"The fire began when a person unknown cut a hole in the roof and poured gasoline into Carlos De Jesus's living room... and lit it." "The flames spread- through the kitchen, the hall, bedroom- no one was home at the time." "but I know if I had been there." "if I had seen the fire." "I would have had one question do I let it burn?" " The world's in a state." " The world's always been in a state." "It's no worse now than it's ever been." "Yeah, it is, Joe." "Your generation's fuckin' up royally." "There's no doubt about it." "Why don't you people get responsible?" "Hey, Anabelle" "Hey, I got you Le Monde." "You're never gonna get a real job, you're never gonna have a family..." " You're my family, Yakov." " Nothin's gonna happen to you." " Thanks, Joe." " Hello." "Oh- Joe, will you marry me?" "You're the only American I trust." "Do I get to go on a honeymoon?" "This is not romance." "This is politics." "Do I get to go on a honeymoon?" "For some stupid European broad?" "What?" "That's not a marriage, Joe." "Your mother was a stupid European broad, Yakov." "Hey, Show a little goddamn respect for your grandmother." "She left you the only thing of value she ever got in this world." "A fur coat?" " We don't even know what kind of animal" " Joel" "a k yo oa" "What the fuck you gonna do?" "I" "You shouldn't" "You shouldn't-don't" "My God, call an ambulance." "Call an ambulance!" "Yes, I will marry you." "Yes." "I want to." " Yes?" " I want to." "I want to help." "So..." "Then keep this safe, Joe, keep this someplace in a safe place." " What is it?" " Thirty thousand American dollars." "Thirty thousand American dollars?" "Bruno didn't want me to call the cops." "They shut him down if I call the cops." "He fucked up your face with a bottle." "It's okay." "He said it was mindless violence." "He said he'd pay." "He didn't know where it came from." "A mindless violence." "Thirty thousand dollars." "We're moving." "What?" "We need a new place to live." "There isn't enough room here." "We need room for both of us." "And for the baby." " Baby." " "Apartment for sale." ""Award-winning block." "Part owner of building ready to sell their interest." "Terms to be discussed." "Fifteen thousand dollars down."" "That's my block." "My mother was born on that block." "Your mother?" "My mother was born right on this block." "My grandmother got married right on" "Avenue E. Avenue E?" " It's the old neighborhood." " It's not the old neighborhood anymore." "You see what they found on Avenue E today?" " Where's the fuckin' paper?" " It's supposed to be better now." " The ad said "award-winning block."" " Yeah." "Shithole of the Year." "Here, look." "Look what they found on this award-winning block." "Look what they busted." "There was a bodega on your award-winning block..." "Human meat, Joe." "This is where you want to raise my little nephew?" "Huh?" "Human meat." "There's nothing there anymore." "There's just drug dealers there." "Well, the tailor shop's there." "With the green awning." "It's not open, but it's-it's there." "Imean, that's my grandfather's tailor shop, where he pressed the pants of" "I know whose fuckin' tailor shop it is." "I told you these stories, you asshole." "He pressed the pants of Louie Lefkowitz  future big shot New York State Attorney General." "Louie Lefkowitz, future big shot New York State Attorney General." "Oh, yeah?" "Which building?" "Uh...there, with the green awning." "And the two junkies in the doorway." "I'll be raising my son where his family started out." "Yeah?" "Then he'll turn out like you." " Trash." " Garbage." "So much garbage." "When I first saw this building I said to myself," ""Me?" "Live here?" "NeverI"" "In back it was discarded sinks and toilets, old appliances, everything you could imagine- vacuums, refrigerators, stoves, hot plates, rotten food..." " Do you know, Mr. Peltz" " Joe." "Joe, we found three or four corpse in the building when the corporation took it over." " The corporation?" " Corpses?" "They're junkies." "Nobody cares." "Cops don't care, family don't care." "Everybody has to do their share, keep the building up." "You have the biggest apartment, but everybody's equal at the board meetings." " It don't matter which apartment you have." " You have shares in the building." "is this legal?" "Are you squatting?" "The cops don't care." "They're happy somebody keeps up the place." "There were four corpses in here when you moved in?" "You think you could do this, man?" "Huh?" "You think you're able to live here?" "Follow through with this?" "This is something major, man." "is it true about the bodega?" "Every single couple that's lived here have broken up because of this building." "Except us." "We survived." "What you gonna do?" "!" "What?" "I" "Well, come on, theni" "What you gonna do?" "I" "Come on!" "Ha ha ha hal" "I want you to meet somebody." "I saw you were getting nervous when I told you everyone had broken up in this building." "So I thought" "Who haven't I broken up with in this building?" " that you could meet a nice girl close to your age." "Scarlet, meet Anabelle Peltz." "No, that's Joe's name." "I'm keeping my own." "She's a dancer." " Not now." "I'm starting to show, and" "Anabelle and Joe are taking over our apartment." "Well, they're first on the list, but..." " But I thought we need to" " Oh, the board." "You do." "You just need to get approval from the board." " You think you can do this, man?" " Tell Anabelle about the building." "You think you got what it takes to live here in this building?" "This building's fucked up." "It's cheap, though." "Segundol" "That better not be you, manl That better not be youl" "That better not be fuckin' Segundo." "I'm so fuckin' tired of him." "Okay, okay." "Nope." "I don't know." "I know." "No." "This is not" "We aren't going to live in this building, neighborhood." " This neighborhood is..." " Are you here for the apartment?" " Yeah." " No." " Are you?" " Yeah." " The apartment's...taken." "You must be" "The apartment's taken." "I thought that we were at the top of the list." " You are, honey, but..." " Joe." " You said" " And it's not really our decisión," " and the board has to" " Okay, where is this board?" "When?" " Could we just see?" " When?" "When can I talk to this board?" "Louie Lefkowitz." "Future big shot New York State Attorney General." "And somewhere around here actually is the temple where my grandparents got married." "This is my neighborhood, you know, this is..." "My mother was born right across the street." "No offense to your mother, man, but that's an empty lot." "Yo, it used to be a building." " "Yo."" " It used to be my building." " Yeah, yeah, and a synagogue and a" " I think there was supposed to a be" "You "think"?" "You're not supposed to have an opinion." "It don't matter this was your neighborhood." "What matters it that you take your turn sleeping downstairs," " scaring off junkies." " Speaking of which, where is Scarlet?" " Why you want to know?" " We know why he wants to know." "And we know where she is, too." "Well, somebody keeps kicking down the door." " "Somebody"?" "We know who it is." " Where is Scarlet?" " Our representative- You kiddin' me?" "They show you some drunk chick." "and that's the advertisement for the building?" "For fifteen thousand dollars, what do you expect?" "No, no, no." "What I expect is, I expect you to honor your grandmother and stay as far away from that fuckin' neighborhood as possible." " My grandmother wanted me to" " Your grandmother didn't know what the neighborhood would turn out to be." " The place is trashed." " My grandmother knew" "She'd rise up and snatch your fuckin' coat away from you if she knew..." " My grandmother said" " No, no, no, no, no." "Not your grandmother-you." "You gotta be here for this building." "Not your grandmother." "Not some building that's not here anymore." "Not Louie Fuckowitz." "Does he belong here?" "That's the question." "He looks like a fish out of water." "Fish out of water?" "Who are you, grad student?" "Hey, you're moving out." "You're not present anymore." " You don't get an opinion." " All right, all right." "All right, all right." "A fish out of water." "Let me tell you a story about a fish out of water, okay?" "This is a true story, I just saw this in the paper." "Yakov." "Do not move to the goddamn neighborhood or I swear to God" "No, no, no." "Listen, listen." "Listen to this." "There's this front page story." "Native American boy going to Israel." "Big wire service photograph of the kid in the dance bustle and head dress getting off the Jerusalem plane." "For what?" "He's gonna have his bar mitzvah at the Wailing Wall." "No shit." "No shit." "At the Wailing Wall." "His name is Little Sun." "His mother was Jewish, his father..." ""...father Oglalateetan Sioux." ls that how you pronounce it?" "Yes." "I don't-"ls that how you pronounce it?" l don't live on a fuckin' reservation." "He is a direct descendant of Crazy Horse, okay?" ""Direct descendant of Crazy Horse."" "His mother says that when he's eighteen..." ""Lillle Sun will be made tribal chief... "" "...of the entire Sioux nation." "But in the meantime..." "Here, listen to this." "The kid is studying..." "The kid would rather be... I swear to God this is a true story." "...Orthodox rabbi." "Ha hal Orthodox rabbil" "Orthodox rabbil Ha ha hal" "So..." "Okay..." "Oh, I got a kick myself when I first read that... I couldn't believe it." "Did I tell you about Little Sun?" "In the paper the other day, there's this kid..." "Welcome to the neighborhood, man." "Orthodox rabbi." " Orthodox?" "The point of the story is." "you get out of the neighborhood." "The kid's an Indian, he goes to Israel." "No, the point of the story..." " We got the place." "The point of the story is." "you bloom where you're planted." "This kid doesn't belong in Israel, but he's there." "I don't think there's a point to that story, Joe." "It's just crazy." "That Jews can be in charge of anything- that's the point of the story." "We're takin' over." "Look out, Crazy Horse." "That's the point of the story." "What the fuck was that story about?" "You adapt, right?" "That was the point." " He could adapt." " Yeah, sure." "I love you." "I'm gonna live there." "It's gonna work." "It's gonna be good." "A good place." "Safe." "A safe place for me and my wife." ""Wife."" "And a safe place for the baby." "Yes." "We're not going to stat accusing anybody. okay?" "This is a meeting, so we're just gonna talk about it." "Right, Mr. President?" "What's to talk about?" "We know who set the fire." "What are we gonna do?" "That's what we need to talk about." "What is this, a fascist state?" "is that what this is?" "I didn't hear a vote on who set the fire." "Are we a fascist state?" "Shut the fuck up, Butch." " I hear a vote on that." " Yeah, let's vote on that, Mr. President." "I definitely vote for that." "All in favor of Shut The Fuck Up, Butch" " Mr. President?" " Knock it off." "We're talking about the fire." "That's what's on the table." "Now, Delilah always knows what's going on around here." "Where is she?" "I don't know..." "It's too late not to know, Joe." " Don't fuck with me." " I don't know." "Delilah." "Upstairs from you." "And-and I'm Joe." "Today's program is an entire rundown of Lower East Side semi- legal co-op chateau number 312," "Avenue E, New York City, United States of America..." "Milky Way galaxy, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera." "The year was 1872." "The area along the East River had been swamp and lowland." "For health reasons. the tenements were being built with central air shafts." "Unfotunately." "the ignorant immigrant populations tossed their "gar-bage" out the windows." "and the resulting stench was fierce and terrible." "The mosquitoes liked it fine. though." "By the way. they're still here." "but there's this product on the market that is really... splendid, it's called Bite Erase" "What you do is, the mosquito bites you, just rub on this liquid and, um..." "Where was I?" " immigrants." " Oh, yes, turn of the century," "Age of immigrants." "Depressión." "Everyone poor and squatting." "Worid War...whatsits with the Nazis..." " Worid War ll." " Which brings us to our present day." "First stop, Negrito." "Apatment 1 A. street level." "Segundo's kicking down another doorl" "Fixes my toilet instantly whenever it makes "that noise."" "I gotta tell you, Delilah, it might be you keep flushing feather balls." "You know perfectly well that was one time," " and that it was an accident." " Well, then, don't make a face." "Who's this?" "They're visiting." "My Yakov and my Aunt Ruth." "Nice to meet you." "Meet Scarlet, and Negrito, who's gonna fix my toilet next, right?" "Okay, okay." "Right now?" "Okay, Negrito?" " Come on, man." " Okay, okay, look at your toilet." "Then we're gonna drink that tequila, yes?" "I can't hear you." "Hey, I thought this was politics, this marriage thing." "You're gonna need new pipes, Joe." "We're gonna get some copper pipes in a few days from a construction site over on, what is it... you know, the hospital." "We're gonna steal pipes from a hospital?" "That doesn't seem..." "We gotta take from somebody, Joe." "If they're not our pipes, they're somebody else's." "Segundol You fuckerl You fuckl" "No, you're fuckin' noti" "That's rightl Oh hol You animali" " He's, I think, a good kid, Negrito." " Don't start with me, man." "Vote for Butch for president, then let all the human garbage come in and move into the place." "You want him near your wife, Peltz?" "You want him playing with your son?" " Negro's right." " I'm gonna go make some ice tea." ""Negrito"l" "Joe, I don't care what you paid for it, you gotta get outta here." "The front door is kicked in, the floor's collapsing..." "We're gonna fix that." "Those scumbags sittin' in front of your grandfather's tailor shop, they're gonna take your baby right outta the womb" " and sell it for human meat." " Ha ha ha hal" "Ha ha ha ha?" "You think that's funny?" "You read the New York Times." "big shot?" "It's a joke, Yakov." "This kid told the Times the whole story." "This is bullshit, man." "More bullshit from Segundo." "Human door demolition fuckl" "This...this rat hole?" "You're gonna raise your son in this human garbage dump?" " My grandma" " Don't start with your grandmother again." "Listen to" "Honey, you all right?" "Why don't you have some tea?" "I think I should go wait in the car." "This is not your neighborhood." " This is not my neighborhood." " What's the matter, Little Sun?" "You don't want to be an Orthodox rabbino more?" " Here it is." " You still have those boards?" "Sorta." "Those are from the stairwell." "There's plenty more." "Please." " No." " You gotta." " You be president." " I can't be president." "Listen to me, Joe." "It's either you or it's Butch." "And if it's Butch, we may as well hand the place over to Carlos now." "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong" "We may as well kick the door in ourselves." "Listen to me, Joe." "You can do it." "You have a positive, vibrant spirit power about you." "I can feel it." "You are so full of shit." "Positive. vibrant... spirit power." "This is what he said to me." "I could be president of the board." "I could run the whole building." "What, are you on drugs again?" "Where'd you get this spirit power stuff?" " Spike said it, but" " Spike?" "The guy who carved a big pussy out of clay?" "It wasn't" "Doesn't matter." "I can feel it." "This building is energizing me, man." "And you don't have to call it spirit power if you don't want to. I- l can't believe you- Where's that stupid- l was just reading about your stupid painter neighbor." " Here it is." " I thought you'd be proud of me." " President of" " How can I be proud of a sucker like you?" "Here." "Here." "Tell me this doesn't look like a great big" "He has a show coming up." "So you may hear pounding." "sawing, hammering, soldering, welding, uncontrolled weeping..." "But apparently he's a genius, and we all have very high hopes for him, which do not interfere with the fact that he has to take a turn sleeping in the basement every few days." " Sleeping in the" " Some of the underground mags have already done some features on our boy Spike, the artistic boy genius of the Lower East Side." ""Stepping over junkies in every doorway," ""one finds one of the most exciting Young Turks in the mindless spectacle of the spiritually bankrupt city."" "It's a dark dream." " A dark dreaml" " Can you believe this bullshit?" "And you're taking advice from this putz?" "* Happy bithday to you *" "* Happy birthday *" "* To you *" "* Happy birthday *" "* Mr. President *" " You're late." " But you look great." "I had to get my look together." "Besides, I can't sit down here and listen to our hundredth argument about where we're gonna get another goddamn door." "Buy one, junkies kick it in." "You buy another one, Carlos and Segundo kick it in..." "We don't know it's Carlos and Segundo." "It could be anyone." "Oh, sure." "It could have been me." "I could have kicked the door in." "Or maybe it was Anabelle in her eighth month, maybe she kicked the door in." "Carlos told us he kicked the door in." "He said" " Who's "us"?" " Me and Scarlet is "us."" "We ran into him in the hall." "He said the the junkies are kicking it in, so he might as well" "You and Spike is "us"?" "Hey, we're not" "I'm painting her." "You better not be painting her." "He better not be painting you." "Dear lillie Scarlet." "You never know who she's with." "It's like "East of Eden" around here." "My theory, the way I understand it, is, a broken-down tenement takes its toll." "No heat, no hot water, no fun." " spike:" "Hey, come back herel" " Oh?" "What you gonna do?" "What you gonna do?" "Ahhl" "I'm gonna get youl" "Where ya goin'?" "I'm not finished with you yetl" "I've had enough of your bullshit art, okay?" "You better not be painting herl" " Heyl Heyl" " All right, all right." "I don't care who's sleeping with who." "This is about keeping the building safe." "Now, if someone's kicking down the door all the time" " You better not be kicking her door." " It's not safe for people." " That's all." "It's not safe." " Listen to you." "Not safe for people?" "You disgust me, the way you talk." "I disgust you?" "Who are you to decide who's people and who's not people?" "Junkies kicking in the door- they're not people?" "You've been living here how long, compared to Carlos?" "The people in the street, nothing?" "Disgusting." "Let's see. who's next?" "Well, Butch is who's next." "Grad student, Columbia University, social urban..." "As soon as he writes his dissertation he's moving out because his dissertation is us." " And don't get him started on Karl Marx." " You're just like the rest of America." "You want to move in and kick the poor people out." "No one's kicking poor people anywhere, Butch." "It's just that no one's waiting for the poor people to go do their thing." "The poor people gotta go in there and grab shit just like everyone else in this country." "I mean, that's-that's the American way, after all." "In the meantime, we need another door." "Tell her the story." "Tell her the Butch story." "Ohl All right, all right, all right." "One night..." "I'm alone in bed..." " You?" " ...in the middle of the night." "Rico?" "BUTCH Who are you for?" "Who are you for?" " Butch?" " Who are you for, them or us?" "In a case like this, it's the good guys against the bad." "These people come here, there's a corporation, they're gonna try and steal your home, Scarlet." "And you better fucking believe we're gonna fight." "It's just a lillie... more complicated than that, Butch." "Who are you for, President?" "Who ya for?" "o yo" "The junkies have had this neighborhood longer than us, and still" "You don't have a baby, all right?" " You don't have a baby, either." " I will." "My son will live in this building, in this neighborhood." " And I don't think it's too much" " That's exactly my point." "White babies is all we care about now?" "What happened to the people?" "Who are we for?" " What are you talking about?" " He's talking about- l don't want to hear from you." "I don't want to hear from you or your fucking painting partner." "Negrito..." "What did we say about keeping this love story bullshit out of the meetings?" "It's none of the corporation's business." "I'll tell you what the corporation's business is." " The corporation's business" " The corporation's business" " No, I'll tell you" " I don't want to hear from youl" "Hey." "Hey." "I don't want to talk about Carlos." "Let's just say... not...to...be...fucked with." "I forgot... this where the fuckin' corporation meets." "Hey, who was that?" "Who was he with?" " That's-that's none of our business." " None of our" "That was that fuckin' lawyer from the front page of the Post." " indicted." " What?" "That's none of our business." "He's a tenant like everybody else." "No, not Carlos, not like everybody else." "You're absolutely right." "Foryears." "Carlos DeJesus was the only one who lived in this building." "Every night he stood guard down there, kept those junkie animals out of there." "On the street he's someone." "They know him from the gym like they've seen him on TV." "On 4th Street nobody messes with him." "They respect who he is." "But in his own building, his own home... his home for eight years..." "And white people treat him like a cockroach." "Cockroach." "He's been here ten years." " I heard twelve." " Doesn't matter." "Eight." "But the point is..." "This guy's been here for six years and he refuses to pay his rent?" "I don't wanna talk about Carlos." "Ten years." "Eleven." "Talk to him, he'll tell you." " Carlos doesn't talk to you." " Once, yes, he did." "And we move in here and we make it a corporation, and we want to force him to pay rent?" "Yes." "Yes." "I don't know." "All right." "Let me tell you a story." "There were like a million drug deals a day down at the bodega." "Everyone complained about it." "and no one did anything." "Except..." "The dude didn't hut him." "He had a lillie box that held some steroids." "He didn't take 'em. they were for the gym." "And the bullet hit the box and was trapped inside." "Point-blank with a.38." "And he just walks away." "This is the kind of man we're dealing with here." "What's the point of that story?" " There is no point." " No." "Don't you get it?" "The point of the story is, Carlos is studying to be an Orthodox rabbi." "The point of the story is, this bulletproof superhero and his goddamn son keep kicking down the fuckin' door, and we have to pay." "Don't you move, motherfuckerl" "And that... is, I believe, the entire cast of this riveting psychodrama." "Negrito, Spike, Scarlet," "Butch..." "Carlos..." "Segundo." "He's Carlos's son." "He's... well, he's Carlos's son." "He's a good kid." "But..." " Don't you move, motherfucker." "Ha ha hal" " I know you." "Oh, shit, I know you too." "You're fuckin' that French chick." " She's my wife." " That's not what she told me." " Oh, yeah?" "What did she tell you?" " She said it was politics, man." "Who are you, man?" "Who" "Are you-do you keep kicking in the" "Are you-that's what you keep doing?" "You keep kicking in" " Are you Segundo?" "You keep kicking in the door?" " We don't need that door." "Besides..." " Besides?" "Someone should give me a key, eh?" "You live here?" "All rightl All right, all rightl" "No more fucking talk about Carlos, okay?" "No more." "And I am so sick..." "I'm gonna quit." "I can't do it anymore." " spike:" "You can't quit." " I know." "Does this coat make me look..." "That's enoughl That's enough." "Who's gonna spend the night downstairs?" "Whose turn is it" "That's what we're discussing, that's the topic." "Who's gonna spend the night" "Whose turn is it to spend the night downstairs?" "You fell asleep." "Uh, I'm so sorry." "You see that?" "That's what keeps junkies out." "You see that over there?" "That don't keep junkies out." "This keeps junkies out." "And kept 'em out." "I told them, "You stay out, motherfuckers." ""Decent people live here now." "Families."" "And now I owe them." "I owe them money." "Yeah?" "Okay." "They come back, you catch one, and you beat him good." "The others get scared and they run away." "It works with rats and cockroaches, too." "Thanks." "Where'd you get that coat?" " All gone." " What?" "The pipes are gone." "How did they do that?" "Carlos came down herel" " Carlos was down here?" " Yeahl Last night." "sa sa" " I saw him." "Or I dreamt I saw him." " What?" "I saw him chase the junkies away." "Now, that, you dreamt." "Anabelle." "We gotta go now if we want more pipes." "By nine o'clock there's too much activity." "All right. ls coffee okay?" "You want some coffee from a French woman before we go." "Anabelle." "Anabelle?" "There's no bath." "Yeah, junkies stole the pipes." "We're gonna..." "We're gonna..." "Negrito." "Hey, man, could you..." "Five minutes, hombre." "I told you when I went and saw." "You can't even find a synagogue." "What do you want to be there for?" "Just because there are no Jews left there doesn't mean" "You're a Jew." "What can I do about it?" "Who says I want to do anything?" "I got a lot of memories, is all." "My point is, you want to make things safe for your wife, your son." "Oh, my Godl" "Oh, my God." "Oh, my Godl" "Fire!" "Fire!" "Fire!" "Firel Somebody helpl" "Firel Firel" "Never mindi Hang up the phonel" "Hang up the phonel It's okay, it's out." "Look, it's out." "It's out." " I could have been killedl" " It was just newspapers." " It's out, it's out." " I could be dead right nowl" "But you're not dead." "Who is that?" "Oh, you." "I should have known it was you." "You want to burn me out, motherfucker?" " What you gonna do, faggot?" " I'm gonna get you out of the building." "I swear to God, you fucking animal, out of this buildingl" "Yeah, what you gonna do?" "Joe, you're the president." "Evict himl Kick his assi" "Why don't we all just calm down?" " Please go inside." " Kick his ass." "Faggotl" "Oh, fuck." "What you gonna do, corporation?" "You know..." "I'm just trying, Segundo," "I'm just trying to be- We're friends, right?" " You're, I think, a good kid" " We're not, man." "Fuck you." "Why you keep pullin' shit like this?" "No, seriously." "Why?" "You don't watch out, you're gonna end up in Rikers or the Tombs." " You and your father." " My father?" "The only place I'm gonna be headed is after you, motherfuckerl" "Me?" "We're not gonna stat accusing anybody. okay?" "This is is a meeting." "we're just gonna talk about it." "Right." "Mr. President?" "What's to talk about?" "We know who set the fire." "What are we gonna do?" "That's what we need to talk about." "What is this, a fascist state?" "I didn't hear a vote on who set the fire." "Are we a fascist state?" "This is a corporation, Delilah, not a fascist state." "We can't just tell him to leave." "We can't throw somebody out based" "Don't give me that." "You're the fucking president." "All right, I'm telling you that I'm gonna round everybody up and we'll have a meeting over this," " but we aren't even sure if he set the firel" " Oh, yes, we are." "Yes, we know." "If a girl can't be safe in her own home..." "We know." "We know." "You know what he did to Joline, don't you?" "What?" " What?" "When?" " This is before you were here." "See, Beneficio had just won this big case against the building inspector." "And we were having a party, weren't we, Joline?" "Joline. hang on. baby!" "Hang on, I'm comingl" "Swear to God, if that dog is hurt..." " He's okay." " Not a scratch on you, baby." "Oh..." "Oh...it's okay." "Could that possibly be true?" " I don't know, Joe." "Small dog..." " I guess it doesn't matter." "They're calling a meeting tonight." "They're gonna want to throw him out." "For burning newspapers?" "For a small dog and newspapers?" "For not paying rent, for threatening the other tenants... lf we don't throw 'em out." "they're gonna keep burning us out." "Come on." "Delilah, man." "Where is Delilah?" "We threw this meeting for her." "She's drunk." "I stopped by." "She's drunk and angry." "If we don't do something" "Fire with fire." "Fire with fire." "If you don't talk to these motherfuckers, if you won't help me..." " We're trying to help everyone, Delilah." " lf you won't help me..." "What?" " Doors kicked in!" " The fires!" " No rentl" " No fuckin' rentl" "He shouldn't have to pay rentl" "I've had enough." "We've all had enough." "You gotta talk to him, Joe." "If you don't" "Let's vote you talk to him, Joe." "If you don't talk to him, I'm gonna go above the corporation and get him the fuck out myselfl" "Nobody's doing anything like that, okay?" "We voted I'll talk to him." "I'll talk to him." " No, I think I should talk to him." " He's not gonna talk to you." "Oh, he's gonna talk to Mr. President." "He'll talk to me." "You know, we're friends." "We're not-he" "He'll talk to me, I think." "Yeah, he will." "Or I'll talk to him. I" "No, I can do this." "Hmm." "Hey, Carlos." "Hey, Carlos." "Hey." "Heeey, Carlos." "How am I gonna do this?" "Just say-just say, "Hey..."" "Enough contemplation, Peltz." " What?" " We gotta go get the pipes." "is Spike coming?" "'Cause it's his fuckin' fault." "Yeah, Spike's coming." "Stop pretending you haven't fallen asleep on pipe watch yourself, Mr. President." " Where we goin' to get these pipes?" " New condos." ""Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair."" " What?" " Let's go." "Them junkies are probably sleeping here, so watch out for dead people." "If it's dead people, we're supposed to call." "spike:" "It don't make right sense stealing pipes from this building." "Then they don't have pipes." "They steal from somebody, next thing you know you got the whole world chasing each other in a circle." "For what?" "For pipes." "It's wrong." "What's wrong is sleeping on duty getting the pipes stolen." "They're not our pipes, they're somebody else's, Spike." "That's the way it goes." "You build a home, you're pushing out somebody else." "That's the American way." "Like Little Sun." "Right, Joe?" "Who?" "Little Sun." "I knew it- he made it up." "You made it all up, man." "Like Delilah and the dog." " Delilah and the dog?" " Hold on." "There's no Little Sun?" " You made that up?" " I didn't make that up." "That was in the paper." "The next day it was somethin' else." "Look at this." "Tell me it's a place in a better neighborhood." " No, no, no-look." " There was a repot from Wounded Knee." "The Sioux Tribal Council never heard of him." "There is no Little Sun, there is no such thing as an Oglalateetan Sioux." " No shit." " That's the saddest story I ever heard." "No Oglalateetan Sioux, and when they tried to find Little Sun in Jerusalem, no dice." "The tribal council never heard of him." "The Native American Council never heard of him." "The lsraelipassport people never heard of him, either." "He's not gonna take over a nation- there is no nation." "Crazy Horse didn't have any descendants." "Who is Little Sun?" "Hey, could you carry all those pipes?" "What?" "You can come back for that later, man." "Today's pipe day." "No, no, no." "I come back later. it's in somebody else's show." "This is mine." "Yeah, but then they've lost their big metal thing and they have to steal it from somebody else and the whole world's chasing each other in circles for a big" " Shut up." "I'm takin' it." " Shut up." "He's takin' it." "When did you become the best friend of Lower East Side sculpture?" "Hey, what happened in the big Scarlet sword fight?" "Man, that woman is a fly queen, is what she is." "I'm in the dark with her." "You're in the dark with her?" "I'm in the fuckin' Batcave with her." " Plus, there's a new woman in my life." " Who?" " Madonna." " Madonna?" "Like "Lucky Star"?" "Or the mama of Jesus?" "Her pops works in this diner." "She came in one day with this guy." "He was famous, too." "We started talkin', they're gonna give me a show at Club Deep." "Yeah, you?" "Yeah." "You wait." "Wait." "You'll see." "I'm gonna make this building famous." "With that?" "Yeah." "With this, and my new woman." "Madonna." "How 'bout you." "Joe?" " Who's your number one lady?" " And you better say Anabelle." "I know I better say Anabelle." "And it is Anabelle." "Anabelle, my wife." "You love her?" "I love her." "What'll you do if she leaves?" "If she left and took your little baby, and you never saw her again, man." "If she" "I'd probably blame Carlos." "'Cause he's being blamed for everything, isn't he?" "I mean, even Butch hates him now." "What's up with that?" "Who are you for?" "Who are you for?" "And then last week Butch is at Carlos' with his petitionl" "I'm already not paying rent." "so why should I sign something saying I'm not paying rent?" "So we're united." "You and me, and I'll get Spike and Scarlet, and we'll tear town this fucking corporation" "Whoa, whoa." "Scarlet?" "Bullshit, man." "That woman was up here last night talkin' shit about you." "You know that?" "Now get the fuck outta here." "Go on, get outta here." " So you're with Carlos now, is that it?" "Butch?" "Get outl Get outl" "Ohh, I gotta chance that fucking" "Where are you?" " Carlos?" " Get outlll" "Get outl" "I don't know." "I mean, for all of 'em." "Il mean, they must think of me like..." "But I" " I didn't." "Not him." "Carlos wouldn't..." "I mean, I went up there that night, sure, but I was just..." "That was just the vodka." "And I just thought..." "And he threw me right out once that bottle was empty." "And the place was a...fuckin' sty." "I just thought maybe he's a strong man who'll love me." "You always think that." "But even when you meet the strongest man, you know... he turns out to be weak where you need him." "Get out!" "I thought we could make a deal." "I saw him every morning when he brought me the French paper." "I was looking for a home." "I thought he was strong enough to do that." " Hi, Joe." " Hello." "Oh-Joe, will you marry me?" "Who will take care of this baby if not him?" "If this building isn't safe, who will take care of the baby?" "Babies are tough." "I was tough when I was a baby." "If your little boy needs anything, he'll take care of himself." "You'll see." "What about you?" "Well, I would also have to say my number one woman is Anabelle." "Shut up." "Who?" " What's goin' on?" " Crawll Crawl, manl" " What's goin' on?" "I" " Shitl Oh, shit, oh, shitl" "Get the fuck outta here, Segundo, man, before I kill you." " It's my stoop, Negrito." "I live here." " Not for long, little man." "Ooooh, you scare me." "Maybe next time I will cap your ass." "You did that?" "That was you?" "spike:" "You fuckin' shot me?" "We're making sure you got hot water upstairs," " and you fuckin' shoot at me?" " You haven't gave us hot water, man." " The niggers upstairs?" "Never." " Man, get the fuck outta here." " You shot at us?" " No, I didn't shoot at you." "I didn't do this, man." "No way." "We're friends, right?" "Why would I do this to my friends?" "You fuckin' shot me, didn't you?" "Oh, you think you're a bad-ass?" "Think you're a bad-ass, you little shit?" "I" "Hey." " Carlos, he fuckin' shot at me." " I don't want you to touch my son." " Carlos" " Shh." "You do not touch my son." "He is mine, and you don't touch him." "Carlos, he shot at usi" "He missed, man." "He missed." "We're going to get new pipes, we come back, and your son" "That ain't pipes." "That's Spike's bullshit." " You know what?" "You- - lf you don't talk to Segundo, we're gonna ask you to leave." "You're gonna ask me to leave?" "Tell him, Joe." "Tell him." "No." "Joe, what are you doing?" "What are you doing, Joe?" "Fuckl Fuck youl Fuck youl" "What was that?" " And no-and no waterl" " What was that?" "We can't just throw him out." "We can't just decide that on the stoop." "I mean, it's "Joe, you tell him." "You tell him."" "Why you gotta be soft on them now?" "They pick on Spike, they pick on me." "Your ass is next if you don't kick them outl" "No one's ass is gonna be next, okay?" "Or your baby." "Come on, your little baby." "Segundo." "What about- Without Segundo" " You don't want your little baby" " Segundo saved my baby's lifel" "Okay?" "That's-give me that." "Give me that." "Gimme" "I'm not soft on theml" "You know... glass breaking, it's a soothing sound." "When you're brought up nowhere like me... when you're a kid on the street like I was..." "I always liked that sound." "I never thought it was anything, really..." "nothing breaking." "I just...thought it was that sound." "Fuck." "I, uh..." "You want your baby to hear that sound, Joe?" "You want your baby to grow up like that?" "Oh, my Godl" "The fire began when a person unknown cut a hole in the roof... and poured gasoline into Carlos DeJesus's living room and lit it." "No one was home at the time." "but I know if I had been there." "if I had seen the fire..." "I would have had one question do I let it burn?" " You got that right." " Yeah." "Did you guys do this?" " What?" " No, man." "Nobody did it, okay?" " It was just a fire." " Let's not talk about it." "Oh, you don't want to toast him out of the building?" "He won't leave." "The fire won't make him leave." "You think we scared him?" "You think he's just gonna pack up his hoodlum pride and joy and move to the country and make a fresh stat?" "a yo k" "Carlos" "You're not doin' anything?" "You let them do that?" "What you gonna do?" "I" "Carlos" "I bet you even money Carlos set the fire himself." "That is crazy." "Think about it." "Whoever did it knew no one was home." " Why could Carlos set fire to his own- - Insurance." "Carlos doesn't have insurance." "We do." " He doesn't know that." " He doesn't?" "How do we know?" "How do we know what Carlos doesn't know?" ""Manhallan was once wilderness" ""populated by practically nobody." ""And Avenue E retains some of that untamed flavor." ""So it should come as no surprise that somebody who lives there" ""is wild and untamed. as well." "and practically nobody." ""But all that is about to change." ""The new show at Club Deep" ""proves once and for all" ""that the wild and untamed talent of Spike Verlaine is going to turn him into somebody, all right: the finest sculptor-"" "Are you shittin' me?" "Gimme this." "I can't believe this." ""Verlaine found himself caught in the crossfire" ""of a neighborhood shoot-out that ended up creating" ""the centerpiece of the show, and now finds himself caught in the crossfire of critical..."" " Yes?" " Mr. Peltz?" "Or perhaps I shall call you Joe." "Or maybe Jose- more Spanish, more neighborhood." " How do you like it?" " What is this?" "Mr. Peltz... we both know Carlos." "He is ruled by his blood- his hot, scalding, Castiliano blood." "It drips in his eyes." "He cannot see." "We must be his eyes." "We must tell him what to do." "Well, look, you know, if it was up to me" " I know, I know." "You are a good man." " No-l..." "I'm a good man, too." "We all are." "I'm working very hard." "You are working very hard." "I know you work very hard on your building." " Neither of us want anything to happen." " It already has." "Your building could have burned down." "But it didn't." "Because the guy living next door was quick." "Because the one who set the fire exercised extreme restraint with the gasoline." "Maybe." "Carlos says he did not burn his apartment." "I believe him." "You say you did not burn his apartment." "I believe you." "Carlos might be willing to accept a large cash settlement." " He could be satisfied." " Uh, listen, I'll tell ya" "No." "No." "You listen." "I come uptown for one reason only:" "to see you." "Now that I see you, I know one thing." "Yeah, what's that?" "I got you." "Mr..." "Allila?" "Okay." "Allila. then." "This list of things that Carlos lost- we pay him what is on this list, and then he leaves?" "Then he is out?" "No?" "I don't know." "I don't know, Attila." "Everything is sellled." "and then it's not." "I have authority to do it." "and then I don't." "Carlos is happy and he's satisfied, and then" "Yes." "Yes." "I know." "And then he's not." "This list is inclusive. right?" "But it-it's-it's everything?" "It's-it's" " Tuto." "Tuto." "I don't know how to say "everything" in Spanish." "This is the final list, is what I mean." "What?" "Okay, yes, I- l have down a hundred dollars for Carlos's mink coat, but I happen to have a fur coat- it's actually quite beautiful, it's a very unique garment- l know Carlos happens to like it a lot." "You should see the looks I get in the street." "People actually stop me in the street and make comments." "Well, I don't want to say too much about this list, but the "one hundred dollars in cash" category is valued at five hundred dollars." "So l-yeah." "That may just be an oversight on Carlos's part, because everything else adds up." "All right, Peltz." "The insurance company's ready to settle." " How much are you into money?" " What?" "How much money you want to make?" "Well, money's money." "I like it as much as the next guy." "You could get ten, maybe twelve." "But if you settle for nine, you could get the money right now." "My advice is, take it." "Frankly, Peltz, you got a fire here under mysterious circumstances." "You push my bosses too hard, they send an investigator in here and you're up a creek without a paddle." "Well, I didn't do anything." "Are you inferring that I set this fire?" "You?" "Why would you set it?" "Why would I infer that?" "No." "Not you, but... somebody." "You know, I met that lawyer." " Attila?" " Mm-hmm." "So I know what kind of person we're dealin' with." "Hmm?" "Hey, Peltz." "I saw Carlos on the bus today." "He was wearing your fur coat." "He's happy as a lark, man." "What do you think?" "I think you had to, Joe." "I think it was right." " You think I did the right thing?" " Yes, yes, yes." "Yes, yes, yes, yes." "Nine thousand bucks still sounds like a lot" " for a guy who never paid rent." " He's out." "That's what's important." " He's out." "What did he do?" "What didn't he do?" "Let's not talk about that anymore." "Let's drink some more of Spike's champagne." "To our new tenants, Joel and Rose." "And to Delilah." "We'll miss Delilah." " And Spike's show." " And Butch's dissertation." "And whatever the hell Scarlet's doing and I'm doing and..." "And, of course, to my baby's upcoming birthday." " Clink your plastic." " Cheers." " Yo." " Get outta here, man." "No." "No, it's okay." "Segundo..." "does your father know you're here?" " What you care about my father?" " I don't think he would want you here." "Fuck him." "And fuck you too, if you tell him." "It's okay." "It's okay." "He's a- We're-he's a friend." "He's not a neighbor anymore, but..." " Hey, Anabelle." " Hey, Segundo." "Hey, Constance." "Who's that?" "Carlos?" "No, that's not Carlos." "That's his son." "That's his son." "Segundo." "Segundo, who saved my baby's life." "Did I tell that story?" "You told it a million times." "You never told us." "It was when my wife had the baby..." "Oh." "What?" "Ohhl" "Oh, my God!" "Taxi!" " Taxi!" "Nobody'll come out here." "Taxi" " Segundo!" " What's up?" "You gotta take us to the hospitali She's having the babyl" "Right now!" "Come on!" "Segundo!" "Segundo!" "I know, man, I know." "Ha ha ha ha!" " Segundo!" " Ha ha ha ha!" "It's gonna be okayl" "A baby." "My baby." " My son?" " Your daughter, Mr. Peltz." "It's a girl." "Ha ha!" "A girl!" "Yeah, I knew it!" "Ha ha ha ha!" "You got a girl, man!" "Whoo!" "Ohh!" "Oh, my God!" "Oh, my God!" "No!" "Oh, my God!" "Oh, my God!" "Oh, my God!" "My son!" "My son!" "Ohhhh!" "Hey." "Carlos." "Hmm." "Hey." "Heeey." "Hey, Carlos." "How am I gonna do this?" "Just say-just say-just say, "Hey."" "They want to throw you out." " Who?" " Carlos" " Now-no, it's not like that." " The years that I've been here, man- before anybody else- before you came, that's for sure..." "Actually, I grew up" "For years I scared the junkies away from this place, make it safe for everybody to set foot here." "Now you're gonna try and charge me rent?" "This is my neighborhood." "My mother was born on this block." " And you want it back?" " No." "Yes." "I want..." " The corporation" " Fuck the corporation." "You see this?" "This is what made this place safe." "This place is safe because I made it this way." "Carlos, your son is lighting fires." "My son?" "Delilah made a pass at my son." "That's what's happening with my son in this building." " Delilah?" " That's what he said." "That's what he said, and that's all I'm saying." "But it don't matter, 'cause I'm not leaving." "I don't want you to leave, Carlos." "But you gotta live here with the other people, and you gotta pay rent." "You gotta." "I pay rent." "Hell, I grew up in this neighborhood." "I live here and I pay for it." "I pay for it with my own money." "Well...my wife's money." "Fine." "But" "Well, she's not really my wife, but it doesn't matter" "Yes, she is." "It doesn't matter." " lf you want to live here- - lf I want to live here, what?" "What you gonna do if I don't do every little fucking thing you want me to do?" "Safe is all we want, Carlos." " Safe." "Keep it safe." " You want your home safe?" "You leave me the fuck alone." " Boy, Carlos" " Motherfucker, leave me alonel" "You leave me the fuck alone and get the fuck out of my homel" "Joe, what are you doing?" " What are you doing, Joe?" " I don't know." "I can't-I don't know." "It's my foot." "It's my foot." "What do you think?" "I think you had to, Joe." "I think it was right." "You think I did the right thing?" "Yes." "Yes." "Yes." "Yes, yes, yes." "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes." "Yes." "Yes, yes, yes." "Yes. yes. yes." "Yes." "* Spacious skies over waves of grain *" "* Purple mountains and majesty *" "* Are rising high on fruited plains *" "* From the sea to the shining sea *" "* Spacious skies over waves of grain *" "* Purple mountains and majesty *" "* Are rising high on fruited plains *" "* From the sea to the shining sea *" "* It's like a jungle sometimes *" "* It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under *" "* It's like a jungle sometimes *" "* It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under *" "* Broken glass everywhere *" "* People pissing' on the stairs, you know, they just don't care *" "* I can't take the smell, can't take the noise *" "* Got no money to move out, I guess I got no choice *" "* Rats in the front room, roaches in the back *" "* Junkies in the alley with a baseball bat *" "* I tried to get away, but I couldn't get far *" "* Cuz a man with a tow truck repossessed my car *" "* Don't push me *" "* Cuz I'm close to the edge *" "* I'm tryin' *" "* Not to lose my head *" "* It's like a jungle sometimes *" "* It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under *" "* Standing on the front stoop, hangin' out the window *" "* Watchin' all the cars go by, roaring' as the breezes blow *" "* Crazy lady livin' in a bag *" "* Eatin' out of garbage pails, used to be a fag hag *" "* Said she'll dance the tango, skip the light fandango *" "* A zircon princess seemed to lost her senses *" "* Down at the peep show, watchin' all the creeps *" "* So she can tell her stories to the girls back home *" "* She went to the city and got so, so, so giddy *" "* She had to get a pimp, she couldn't make it on her own *" "* Don't push me *" "* Cuz I'm close to the edge *" "* I'm tryin' *" "* Not to lose my head *" "* It's like a jungle sometimes *" "* It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under *" "* It's like a jungle sometimes *" "* It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under *" "* My brother's doin' fast on my mother's TV *" "* Says she watches too much, it's just not healthy *" "* "All My Children" in the daytime, "Dallas" at night *" "* Can't even see the game or the Sugar Ray fight *" "* The bill collectors, they ring my phone *" "* And scare my wife when I'm not home *" "* Got a bum education, double-digit inflation *" "* Can't take the train to the job, there's a strike at the station *" "* Neon King Kong standing' on my back *" "* Can't stop to turn around, broke my sacroiliac *" "* A midrange migraine, cancered membrane *" "* Sometimes I think I'm goin' insane, I might hijack a planel *" "* Don't push me *" "* Cuz I'm close to the edge *" "* I'm tryin' *" "* Not to lose my head *" "* It's like a jungle sometimes *" "* It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under *" "* It's like a jungle sometimes *" "* It makes me wonder how I keep from goin' under *" "* My son said, Daddy, I don't wanna go to school *" "* 'Cuz the teacher's a jerk, he must think I'm a fool *" "* And all the kids smoke reefer, I think it'd be cheaper * * lf I just got a job, learned to be a street sweeper *" "* To dance to the beat, shuffle my feet *" "* Wear a shirt and tie and run with the creeps *" "* Cuz it's all about money, ain't a damn thing funny... *"