:04:03
Then he subtracted that number from the
original weight of the unsmoked cigar.
:04:11
The difference was the
weight of the smoke.
:04:24
He's a writer.
:04:26
Lives in the neighborhood.
:04:28
And what kind of writer
is he? An underwriter?
:04:31
Very funny. Some of the
cracks you make. Tommy,
:04:35
sometimes I think you
should see a doctor.
:04:37
You know, go in for some
wit therapy or something.
:04:40
To clean out the valves in your brain.
:04:43
It was just a joke, Auggie.
:04:45
The guy's a novelist.
:04:48
Paul Benjamin. You ever hear of him?
:04:52
That's a stupid question.
:04:53
The only things you guys
read is the Racing Form
:04:56
and sports pages of the Post.
:05:00
He's published three or four books.
:05:04
But nothing now for the past few years.
:05:07
What's the matter? He run out of ideas?
:05:09
He ran out of luck.
:05:11
Remember that holdup out here
on Seventh Avenue few years back?
:05:14
You talking about the bank?
:05:15
The time those two guys started
spraying bullets all over the street?
:05:17
That's it. Four people got killed.
:05:18
One of them was Paul's wife.
:05:21
The poor lug, he hasn't
been the same since.
:05:25
The funny thing was, she stopped
in here just before it happened.
:05:29
To stock up on cigars for him.
She was a nice lady, Ellen.
:05:33
Four or five months pregnant
at the time, which means
:05:37
that when she was killed,
the baby was killed, too.
:05:41
Bad day at Black Rock, eh, Auggie?
:05:44
It was bad, all right.
:05:48
I sometimes think that if she hadn't
given me exact change that day,
:05:53
or if the store had been
a little more crowded,
:05:57
it would have taken her a few
more seconds to get out of here,
:05:59
and then maybe she wouldn't have
stepped in front of that bullet.