for this.

If you do this, you
don't have to drive

a cab for a couple of weeks.

Maybe two weeks' wages would
be a proper wage if this

were a question of money.

What about friendship?

But friendship is a
far more complex matter.

Let's keep it a
question of money, huh?

Here, drink as much of
this as you can hold down.

In my country, they took anyone
who had skills with their hands

and taught us how
to stitch wounds.

My friend was a butcher.

So one winter, they
made him a surgeon.

He did amputations.

By the end of one year,
it had driven him mad.

You see, we had no anesthesia.

The screaming, the misery,
it was too much for him.

One night, he left the
camp to smoke a cigarette.

A storm came up,
and he disappeared.

Later that spring, we found him.

I was more fortunate.

I had a mind for
numbers and languages.

My hands were never that good.

Jesus, don't tell him that.

Aw, this is nothing.

I can use this flap of
skin here to close it.

In the '60s, when I
moved to New York,

there was a woman,
Madam Kattia Bulgratsky.

She helped young women
who got pregnant.

For a price, she would
take care of their problem.

In the '60s, huh?

On Fourth Street, I had
just arrived and lived

downstairs with two others.

We were crowded into one room.

But Madam Kattia, she asked me
if I would like to help her.

She said she would pay
me, and I was hungry.

A young girl came to see
Madam Kattia one night.

She was Irish, auburn hair,
fair skin, delicate features.

This girl was very beautiful.

So I stood there,
staring at her,

while Madam Kattia asked her
to lie down on the table.

Then Madam raised her
skirt up over her knees

and up her thighs.

I had never seen such softness.

Then the girl-- she couldn't
have been more than 17--

she started to cry.

I know I'll burn in
hell for this, she said.

Then madam took her kerchief
and passed it over a small vial

of ether and put her to sleep.

I watched as the sadness
drained from her face,

and I wondered what
God could punish

such an infinitely
suffering creature.

And then madam began the
procedure, all the time trying

to teach me what she was doing.

And as long as I didn't look at
the girl's face or the stains

where her tears had
dried, I could separate

what was being done
to her from her,

as if it wasn't being
done to her at all.

Later that night, I sat at
a small table in my room

and tried to drink
myself senseless.

That's when life
became a thing for me,

something over which no man
has jurisdiction, since no man

can replace it once it's gone.

And so I cried for the girl, for
the child that she had carried,

and like in my country,
for all the children who

starve to death,
and all the soldiers

who froze to death, for all
of them, maybe even for you.

You got a place
to stay, to sleep?

Yeah, I got a place.

Nobody knows where it is.

Nobody knows where it is?

I miss my father.

Yeah, you'd better go there.

You think?

Yeah, you need some sleep.

You'll feel better tomorrow.

Well, what about you?

I got a place to stay, too.

Hey, V, where are you gonna be?

I mean, in case I
need to talk to you.

I'll call you, Tommy.

We'll talk.

Tomorrow?

Yeah, Tommy, tomorrow.

Take care of him
for me, all right?

Hey, V, listen.

I really appreciate
what you've done.

I mean, other than
my old man, I ain't

never had a real friend before.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

VINCENT (VOICEOVER):
Looking back,

I could make a fair list
of things I've never done.

I never went to a school dance.

I never bought a house.

I never learned to drive.

I never fell in love.

Maybe if I'd gone to
that school dance,

all the other stuff would
have fallen into place.

How do things end
up the way they do?

The point is, they
don't just end up.

They start someplace,
like maybe when you're

a kid and somebody
dies too soon,

or somebody goes away forever.

Tommy's father, the time
we had from the beginning,

hanging around the neighborhood,
telling me how good looking I

was.
Hollywood, he called me.

Jimmy the Pope wasn't
even a thought then.

Eddie Baggs with his cigarettes,
trying to get me to smoke,

but I wouldn't do it.

Baggs, every day I
gotta make sure I

stay alive, so why do I want
to kill myself with that stuff?

But it's different
when you're a kid.

You think you're immortal,
so you swagger, big swagger,

like to convince yourself
you're not afraid,

afraid the sky is gonna
fall, afraid the bottom

is gonna drop out.

The old man in his 40s comes
down with that lung virus,

coughed so hard he'd pass
out, coughing up blood,

coughing up his heart.

[COUGHING]

My mother sent me to a junior
office, so I go, scared.

And trying not to be scared,
I knock, and I go in.

That bastard dullard
sitting there,

he must have weighed 300 pounds.

He says-- after I tell
him three times-- he says,

so what's your old
man's name, kid?

Vincent Parmagano Dianni.

VINCENT (VOICEOVER): I say,
adding the middle name,

thinking-- I don't know.

Maybe it's gonna
help or something.

Dianni, huh?

I don't know nobody
named, uh, Dianni.

You say your old man is A Mason?

Yes, sir, he carved
some of the saints

on the cathedral in the Bronx.

Hmm.

VINCENT (VOICEOVER): But he was
enjoying this, playing with me.

Well, I'm looking at
the role here, kid,

and I gotta tell you.

I don't see any
Parmagano Dianni here.

And I say, so what
does that mean?

What it means is
maybe you should check

to see what your old
man does all day,

'cause I don't have his
Italian name on my roster here.

He works all day.

He comes home with
dust all over him.

Kid, when you're fooling around
where you don't belong, what

do you think it takes
to blow a pound of dust

all over yourself?

Gee.

VINCENT (VOICEOVER): I
started to leave his office.

My face burned.

He called me back, telling
me to wait a minute.

He said, now I'm not saying we
couldn't make room in the rolls

for one more Italian stone guy.

That is, of course,
if you've got the cash

ready to pay the dues, that is.

And this is what everybody
was afraid of, afraid

of some bastard who'd come along
and snap your lifeline just

like that, just
like killing a bug,

all because people with names
like Vincent Parmagano Dianni

didn't get here first.

I went home, and
on the way home I

passed the boys on the corner,
sitting outside Samia's.

They all had radios
to their ears,

listening to the ball game.

Tommy's father came
over to me and said,

if your dad needs any help
with this thing, let me know.

That night, I go home,
and the old man is worse.

My mother is losing it.

Somebody help us, please!

Don't let him die.

Somebody help us.

VINCENT (VOICEOVER): Nobody
listened to her anymore

because everybody
in the neighborhood

knew she'd gone a little crazy.

[SOBBING]

So I'd run to my father's
room, and I'd sit by his bed,

holding this bowl
ot catch his life

as it came out of him,
like it had to break

away from what was left of him.

And his eyes swam across his
vision, looking but not seeing,

until he coughed.

Then the dust he'd
inhaled for 25 years

called him away, with
a sound like a cry

to be forgiven for having
died so pathetic-like.

Then he coughed once again,
this time, the last time,

without a sound, and fell back.

I took his hand and
fingers, thick in heart.

I laid them across his
chest and brushed back

the strands of hair lying
across his forehead.

After the funeral,
after the seagulls,

which had come from
nowhere and had flown

over the brown casket,
over my mother's crying,

over the headstone and
the tombs, over the saints

my father covered in marble, I
returned to Sabia's and bought

the gun from Charlie.

Well, if it ain't the
little Italian boy,

come back to beg for
his old man's job.

I've come to beg for my
father's life, Mr. Dolon.

His life, what the heck have
I got to do with his life?

His life is his life.

So forget him, and forget you.

Now you got the money
we talked about?

Yes, sir, I do.

VINCENT (VOICEOVER): I took
the bills from my pocket.

He looked at the money.

It's not enough, he said.

Bring me some more tomorrow.

I'll see what I can do.

I said, but you're not gonna
be here tomorrow, Mr. Dolon.

And he shouted, forget you, kid.

Forget you and all
your mob friends.

I'm gonna be here as long
as I want to be here.

And I stood there,
and I said, what's

my father's name, Mr. Dolon?

What's my father's name?

VINCENT (VOICEOVER): But he
couldn't answer because I was

aiming a gun at his forehead.

And that was the sound
of silence he made.

And I swear to God,
for the life of me,

it was like the sound
of somebody coughing.

MARILYN: Oh, Vincent, you
were better than all of 'em.

You showed me so much kindness.

I remember that night
when the music was playing

and the lights were on.

There was that storm
off the Hudson.

When I think about
that, I just offer

thanks for you and for life,
and I want to hold you.

I was so young that night.

And then afterwards, we
reached out our hands,

and our shadows spread
across the ceiling.

But they never touched.

Are you still too
frightened to sleep?

Maybe you're not too
frightened anymore, huh?

I said, Mother, do
not disturb the sailor

sleeping in the rented room.

You'd never been a sailor.

But I guess I said it more
like a description maybe

'cause you just always
seemed like a guy

from a far-off place.

But that night, you
took me in your arms,

and you broke my
soul with your touch.

And I said, Mother,
do not disturb

the sailor sleeping
in the rented room

because he is tired.

And now it's over, Vincent.

It's over until forever
or tonight, when

you come back to me in spirit.

Only then will I eat
again in silence,

tearing fish without a sound.

[MUSIC PLAYING]