so i talked to sal --
see if he can help with anything.
he might know some people in there .
he still knows people.
you're still going to be a young man when you get out.
i know you don't think so. but listen to me . you keep your head down in there. don't start any trouble.
this should never have happened.
okay.
she's a good girl. your mother would have liked her.
do i trust her? why do j have to trust her?
where you going with this?
why would she do that?
the girl loves you.  monty. i can't believe she would betray you.
i miss those boys.
okay. i'll see you in the morning. mr . brogan removes his wallet from the inside pocket of his jacket.
forget the bus. i'll drive you. it'll take half as long. monty frowns, backing his chair away from the table.
take this. they'll let you keep it. monty holds the picture carefully. ._., ._
when you were a little kid you used to sleep in that fireman's helmet. your mother --
who did this to you?
who did this to you, monty?
i'm bringing you to the hospital. we can tell--
how you planning on getting to the port authority?
you won't make it. trains are barely running right now. i'll drive you to otisville. jesus, look what they did to you.
you don't trust my driving? i got chains on the tires and everything.
what's easy about it? easier? my god, you don't understand, do you? you don't have any idea. he touches monty's shoulder.
let me drive you there. i need to see where it is anyway, for visits. okay, buddy? help me out .
fdr is closed. i figured we'd go up first, take the triborough, catch 87 up to route 17, and then 211 takes us right into otisville. easy drive, except for the snow. monty says nothing, and mr. brogan studies his savaged face.
jesus, look what they did to you. i'll tell you what, monty, you're gonna be okay. it looks bad now, i know it, but when all the swelling goes down it's -  - gonna be okayr ~ ~" -- -
well, give it a month and you'll be better looking than ever. a fire truck rolls slowly past, chains on its massive tires. monty and his father sit in silence, letting the engine warm.
of course it wasn't naturelle.
give me the word and i'll take a left turn.
get you stitched up somewhere and keep going. find a nice little town --
i'm saying if you want. if that's what you want, i'll do it. monty closes his eyes. we hear the tire chains rattling on the snow. we hear the old engine wheezing. close on monty's ravaged face, on his eyelids. mr. brogan keeps talking and new york city melts away.
head out to the middle of nowhere.
find a nice little town.
find a bar, and i'll buy us drinks. i haven't had a drink in nineteen years, but i'll have one with you. and then i'll leave.
i'll tell you don't ever write me, don't ever come visit. i'll tell you i believe in god's kingdom and i believe i'll be with you again, and your mother. but not in this lifetime. monty approaches the bartender, a powerfully-built older man . monty speaks and the bartender listens carefully, but we don't hear the dialogue.
you get a job somewhere, a job that pays cash, a boss who doesn't ask questions, and you make a new life, and you never come back.
you find the right people and you get yourself papers, a driver's license.
and then you wait. people get caught when they come home. but you're never coming home.
and maybe -- and this is dangerous-- but maybe after a couple years you send word to naturelle. naturelle steps off the greyhound bus. she sees monty. they stare at each other, twenty feet apart. finally he goes to her, threading through the other travellers, the other waiting families. he takes her in his arms.
you forget about new york. you can't come back. you can't call, you can't write.
and maybe one day, years from now, long after i'm dead and gone, you gather your whole family together and you tell them the truth. who you are and where you came from. as monty speaks his children exchange glances. they can't really believe what they're hearing, but they know their father is telling the truth.
you tell them the whole thing. and then you ask them if they know how lucky they are to be there. monty looks at his family. he is awed by their existence, by the life he has created. he looks at naturelle, still beautiful in old age, and she smiles back at him.