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On the Waterfront Scene 5 Summary

  • Edie comes back to her father's apartment, and he tells her he's sending her back to college.
  • He saw her walking with Terry and warns her about him: he's the brother of Johnny's right-hand man, Charley.
  • Edie says Terry wanted to see her again…
  • Her father tells her that one of his arms is shorter than the other from working so hard—this is because he wanted her to get a good education.
  • Edie tells him that she appreciates all he's done for her, but that she wants to stay in the city and find out who killed Joey.
  • Later, she goes up on the roof and finds Terry with the pigeons and a kid named Jimmy, who's a member of the "Golden Warriors," a youth gang that Terry himself apparently started.
  • They talk about how Joey liked pigeons, and Terry mentions that pigeons mate for life. Then, he asks Edie to go get a beer with him. She agrees.
  • At the bar, a bartender teases Terry about his boxing career. Edie asks him about it, and he explains how he became a prizefighter.
  • After his father was "bumped off"—he doesn't say how—he and Charley were sent to a boys' home. He hated it there and ran way.
  • When he became a boxer, Charley "bought a piece of [him]," making him throw fights for money.
  • Terry asks Edie what's going on with Father Barry, saying he must have some kind of racket. Edie insists he's an honest priest.
  • Edie asks him to help her figure out who killed Joey, but he says that he can't. Now, Edie's way too sad to drink anymore.
  • He apologizes for not being able to help her. She says she knows he would if he could, and leaves.
  • But Edie leaves through the wrong door, entering a crowded room, and Terry gets up to show her the right way out.
  • She starts crying, thinking about Joey. Somehow, Terry gets her to get up and dance with him…
  • But the moment gets ruined when one of Johnny's thugs tells Terry that Johnny wants to talk with him.
  • Then, a member of the Waterfront Crime Commission shows up and serves Terry with subpoena papers, forcing him to testify about Joey's murder.
  • Edie wants him to testify, urging him to go after Johnny Friendly.
  • Terry says he can't, and Edie really does leave.