"Need another bag." " Mike, where you at?" " Yeah, over here." "Drug war?" "Barksdale's coming back on my boy Marlo, huh?" "Shit." "Got it." "Man, I don't know where we at." "We are in Baltimore, Lamar." "Baltimore, Maryland." "That's the second crib of mine them motherfuckers cracked this week." "Stir up a hornet's nest, no telling who gonna get stung." " All paranoid and shit." " Gotta be." "They got Latroy." "Hey, what the fuck is y'all on the streets for, man?" "Don't y'all know there's a fucking war going on, man?" "Get the fuck in the truck, man." "What happened to all them towers?" "Slow train coming." "Reform, Lamar." "Reform." "We should be up on this shit, hearing voices." "We get a signature number on Bodie's phone, we will be." "We got enough PC off the burners alone." "Every time these fucking pen registers click out a call... it screams drug conspiracy." "I'm not the one taking the case to court." "Pearlman wants a specific link to a known drug trafficker." "These drug crews, they're dumping phones every couple of weeks at best." "So when we do get a wire up, it's gonna be a limited run." "And dumping phones doesn't meet... the cellular company's definition of "exigent circumstance," right?" "What's your boss willing to do?" "Demper?" "He's a bit too focused on next year's re-election fight." "How about the feds?" "They say they can't do anything for us." "And if you look at how they use the Federal Communications Act... they're not lying." "For national security stuff, they use the Patriot Act." "Everything else gets shorted." "The fact is, the industry has all of us by the balls." "Pardon my French, Your Honor." "All right, I'll tell you what." "Best I can do for you is this." "You give me a boilerplate affidavit with the PC from the court report." "And then, as you get fresh numbers for the new disposables, you call me... anytime, day or night, to jump phones." "That helps." "But we're still gonna be getting up on their phones..." " even as they're coming down." " Yeah, probably so." " This is so totally..." " Fucked up." "Judge Phelan has you on his mind." "How long has that been going on?" "Started with my first jury trial in his court, I think." "I bet you won all your motions." " You wanted to see me, sir?" " Have a seat." "I wanna thank you for the loyalty you showed... moving that body." "It wasn't the most sensible thing, but I appreciate it, nonetheless." "You're a good man, Sergeant." "You got good instincts... and as far as I can tell, you're a decent supervisor." "But from where I sit... you ain't shit when it come to policing." "Don't take it personal." "Ain't just you, it's all our young police... whole generation of y'all." "No, you think about it." "You've been here over a year now, Carver." "You got nobody looking out for you, nobody willing to talk to you." "That about sum it up?" "Now, that's a problem." "And I didn't think there was any way I was ever gonna get my head around it... but then Dozerman gets shot for some bullshit." "And that's when I about reach my limit." "And that's when the idea of the free zone, of Hamsterdam, come to me... because this drug thing, this ain't police work." "No, it ain't." "I mean, I can send any fool with a badge and a gun up on them corners... and jack a crew and grab vials." "But policing?" "I mean, you call something a war... and pretty soon everybody gonna be running around acting like warriors." "They gonna be running around on a damn crusade... storming corners, slapping on cuffs, racking up body counts." "And when you at war, you need a fucking enemy." "And pretty soon, damn near everybody on every corner is your fucking enemy." "And soon the neighborhood that you're supposed to be policing... that's just occupied territory." "You follow this?" "I think so." "Look here, the point I'm making, Carver, is this." "Soldiering and policing, they ain't the same thing." "And before we went and took the wrong turn... and started up with these war games... the cop walked a beat, and he learned that post." "And if there were things that happened up on that post... whether they be a rape or robbery or shooting... he had people out there helping him, feeding him information." "But every time I come to you, my DEU Sergeant... for information, to find out what's going on out there in them streets... all that came back was some bullshit." "You had your stats, you had your arrests, you had your seizures." "But don't none of that amount to shit... when you talking about protecting the neighborhood, now, do it?" "You know the worst thing about this so-called drug war... to my mind... it just..." "It ruined this job." "Major." " What you got?" " Incoming." "A Sun paper reporter." "Been to the free zones, all three of them." "Meet you at the car." "I was thinking, maybe we rewrite the affidavit... add some of the stuff we're getting from the pen registers... build the case that way, take it to the judge." "You have a law degree?" "If you did, it would be your call to make." "Who would pretend to be a lawyer that wasn't?" "I'm just saying, I think we're being too cautious on this." "We're going the extra mile for Phelan." "A shortcut now could cost us later in motions hearings." "We drew Phelan on this wiretap?" "That two-faced hack sold me out, the last go-round." "Relax, he's not running for a new term." "He'll be fine." "Yeah, he's a piece of shit." "We're all pieces of shit when we're in your way." "That goes with the territory." "Point taken." "So it's these warehouses, the old Winchester Homes... and the dead blocks down by Vincent Street?" "All three." "And they're just supposed to let it go on like this?" "Colvin told us to push the street dealing in these areas... and then we would start locking people up." "But so far, not a single fucking arrest." "And they know about this downtown?" "I don't think they have a fucking clue about it." "But I'd love to be there when you pop the question." "This is just..." "Tell me about it." " Got the place looking good." " Yeah." "Now all that needs doing is to go out and get you some kids." "Come on, man." "You making it sound easy... but, tell you the truth..." "I ain't got no idea how to go at these hoppers." "Oh, I wouldn't lose any sleep over that." "Nobody else does, neither." "We got one." "His grandmother." " Looking for me?" " Look, boy... there's no reason to leave your clothes in the washer." "How many damn times do I have to tell you?" "Dag, Mee-maw." "I'm sorry." "I just forgot, okay?" "But I did pick up the laundry soap." "I picked it up." "Laundry soap, that's definitely a code." "Now let's listen to an intercept we made of Bodie Broadus... when we were up on those payphones a couple of years back." "Look, I'm telling y'all, I saw the boy." "He saying he ain't got that thing." " Same voice, no question." " I'll let the judge know." "Reference the voice comparison in the court report." "We're up." "Yeah." "Got it right here, yo." "Yeah, that's right." " Major Colvin, Western District." " Banisky, Sun papers." "So, this your idea?" "Got one, get one." "Mind if we walk?" "Apocalypse." "Apocalypse." "Got that Apocalypse." "Right here, shorty." "You got dealers selling with impunity... addicts shooting up on the street... people down here doing outreach, giving out needles and all." "I mean, who knows about this down at headquarters?" "Look, Command is well aware of the situation." "While there was some initial concern..." "But they feel that the cases we're gonna bring in..." " Cases?" " Yeah, prosecutions, sure." "Your officers say no one's being locked up in the free zones." "Look, my troops are only involved in pushing the trafficking... to designated areas." "I mean, they're completely ignorant of the investigative aspect." "That's run out of CID downtown." "Yeah?" "Who's the lead detective?" "Look." "I already said more than I should." "The bottom line is, you start throwing calls around right now... they're gonna shit blue, thinking there's a leak." "They're gonna come up on the case early, and we won't get all we can... out of this good work we did down here." "You're telling me all this is an enforcement strategy?" "What the hell else could it be?" "I mean, you think we would actually let this happen otherwise?" "Come on, Banisky." "I mean, look." "Look at this mess." "Any other reporter gets on it..." "I give it to you, and you run with it right then." "Absolutely." "A week." "But then I gotta run something, no matter what." " Purple Haze, Purple Haze." " It's understood." "Right there." "So, brother, what brought you back?" "It disturbs me to leave business unfinished." "Heard you was shot before you even got started down here." "Not like you to get played." "Betrayed, you mean." "I am looking for the man they sent." "From his accent, he's homegrown, raised on the street." "Skilled, intelligent, late 20s, dark... but with a scar across his face, like so." " You down with this nigga?" " I know him." "Not to speak to... but you can't be anywhere near the game and not know the motherfucker." " He with Barksdale?" " He with himself." "Except for when he running with a young boy or two." "Ten months to the primary, and you right now should be all about money." "I know, I know." "Dialing for dollars." "You start this week, and you don't stop until you hit your numbers." "We're gonna need $1 million just for television." "Do you really think this is doable?" "The odds aren't great, but, yeah." "I think it can be done... as long as the thousand things that can go wrong, don't go wrong." "Even for a white guy?" "Even for a white guy." "Speaking of which..." "I notice a certain monochromatic effect here." "One thing we're gonna need is black faces... and we're gonna need them in prominent positions." "You're right." "You gotta start thinking about endorsement by black leaders." "Ministers, community people, elected officials." "Here comes the hard part." "Splitting the black vote is the only way to make the math work." "So, Tony Gray's gotta get in the race." "He's gotta stay in the race, and he's gotta stay viable in the race." "Guy's kind of a lightweight, ain't he?" " He's a good guy, all in all." " Great." "He's a good guy, but we need him to siphon votes from Royce." "I don't know." "This thing with Tony..." "It's not personal, Tommy." "It's politics." "Live with it, or lose." "Yo, yo." "That boy with the sharp nose, he going, you know..." " He going to the Apollo." " The Apollo?" "Yeah." "He gonna need two tickets." "Damn." "Tweety Bird working that shit." "Motherfucker, how many times I gotta tell you not to use no names?" " Oh, yeah, right." "So I holler at you?" " Yeah." "All right." " Apollo, like the theater?" " Like 125th Street." "125 grams, one-eighth of a kilo." "Two tickets means "twice that."" " The only new code so far is Hamsterdam." " Hamsterdam?" "We're thinking it might have something to do with the stash house." "Well, I'm gonna hook up with Kima, catch the Tweety Bird meet." "You're happy with what we're getting?" "Another week of calls like this... and we'll have their network fleshed out and plenty more phones to go up on." "I need a moment with the detectives." "Sure." "IID picked up Prez's shooting." "It's to be expected." "The racial thing alone is tense enough that they gotta react." "No luck at all to that boy, huh?" "For the supervisor's report..." "I need to ask if either of you had any indication... that Prez harbored racial prejudices." "Well, he harbored some weird shit, no doubt, but I never got a racial vibe." "Lieutenant, you seriously asking?" "Not to start no shit, but you think Waggoner gets shot if he's white?" " Description called for a number one male." " I'm just saying." "The good Lord set Sunday morning aside for churchgoing." "Even Kenny Bird and Peanut, when they was warring... had the good sense to respect the truce." "You know them Barksdales sent a hat?" "A church crown?" "Walked up, rang the bell, and set it down on the porch." "'Cause they ashamed." "Is Miss Josephine mending?" "She bruised up still, but she all right, though." "But you ain't." "Not until I settle this for good." "Hey, yo, Butch, I want you to go inside my bank and spread the word." "Omar paying cash money to get at them people, you feel me?" "Hey, save your money." "Come on now, Butchie, I got to do this, yo." "I'm saying you ain't got to pay." "Thomkins, up on McCulloh." "What, the funeral home?" "You mean to tell me all this time you had a scope on them clowns..." " and you ain't let loose a mumbling word." " Caught myself looking out for you." "Fact of the matter is, your chances of going up against that mob... and coming back is as slim as a garter snake." "I can't help that now, Butch." "What the fuck?" "Where's my people?" "Slim Charles pulled them." "Hired new muscle." "Slim Charles?" "When the fuck did he..." "How's the count?" "Down bad for the third straight week." "And the shelf-life of the shit we got, it ain't gonna last, String." "I know." "Slim said they're to stick to you for protection." " Give it here." "Give it here." " Nice shot." "Dribble it back out." "Dribble it back out." "Get your dribble on." "Fucking hack." "Yo, yo, easy, easy." "Y'all just hacking my man up." "Foul machine." "Nice drive." "Kind of unschooled, ain't they?" "What the fuck you cherry-picking for?" "That observation meant as just a casual curbside, "Fuck you"... or are you looking to step up, maybe help out here?" "I'm gonna give it a try." "I'm looking to get some kids interested in boxing." "Boxing?" "Look here." "This is my time-out corner." "Where I send children who can't play nice together." "Listen up." "This man's starting a boxing program." "And from the looks of some of y'all, signing on might be a good thing." "You gonna need it." "The only thing he know how to do with his fist is wrap it around his cock." "Fuck you, man!" "Gonna kick your ass!" "Come on, motherfucker, you ain't shit." "Ease up." "Sit down, sit down." "Sit down." "Come on, man." "Sit down, man." "Sit down." "My man, you dropping your right." "See, if young'un there was trained, he'd whip you." "Look like he the one that got beat." "Stand up, let me show you something." "Come on, man." "I ain't gonna hurt you." "Yellow tops, yellow tops, got them yellow tops." "Yellow tops." "See that?" "All right, sit down." "Look, if y'all wanna learn more..." "I got a gym down on Gilmor in the old tire plant." "Y'all are all welcome." "All right?" "I saw Tweety Bird parked up there." "All we gotta do is wait for the re-up." "I hope these fucks don't dick around and make us sit here all day." "What, this is eating at you?" "No, I'm good." "Yeah, I can see that." "Remember that woman I was talking about?" "Politician woman?" "How's it going?" "It ain't." "Turned to shit." "Feel like I don't even belong to any world that even fucking matters." "'Cause you're a cop?" "Nah, it's not just that." "It's like, I went to meet her once." "She was in a hotel room, the top floor." "I punched the button on the elevator." "It doesn't even go there, 'cause you have to have some fucking special key... to even get to that special fucking floor." "So I go to the front desk, some sneering fuck calls upstairs... to give me permission to go get laid." "I listen to the shit she talks about... first time in my life, I feel like a fucking doormat." "Like anyone with any smarts would do something else with his life, you know?" "Earn money or get elected." "Like I'm just a breathing machine for my fucking dick." "I'm serious." "I'm the smartest asshole in three districts... and she looks at me like I'm some stupid fuck... playing some stupid game for stupid penny-ante stakes." "She fucking looks through me, Kima." "Yo, stay in the car, man." "Tall man said to stick to you like..." "Tall man gonna be there when I stomp on your fucking head?" "Stay in the car." "Yo, make it short, man, I got a meet to make." "Oh, fuck the meet!" "You harder to get at than my fat wife's cunt, nigga." "Yeah, you high-and-mighty Barksdales can afford to sit back and play low-key." "But some of us gotta work for a goddamn living." "What, you think this mess ain't fucking up our business?" "That means Avon's willing to sit down and talk with Marlo, work this shit out?" "Well, if that don't happen, String, I got you some bad news." "Me and the boys had us a sit-down." "Got a quorum and took a vote that says... if y'all don't quit this war, we have a mind to shut you out." "And when I say out, String, I mean out the package." "The boys don't wanna extend the good shit... if it's gonna keep you and your peoples out on them corners, banging." "What about the boy?" "What the fuck he say?" "Vinson say Marlo willing to talk if he can keep his corners." "Now hear me on this, String, we ain't no ingrates." "We all recognize your contribute to the co-op." "But the feeling is this." "It ain't right for you to be at the head of our table when you can't call off your dog." "Call it a crisis of leadership." "You're gonna tell them?" "Got to." "Between the health-care workers, the reporter, and my own pissed-off troops... it's gonna come out." "Either tomorrow or the next day." "We should make a few arrests, make it look tactical." "Nah." "You know what happens if we start locking people up in Hamsterdam?" "The whole rest of the district goes back to being a shithole." "Nah." "If Rawls is gonna hand me my ass... at least give me a chance to tell the man my story first." "Devonne." "What was that?" "It needed doing." "Somebody just got shot!" "What you want I should give the snitch that clued us to the Denali." "I mean, we didn't get Marlo, but still..." "No, he kept his end up." "Go it all." "Avon, I need a word, man." "Let me holler at you." "Get them niggas out of here, man." "Check it out, String." "This shit got the kill range of, like, 50 meters." "Slim got this from some soldier coming back from wherever." "You know, I spoke to Prop Joe's people." " They think we can work this out." " A sit-down?" "It's the perfect time for it, man." "I mean... you done represented yourself, man." "Your name ringing out... now that you done taken Marlo down a notch or two, man." "So why not quit while we's ahead?" "Just let me get this thing right, man." "Then, you know, we get back to business as usual." "They gonna cut us out, Avon!" "Prop Joe and them niggas, man, they took a vote." "They gonna cut us out." "We ain't gonna have that dope, so even if we win, we lose... 'cause we ain't gonna have no product to put on them fucking corners, B." "Avon, look at you." "Fucking shooting dope without a fucking needle right now, man... getting high on a power trip, playing fucking soldier." "Yo, you gotta sit back, man, and think about our business." "What the fuck you want?" "That motherfucker." "He good." "What happened?" "You know, Avon, you gotta think about what we got in this game for, man." "Was it the rep?" "Was it so our names could ring out on some fucking ghetto street corners, man?" "Nah, man, there's games beyond the fucking game." "Avon, look, you and me, we brothers, B." "We didn't think we'll make it this fucking far, but fuck if we ain't standing here... right now, with the whole world at our feet." "The whole world, man, not these fucking corners." "The whole world, B." "You know what Slim just told me?" "Devonne come up dead." "She was shot, one in the mouth, one in each tit." "You still wanna talk truce, String?" "You right when you say I need to learn more discipline." "But this?" "You could do this better." "You're the perfect bait, Lamar." "They'll see you as conflicted." "Your homophobia is so visceral." "You see that?" "I ain't even stepped inside the joint yet, and you calling me a cocksucker already." "You in the right place?" "I'm looking for someone named Omar." "No last name." "Scar across his face and shit." "Scarface named Omar?" "Sounds different, but I can't help you." "You drinking?" "Maybe you wait four years." "No." "It has to be now." "It's gotta be a three-way, and Tony's gonna go this time." "I'm just..." "Tony's my oldest friend on the Council." "Well, couldn't you go talk to him first?" "Put it on the table?" "You know, "May the best man win"?" "Truth is... he can't win alone against Royce, either." "He's got the bumper stickers, but not much else." "Wants to run on education." "I mean... where do you go with that?" "If I level with Tony and he gets out, then I can't win." "I need him in the race." "I feel like shit." "I really do." "Don't look like much." " This don't look like shit." " Hell, yeah." " This some weak-ass shit right here." " Hell, yeah." "Man, we got lockers, got gear." " It's all peeling and shit." " Go long." "Hey, hey, hey, pass it here." " You getting me all dirty and shit." " Hey, fuck your jeans." " Fuck you." " Bitch." "We clocked the meet with Tweety Bird, stayed on him overnight... tracked him to a possible stash house... and then home to nest in Woodlawn." "Got photos, his tags..." " What happened?" " They ditched their phones." "The DNRs and the wire all died around 3:00." "We were online just shy of 30 hours." "I thought we had them on their burners for a couple of weeks." "Not anymore." "It's a week at best." "We just spent $9,000 and change for 18 intercepts... five of them non-pertinent." "That's close to $700 per drug call." "Until we see which way this goes... shouldn't we get back on Bernard and his girl?" "I mean, get a line on the new phones at least." "But that'll only give us what we just had, 30 hours." "Any way to get ourselves ahead of the curve?" "If there were some way to pre-wiretap the burners..." "And what then?" "Stick them on a rack at Baba-whatever and wait for Bernard to show up that day?" "The problem is the wireless people." "They claim it takes a minimum of four days to process a court order... and that's only after I had my office threaten to go public on them." "Four days to hit a couple of keystrokes." "Bullshit." "Well, what if..." "No way." "I know what you're thinking." "I just thought the same fucking thing." "All right, look, man." "When I tell you, put your left foot out, boy." " Hey, Unc patting my man's feet." " Yeah, he smelling up my ass, too." "Stop with the damn clowning, man." "How the fuck you gonna learn something, acting like a damn fool?" "Yeah." "Ain't no big mystery why your face got tattooed." "Shit, that man can't talk to you like that." "I seen his raggedy ass up at the spot, copping vials." "Yeah, probably pimps his ass, too." " Listen, motherfucker..." " Yeah, bitch, touch me." "Touch a juvenile, see what happen." "Let's bounce." "Bitch-ass motherfucker." "Faggot." " Punk-ass nigga." " Chump ass." "Lester." "First time I seen him smoking." "Tough habit." "And pacing like a motherfuck, too." "Heavy is the head that wears the crown." "Bay Wireless Connect 411." "What city and state?" "Baltimore, Maryland." " How may I help you?" " Baltimore police." " Any particular department?" " Western District police." " Is this an emergency?" " No." "Non-emergency." "Man, they did you with the bum rush." "That's what they do." "They past experts at plucking nerves." "You just gotta remember they barely housebroke." "I'm telling you, man, you wouldn't believe it." "They was all wild and shit." "Wouldn't listen." "Andre, I want you to crowd him." " Yes, sir, I'll crowd him." " All right." "Time!" "You just gotta set your mind to stick with it." "When those two stumbled in here, they was wild as wild." "Now they come in every day." ""Yes, sir." "No, sir."" "Still pretty rough but, you know, with the right breaks, they gonna make it." "How?" "Well, try as they might, I won't let them fail." "When you do that, it messes with their mind." "Pretty soon, they run out of their little bag of tricks." "What do you think of that?" "Pretty weak." "He ain't weak." "That's the starting point." "Nah, nah, I can't put a name on him." "But I seen him around." "He's off the West Side." "He ain't no drug dealer, unless he's doing it on the q.t." "You can't go at him, game him?" "I don't know, Kima." "I mean, it'd be pressing." "What about her?" "Little Squeak off of Lanvale." "Yeah, she used to boost for Turtle Wells' old mob." "She's lost a little bit of weight, too." "I mean, looking a lot better than I remember." "And I remember a lot about that girl." "Damn, Bubs, is there anybody West Side you don't know?" "Just citizens and shit." "My CI knows the girl." " He can work her?" " He's smooth, yeah." "Check this." "That's Western District." " What, Stringer's calling the Western?" " Maybe he's surrendering." "After all the work we've done, I'd never forgive the son of a bitch." "Go down." "Go down and out." "Oh, sweet!" "Look at the hands!" "What's up?" "My knuckleheads didn't post?" "Yeah, they did, but they left." "Over here!" "Looking for a discount, old man?" "Nah, but I'm looking for you." "Why, something come up missing?" "Came past to apologize." "I'm new at this coaching thing and got us off on the wrong foot." "I ain't gonna leave it between us, with you thinking I gave up on y'all." "Motherfucker's memory weak as shit." "We the one bailed out on him." "Anyway, I'm here now." "Let me understand." "You wanna sell drug traffickers a series of cell phones... that are pre-approved for telephonic intercepts." "And you want me to sign off on court-ordered taps... on a bunch of phones that, at the time I'm signing the order... have not been used for any illegal activity whatsoever." "If you're looking for precedents, Your Honor, there aren't any." "It's circumstantial PC at best." "What the hell, let's do it." "Let the Court of Appeals sort it out, if it even gets that far." "Quite the legal mind." "Buy you a drink?" " Why the fuck you coming up behind me?" " I'm sorry." "Bushy top." "He called." "I didn't know if I'd find you here so late." "Just getting ready for COMSTAT tomorrow." "So what's up, Major?" "So your unit is still working a drug war, right?" "Working it hard." "Does the name Avon Barksdale do anything for you?" " He's a player?" " He's the main guy." "We thought he was down, but he popped up in September." "You add him to the equation, it goes a long way to explaining the violence." "So it wouldn't be a stretch if he got shot?" "You heard he got shot?" "You know when or where?" "I could run it out quick." "Nah, ain't gonna make no difference." "He didn't post up at any emergency room... from what I hear." "Major, I'm gonna be straight with you." "We're running wires into his people." "But we're barely above the street." "So far, we haven't even put an eyeball on him." "Supposed to be laying his head there." "I need you to check that out, get back to me as soon as you can." "You got a CI, huh?" "You wanna see if your man's creds are bona fide." "Don't try to play me, bushy top." "I didn't say male." "I didn't say female." "All right." "I'll get surveillance going right away." "According to my source, Barksdale's name is on the paperwork." "No shit." "Now, you get me a confirmation on that and call me back on the cell." " Good luck tomorrow." " Yeah, right." "Sham." "Shamrock." "Run these over to Levy for me." "Tell him I want a read on it." "A read?" "Fresh eyes." "Tell him I'll call him tomorrow." "All right." "Come on, Mr. Bodyguard." "And so we're gonna come at her like that." "So you're gonna give me these phones to sell?" "The money comes back, Bubs." "All of it?" " Is that Beadie Russell?" " Looks like." "Whoa, yo, you can't turn from this lane!" "Sweet Beatrice Russell." "I was just gonna say hey." "North and Pulaski." "That photo was taken at 4:00 p.m., prime time for the street-level dealer." "That is Riggs and Calhoun." "Mount and Fayette." "Edmondson and Brice." "That's your old foot post, Deputy." "I know where it is, Major." "What I don't know and very much want to know is... where is the West Baltimore drug trade?" "I hope, Major, these are not staged photographs you're showing us." "No, sir, they are not." "No, Deputy, I found another approach." "I'm all ears, Bunny." " I moved them off the corners." " God damn it!" "Don't be coy with me, Major." "I can see that." "What I want to know is how the fuck you managed to move them... and where the fuck they are now." "Deputy..." "I don't know quite how to put this, but we..." "I mean, I..." "I began by identifying those areas of my district... where drug trafficking was least harmful." "I proceeded to push all street-level dealing towards those areas." "Now, at first... dealing with the juveniles on them corners, I had little success." "But ultimately... by rounding up all the mid-level dealers in my district... and making them an offer they couldn't refuse..." " I was able to..." " You made them an offer?" "Yes, sir." "Either they move their people to one of three designated areas... where drug enforcement was not a district priority... or they face the wrath of every able-bodied soul in my district." "Major, I don't understand." "The only time we can hold a drug corner is when we assign officers to stand there." "Your slides don't suggest any concerted deployment on any corners." "How were you able to..." "Jesus Christ, you nit, don't you see what he's done?" "He's legalized drugs!" "Actually, I elected to ignore them." "You lost your fucking mind." "He's lost his fucking mind." "You, in my office." "Now!" "Okay." "That's it, gentlemen." " She's a go." " Showtime, Bubs." "Oh, shit." " Sister Squeak." " Bottom-end Bubbles." "Where you been, girl?" "Been a long time." "T-shirts?" " What the hell kind of money is in T-shirts?" " Girl, you just don't know." "But how's your game?" "I heard you was locked up." "Shit, I been on paper for a year." "I got some things going." " Yeah, I can see that." "Looking all good..." " How's he doing?" " Talk a cat off a fish cart." " All right, Bubs, I gotta get." "I'll see you later on." "Yo, Squeak, Squeak!" "I about forgot." "I can sell you one of these real cheap, if you got use for the shit." "I'm fucking dead." "You mean, we're fucking dead." "We're all dead behind this shit." "Jesus Christ." "You know, what I did, I did knowingly and on my own." "I mean, my men had nothing to do with this." "They thought it was part of some elaborate trap." "So if you need me to fall on that sword, I'm good with that." "You're good with it?" "Hey, you know I got my vacation time, and that's 30 in a couple of months." "So if you need me to fall, I'm ready." "But don't let me hear that you're taking any punitive action against my people." "Because I can get on the soapbox, and I can lie as good as the next man... if I have to." "Are you threatening me?" "I believe I am, sir." "My apologies." "Bunny, you cocksucker, I gotta give it to you!" "A brilliant idea!" "Insane and illegal, but stone-fucking brilliant, nonetheless." "After all my putting my foot up people's asses... to decrease the numbers, he comes in and in one stroke... gets a fucking 14% decrease." "Fucking shame it's gonna end our careers, but still..." "Look, y'all probably tired of hearing from me, but..." "I brought these letters..." "I brought these letters... from community associations, ministers, business people, citizens." "And they're all positive." "They're all happy that the dealers are off the corners." "You think that's gonna save our asses, do you?" "No, I guess not, but that and my badge is all I got." "I might have your badge, Major, but not today." "I don't wanna draw any attention to this shit... before we're ready to speak to it." "So if you have any vacation time, you're taking it now." "Do not report for a shift until notified." "One more thing, sir." "A Sun reporter is aware of my deployment." "I told him an investigation was pending." "He promised to delay the article." "How long?" "About a week, tops." "I was with Superstroke on the pool circuit in the early days... but mostly it was pickpocketing and short cons." "I did the long-distance access card heist before cell phones got popular." "You crypt numbers?" "Yeah, I favored the airports, yeah." " Can you still read numbers?" " Whoa, whoa, what's up with this?" "Your man think I brought him bad merchandise?" "'Cause if that what he think, we can just beat feet right now." "Damn, Bernard, why you acting all CIA and shit?" "We trying to make money here." "If you had to answer to the people I do... your ass would be damn more sight cautious, too, that's all I'm saying." "I appreciate caution, 'cause I'm hanging out here, too." "Give it a go." "Use a cell phone." "Marlene, you send that copy off to Paris?" "Thank you, darling." "That will work." "I'm at the airport." "The shuttle, yes." "3-1-0... 4-4-8-16... 91-7-7-8... 3-1-2." "Now, that last number might be a seven." "I'm not too sure with these small keypads and all." "We can do business." "That's it." "One-two, one-two, one-two." "One-two, that's it." "One-two, there you go." "All right, there it is." "Now you getting it." "Keep that left hand up." "All right." "Watch your balance now." "Don't lean forward." "Don't lean too much." "Don't lean too forward, all right?" "All right, let's go." "Don't lean too forward, that's right." "One-two, pivot." "You're kidding." "Tell me he's kidding." "You're kidding, right?" " He did it without our knowledge." " Without your knowledge." "Well, that's worse." "You're the Commissioner." "Was the Commissioner." "You think the buck's gonna stop in this office, you're wrong." "If I might... these are letters from people in his district." "Ministers, business people, voters." "All glowing reports." "And there's the 14% reduction in crime in the Western." "That's not an anomaly." "It's hard data." "Now, we can clean it up, make it go away." "The press might already have wind of it, but we can explain that... as some sort of a new initiative." "Trap high-end drug dealers." "14%." "If we handle this right, we might all get out from underneath." "No mud on anybody." "No." "No." "I trusted you, Erv, I really did." "You let me down." "Now, this thing goes wrong, no telling the damage." "On this, you walk point." "That's the way things work, Erv." "You know it as well as I do." "Thank you, Ervin." "I'll be over shortly... to see the detailed plan on how this shit gets cleaned up immediately." "If you could call this shit something other than what it is..." "Don't even think it." "The way it works is this." "If you don't re-up the minutes on your cell phone before 60 days... the wireless company recycles the phone numbers." "And that's where I get them." "I put the word out on the street that I'm buying tossed-off burners... paying $2 a pop." "Street people bring me hundreds." "I bring them in here to my niece, she jiggles the computer... juices them up another 200 minutes on a bogus account." "And that automatically extends the life of the phone for another 60 days." "She charges me $20 on each phone on her end." "I double it or more on the street to make mine." "So what you saying?" "Baby, a standard Tracfone with 200, maybe 400 minutes on it... gonna run you $150, $200 easy." "I charge you an even $100." "You clear $50 on each phone." "That's if you can back them up with receipts." "I gotta show receipts looking like they from different places, or I can't play." "Can we accommodate the good man?" "Damn, Calvin, you know I got the bingo tonight." "Look, friend, I ain't sure you wanna be around here... and I'm damn sure we're getting tired of having you." "That plain enough?" "You should know by now, I don't wanna be around no bunch of cocksucking faggots." "But I ain't gonna stop coming round till I run up on Omar." "You might want to get the word out." "For the last time, I don't know him." "Then I'm back tomorrow." "Maybe I can help you?" "I don't doubt it for a minute."