an old dog to lay near
the fire till my eyes close?
These are terrible
years, Theresa,
terrible years
Catherina, listen to me.
It's gonna happen to you.
It's gonna happen to you!
What are you gonna do
if Marty gets married?
What are you gonna cook?
Where's all the children
playing in all the rooms?
Where's the noise?
It's a curse to be
a widow, a curse.
What are you gonna do
if Marty gets married?
What are you gonna do?
I'm gonna put
my things in a bag,
and I come to you
tomorrow.
Don't worry
about your sister.
We'll get some coffee
and come right back.
You teach chemistry.
What school?
Benjamin Franklin
high school.
Where's that, Brooklyn?
I went to
Theodore Roosevelt.
It's around
the corner from my house.
My cousin's a teacher.
He teaches latin in Chicago.
He was studying to be a priest,
but he gave it up.
I was pretty good
in high school.
I sound like a jerk now,
but I graduated
with an 82 average.
I was accepted
at city college,
but my old man died,
so I had to work.
You want some cigarettes?
German was
my best class.
Der, die, das.
Des, der, des.
I still remember.
I was good in math
in high school.
You know how long ago
I graduated?
June 1937.
Holy cow!
What is that?
15, 17 years ago!
Holy cow! 17-
let's see, is that right?
Yeah, 17. that's right.
Where did it all go?
I'm getting old.
I'll be 35 years old
november the 8th.
35! Wow. Time goes on, boy.
Yeah, june 1937.
My old man died
december 1937.
2:00 in the morning
he died.
Front doorbell rings,
and I knew something
was wrong right away
because I had to
answer the door,
and there was mr. Stern.
He lived down a block.
He moved out, though.
My old man used to play cards
with him and some other old guys.
He was a jewish fella.
He said,
"is your mother home?"
I knew there was
something wrong.
I turned exactly
18 years old the month before.
I said,
"is something wrong?"
I was in my pajamas,
you know, so he said,
"Marty, your father died."
My father died in the
middle of playing cards.
He had a heart attack.
He had low blood pressure.
He used to faint a lot.
Boy, am I talking!
Excuse me. I never
talked so much before.
Usually everybody
tells me their troubles.
I'll shut up now
and let you talk.
Yeah, 17 years ago
what I been doing with
myself all that time?
There I go again.
I must be driving you crazy!
Most of the time
with girls,
I can't find a word to say.
I'm going to shut up now
and let you get a word in.
Usually I'm not like this.
Usually, l-
there I go again.
I'm on a jag,
for pete's sakes.
You'd think I was loaded!
Like I started to say-
I...
I can't stop my mouth!
Isn't this stupid?
You got a real
nice face, you know?
Really, a nice face.
Thank you.
Hey, Mac, anything good inside?
Oh, a bunch of dogs.
Hey, Marty.
Marty, you in here?
So I'm in
a kneeling position.
If you try shooting a b.a.r.
That way-
you know what I mean?
I can't hold
a steady position.
I'm wavering back and forth.
So the guy next to me,
he's shooting
from a prone position,
and he's cross-eyed
like I told you.
So just then-
so just then
I hear 5 shots go off
from the guy next to me.
My target goes down.
The flag comes up.
I got 5 bull's eyes!
That's how I got
the reputation
of being the best shot
in the whole battalion.
So when I got
out of the army,
I was lost.
I didn't know
what I wanted to do.
I was 25 years old.
I couldn't go back to my
old job at 40 cents an hour.
I thought I'd go to
college under the GI Bill,
but my brother Freddie,
he wanted to get married,
and I had 3 unmarried sisters.
In an italian house,
that's a terrible thing.
So I just went to pieces.
I used to walk the streets
till 3:00,
4:00 in the morning.
My poor mother used to be
so worried about me.
God forgive me
what I'm gonna say now,
but I used to think
of doing away with myself.
I used to stand
in the subway sometimes,
and god forgive me,