The floolwing story is fictional and does
not depict any actual person or event.
March ,
All right,open up,son.
I can't do it by myself.
Come on,no half-steppin',ladies.
push it up.
six feet,girls.
First shift burrowed under the river five feet.
That means that we go six.
That's a nice shiny new helmet there,nate.
Couldn't get one with a little flashlight?
Wife wouldn't let me back down
in the hole without a hard hat.
At least your old lady cares
if you get cracked in the dome.
Oh,my sister treating you that bad these days?
What do you mean "these days"?
Tell you what alice cooked up last night,
but I don't want to rub it in.
You're lucky you got a woman like that.
Woman who don't give a man no quarter,you mean.
cave-in or blowout don't get your father-in-law,
that cough will.
He ought to retire.
Let someone carry the weight of foreman.
- That'll be you,donny.
- You think?
Like I said,my wife's counting on you
to bring all of us up out of here.
All them stories you tell...
it'd be nice to finally meet old alice.
Not in this here world.
Down here every joe's blood runs brown--
same as the muck.
But not up there.
I'm fine.
I'm fine.
- Get back to work.
- Hey,nate!
Watch it there,nate.
Eight million ways to die every day.
Not today.
Not today.
Figure on stretching that shirt out another day?
You want to check my shorts there too,hoss?
Transit workers found the body expanding the subway.
Five stories under the river.
I ain't going down there.
What's the matter,don't like tunnels?
They got rats the size of badgers.
No,man,even the rats hate it down there.
Bulldozer broke through an old service tunnel.
Found the bones.
Still Adult male.
Blunt force trauma to the skull.
Found behind a tunnel that got sealed in .
Guy needs a paleontologist,not a detective.
Could be one of those mole people?
Wasn't a mole,this was a sandhog.
- Sandhog?
- Urban miner.
d*ed with his boots on.
"Compressed air worker,number .
"If found sick or unconscious,
"return to medical decompression lock
at bertleman construction site."
Sandhogs were required to carry those badges at all times,
in case of an att*ck of the bends.
How's a miner get the bends?
Working deep underground in compressed air.
Tunnels,subways,sewers...
you name it.
Say if it's deeper than a grave,a sandhog dug it.
Looks like this poor schmuck might have dug his own.
You see those miners trapped on the news,
they move heaven and earth to get a guy out.
At least,recover a body.
This guy didn't get left behind.
He got buried on purpose.
donuts...
is that some kind of cop joke?
What,cops are the only ones allowed
to eat fried dough?
- I never eat donuts.
- Never?
- oh,you have sugar on your cheek.
- Come on and get it.
- Get over here.
- Got to eat a donut first.
- I don't want a stupid donut.
- No,first.
Come on.
Fine.
Give me the bag.
Attagirl.
Pretty damn good.
I love you.
Yeah?
Yeah,definitely.
I,uh...
I don't know what to say.
Aw,you're a detective,you'll figure it out.
Look,okay,I gotta run.
- I'll call you later?
- Sure,right.
I had osha check the state archives
on this one...
compressed air was registered
as a john donovan.
John "boomer" donovan.
You familiar?
Down-in-the-muck sandhog became head
of the local back in the ' s.
He was reported missing in .
Donovan turned hero after he took on
management then mysteriously disappeared.
Know your sandhog history,boss.
Neighborhood I grew up in, Lil, you either
became a cop, a fireman or a sandhog.
And I got this thing about being
b*rned or buried alive.
So how do we know our guy wasn't
just crushed in a cave-in?
disappeared on a sunday back in ' .
He wasn't down there working.
Theory at the time was donovan took on
management in a labor dispute.
Thought he bought himself a pair of cement shoes
and a one-way ticket to the bottom of the river.
Couldn't prove it without a body.
Only surviving next-of-k's a brother-in-law.
Robert mccallister.
An old sandhog?
Former head of the union.
If he's not at home,check down at
mulrooney's in devil's pocket.
What's that,a sandhog bar?
We got jones tavern,they got mulrooney'S.
Keep donovan's photo up there with
the top-shelf whiskey.
They're still buying him sh*ts.
Donovan was married to your sister?
Yeah,I introduced 'em.
A lot of sandhogs in your family?
Third generation.
My old man spent years in the hole.
Big mac.
Nice lighter.
Thanks.
A gift from big mac on my wedding day.
Only thing that could hold a
flame in the tunnels.
We hear management had it out
for your brother-in-law.
Sam bertleman did.
Everyone knew it.
Head of bertleman construction?
None other.
The guys were going deaf down in the hole,
getting k*lled,maimed.
Didn't stop that greedy bastard.
But donovan tried to.
Donny became foreman,he was the only one
that had the stones to take the boss man on.
When did he start organizing the men?
Just after his pal nate d*ed in the hole?
There was no stopping him.
Bobby
bobby!
- bobby!
- I'm here,pop.
Where's donny?
donny!
donny,you're ok?
you son of a bitch!
There was no masks in there,nothing!
You knew that!
- Leave it be!
- We didn't have a chance!
Nate?
nate?!
You're his wife?
You're alice?
Where is he?
Where is my husband?
You left him down there?
It happened so fast.
We could barely see.
The smoke was everywhere.
Nate?!
Nate!
Nate!
No!
Nate!
No....
wake up,nathan!
Wake up.
You promised me!
You promised me you'd come home to me!
Alice...
I'm so sorry,alice.
I really am.
you were supposed to watch over him!
You were his friend!
Couldn't blame her.
But it was misdirected.
Bertleman didn't give a rat's ass about
the safety of any of his workers.
And that's when donovan started
organizing the men?
Few months later,he disappears.
Mary said he went off to the pub,
never came home.
You figure bertleman had your
brother-in-law k*lled?
Donovan was about to lead a walkout.
You tell me.
Sam bertlemen?
Somewhere we can talk?
Yeah.
I'm kind of busy right now.
So are we.
Just found john donovan's body in
a tunnel under the schuylkill.
Not to slow you down or anything.
It's got nothing to do with me.
Might have with your old man.
My father built this city,every damn tunnel.
You think that's the first body that's
turned up underground?
This is one of his workers.
A union leader,too.
Look,the last thing my old man wanted was
to make john donovan some kind of martyr.
Funny how he turned up dead,then.
They blamed my pops 'cause it was easier
than looking at one of their own.
You saying another sandhog did it?
All that band of brothers union stuff?
Bunch of B.S.
There's this one guy zaccardo,
always causing trouble.
It ain't right what happened to nate.
But not a damn thing's gonna change
till we make it change.
Wrong tree,donny boy.
Go bark somewheres else.
Nate was one of us,zaccardo.
One of our brothers. We owe him.
You wanna walk off the job over some dead spade?
Go ahead.
What'd you call him?
You crossed the line,making a fool of yourself
with that bugaboo widow in front of everyone.
Shut your mouth!
- Enough!
- Not your concern,old man.
You don't talk about her like that!
Shut up,donny.
It's over.
Oh,it ain't over.
I can promise you that.
scaling bar,huh?
Bash a man's skull in with that.
Donovan had stones,but mateo zaccardo
was a mean son of a bitch.
Didn't appreciate being humiliated.
You think he k*lled donovan?
He was a sandhog,and down in that hole,
anything can happen.
Any idea where zaccardo ended up?
Last I heard,prison.
Caved some poor bastard's head
in during a bar fight.
Life for second degree m*rder.
k*lled a man with a crowbar outside a bar.
guy had it coming.
Did john donovan?
You had motive,opportunity,a serious beef.
He work for you?
It's time to set the record straight...
clear your conscience.
Your age,the D.A. Might work out a deal.
Time served.
I'll talk to you.
Or you can rot in prison for all I care.
It's always something with them.
What about you and donovan?
We had a difference of opinion.
We worked it out.
I'll bet.
Just because I wasn't gonna strike
don't mean I k*lled the guy.
No?
Then who did?
It was the coloreds.
They blamed him for stallworth's death.
You mean the west indian sandhogs?
West indians,afro-americans.
They can call themselves whatever they want.
They had it in for donovan in the worst way.
And how would you know?
Only place near the dig to get refills pwas
a coffee shop served coloreds.
So long as as you didn't touch
the silverware,it was fine.
coffee,please.
be ready in a minute.
It's good,you found something.
- Cream or sugar?
- Just black.
Like this place used to be?
the boys at the hoghouse passed the hat.
It ain't much.
It's the best we can do.
nate was right.
You give a man no quarter.
nate told you that?
He told me a lot of things.
Did he now.
- I miss him,too,alice.
- Not like I do.
What about getting her what's due?
The union is working on getting
some kind of settlement.
Me and nate,we paid our dues regular.
Bad enough we get shut out for the best jobs.
- I hear you,bishop.
- Do you?
Maybe a white man gotta die down in that hole
for the union sit up and take notice.
That it?
I'm gonna go.
Take care now.
I will.
you think bishop made good on that thr*at?
Well,put it this way.
I wasn't the only sandhog who ever served time.
Bishop had a record.
And a bad attitude.
You were never paid a settlement?
Bertlemen wouldn't give a dime for
a black man's life.
Bishop was pretty upset about it.
He was all bark,no bite.
You two keep in touch?
He passed...
years ago.
And,no,we didn'T.
What about you,alice?
You were pretty upset with donovan,too.
I was upset that my husband d*ed
and I can't make the rent.
Donovan helped me in a time of need.
Donovan come by regular to give you money?
To check on me.
To see how I was getting by.
He ever talk about work,anybody
who might've had in for him?
No.
Mostly,we...
just talk about nate.
Now,you like talking to him,hmm--
donovan?
He was the first man to make me laugh again.
Got to be I looked forward to seeing
him on his way home from a shift.
Sounds like donovan was there quite a bit.
Well,he didn't have much to go home to.
Meaning his wife?
Couldn't get pregnant,
so she crawled up inside a bottle.
He didn't talk about it much,and...
and I didn't ask.
Back then,people stuck it out...
even if it didn't make sense.
Just the times.
He was still married and white,
and I was neither.
Did that stop you?
One night,we were talking longer than usual...
and finally we just run out of things to say.
listen to that.
Ah,nothing in the world quite like it.
Like what?
The blues.
Nate always said you liked your music.
It ain't just music.
No?
Then what?
Makes me feel like I'm not alone
listening to that.
it's good to see you smile again.
Nate--
he always used to say a smile like that,
light up every tunnel in the city.
Come on now.
I always wondered what he meant.
Now I know.
ought to be getting home now.
All right.
- night.
- Good night.
what'd you say this song was called again?
I never said it.
- You like it?
- Yeah.
Yeah,I like it.
I like everything about it.
who is it?
Satchmo.
Hey.
Hey what?
You're not alone.
White,married man,black woman.
That could get you in trouble today.
I knew it couldn't last and it didn'T.
Must have been tough to let that go.
Anybody else know?
Just the brother-in-law.
Bobby mccallister?
Hey,lil.
Want to go for a ride?
What are you doing here?
Oh,gee,ray,it's nice to see you too,you know.
Hey.
I'd love to go for a spin.
Sorry.
At least I got a smile.
Nice to see you,ray.
You know,the way,uh...
we left it last time,that was...
nice.
Look,I,uh...
I gotta go.
Something I did wrong?
Something he did right.
You didn't take the call.
I'm not taking a ride with you either.
Come on.
I just want to talk.
So talk.
Okay.
I,uh,I got hooked into this deal with a bunch
of street bikes up in bayonne,with my shop.
Turned out to be hot.
- What do you want me to do?
- I don't know.
Call in a favor with the jersey state police?
I'm serious,lil.
These guys are,too.
I'm sorry.
Not this time.
Okay.
So,uh...
so...
See you around,ray.
Come on,bobby
You knew that donovan was stepping
out on your sister.
- With the widow of a sandhog.
- A black woman,no less.
Why open that up?
Bring shame to my family?
Dishonor my sister like that?
Oh,so this was a family matter?
That how you dealt with it,bobby?
I know mary had her problems,
but donovan was out of control.
Still Out of control how?
You gotta realize,donny had a lot
bigger problems on his plate.
Like what,bobby?
He was going ahead with the walkout,
but he had no idea what he was walking into.
chan of plans.
Things are getting stepped up.
Stepped up?
We need to know who's with us now.
Can't wait.
Why all of a sudden?
I think bertleman found out about the walkout.
What is it,bobby?
Heard bertleman hired g*ons.
Pinkertons.
- Who told you that?
- Guys are talking,donny.
Those pinkerton thugs are good for only one thing--
cracking skulls.
Guys don't need to hear that now.
Means the boss is brining in scabs,
and I got a family to feed.
What are you saying?
You're out?
Look,bobby,things get rough,
I need to know i can count on you.
Don't you see?
Bertleman knows what you're planning,
he knows everything.
What?
How's he know?
Aw,no.
- I'm sorry.
- Bobby.
He threatened my job.
Big mac,too.
I had kids.
A family.
So you told.
I'm sorry,donny.
I never forgot the look in donny's eyes.
You never mentioned it.
Couldn't have help your big union career.
You being a stooge and all.
It's something I'm not proud of,believe me.
He was like a brother to me.
You got any idea what that's like?
What,bobby?
Wondering if I was the one that got him k*lled.
Hey,you.
Hey.
- Hey.
- Hi.
What's going on?
I got a meeting over in family court this afternoon,
and so I figured I'd stop by, see if you ate lunch.
Oh, uh, yeah.
I kinda ate on the run. This case.
Yeah.
No, I figured as much.
I know you called last night.
I, um, just got...
caught up on the job.
No, forget it. I was just seeing
if you wanted to grub dinner. That's all.
It turned into a long night.
Don't worry about it.
Some other time.
Great. Uh.
Maybe tonight?
Uh...
we'll see.
look,I better run.
- Wait.
- What?
Just a second.
I love you,too.
You don't have to say it just 'cause I did.
No,I want to say it.
Okay.
Hey,kids!
- Hey,guys.
- Nick vera.
Joseph shaw.
- I remember.
- Yeah.
Will jeffries.
So you're still in town?
Yeah,I'm working with the dhs,court
and community services.
Yeah,that's right,delinquent youth.
At-risk juveniles,yeah.
- It's good work.
- Yeah. I-I think so.
We better go.
Why can't I meet a nice girl at a halfway house?
Save it.
I didn't know the guy stuck around philly.
Well,now you do.
Anything new on bertleman?
Mccallister's story checks out.
Turns out bertleman was going to squash
the strike by hiring pinkertons.
g*ons for hire.
Specialize in bashing skulls.
Might explain the blunt-force trauma.
Real interesting guy,your old man.
Not the most ethical,but...
interesting.
He was a businessman.
Sometimes you gotta play hardball.
Yeah,the pinkertons were pretty handy with a bat.
He ever tell you about them?
Heard about that, but he didn't need
them to deal with Donovan.
That right?
already had him over a barrel.
What do you mean?
Donovan was for sale?
No.Let's just say donovan put himself
in an untenable position.
yeah.
That's something,ain't it?
You wanted to see me?
I know what you're planning,son.
I'm here to tell you it ain't gonna happen.
Ain't up to you,mr.Bertleman.
Either you drop this whole strike nonsense,
or your life's about to get a whole lot bumpier.
Got me?
The only way you're gonna stop this strike,
is across the table hearing our demands.
I don't think you're hearing me.
We lost a good man down in the hole--
nate stallworth,you might recall the name.
I can't be threatened,and I ain't for sale.
No.
Kinda figured that already,son.
And if I get hurt,that's just gonna put
more of a fire in the boys' bellies.
You're right.
But...
if another poor colored woman disappears on
her way home from work,
well,ain't nobody really miss her but you.
You son of a bitch.
It's my job to know what's going on.
What'd you say your friend's name was again?
You think about that real hard.
You leave her alone.
Now get your shovel and get back to work.
One thing I learned from my daddy
about being the boss--
most times it ain't what you do,
it's what people think you're capable of.
But alice lived.
He never laid a hand on her.
Heard she left town.
That right?
When?
Around the time donovan disappeared.
Alice stallworth left philadelphia
on april of .
The same day donovan went missing.
Right.
Move to chester,pa.
What's in chester?
I thought maybe a relative,
but we couldn't locate anyone.
Found this instead.
Hospital record from november, .
- Alice was sick?
- Not sick--
pregnant.
She gave birth to a nine-pound baby boy.
Nate had been dead months.
No way he could have been the father.
So alice was pregnant when she left town.
With donovan's baby.
We know you left philadelphia,alE.
The same day donovan disappeared.
Like I said before,things got complicated.
Well,they were already complicated.
Him married,you a widow.
Black,white.
I know all the reasons
why it was wrong back then,thank you.
But then you found yourself pregnant.
It was foolishness from the jump.
I shoulda known better.
Donovan.
You gave your son his name.
I wanted to remember him...
to remember his words.
You're not alone.
Tell me what happened the night
he disappeared,alice.
I should have known it wouldn't last.
Something that special never does.
will you relax,baby?
You're gonna wear out the floor.
that the one big mac gave you?
When I made foreman.
Oh,that means something.
He chose you to lead those man.
Sometimes you gotta make touch choices,
choices you don't want to make.
Come close.
Got something special to tell you.
What's wrong,baby?
You here,but you ain't here.
This has to end,you and me.
What?
You knew this was going to happen.
What's really going on,donny?
You know what the boys would say
if they found out?
- Since when do you care about that?
- I'm a married man,alice.
Do you love her?
Even if I left my wife,which I can't,
you know it could never work.
That's not what I asked you.
Oh,come on,alice.
Us?
Out there?
Forget it.
do you love me?
no,I don'T.
go to new york,
someplace you can start over.
- I can send you money.
- Get out.
Alice...
I'm so sorry.
Not like I am.
I never listened to that song again.
You ever tell your son about him?
It was just me.
I was all he ever knew.
Donovan's lighter,the one with the cross...
big mac gave it to him?
Alice...
donovan was trying to protect you.
Protect me?
He was about to take on some guys
that played rough.
Didn't want you to get hurt.
He broke it off so you'd leave.
Maybe he was just a man afraid of the times.
Or maybe he just loved you.
Built to last forever,those things.
You know,once they even found
one inside the belly of a fish.
They pulled it out,and it lit right up...
very first time.
It still works for me.
Nothing lasts forever,right?
Except the statute of limitations on m*rder.
This wasn't a wedding present from your father,
was it,bobby?
Big mac gave it to donovan when
he made him foreman.
Not you.
Belongs to me.
The only way you could have that lighter is
if you saw donovan the night he disappeared.
I was a sandhog,too,you know?
in the hole.
But you got passed over by your own father.
He made donovan foreman.
I was his son.
His blood.
The good one.
You'd think he'd respect you more.
He treated me like a mope with a muck stick.
Like I couldn't do anything more.
And donovan could do no wrong.
Donovan the natural.
Donovan the leader.
Nothing you did was ever good enough.
Damned if I was gonna sit back and watch
him become the big hero.
Instead it was you,bobby.
With donovan gone,
you became president of local .
Achieved what he never got a chance to do.
I did what I had to do.
You got rid of him.
Finally.
Hmbut you know the worst part?
They went and turned him into a damned saint.
Heard there were scabs down here.
♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪♪
Aw,look at this.
Idiots were in the dynamite.
Lucky they didn't blow a head off.
Better check the rest of the supplies.
- I'll check over at the shaft.
- All right.
Watch your step.
They probably left the misfires in the muck.
Bobby,I'm glad you're with us.
Rough as it's gonna get.
Couldn't live with myself,
letting you go it alone.
In the long run,
it's gonna be better for all of us.
All because of you.
What is it?
- Donovan?
- Yeah?
- You got a light?
- Yeah.
Here.
Thanks.
Bobby?
Always gotta be the hero.
What are you talking about?
Bobby?
What are you doing?
Not this time.
Bobby...
bobby... help me,
bobby...
Bobby...
alice...
you're not alone.
I wonder,my little darling
where can you be this moonlit night?
Are you holding someone tight,baby?
I wonder
my heart is aching,
but I'm a fool
to let it go on breaking
maybe I'll awake to find that I'm mistaken
mm,I wonder
baby,since we're through,
I've been through lovers' lane
but in my heart,there's only pain
you went traveling,but will it last?
Well,I'm traveling nowhere fast
mm,sweetheart,mm,sweetheart
I wonder where,where,where,little baby
if this new love dies where will you be?
Will your heart come running back to me?
Mm,baby,I just wonder.