Force of Evil Page #2

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for sentimental reasons.

Don't worry about

your brother, Joe.

He won't die

of heart failure

As long as he remembers

he has a rich brother.

Rich relatives

are better

Than doctors

or medicine men.

O.K., Ben, O.K.

And just

remember, Joe,

You and I are the only ones

who know about 776.

I have no reason

to tell anybody.

Don't you trust me?

Of course

I trust you, Joe.

I just want you

to know

How worried I am.

Got a match, mister?

Keep them.

I hadn't seen

my brother Leo for years,

And here he was,

back in the slums

Where we were born.

He ran a small numbers bank

The way another man

runs a restaurant or bar.

These collection offices

were called banks,

And they were like banks

Because money

was deposited there.

They were unlike banks

Because the chances

of getting money out

Were 1,000-To-1.

These were the odds

against winning.

What do you want,

mister?

I would like to see

my brother Leo Morse.

I'm Joe Morse.

The banks were located

behind poolrooms,

In lofts, cellars, or hidden

in slum apartments like Leos.

Wait here

a minute.

Big play

on 776 today.

People got

a superstition

To play it

every 4th of July.

The old liberty

number-

Never hits.

Mr. Morse, there's

a man outside to see you

Who says

he's your brother.

My brother?

What does he look like?

Like a firecracker,

you dope-

Like your brother.

How are you, Leo?

What do you want,

Joe?

I came

to see you, Leo.

Do I need

a particular reason?

You wouldn't

come around here

If you didn't have

a particular reason.

What's the difference?

We're brothers.

Is it a social visit

or a business visit?

I haven't seen you

in an age.

What is it?

I'm busy.

Leo, Ive come to take you

out of this air shaft

And put you in a real office

in a real business

To pay you back

for everything

Because you're

my older brother.

That's why Im here.

Come around

after Im dead.

I had to fight to get

this proposition for you, Leo.

I had to stick my neck

way out.

Now, you listen to me!

Something very serious

Is about to happen

to your business.

You're one of 20 or 30

numbers banks in the city-

One of

the smaller ones.

Suppose a combine moves in.

Suppose it organizes

and merges these banks,

Eliminating the little ones,

like yours.

You're listening now,

aren't you?

Suppose it reduces

the overhead-

Legal fees, bail bonds.

Supposing it reduces the cost

and guarantees the profits.

A man like you would be

out of business, wouldn't you?

You couldn't compete,

could you?

But suppose

you had a brother

And this brother made your bank

the number-One bank

In the combination,

in the merger,

In the corporation.

What corporation?

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