Original subtitles

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I've got your ball. I've got your ball. Now what are you going to do,

honeybunch?

Maybe if you're a very good little girl and give your old nanny a kiss, she'll

give the ball back.

to Emily.

She stole my ball.

Oh dear, oh dear, what a funny little thing. She thinks I'm a thief.

Here's your ball, honeybunch. I was only playing.

You see, Emily, the lady was only playing.

You'll have to excuse her. She's very shy. You know I know. I'm used to little

ones. I've taken care of them all my life.

As a matter of fact, haven't we met before?

I don't think so.

When I nursed the Pritchard's children, I spent many an hour... We are in this

very spot.

Stuyvesant Pritchard, you must know them. I don't believe so, no.

Very prominent people, very prominent indeed.

Mrs. Pritchard was a chisholm girl.

The Woodrow Chisholms, you know who they are, of course. No, I'm sorry.

Who they were, I should say, both passed on years ago.

That's where the Pritchard's money came from, her side.

Oh, we used to spend every summer in the south of France.

Well, I can tell you I was always glad to get back to the land of the free and

the home of the brave.

You can say what you want about French cooking. I'll take my egg and my tea any

time. We're headed for home.

So nice to have talked with you. I'll walk along with you. I have an

at four right in that building on the corner.

I'm having tea with Mrs. Terrence Packard.

She was Nina Whitfield.

20 years ago.

Time certainly flies, doesn't it? Oh, my, yes. Just to think, my little baby,

Nina, all grown up and going to have a baby of her own.

And nothing will do but that I come back and nurse Nina's baby. How nice for

you. I wouldn't do it for anyone but Nina.

I've been retired for almost two years now.

But Nina insists. She says she simply can't have this baby without her old

by her side.

So I'll get the little one off to a good start, and then I'll help her find

someone competent and conscientious like myself.

You aren't thinking of making a change in, oh, six months, are you? Oh, no, I'm

very happy with the Brooks family. I could recommend you highly to Mrs.

Thank you very much, but I... Of course, I don't really know you.

Perhaps we could have tea on Thursday and get acquainted in a friendly way.

I really couldn't on Thursday. What about Sunday?

apartment. You can meet Tommy.

That's my canary.

I know where to get some perfectly lovely tea cakes.

Vanilla eclairs that simply melt in your mouth.

We could have a cozy chat and maybe go to the movies afterward. I'm very sorry,

but I have an engagement on Sunday. They're very prominent people. Nina

the ground I walk on.

Why, Nanny.

Honeybunch, how are you? Oh, Nanny, you'll have to forgive me. I can... I

completely forgot you were going to stop in today.

Oh, of course I forgive you. I know how much you have on your mind, packing up

for the country and all. Manny, I'm so sorry. I've made an appointment. I was

just getting ready to leave.

Oh, well, you can spare five minutes for your own Manny, can't you? Well, it's a

doctor's appointment. I really ought to go right now. Oh, well, doctors never

see anyone on time. Might as well wait here as in the waiting room.

invited me to tea.

What a lucky thing I ran into Mommy the other day or I wouldn't have known about

the baby until maybe it was too late.

Too late? I might have taken another position and think what a mess that

have been. As you know, I'm not the kind to leave people once I've given my

word. One thing you know about your old nanny, she's loyal.

There's something that we have to straighten out right now.

I've already engaged a nurse for the baby.

What?

What do you mean?

I'm terribly sorry if you thought... Well, there's nothing I can do about it

now. What nurse?

Who is she?

Oh, honeybunch. You'll just have to call her up and tell her your old nan is

coming back. I really can't. It's all been arranged and settled.

Oh, dear.

Oh, dear, oh, dear. This really is a shock.

Here I am, willing to come out of retirement for you and be at your side,

over for you. After the first few weeks, I'm going to take care of the baby

myself. Oh, don't be silly. What do you know about babies?

I'll learn, Nanny. I want to.

Oh, my goodness, Nina. I've been counting on... You simply must find

that nurse another position.

No, Nanny.

Hurry up now.

Nanny's going to the movies tonight.

And you have to be all bathed and shiny clean before she goes.

Exactly whom are you calling?

Me, but that's impossible.

You don't know me.

Who is this? Who are you?

I beg your pardon.

I certainly will not.

How outrageous.

Sir, you have the wrong number.

Excuse me.

Yes? Please, would you buy me a ticket?

Please? But I don't understand why you want me to. It's after six o 'clock.

They don't admit children after six unless accompanied by an adult.

Please?

Say,

I love the movies.

I love sitting in the dark and just forgetting about everything except

happening up there on the screen.

Ah, but you have lovely hair.

Beautiful color.

You may not believe this, but when I was a child, my hair looked exactly the

same.

I wore it very much like that.

What's your name, honey bun?

Miriam.

Miriam?

Really and truly.

Isn't that an interesting coincidence?

My name is Miriam, too.

But I forget about it sometimes because nobody's called me that for years.

Everybody nowadays calls me Nanny or Miss Miller.

Why don't you have a cup of coffee, Miriam?

I'll let it go this time.

But young people mustn't call grown -ups by their first name. It's not

respectful.

Excuse me.

Did you see a child, a little girl?

A little girl?

With long blonde hair. She was sitting right here.

I don't believe I noticed, no.

Say goodnight to your old nanny, Tommy.

Here comes the Sandman to sprinkle sand in your eyes.

are you doing here?

Let me in. I'm cold.

Wandering around in the rain at this hour of the night.

Your parents must be mad to allow you to be out this late.

Your parents know where you are.

What a lovely dress.

Imagine wearing a dress like that just to go to the movies in the rain.

White is my favorite color.

White stands for purity, you know.

I like your apartment.

I like the rug and the couch.

It's very neat and comfortable.

What happened to you in the movie theater? I couldn't find you anywhere.

I don't like these.

They're imitations.

Imitations of anything make me feel sad.

How did you know where I lived?

Follow me home.

I didn't see you following me.

Aren't they dears?

My little lambs.

That's little Nina Whitfield.

Nina Packard. She is now all grown up, going to have a baby of her own.

She looks mean.

Oh, no.

She has the face of a little angel.

Mean and selfish.

A bit high -spirited, maybe.

Here she is in her wedding dress.

I cut it out of the time.

Were you at her wedding?

Oh, my, yes.

What? She wouldn't have allowed the ceremony to proceed without me there.

Did she send you an invitation?

Of course she did.

Your bird's sleeping.

Yes.

Don't wake him, honeybunch.

I hear him sing.

Well, maybe next time you come.

Oh?

Then it's all right if I visit you again?

Oh, yes.

But not at this hour of the night.

Do you like children?

What a question. I love children.

Do you love them no matter what they do?

Unless they're naughty and tell fibs.

Oh, then you're going to love me very much. I always tell the truth.

Do you have any cake?

I'd like a piece of cake before I go. Oh, what a pity. I didn't stop at the

bakery today.

Then I guess I might as well leave.

Well, would you like a nice bread and jelly sandwich before you go?

No. I like almond cakes.

Or cherry tarts.

Or eclairs.

Vanilla eclairs are my favorites.

All right, honey bunch, I'll remember that.

Why did you do that?

I told you, I don't like imitations.

You have no right to destroy something of mine, no matter how you feel about

Oh, you don't like imitations either.

You just pretend you do.

a few showers, don't you?

Just like last night.

I went out to the movies in spite of the rain.

Just before I left, I got the strangest telephone call.

To whom does one report these things, do you know?

Sir, I'm asking you a question.

What? I had a telephone call from an absolute stranger asking me to meet him

in a bar.

I'd like to know what authorities I should inform about that.

Boy, oh boy, oh boy.

Well, good riddance.

It was a mistake to ask his advice.

Respectable women like you and me will have to take action.

Cemented creatures with their rude invitations must be tracked down.

Do you think we should form a neighborhood committee?

I don't have vanilla eclairs.

I looked.

But you can't live on vanilla eclairs. You promised.

I know I did. I meant I'd have them for you at home.

Why, look. It's Millicent Castle.

She's going to be married next Sunday.

Isn't that nice?

Not a lovely wedding to go to.

Let's buy a new hat.

Something with flowers, I think, for a June wedding.

since you've heard from Melissa.

She's a flippity -jibberty little thing.

Young girls nowadays don't have time to make calls and pay visits.

But a wedding is different.

Why? She wouldn't allow the ceremony to proceed without me.

Miriam.

What are you doing with that umbrella?

I'm taking it with me.

It doesn't belong to you. The woman who left it will come back looking for it.

That's too bad.

Yes, it won't be here.

Okay, she's not going to come, Tommy.

What a pity, after all the trouble I went to to get these eclairs.

What an unreliable child she is.

Oh, we're just not going to wait any longer.

That's all there is to it.

She can ring and ring and ring.

We're going to bed.

I feel a little dizzy.

I don't feel well at all.

I shouldn't have eaten all those eclairs.

It's all my child's fault.

She'd only come on time.

Go straight to bed like a good boy.

Your old nanny isn't feeling very well and she can't be jumping up to bother

with you.

Who does that matter?

Sprinkle sand in your eyes.

Hello.

How did you get in here?

What are you doing with my things?

You don't have anything very good, do you?

These are just glass.

Besides, I don't like color.

I've been waiting for you all evening long.

I know.

Put those things down.

You have no right to go through my jewel case.

It's not a jewel case, because you haven't any jewels.

It's a trinket box.

Explain yourself to me immediately. How did you get in here?

Was it when I was in the kitchen washing up the supper dishes?

This is a pretty silver pin.

But it needs polishing.

I must have left the door unlocked.

Oh, my, this is beautiful.

Put that back.

Put everything back where you found it and leave this apartment at once.

Did you hear what I said? I want you to leave.

Let me keep this, please.

Please give it to me.

I don't feel well.

You must go now. I want this locket. Give it to me. No, it was a present from

papa when I was a little girl.

You're old now. What do you need it for?

I can't bear you.

All your naughty tricks.

Taking things that don't belong to you.

Appearing and disappearing. I can't bear it.

Would you like me to move in with you?

We can live here together and you'll always know I am.

Oh, my God.

And leave me alone.

I don't feel well.

I'm sick.

All right.

But first I'm going to give you a big kiss in exchange for the locket. No,

please don't.

Good night, old nanny.

I'm not your nanny.

Go away.

Hurry and open the door. This package is heavy.

Go away. I don't want you here.

Please open the door.

Don't you want to see the lovely surprise I brought you?

You'll have to go in a few minutes. I'm not well.

Really, you're such a slowpoke. Here, take this.

It's awfully heavy.

The roses are dying.

Yes, they've been here three days.

That's how you know something's real, isn't it?

Because real things die.

By the way, where are the eclairs?

Eclairs?

Vanilla. You know, the ones you promised me.

Oh, I... I threw them all out.

Shouldn't have done that.

But I'll forgive you.

You can buy me some more tomorrow.

See, Tommy's asleep.

Yes.

Perhaps the sun will shine in the morning and I'll hear him sing.

Morning.

I'm afraid you won't be here in the morning.

In fact, I think you'd better go right now.

Oh, you've forgotten about my box and the present I brought you.

Go on.

Open it.

See what else there is.

These are all yours.

That's right.

Why did you bring them here?

Because I've come to live with you.

But you can't.

For God's sake, go away. Go away and leave me alone.

I'm staying.

I think I'll be happy here.

I absolutely will not permit it. I don't want you in my house.

If you look underneath all my dresses, you'll find the present I brought you.

No, I don't want any present from you. Get out! Do you hear? Get out!

Hush, for goodness sake.

You'll wake the neighbors.

Look at your nice present.

And that man, please. Miller, what's wrong? What happened?

Oh, you poor dear.

Tell us, what can we do?

I'm so ashamed of me behaving this way. It sounds so ridiculous. Tell us, honey.

What's the trouble?

There's someone in my apartment.

A problem?

No, a little girl.

I'm afraid of her. A little girl?

She won't leave.

I can't make her.

She's going to do something terrible. I know she is. She's already stolen my

locket. You've got to calm down, honey.

George will go and see about the kid.

If you want her out, I'll get her out.

I'm so ashamed to be making such a fuss.

Oh, we know.

Kids today are such brats.

Is the door open?

Maybe you should give her a stiff drink.

Would you like a drink, honey, to quiet your nerves? No, I never imbibe.

All I want is to make that little girl leave me alone.

You know, I'm being tortured these days by all sorts of people. There

was that telephone call. A stranger called me up and asked me to meet him in

bar. Can you imagine such a thing? I know this child.

She just moved right in with my dresses and my doll and everything.

There's nobody in the place. I looked all over.

Are you sure?

Yeah, nobody there.

Looked all over, just nobody there. Sure she's not in one of the closets

someplace? Nowhere.

Nobody. Zero.

Did you see a box of dresses or a doll?

No, ma 'am.

I didn't.

No doubt I've been very foolish.

Well, honey, you just come right back if you need us.

Mr. Connolly said you weren't here.

Do you believe him?

Well, he was wrong, wasn't he?

Where were you hiding, you bad girl?

I wasn't hiding.

Oh, I can't stand it anymore.

All your lies.

I never tell lies and you know it.

Don't you, Miriam?

Don't you dare call me by my first name.

Apologize immediately.

Mrs. Connolly makes all sorts of excuses not to accept your invitations. She

doesn't want to accept them. The Connollys think you're boring.

You wicked, wicked girl.

Nina Whitfield Packard, she hasn't engaged a nurse for her baby at all. She

doesn't want you.

Don't.

Don't. I don't want her here anymore. Just go away.

Please, go away.

Running down the mailbox four times a day to look for a wedding invitation

Millicent Castle.

She hasn't sent you an invitation.

Yes, she has.

Why hasn't it come? The wedding's tomorrow.

Everyone lies to you but me. You even lied to yourself.

Selfish little brat.

Nasty little snip.

Ungrateful little monsters. They've forgotten all about you.

You've hardly slept through a night because of them. Cleaned up their

Nursed them who fevered. Wiped up their vomit. Lit up with their tantrums.

Liar. You've given your life to them and they don't even know you're alive.

My, they're pretty.

The flowers.

I'm very partial to juncos myself.

They had white ones, but I thought that... Oh, you're absolutely right.

That looks very nice indeed.

Oh, maybe if those stems weren't all the same length, maybe if the ones down in

front were just a little bit shorter.

Oh.

Yes, I see.

I see what you mean.

Oh, no, no, no. Don't do that. Wait a minute.

Oh.

Here.

Oh, thank you.

A relative?

Wife.

Gee, I'm sorry.

I hope it wasn't a long illness, anything painful.

No.

He was in his sleep.

Oh. Heart condition.

That's how I lost my father.

I'm sorry.

Well, at least they didn't suffer. That's some comfort.

Oh, yes.

Oh, that's going to look much better.

Wonder how long they'll last.

It's too bad. Even flowers have to pass on, isn't it?

What makes things precious is when you know they have to pass on. That's how I

felt about my pop.

My sisters only came to see him once a month, but I was with him all the time.

You only have one father in this life, and he's not going to be with you

forever.

I expect you felt the same way about your wife.

Yes.

Of course, a wife isn't the same as a parent exactly. I mean...

A man can have more than one wife without being at all disloyal.

You just lost her last year.

October.

If you married again, nobody in this world could criticize you.

They say when a widower marries again, it's a real compliment to the first

I've heard that.

You're losing your wife and me losing my father gives us something to talk

about, doesn't it?

Yeah, it was very sad.

Well, thank you.

Oh, it's nice.

There's a place here for you, too.

Nice.

Well, I mean, when the time comes, you can rest beside her forever.

For eternity.

This cemetery is so crowded.

Lots of people. They don't think ahead.

There won't be any room for them, but...

Your mind can be at peace. You know there's a place here for you.

Aren't you going to put some water in the flowers?

I don't think there's any water around. Oh, sure.

Over there on the left, down the road, there's a faucet. Didn't you see it?

Right, huh? Oh, goodness, I'll show you. No. Well, you can't leave those poor

little flowers without any water.

Oh, this was an accident.

I fell off the roller coaster in Coney Island when I was a kid.

Honest, it was in all the papers.

The lake you'll find, though, it's just a little steep.

Your... Your father, is he... Is he nearby, or... Oh, no.

Pop refused to be in the ground. He's at home.

I mean, his ashes are... Cremations are terrible sin, I know, but Pop insisted

on it.

To be honest with you, I don't really like...

I mean, it's kind of spooky having your own father in a jar that you have to

dust and all right on the mantelpiece.

You know what I mean?

I can imagine.

Oh.

I tried to put him in the china closet, but my sisters and brothers had a fit.

They said it didn't show the proper respect.

Well, uh, why didn't, uh, why didn't they?

Why did they keep the urn? Oh, they said Pop should be in his own house where

he's always been. Of course, it's my house now. He left it to me. I just

around that big old place.

It's a very well -built house.

High ceilings. You know those new apartments?

They may be new, but they have such low ceilings. I know. I live in one.

Of course, there's something cozy about low ceilings.

Here we are.

Well, it looks like I walked right past it.

Guess you're as unfamiliar with this cemetery as I am. I don't come as often

I should.

Oh, I know how it is.

You get involved with a whole new life.

New friends.

New family, even.

It's a long trip. It's two buses, one subway.

Care for a drink of water?

Yes, thanks.

This is the first time I've ever been in this cemetery.

Even though I live right nearby.

I just thought to myself today, it's a nice, peaceful place to take a walk.

it is. It is peaceful.

There's a litter basket over there.

1926 to 1930.

Boy. I wonder if that's any relation to... No, it couldn't be.

Still, it could be a cousin or a nephew.

Did you ever hear of a comic named Eddie Foy? I don't think so.

No. You're too young.

Eddie Foy was one funny Irishman.

All he had to do was open his mouth, and the audience was just rolling in the

aisles. Gee.

I used to play hooky from school to catch his act.

I thought that must be one of the greatest things in the world to make

laugh.

You know, it was like... Well, like... They were all blowing kisses, actually.

Yeah, like that.

You know, one summer when I was, oh, 15, I... I got a job in a theater selling

lemonade.

Between the acts.

And only...

And not only sold it, I made it. We used to make it in those big tin wash

buckets, you know, chunks of ice.

It wasn't exactly what you call sanitary.

Nobody got poisoned, though. That much I know.

But I used to see his act four times a day.

You know, once, a boy gave me a nickel for getting his shoes shined.

I never spent it.

I kept it as a lucky piece.

You still have it?

No, I lost that a long, long time ago. Oh, that's too bad.

Wasn't anything magic about it. Just a nickel from Eddie Floyd.

Well, thanks a lot for showing me the water faucet. Oh, would you like a

No, thanks, no.

It's been so long since lunch, you must be famished.

Thank you, I don't think so.

Well, they're fresh roasted. What's the matter? Don't you like peanuts? Yes, I

do, but, you know, it puts weight on.

Well, you don't have to worry about that.

It's the extra weight that puts a strain on the heart.

But you're not fat.

Besides, I don't think a man looks manly if he's all skin and bones.

Okay. Thank you.

You know, Rose would have a fit if she could see me eating peanuts.

But you have a big frame.

See, a man with a big frame, he needs a few extra pounds.

That's exactly what I used to say to Rose. See, you can't go by what the

says. You have to allow for big bones.

That's what I used to tell her.

Just take a little walk after dinner. You'll cancel those calories right out.

Nope. I'm the kind of guy who...

Never walks when he can stand.

Never stands when he can fit.

That's all right for you. You're a relative. How would you like a stranger

sitting on a resting plant?

Oh, be a guest, of course, my mind.

They're good, aren't they? I've practically lived on peanuts since Pop

Oh, I miss him.

Terrible. It's no fun cooking just for yourself.

Even if you can make pastries, life is a leap.

One thing Rose never had in our house was pastry.

Of course, I sometimes used to sneak out at night and... A couple of danishes

and donuts. Rose never knew. After all, I can't smell cake on your breath.

Of course, I can eat whatever I want now that I'm... Not that I'm alone.

Oh.

You haven't married again, have you?

Rose's old friends are always trying to fix me up, but I'm discouraged.

Why?

I don't like the candidates.

It was a female dentist.

First time I went out with her, she offered a cap on my front teeth.

What?

$1 ,500 job, free.

I'd like that for a bribe.

Then there was a widow.

Brownie Krakauer.

I told her to stop telephoning me. You know what she called me?

Pardon the language, Miss... Oh, O'Megan. Mary O'Megan.

She called me a... a little fat, hairy bastard. Excuse me.

As I said before, you're not fat.

By the way, my name is Beleg.

I'm a Beleg.

With an I.

Yes, I know.

I think it's wonderful to be Italian.

My sister married one. Oh, he's so full of fun and good nature and outgoing.

He's crazy about the way I make spaghetti, especially with the seafood

Oh, you ought to taste it.

Well, I only sound Italian. I'm actually Russian.

Oh, that's wonderful, too.

I'm sure Russians are just like everybody else.

Red cabbage soup, hot or cold, sour cream's delicious.

Oh, there's only one left.

You take it.

Ivy and Carla.

Bet they're cute, aren't they?

Oh, be modest. I'm sure they are. They favor their father.

You know, kids just slay me. I'd trade any grown -up for any kid.

Well, Ivy is a mother herself, you see.

Carl is expecting.

A grandfather? That's right.

You? Oh, sure.

I'm 51.

Can't say that I feel it, but... 51, that's nothing.

That's the prime of life if you look after yourself.

Of course, a man like you when he's watching over, it's not good to live

Well, I manage all right. Oh, a person alone, apt to forget meals.

Buttons off the shirt, house gets dusty.

First thing you know, they've gone all to sea.

What, what? What happened?

You sound just like my daughters. Always after me to move in with them.

They must be very fond of you.

I like my independence.

I don't like to be told what to do and when to come and when to go.

Rose was what you might call a little bossy. She liked to run things.

Be in charge.

I firmly believe that a man should be lord and master in his own house.

She had a wild imagination. She got it into her brain that I was interested in

my secretary.

More than interested, if you follow me.

Esther has been with me since I started in business 22 years ago.

She's a wonderful woman.

And I never took her out to lunch until after Rose died.

Um, your secretary, she's not married?

No, she never met Mr. Wright.

She must be a great help to you, having been with you so long.

She's devoted to her job and her hobby, bowling.

Do you bowl?

She's been encouraging me to take it up, but, um...

I can't on account of my leg.

But you'd be surprised how well I can dance.

I don't dance too well. Oh, I bet you can.

I mean, not the kind of dancing they do today, all that, you know, wiggling and

jiggling around.

No, I mean the old -fashioned kind, waltzes and fox dogs.

You know, dancing is just as good exercise as bowling.

And you have the added advantage of listening to nice music.

I do like music.

You know, I have thousands of old records. Well, hundreds.

But Papa used to work for a record company, shellacking the records until

retired.

Do you remember Helen Morgan? Do I remember Helen Morgan?

Oh, she was my goddess. I was crazy about her.

She had that white face and black hair.

I was in love with Helen Morgan.

She slays me. She just knocks me out.

She was lovely.

Nothing. You know, I know all her songs from listening to the records.

Sometimes when I'm alone and fed up, I pretend I'm her.

I pretend I'm singing in a nightclub.

I can remember that she always sat on a piano.

Could you do me a favor?

I can, certainly.

Would you listen to my imitation and tell me your honest opinion?

Your imitation of Helen Morgan?

Sure. You wouldn't be embarrassed. No, I'd love to hear it.

All right.

There's nobody around.

Go ahead, do it.

You have to use your imagination.

Pretend I'm sitting on a piano.

Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Kemp.

It's okay.

Forget it.

You're sitting on the piano.

Well, I'm sitting on the piano, and the spotlight is shining down on me.

All right.

My arms, you've been empty long enough.

What good are arms when there's no man to hold?

If he should pass by, I beg you unfold.

For my sake, I...

My eyes, you've been guarded long enough.

What good are eyes with no glance meeting mine?

If he should stop here, I beg you to shine. For my

sake, eyes, soften and shine.

Let me feel again, be alive and real again. Head over heel again,

let me try.

again radiant and high again or learn to cry again

my heart you've been peaceful long enough

what good's a heart with no reason to ache if

he should roam on I want you to break

I'm sorry, silly kid.

I feel so ashamed.

What for?

It was beautiful.

I mean it.

I do.

You can sing.

It's sweet of you to say that.

Believe me, I was touched.

It just brought back my whole youth.

Mr. Bailey, I have a good idea.

Why don't you come over to my house for dinner?

And any date you pick, and I'll make all the food really Russian, and I'll sing

to you all you want. We could play records.

Helen Morgan records.

Thank you, Miss Omega.

That's something to look forward to.

Getting on cold stone too long, you could catch him.

Then when could you come to dinner?

Well, I don't think I can make it very soon. I'm way behind in my work.

You know what happens to us tax fellows in April?

Oh, well, you just pick.

Sometime you'll be free, and I'll see to it that I'm free, too.

I'll be working nights for a long time.

I don't think I'd better commit myself right now.

Better be getting back at Slate, and she'll give me help.

Your secretary.

She'll probably have phone messages waiting for me and all that, and she has

bit when I'm not there to close the office with her.

You're the boss, aren't you?

Well, Esther keeps a tight rein on me. She's a lot like Rose, in that respect.

She's the one who made me wear this top coat.

Esther says it's not spring until she says it's spring.

Mr. Bailey, I don't want you to think I asked just anybody to dinner.

Oh, of course not.

You're really a very likable person.

Maybe you won't think so because of what I'm going to do.

I want to ask you a very personal question.

Mr. Bailey, have you ever considered marrying again?

At my age?

By the way, I told you a little fit before.

I'm not 51, I'm 55.

And who the hell would want me?

Oh, I'm sure there are many women who'd want you, Mr. Bailey.

Well, I was married 27 years.

It's enough for one lifetime.

This night, all I want is my TV and some beer and

play poker once a week.

I don't want to be responsible for a puppy even or a cat.

Well, certainly been pleasant meeting you, Miss Amin.

Same here.

May I walk you to the gate?

It's a pleasure.

Since my father died, my whole family's been after me to get married.

Poor Mary.

What's to become of her? Grown woman doesn't know how to tie, take shorthand,

can't even wait on table because of her leg.

All I ever hear is, Mary, why don't you get married?

Why fight that?

You're a fine person. You should get married.

You make for a man a really wonderful wife.

Sure I would, but who?

Especially if you're just an ordinary person like me.

No, no, not at all. You're not ordinary.

Couldn't you do something with your talent, your voice?

Don't.

Oh, fun. I am ordinary.

But so is my friend, Annie Austin.

Funny, isn't it?

Things that work out for one person don't necessarily work out for another

person. Well, how do you mean?

Well, she met both her husbands in a cemetery.

Both?

Mr. Cruikshank, and after he ran away, Mr. Austin. So you see, for her, it

worked out.

How did she happen to be in a cemetery?

She went there on purpose.

See, first she'd read the obituaries, and then she'd go to some funerals.

Sort of hung around and introduced herself and sympathized. That didn't

too well because, you see, the family's always there watching like hawks.

So then she hit on the idea of just going to the cemetery.

On a nice day, she'd come here, she'd go to Woodlawn.

There's always widowers walking around thinking how much they miss home life

wishing they were married again.

Oh, my.

Even I can see the humor of it. But it does sound sensible, don't you think?

Yes, I think so.

That's why I came here today.

Wanted to try it myself.

I wish you'd tell me frankly.

How does a woman find a husband when she's not young and pretty?

Well... Esther's not young and pretty.

I guess you two have a lot in common, huh?

Yes, we do.

Well, it seems like a terrific combination, the two of you.

Well, I guess I'll just have to keep trying.

I'm not lazy by nature.

You'll find someone.

A livelier person than me.

They're pretty.

I'm very partial to tulips myself.

Good luck, Miss Omega.

Thanks for the peanuts.

A coming of winter morning more than 30 years ago.

The person to

whom she is speaking is myself.

We are cousins, very distant ones, and we have lived together well as long as I

can remember.

Other people inhabit the house, relatives, and though they have power

and frequently make us cry, we are not on the whole too much aware of them.

We are each other's best friend.

She calls me Buddy, in memory of a boy who was formerly her best friend.

The other buddy died in the 1880s when she was still a child.

She is still a child.

There it is.

It's fruitcake weather.

I knew it before I got out of bed.

Courthouse bells sounded so cold and clear.

No birds singing.

We've all gone to warmer climates, yes, indeed.

That becomes today.

Let's stop stopping biscuit and go and fetch our buggy.

I don't wanna do that.

Oh, buddy, we're going in there.

Now, hold up that fence bone.

See?

Now, I'm... Oh, buddy.

Simply do not admire a man who puts up a barbed wire fence.

What do we do if Mr. Callahan comes out here?

We'll thank him nicely for his windfall pecan.

Maybe we could promise Mr.

Callahan a cake.

No.

Our cakes are presents for people we like and admire.

Look.

There's lots here.

Of course.

Lovely ones.

And

you

didn't want to come. Why, you would have missed all the fun.

Oh, my back hurts.

Mine doesn't.

Oh, well, I should hope not. You're too young.

When I'm old, you'll be very old.

Yes, you'll have to bake all the cake yourself.

No.

Yes.

And I'm not going to do a little work.

I'm just going to sit in my rocker and watch.

You'll never be that old.

You mustn't do that.

The start will never stop, and that's barely enough as it is for 30 cakes.

Should we go into the store tomorrow?

Yes, indeed. Right after lunch, as soon as I finish my ironing.

That's the part I like best.

Buying things.

The only thing we don't have to buy for our cakes is the pecans.

All the rest, cherries and citron, ginger and vanilla, candy, pineapple,

and lemons, flour and butter and eggs, all that we have to buy at the grocery

store. This involves money. The trouble is, we have so very little.

Sometimes persons in the house provide skin -flint sums. A dime is considered

very big money.

I can throw myself to the thought that they aren't my parents.

What we do have...

We've earned ourselves from various activities, holding rummage sales,

buckets of hand -picked blackberries and homemade jam and peach preserves.

We also round up flowers for funerals and weddings.

Once we won 79th prize, $5 in a national football contest. Not that we know

a full thing about football.

It's just that we enter any contest we hear about.

When we go to the store tomorrow, let's go straight to our post box.

You're thinking about the coffee naming contest.

It's too soon to get a letter.

They said winners will be announced before the first of the year.

What if we win?

$50 ,000.

A .M. Coffee.

I would like a pound of A .M. Coffee, please.

Oh.

Does sound delicious, Betty.

And I wonder, I wonder if we ought to have added that slogan, though.

I am a man.

People might think it's sacrilegious.

Coffee companies love slogans.

We'll win first prize.

That's your pick to show money?

Until Christmas.

We'll need it for the cakes.

I won't go to the picture show.

I want you to go.

I'd like to have you come home and tell me the stories.

Why don't you ever come with me?

I'd like to hear you tell me the stories.

Besides, a person my age shouldn't squander their eyes.

When the Lord comes, let me see him clear.

In addition to never having seen a movie, she has never eaten in a

traveled more than five miles from home, received or sent a telegram, read

anything except funny papers in the Bible, worn cosmetics, cursed, wished

someone harm, told a lie on purpose, let a hungry dog go hungry.

$12 .73.

I make it exactly $13.

Oh, oh, I hope not, buddy.

We can't mess around with $13. The cakes will fall. We'll put somebody in the

cemetery.

I wouldn't even get out of bed on the 13th.

Well, shall we count it over again? I'll

tell you what.

Just to be safe.

Let's throw a penny out the window

Good afternoon, ma 'am. How are you all today?

Just fine.

Now, I have a long list, and we are going to need your complete attention.

I shall indeed, ma 'am, give you my complete attention. We have 30 cakes to

this year.

That's a generous lot of cakes.

I'm told that last year you didn't have enough of the candied pineapple.

We have plenty of it now.

All the way from Hawaii.

I'll take a pound and a half.

That's 50 cents a pound, ma 'am.

Comes to 75 cents.

Count it out, buddy.

Of the ingredients that go into our fruitcakes, whiskey is the most

as well as the hardest to obtain.

State law forbids its sale, but everybody knows you can buy a bottle

Ha Ha Jones.

And so we are bound for Mr. Ha Ha's business address, Fish Fry and Dancing

People have been murdered in Ha Ha's cafe.

Cut to pieces.

Hit on the head.

There's a case coming up in court next month.

Buddy?

What?

Isn't so bad looking, is it?

It's real pretty, all those decorations.

I hope Mrs. Ha -Ha is home alone.

I hope Mr. Ha -Ha isn't there.

Is he an Indian, too?

They flew me, never lie.

That's why they call them ha -ha.

I'll knock.

What do you want with ha -ha?

If you please, Mr.

Ha -ha.

We would like a quart of your finest whiskey.

Which one of you is drinking, ma 'am?

Oh, we... We want it for making fruitcakes, Mr. Ha -ha.

Cook in.

That's waste of good whiskey.

Two dollars.

Tell you what.

You just send me one of them fruitcakes instead.

Oh, you mean a sort of trade?

Oh, thank you very much, Mr. Ha -Ha.

Thank you very much indeed.

Thank you very much, Mr. Ha -Ha.

Evening to you, Mr. Ha -Ha.

Good evening, Mr. Ha -Ha.

Did you see that?

He's flailed! Well, he's a very lovely man.

We'll put an extra couple of rings in his face.

our cakes for?

Friends? Not necessarily neighbor friends.

Indeed, the larger share are intended for persons we've met maybe once.

Perhaps not at all.

People who struck our fancy.

Like President Roosevelt.

Like the Reverend and Mrs. J .C. Lucy, Baptist missionaries to Borneo who

lectured here last winter.

Or the little knife grinder who comes through town twice a year. Or Abner

Packer, the driver of the six o 'clock bus from Mobile, who exchanges ways with

us every day as he passes in a dust cloud.

Or the young Wistons, a California couple whose car one afternoon broke

outside the house and who spent a pleasant hour chatting with us on the

Young Mr. Wiston snapped our picture, the only one we've ever had taken.

Is it because my friend is shy with everyone except strangers that these

strangers and merest acquaintances seem to us our truest friends?

I think yes.

Also, the scrapbooks we keep of thank yous on White House stationery, time -to

-time communications from California and Borneo, the knife grinder's penny

postcards, make us feel connected.

to eventful worlds beyond the kitchen with its view of a sky that stops.

It's all up to the post office of the United States of America.

You can come to them, buddy, as long as President Roosevelt is in charge.

And right after New Year's Day, we can start looking for our thank -you notes.

so empty.

Everything's gone.

The growth.

It's all over, isn't it?

Well, my goodness, that's no reason to feel sad.

We should feel proud and happy.

We ought to celebrate.

We ought.

We are going to celebrate.

Have you ever tasted straight whiskey, buddy?

We are both his relatives.

Tastes right in the family.

We have to have a toast.

We have to drink and honor somebody.

Nice and warm down here, though.

Uncle Charlie used to drink this for a chest cold.

I like it.

Well, it wouldn't be a recipe for fruitcake if it wasn't good, no.

I'm going to just get clean a little bit.

Go ahead.

Aren't you?

Oh, but, buddy, you hurt my heart a minute ago when you said this kitchen

empty.

And, you know, when you come home from the movies and you tell me all the

stories about what you saw, I see everybody you're talking about right

this kitchen. I can just see them before my eyes.

You know, sometimes there are just so many in here, there's just hardly room

me.

What was that one you were telling me about? Oh, it was my favorite. Now, let

see. It was about the gypsies when they were all...

You must be loony. Yeah, loony. Don't you remember Uncle Charlie? Don't you

remember Cousin Kate?

How about Uncle Charlie's brother -in -law?

Anyone in town hears about this, what a scandal. Get down on your knees and

pray. Beg the Lord to forgive you.

I'm old and funny.

And funny.

Fun. More fun than anybody.

Listen, if you don't stop crying, we won't be able to go cut a tree tomorrow.

Oh, buddy.

I know where we can find real pretty trees.

farther than we've ever been.

Papa used to bring us Christmas trees from there, carry them on his shoulder.

That's 50 years ago.

I can hardly wait for morning.

Give you two bits cash for that old tree.

Oh, no.

We wouldn't take a dollar for it.

A dollar?

Fifty cents.

That's my last offer.

Goodness, woman, you can get another one.

Oh, I doubt it.

There's never two of anything.

Our next project is the fashioning of family gifts. Of course, the most

important present for each of us is what we give one another.

I am building her a kite.

I am fairly certain that she is building me a kite the same as last year and the

year before. The year before that, we exchanged slingshots, all of which is

by me, for we are champion kite flyers who study the wind like sailors, my

friend. more accomplished than I, can get a kite aloft when there isn't enough

breeze to carry clouds.

Christmas Eve, we scraped together a nickel to buy Queenie's traditional

Our work is finished.

Now all that is left is the long wait till dawn.

I can't sleep a hoot.

My mind is jumping like a jackrabbit.

Oh, buddy.

Do you think Mrs.

Roosevelt will serve our cake at dinner?

I hope so.

It seems like your hand used to be much smaller.

Oh.

Well, I guess I hate to see you grow up.

When you are grown up, will we still be friends?

Always.

I feel so bad, buddy.

I wanted so bad to give you a bike.

I tried so hard to sell my cameo Papa gave me.

I made another kite.

I made you a kite too.

The household emerges.

Of course, they'd like to kill us both, but it's Christmas, so they can't.

Join hands.

I'm disappointed.

Who wouldn't be? With socks, a Sunday school shirt, some handkerchiefs, a hand

-me -down sweater, and a year's subscription to a religious magazine for

children. The Little Shepherd.

It makes me boil.

It really does.

I think you'd better drink your milk in the kitchen, buddy.

Why? Because it's in the kitchen, that's why.

When did you do that?

Oh, the other night when you were sound asleep, dreaming whatever boys dream

about.

Oh, how I wanted to give you a bicycle.

I wanted to give you a whole pound of chocolate -covered cherries.

Oh, well.

It's bad enough in life to have to do without something you want.

But what gets my goat is not being able to give somebody something you want them

to have.

But I'd rather have a kite.

Really, I would.

One of these days I am going to locate you a bike.

Don't ask how.

Steal it, maybe.

Oh, buddy, the wind is blowing.

Come on.

is blowing and nothing will do till we've run to a pasture below the house

Queenie has scooted to bury her bone and where, a winter hence, Queenie will be

buried too.

We unreal our kites, feel them twitching at the string like sky fish as they

swim into the wind.

Satisfied, sun warmed, we sprawl in the grass and watch our kites cavort.

Oh my, how foolish I am.

You know what I always thought?

Our body had to be sick and dying before they saw the Lord.

I imagine that when he came, it would be like looking at a Baptist window.

Pretty as colored glass with the sun pouring through.

Such a shine you wouldn't know it was getting dark.

Comfort to me.

Shine. Take away all the spooky feeling.

But I wager it isn't like that. I wager it never happens.

I wager at the very end, a body realizes that the

Lord has already shown itself.

The things that they are, just what they have always seen.

What's the end here?

As for me, I could leave the world with today in

my eye.

This is our last Christmas together.

Life separates us.

Those who know best decide that I belong in a military school.

And so follows a miserable succession of bugle -blowing prisons, grim, revelry

-ridden summer camps.

I have a new home, too, but it doesn't count.

Home is where my friend is, and there I never go.

And there she remains, puffering around the kitchen, alone with Queenie,

then alone.

Buddy dear.

She writes in her wild heart to read script.

Yesterday, Jim Macy's horse kicked Queenie bad.

Be thankful she didn't feel much.

I wrapped her in a fine linen sheet and rode her in the buggy down to Simpson's

Pasture, where she can be with all her bones.

For a few Novembers, she continues to bake her fruitcake single -handed. Not

many, but some.

And, of course, she always sends me.

The best of the batch.

Also, in every letter, she encloses a dime wadded in toilet paper.

See a picture show and write me the story.

But gradually in her letters, she tends to confuse me with her other friend, the

buddy who died in the 1880s.

More and more, 13th's are not the only day she stays in bed.

A morning arrives in November, a leafless, birdless coming of winter

when she cannot rouse herself to exclaim, Oh my,

it's fruitcake weather.

And when that happens, I know it.

A message saying so merely confirms the piece of news some secret vein had

already received.

severing from me an irreplaceable part of myself, letting it loose like a kite

on a broken string.

That is why, on this particular December morning, I keep searching the sky

as if I expected to see, rather like hearts, a lost pair of kites

hurrying toward heaven.