hurry.
HEMINGWAY
Cutthecrap,Case.Hig,getusoutoftheclinchesandkeepthe furniture out of our way.
GELLHORN
Pardon my asking, Mr. Casey, but arenât you intraining?
CASEY
You know, maâam, IalwayspitchbetterwhenIhaveafewthenight before. It alwaysgivesmeaguiltyfeelingoutthere,andIbeardown a little harder.
HIGBE
Thatâs right. Our general manager, Mr. MacPhail, once asked Case with a month to go in the season if he could hold out and Case told him, Larry, if thereâs enough whiskey left, I can make it.
HEMINGWAY and CASEY beginboxing. GELLHORN leaves the room.Thetwo men hit each other hard andoften. HIGBE scurries around in a futileattempt to preserve lamps, chairs andother stationaryitems.
Later. HEMINGWAY and CASEY , exhausted, drop into armchairs. HIGBE unties their gloves and pulls themoff.
HEMINGWAY
How many times you go down, Case?
CASEY
I donât know. Six or seven, Iguess.
HEMINGWAY
You count the knockdowns,Hig?
HIGBE
Yeah, six, seven maybe if it werenât for him landinâ on thesettee.
HEMINGWAY
Never for more than a second or two. You knocked me down twice, Case. Youâre a tough fella.
HIGBE
Iâll say heâs tough, Ernest. One day last September the Cardinals was poundinâ Hughie pretty good and Durocher stomps out to the mound to get him. Had me warminâ up. Iâm ready to go, about to leave the bullpen, but I see Case and Leo jawinâ for a while, then Leo walks back to the dugout. I never saw so many batters hit the dirt as after that. Case musta hit eight or nine.
CASEY
Ten.
HIGBE
They beat us nine to one. Back at the hotel, I asked Case whyLeo left him in. Tell Hem what you told me,Hughie.
CASEY
It looked like the game was lost anyway, so I asked Leo to leaveme inandIwouldteachthoseCardinalhittersalesson theyâd never forget. Told Durocher Iâd put stitchmarks on their sides andbacks so they wouldnât dare dig in against me again. But my fastball ainât nothinâ compared to Kirbyâs. His heater sounds like a freighttrain cominâ in.
HEMINGWAY
Iheardasoundlikethatonce. It wasonthefrontinthe war. When I woke up, two Italian soldiers were dead and a third wasscreaming. I picked him up and carried him back to a medical tentwhile theJerrieskeptfiringtheirmachineguns.Igothitintheankle and then the knee, but I managed to crawl the last ten yards tothe tent. When I got there the third soldier was dead and mykneecap wasblownoff.Thedoctorsfishedoutahundredormorepieces of shrapnel from my leg. Three months later, I limped out ofthe hospital with a metal kneecap. Couldnât walk without a canefor almost a year.
HIGBE
Meân Caseputafewboysinthehospital,usuallyfrom throwinâ the spitter, which ainât easy to control, but even we canât competewith a machine gun.
CASEY
You win, Ernesto. Letâs drink toit.
HEMINGWAY rises with difficulty,goes overtothe bar, opensanewbottle,putsout three clean glasses, andpours.
HEMINGWAY
Fire when ready, gentlemen.
***
SCENETWO
Midnight at the Finca VigÃa. HEMINGWAY stands on the front porch of the house wearing only a pair of khaki shorts and sandals. He is holding a shotgun, which he points into the darkness.
HEMINGWAY
Comeon,youcowards!ComeintothelightwhereIcanknockyou on your asses. Iâve shot and killed leopards in less light by justthe glint off the cinder in theireyes.
GELLHORN comes out onto theporch wearing a nightgown andslippers.
GELLHORN
What is it, Ernest? Who are you going toshoot?
HEMINGWAY
Thieves in the night, Martha. Gutless creeps who callthemselves rebels to justify stealing from people whoâve worked goddamnhard to get what theyhave.
GELLHORN
I didnât hearanything.
HEMINGWAY
They donât have the nerve of jackals. You canât hear âem or see âem untilyoufeeltheirhandsinyourpockets.Someterrorists,these boys. Afraid of the tripwires.
GELLHORN
What tripwires?
HEMINGWAY
Shhh. I havenât
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