The Killing of a Chinese Bookie

Am I late?

Right on time.

How's the club?

Fine.

Will there be anything else?

- You want anything else?

- No.

Okay. Don't get too fat.

Goddamn it. The stupid son of a b*tch.

Hasn't learned yet.

Cosmo. You leave the cake at the table?

- I just wanted to thank you.

- For what?

It's been seven years. That's a long time.

For me and you.

Yeah.

- Can I buy you a drink?

- No. No, thanks.

I'm gonna have the coffee and the cake.

Is it all right?

You know it's all right. It's all there.

You want to count it again?

Nah.

Cosmo, you're a prince.

Now you can go out and work for yourself.

Marty, you're a lowlife.

No offense, but you have no style.

I do business with ya,

but you have no style.

Cosmo...

anytime you need some help...

come to me.

I don't ever want to see you again.

Don't push it.

A**hole.

I think there's a bar

on the next corner.

On the right.

Miss, may I have a scotch and water?

- Tall?

- Tall, please.

I've been pointed out by people

My name is mud

I've been dreaming all the dreams

And dancing in the evening

- Singin' in the shower

- Will you get out of here.

But nothing seems

To take your place

I'm almost in love with you

I nearly miss you

I've hardly seen you

When I do, I get

A feeling that

Something should be

There

- Do you mind if I sit down?

- Hey, I paid for the cab.

- Yeah.

- I got out. What do you want from me?

Come. Let's go.

Come on.

What's your name?

You called me Eddie just a

half hour ago. You forgot my name.

- Eddie.

- You had enough. I'm telling you.

- I had enough of you, Eddie.

- You forgot my name.

It's been a long day, Eddie.

Yeah, I know the problems you had...

- but I also know you got a family and kids...

- How do you know?

So let's blow this snake pit. Come on.

- Come on, lover.

- What are you doin'?

Let's play tic-tac-toe.

Oh, boy. You know what you

are? You're a meshuggenah.

- You a Jew?

- Yeah. A little bit.

From where? Where were you born?

- New York.

- No kidding.

So are you. Good people

come from New York.

What part of New York?

- Every borough. Well, I missed one.

- You were born in every borough?

- No. Born...

- I never heard of such a thing.

- Born in the greatest street in the world-Mott Street.

- Mott... I know Mott Street very well.

I was born uptown.

I was born on 29th Street...

- between 1 st and 2nd Avenue.

- The rich people.

- Nah, nah, that was poor.

- The rich people.

- Near Bellevue Hospital.

- Anything past Broome Street.

- Know where Bellevue Hospital is?

- Oh, yeah.

- The morgue?

- Yeah, but at least you had the river.

The beautiful river.

- All you rich people live by the river.

- We used to swim in that river when we were kids.

- You're right.

- We swam that way.

- The scum.

- You remember?

- That's right.

- The bags. The scumbags.

- I used to go to the Hudson River.

- Oh, yeah?

Yeah.

But now we're going home.

- Where?

- Your house.

There's no river there, Eddie.

Hey, pardone. You want

me to pay the driver?

Wait. Yo! Eddie!

Thank you. Right.

Nice man.

Good evening, boss.

- Sonny.

- This place has two speeds: Slow and stop.

- Slow tonight, Cosmo.

- It's all right. I'll go out and bring them in and fill the joint.

- Where the hell is everybody?

- Sonny, give me a drink.

Give me a cigarette.

- Give me a drink.

- What do you want, boss?

- Scotch.

- Rocks?

Yeah.

Where are the girls?

I guess they're in the back.

Good.

Out. The girls' dressing room. Out.

Customers downstairs. Hello, sweetheart.

- Get downstairs.

- Not you, sweetheart.

Tony. Out.

What? There's nobody...

there's... there's nobody down there.

Okay, girls. Come on.

Go ahead.

- Hey, sweetheart. How are ya?

- I'll live. Maybe.

- Hello, doll.

- Hi, Cosmo. How's it goin'?

Hi.

- Hey, Sherry.

- Don't mess my makeup.

Still mad at me.

- Just doing a little makeup job.

- Carol.

Nice to see ya. You're back?

- Well, you don't have to worry. The place is dead.

- Oh, not again.

- Again.

- It'll pick up later on.

It'll pick up.

Hey, everything's slow. You

know, I talked to Verna.

- She said Irving's dying.

- Who's Verna?

Irving has been dead for years.

- Oh, that's not nice.

- Irving Lowe?

Rachel, could I have one

of your eyebrow pencils?

- Sure.

- It's the times.

What's the times?

- Everybody's dying.

- Well, some people are living. I wouldn't say everybody's dying.

- Teddy.

- Yeah?

I put on the news this morning.

I couldn't sleep.

- Yeah?

- These two girls in Memphis, Tennessee.

- Memphis. Yeah.

- This is gonna kill ya.

- Well, kill me.

- Early this morning, I couldn't sleep...

I don't care if it was early this

morning or late this morning.

- Oh, these boots.

- Well, this gopher...

- This gopher.

- There are a couple of kinds of gophers.

Gopher. From a hole! From a hole.

Oh, I thought you meant one that

went for coffee like you used to.

Yeah, right. No, this is a gopher...

That's terrific. Now this is broken.

- Well, gotta tell ya...

- Where did this happen, this thing with the gophers?

- Or the gopher.

- Honey, no. No chance.

- I don't know. You know.

- What are you looking for, Rachel?

I'm not the only one

in this dressing room.

- Rach.

- Rachel. What are you looking for?

Rach.

I want you to hear

this story.. all of ya.

- We're listening.

- Listening.

- These two girls caught a gopher...

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