"I got Redis, son." "Two for one, two for one." "Got that Rasheed and Beno." "Rasheed and Beno." "Put some ice on his nuts." "Tried and true, that shit always bring a nigger back." "Where we gonna get ice from down here ?" "Walk him up to bon secours." "Rasheed and Beno, Rasheed and Ben." "Can we have an eight-ball ?" "An eight-ball ?" "So, how you doin' today ?" "No offense, but could we just get the eight-ball ?" "A-ight, a-ight, just bein' social." "Got it right here, yo." "Thank you." "Yo, y'all hear about Mack Man jewelers got took off las' night ?" "All this shit in that rowhouse." "Down yonder." "Like a must-move situation." "15 on the dollar." "Y'all want some slammin' ice, go inside and tell my man Rafik sent you." "Lighters, pipes, matches." "Pipes, lighters." "You need 'em, I got 'em right here." "Pipes." "Redis." "Two for one, two for one." "As' me if it's loaded, bitch." "Redi-sons, two for one." "Anything up ?" "Just a good package." "Three O.D.'s last one didn't look too good before by the ambo came, neither." "There's more inside, Carv." "Gah-damn !" "Can't yoever get a fucking poh-lice 'round here when you need one ?" "!" "Moral Midgetry" "Okay, on that burner ?" "I called Trac, gave 'em the serial number." "Trac Corporation tells me that they sent it to Northland a purchasing corporation." "Northland tells me they sent it to their distribution center in Hagerstown." "Hagerstown tells me they sent it to buddy's Mondo Mart at one-four-four-o Propane Road, Falls Church, Virginia that's where it went out into the street." "What ?" "Did buddy have them on display to the left or the right of the cash register ?" "How would I know that ?" "Alright." "As for the numbers in the phone's speed dial we got one local number one number that tracks to Bodie's grandmother's house on West Baltimore Street and six others numbers that are all assigned to Trac disposable cell phones." "And those phones were all purchased outside the city." "One each in Catonsville, Laurel, Bethesda and stores in Virginia, at Springfield, Dumfries and Lakeside." "Everything is along I-95, from here to almost Richmond." "They're driving 200 miles every couple of weeks out of sheer caution." "It's beautiful." "What is ?" "The discipline of it." "In your life, did you think you would ever again see" "Mount and Fayette like this ?" "Those ain't touts, ya hearing, brother." "Those are birds chirping'." "How ?" "I'll show you." "You say no whistles, no muscle, no flexing'." "You supposed to be all over that shit, man." "You even said it's supposed to be like the valley of eden." "To serve, and protect, motherfuckers." " Call it poetic injustice." " I want to file a report." " Say what ?" " You heard me." "You want to make a complaint to us that you were selling drugs and someone took your money ?" "Fuck yes." "Fredericksburg ?" "They're going all that way to buy cell phones ?" "One here, two there." "No wholesale purchases." "They're dumping phones every two weeks or so and still they're worried about catching a wiretap." "Just 'cause you're paranoid doesn't mean someone's not out to get you." "Right ?" "Be nice to know who's buying all those cell phones, though." "Oh, God." "Yo, yo, yo, yo." "You up, ol' man ?" "They do have a point though, right ?" "I mean, we tell 'em to comedown here without the guns and then we fall down on providing protection." "It's like the stickup crews have these hoppers feelin' like they live in a lamb pen." "They see one more gun ?" "Gandhi-world falls apart, this I guarantee." "So what are you doing about it ?" "I sent a few of the vics over to the district with Herc." "Let 'em play with an ident-a-kit, but you know how that goes." "But can I be honest ?" "It's not just the wolves circling the corral." "We got 50, 60 kids on the inside been fight or flight since they popped out of the chute and right now they're just thumb-up-their-ass hangin'." "All these ex-runners, ex-lookouts." "That shit worries me as much as any carnivores out there." "If you want to neutralize a threat ?" "Give it a job." "As ?" "Auxiliary cops." "Keep an eye out for the predators." "You got the dealers paying' 'em to do nothing now anyway ?" "Kill two birds and all that." "Right." "Throw 'em some bikes, maybe police radios." "We could do that." "I was being... you're serious ?" "What in God's name did you do here ?" "W.M.D. Got them W.M.D.'s" "Hey, how you doing ?" "We're looking for a guy who came in here 10, 11 days ago, dropped cash on a couple of disposable phones ?" "10, 11 days ago ?" "Yeah." "Black, most likely." "That really narrows it down." "How about we just check on some of your security tapes ?" "From 10 days ago ?" "Unless there's an incident." "We re-use those video tapes every week." "Every week ?" "It's Mondo Mart policy." "That went well." "Yeah ?" "Brianna Barksdale called for you." "Who ?" "D'angelo Barksdale's mother." "You get her number ?" "You got a pen ?" "Four-one-oh, seven-one-eight, nine-four-apple-three." "Got it ?" "Alright." "You gonna call her ?" "I dunno..." " It's all yours." " Thanks, Jay." "Hey, check it out." "Mondo Mart, Mondo Mart, Mondo Mart, Mondo Mart." "We're fucked." "Until we get here..." "Baba Jani Food Mart, Dumfries, Virginia." "We're gonna go 100 miles on the off-chance this guy has a memory or a camera ?" "Do you really wanna go home early and disappoint Lester Freamon ?" "Who was that who rang ?" "Guess who's calling homicide looking for me on D'Angelo Barksdale ?" "His mama." "Yeah ?" "Shit, I forgot I'd even tried to press that thing and now she's calling up asking questions." "Waste of her time as it was mine." "Kinda like this road trip." "He do look natural." "This motherfucker Marlo ?" "We gonna have to get deep on this nigger." "I mean it feels like ain't shit change except for a growing lightness in my wallet." "Where's my letter of approval, man, from the preservation motherfuckers ?" "My right-of-way agreement ?" "My sign-offs." "Hold on, hold on, hold on, everything's right around the corner." "We got both the plumbing and the electrical inspectors on for tomorrow tuesday the fire department's coming out, and that should do it, String you'll be on your way." "And by the way, congratulations." "You are now minority contractor for light bulb supply to the Board of Education, city of Baltimore." "What the fuck I know about light bulbs, man ?" "Do you know how to put the words on a B-and-B letterhead ?" "Come on, man, relax, white guy's doing all the work." "You're just his beard for the empowerment grant." "That's an extra five g's a month for just laying in the cut." "See how it work ?" "I'm gonna bring you along, String, but... it ain'tonna be an overnight thing." "We spend this year dealing with the city the next doing business with the state." "However, year three ?" "Then we go for the gold." "Then we go federal." "Then we see the man with his hand on the faucet." "What faucet ?" "The hud faucet, the money faucet." "Look, man, I don't know why we got to wait three years for that shit ?" "I'm ready to run now." "No, you're not." "I mean, forgive me, but... you still showin' a little bit of that street corner mentality." "buggin' about every dime you spend about the permits, about setting up a pac about dropping cash into re-election war chests which by the way, is how i get my gravy." "Look, it takes money to make money, String otherwise, hell, every pauper'd be a king." "You know what I'm saying ?" "I'm ready to run now." "Three years." "Crawl, walk, and then run." "Naw man, nappy up there a little bit more." "And the eyes." "He had little beanie eyes." "What the fuck is beanie eyes ?" "You know, little rat-eyes." "Yeah, a-ight." "Yo, put a mole on there." "He didn't have a mole." "He did too." "You was just too busy shitting yourself with that whistle to your dome to see the motherfucker." "Shit, fuck I did." "How do you know how to do this ?" "Man, how you don't now how to do this ?" "Make his ears stick out." " Why ?" " 'Cause I told you to." "Ho shit, okay." "Give him light eyes." " Why ?" " 'Cause I fuckin' told you to." "Okay, can you make 'em cross ?" "This is fuckin' cool." "Check out these knuckleheads on the make-a-face." "Fuck this shit." "Look, I'm just tryin' to make my district liveable." "Write off a few blocks in a few places but I save the rest." "No offense, but you're like the blind man and the elephant." "It's a lot bigger than what you got your hand on you just can't see it." "See what ?" "A great village of pain, and you're the mayor." "Where's your drinking water ?" "Where's your toilets, your heat, your electricity ?" "Where's the needle truck, the condom distribution, the drug treatment intake ?" "Half these people are dying on their feet and the other half's gonna catch what's killin' 'em." "Look, they ain't no worse off than when they were all over the map." "Now they just in one place is all." "And that place is hell." "Look, I'm a police." "So I can lock a man up or I can move his ass off the corner." "Now, you want anything more than that you're in the wrong shop." "Hey, yo, make her hair a little bit more straight." "Make it long." "With bangs." "Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about." "Now chinese up them eyes, like Beyonce." "Get them cheekbones up a little bit." "Naw, man, that's too much." "She starting' to look like a pie tin with hair now, yo." "Hang on." "Yeah, alright." "Pillow up them lips a little bit." "Oh yeah, hook me up with that." "Yo, you got one of these does asses ?" "What ?" "Yeah, that's what's up, dang." "Hey, guys." "How you doing ?" "We're looking for a cash purchase in here maybe a couple Trac phones, week or so back." "Black guy most likely." "Oh sure, that guy." "Every two weeks for him." "Last time, eight phones." "Almost $900." "That's a lot of ring dings, no ?" "Ring dings ?" "A joke." "You got some kind of transaction record ?" "Sikh and ye shall find." "Hang on." "Hang on." "$927.24." "Can we have the tape for that day ?" "No tape." "I rewind every day." " Keep this ?" " Sure." "The fuck do we do now ?" "Buy this guy a box of videotapes ?" "Or camp out in this shithole for a week, hoping our boy runs the same route ?" "I just know, I got to put my mind on something or I'm gonna slide back." "Need to be in control of myself, you know what I'm sayin' ?" "Take command of your life." "Something." "Cultivate some self-discipline." "Or whatever." "What if I told you that there's a certain liberation not in command or in self-control but in surrendering ?" "Well, that depends on who you're surrendering to." "Oh, that." "All due respect ?" "You can stow that patter right here and now." "Look, it ain't about me doin' for me, I don't think." "Might need to be about more than that." "So you're bringing in an overall decline of two percent for the month but if I read this correctly, almost half of that's coming from an eight percent drop in the western district ?" "Major Colvin is himself willing to acknowledge the possibility of a statistical variation from the mean in his monthly stats." "Variation, huh ?" "Gentlemen, if I look through the western incident reports am I likely to find less crime, or more incidents which have been downgraded or unfounded ?" "Because this kind of variation screams manipulation to me." "And if I'm wrong about that if indeed there is no manipulation involved" "I would like to know exactly what it is that Major Colvin has learned about police work that eludes the rest of your commanders." "Councilman, I assure you these stats are not massaged." "We don't do that." "I don't do that." "And I won't allow my people to do that." "Our feeling is that it's genuinely an aberration and if it repeats itself next month then it bears closer examination, otherwise..." "Moving on to new business then." "How are we fixed for witness assistance ?" "Does the department have sufficient funds to ensure pre-trial security for any endangered witnesses ?" "We have the resources that the city can afford, I'm sure." "I understand you're in no position to criticize the Mayor." " Nor would I." " Nor would you." "So allow me to ask the question:" "What is this city willing to pay, to make it possible for ordinary people to come down to the courthouse and perform the civic duty of bearing witness against gangsters and criminals ?" "What resources are commensurate with that kind of commitment ?" "You can play the good soldier, if you want, Commissioner." "But I want to go on the record here in saying that this administration has passed the buck time and again." "And failed to protect those citizens who demonstrate that kind of commitment and put their lives and livelihood at risk." "And I would only like to add, that I feel as my colleague does that this administration has failed this community miserably." "And we need to do something about this." "Y'all are friends." "Y'all like brothers." "You lose that you lose every damn thing." "Kids messed up the good hoop now they got one looks like the original peach basket an' they hangin' onto it like a tit." "I don't know." "Maybe I should get up some kind of tournament." "You play basketball ?" "Never was much for balls and sticks." "I was all about my hands." "Boxer ?" "Yeah." "Boxing." "I know a place where some of the kids go, but... it ain't nearly close enough to here." "I wouldn't mind takin' a look at it." "Get a mental picture at least." "What the hell is goin' on here ?" "Police pushed all the action down here and a couple other places." "The Deacon thinks that maybe some people should come in here and take over this situation ?" "You that people ?" "One of 'em, maybe." "Roman, man." "Dennis." "You should lay back on this one." "Lemme go talk to Buford Pusser in there alone." "Excuse me ?" "And what it shows people is that I know my business that I will hold people accountable based on the facts." " This is about what's right." " There you go again." "What ?" "Do you think politics is only about winning the argument ?" "That whoever has the right fact at the right moment wins ?" "Clinton had facts." "Kennedy had facts, yeah." "But Reagan ?" "He couldn't have summoned a fact if his life depended on it." "It's not just facts, it's how you use them." "And Tommy, when you get hold of a fact or two you go smartass and start beating on people." " That's because..." " Clinton and Reagan ?" "When they got up to speak they gave everyone in the room comfort and confidence." "You liked those guys." "You were happy to think that they even liked you." "You're saying I'm not likeable ?" "Jen ?" "When you're at home, talking with me not the council, not the cameras, you're great." "When you tell me what's really important to you" "I believe." "You're smart and you're ambitious and you've got a sharper tongue than most." "You can hold court and you can tell a good story and you can win the argument if you want." "All of that shows, Tommy and at a Baltimore city council meeting it shows well but if you want to be mayor or senator, or governor one day  show them something more." "Baltimore, huh ?" "Went up there to the harbor with my wife for our anniversary ?" "Charged us $12 for two beers." "Shit, that's the least of it." "The whole damn town's gone to hell in a handbasket and guess who's running the show ?" "Who ?" "Who do you think ?" "The department, city hall, the courts." "Shit, the courts ?" "You know what they call it when judge jury and perp all go to the same family barbecue ?" "Catch and release." "No shit." "May God have mercy on any poor white boy going to trial." "That's when everybody's got their ass in the air talking' about justice can't wait to throw away the key." "I mean, they're not all so bad." "Actually, there's a lot of good ones." "I'm on the radio if you need me." "My wife, Carol Ann." "Some very good ones." "Is there anything specific I can help you with while you're down here, detective ?" "Or is this just a courtesy call ?" "You know, you should meet my partner." "You'd like her." "Can't go through the front on this boy." "So I'm thinkin' we're gonna have to creep around the back." "Get Devonne on it ?" "I got this for that other problem." " Who this ?" " Remember Fat Face Rick, right ?" "Been going to them co-op meetings with String ?" "That's his cousin, Trina." "Oh you mean, Trina with the big old ass." "Yeah, you on it." "That's her work number." "You know where she work nowadays ?" "She over at the department of social services." "So you thinkin' Omar gettin' a check ?" "Not now." "But i mean once upon a time, before... some fool gave lil' Omar Little a shotgun, I mean cocksucker was somebody's child, right ?" "So I'm thinking somewhere down in them records is one or two names of Omar's people." "You feel me ?" "You sure you want us on Marlo and Omar both ?" "I mean, Omar ain't come back on us since we got his bitch" " so maybe..." " Look, I'm home, Charles." "I'm home." "Was up ?" "Takin' care of business, String ?" "Me too, man." "Me too." "East side wasn't ready for us, huh ?" "That's what I'm saying." "Yeah, I know all about Baba Jani and his 24-hour turnover." "It's a real pain in my ass too." "He's got a little problem with the school kids there." "Every afternoon come 3:00 they go in there, crowd him at the counter boost all the car and gun magazines." "That surveillance tape's so grainy now it's like watching a herd of buffalo in a snowstorm." "But my insurance man, Bob ?" "Got him to turn this camera here right on Baba's parking lot." "Now anytime I have a real problem ?" "I just come to Bob and pull his tape." "I can get a copy of that for you in the morning." "Your..." "Your partner there ?" "Bit of an asshole." "For real ?" "Keep your right hand up." "You know what this is ?" "It's moral midgetry." "Turn the fuckin' world upside down." "Treat these braindead corner yo's like princelings." "You see how clean the corners are ?" "In every sector, street traffic is half of what it was." "Fuck that." "It's wrong, and it's wrong." "Like the other way was right because we were doing so well." "And Colvin's answer is what ?" "Ride shotgun for hoppers ?" "Drown them in cash money paid ?" "Colvin ?" "He's always been good police." "He's got to know what a fuckin' heartbreaker it is to wake up every morning, suit up for this shit." "He's got to suit up too, man." "Somebody should dime the brass about this shit." "Or the Sun papers." "Let me ask you something." "Anybody here ever get jammed up and not have Colvin go to the wall for you ?" "The man is trying something." "It may be hard to stomach, but it's working." "After 30 years don't you think he's earned the right to some elbow room on this ?" "What the fuck." "This thing is on borrowed time anyhow." "And when we do decide to jump on the Hamsterdams they're just gonna go back to their regular corners, right ?" "If we ever jump out on it." "I don't know that we're gonna." "All I'm sayin' is we give the guy the same back-up he's always given us." "That's all I'm sayin'." "I swear as soon as the sun comes up we grab the damn tape and go." "This place makes me want to cry." "Hey, I spent half my marriage in rooms like this." "How could you do it ?" "What ?" "Go non-stop hound on your ex like that." "It was easy." "Just tell her I was on the road working an extradition." "Lots of extraditions." "Brought back something like 500 fugitives in a three-year period, I think." "That's not what I meant." "Right." "So, you back in the house, huh ?" "Ate some shit and she took me back, yeah." "Ain't sure I even want to be back, though." "Extraditions, huh ?" "Cheryl'd see right through that shit." "Nah, it's easy." "Just keep your cell off, make sure she can reach your partner." "Partner tells her:" ""Kima's in court" or whatever." "Partner calls you at the motel gives you the heads up you call her back later like:" ""hey, what's up ?"" "Ain't even have a quarter box for magic fingers." "Maybe you don't need a quarter box for that." "For what ?" "Magic fingers." "Hey, you know me." "...we'll talk with a singer songwriter who's burning up the charts with a hit he'll perform for us tonight." "You hustlin' ?" "Educatin'." "Charging for it or tuition-free ?" "Tuition will come back to him ten-fold in acquired wisdom." "Besides, nothing in the world's more expensive than "free"." "S'all she wrote." "Let's double it." "Naw man, I don't like takin' money from a church-goin' man." "Triple it." "Your break, Deacon." "We need to talk some more about Amsterdam." "Look, man, I never said it was pretty." "Pretty don't even come close to the problem." "We need to talk." "I've got comstat meeting." "I'll drop by later on." "So we good with the permits ?" "Yeah, this week, so far, so good." "A-ight." "Look at you." "Who ?" "Chunky Coates." "Who's that ?" "You don't know Chunky ?" "He's got the properties down the block and over on the even side of Paca Street." "When I first met that fat man, he had an office so small you had to leave the room to change your mind." "Then two years ago he started running with your man, Clay Davis." "Look at you now, you big sassy bitch." "That better ?" "Hey, special agent Fitzhugh if that is in fact your real name." "FBI in on this ?" "I am only loved for my toys." "Lester called and I delivered." "You got the tape ?" "Date of ten-ten-oh-four, fifteen-oh-four hours 30 seconds, by the register tape." "Mama Barksdale ?" "D'Angelo's mother." "She cold-called McNulty about her son on the jailhouse hangin'." "She's callin' us on that weak shit ?" "Is this, uh..." "Brianna ?" "Right." "You called about your son." "I'm returning that message." "Nothing there." "It's so tiny." "No mere mortal can." "You see what he just did ?" "What ?" "He did it again ?" "Who is this man ?" "Where does he come from ?" "Can anybody stop him ?" "Please don't hurt us." "Please my eyes, my eyes." "It's so big and clear and bright." "I'll be at homicide." "Sometimes, you still scare me, you know that ?" "In my world, do you have any idea what I had to do to get where I am today ?" "Now when I say i ready, you best believe it." "Through the effective use of resources an increased police presence and an intensive reach out into the community" "we've been able to have a significant impact on these areas to the effect of a 12% decrease overall." "12%." "Cumulatively." "Over four weeks." "Major, I know I gave you shit when your stats took a jump a few weeks back but now you're gonna shove the numbers right up my ass." "It's kind of pouty of you, isn't it ?" "12%." "I didn't cook 'em then, I ain't cooking' 'em now." "Seriously, Bunny." "I already got the City Council asking questions about the eight percent drop you posted last week." "We just want to please the Mayor, not go to jail behind this shit." "Sometimes the Gods do listen, sir." "Not in the Western they don't." "Lieutenant Daniels." "Sir ?" "You want to take credit for any of this ?" "Your unit's been working in that district a couple of weeks." "We're barely up on anything." "In fact, the crews we're looking at are still beefing still dropping bodies." "Amazing." "Crime is down and no one wants to take any credit." "What is wrong with this picture ?" "You don't mind if I have planning and research pull all your C.C. numbers make sure there's not a decimal point missing between the one and the two ?" "Pull everything, Deputy." "My number will stand." "Hey, tell Landsman, line twenty-one-oh-three's for him." "I called because I heard you went and visited Donette told her my son's death couldn't have been no suicide." "Is that right ?" "I did do that." "D'Angelo hung himself." "Not with the belt they found around his neck." "Not at that distance between the doorknob and the floor." "So what are you saying ?" "What am I saying." "No." "Nobody would've dared." "My brother, his uncle would have..." "I agree with you." "Nobody would've dared." "Unless..." "Avon and Dee was family." "Family, right." "This is just you talking, right ?" "I mean, anyone else saying that..." "Nah, just me." "No one else cares." "Right." "It's just, I dunno, on the inside if somebody's going after you has got a beef, sees red, they use a shank." "It's quick and it's over." "D'Angelo was strangled which is planned." "You need the time, you need the isolation." "Look, I'm just sorry I brought this whole mess up to begin with because frankly nobody's gonna do shit about it anyhow." "Whoever killed him wanted to pass it off as a suicide and the cops are happy enough to have one less murder to investigate." "On top of that, the Anne Arundel State's Attorney doesn't give a fuck" "I'm not supposed to give a fuck, so..." "I guess your son just got squeezed between the sides." "Squeezed between what sides ?" "Look, two years ago we hung more wire on your brother's crew than ATT and at the end, D'Angelo was this close to flipping." "Giving up everybody, everything." "But you know all that right ?" "You were the one who went down to that detention center and talked your son out of a deal." "I kinda liked your son, you know ?" "All things considered, he was a pretty decent kid." "And it grinds me that no one ever spoke up for him and seems to me that nobody ever will." "But mostly at this point ?" "I'm sorry I bothered his girl and I'm sorry she bothered you." "Why go to her ?" "Why not come to me first ?" "Honestly ?" "I was looking for somebody who cared about the kid." "I mean, like I said... you were the one how made him take the years, right ?" "Red leader to red boys." "Red two come in." "Cheese steak has a problem, bitch." "Save me some fries, yo..." "You want fries." "I suggest you bring some cash up here." "You believe this ?" "No muscle, it's all out in the open." "Naw naw naw, man..." "This right here, boy." "This too good." "Hey yo, this some kinda full-tilt setup, man to catch some master-scoundrel, Capone an' whatnot." "Boy, they prob'ly got police behind every one of those rowhouse windows." "Hit this ?" "You must be trippin'." "Home, James..." "I'ma tell you, boy, you better keep your head back in the game or you gonna land us both in the pokey." " What you lookin' at ?" " You." "Yeah." "I like you're eyes." "They like cat's eyes." "Who you here with ?" "Them." "That's it ?" "What kind of cat ?" "What ?" "What kind of cat my eyes like ?" "A big cat." "You here with them and no one else ?" "I said that." "You want to dance ?" "Hell, no." "You want a drink ?" "No, don't do that neither." "What do you do ?" "Gene, this spot I'm telling you about ?" "We're talking TB, HIV, syphilis, herpes, lice..." "It's like a five-acre petri dish." "You get in there now you can run every health program or social program you want." "Every kinda liberal-ass project never got off the page it was written on." "Jurassic park." "So, you're saying this is a sanctioned open-air drug market." "No, it's not officially sanctioned." "It's more like it's tolerated." "That's why we came to you and the public health school not the city health department." "Needle exchange, drug outreach, condoms, HIV-testing." "Y'all ain't never gonna reach more people in the same spot." "So if the city doesn't know about it." "That makes it..." "Complicated." "That means temporary." "You move it or you lose it, boss." "That was nice." "Work for me." "You free tomorrow ?" "Tomorrow ?" "You could come back to my crib, nobody's there but my grandma." "Get us a real bed, take some time with it." "Give me your number." "The reason I'm sayin' tomorrow not to push but day after that I got to go visit my aunt in Florida." "We hook up tomorrow, I got something real nice to think about on that long-ass bus ride." "After you." "What was it again ?" "Devonne." "This guys running his route every five days." "That's a shitload of burners." "I don't get it." "They're were so careful spreading out the purchases up and down the three states you'd think he'd also switch up rental agencies." "Maybe the guy felt bad for us." "You got a copier, right ?" "Damn, girl, what you lose some weight ?" "Excuse me ?" "It's just a compliment." "Yo, at's Mrs. Omar ?" "Yeah, his grandmoms." "So what, we jack her an' make her talk ?" "Fool, she probably got no clue where he lay his head." "Naw, man, we sit an' we wait, right ?" "Man, wait on what ?" "You see, if we go upstairs, we'll spook him." "So he's coming down." "Alright." "Russell Bell." "I know B-and-B like I know a thousand other outfits but I don't know him." "Why should I talk to him ?" "Because Russell's a good man." "And he's ready to run." "Then let him run for you." "Hang on." "Wait a minute, partner." "I don't think you know who you're dealing with here." "You know who that is ?" "Got your running shoes on ?" "You're in." "That's the faucet ?" "Shit, as far as the federal money's concerned, he's everything." "The faucet, the goose..." "What goose ?" "The one that lays them golden eggs." "Madison Square Garden it ain't but it could work." "You're gonna need a little help with the clean-up." "I'll piece that together." "This my trip, man." "Need to go from "a" to "b" all by my self." "... Am I likely to find less crime or more incidents that have been downgraded or unfounded ?" "Because this kind of variation screams manipulation to me." "Slow your words." "Indeed there is no manipulation involved..." "Try to lock your eyes on whoever you talk to." "Make them think they matter." "Use open, warm phrases." "nothing sharp, nothing that bites." "Where's the fun in that ?" "Do you want this ?" "What is this city willing to pay to make it possible for ordinary people to..." "It's me." "Hey, how you cat eyes ?" "When you say ya leaving again ?" "Tomorrow, wanna get together tonight ?" "Yeah, we can hook up tonight." "How about coming over to my crib ?" "Naw, not your crib." "Where then ?" "Go to a motel." "You want me to meet you ?" "Which one ?" "I don't know which one." "I'll tell you when I see you." "I'd like to see you soon." "Alright, you know the Lake Trout ?" "Carryout ?" "Where ?" "On Woodland." "Off Midtown Road." "That one." "Later this afternoon ?" "I'll be there." "What time you want to meet ?" "Like five." "And five mean five." "I don't truck C.P. time." "Five and change, I'm gone." "I ain't gonna be late." "Alright then." "See you then." "What you think about that ?" "I don't know." "Might be walkin' into something a little later." "So I'm gonna need for you to go up there get me a read up front." "Where's my brother ?" "Shut the door, man." "Yo, we at war right now, sis." "So he on that." "I need to get with him." "Well, he ain't on the cell phone soon as I speak to him, I'll get him to you, alright ?" "Can't believe this shit." "Heard from this cop." "He saying' Dee was murdered." "Oh, that'd be McNulty." "How you know ?" "Levy figured he couldn't talk you out of that meet but I sure wish he'da tried." "I need to get with my brother." "Oh, c'mon." "This fucking cop." "He trying to drive a wedge up in here." "You can't see it." "Look, I can imagine how hard it is for a mother to have to deal with some shit like that." "No doubt." "But the fact is, these places, they press on niggers." "Dee just figured a way to get out of there early." "Ain't nothing nobody could do about that." "I mean, how do you protect a man from himself ?" "Where Avon at ?" "I'll go to him." "I told you." "We beefin' for corners right now and as soon as I speak to him" "I'll get him to you, I promise." "A cop shouldn't mess with a mother's pain like that." "No one should." "Yeah, let me get four trout on white extra mayo on one, hot sauce on two and the other with ketchup, and four orange sodas." "This clown ass nigger went and got four sammiches." "Four sodas, you heard me ?" "Cool." "Niggas don't roll out in a few minutes, we on to something." "Drop one, get one." "Nah, baby, this one's sentimental." "Here, it's bleach." "Just soak your works and you're good to go." "Drop one get one." "Drop one, get one." "Get the other girls to come by." "Or wait." "Just pass these out for me, okay ?" "Yo, I get swoled up from Peanut Butter." "You got anything else ?" "The fuck I look like to you, Chef Boyardee ?" "Who ?" "Hey, when all this bullshit falls apart, I'm gonna kick your fucking... !" "Go by them slow." "Oh shit !" "Oh, my god !" "You hit ?" "No." "Drive, motherfucker, get out of here !" "Your man better be as good as his word." "Or your word." "If you are still in possession of that kind of mentality ?" "Then you are definitely not ready." " String ?" " Not now." " It's Avon..." " Shut the door." "Let's do this." "I'll be in touch, partner." " What is it, man ?" " Avon's been hit." " Where ?" " In the shoulder." "Tater got kilt, but Avon still breathin', man." "But Brianna all over me, calling me, man." " I need to tell her." " Naw, fuck Brianna." "What ?" "Just keep the bitch away from me, ya hear me ?" "If you put them pitbull-style stitches in me the next patient's gonna be you." "For real." "What, you don't like rawhide ?" "Oooh, Marlo." "We're finally gettin' back to old times, baby." "Hey, Anthony, where you at ?" "First-floor, 10-34 North Mount, sir." "Good." "They expecting us to hit back wild." "That's what they just waiting for and we're gonna sit back on it for awhile let 'em sweat on it." "Yo, we gotta talk." "Hold on." "I mean, he got to come out on his corners, that's how he make money, right ?" "We gonna see who got the bigger war chest." "Avon." "Straight to the mattresses, huh ?" "Whatever, what you want, man ?" "War, man, we're past this bullshit." "Oh yeah, I forgot." "I knew I forgot something." "We the Trump brothers." "You don't give this shit up you're gonna turn everything we built to shit." "Naw." "The chump brothers." "You know what the difference's between me and you ?" "I bleed red you bleed green." "What you been building for us ?" "I look at you these days you know what I see ?" "I see a man without a country." "Not hard enough for this right here and maybe, just maybe not smart enough for them out there." "Not hard enough." "No offense." "I don't think you ever really were." "You got skills, yeah, no doubt, but... what ?" "What, 'cause I don't shoot up a block indiscriminate I ain't hard enough ?" "Huh ?" "Because I think before I snatch a life, I ain't into this bullshit ?" "Snatch a life." "What life you snatch, huh ?" "You know Brianna went downtown, man, saw that detective." "Man stoking' her head sayin' that D'Angelo's death was no suicide." "Yeah, so..." "Man ain't wrong about that." "What ?" "I knew you couldn't do it and Brianna wouldn't do that shit." "But there goes a life that had to be snatched, Avon." "Yo man, I took that shit off you and put it on me, man because that motherfucker was out of pocket with that shit !" "20 years above his fucking head." "He flip, man, they got you, me and fucking Brianna !" "And no fucking way, man." "Hell no !" "Now, I know you family." "You loved that nigger." "But you want to talk that blood is thicker than water bullshit take that shit somewhere else, nigger !" "That motherfucker woulda taken down the whole fucking show starting with you, killer !" "It's fucking everything and everybody !" "Let me up." "Let me up." "Shit."