Daddy, he was so sick by then, he couldn't hardly stand himself.
But one morning he got up, carried Axel to his rig...
...and the two of them went off into the woods, singing and howling.
But it wasn't till he got home that night alone that I saw...
...the shovel in the back of the truck.
Sure miss watching the two of them together.
I got nobody but you, Frankie.
Well, you've got me.
At Ieast, that is, until we find you a good manager.
Hey, can we stop just up here?
Yeah.
This place has the best Iemon pie around.
None of that canned-filling crap.
Now I can die and go to heaven.
I used to come here with Daddy.
Wonder if a place Iike this is for sale.
I got a Iittle bit of savings.
That's fine, fine, thanks.
Hey, what the hell's Danger Iooking at?
Looks Iike another bottle of water.
Wanna come to Vegas with us?
Watch you suffer over the nickel slots? My heart can't take that kind of pounding.
Well, she's got a title shot. The BIue Bear.
Million dollars, split right down the center.
That's good, Frankie. That's real good.
Well, I could use a good second.
Can't find one, I thought I'd ask you.
Now, why the hell would I wanna do that?
Well, because you're a half-blind old fool who never got there himself.
I thought you might Iike to feel what it's Iike to be in a ring on a title match.
Excuse me for feeling sorry for you.
No, you pick up somebody there in Vegas.
Somebody with young hands.
You're not gonna cry now, are you? I've already got one girl.
I Ieave this place for one day...
...got any idea what it would Iook Iike when I come back?
Kind of Iike it Iooks right now.
Oh, go to hell.
You tell Maggie don't come back here without a belt.
Will do.
Hey, Mr. Scrap.
I got a question, but I feel real stupid asking it.
No such thing as a stupid question there, Danger.
Okay.
How'd you get all the ice in here through this Iittle tiny hole?
I've been thinking on it.
Can't figure it out.
Why don't I show you, Danger.
-You could do that? You could show me? -I think so. I think so.
AIso, Mr. Scrap, I was kind of thinking I might be ready for a fight.
Well, I got the tickets. You ready?
-We're flying? -Would you rather drive?
You're asking me?
Would you rather fly, or would you rather drive?
So I finally get to decide something?
That's what I'm saying.
Fine.
FIy there, drive back.
That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. How the hell we gonna do that?
You said it was up to me.
Give them hell there, Danger.
Hey, old school, the toilet's overflowing.
Hey, FIippy, come here for a minute.
Jesus.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
Oh, God!
Dumb-ass.
Come on, Danger. Come on, Danger.
Come on. Defense!
Could be sitting up at the Mirage...
...drinking mai tais...
...Iooking at naked women.
Come on, Danger, put up your hands and fight.
Danger, get out of there!
Fight back! Come on!
-There you go, Danger, there you go! -Good job, man.
Jab him with the Ieft. Come on.
Hey, come on now, FIip.
-What you doing? Let him go. -AII right. Okay.
I got you. Come on, come on.
It's all right.
We don't need no corner trainer.
How'd I do, Mr. Scrap?
You did good, Danger. You did real good.
You my man. You rock.
Come on, FIip, man, you ain't done.
You ain't even fight good yet.
Anybody can Iose one fight.
Anybody can Iose one, son. You'II come back from this.
You'II be champion of the world.
No, I won't, Mr. Scrap.
I should have knowed.
-Come on. We don't need to be talking. -Let me help you.
Oh, no, I can do her. Just untie the Velcro for me.
AII right.
Come on, don't take the gloves off, man. You ain't even used them, Danger.
Mind if I borrow this, Danger?
Man, I thought your name was Danger.
Come on, now.
Oh, oh, I see. Now I get to fight a retard and a old man.
Call ESPN, because you can't write this shit.
Look out, Shawrelle. Easy, Shawrelle.
Keep going, man.
AII right, man.
He ain't so tough.
One hundred and ten.
Get a job, punk.
Win this one, I'II tell you what it means.
I got you some pipers.
Mo cuishle! Mo cuishle! Mo cuishle!
AII right, now!
I want you to jab her right in the tits...
...until they turn blue and fall off.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the feature...
...presentation of the evening.
In this corner, the challenger, Maggie Fitzgerald...
...in the red corner.
In the blue corner...
...the WBA welterweight champion of the world...
...Billie "The BIue Bear."
Sweet Jesus.
Fitzgerald is pushing The Blue Bear around the ring. She's coming on strong.
Challenger darts in, Iands a combination to the head and the body.
-And a right hook stuns the champ. -AII right.
Break it up!
Break it! Break it!
Do that one more time, it'II cost you a point, do you hear me?
Go fight.
You motherfucker.
Come on. What the fuck?
AII right, that's it. I'm gonna take away a point.
One point deduction off the blue corner.
--comes back, hits Fitzgerald....
Ref, open your eyes, you....
Ladies and gentlemen, the first round is in the books on this championship match.
-Hold onto that. -There you go.
-Looking good. -You pull that crap one more time...
...you're disqualified.
It's gonna be all right.
Got no doubt, boss.
Okay, just watch yourself.
Stay away from this dame.
Go to the neutral corner. Neutral corner.
-Four, five, six... -Stay down, you bitch.
...seven, eight, nine.
Yeah, yeah!
Break it! Break it!
Fitzgerald continues to pummel The Blue Bear. The East German champion....
Yes! Come on!
I got it! I got it.
Eyes are blurring, boss.
-How many eyes you need to finish this? -One's enough.
-Good. -Now...
...what do I do about the Bear?
Do you know that step into the outside and hook into the Iiver?
-I been doing that. She's made of steel. -I don't want you to go to the Iiver.
I want you to hit her right up under her skinny ass, understand?
Right in the sciatic nerve. Just keep digging it in there.
And just keep sticking her. You hear that?
-What about the ref? -Keep between the ref and the Bear...
...and everything will just be fine.
This is yours. You keep your guard up.
You keep it up.
Oh, yeah!
Break, break!
Mo cuishle! Mo cuishle! Mo cuishle!
Doctor.
Come on.
Breathe.
That's it. Breathe.
Good.
Look at me. Concentrate on me.
Breathe.
Good.
That's it.
Breathe.
How you feeling, darling?
Growing a beard, boss?
I thought it might help me with the Iadies.
Can't say it does.
Does it--? Does it hurt much?
Don't hurt at all.
Well, that's good.
Where's Frankie?
Well, he's....
He's out there talking to the doctors.
Probably telling them how to do their job.
They're telling him I'm a C1 and C2 complete.
Means that my spinal cord's so broke they'II never be able to fix it.
Gonna be frozen Iike this the rest of my Iife.
I asked them to tell him. I don't know how he's gonna take it.
Did you see the fight?
Of course I did.
You had her cold, Maggie.
I shouldn't have dropped my hands.
I shouldn't have turned.
AIways protect myself.
How many times he tell me that?
Yeah...
...he does Iike to repeat himself.
Will you tell him I'm real sorry?
No.
I won't do no such thing, Maggie.
Damnedest thing.
So, what's the plan?
I know you got one, so you might as well tell me what it is.
It's your fault.
Yeah, it's your fault she's Iying in there Iike that.
You kept after me until I trained her.
I knew I shouldn't have done it, her being a girl and all.
Everything kept telling me not to.
Everything but you.
I'm gonna get you out of here.
These doctors around here don't know squat.
Otherwise, why would they be Iiving out here in the desert?
As soon as you're able to be moved...
...we'II find some place where they've actually studied medicine.
You just rest there, I'II....
I'm on it.
Frankie must have called every hospital in America...
...Iooking for somebody who 'd tell him they could fix her.
He came close twice, till they checked her over...
...said there was nothing to be done.
Took two months till she was stable enough to move.
They got nurses for that, you know.
Yeah, but they're amateurs.
She developed skin ulcers because she couldn 't change positions.
Thank you.
They made the six-hour trip by ambulance.
FIy there, drive back.
The rehab center Frankie found was a nice place.
They took good care of Maggie.
She wouldn 't have complained if they hadn 't.
Took several hours every day to get her ready for the wheelchair.
One, two, three, up.
Since she couldn 't breathe on her own...
...her respirators were always on.
Oxygen was pumped into her 24 hours a day.
Maggie 's mama called to say they were all coming for a visit.
She waited by the window every day for the next two weeks.
Sure.
Frankie finally tracked them down.
Learned they'd checked into their hotel six days earlier.
Kept leaving messages which were never returned.
You don't have to hang around all day.
I Iike it here. I don't mind.
In fact, if you weren't here, I'd come here anyway to read my books.
Mama will be here soon to share some of the burden.
Well, it's no burden.
Here.
Read this.
Okay, okay, that's enough.
That's terrible.
Anyway, I'II tell you in English what you were saying.
It says:
I will arise and go now And go to Innisfree
And a small cabin build there Of clay and wattles made
And I shall have some peace there For peace comes dropping slow
Dropping from the veils of the morning To where the cricket sings.
Not bad, huh?
You gonna build a cabin, boss?
-Me? -Yeah.
You know, when you quit all this.
You mean boxing?
No, I'II never quit.
I Iike the stink too much, I guess.
You think? Because I could see you there real easy...
...with your books and Iemon pie.
How about you? Would you Iike to go Iive in a cabin?
I could Iearn how to bake.
Well, then, I'II....
Maybe I'II start Iooking then.
Yeah.
-Go ahead. -AII right. Okay, sounds good.
Hi, I'm Frankie Dunn. I met you back out in Missouri.
Where's my Iittle girl?
Don't you think you ought to go back to the hotel and change?
She doesn't know you've been here a week visiting Woody and Mickey.
We got business with my sister. Why don't you just tell us where she is.
Oh, you must be J.D. And you must be the business guy?
There's some rides you missed.
Why don't you go back. I'II tell her you couldn't make it.
I drove all the way here to take care of my child.
And you're suggesting I'm not a good mother?
Mary M. can't go nowhere.
If we could've taken her to Disneyland, we would've.
Margaret Fitzgerald?
Right down here, 301.
-Come on, Mama. -Let's go.
And I saw myself breathing.
Like, my body was going up and down.
I thought, "Why didn't somebody tell me? "
Your hair needs washing. It's kind of greasy.
It's just a....
It's just some kind of Iegal thing.
What is it?
How we all doing here?
Sorry, darling, but we ain't got a Iot of time.
Mr. Johnson's charging us a Iot of money to be here to make sure this is done proper.
Why don't you just Ieave that. I'II read it to her Iater.
Hey, old man...
...you part of our family?
Stay the hell out of this.
Read it to me, Mama.
Well, it's just something Iegal to protect your money.
Mama, you don't have to worry.
The boxing commission's paying for all this, everything.
But what if they don't, Mary M?
Mr. Johnson says they can take my house.
If you assign your assets to your mother, no one can touch them.
No doctors, no funeral expenses.
-Nothing. -Yeah, Iook, why don't you just Ieave it.
-Then I'II just read it to her Iater on-- -With respect, this ain't your business.
AII right. I'II be out in the hall.
You been a good daughter, Mary M.
You sign that paper...
...it'II take care of your family...
...the way your daddy would've wanted you to.
How do you make your mark?
Can you hold a pen?
She gotta do it with her teeth, Mama.
You gotta put it in her mouth.
Here you go, honey.
Did you see the fight, Mama?
Honey, you know how I feel about that.
I did pretty good.
You Iost, Mary M.
Ain't your fault, the way I heard it, but you Iost.
Don't wanna Iose the rest of what you got Ieft.
There you go.
What happened to you?
Well, what's that supposed to mean?
Mama, you take Mardell and J.D. and get home.
Before I tell that Iawyer that you were so worried about your welfare...
...you never signed those house papers Iike you were supposed to.
So any time I feel Iike it, I can sell that house...
...from under your fat, Iazy, hillbilly asses.
And if you ever come back, that's exactly what I'II do.
Well, maybe someone ought to count to 1 0.
Don't smell real pretty, does it, doc?
We might have to Iose it, Maggie.
They took my Ieg, boss.
It's gonna be all right, you hear?
I always hear your voice, boss.
You need anything?
I need to know what "mo cuishle" means.
But you didn't win.
I don't have to tell you.
You're the meanest man I ever met.
No wonder no one Ioves you.
You remind me of my daddy.
Well, he must have been...
...a very intelligent, handsome man.
You ain't gonna make me talk no more Yeats, are you?
No, I was...
...Iooking at this catalog from City College.
I thought I'd get you a wheelchair...
...maybe the kind that operates by blowing through a straw.
I thought maybe you'd Iike to go back to school.
I got a favor to ask you, boss.
Sure.
Anything you want.
Remember what my daddy did for Axel?
Don't even think about that.
I can't be Iike this, Frankie.
Not after what I done.
I seen the world.
People chanted my name.
Well...
...not my name, some damn name you gave me.
But they were chanting for me.
I was in magazines.
You think I ever dreamed that'd happen?
I was born at 2 pounds, 1 and a half ounces.
Daddy used to tell me I fought to get into this world...
...and I'd fight my way out.
That's all I wanna do, Frankie.
I just don't wanna fight you to do it.
I got what I needed.
I got it all.
Don't Iet them keep taking it away from me.
Don't Iet me Iie here till I can't hear those people chanting no more.
I can't.
PIease.
PIease, don't ask me.
I'm asking.
I can't.
Hello?
In the middle of the night...
...Maggie had found her own solution.
She had bit her tongue.
Stop. Stop.
Look at me. Look at me.
Nearly bled to death before they stitched her up.
She came around and ripped them out before Frankie even got there.
They stitched her up again...
...padded the tongue so she couldn 't bite.
You can ' t do it, you know that.
I do, Father.
But you don't know how thick she is...
...how hard it was to train her.
Other fighters would do exactly what you'd say to them...
...and she'd ask, why this and why that, and then do it her own way anyway.
How she fought for the title, I....
It wasn't by anything....
Well, it wasn't by Iistening to me.
But now she wants to die...
...and I just wanna keep her with me.
And I swear to God, Father, it's....
It's committing a sin by doing it.
By keeping her alive, I'm killing her.
Do you know what I mean? How do I get around that?
You don't. You step aside, Frankie.
You Ieave her with God.
She's not asking for God's help. She's asking for mine.
Frankie, I've seen you at Mass almost every day for 23 years.
The only person comes to church that much...
...is the kind who can't forgive himself for something.
Whatever sins you're carrying...
...they're nothing compared to this.
Forget about God or heaven and hell.
If you do this thing, you'II be Iost.
Somewhere so deep...
...you'II never find yourself again.
I think I did it already.
We're keeping her sedated so she won't try that again.
I went to see Maggie this morning.
You must have been somewhere else.
Yeah.
You got a fight I don't know about?
It wasn't your fault.
I was wrong to say that.
You're damn right.
I found you a fighter...
...and you made her the best fighter she could be.
I killed her.
Don't say that.
Maggie walked through that door with nothing but guts.
No chance in the world of being what she needed to be.
A year and a half Iater, she's fighting for the championship of the world.
You did that.
People die every day, Frankie.
Mopping floors, washing dishes.
And you know what their Iast thought is?
"I never got my shot."
Because of you, Maggie got her shot.
If she dies today, you know what her Iast thought will be?
"I think I did all right."
I know I could rest with that.
Yeah.
I'm gonna get a cup of coffee.
Yeah.
AII right.
I'm gonna disconnect your air machine...
...then you're gonna go to sleep.
Then I'II give you a shot, and you'II...
...stay asleep.
Mo cuishle...
...means "my darling, my blood."
He gave her a single shot.
It was enough adrenaline to do the job a few times over.
He didn 't want her going through this again.
Then he walked out.
I don 't think he had anything left.
I went back to the gym.
Waited, figuring he'd turn up sooner or later.
And that's when a ghost came through the door.
I got to thinking what you said, Mr. Scrap.
What was that, Danger?
Anybody can Iose one fight.
That's the truth.
Go on, put your gloves on. You missed a Iot of training.
Will do, Mr. Scrap. Sure thing.
Frankie never came back at all.
Frankie didn 't leave a note, and nobody knew where he went.
I'd hoped he'd gone to find you...
...and ask you one more time to forgive him.
But maybe he didn 't have anything left in his heart.
I just hope he found someplace where he could find a little peace.
A place set in the cedars and oak trees.
Somewhere between nowhere and goodbye.
But that's probably wishful thinking.
No matter where he is...
...I thought you should know what kind of man your father really was.
[ENGLISH]