Let me see that lipstick.
I like your getup.
Thank you.
We need a boiler and some duds for you.
And maybe requisition a bottle
of certified non-toilet hooch in reward.
Hey. Stay clean, stay free.
Unless you broke out just to go back.
Now whiplash those duds.
Which of you ladies wants to go around the world
with this big buck, huh?
I'll take a ride.
What the heck?
Happy holiday.
D-Dibrell?
Get down here.
It's your sister, the elder,
and she's-she's brought a friend.
Back to bed.
What?!
What are you doing here?
Showing up, middle of night.
This is a decent house with decent people.
- Yeah. Yeah. - Would've called, missus,
but we found ourselves without precise coinery.
She ain't mad. Just bossy, like always.
I ain't neither.
And just what kind of Halloween costumes you got on?
Wasn't released but this morning.
No time to shop proper.
But I feel I come across rugged.
Hon, let's not keep them crowded in the doorway.
Come on in. You hungry?
Famished. Uh, they can't stay here.
You can't stay here.
Well, a cup of coffee, at least. She's your sister.
- Come on. - Yeah.
Well, look at you.
Little Miss All Grown-up.
Come down here and give your auntie a hug!
Ooh!
Whoa! No, there...
Don't get ideas. She's a good girl.
Oh...
Am I the only one who smells dead people?
In the stir, the eggs is powdered.
Eggs are powdered. Speak proper.
Taken her education upon myself.
You'd have thunk the white school they shipped me to
from the reservation would've seen to my English,
but they was mostly concerned with raping the native
- out of me. - Language.
Sorry. Did I say that wrong?
Looks like you done well for yourself
these years I've been away.
- You ain't getting no handout. - Listen at you,
acting like the big sister.
Wasn't asking for money.
Swanee and me got prospects.
What kind of prospects?
Bank robbing.
Go to your room.
Now.
Mind your mama.
We catch up tomorrow.
They didn't let you go from that prison, did they?
You crushed out.
We freed ourselves on our own recognizance.
What happened was, we met a moll
goes with one of them Cannon boys, knew I was your sister.
She tells me you in the hole to some big-time leg-breakers,
who knows why.
So we decided to come bail you out.
Leg-breakers if you're lucky.
- Nothing to say? - Don't need your help.
Got everything under control.
How much interest he charging?
Ten percent the first month, then it goes up from there.
Don't tell her that.
I told you. Didn't I say?
Day one,
we shouldn't have taken that loan.
That or go under.
Then what? This is our problem...
As I said in my letter, Mrs. Will,
a cancer ward will be de rigueur
in any modern hospital.
They have an entire wing up at the Mayo Clinic.
And I would hazard that our Missouri elite deserve
the same quality care as the rubes up in Minnesota.
Don't you think?
Say the number.
And unless you object,
the plaque will read "The Walter and Mathilda Will Cancer Ward."
Fine. Just promise me, no Jews.
No Jews...
Oh!
- You get him? - I-I think so.
Think? What do you mean, "think so"?
What's the skinny?
You know. Salad days.
I got that formaldehyde your dad asked for.
It's inside.
We got a big one today.
Italians, with all the wailing and the rending of clothes.
You'd better wait here.
They're not too big on colored folks.
No offense.
Shouldn't be doing that.
Well, now, look at you.
Like a lucky penny, always turning up.
A bad penny.
Bad pennies turn up.
And what do lucky pennies do?
Bring good luck.
Well.
And she speaks French.
Yes, she does.
Asshole.
Either you got him or you didn't.
I-I think so.
- We definitely got a driver. - What driver? Whose driver?
- I know you? - Mr. Fadda,
Oraetta Mayflower from St. Bartholomew's.
Condolences for your loss.
- You're the nurse. His nurse. - Yes, sir.
I was with your father when he passed.
But I want you to know it was real peaceful.
Like a baby going to sleep.
That's... Don't do that.
Andiamo.
- Let's go. - Andiamo...
Thank you.
- You're gonna go back. - Boss.
No.
This fucking sfigato doesn't get to breathe air
while some people...
some people, better people, are buried in the ground.
They ain't buried him yet.
Shut the fuck up.
What's the matter? They didn't let you talk on the boat over?
You got to bust my balls now? At Pop's funeral?
Boys. Don't fight.
Already my heart breaks.
Don't worry, Ma, we're just playing.
- Just boys playing. - And the ring.
Your father's ring. Il mignolo.
- What about his ring? - You couldn't wait
until he was cold before you take him apart?
- Your own father. - What are you talking about, Mama?
Nobody took anything.
Ah, and the business was really good.
Look.
I keep his teeth in my pocket.
Look.
To remind me...
business, family, country.
Business, family, country.
No.
The question is
which side are you on now...
kid?
You take the next one.
One little, two little, three little Indians.
Four little, five little, six little Indians.
One little, two little...
I know what I saw, what this is.
And that is?
Retribution for some perceived slight.
- Against Mrs. Will? - No.
Against me.
Enough already!
Sir, you should take a restorative.
Something for your nerves.
Your blood pressure is very high.
Do you hear that? I'm hypertensive.
If I have a stroke, promise me you'll charge them with murder.
Charge who?
The hatchet men.
Uh, sir... you're not making a lot of sense.
Y-You said it was a blue Ford.
We had, five days ago, in this hospital,
a fracas.
An incursion of undesirables.
Men of... and I'm no bigot...
But Italian origin,
- who I turned away. - Mm.
And you think this is related?
Son, are you deaf?
We're talking a gunshot wound scenario,
combined with a half dozen swarthy Lotharios
straight out of central casting, and me,
a law-abiding citizen of Protestant descent
enforcing the rules of this establishment,
maintaining the purity of our blood supply.
Dr. Harvard, I'm gonna put you with our sketchbook artist.
See if you can reconstruct the visage of some of these...
What did you call them... Lotharios?
I'm gonna make sure to issue a full-point bulletin
for this blue Ford, license plates unknown.
But...
it would help if you could say for certain
that the man you saw with the gun was the same
as the man or men you removed from the premises
a-a few days bygone.
I saw...
I'll be honest.
I only saw the gun.
Well, yes, sir, they can be...
arresting.
Do you think... Uh, should I increase security
- in case they... - We'll get back to you.
It's... no, no,
you don't have to... Just turn the knob.
Is he some kind of retard?
Thank you for your cooperation.
You'll be hearing from me shortly.
Let's go.
Listen to me.
I'm not your father,
but I'm responsible for you.
These people inside,
they're your blood.
But do they love you?
Do they respect you?
You know how you know?
They get down on your level,
they look you in the eye.
That's when you know you're not just along for the ride.
Capisce?
Capisco.
He comes in, you cop a squat.
Send out my boy first.
What's the matter, you don't trust me?
Do you remember me? Gaetano. Hey.
That's close enough.
You know who I am?
Yeah. You're the guy that's not coming any closer
or I'll pop you one.
He says he's gonna punch you in the face.
He really say that?
Yeah.
Stop! Stop.
Gaetano.
Are we good?
You tell me.
Yeah, we're good.
Your mama's inside. Go give her a kiss.
Stai bene?
I'll give you a minute with your boy.
We should sit sometime, you and me.
Hash out the rumpus. Things have changed.
Nothing's changed.
Have a nice visit.
Come here.
- They feeding you? - Mostly peanut butter.
Where do you sleep?
He's got a room on the third floor with me.
You seeing to his education?
I'm teaching him how the world works.
And how's that?
It's dog eat dog.
That's how dogs work. Men are more complicated.
Not in my experience.
You like staying here,
in the master's house?
He make you feel appreciated?
We live with the choices we make.
Consequences.
Who's the big Italian just off the boat?
It's Josto's brother, Gaetano.
Over from the boot.
- He staying? - Not sure yet.
You'd tell me if they were taking my boy
out to the woodshed.
'Cause in my book, they say safe,
they mean sound. Unmolested.
Nobody interferes with the boy.
He's entirely in my keeping.
Your mama says eat your vegetables.
We love you and you're coming home.
When?
That I don't know.
Tell your boss we need to talk soon.
Yeah.
I called three more banks in the area.
No one's biting on the credit card.
- You didn't tell 'em the idea? - No.
But I stressed that this was
a groundbreaking financial instrument
and they could be the first on their block.
We keep this in the neighborhood, just for us.
How do we know they don't burn down the neighborhood
once we start to pave the streets with gold?
We need their restaurants,
their department stores, their banks.
Last I checked, I couldn't even try on clothes at Gimbels.
The brother came in from Italy.
Older or younger?
Younger.
But big.
Difference between a lion in the jungle
and a lion in a cage.
Tigers live in the jungle. Lions are on the plains.
You're saying there could be a power struggle?
- I... - We should move now.
Expand before they get their heads on straight.
Or it's a trick and they're trying to make us spread thin.
So we test their flanks.
Start small, see what's the response.
Me and Donatello were talking about us
taking over the slaughterhouse before he died.
He said yes.
He said...
Is our position.
We asked, he gave permission.
Now that's what we're doing.
I'll take Opal and his crew.
Meanwhile, you need to ask yourself
how far you're willing to go with this
in case it becomes a skirmish or a battle or a war.
We're in a groove.
Money's coming in, business is heating up.
Maybe we get rich anyway, hmm?
Why stress the system?
You know who else is in a groove?
That lion in the cage.
He just wears it in the floor,
pacing back and forth.
Well, you know who's got no groove?
That lion with his head hanging on the wall.
He's just hanging there with nothing but the smile
they forced on his face.
My guess is they make a move.
Today, tomorrow. Test us.
They are twisted.
These spooks.
The way they think.
Always with their hand out.
No.
We're not killing anybody.
Dad made a deal. We're gonna respect the deal.
That's, um...
What do Americans say?
Fine.
I'm here... few days.
Um...
if you want to be pussy, be pussy.
Josto.
- Sis, we're talking here. - Your Dessie is here.
- In a minute. - The alderman also.
They've come to pay respects.
No killing.
No.
Pussy.
Oh, my darling. Is it awful?
- I'm managing. - Oh.
- I have my family. - Oh.
We're your family, too. Isn't that right, Daddy?
- Not married yet. - Oh, Daddy, don't be awful.
Do you need anything. Are you eating?
I'm, uh... what do you... copacetic.
Men. Always acting so Humphrey Bogart.
You go ahead and cry if you need to.
A boy losing his father, nobody's gonna judge.
Sugar plum, give Daddy a minute with your fiancé.
I want to hand him some words of wisdom.
We'll talk later, honey bear. Okay?
Kiss-kiss, kiss?
Am I getting fucked here?
Slow your roll.
'Cause the only reason I'm letting my daughter
marry some guinea greaser
political, financial...
And here I am, hopelessly in love.
Go fuck a state park.
You ain't getting a piece of the Gillis legacy
until I got assurances you can deliver votes.
Mayors don't elect themselves, and elections aren't free.
Dad? Can I call you Dad?
My pop didn't claw his way out of the plebeian dynasty
so that his sons could end up in middle management.
You want to be mayor? I want my kids to be president.
So I'll get you your votes and your, uh...
bustarella.
But first I'm gonna slow-pump some babies into your daughter
one at a time and twice on Sundays.
Now get a drink.
And try the calzone. They're a riot.
Condolences.
I noticed the blue Ford parked out front.
Congratulations. You got eyes.
Witness at the private hospital saw a blue Ford
fleeing from the scene of the homicide.
Blue is a popular color.
You're not curious who got whacked?
You see all the black suits when you walked in?
Ladies crying into their meatballs?
And what if I said I've been tipped
to some s-swarthy Lotharios
that got jacked from the premises a few days prior?
Is he dead?
Who?
You know who, you twitchy piece of shit.
Is he dead?
Boss.
Boss, boss, boss, boss.
You can't shoot civilians.
That fucking guy put my family on the street
like we were shit on his spats.
He lost his breathing license.
I know... but him you missed.
And now I got a wealthy socialite
what eats meals with the mayor
sporting a fresh hole in her head.
A... And top brass measuring my asshole
like they're fixing to move in.
No, sorry, I-I came in to ask,
respectfully...
I-I can guide this a different direction...
find a patsy to frame up,
but you got to lay off this Dr. Harvard.
What'd you say to me?
- We won't touch him. - Says you.
This year we don't touch.
Next year.
He goes back to his ordinary life,
the fat moglie, his pot roast.
Builds his model airplanes. Forgets.
But we don't forget. We wait.
We sharpen our teeth.
And one day, when he can't even remember
that old woman's name...
well...
I won't speculate on coincidence
in front of an officer of the law.
But you got assurances this thing is over.
Si?
Bang.
Hi, hi, hi, Mr. Cosmopolis.
Oh...
Good morning.
It's Nurse Mayflower again.
How are we feeling this fine day?
- I... - Hmm?
Oh. Well, a crisp fall Tuesday is what it is.
Gobble, gobble.
Almost Thanksgiving.
Do Greek people celebrate that? Turkey Day?
Hmm?
Oh, you poor soul.
You, your body is just working so hard
to pump that blood around.
Your old daft heart. It's not doing its job, is it?
It's a bad heart, bad, bad, bad.
Yeah. And here the doctors say...
there's just not much they can do.
Mean old doctors.
But Oraetta's here, and she can help.
You want Oraetta's help, right?
- Take the pain away? - Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Of course you do.
Life's hard enough without a lamb shank for a heart.
Don't you worry.
Your angel of mercy has arrived.
It's, well...
I have to say, Nurse Mayflowe,
highly irregular.
Highly...
not good is, well, what it is.
Such a high dosage of...
not even the proper medication.
Resulting in...
certain death, which...
We can't have that.
Patients come to us for care.
Top quality care. Not to be... mismanaged.
Mr. Sneet, believe me, no one's more embarrassed
than little ole me.
But at the same time, have you seen their handwriting?
The doctors? Hmm.
Like a cave painting with a stick.
- N-N-Not, not that I-I... - This isn't, I hate to say,
the first time we've had concerns
about your care.
The level of care.
Patients passing untimely
or rushed to the ICU
without biological provocation.
Not to mention the pharmacist has noticed some discrepancies
in medicines requested and medicines removed
over the last few...
Requests made by you.
In summation,
after the latest unpleasantness,
I don't see how we can keep you on staff.
I'm saying you're fired.
I see how it is.
Yes. So, if you could
- clear out your locker... - A cover-up.
Uh...
An incompetence of doctors.
A few lost souls, and someone's got to pay the piper,
so old Oraetta's made the goat.
Well, I am no goat, Mr. Sneet.
Oraetta Mayflower, she is no goat.
- Now, Nurse... - Call the police, you're so concerned
about malfeasance.
About medicines removed without dotted I's.
Heck, pick up the phone,
tell them to send the paddy wagon.
Take this woman away in silver bracelets.
Or what about call the news boys?
- Now, hold on, there's no need... - This is America, sir,
last time I checked, not Soviet Russia,
where a man gets rationed a quarter potato
and has no rights under the law.
And here's you, sitting like judge and executioner,
tossing old Oraetta on the bone pile, and for what?
The inability to read the handwriting
of what appears to be an epileptic?
Miss Mayflower...
Nurse Mayflower...
I'd be happy to...
How does a month's severance sound?
Three months.
I'll...
I can offer two, and of course
a glowing recommendation
- to your next potential employer. - In writing.
I have to say, Mr. Sneet, I'm disappointed
in this institution.
In you.
When our days are at an end, and we stand
before the Lord, he will weigh the color
of our immortal souls and judge us lacking,
have we not shown an unflagging commitment
to excellence in his name.
And if we have failed in our devotion to him,
then you and I are going straight to the hot place.
And Oraetta Mayflower
has no intention of sweating out eternity
at the end of the devil's pitchfork.
Good day, sir.
- Who's that? - Nurse, lives across the street.
Bonjour.
Get out of sight.
It's just amazing.
Who would've thought they're teaching French
down at the Negro school.
They don't. I'm learning on my own.
Mm, you got pluck.
And I know,
'cause everyone always says I've got it, too.
Sagittarius.
What's that?
Sun sign. Astrology.
See, scientifically, our birthdates correspond
with celestial events.
Happenstance that shape our destiny.
What's the date of your birth?
- December the first. - Mm.
Like I said...
Sagittarius.
Huh. Yeah.
I guess that makes us sisters of a sort.
Well... I got to get to my chores.
Oh. Yeah.
I-I was wondering if you might be looking for
some after-school work.
A little housecleaning,
put 50 cents or a dollar in your pocket.
That's all we are to you... The help?
There are long-playing records upstairs.
French songs, stories.
Postcards from gay Paree.
You can clean and listen.
I decided to make you one of my special projects.
What does that mean?
You like pie?
Yeah, you do.
Everybody likes pie.
Stay-stay tuned. I-I-I will be back.
Oh.
That's one weird white lady.
Sir, I just want you to know I'm ready.
Good.
Not just for muscle work.
Got math through high school. Read a lot of history.
Strategy is what I'm about.
Yeah, well...
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
a stately pleasure-dome decree.
Come again?
- What's your name? - Leon.
Bittle?
- I'm Happy's cousin. - Oh. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, Happy's cousin,
we'll see how you, uh, handle yourself tonight,
with the easy stuff.
Then we'll talk about strategy.
Let's go.
What are they?
Decorative?
Or you just like the smell?
It's a warning to the other rats.
Son, I think you're overestimating
the brain power of your foe.
We ain't got no money.
Well, this ain't no robbery.
No, no.
No, this...
This is what you call a transition of power.
A what?
- Oh, God... - We're taking over.
Boy, do you know whose house this is?
Yep. And you best get going.
So, what happens now?
Now...
we wait.
Oh...
You know, my father worked in a slaughterhouse for 33 years.
Yeah.
Butchering cows and pigs, chickens.
All day long, he cut up rib eye
and, uh, lamb chops.
Ribs.
You know what we ate?
Pigs' feet.
Ham hocks, neck bones.
Scraps.
What did I tell you?
They like to talk.
See, in America, even the food means something.
Means whether you're up or down, in or out.
White, colored.
This is ours.
We haven't met.
I'm Doctor Senator.
You got to give respect to get respect.
Is that why you Americans are so soft?
All this giving and getting?
In the land of taking and killing, Gaetano is king.
Easy.
A deal was made.
On high.
Wednesday, last.
Oh.
Well, this might be a news flash
for his majesty.
Hmm.
A deal
between Fadda the senior
and my man, Cannon.
Mm-hmm.
Territory was allotted
from your organization to the Negro syndicate.
Given.
Well, this is us,
come to collect.
That sound like mulignan bullshit to me.
Am I talking to you or to him?
Easy.
If you can't respect that,
then we can't respect anything.
Very clever.
These words you hide behind.
How do you think your words will taste,
spit from the mouth of the wolf?
Hmm?
Muscle and bone.
This is the power.
Not all your...
If this is a misunderstanding, let us see.
You take your men, go home.
I'll talk to my brother,
feel if this is what you say.
And if so...
But if no?
Happy's cousin!
Easy, Happy's cousin.
Molto bene.
But remember:
We'll be back.
Because y'all just got here yesterday.
But we're part of this land,
like the wind and the dirt.
Lord, we know the road is long.
We thank you for that road,
because the journey makes us wise.
We know the climb is hard.
We thank you for that climb, 'cause climbing makes us strong.
Amen.
You made the land and the sea,
and you filled it with injustice
so that we would have work to do.
And we thank you for that wor.
You made the meek,
so the meek could inherit the Earth.
And you made the mighty so that we could defend the meek.
Let us pray.
And we will be mighty for you,
O Lord.
You've shown us pain and loss...
so that we would know the joy of victory when it comes.
Hear our prayer now, O Lord...
so that we might feel your blessing.
And know that we can bear
this burden you've given us...
because our hearts are pure.
- Amen. - Amen.
We're moving.
Now I get it.
Check!