"Got that reddies, son." "Two for one, two for one." "I got that Rasheed and Beno." "Rasheed and Beno." "Put some ice on his nuts." "Tried and true, that shit always bring a nigga back." "Where we gonna get ice from down here?" "Walk him up to Bon Secours." "Rasheed and Beno." "Rasheed and Beno..." " Can you give me an eight-ball?" " A eight-ball, huh?" "So, how you doing today?" "No offense, but can you just get the eight-ball?" "All right, all right." "Just being social." "Got it right here, yo." "Thank you." "You hear Mack Man jewelers got took off last night?" "Got all this shit in the row house." "Down yonder." "Like a must-move situation." "Fifteen on the dollar." "Y'all want some slamming ice, go inside and tell my man Rafik sent you." "Lighters, pipes, matches." "Pipes, lighters." "You need them, I got them." "Right here, pipes." "Reddies." "Two for one, two for one." "Ask me if it's loaded, bitch." "Reddies, son, two for one." " Anything up?" " Just a good package." "Three OD's." "Last one didn't look too good before the ambo came, neither." "Oh, shit." "Hey, I'm a cop." "There's more inside, Carv." "Goddamn!" "Can't you ever get a fucking police around here when you need one?" "Okay, on that burner?" "I called Trac, gave them the serial number." "Trac Corporation told 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 1440 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?" "All right." "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 other 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's along l-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 you're hearing, brother." "Those are birds chirping." " How?" " I'll show you." "You said 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." " Here." " Fredericksburg?" "They're going all that way to buy cell phones?" "One here, two there." "No wholesale purchases." "They've been 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?" "Lt'd be nice to know who's buying all those cell phones, though." "I'll drive." "Yo, yo, yo, yo." "You up, old man?" "They do have a point though, right?" "I mean, we tell them to come down here without the guns... and then we fall down on providing protection." "It's like the stickup crews have these hoppers... feeling 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 them play with an Ident-A-Kit, but you know how that goes." "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 the chute... and right now they're just thumb-up-their-ass hanging." "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 them to do nothing no-how anyway." " Kill two birds and all that." " Right." "Throw them some bikes, maybe police radios." " We could do that." " I was being..." "You're serious?" "What in God's name did you do here?" "WMD." "Got that WMD." "Hey, how you doing?" "We're looking for a guy who came in here, ten or eleven days ago... dropped cash on a couple of disposable phones?" " Ten or eleven days ago?" " Yeah." " Black, most likely." " That really narrows it down." "How about we just check on some of your security tapes?" "From ten days ago?" "Unless there's an incident, we reuse those videotapes every week." " Every week?" " It's Mondo Mart policy." "That went well." " Yeah?" " Briana Barksdale called for you." " Who?" " D'Angelo Barksdale's mother." " You get her number?" " You got a pen?" "410-718-9433." "Got it?" "All right." " You gonna call her?" " I don't know." " 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 even tried to press that thing." "Now she's calling up asking questions." "Waste of her time as it was mine." "Kind of like this road trip." "He do look natural." "That motherfucker Marlo." "We gonna have to get deep on this nigga." "I mean, it feels like ain't shit changed 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 a minority contractor... for the 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 BB 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 Gs a month for just laying in the cut." "See how it work?" "I'm gonna bring you along, String, but it ain't gonna 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 showing a little bit of that street corner mentality." "Bugging 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." "And I'm saying I'm ready to run now." "Three years." "Crawl, walk, and then run." "No, man, nappy up there a little bit more." "Yeah, yeah." "And the eyes..." "He had little beany eyes." "What the fuck is beany eyes?" " You know, little rat-eyes." " Yeah, all right." "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 know how to do this?" "Make his ears stick up." " Why?" " 'Cause I told you to." "Oh, shit, okay." "Give him light eyes." " Why?" " 'Cause I fucking told you to." "Okay, can you make them crossed?" "This is fucking cool." "Check out these knuckleheads on the Make-A-Face." "Bring that down." "Yeah, hang on." " My brother, I'm telling you..." " Fuck this shit." "...that is not what this is all about." "Look, I'm just trying to make my district livable." "I 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 killing them." "Look, they ain't no worse off than when they was all over the map." " Now they're 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 talking about." "Now Chinese up them eyes, like Beyoncé." " Get them cheekbones up a little bit." " No, man, that's too much." "She's starting to look like a pie tin with hair now, yo." " Hang on." " Yeah, all right." " Pillow those lips a little bit." " Oh, yeah, hook me up with that." "Yeah." "Yo, you got one of these does asses?" " What?" " Yeah, that's what's up." "Hey." "Hey, guys." "How you doing?" "We're looking for a cash purchase in here." "Maybe a couple of 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?" "Seek and you 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." "What the fuck do we do now?" "Buy this guy a box of videotape?" "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 saying?" " 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 surrendering to." "Oh, that." "Hey... all due respect, you can stow that patter right here and now." "Look, it ain't about me doing for me, I don't think." "Might need to be about more than that." "So you're bringing in an overall decline of 2 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." "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." "Hey!" "Y'all are friends." "You're like brothers." "You lose that, you lose every damn thing." "Go on." "Kids messed up a good hoop." "Now they got one looks like the original peach basket... and they hanging 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 near close enough to here." " I wouldn't mind taking a look at it." "Get a mental picture at least." "Hey, yo, what the hell's going 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 the situation." " Are you that people?" " One of them, maybe." " Roman, man." " Dennis." "You should lay back on this one." "Let me 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 smart-ass and start beating on people." " Yeah, that's..." " 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 likable?" "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 going 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 thinking we're gonna have to creep around the back." "Get Devonne on it." "I got this for that other problem." " Who this?" " Remember Fatface 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 working at nowadays?" "She over at the Department of Social Services." "So you think Omar getting a check?" "No, not now." "But, I mean, once upon a time... before some fool gave little 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." "What's up?" "Taking 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 real 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..." "I 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 partner there." "Bit of an asshole." " For real?" " Yeah." "Yeah, right hand up." "You know what this is?" "It's moral midgetry." "Turn the fucking world upside down... and treat these brain-dead corner yo's like princelings." "You see how clean the corners are?" "In every sector, street traffic is half 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 pay?" "Colvin?" "He's always been good police." "Then he's got to know what a fucking 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 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 saying is let's give the guy the same backup he's always given us." "That's all I'm saying." "I swear, as soon as the sun comes up, we grab that 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 nonstop hound on your ex like that." " It's 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're back in the house, huh?" "Ate some shit and she took me back, yeah." "I ain't sure I even want to be back, though." "Extraditions, huh?" " Cheryl would see right through that shit." " No, it's easy." "You just keep your cell off, make sure she can reach your partner." "Partner tells her, "Kima's in court" or whatever." "Partner calls you in the motel, gives you the heads up... you call her back later like, "Hey, what's up?"" "Ain't even got a quarter box for the Magic Fingers." "Maybe you don't need a quarter box for that." " For what?" " Magic fingers." "You know me." " You hustling?" " Educating." "Are you charging for it or tuition-free?" "Tuition will come back to him tenfold in acquired wisdom." "Besides, nothing in the world's more expensive than "free."" "That's all she wrote." "Let's double it." "No, man, I don't like taking money from a churchgoing man." " Triple it." " Your break, Deacon." "We need to talk some more about Hamsterdam." "Look, man, I never said it was pretty." "Pretty doesn't even come close to the problem." "We need to talk." "I've got a COMSTAT meeting." "I'll drop by later on." " So we good with the permits?" " Yeah, this week, so far, so good." " All right." " 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 10l10l04. 15:04 hours, 30 seconds... by the register tape." "Mama Barksdale?" "D'Angelo's mother." "She cold-called McNulty about her son on the jailhouse hanging." "She's calling us on that weak shit?" "Is this Briana?" "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?" "And when I say I'm ready, you best believe it." "Through the effective use of resources, and 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-percent decrease overall." " Twelve percent." " 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?" "Twelve percent." "I didn't cook them then, I ain't cooking them 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." "You know, 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 CC numbers." "Make sure there's not a decimal point missing between the one and the two?" "Pull everything, Deputy." "That number will stand." "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 D was family." " Family, right." "This is just you talking, right?" " I mean, anyone else saying it?" " No, just me." " No one else cares." " Right." "It's just, I don't know, 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... 'cause frankly, no one'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 kind of 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." "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 who 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." "Can you believe this?" "No muscle, it's all out in the open." "No, no, no, man." "This right here, boy." "This too good." "Hey, yo, this some kind of full-tilt setup, man... to catch a master scoundrel." "Capone and whatnot." "Boy, they probably got police behind every one of them row house windows." "Hit this?" "You must be tripping." "Home, James." "I'm gonna tell you, boy, you better keep your head back in the game... or you gonna land us both in the pokey." " What you looking at?" " You." "Yeah?" "I like your eyes." "They're like cat eyes." " Who you here with?" " Them." "That's it?" "What kind of cat?" " What?" " What kind of cat are 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, I 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." "Hell, every kind of liberal-ass project never got off the page it was written on." "Jurassic Park." "So, you're saying that 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 then that makes it..." " Complicated." " That means temporary." "You move it or you lose it, boss." "That was nice." "It worked 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 saying 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 guy's running his route every five days." " That's a shitload of burners." " I don't get it." "They were so careful spreading out the purchases... up and down the three states... you'd think they'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, that's Mrs. Omar?" "Yeah, his grandmoms." "So what, we jack her and make her talk?" "Fool, she probably got no clue where he lay his head." "No, man, we sit and we wait, right?" "Man, wait on what?" "Stupid motherfucker." "Now, see, if we go upstairs, we'll spook him." "So he's coming down." "All right?" "Russell Bell." "I know BB 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 cleanup." "I'll piece that together." "This my trip, man." "Need to go from A to B all by myself." "... 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." "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..." " It's me." " Hey." "How you, Cat Eyes?" " Yeah, when you say you leaving again?" " Tomorrow." " Wanna get together tonight?" " Yeah, we could hook up tonight." " How about coming over to my crib?" " No, 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." " All right, you know Lake Trout?" " Carry-out?" "Where?" " On Woodland." " Off Reisterstown Road?" " That one." "Later this afternoon?" "I'll be there." "What time you want to meet?" "Like 5:00." "And 5:00 mean 5:00." "I don't truck CP Time." "5:00 and change, I'm gone." " I ain't gonna be late." " All right, then." "See you then." "What you think about that?" "I don't know." "Might be walking into something a little later." "So I'm gonna need for you to go up there and 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, all right?" "I can't believe this shit." "Look..." "Heard from this cop." "He's saying D was murdered." "Oh, that'd be McNulty." "How you know?" "Well, Levy figured he couldn't talk you out of the meet... but I sure wish he tried." " I need to get with my brother." " Oh, come on." "This fucking cop." "He trying to drive a wedge up in here, man." "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 niggas." "D just figured a way to get out of there early." "Ain't nothing nobody can 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 beefing for corners right now." "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 nigga went and got four sandwiches and four sodas, man." " You heard me?" " Cool." "Niggas don't roll out in a few minutes, we onto something." "Drop one, get one!" " No, baby, this one's sentimental." " Here, it's bleach." "Soak your works and you're good to go." "Drop one, get one." "Drop one, get one." "Get the other girls to come by." "Wait." "Just pass these out for me, okay?" "Yo, I just rolled for 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 fuck..." "Go by them slow." "Oh, shit!" "Oh, my God!" " You hit?" " No." "Drive, motherfucker, get out of here!" "Now 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 it." "I'll be in touch, partner." " What is it, man?" " Avon's been hit." " Where?" " In the shoulder." "Tater got killed." "Avon still breathing, man." "But Briana all over me, calling me, man." "I need to tell her." " No, fuck Briana." " What?" "Just keep the bitch away from me, you hear me?" "If you put them pit bull-style stitches in me, the next patient's gonna be you." " For real." " What, you don't like rawhide?" "Marlo!" "We finna get back to old times, baby." "Hey, Anthony." "Where you at?" "First floor, 1034 North Mount, sir." "Good." "They're expecting us to hit back wild." "That's what they're just waiting for, and we're gonna sit back on it for a while." " Let them sweat on it." " Yo, we got to 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 past this bullshit." " Yeah, I forgot." "You know, I knew I forgot something." "We the Trump brothers." "Man, you don't give this shit up... you're gonna turn everything we built to shit." "No." "The Chump brothers." "You know what the difference is between me and you?" "I bleed red, you bleed green." "What you been building for us?" "You know what, 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, but 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?" "Because I think before I snatch a life, I ain't into this bullshit?" "Snatch a life?" "What life you snatch, huh?" "You know, Briana went downtown, man, saw that detective." "Man stoking her head saying that D'Angelo's death was no suicide." "Yeah, so?" "Man ain't wrong about that." "What?" "Yeah." "I knew you couldn't do it... and Briana wouldn't do that shit." "But there go 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!" "Twenty years above his fucking head." "He flip, man, they got you and me and fucking Briana!" "No fucking way, man." "Hell no!" "Now, I know you're family." "You loved that nigga." "But you want to talk that "blood is thicker than water" bullshit... take that shit somewhere else, nigga!" "That motherfucker would have taken down the whole fucking show... starting with you, killer!" "He was fucking everything and everybody!" "Let me up." "Let me up." "Oh, shit."