"Our sense of morality is actually rooted in the circuitry of our brain." "But how much of that circuitry are we born with, and how much of it is shaped by our life experience?" "Clearly, our families can influence our sense of morality." "So can societal values... everything from Hammurabi's code to the Ten Commandments to the five essential do's and don'ts of online dating." "Or so I'm told." "There are so many external reasons why we follow certain rules or conduct ourselves in certain ways." "But is it also possible that some people are born with a stronger moral character than others?" "Sir?" "You said that you wanted to see me." "Mr. Lewicki." "Do come in." "It must be nice, hmm?" "Uh, sir?" "To be so young." "You've got the world by the tail, young Max." "I..." "I..." "I do?" "Well, if you consider a one-year fellowship to the Max Planck Institute for Human Brain and Cognitive Sciences in Leipzig, Germany," ""the world by the tail," then, yes." "A... are... are you nominating me?" "So, I take it you're interested." "No." "Y... yes." "I..." "I would love to go." "But what about Dr. Pierce?" "Listen, Max, I knew you'd be concerned about that, but it'd be wrong of me to not have offered you this opportunity simply because Dr. Pierce depends on you." "Think about it." "I don't need an answer just now, but should you decide you want to pursue it," "I'll smooth things over with Daniel." "Okay?" "Thank you, sir." "Mm-hmm." "What were you two talking about?" "Um... nothing, doc." "Just stuff." "Well, your stuff is throwing me off my schedule." "I need to get home." "You know, doc, tomorrow is Tuesday." "There's a fascinating tidbit, Lewicki." "And it's also trash day." "Why are you telling me this?" "Because I'm going to put out the trash." "Am I supposed to give you a pat on the head?" "I was just wondering..." "suppose..." "I wasn't around." "Would you have known that tomorrow was trash day?" "Lewicki, as long as you work for me, I don't have to know, so please, don't ever remind me again." "Okay." "Don't move!" "Oh, doc!" "Stop!" "That's my brother." "Man, you got milk all over my kicks!" "Forget your damn shoes." "What are you doing here, Kenny?" "I came to see you." "It's been, like, forever." " Why didn't you call?" " My phone died, and I was waiting outside, but it got cold." "How did you get in?" "I raked the lock with a paper clip." "By the way, mister, you really need to get a dead bolt." "Yeah." "Already on my list." "Doc, I am so sorry about all this." "Would you please tell me what is going on?" "I'm not sure." "He doesn't want to talk about it." "It might be about his foster parents." "Look, tomorrow, I'll make some calls, and I'll try and find out what's going on." "Just for the night, can he please stay here?" "Yeah." "He's a Lewicki." "Of course he can stay." "Actually, Kenny still goes by "Rivers."" "I changed my name when the Lewickis adopted me." "You were Max Rivers?" "With a name like that, you could have batted leadoff for the Cubs." "When I was 13 and Kenny was 6, that's when we got split up." "I ended up with the Lewickis, and after a while, they adopted me." "But Kenny, he's been stuck in the system all this time." "I keep tabs on him, but..." "I guess, lately, I've just been so busy." "Why have you never told me any of this?" "You never asked." "There." "As good as new." "You like my kicks?" "What is with the shoelaces?" "Is that some new trend?" "No, no, no, no, no." "That's all me." "I invented that." "That's Kenny style." "Come on, Kenny." "What's going on?" "Look, I just don't need people telling me what to do anymore." "Is this about the Trotters?" "Is living with them not working?" "Well, you don't have to stay there, man, we'll figure something out." "Well, I already figured something out." "I'm moving to California." "And don't flip out." "I got a job lined up and everything." "And what about school?" "Well, I..." "I quit." "Kenny, you..." "Max, look, all right?" "I got it all planned out." "I'm gonna be a welder." "They give you classes." "They train you." "And word is, welders are in hot demand right now." "I know it is a hard job, but the helmets are kinda dope." "Oh." "Okay." "So you want to be a welder because they wear cool helmets." "No, look, it's not like, okay?" "It's a good-paying job." "And when you run a weld bead, that bead could hold a bridge up or a ship together, you know, for like 100 years." "Something I did is gonna be in the world for a long time." "Kenny... you are 16 years old." "You cannot just quit school and run off to California." "I can if you lend me some money." "And once again, you're not listening." "I'm tired, all right?" "Can we talk about this in the morning?" "I need to crash." "You still snore?" "I don't snore." "Oh, really?" "Man, that is not right." "Oh, and, Max, man," "I'm sorry if I caused a problem between you and Mr. Pierce." "It's fine." "You need to get some sleep." "I also need to finish this report for Kate." "You know how she gets." "I see." "A closed case from three months ago... that's really important." "Why else would I stay up all night?" "Maybe because there's a young black man sleeping in your house." "News flash..." "I've had a young black man sleeping in my house for some time now." "Not one who broke in, told you a shifty story, and has made you so nervous that you haven't slept a wink." "Are you sug... are you suggesting that I'm a racist?" "Maybe it's perfectly reasonable that you're wary of him." "Morning, sir." "Officer Conklin." "Is there a problem?" "We're investigating a series of robberies in the neighborhood." "Folks down the street spotted a young black male, approximately 5'10", 15 to 18 years of age prowling around last night." "Have you seen anyone who fits that description?" "No, I can't say that I have." "But I'll, uh, I'll be sure to notify you if I do." "In the meantime, it'd be wise to shore up your doors and windows." "Know what I'm saying... homey?" "Who was that?" "A cop." "There were other break-ins in the neighborhood last night." " Really?" " And they're looking... they're looking for a young African-American male." "Whoa." "H... hold on." "Y... you don't think that means Kenny, do you?" "You think it's a coincidence?" "Doc, I think you're jumping to conclusions." "What's up?" "Here's that follow-up report you've been hounding me about." "Daniel, not once have you shown up unannounced to give me your unfinished paperwork." "What's really going on here?" "What do you mean, "what's really"..." "Okay, I... feel creepy about this, but I need you to run a background check..." "Kenneth Rivers." "Forget breaking and entering, Daniel." "This kid's wanted for murder." "What?" "Yeah." "The U.S. Marshals have a warrant out for his arrest." "I'm gonna have to notify them." "Well, s... shouldn't we give Lewicki a heads-up?" "I could ask the Marshals to extend a little professional courtesy, maybe let me bring Kenny in quietly." "Agent Moretti." "I spoke with Deputy Bass on the phone." "He's already inside." "Damn adrenaline junkies." "They told me they'd wait." "Agent Moretti." "Let us through." "Get off me!" "You're breaking my arm!" "Lewicki?" " Which one of you is Bass?" " That'd be me." "I'm agent Moretti." "I'm the one you spoke to on the phone." "I'm sorry." "We couldn't wait." "Well, you should have!" "You're arresting the wrong guy!" "This is not Kenny Rivers." "This is the suspect's brother." "His name's Max Lewicki." "Well, if you're not him, then where is he?" "He's upstairs, taking a shower." "Looks like someone went out the bathroom window." "Son of a bitch." "All right, let's case the neighborhood." "Go!" "Kate, can you please tell me what is going on?" "!" "Max, I'm sorry, but your brother is a fugitive." "The Marshals have a warrant for his arrest." "What do you mean he's a fugitive?" "What do they think he did?" "He murdered a drug dealer." "My brother did not murder anybody!" " Come on!" "This is stupid!" " That's enough out of you, son." "Hey, Deputy Dawg, the least thing they could do is take off the damn handcuffs!" " Who's this guy?" " Dr. Pierce." "This is his house." "He's the one who alerted me." "You did what?" "!" "Max, all Daniel did was come to me with questions." "When we found out there was a warrant out for Kenny," "I couldn't sit on that information." "Well, that information is wrong." "And you made a mistake, but I guess you're good at doing that." "All right, that's it." "We're taking you in." "Aiding and abetting a fugitive." "Let's go." " You can't do that." " This is bullshit!" "Hey!" "You can't do that!" "Stay calm." "Max, I will take care of this." "So, what are you asking me to do?" "I want you to go downstairs, tell those morons to cut Lewicki loose." "What makes you so sure the guy's innocent?" "Oh, come on, Donnie." "You know how those guys can be." "They're embarrassed they arrested the wrong guy, so they hauled Max in to save face." "This isn't my case." "Yes, but you are the assistant U.S. attorney." "Come on, can't you just go down there, whip out your credentials, show 'em whose are bigger?" "Max." "Thanks for getting me out." "Well, they should never have taken you in." "Any word on Kenny?" "He's still at large." "No offense, but that makes Kenny sound like a criminal, and I'm real tired of hearing that." "Max, I'm sorry." "That marshal kept badgering me about Kenny, but he wouldn't tell me anything." "The victim was a drug dealer." "His name was Bootsie Smith." "He was shot at point-blank range this past weekend over in Rockford." "At this stage, Kenny's our sole suspect." "From what we know, he's been on the run for going on four days now." "So, someone saw Kenny shoot this guy?" "No, but a weapon was recovered at the scene." "Then how do they know it was Kenny's?" "Gun was wiped clean, but his prints were found on the shell casings." "Well, wait... wait a minute." "Fingerprints on the shell casing doesn't mean he fired the gun." "Anybody could have fired that gun." "Besides, Kenny wouldn't be mixed up with a drug dealer, never mind shoot one." "Max, Kenny's been working as a corner boy for a guy named Earl Franklin." "Franklin is one of the biggest drug kingpins in all of Illinois." "Victim worked for a rival crew." "Max, it's possible that you didn't know your little brother as well as you thought you did." "I am sorry." "What" " Max." " Where are you going?" "To find Kenny before they kill him." "Take a breath, Lewicki." "You've had a rough day." "Oh, really?" "You think today is the first time" "I've been busted for being black?" "Do you know how many times" "I've been stopped by cops for no good reason?" "Ever wonder why I dress the way I do?" "Would I like to wear a hoodie coming home from the gym?" "Yeah, I would, but I don't." "Because I don't want to be hassled!" "Sorry." "I..." "I didn't realize." "Look, I'm going to Rockford to find out what's going on." "Well, then get Kate to go with you." "Folks in that neighborhood don't talk to cops." "They might talk to me." "Then I..." "I'm canceling my classes and going with you myself." "Thanks, doc, but you'd stick out like a sore thumb." "Oh, 'cause I'm white." "No, because sometimes you can be a bit errat.." "Oh, I'm erratic?" "At the moment, Lewicki, that's like the pot calling the kettle..." "I'm going with you." "I'll tell you what we told the marshals." "We haven't seen or heard from Kenny since last week." "Okay, but he's been gone for four days, and you don't bother to report him as a runaway?" "Hey, listen." "At any given moment, we could have three to four foster kids." "We can't go calling social services every time one of them decides to blow off some steam." "Right." "Besides, if you report Kenny gone, bye-bye, benefit check." "We do the best that we can." "We try to provide a structure, set limits." "But Kenny's a teenager." "Like a lot of teenagers, he's not exactly on the straight and narrow." "Okay, so blame him for your lack of supervision." "Hey, when was the last time you called to check on your brother?" "Look, I'm sorry." "Okay?" "I'm just worried." "Listen, Kenny told me he wanted to go to California." "I don't know if that was just a story or if there was anything to it." "I've never heard him talk about that." "Well, how about a girlfriend?" "Kids these days don't have girlfriends." "They run in packs." "Okay." "Any other friends?" "Yeah." "He had this one friend..." "he would come over a lot, would bounce the basketball in the house." "Drove me crazy." "You remember him?" "Oh, yeah." "I wanted Kenny to hang out with him more." "Nice kid." "Hell of a ballplayer, I guess." "Got a scholarship to Notre Dame." "Do you remember the kid's name?" "Charlie Clark?" "Who wants to know?" "I'm Kenny's brother." "Oh, man." "You're Max, huh?" "Kenny bragged on you a lot." "Is he a cop?" "He's a science professor." "I feel so low, man." "I mean, Kenny's like a brother to me." "He'd do anything for me, give me the shirt off his back." "Everyone's saying he shot that dude, but..." "I don't believe it." "It's really good to hear someone say that." "Look, is it true that he got mixed up with some dealers?" "Yeah." "Man, I told him not to quit playing ball." "I mean, he didn't think he would play, but I told him he could if he just put the work in." "Charlie, have you heard from him?" "Since you're his brother, I, uh..." "I talked to him this morning." "Where was he?" "I don't know." "Man, he was hyped." "All he said is he was taking it one day at a time, and today he was going swimming, and he hung up." "How many black kids you know know how to swim?" "That is such a racist assumption." "Doc, what the hell are you talking about?" "You didn't h... nothing." "I'm sorry about that." "Okay, you said he was going swimming?" "It's not always about race, pal." "You seen many swimming pools in this neighborhood?" "Does Kenny know how to swim?" " No, he doesn't." " Huh?" "He said when he was little, you took him swimming all the time." "Said it was his favorite thing he did with you." "Thank you." "When we still lived together," "I used to crack open this fire hydrant on hot days." "We called it "going swimming."" "Remember that one time when the water spray shot out so hard, it flew ray Jennings across the street?" "You need to turn yourself in, Kenny." "Why?" "Nobody's gonna believe me." "Look, I'm gonna get you a good lawyer." "And Dr. Pierce... he has connections at the FBI." "Look, we are gonna put an army together." "For real?" "Yes." "But you got to stop running." "Look, all it does is make you look guilty, Kenny." "Even to you?" "No." "Not to me." "Kenny, Mr. Bauer's one of the best lawyers in town." "He won a lot of big cases." "So just tell him what you told us." "There's this guy..." "Darius." "He's a big dog." "He said if I wanted to move up, he had a job for me... go rip off Bootsie." "He'd be going by to kick it with his girl and holding a lot of cash." "The trick was, no one knew when, so I had to go there and wait." "Wait where?" "A window well across from his girl's crib." "I hid down there." "Okay, so, then Bootsie shows up, and then what happens?" "No, no." "I wish." "Like seven hours go by, and Bootsie's still a no-show." "It was like 5:00 in the morning." "I was wrecked." "I was just about to forget about the whole thing, but then Darius came." "I told him I wanted out, but he said it was too late for that." "He said not to worry, though... he had my back." "Right then, Bootsie came walking around the corner, so me and Darius jet across the street." "I guess he must have heard us coming, because he turned around and slapped the gun out of my hand." "Next thing I know," "I'm on the ground, getting kicked in the head." "And that's when it happened." "What happened?" "Bootsie pulled out his gun, and Darius snatched up the gun that I dropped, and he shot Bootsie." "Darius Johnson is the number three in Earl Franklin's organization." "Your fingerprints were found on the shell casings, not Darius'." "Well, they did give me the gun, and I did load it, but I guess Darius must have wiped it down." "You didn't see him wipe the gun?" "Well, I think I blacked out for a quick minute because when I got on my feet," "Darius had left me there all alone." "So, we're gonna make a deal, right?" "As long as his story holds up." "Guess I'll go pick up Darius." "Kenny's trying to be slick, huh?" "He's trying to pin that murder on me?" "That's the headline." "Good luck making it stick, shorty." "Darius has an alibi." "He was at an after-hours club, hosting a launch party for a new record label." "He was there all night with 120 people." "He didn't leave until 7:00 A.M." "That's two hours after the shooting." "So you're saying Kenny's lying?" "Look, Max, I'm sorry, but unless there's some other possibility that I'm just not seeing..." "Maybe... maybe there is." "Daniel, what are you talking about?" "I'm not sure, but I..." "I..." "I have to talk to Kenny first." "You said you waited for Bootsie for seven hours." "What did you do all that time?" "Man, I told you the story like three times already." "Kenny, I'm trying to help here, but I need to know more, because right now, this is not looking good for you." "There's only two things to do... stay on the lookout and try and get comfortable." "At first, I was cool." "But Bootsie was just not showing up." "And after a while, it got real tough staying down there in that hole." "What did you do about food?" "Did you drink anything?" "I didn't bring anything to eat or drink." "I didn't think I'd be there for that long." "I wish I'd brought some water." "My legs were cramping." "Do you know how long you'd gone without sleep?" "Counting the night before, I'd say, like, 28 hours." "Were you on anything?" "I don't do no drugs." "So how did you stay alert?" "The danger, I guess." "I hate the dark as it is." "It... makes you feel lonely." "And I knew I didn't have the nerve to rob that guy." "I just wanted to leave." "And that's when Darius showed up." "Then I wasn't going anywhere." "And he's, what, a tough guy?" "The iceman." "Nothing bugs him." "Where did he come from?" "What?" "How did he get there?" "A car?" "On foot?" "I don't know." "He was just there." "Kenny isn't lying." " I knew it." " But I think he did it." "What?" "I think Kenny experienced a phenomenon known as sensed-presence effect." "In times of great stress, when a person's alone, the brain can sometimes hallucinate someone else there supporting them." "Lack of sleep, dehydration, anxiety, hunger... they can all bring this on." "So, Darius wasn't there, but Kenny thinks he was because his brain conjured up his presence to help him cope?" "That's a real thing?" "Yes, it's a real thing." "It's happened to mountain climbers, a 9/11 survivor..." "Exactly." "Charles Lindbergh on his flight to Paris... they all reported someone there assisting them when there was no one." "But, doc, it does not explain what happened to Kenny." " Lewicki, you just said..." " No, no." "Y... you're wrong, okay." "It's one thing for a person to sense a presence, but it's an entirely different thing to substitute in your mind that this presence somehow committed a physical act that you yourself did." "I... that's true." "I also think that Kenny disassociated." "I think he conflated the imaginary presence with himself." "Hold on." "What?" "Exactly!" "Kenny is not a cold-blooded kid." "Far from it." "Which is why I think he was so traumatized by what he'd done that he assigned blame to his sensed-presence creation, Darius." "Wow." "Unbelievable." "Because you're crazy means my brother's crazy, too?" "A hallucination?" "Doc, that is your explanation for everything!" "Lewicki, this is gonna help." "Now, if I testify, do you think you can put on a temporary-insanity defense?" "Well, insanity is always tough to prove, but your testimony could be just enough of a pain in the ass that the prosecution could plead this down to involuntary manslaughter." "Oh." "Well, hallelujah." "That was a close one, doc." "Congrats." "Your genius just remains intact." "And, hey, what does it matter if you just send my baby brother to prison?" "Lewicki!" "Lewicki, can't... can't we discuss this?" "There's nothing left to say." "I'll be back for the rest of my things when you're not here." "Nice going, Daniel." "Way to alienate your most loyal friend." "What was I supposed to do?" "Not tell him the truth?" "Well, what makes you so sure it's the truth?" "Maybe you came up with this unusual diagnosis just to satisfy your own preconceived notions." "Now you sound like him." "Well, you must admit... your theory's pretty out there." "It makes perfect sense!" "Then why are you still struggling?" "Because it's... just a theory." "I can't prove it." "Daniel, you know good and well that sometimes the only way to prove your own thesis is to disprove all the others." "Does Darius' alibi hold up?" "A club full of people saw him." "Did you talk to every one of them?" "Okay, wait..." "I'm confused." "I thought Kenny's lawyer was copping a plea based on your theory that Kenny did commit the murder." "Maybe my theory was wrong." "The great Daniel Pierce... wrong?" "What prompted this groundbreaking admission?" "Well, I'm probably not wrong." "Okay, good." "Thought I lost you there for a second." "But before we put Kenny away for life, we owe it to Lewicki to be 100% certain." "I think 120 people's pretty certain." "Is it?" "All those people claim they saw Darius." "But in a crowd that large, can any of them truthfully say that they can account for his whereabouts every single moment of that night?" "Well, it was about a mile from the crime scene." "Darius could have slipped out, driven over, met up with Kenny, and killed Bootsie." "And been back inside the club within 15 minutes without having been missed." "If we're gonna prove something like that, we're gonna need a witness." "Dean Haley." "Mr. Lewicki." "I've, uh, decided I'd like to go for that fellowship." "Well, I must say I'm surprised, but I think you've made the right choice." "I will be sure and speak to Daniel for you." "You know what?" "Don't... don't bother." "In fact, until I'm officially accepted," "I'd like to be assigned to a different professor, and if you could somehow get me into the dorms," "I'd appreciate it." "Okay, Max." "What's going on?" "Well, look, Dr. Pierce is trying to help the FBI lynch my brother." "That's a pretty charged word, Mr. Lewicki." "You sure you want to stand by that?" "I don't know, okay?" "Maybe." "I heard about your brother." "Yeah?" "Have you also heard that Dr. Pierce came up with some wild neuroscientific theory that proves my brother did it?" "I hadn't, but that is neither here nor there, because I can tell you that Daniel Pierce is a lot of things, but he is not a racist." "I know." "I'm just so damn angry right now." "I understand, Max." "I'd be angry, too." "But you need to ask yourself..." "are you mad at Daniel... or are you angry at your brother because of the possibility that he might just have committed this crime?" "I already tell police..." "I no see anything." "Well, that's strange, because the sign outside says you're open 24 hours." "There was a gunshot right outside, and you heard nothing?" "My grandson... very sick all night, so I close for few hours to be with him." "Daniel, you okay?" "I just saw a cockroach." "Are you having an episode?" "No, I just saw a cockroach." "Listen, if you're scared that people will find out that you talked to us, we can protect you." "But if you don't tell me what you know," "I'm calling the health department." "I'm not just talking about a bad grade or a fine." "I will have this place shut down." "So I hope you have another way of making a living." "It was still dark." "No customers." "So I was sweeping, a... and I hear "bang!"" "And I go to window." "I see black man with gun... standing over a pile... maybe body." "So I pull down blind." "Okay, he was over 100 feet away, and it was pretty dark outside." "How can you be so sure?" "I keep peeking out blind, a... and when boy run away, h... he run right by this window." "Take your time, Mr. Li." "Turn around so I see from back?" "Sure." "Turn around, please." "Face forward." "I don't see him." "Send in the next group." "Again... take your time." "Turn left." "And face right." "Turn around." "Please face the back wall." "And forward." "Number 4." "Now I have to tell Lewicki that instead of exonerating his brother, we sealed his fate." "Yeah, I was hoping that Sen Li would pick out Darius and not Kenny, too." "You didn't really buy that I.D., did you, pal?" "You know they all look alike." "All black people look alike." "Daniel!" "N... no, I don't..." "I don't mean I think that, but... but it's not solely a myth." "There is some good science behind the idea of cross-racial bias." "People have a hard time discerning the faces of a race other than their own." "Bauer could call me as a witness to discredit Sen Li's I.D. of Kenny." "Okay, I didn't hear you talking about cross-racial bias before the lineup." "Besides, Sen Li just looked at 10 African-American men and definitively picked out the primary suspect in this case." "Ohh." "She got you there." "You really stuck the knife in that kid's back." "His... back." "Oh, Daniel!" "Mr. Li!" "You kept saying "turn around."" "What... what could you see looking at those men from behind that you couldn't see facing them?" "Shoelaces." "The boy I point to, he tie laces around the back of shoes." "So?" "All day, I see many kids, but no one else tie shoe this way." "So, on the night of the shooting, explain to me again exactly what you saw." "I alone, sweeping floor." "Hear gunshot." "Go to window." "Did you get a good look at the boy who ran by your window?" "Face, I don't see good." "But then I see shoelaces flopping behind boy as he run." "Thank you, Mr. Li." "Well, the I.D. won't hold up, but once again, we have proved that Kenny was the shooter." "All that proves is, this guy saw Kenny running away." "Well, then Kenny lied again." "According to his statement, when he fled the scene, he ran off in the opposite direction." "Unless he isn't lying." "Assume that Kenny did run off in the direction he says." "So it was Darius who Mr. Li saw running away?" "Maybe, you know, if Darius ties his shoelaces the same way." "I got I.D.'d off my shoe strings." "Kenny, this is good news." "It's not bad." "Look, Agent Moretti has a new theory." "What new theory?" "She's trying to prove that Darius tied his shoelaces like you do." "Oh." "Well, you can forget about that, because he didn't." "Okay, so maybe it wasn't Darius." "Maybe somebody else shot Bootsie." "How does that make any sense?" "Because you said that you were dazed." "Maybe you made a mistake." "Maybe it wasn't Darius you saw pick up that gun." "It could have been someone else that shot him." "Have you ever seen anyone back home wear their shoes the way you do?" "It's like I told you." "That's Kenny style." "No one else ties their laces like I do." "And Agent Moretti is gonna find that out." "W... what are you... what are you saying, Kenny?" "Kenny, what are you saying?" "I'm sorry, bro." "You were wrong about, your, uh..." "sensed-presence diagnosis." "You already made that clear." "Yeah, but..." "I was wrong, too." "Turns out Kenny lied about the whole thing." "I'm sorry, Max." "You know, I really thought I was mad at you, doc, for not helping my brother." "And Dean Haley, he figured I was mad at Kenny, but... truth is, I've just been mad at myself." "Why?" "Here." "Want to see a really good joke?" "Check on my phone." "Forget about a phone call." "I haven't even sent him a text message in three months." "Not a "yo, Kenny, what's up?"" "Just nothing." "We all get caught up in our busy lives, Max." "You're not alone." "Yeah, but maybe if I had paid more attention, he wouldn't have changed so much." "What do you mean?" "When we were kids, when we were still together... one of our foster brothers accidentally broke this little red hat lady figurine thing, and when our foster mom found out, she... she blew up." "I mean, she lined us all up, and she was gonna destroy whoever did it." "And out of nowhere," "Kenny just blurts out that he did it and takes the blame for the kid." "So she picked up this yardstick, and she took it to Kenny good." "And I remember him crying his eyes out." "But he never did give that kid up." "So, while I'm not looking, my brother changes from this stand-up kid into this... lying-through-his-teeth killer." "It's the law of the jungle, doc." "A leopard never changes his spots." "I don't think Kenny killed anyone." "I think he's the same kid he used to be and he's doing it all again." "He's doing what again?" "Lying to protect his brother." "How's he protecting me?" "You're not the brother I'm talking about." "Brick." "Max." "You weren't concentrating." "Even I could see that." "How about when someone's watching?" "I'm good under pressure." "I see that, too." "You don't let people throw you off your game." "Yeah, not usually." "Kenny confessed." "What?" "Yeah." "I know it's hard to believe, but... it looks like he's going to prison." "Oh, man." "I appreciate how you've been like a brother to him." "I only hope Kenny's been as good a friend to you." "Yes." "You said before that he would have given you the shirt off his back." "You mean that?" "Yeah, for real." "What about the shoes off his feet?" "Oh, man." "Aw, come on, man." "Charlie, we both know Kenny is protecting you." "But they're gonna put him away." "Can you live with that?" "If I say I did it, then it'll be me in jail for the rest of my life." "Maybe not." "If it was a mistake or self-defense, maybe a judge will understand that." "But if you do nothing," "Kenny goes away, and he's never coming back." "Every morning, I, um..." "I get to the park by 5:00 A.M. to get my early workout in." "But on that morning, I noticed..." "I noticed some of Franklin's boys were hanging out." "They were talking about Kenny and this job he got sent on... how he's supposed to rip off Bootsie Smith over at his girl's, everyone knows Boots, and I knew exactly what that meant." "Then one of the dudes started taking odds on whether Kenny would make it back alive or not." "When I heard that..." "I dropped my ball and I ran and I got over there as fast as I could." "When I came around the corner, I s..." "I saw these two guys." "Give me your money!" "As I ran up," "I saw Bootsie pull out a gun and aim it at Kenny." "My heart was about to bust out of my chest." "Then I saw the gun on the ground, and I snatched it up." "And I, uh..." "I shot Bootsie before he could shoot me." "I didn't know what to do." "I..." "I couldn't think." "But Kenny was cool." "Charles." "Charles, look at me!" "Take your shirt and wipe the prints off the gun." "Okay, now drop it." "Get out of here, man." "I can't leave you, man." "Look, everybody knows I was coming here, okay?" "The cops are gonna be after me." "Go." "Wait." "Your shoes got blood on them." "Take them off." "I'll get rid of yours." "What are you gonna do?" "Go by the Trotters', get some cash, shoes, and go." "Go." "Get out." "I didn't know what else to do, so I told myself that he wouldn't get caught." "Charlie, I know it's like asking you to walk into a nightmare, but I really need you to tell the police what you just told me." "Please?" "No one asked you to save my ass, Max." "I wasn't about to let you go away for the rest of your life for something you didn't do." "Charlie saved my life!" "Now he's got to pay for that?" "!" "He had a 3.7 GPA!" "He slept with his basketball!" "Everything he did was so that he could go to Notre Dame!" "Listen, if you testify on Charlie's behalf," "Mr. Bauer thinks he can cop a plea." "Look, it's not over for him, either, Kenny." "Look, him spending even one day in jail because of me is a waste." "My life ain't worth nothing." "Listen, you shut your damn mouth." "Okay?" "You don't ever say that again." "You hear me?" "Max, I've blown my chances!" "No, you have not!" "It's not too late for anything!" "All right." "Six months from now, I get out." "Then what?" "You get back on track." "You go back to school." "Back to Rockford?" "Darius is over there waiting for me!" "Then how does Florida sound?" "Florida?" "Yeah." "The Lewickis retired down there." "I told them what's going on, and they want you to come live with them, Kenny." "Max, I don't want to go live with no old people." "Where in Florida?" "South Beach?" "Middleburg." "Oh, man." "Mr. Lewicki." "I just wanted to tell you" "I've... changed my mind about that fellowship." "Mm." "I'm sorry to hear that." "Maybe next year." "I respect your loyalty to Dr. Pierce, but one of these days, you're gonna have to start thinking about what's right for you, and not what's necessarily right for everyone else." "Hmm?" "Yeah." "But not right now." "I've got too many other responsibilities." "Thanks." "Studies have shown that having a larger orbito-prefrontal cortex correlates to having more friends, which proves once and for all that... size matters." "That's not all that matters." "What kind of friends are we talking about?" "Work friends, Internet friends... friends with benefits?" "Friends who put up with your garbage... or a best friend?" "Common sense tells us that the more you nurture a friendship, the deeper it grows." "Conversely, if you neglect it, it's bound to fade away, unless your friend happens to be family." "In which case, you're pretty much stuck with them..." "No matter what." " synced and corrected by chamallow "