how ya doin', ed?
japs had us pinned down in buna for something like six weeks. well, i gotta tell ya, i thought *we* had it tough, but, jesus, we had supply. *they* were eating grubs, nuts, thistles. when we finally up and bust off the beach we found arnie bragg, kid missing on recon; the japs had *eaten* the sonofabitch, if you'll pardon the, uh.  and this was a scrawny, pimply kid too, nothin' to write home about. i mean, i never would've, ya know, so what do i say, honey? when i don't like dinner, what do i say?
i say, jesus, honey, arnie bragg-- *again*?!
arnie bragg--*again*?!
were you in the service, ed?
mm, that's tough.
holding down the porch area?
that's quite a wife you got there.
she's a rare one.
couldn't be better. these're boom times in retailing. we're opening another store, big dave's annex, there on garson. this is strictly haberdashery--casual wear, pyjamas, ladies' foundations and undergarments. matter of fact, i'm thinking of making doris the comptroller. how're things at the, uh, the barbershop?
fine. fine. well, you might want to drop by the annex when we open, update your suit--'course, you're in the smock all day.
say, where do you get those things anyway?
uh-huh.
ed. can i talk to you?
siddown. siddown.
souveniered it off a jap in new guinea.
i guess you're wondering what doris was so hot about.
these're havanas. romeo and juliets. private stock.
ed, i.
ed, i've been weak.
i've, uh.  i've, uh.  thanks.
i've, uh.  oh, jesus. i've been carrying on with a married woman. uh, no one you know. and now the, uh-- what is it they say?--the--the--the chickens are coming home to roost.
hell, i, i'm not proud of it. but, uh, that's not the worst of it. i got a note. a blackmail note. you know, come across or everybody knows.
well, you know what that would do to me.
awkward?! ann'd throw me out on my keister! hell, it's her family's store--*her* store. i serve at the indulgence of the goddamn ownership, ed.
i only work here! and the lady's husband would know.  oh, jesus.
$10,000! i don't know what to do, ed. i don't know what i *can* do. even though i know who the sonofabitch is.
the sonofabitch. the blackmailer. it's, uh, it's no one you know. it's a businessman from sacramento. a goddamn pansy, ed. he tried to rope me into some crackpot scheme; i heard him out and then told him to go to hell. and the very next day, the very next day, ed, i get blackmailed for the same amount.
well, i guess he don't care that it's obvious.
he's staying at the hotel i've gone to with, uh, with the lady in question. must've seen us.
thanks.
oh, jesus.
that's my capitalization on the annex! *my* operation, ed! christ almighty. that's what i was just talking to doris about, a way of getting the money from the store that we could hide from ann.
embezzling, ed. from my own goddamn wife!
doris, she was pretty hot about that. god bless her. she doesn't know i'm telling you this--she's mad enough already. but jesus, ed, you're the only one i can talk to. i'm, i'm sorry i.  i better get back to the party.
i look all right?
please, ed.
please, ed.
i'm at nirdlinger's. let yourself in.
come on in.
i'm ruined.
it ruined me. this money. no annex. i'm all shot to hell.
what kind of man *are* you?
what kind of man *are* you?
i'd understand if you'd walked in here. socked me in the nose. whatever. i deserved it.
i'm not proud of what i did. but *you*.
yeah, i paid up. as you well know. and then i went and found the pansy.
got nothin' to say, huh? yeah, well, you already know the story. i didn't, i hadda beat it out of the pansy. *your* money.
what kind of man *are* you?
well.
i'm all shot to hell.
what kind of man *are* you?