"What about the Angels, Nick?" "You like the Angels?" "Nick!" "Huh?" "What?" "The Angels?" "Oh, I hate the fuckin' Angels." "Every time I think they're gonna do somethin' they do the exact opposite." "An inconsistent group of people." "The Padres I got in my pocket." "They're always the same." "They suck." "You got anything, Yoyo?" "But to what degree do they suck?" "I mean, there are many different levels" "Have you got anything for my fucking head, Yoyo?" "Anything of a pharmaceutical nature?" "I'm not carrying that sort of item anymore, Nicky." "Talk to Stavros." "If I buy from Stavros, then I bet with Stavros." "Hey, look!" "I don't expect you guys to work, but could you park your butts somewheres out of the way?" "We got equipment moving through here." "You know what my head feels like today, Riggs?" "Oh, you want to take a sick day, Nicky?" "Be my guest." "If you don't want me here, why don't you just fire me?" "'Cause I can't fire you." "You mean you don't have the balls to fire me." "No, it's out of respect for your father" "Who you don't have the balls to stand up to." "Ehh." "Fuckin' Riggs, I swear." "You won't fire me?" "I quit." "Don't put it that way, Nicky." "As your union representative, I" "That's it, I fuckin' quit." "I'm outta here." "You're not really gonna bet with Stavros, are you, Nick?" "The guy's a fuckin' pirate." "He'll throw those Greek odds at you, Nicky!" "Look, I'm sure you've got some people who can handle the job but my hands are tied, you know." "I deal with the union." "You go find Yoyo, he's the shop steward on this job." "I already talked to the man over him." "What?" "What, Belcher at the Local?" "Yeah." "What did he say?" "He said talk to you." "That if you made a stand, then maybe his membership would accept." "Right." "What that means is his guys walk for two weeks till I kiss their ass and hand them all kinds of concessions." "Then maybe...maybe they'll take in a handful of your people." "On top of them, which I already got on the job." "Which includes four, five guys who only sit and read the paper all day" "Hey..." "I made a bid on this job." "You're saying no." "Maybe some other job, all right?" "Something for the city." "But not on this one." "I'm out on a limb on this one!" "I mean, there's no way I can bring your people on and still make my bid." "Heeey, what's he doin'?" "Ho!" "Nicky?" "So we're good enough to pay rent on these apartments, but we're not good enough to build them" "No" " Excuse me." "Riggs!" "Yo!" "Where the hell's Nicky goin'?" "He says he's quittin'." "That" "Stavros!" "Late breakfast?" "I need some crank." "What am I, a drugstore?" "Stavros, look-- You are a fuckin' drugstore." "Now I need enough for a day or two." "Did you have anything to eat today?" "I got juices, I got papaya drink, Yoo-Hoo." "Coke, Stavros." "Papaya drink is good." "It's ten percent real juice." "Just give me the fuckin drugs, will you?" "!" "Yo, Nicky, you havin' breakfast or scoring coke?" "Hey!" "Tell the whole world, why don't you?" "You better be buying drugs." "Breakfast here'll kill you." "You want a beer, Nick?" "Sounds good." "What, are you playin' hookey?" "I quit." "All right!" "Whoo!" "Hey, Nick, you owe me." "Put it on my tab." "You don't have a tab." "Start one." "Whoo!" "Later!" "You know who that is?" "She is married to the Assistant to the District Attorney." "Little shit name of Zimmer." "They got a beautiful car." "I used to fuck her." "Really?" "Yeah, really!" "High school." "Yvonne Plasky." "I bet she shit a brick when she saw where the hook brung her car." "Oh, she's gonna turn this way!" "You guys, when she turns I'm gonna point at her -- you laugh like I'm tellin' you something really hot about her." "All right." "Vinnie, go sit in the front seat and, uh, eat your breakfast." "But, Carl..." "I'm all dirty." "That's the point, dipshit." "Move it." "If she wants to know is her car done, tell her you gotta ask me only you're on your break now." "Go!" "What are you laughin' at, Turkey?" "Get back on that Buick." "Yo, Turk!" "Steal any good cars lately?" "All right, you two." "Business." "Tonight's the night." "We just need the wheels, Carl." "They still available?" "Is that asshole in on it?" "Not so far," "You got a problem with Nick?" "I got a problem with his whole fuckin' family." "What's he doin' outta work?" "He's the only fuck I know stupid enough to quit a no-show job." "All right." "You keep this one on a leash." "Vinnie's got the keys." "Yo, Vinnie!" "When we're on the job, we're cold, man." "Uh, we are like icewater." "We're pros, dude." "If you two fuck this thing up and my name gets into it," "I'll have you converted into building materials." "You understand me?" "Vinnie!" "You fat fuckin' hemorrhoid,get in here!" "Professionals." "Hey, hey there, big and beautiful !" "Don't start up with me, Levonne." "Hey, you know I finish what I start now." "You best reel that thing of yours back in before somebody out here step on it." "Go ahead." "Levonne?" "Well, now look who done come down off the hill to mingle with us common folk." "Professor Oreo." "Yo, Malik!" "We got us a royal visit here." "You on an errand for City Hall?" "I wondered if you could help me get some people down to the council meeting tonight." "There's a hond issue for the school." "The white man's school." "Our kids go to them." "You got no kids Wynn." "Black people's children go to those schools." "Well now we talkin' about black people?" "See, now you got to get that shit clear, Wynn." "You playin' the white man's game." "Don't come down here lookin' for suport, brother!" "Look, look!" "There's not enought of us in the city to fight amongst ourselves." "I have a little power on the Council" "You believe that?" "You got shit, Wynn." "You got crumbs off the white man's table." "Look--!" "I gotta run." "You don't have to back me or what I say" "Just come tonight and bring some people so they know we're still alive." "Nice of you to stop by, Wynn!" "Don't be no stranger now!" "Any luck?" "Not with those two." "I'll hit the projects next." "Wynn...?" "Mm-hmm." "Have you thought any more about Franklin?" "What can I do for Franklin?" "Well, you talk to people all day." "Business people, shop owners..." "And you expect me to ask them for a job for my brother-in-law?" "How's that gonna look?" "They do it -- all the time." "But they are nepotistic sleazebags, remember?" "Wynn, he's a black man." "He lives in your district." "He's had some bad braks, but" "Grand theft is not a bad break!" "Drop me off here." "Look..." "I promise that if something comes up for him,I'll do the best I can" "That's all I'm asking." "All right." "Hang tough." "Yeah." "You too, baby." "Mad Anthony again, the lowest man in town." "And this time I've really gone off the deep end." "Everything, and I mean everything on our shelves has been marked down to rock bottom prices." "All your electronic and computer-age needs under one roof..." "We're here every day." "We see what happens here." "It's the Spanish." "It hasn't been the same since they showed up." "They make this noise with their teeth, this sucking noise..." "I was raised on this block." "Now I wouldn't walk here alone." "I'm a married woman with children!" "Means nothing to them." "And these people out on the street!" "You walk past your door, it's a friggin' lunatic asylum!" "Needles in the sandboxes in the park!" "These crack vials..." "No respect." "No sense of responsibility." "It's the welfare." "I mean, why work?" "The government takes care of you." "Well, I used to feel bad for the kids, but they're the worst." "Thirteen years old with a baby on their hip." "Do you ladies have a complaint?" "Complaint?" "Have you been listening?" "A specific complaint." "A criminal charge." "See, Connie?" "They don't care." "They don't care!" "You gotta be bang-raped and roasted at the stake before they'll lift a finger." "If they were your kids out here on the street, you wouldn't be sittin' on your ass doin' nothin' !" "Look at this!" "There's your tax money right there!" "Why do we bother?" "!" "Jesus fuckin' Christ." "In stereo." "The skinny one's like my mother's cousin." "A bitch on wheels." "they got a point maybe, but it ain't our fault." "I'm gonna drive by DeLillo's." "Will you quit with that?" "It's over." "Never." "I'm not givin' up on it, all right?" "Oh, just what I need." "O'Brien." "'Morning, fellas." "Bill." "You goin' to the Mayor's dinner on Friday night?" "What, at a hundred bucks a pop?" "Forget it." "But I'll see you there, won't I, Mike?" "Huh?" "Yeah." "Take these, push 'em around to people on your beat." "You make that kid Ramirez, you run him in." "We ran him in yesterday." "Bring him in again." "What for?" "Suspicion of being on my shit list." "Make it a priority, Tommy." "Oh!" "Have a good one." "What's your problem with O'Brien?" "He's an asswipe." "So?" "So he ain't a detective, he's a fuckin' politician." "Everybody's a politician." "Yeah?" "I'm not." "Why do you think I'm still in uniform at my age?" "'Cause you're stupid." "Right." "'Cause I don't back to the pols every time I turn around." "A hundred bucks a pop." "Christ!" "I wonder if she's workin' today." "Hey, forget about her, kid." "She's history." "I don't know, maybe you should start small, Nick." "Open up a lunch wagon next to Stavros." "Yeah, Nicky's Food-O-Rama." "A restaurant's gotta have personality." "And very hot waitresses." "Yeah." "That can be part of it." "I'm sorry I'm late." "I had a class." "You have people on six and nine." "I started them for you." "All right." "Good seein' you folks again." "I'm sure Larry can iron out all the details with you." "Take it easy, Alex." "Take care." "I'll send your waitress right over." "Thanks, doll." "So...what are these details?" "He talked about racquetball." "The District Attorney would be happy to have your backing, but we need to get more specific about the parameters." "We're discussing certain properties on L Street." "I recall the previous conversation." "L street has to come down for Galaxy Towers to go up." "If those buildings aren't clear in a week, the New York money walks, the Japanese walk -- the whole thing falls apart." "If we get past that, we'll both need major juice on the Development Package when it comes up at council." "He's the District Attorney, fellas." "This stuff's all municipal." "Who's municipal?" "This comes down from Baci." "The second most indictable Mayor in the state." "You must have a file like a phone book on the guy." "The District Attorney is very concerned about municipal corruption, but to take on a machine like Baci's " "I'm just not sure what the incentive would be." "If you man tries for the Senate next year, he'll need a lot of resources." "Any effort on his part to improve the climate in this city..." "We're moving mountains here, fellas..." "and you give me a week." "But we're always interested in support from the business sector." "I think you can count on us." "Hi !" "I'm Angela." "You gentlemen know what you want?" "everything, and I mean everything on our shelves has been marked down to rock bottom prices!" "You want me to give your program free computers." "You understand I don't get them free from the manufacturer." "The program isn't funded to make purchases of more than" "If these are people without money, then they're not likely to be my customers, right?" "Look, you're a member of the community." "You do business here." "You hire local people." "I wish I could hire local people." "I haven't had a night watchman for two weeks." "You advertise for minimum wage, you know who shows up?" "Deviants show up." "Uh...mentally disturbed people, blind people" "You need a security guard?" "You got someone?" "Eh, I might." "Is it a friend of yours?" "My wife's brother." "Gettin' the old freeze out, huh?" "No tickee, no nookie." "Sure." "Tell him to come on over." "He's got a record." "This one's the ultimate, man." "This one makes Nintendo look pathetic." "I-I've never played Nintendo." "Where you been raised, boy?" "You got a TV, don't you?" "We got a TV." "And a VCR, right?" "No." "Well, shit, man!" "Don't be inviting' me over to your house watchin' some ol' Mister Rogers network dog-dukey." "Something else you need?" "Stereo, VCR, CD player." "Wha-, a dehumidifier!" "Thank you, no." "But about Franklin, look, you don't have to" "Hey, look." "He paid his debt, right?" "Look...you're my repreesentative on the council." "Someday I got a matter that needs representing, Quid Pro Quo." "Am I right?" "Bullshit, you haven't got a thing." "We've got the dumpster contract thing." "We've got the kickbacks on the elderly lunch program." "We've got eight major no-show jobholders donating a full quarter of their generous salaries to your political action fund." "He's just blowin' smoke, Mayor." "This is stuff that just fell into our laps." "I hate to think what a serious investigation would turn up." "So your guys want to bust my balls,huh?" "Sal !" "Hi, Phil, how you doin'?" "Not at all, Mister Mayor." "The District Attorney is well aware that in municipal government there are many grey areas." "Mister Mayor!" "Mrs. Spivak!" "Say hello to your mother for me." "Good bless you!" "Good bless you!" "What does he want?" "The apartment buildings we discussed before." "On L street." "He's your brother, Pauly." "What's up?" "He's putting the usual pressure on, but he won't go for the other thing." "He won't go along with the other thing?" "He's a virgin all of a sudden?" "He forgets how he owns these fuckin' buildings!" "Gentlemen." "Gentlemen!" "This is a converstaion I should not be hearing." "All you need to understand is that the success of the Development Package that's been proposed by certain very good friends of the District Attorney has become essential to your political future." "We're down to the wire on this, fellas." "We need results." "I'll leave the details in your capable hands." "Larry!" "Hey, Bill." "This a social visit or are we under arrest?" "Shhh." "Hey, I hear your man's makin' a run for the Senate." "Ohh, only a rumor, Bill." "Only a rumor." "If you need any help..." "I'll keep that in mind." "I pay you what, forty-five grand a year you can't even deliver your own brother" "Sal, I talked to him." "Lean on him, Pauly!" "With what?" "Joey's hooked up with Kerrigan now." "he's got his own thing going." "Yo, Gus." "Hey, what'd they do, close down the dog track?" "No, they made a mistake on my check here." "They left off the overtime." "Well, if you don't put in time, Gus, how can you put in overtime?" "I'd like to condemn your fuckin' house." "Have a good one, pal !" "Oh, man it's more than a guitar." "It's a pre-CBS Start with a Kahler whammy, single stacked coil, full MIDI rack kit" "Mesa-Boogie amps that are fuckin' cherry!" "Never been over 30 DB's--the guy played like folk music on it or somethin'." "Yo!" "This thing has no fingerprints on it..." "Man, you're suckin' it down today." "Nutrition." "man cannot live by narcotics alone." "You should take it easy." "I'm a free man today, Bobby." "Shit is gonna happen." "Important stuff." "I can feel it!" "Right." "Hey, it's Mister Goodwrench and his faithful companion, Jim!" "So what happened to the face, Jimmy?" "Fuckin' boogs got him last night down on M Street by the tracks." "Oooh." "Say, for a small feel I'll hook you up with some steroids." "Two weeks, you'll be beefed up for a rematch." "Fuck that shit!" "We're goin' down there, we're gonna kick some ass tonight." "You guys want a piece or what?" "Haven't I seen this on "Wrestlemania"?" "Chickenshits." "Yeah, we'd love to help you out tonight but we got a gig." "This Bud's for you!" "What a dick, huh?" "What is he, nineteen?" "Eighteen." "He dropped out this year." "That's how old my brother was when he died." "Hey, uh, did he tell you about the demo we're doin?" "Top of the line production, man." "Twenty-four track." "Yeah, right." "On whose nickel?" "Well...t-that was somethin' we wanted to talk to you about, Nicky." "Carl is big time now, Nick." "The guy is connected." "You know that warehouse fire took down half the waterfront but no one got a scratch?" "That was Carl." "He's not just a loan shark anymore." "Look, we done a couple of things with him turned out real good." "Yeah." "And this is very serious money, Nick." "You know, with this one, we retire, go back to the music full time." "We figured since you're our friend and you're not on the tit anymore, well, if you want in..." "It's a Declaration of Independence." "You know, eh, think of it as "fuck you" money." "Isn't there anybody you want to say "Fuck you!" to?" "I'll be right out." "Ten minutes max." "Yo." "Hey, Nicky, how's it goin'?" "Just fine." "Good to see you." "You're in big trouble, pal." "Where's the old man?" "He's in there with Uncle Pauly." "You really quit this time?" "Yeah, yeah." "Wh-Where's Mom?" "She's in the kitchen supervising the galley slaves." "Are you on something?" "Come on, we gotta talk." "Nicky!" "Hey, listen, you ditch me now and I tell Mom you spent the weekend with a married man." "That was over a year ago." "If you don't come through, the whole thing comes down on my head." "Hey, I raised the rent to the legal ceiling." "I had the heat off for three weeks in March." "The buildings stink from garbage I don't pick up." "Pauly, these people are not leaving!" "They have nowhere to go." "You know what you can do." "No fuckin' way." "Don't mention that again, you understand me?" "Look...have something to drink,will ya?" "I gotta find my kid." "Hey, Joe, you're gettin' skinny!" "Yeah, right." "I'm on a steady diet of agida." "So where did you learn how to make ltalian food?" "Italian food, Jewish food, Chinese food Yuppie food." "Laurie." "Hmm?" "Where is he?" "Nick?" "Yeah." "Umm, he went out with Mom." "I think they went out back." "The only kind of food I don't make is Japanese food." "Those people eat some strange things." "Nick, I will never say no to you but I'm not going behind your father's back" "Now, you go to him, have it out, whatever, then come to me." "Okay, okay, I'll talk to him." "First." "You talk to him first, then you come to me for money." "Are you getting enough sleep, Nicky?" "You look drawn." "He's on drugs, Mom." "Hey, shut up, Laurie!" "I have guests." "I'll send you father out." "Try to be nice." "So what happened to last week's paycheck?" "The Angels took it." "The Angels." "What, this is football?" "Footabll?" "!" "The Angels -- baseball !" "So I'm a cultural illiterate, I'm sorry" "What, this is money you owe, I take it?" "For two thousand dollars, I'm a free man." "I got maybe fifty." "It's in my bag in the TV room." "help yourself." "I'm naming' my first kid after you..." "Mm-hmm." "boy or girl." "Mm-hmm." "It's like fake alligator, right?" "Dark brown?" "You bet this on sports, you die." "No way, no way!" "You're my hero." "Mm-hmm." "I'm an idiot, right?" "My son does the same thing to me." "Is family." "Mmm." "So what's the story?" "No story." "I just quit." "Oh." "You got another job?" "No." "Then how can you quit a good set-up like you got?" "I'm bored outta my skull over there." "Sittin' around, w" "Who says you gotta sit around?" "Hey, if it's more responsibility you want, I can set it up." "No!" "I don't want you setting' shit up for me" "I don't want any part of it anymore." "Part of what?" "Eh, Nick, I'm a builder." "I make things where there was nothing before." "What, is there something wrong with that?" "You kiss up to Baci and every other scumbag downtown with a nickel in their pocket." "The outfit tells you put three guys on the payroll that you never even seen, you do it." "If they told you to roll over and die, you'd do it!" "You think I like to take that shit off of them?" "What do you think puts the food on the table?" "Nick, I always tried to do right by you, by your mother, Laurie and Tony!" "Yeah." "You did a job on him, all right." "Your brother died in the war!" "What could I do about that?" "What could you do?" "!" "You coulda stood up for him instead of throwing' him in like you did!" "I would've killed for that kid!" "Don't do me any favors like you did for Tony." "Joe!" "What is this -- an antique?" "What do you get on this thing?" "Milton Berle?" "Sid Caesar?" "I gotta fix you up with some new equipment, introduce you to the state of the art." "What do you say, Nick?" "I'm in." "Let's fuckin' do it." "He went through a lot of trouble for you." "They give me a gun from Toys 'R Us here" "Well, what do you expect?" "And look at this outfit!" "Oh, you look handsome in a uniform." "Please." "If anybody I know see me in this, I'm movin' to Canada." "Oh, Franklin, it's just a start." "Might as well have a sign on my back say "I make chump change"." "Uh-uh." "This gon' keep the parole off your back" "It don't even fit, Reesha!" "My prison clothes looked better than this." "Would you just stick with this for a while?" "Not bad." "Too old, but not bad." "Her boyfriend thinks it's Halloween!" "Yo, birdlegs!" "Come back here, darlin'." "I got somethin' for you." "Stuck up bitch!" "Look at that one!" "Them ain't real, Desmond." "Woman over thirty carry her tits up there, that's plastic, man." "Miracle of science." "Foam fuckin' rubber." "Hit the bricks, fellas!" "Come on." "Move it!" "Hands out at your sides." "Let's go!" "What'd we do?" "That's for us to figure out homeboy." "Spread 'em wide!" "Come on, empty out your pockets." "How can I hold the wall and empty my pockets?" "Yo man." "Did we ask for your opinion, punk?" "Keep your yap shut!" "Where'd you hide it?" "Hide what?" "You know what I'm talkin' about!" "Don't get smart with me, huh?" "What are you two faggots doin' down here?" "Man, this is a free fuckin' country!" "Where'd you hear that one?" "You keep your shit down south of L Street from now on, hear?" "And I'm gonna point you in the right direction." "Now move it." "Go on, beat it!" "Faster!" "I don't think those were the ones, Paddy." "They were up to something down here." "Didn't have a nickel between 'em." "You think we stepped on them a little too hard?" "They're probably up there laughin' at us right now." "If you can't get respect, you settle for fear." "I think the ones we want are a little older." "I've seen that kid I had before." "He's headed for the dirt farm." "Oh, God, look at that." "Mm-mm!" "She's beautiful." "Oh!" "She must be fifteen or sixteen." "They keep makin' new ones every year, don't they?" "American cars went to shit after the Mustang in sixty-five, but fine-lookin' snatch, they keep stampin' it out." "Mm, mm, mm." "Regular production line." "Oh, now look at him." "Look who we got there." "El Senor Ramirez!" "A credit to his race!" "Eh, fuck you, man." "My fuckin' luck!" "We finally get a girl in the band, she's a lesbian." "No, she's not." "I just asked her out, she said no way." "This town's full of chicks who won't go out with you." "Yeah, lesbians, all of 'em." "It's like the fluoride in fuckin' water or somethin'." "Who is that?" "I know that girl." "Just some lesbian, Nicky." "I want to know that girl." "Yo, I got business." "We're up in five, Zip." "And I'll be there, Bobby." "He's like a mother to me." "Que pasa, Chato?" "What's in the pantry?" "Slow." "Extra strong." "Yeah?" "Could be shit, could be Stairway to Heaven." "What do you say we step into my office and find out." "Thank you." "Yo, you got a son I hear." "That's all right -- another little Ramirez runnin' around in the world!" "Hey, Nicky!" "Hey, Riggs." "I want you to know there's no bard feelings." "Sure." "Your father's been so square with me, I feel a certain amount of Loyalty." "Right." "He's like your brother was." "You need him, he's right there for you." "And I'm the only washout in the family, right?" "No, I didn't mean it that way." "Hey, look I'm not in the mood to hear war stories about my brother right now." "All right, yeah." "Okay?" "Yeah!" "Oh, hey, thanks for quitting'." "Takes a big load off my back!" "Any time." "Hey, Nick!" "I hear you quit your job." "So what's it to you?" "Oh, this looks like the vig for maybe one month here." "You're into me for two grand." "You lose your job, I got a reason to be concerned." "Where'd you get this from, your mommy?" "I hope you die." "Check, one, two, one, two, three, four." "Yo soy un hombre sincero." "Yo soy un pinche droguero!" "Yo, Pancho!" "You too fucked up to play or what?" "No way, jefe!" "I am el numero uno!" "That thing the right key?" "We'll find out." "Let's boogie!" "Uno, dos, three, four!" "'Mama, tell me no lies..." "'I don't need misery." "'Keep those old alibis, just come crawling to me." "'Cause I want it back, and I want it bad, back in my arms." "And I want it back, I want it tight and I want it right, back in my arms'" "This used to be a city where the children would inherit their parent's houses." "You got married, you lived upstairs -- it wasn't easy but you shut up and you did it." "And a couple years later, God willing, there's children, and you took over the payments." "Do you know how much our bills went up after the last assessment," "I talked to him again." "And?" "He jumped down my throat." "It's not gonna happen." "Hmph!" "That's what he thinks." "I think that's very unfair to our teachers." "You'll have your turn to speak, Nidia." "All I'm sayin' is that this bond issue is an insult to the working people who built this city." "Thank you." "Any other comments before we hear from the council?" "Uh, Mrs. Gianfreddo." "I'd like to comment on this issue of quality in our schools." "My husband and I send our children to St. Agnes's and it costs an arm and a leg, not to mention ironing the damn uniforms every night." "But I wouldn't have them in these public schools." "I was born and bred in this town, and when I went to J Street teachers got a fraction of what they get today with none of this psychological counseling and computer technology nonsense they have today, but we learned." "Not much of a turnout for our side." "Just the Death to Taxes posse." "Listen, guys..." "I've gotta break rank on you." "Why?" "What?" "'Cuase I got Crespi breathing down my neck in November and I don't want him to beat me on the head with this tax thing." "Peter" "So we lose seven to two instead of six to three like we always do." "There's a principal involved here." "Yeah, well, I don't have your ethnic thing going in my district, Wynn." "I can't afford to go down with the ship" "I'm sorry." "Now maybe I missed something, but where I went to school English was the first language." "And has reading changed that much in twenty-five years?" "I like you." "What?" "I-I don't really know you, but I'm positive that I like you." "Oh." "I-I recognize you." "You were a senior when I was in ninth." "You...remember?" "Thank you very much." "It's been a great set." "Yeah." "Eh, you had a brother who played basketball, right?" "He was ahead of me." "Yeah." "Tony." "Tony Rinaldi." "He was a major hearthrob." "Yeah, he went over there...and..." "Yeah." "Yeah, that was, um...that was sad." "You went out with that, uh, that creep." "That whositz, Michael Rizzo right?" "We got married." "Oh." "Really?" "I walked right into that, huh?" "Was he a creep in high school already?" "I-I don't remember." "You're not with him anymore?" "Free woman." "Well, listen, I'm Nick...and I like you" "But-But I got, I gotta go now." "I-I gotta drive my friends to pick up some equipment." "I'm like their designated driver, you know what I mean?" "But I'd like to see you again." "You didn't see me this time." "Huh?" "Nice to meet ya." "I like you." "You said that." "You don't know me." "Yeah, I do." "You're somethin' great." "I'm glad you think so." "Yo, Nicky." "Game time." "I will see you again." "Believe this." "Who's that?" "Some drunk." "Cute drunk." "Very cute drunk." "White faggot-ass motherfuckers!" "If they don't got a gun I'd fuck 'em up good." "Fuckers!" "We didn't do shit, man, and they treat us like that." "Cracker-ass bastards." "Bastards!" "We gonna do the time, we might as well do the crime." "Dickless cocksuckers!" "Yeah, we fuck 'em up good." "Hey, look at this faggot-ass motherfucker." "Aggh!" "Hey!" "Fuck man what you" "Hey, where you runnin', white boy?" "Hey, wha" "Cut that out!" "Help!" "Hey!" "Hey" "Shut the fuck up, faggot!" "Oh!" "Cut" " Hey!" "Cut it out!" "Help" "Garb him, Desmond!" "Help!" "Come back here, faggot!" "Help!" "!" "!" "Jesus, what happened to you?" "All the other problems we're hearing about tonight -- the unemployment, the drugs, the street crimes -- those will always be the highest where the people have the least education." "So you can pay now or you can pay later" "I mean, if you had a brain tumor, you wouldn't shop around for the cheapest surgeon, you'd look for the best." "And that's what we're voting on tonight the best for our children." "Or...or do we sell out their futures for a few tax dollars?" "Thank you." "I think we're ready for the vote now, folks." "All in favor of the motion to implement Bond Issue C as a method of raising additional revenues for the city schools, raise your hands." "All opposed?" "The motion fails seven votes to two." "Quit kidding yourself, tough guy." "You're goin' one place." "Get in here!" "I mean, we can't go out on the street and sell 'em ourselves." "Straight ahead up here." "Now Carl is giving us forty-five percent wholesale value." "The guy is slime." "Yeah, but you owe him money, right?" "So we split this score and he'll be off your back." "Pull up to the loading dock." "We'll go around." "The key only works in the front." "You got a key?" "I told you, it's simple." "Like jerking off?" "Come on, Moe." "Nyuk, nyuk." "Oh, Christ." "You dead, sucka!" ""We'll beat the best price in town or else you get the shit for free." "Mad Anthony is the lowest."" "We want the Mitsubishi, JVC, Panasonic -- top dollar stuff only." "And nothin' bulky." "Freeze!" "Oh, shit." "Oh, shit." "Oh, shit." "What are you doin' here?" "What the fuck you mean, "what you doin' here?"" "Hold it, fucker!" "What you tryin'?" "Uh, I'm getting down on the floor." "I told you to freeze." "What is this Simon Says?" "Shut the fuck up and get down on the ground!" "That's what I was doing!" "You, too!" "Wait a minute, ju-just relax, man." "Don't shoot that thing, huh?" "Yeah, we haven't stolen nothin'." "Yeah, maybe we could work a deal, huh?" "What, uh...how 'bout a hundered bucks?" "You ain't got a hundred bucks." "Shut up!" "We'll give you whatever we got and then, uh" "If you don't shut up, I'm gonna shoot your dick off." "I don't think this deal thing is gonna work, Bob." "Zip, you stupid sack of shit!" "You told me nobody was gonna be here!" "Goddamn you're the worst thieves I ever seen." "I got to go call the cops now, all right?" "Um, shouldn't we have our hands on the back of our necks or something?" "Listen, do me a favor, will you?" "Shoot his dick off." "I'll vouch for you in court." "Fuck you, motherfuckers!" "!" "!" "All right, fuck you!" "Stupid!" "Let's get goin' !" "Okay, the light's better, you've calmed down." "Now we need to be positive." "I was in the car when they caught 'em." "One more time now." "Are these the boys?" "Yes." "That's them, I'm positive." "Okay." "I'll take you to Detective Riley." "He'll record your statement." "Faggot." "Man, what'd you have to hit him for?" "'Cause he's a white motherfucking faggot." "How'd you know that?" "Look, if they ask us, we say he wanted to suck our dicks... and we tried to get away." "What's that gonna do?" "They drop the case." "Bein' a faggot's against the law, so we walk." "Say he put his hands on you." "Nah, man!" "Fuck, say he put 'em on you." "Didn't nobody touch me." "Whoa, no skin off my butt." "This is a gross misfeasance of justice here!" "When we walked by, the door was wide open!" "What would you have done?" "We assumed there was a twenty-four hour sale goin' on." "We stick our nose in the door two fuckin' centimeters and fuckin' Rambo over here comes down on us, yelling' out racial epitaphs, waving' his piece around!" "Yeah, this man is dangerous, Officers." "He almost blew my friend's private organs off." "The gun's got no bullets in it, sucka." "No bullets?" "It's plastic." "You know how embarrassing this is?" "Oh, shit." "Do you hear what he's sayin', Bob?" "So-So I-I go over there and the window is busted." "Brother Franklin." "Hey, Tyrone!" "I call you guys." "A half hour, nobody shows." "Malik." "Nah, nah, Tyroooone." "Malik." "Yeah, but what the hell makes you think it was racially motivated?" "Ehhhh, well, look at you!" "Look at you, brother." "Because it was our window." "Oh, yeah, I-I-I was recently incarcerated." "Pretty sorry, huh?" "Does the sign outside have any specific reference to race?" "So, man, what happened to you?" "People know what we do at the center." "I surrendered myself to the will of Allah." "So you think it was somebody you know." "Ohhh." "Man, I knew you would pull this shit." "Knowledge is power, my brother." "I try and spread the knowledge." "What about yourself?" "Look, I got a plate glass window, no witnesses, uh..." "Well, I surrendered myself to the will of Mad Anthony." "time approximately eleven P.M." "Toshiba, Yoshida, Hitachi, Horita!" "Toshiba, Yoshida, Hitachi, Horita!" "Toshiba, Yoshida, Hitachi, Horita!" "Toshiba, Yoshida, Hitachi, Horita!" "Toshiba, Yoshida, Hitachi, Horita!" "Yo, the dude was a faggot." "He got what he deserved." "Even if that was the case, which I doubt, it's not against the law to be a homosexual." "Yes, it is." "So you approach this guy" "The fucker approached us!" "Hey." "What's the story here?" "They sayin' assault." "This faggot come up to us in the park" "This isn't any of your business, Levonne." "I'm makin' it my business." "He put his hands on Desmond." "Is that true?" "Levonne" "Is that true?" "He tried to, y-...you know." "Yeah, but I popped him one..." "so he'd run on away from us." "Self defense!" "You boys you don't say anything until I can get you some legal aid down here, you understand?" "Yes, sir." "Levonne, this isn't murder case!" "Hey, Jeanette, you okay?" "They got my boy here." "Is he one of those?" "Oh, Lord." "Did he do bad?" "Just keep 'em quiet till I can get 'em a lawyer, okay?" "Go on, keep 'em quiet." "Uh!" "Hey, brother." "Don't forget your weapon." "It's a jungle out there." "Hi." "Hi." "Your friends in the band never came back, huh?" "Yeah, they got tied up." "Motor problems?" "It's like totally dead." "Mmm." "You know much about cars?" "Not a thing." "Do you?" "No." "Then what are you doin' looking under the hood?" "That's what people do, right?" "You know, you shouldn't be walkin' around here alone at night." "I'll walk you home." "It's all right I can manage." "I'm serious, it's dangerous around here" "Wait" "Look I'll walk on the other side of the street, all right?" "Don't be dramatic." "I'm on Lincoln, just...between J and K." "Okay." "So...are you happy?" "What?" "What kind of question is that?" "It's an important question." "You mean am I...happy right now?" "With you life." "Are you happy with your life?" "I'm not gonna tell you that." "What about you?" "Me?" "No." "I'm not happy." "Maybe if I had someone like you to be with, I could be." "Are you always like this?" "No." "I'm usually, you know, asking' the regular bullshit." "You know, like what do you do and..." "what does your apartment rent for?" "I don't have time for that shit right now." "You're on a deadline or somethin', huh?" "You ever been in a car accident?" "Yeah." "Things like slow down, they become real clear?" "Important shit is goin' down in my life right now, all at once." "Like I saw you tonight." "Hey, I'm not that great." "Yeah, you are." "Yeah, well" "Tell me the worst thing about yourself." "The worst." "I put up with jerks in my life for too long." "What, is that me?" "I'm a jerk?" "Oh, I didn't say that." "Oh." "Thank you." "The jury's still out." "Well, what do I do, turn your stomach to look at or somethin'?" "No." "What, am I neutral?" "Attractive?" "What, what are you" "You're a good-lookin' guy and you know it, too." "Big deal." "Well, I think you look fantastic." "Hmm." "And if you're not married or involved with anybody right now, it's because nobody's figured out what you're worth." "Hey." "Hey, what's the matter?" "You can't say things like that." "Why not?" "'Cause you don't know me, that's why not." "It's funny, I was..." "I was married for eight fuckin' years and my husband never said one thing that nice to me." "Anyway, I don't know you, so...it's just words." "I'm sorry." "You were married eight years to Michael Rizzo?" "Who the fuck did you go out with in high school?" "Mary Ellen Battaglia." "Mary Ellen Battaglia?" "Yeah." "Mary Ellen Battaglia needed an instruction manual to chew gum." "She had other things, you know." "Yeah!" "She had tits in the third grade." "Her major fuckin' accomplishment in life." "Yeah, well, I didn't live with her for eight years, you know?" "Well, it was...it was like I was with the Moonies or somethin', you know?" "That was my life." "I couldn't imagine anything else." "Did you have any kids?" "I have a son." "Yeah?" "That's cool." "Little guy, huh?" "My mother takes him part of the time." "I'm going back to school, and I-I got a job at a restaurant." "DeLillo's." "Have you been following me?" "No, I saw you in there once." "It's a public place, you know." "Jesse, uh -- that my little boy -- he, uh, he has this disease." "Congenital, it...makes him like spastic" "They call it "severely involved" now." "And what do you do to have fun?" "Fun?" "I tell you, Nicky, it's...it's like you asked me am I happy." "It's...it's not something I can think a whole lot about right now." "You said my name." "What?" "Nick." "You said Nick." "I love that, you sayin' my name." "You are a strange fucker," "Ithinkmaybeyou shouldwalk onthe other side of the street like you said." "Listen, I could get my sister to babysit -- she owes me, you know, she's always borrowing money from me -- and then we could go out, you know, we could " "Hey!" "Hey!" "Just slow down." "Cool your jets." "I want you to take me seriously." "I don't think you take yourself seriously, Nick." "I mean, those friends of yours, come on" "Yeah, I know, I know, but...you know, they-they're really not bad guys." "I mean, they're loyal." "Dogs are loyal." "Well, uh...this is my place." "You know when you're a kid..." "a teenager-- right?" " and it's Saturday night, and you go out and every place you walk into you think you know, that this is it, you know?" "I mean, there's gonna be somebody terrific in here," "I'mgonnameether mylife'sgonna be completely different after tonight." "Today has been a wild day for me." "I mean, unbelievable shit has gone down" "But I've had that feeling right here." "Ihaven'thaditinsucha long time, you know, because it never happens!" "You never meet...that girl or-or she's not the right one." "And then I see you." "You're gonna make me cry again." "I can't " " I mean, I'm just -- I'm kinda tired." "Angela Sabino." "Angela." "That's what it sounds like." "So, uhh...so what if I call you up?" "Worse things could happen." "Good night, Angela." "Good night, Nick." "You did it, didn't you?" "What?" "Don't bullshit me, Ririaldi." "You did it." "I did what?" "Don't hand me that." "What if I did?" "You're fuckin' with me now." "Don't fuck with me." "You did it." "Didn't you, you fuck?" "I saw you with her." "You don't own her, Rizzo." "And if you ever did, then you don't anymore." "You stay away from her." "No." "You stay away from me!" "You got your uniform, your fuckin' badge -- you're a big man, huh?" "This uniform, this uniform is the only thing that stands between you and a fuckin' trip to the hospital right now, pal !" "If I was off-duty, I'd bury you." "Yeah?" "What time do you get off?" "You're history, Rinaldi." "You're dead!" "You're outta line, Mike." "It's none of your business." "You ride with me, that makes it my business." "You settle your personal shit on your own time." "Fine!" "Just butt out, okay?" "No problem." "You're gonna get yourself in trouble." "Just shut the fuck up about it, huh?" "!" "They popped the window outta here last night." "They'll be all over us in the papers." "This is all part of a systematic campaign to undermine black manhood in this country!" "You stand up for yourself, the white boy is gonna cut you down!" "These young brothers have'en sacrificed into the jaws of the racist conspiracy." "That's three pages worth." "I'll have to do some editing." "We had Dwight Rollins, unarmed, shotgunned by racist police this April;" "Hollis Washington beaten to death while in custody" "Why don't you ask the Great White Hope here what he thinks about it." "Somebody busted your window?" "'Morning, Wynn." "What do you plan to do about this park thing?" "Park thing?" "Yeah." "Two young black men approached in a park by a white homosexual." "Now they give him what for, next hing you know they bein' run in by the cops for assault." "Last night?" "What are you gonna do about it?" "call the police and " "Go straight to the enemy!" "Man go nothin' to say for the African American community!" "Man just a stooge in the system!" "You know, half of everything you say is true, Malik." "The other half is pure shit!" "That's off the record, Kyle." "Fuckin' politicians." "Off the fuckin' record, Wynn, what do you plan to do for the young brothers?" "First I'll investigate the charges." "Oh, you sayin' the brothers are lyin'?" "Is that what?" ""Councilman Himes promised a thorough investigation of the incident." Period." "Excuse me." "Fuckin' politicians." "I'm not gonna tell you what to do about this, Les." "I just want you to understand the kind of pressure we are under here." "First thing this morning I get a call from somebody from the P Street Community Center" "I'm not backing down on this." "Those kids are dangerous." "I understand that, but...the homosexual thing complicates it." "We have a very tenuous relationship with the people in this city" "What homosexual thing?" "They didn't tell you?" "Eh, the boys said you made advances." "Goddamn it." "There was a follow-up call from the police depatment." "Hi, Les." "Hi." "They suggested that in light of the circumstances" "That's a lie!" "Oh, God, what happened to him?" "I saw an article in the paper this morning." "It said he was mugged in the park by some kids last night." "Oh, God." "Did it say what race?" "What?" "What were the race of the kids, black or white?" "Black." "Oh, great." "Hey, Larry, wait up!" "That doesn't have anything to do with you." "Suzanne." "Now you know better than that." "I mean, he's younger but not that much younger." "Like, I was a senior when he was in ninth grade." "By now that's not such a big deal, right?" "And he's good-lookin' and everything, so I don't think much about it." "I get out to my car, it's dead." "Turn the key, not a sound -- that piece of shit that Michael left me," "I hate to even look at the thing -- and then he shows up, this guy Nick, and he's like lost or something'." "Listen to me talk about this stuff." "Am I stupid or what?" "They beat me up and then they say I came on to them?" "I'm sorry, but to me that's a big deal !" "Of course it is" "There's a principle involved here." "A very" "Of course-- a very important principle!" "Of course there is, Les, if you say so." "I'm not a homosexual." "I undersatnd that, but we have a public profile." "And if I was, so what?" "What does this school stand for?" "Let's do this inside, okay?" "Well we have yor prints all over the van." "Outstanding." "An ever-tightening net of circumstantial evidence." "Who was the third guy?" "Hell, you got the prints." "You tell us." "Look, you give me a name, I'll put a word in with the court." "Wait a minute, you guys hang around with Nick Rinaldi, don't you?" "Nick who?" "Forget it, Bobby." "He's too fuckin' smart for us." "Look, we give up." "It was him." "Yo, Asteroid!" "Say "I did it!"" "I did it." "No, I did it." "No, I did it." "No, I did it." "No, I did it." "I did it." "No, I did it." "I did it." "I-I did it." "No, I did it." "I did it!" "I did it!" "I did it!" "I did it!" "No, no, I" " No, I did it!" "Ehhh, O.B. !" "Long time no see." "Engine problems?" "You're the problem, Carl." "Get in." "Nice rig you got here, O'Brien." "You're doin' all right for yourself." "I can always be doin' better." "I hate to see a man unsatisfied with his station in life." "What's the beef?" "Mad Anthony's?" "Last night?" "Can't help you." "How much they clear?" "Nada." "Your little friends Bobby and Zip tripped over their dicks." "You should know better." "Hand nothin' to do with me." "They talked." "I don't fall for that shit, O'Brien." "You should know better." "I got Leo Snider at Rahway coimin' up for for review." "He says if I help him, he'll put your ass away for me." "The vending machine hijack?" "Lehman's furs?" "The fire on the waterfront." "Why not throw in the Kennedy assassination?" "I hate to be the one to break this to you, but a lot of people don't like you, Carl." "What do you want?" "Suspect number three." "Somebody left a hot van outside of Anthony's, and the security guy says he saw the third outside but he couldn't make him." "I figure that somebody on the inside gave you the key." "That's all?" "And a player to be named at a future date." "Nick Rinaldi." "Oh, that's very good news." "You know, we should have a talk like this more often." "You tell Snider to eat shit and die." "You sound bitter, Carl." "I hate to see a man unhappy with his station in life." "Hey, Carl." "Somebody pulled the distributor head off this thing." "There's nothin' to it." "Whose car is it?" "I don't know." "Some girl." "Hook brung it in." "Uhhh...tell her we're gonna replace the ignition system." "Hey..." "Carl." "When are you gonna give me somethin'?" "You tell your boyfriend Ramirez he can come in by himself, or we can bring him in." "The second way is not gonna be any fun." "This is a condemned building, Miss." "I give you two days." "Two days, I come back here, you better be gone." "Comprende?" "Let's go, Mike." "Jesus, what a pit." "That baby is gonna get sick." "I used to come in here and shoot pigeons up on the fourth floor." "Hundreds of 'em." "They'd come in through the broken windows." "It's good for the reflexes." "Yeah, you should slow those reflexes down a little bit." "Can you imagine living in a place like this?" "My father lived her when he was a kid." "It was a different building on the same spot." "Probably the same kinda dump." "But he got himself out, right?" "He ran numbers till his cousin got him on a job." "Then you guineas moved in and the place went to hell." "Oh, funny guy." "So what do you wanna do for lunch?" "Oh, let's cook up some pigeons, huh?" "Nah, I'm sick of Italian food." "Um excuse me." "Do you know a boy named Desmond Price, lives in the this building?" "He's already talked to the police, the social worker" "I'm your councilman in this district." "I seen your picture." "Eh, I'm Desmond's mother." "Oh." "Great." "Um...could I, could I talk with him?" "You think my boy lied?" "No." "But I would like to ask him a few questions." "You think he lied." "I don't know, I wasn't there." "Eh, sometimes...under pressure from the police kids can say a lot of things to keep themselves out of trouble." "Get out here, Desmond!" "'Cause my son doesn't lie." "I want to be able to help to clear this thing up." "Sit." "Talk to the man." "Um...hi, Desmond." "I'm, uh, Wynston Himes." "I'm your councilman in this district." "Uh, I seen your picture." "Right." "Um..." "Can you tell me what happened that night?" "Go on, tell the man what you told me." "Me and my friend Tito was hangin' out at the park." "Not doin' nothin." "Sittin' on this bench." "And this dude in sweats sit by us and start talking that he give us money if w-...we let him you know." "What words did he say?" "Suck us off." "Then he reached for me, but he didn't touch me, 'cuase, see, don't nobody touch me." "But he was gonna." "And that's when Tito went off on the man, pops him in the face, one-two-three, and we run off." "And that's it?" "Then the cops catch us and run us in." "And that's the truth?" "You're not just sayin this to stay out of trouble?" "My son doesn't lie, Mister." "And he ain't goin' to no family court." "Well, I'll try and make sure that doesn't happen." "Mmm." "Thank you for talking to me." "Oh, and if any newspaper people come by try not to" "We already talked with a man from Black Courier this mornin'." "Uh-huh." "Them faggots always after you up to the park." "Be happening' all the time, Mister." "Get back in your room, Desmond." "Thank you." "He was third party in a robbery attempt last night." "The other two got caught, he got away." "We haven't I.D.'ed him yet." "Hard evidence?" "I can nail his ass to the wall." "Look at that." "My heart rate." "Yeah." "I croak on this damn thing, they'll be able to make a print-out of it." "Anyway, I thought you'd be interested." "I appreciate it, Bill." "If things turn out right, we won't forget you." "We could do it through our own office, of course." "I can handle it!" "We've got a timetable on this, Mayor." "The Japanese want it cleared by the weekend." "If the Japanese pull their money out, we got a real" "I can handle it." "Right." "It's your turf." "Rinaldi's practically your brother." "All you goombahs are practically brothers, right?" "We just need those buildings cleared." "I don't want to hear Parks Department." "Ben lanucci, that mamaluke!" "Do you people ever go in that park?" "There are no street lights." "It's like the Dark Ages, the Medieval times." "You know that a professor got mugged there last night?" "A supposedly intelligent person, hm?" "I wouldn't go out in that park in a Sherman tank after dark!" "Pauly!" "Come inside." "I feel like I'm livin' in a Charles Bronson movie." "Excuse me, ladies, please." "There's animals out there!" "Now!" "Pauly!" "Fiscal crisis." "Excuse me." "They don't listen." "They never listen!" "Yo, Gus." "Hey, what's the fuckin' story here?" "You're shut down, Joe." "For what?" "Well, you got a septic clearance that isn't up to spec." "Come on, I got a green light on that months ago." "Yeah, but not on paper." "You know where it came from." "I know." "Then I suggest you go back to where it came from when you talked to them." "What the fuck do you think I'm out here for?" "Septic clearance my ass!" "We're still on the clock, Joe." "Yeah, well you call Belcher and you get off the clock." "This could take a week." "Belcher says no breaks from the local." "The contract stands." "What the fuck is that?" "Your joice has been cut off, Joe." "Whatever problems you got downtown, you clean 'em up..." "we can cut you some slack." "Come on." "Don't take it personal." "Yo!" "Yo, Tommy!" "Joe..." "Tommy, wait up!" "Man, I'm soory." "Did, uh, Nicky come back today?" "No." "Hey, Joe!" "Joe, we gotta talk." "We got problems." "That two-bit crook you work for has got problems -- starting right now!" "We got a situation here, Joey." "Get in." "I gotta stop by the apartments on the way downtown." "Fuckin' Gus shut me down!" "It's Baci, right?" "It's this fuckin' L Street deal !" "We got worse problems than that, Joe." "Nicky's in trouble." "What trouble?" "He and Bobby Krausse and that kid Zip, they tried to do Anthony's warehouse last night." "What, is he in jail?" "No he got away, but they know he was in on it." "It doesn't make sense." "I mean, why would Nicky need to do a robbery?" "Eh!" "Was anybody hurt?" "Nah, no guns." "But the thing about it is the D.A.'s office is butting' into it." "The guy's bucking' for senate, right?" "They figure they go right after Nicky, respectable family, juice with the people downtown -- shows he's impartial, right?" "Incorruptible, all that shit." "They're tryin' to bury him, Joe." "They got a stolen van, Anthony's place -- no mercy." "I asked the Mayor as a personal favor to hold them off, and he's made an effort." "But I got to tell you, I don't think his heart is in it." "And what would it take to put his heart back into it?" "What we talked about with L Street." "Tonight." "Tis is my kid!" "You're using my kid against me like this?" "Your nephew?" "!" "It's grand larceny, Joe!" "And Nicky put us here, not me!" "Look at this place, Joe." "It's a dump." "It wouldn't be if your outfit didn't have my hands tied." "It's comin' down anyway, sooner or later." "They're not askin' you to do the thing itself." "They just need to be sure once it's done you don't go fixin' the place back up." "Where's Nicky?" "He's okay." "They haven't found him yet." "I put the word out -- kid gloves." "I'm gonna have to go to Kerrigan on this." "What the fuck?" "!" "Yo!" "Gus!" "Hello, Joe, whadda you know?" "What's this?" "You got six or seven violations here, and I haven't even been to the basement yet." "Oh, you... !" "You're gonna pay some fines, Joe." "Oh, you fuck!" "And just yesterday it was all up to code." "Things fall apart quick, don't they?" "Hi." "Hi-i-i !" "I'm Nick." "I was, uh" "Yeah, I-I'll go get her." "She's in the annex." "Thanks." "Yo, Nicky!" "You a busboy here or what?" "What are you guys doin' out?" "City shut us down." "What for?" "What do you care?" "You quit." "Nicky." "The cops come by just after your old man left the site." "You in trouble?" "I might be." "You need a few bills to see you through" "No, no, no, no." "They had a real hard-on for you, Nicky." "If I were you, I wouldn't go to your place for a while." "Take it light." "Thanks." "All I see right now is that you and your people are selling off my district piece by piece." "What brings revenue to the city, what brings life to the city is good for everybody." "Right." "The trickle-down theory." "But things only seem to trickle down so far." "You can't expect the developer to build if he can't make a profit." "And you don't expect people to watch their neighborhood being plowed under without lifting a finger." "The development creates jobs." "With jobs people can afford higher rents." "And those jobs are gonna go to the people on L Street?" "Tell me another one." "I was hoping that we could cut some kind of deal here." "You mean a personal deal?" "Oh, I hear that you got your brother-in-law on Mad Anthony's payroll" "What does that mean?" "I understand what it's like." "New guys on the council." "The last man at the banquet." "People expect you to deliver." "Okay." "I got housing inspectors, they got teacher's aides" "You keep pushing Galaxy Towers the way it's set up now, and we'll fight you on blighting classification, we'll fight you on evictions, we'll fight you on construction and demolition every little step of the way." "We'll make the L Street apartments a symbol for everything that's fucked up in this city!" "They can't be a symbol if they aren't there." "Sounds like they got you by the short one, Joey." "I was wondering, uh...since your people have fronted me the money on this thing" "You want me to get Baci off your back." "Well...he's hurting your investment." "We invested in you, Joe." "This creep...he's using my family against me." "You think he didn't check with us before he made a move?" "And if I blow my bid on the apartment building?" "I-I-I mean, if I can't make the payments?" "What would a regular bank do?" "You're not a regular bank!" "I'm carrying you people on my payroll." "Look, Joe." "We appreciate that." "We really do." "You'd still get to put up buildings, you just wouldn't be your own boss." "Maybe you never were, really." "I borrowed from you to get something for myself." "my brother." "That's not the way our society works, Joe." "You got something good, first everybody on top of you gets a taste." "Then you share what's left with everybody below you." "We're social animals, human beings -- not dogs." "Come on, Joe...you'll do what you have to." "And the people who know, the people that count...they'll understand, Joe." "And they'll respect you for it." "Thanks." "Shit!" "Les?" "Preparing a lecture?" "Right." "Listen...we heard about you getting mugged." "I was very sad to hear that." "Thank you." "And we heare the rest, the rumor, about the countercharges." "I wanted to say that we're really glad you're gonna fight this out." "Who's "we"?" "We us." "You know,those of us who are gay on the faculty...our friends in the community." "How could everybody have heard of it so soon?" "Anyhow, we" "I think it's great that you're taking a stand." "Who says I'm taking a stand?" "I'm not gay, Roger." "We know that." "What if I stonewall, and the police and press and everybody believe the boys?" "What if it backfires?" "What...what if it plays right into the hands of the racists  the fag-bashers?" "Homophobics." "Sorry." "But what if that happens?" "If you just roll over for them, they'll never change." "Hi." "Hi." "Oh um, I heard about Les." "That's so awful." "Yeah." "Take care." "Yeah, you, too." "Hi, baby." "Hi." "Mmm." "How'd it go today?" "Les Pullman was mugged last night." "I know." "It's gonna get worse, too." "How could it get worse?" "The two kids who beat him up said he was coming on to them." "Les isn't gay." "How do we know that?" "'Cause he isn't." "Levonne Willis is stirring the pot." "He's worked up a meeting for tomorrow night at the Community Center, and the whole point is to nail me to the wall in public." "Dont be paranoid." "Do you know who these boys are?" "I talked to one of them." "Do you think he was telling the truth?" "Levonne is gonna have me in front of every heavy hitter in the community -- the black press, everyone -- and he's gonna ask me that same question." "Now how do you think I'd better answer?" "Do you think they were telling the truth?" "Politically speaking, it doesn't matter!" "It matters to me." "You like that." "You like that, don't you?" "Yes, you like that." "You like that so much!" "I'm ten years older than my brother was when he was killed." "Okay, let's go for a walk, okay?" "He was just a kid." "My big famous brother." "I've been thinking..." "Such a good boy." "what have I done with my life..." "in those last ten years?" "I mean, what have I got to show for all that time?" "What do you think you should've done?" "I don't know." "Have a family?" "No." "Not a family." "Do somethin' heroic?" "Maybe." "But not...you know, not in the Army, though." "Nothin' like that." "What is that?" "What is that?" "Somethin' big." "I want to be my own boss." "What, like your father?" "No." "Not like him." "Not anything like him." "So it's you." "Yeah." "I guess I shouldn't be surprised." "People do favors for me, I do favors for them." "You know how it works, Joe." "Why does it have to be tonight?" "Look the fire is very minor." "We gut two or three floors on the abandoned side, other side of the firewall." "After I get my kid in there make a few adjustments to the sprinkler system, we get a flood." "Water damage." "Nobody gets hurt, nobody moves back in either." "I don't like it." "You're not supposed to like it, Joe." "You're supposed to bend over, spread your cheeks, take it like a man." "I'm not too fuckin' thrilled about it myself." "Don't organize any block parties down there tonight." "It's life, Joe." "What are you gonna do?" "You don't have to do this, you know." "I'm not gonna let 'em run my life." "If I back down now, they win." "Who's keeping score?" "I'll see you in a bit." "I have to be careful when he's got a cold." "He's always had a hard time breathing." "Hey, you shaved." "Yeah, there was a razor in there." "Ooh." "I use that for my legs." "You're lucky you got skin left." "Yeah, well, I-I-I haven't been to my place all day." "You break up with your girlfriend?" "Ohh!" "I haven't been with anybody f-..." "for a while now." "Why not?" "Whenever I need somebody, it's like -- zapl -- all the women in the world disappear." "I swear they smell me comin' from like a block away and they hide somewhere." "It's the same with guys when they find out I got a kid." "They figure all I got on my mind is roping 'em into gettin' married." "Well, what is it you got on your mind?" "Usually something' about how much sleep I can get and still go to school and go to work and do Jesse's therapy every night." "Very romantic." "Well, I guess you can get used to anything." "I don't want to get used to it." "It sucks." "You, uh, you can't be a creep, okay?" "I mean, you start any bullshit, I-I just don't have the energy." "I'll do my best." "I'm kinda defensive, huh?" "You're like a Surgeon General's warning with legs." "Well, I'm sorry." "I mean it though, uh?" "Don't worry about it." "D-Do you have anything?" "Aren't you on anything?" "No, I have something..." "You got quite a supply there." "Well, a girl can dream, can't she?" "You want?" "Yeah, when we get to that point." "Wait" "What?" "It's all right." "You still up for this?" "I could be persuaded." "Oh!" "O-Oh!" "Ah!" "Oh!" "Ooh!" "Mmm." "Mmmm." "Oooh." "Ahhh." "You okay?" "Yeah." "When I started to go off..." "I caught a cramp in my foot." "A foot cramp!" "You know what?" "What?" "It went away though." "Oh, yeah?" "Hmmm." ""Dear Doctor Ruth, lately my wife's been having orgasms in her toes."" "Come here, baby." "Ohhhh." ""Is this normal?"" "Bring me a towel, baby." "Mmm." "Don't stand in front of the window." "Poor Mrs. Hurley is gonna have a stroke she sees your pretty behind moonin' out at her." "Did I make you forget?" "Forget about what?" "All your problems." "Sugar, I forgot my name." "Joe?" "How long have you been here?" "I don't know." "Uh, not long." "Are you hungry?" "Mrs. Ramirez made a casserole." "No." "I'm not hungry." "Joe?" "Something the matter?" "Nicky's in trouble." "He's wanted for a robbery." "Is he all right?" "Uh, I don't know, Pina." "They haven't found him yet." "He didn't do it...?" "Yes, he did." "Then I'll get Bart on the phone" "No, it's gonna take more than a lawyer." "I've...already put things in motion." "What does that mean?" "What did you do?" "Help." "Help, we need help." "We need help clearing our warehouse of these fantastic bargains." "We've got great deals on psychosis, neurosis, dementia, amnesia schizoid,paranoid, psychotropic seizure hebephrenic, melancholic, agoraphobic, alcoholic, manic, manic-depressive, genetically regressive, rabies, scabies, char-babies." "Help, help." "We need help." "We need help clearing our warehouse of these fantastic bargains." "We've got great deals on psychosis, neurosis, dementia, amnesia, schizoid," "Maybe we could plea bargain." "No, we have to have something that they want, Bobby." "Besides Nick." "Yeah, but that's out." "That's out." "We're gonna do time then." "Right." "Hebephranlo, achlzophrenic, alcoholic, aorophobic, melancholla, eoholalia, catatonia." "Maybe this is hell." "No, if this was hell, my mother would be here..." "Reading from USA Today about which foods are the most mucus-producing when you have a cold." "Compared to my house this is Disneyland" "Bring on the night, shut out the light!" "Bring on the night, shut out the light!" "Bring on the night, shut out the light!" "Shut out the light!" "Shut out the light!" "Aw, shit." "What'd he have to do that for?" "Damn." "Hey, if you want to sneak off, you can go out the front door." "Half the fire engines in the world are down on L Street." "I think it might be one of my father's buildings." "Your father owns a slum?" "Back it up." "Come on, people." "Come on." "Come on,we don't want any injuries here" "Come on, back it up." "Let's go." "Let's go." "Let's get everyone back here!" "Kevin?" "Kevin!" "You got it under control?" "The floors are startin' to fall through!" "It won't spread next door, but you got a flood in this one." "Your water main went with your sprinkler system." "And there's nobody hurt though?" "We may have some people on the fourth here." "But that side's abandoned!" "Nothin' we could see." "If anything else is on the fourth floor it's impossible to get to 'em." "Where were they?" "Down on the floor." "Nick!" "Move it back, let's go." "Nick!" "!" "Back it up folks." "Nick!" "!" "Give the fellas room to work." "Hey, where you goin'?" "Yo, folks." "Nick!" "!" "!" "Hey, what'd I tell you?" "!" "Yo, back it up, let's go!" "Hey, Paddy." "Have we still got a want on that kid?" "Isn't that Ramirez?" "It's okay, it's okay." "We'll have him in the car that follows directly after her." "After the funeral." "All right, come on, move back." "Let's go." "Come on, let's call it a night." "Help!" "Help!" "Help, we need help!" "Help!" "Any messages for me?" "We got bargains." "W-We got deals." "All your electronics needs!" "We got deals." "Under one roof." "Under one roof." "Help!" "Help!" "We need help!" "Man, who the fuck are you?" "I am the lowest." "Who the fuck are you?" "Look, uh" "Hey, Levonne!" "Levonne, you workin' here?" "No,I just came by to check out the show" "Look, I ain't seen so much paper in all my life." "And all of 'em ask the same damn questions." "You see, it helps them stall while they try to figure out a story to tell you." "Why settle for less when you can have it all?" "Why settle for less when you can have it all?" "Money talks, nobody walks." "Money talks, nobody walks." "Money talks." "Money talks, but nobody walks." "Money talks, nobody walks." "Money talks." "Money talks, but nobody walks." "Hi, Wynn." "Uh, hi." "Um, how many people was it?" "Uhh...thirteen families, a couple of singles." "Only a few have family they can stay with." "And how long till they rehab the side that didn't burn?" "Rinaldi says it's totalled." "He's gonna knock it down and sell the land." "The Development Package." "Not very subtle, are they?" "Que se puede hacer?" "I'll see you later, Wynn." "Yeah." "Levonne." "What's this, Wynn?" "A photo opportunity?" "And what would you be saying if I didn't come?" "Hi." "Hi." "Whose is this?" "It's mine." "Would you hold her for a minute?" "Oh, yeah?" "Yeah." "Hey there." "Felice had to work today." "What's your name?" "She looks just like you." "Yeah." "Maybe." "Look, can I talk to you for a minute?" "Man, I wish you'd reconsider this meeting tonight" "Look, if you have to go and kiss the Man's ass, that's your problem." "That's off the point, Levonne!" "Now this here, this is what's worth fighting for." "We have to choose where we make a stand" "Wait, what do you mean, wha-what do you mean, "we"?" "Okay, it's..." "Huh?" "it's your ass." "They probably started it themselves." "They had no power in there." "They used candles and shit." "They probably knocked something' over." "Arson." "Huh?" "Arson." "It was a torch job." "Professional." "How do you know that?" "'Cause I lived here forty years, that how." "Listen to me, I want you to be calm about this, all right?" "That guy you went off on yesterday made the charts." "Nick Rinaldi?" "What'd he do?" "Robbery suspect." "Suspect, right?" "No guns involved." "No priors." "No reason to believe he's armed or dangerous." "We see him, you stay in the car, I make the collar, right?" "Right?" "Right!" "Just let me at him in the fuckin' car." "You're a mess, kid." "Where you turnin'?" "The site up here." "He was workin' that job." "Ferraro checked it out yesterday." "He quit." "Fuckin' deadbeat." "She takes up with a fuckin' deadbeat thief!" "So what's it to you anymore?" "Tom, it reflects on me, all right?" "She's my exwife,the mother of my child!" "Child?" "You never told me you had a kid." "A boy or girl?" "Boy." "How old?" "He's two." "Huh!" "Two-year-old son, huh?" "I never knew you had a kid." "Well, I do." "SANTO RIVERA FUNERAL HOME" "Hector." "Whatever she wants, you cut your price in half." "I'll pay the difference." "And don't let her know." "Hey, Errol !" "Hey, Errol !" "Morning, fellas!" "It was a lot more fun playing here when they were afraid of me." "Yeah, I took them to court." "This was restricted?" "Yeah, no blacks, no Jews, no undesirable elements." "I'd hang out at the eighteenth green by the clubhouse and just smile... and make the old bastards twelve-putt the final hole." "Took two years before anybody said hello." "Must've been tough to concentrate on your game." "I never played better." "So you got yourself a nice little mess, Wynn." "Makes me glad I'm retired." "Well, you were operating on a bigger scale." "Scale doesn't matter." "You always try to gain some ground no matter what the situation is." "You make some good come out of it." "I don't see how this is good for anybody." "You think those boys are lyin', don't you?" "Well, it" "You wouldn't be here otherwise." "I think that it's too big for them to go back on their story now." "I didn't use enough club." "I hage it when I do that." "I nibble my way up to the green." "It's a failure of never." "Why I should have to take a stance on this at all is beyond me" "You're not a policeman." "Right." "Nor a judge." "Right." "Right." "But the moment will come when Levonne Willis will put it to me in front of the whole community." ""Do you think our boys are lying?"" "Wedge?" "What?" "Do you think I could use a wedge from this far out?" "I don't play." "Tennis?" "Racquetball?" "I don't play anything." "You do have a problem." "You,uh...you could say you believe them" "If we're gonna take power, we have to take responsibility, too!" "You're absolutely right, Professor." "How are you, darling?" "It's good to see you up and around again." "You got your color back." "That's marvelous." "Oh, you should've been there last night, Ernie." "We had a big one." "The equipment our boys have now." "Not like in the old days, a bucket and a ladder." "How's your fingers, huh?" "Make a fist, make a fist." "Beautiful !" "Beautiful !" "Did you come for the lasagna, Joe, or is this official business?" "Two people are dead because of you and me." "They were trespassing." "Those are the kind of people accidents happen to." "You suck." "Joe, things change fast, people get hurt." "I'm sorry about that." "It was an accident." "Now if everybody stands up like a good soldier, we can stay on top of it." "Joe...in the next couple of years, this town is gonna be one big yard sale" "And anyone with a half a brain will make tracks and let the blacks and the Spanish duke it out over whatever's left." "I want you off of my kid." "I'll call Walsh." "We'll take his name out of the computer" "It never happened." "And the other two?" "Anthony is good people." "He'll drop the charges if I tell him to" "Tell him to." "Surprise!" "Mrs. Donelly -- ninety years old." "Joe!" "Ninety years ago the Irish ran this town." "There were horses shitting on Jefferson Street." "My grandfather got here off the boat..." "they gave him a scoop and a shovel." "Now I run the place." "America, huh?" "'America, America, God shed His grace on thee" "'And crowned thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea." "Let's try it one more time." "I'm gonna step out for a second." "If I'm not back, do "The Star-Spangled Banner", okay?" "I want to be able to hear you voice, Warren." "Where the tell have you been?" "I've been calling your apartment, there were police." "They came here?" "Oh yeah." "Big show." "The kids treated me like a TV star." "Bein' late with the rent is having some problems, Nick." "Cops after you for robbery is being seiously fucked up." "Listen" "No, you listen." "You know where Mom was this morning?" "In church, praying for you." "You turn her into areligious fanatic, Nicky, so help me" "Laurie." "I need you to do something for me." "We had a deal." "You remember?" "After Tony died?" "You and me against the world." "How come I'm always helping you out and I never get anything back?" "Well" "I helped you with that marriage deal." "You fucked up my engagement!" "He was an asshole!" "He was my asshole!" "Hey, listen, listen, listen." "I'm gonna turn myself in, okay?" "I just need to straighten some things out first." "I think Dad might be in trouble." "Yeah, one of his apartment buildings hurned down last night." "People were killed." "Yeah, I'd say he's got trouble." "I think it might be worse than that, all right?" "Now...no-now call him up, be nice to him, you know?" "Er, I don't know, talk or somethin'." "Why can't you do that?" "I can't." "Why not?" "Oh... !" "I can't!" "It doesn't work that way between us." "Please don't get hurt, Nick." "I was one of the first black mayors of a major city in this country." "A lot of media pressure, millions of people affected by my decisions." "But there was no way I could turn my back on the people who put me in." "So I brought some of them along with me" "And some of them messed up." "Well, they're only people." "They're human." "I let it go at first because I didn't believe it, and then because I didn't want to believe it, and finally because we would lose more ground by cleaning house in public than by sweeping it under the carpet." "It took twelve years for all that to catch up with me." "That's a pretty nice run, the way things these days." "You decided not to run again." "There were three Grand Jury indictments hanging ovr my head." "If I stood for another term, a lot of people would have gone, and I would have gone down with them." "So..." "I should lie and hope for twelve good years?" "This isn't the Old Testament, Wynn." "People didn't vote you in so you can test your moral fiber." "If you're going to be a leader, lead." "Take it to the Man every chance you get" "This is not about a fight with white people." "It's always about that, Wynn." "If it isn't, you'fe just another ward heeler." "You don't defend anything." "You attack what's wrong." "That's what a leader is." "I worked so hard to get on the damn Council, I never...thought about" "You have to know how you're gonna play the green when you're still back at the tee, Wynn" "You just figure it out when you get there." "Hey, Nick?" "I figured you might be here." "This was always your favorite hiding spot." "What do you want?" "To see if you needed help." "What do you want to help me for?" "Your brother must have saved my ass a half dozen times over there." "And then your father." "When I got back I was pretty messed up." "This job has been a" "Hey, look, you don't owe me nothin'." "All right." "The offer stands though." "You need money?" "Or a go-between?" "I mean, after your friends thrown you in" "Who said that?" "The guard saw me." "What...what are you talkin' about?" "The cop that came by here just said..." ""His pal threw him in."" "Carl." "Fucking Carl !" "What are you gonna do, Nicky?" "I gotta find something out." "Hey -- thanks, man." "I owe you one." "Right." "Fuckin' kid." "How are you, uh..." "How are your classes this year?" "They're fine." "Sometimes, I, uh..." "I really miss it." "The classroom, the faculty politics." "Well it's a little bit tame now, isn't it?" "I know why you're here, Wynn." "Let's get on with it." "I understand why you want to hold your ground on this thing." "Oh?" "Why is that?" "Because you're telling the truth." "But you're not gonna go to bat for me, are you?" "This is not about what I think is right" "I have to represent the people in my ward." "If I was black and they were white, would that stop you?" "Les there are two possibilities as to what's going to happen." "Number one:" "If you drop the charges..." "a few of the people at school, not the ones that you respect the most, will...whisper." ""Where there's smoke, there's fire." That you're gay." "That you must have made a move on those boys." "Number two:" "If you push this thing, those same accusations will come out in the press, in a court of law -- you're labelled a homosexual and a racist." "And finally it comes down to your word against theirs, and it doesn't matter what the verdict's gonna be 'cause those same people are gonna still think that you're guilty." "Now..." "I can't stop any of that." "At all." "But if you do drop the charges..." "I will do everything I can to make it a clean break." "This stinks." "To high heaven." "'Balls to the wall, balls to the wall !" "All or nothing, our balls to the wall !" "Ehh!" "The fugitive." "You got a problem?" "Yeah." "You." "You fuckin' rolled over on me." "That's not a very nice thing to say, Nick." "Now the way I see it, you stuck your nose where it wasn't invited, then your two little friends fucked up, and even the dumbshit cops in this town were smart enough to run U down for it." "Nah." "You rolled over on me." "They didn't have to whack you with phone books, they didn't have to step on your fingers." "They walked in the fuckin' door and you were ready to spill !" "You rolled over on me just like you did on Tony!" "Don't talk to me about that old shit." "Your best fucking friend, and you threw him in." "You think he was a fuckin' hero, don't you?" "Tony." "He was a punk." "Who do you think was drivin' the fuckin' car that night?" "Who was drivin' shitfaced and went up on the curb and hit that woman?" "Who ran away, ran his little All-State ass away and left me there with my leg all fucked up and that woman laying' on the ground?" "!" "That's bullshit." "Ask your daddy, Nick." "Ask him what went down." "And get out of my way." "I'm closin' up." "That fire last night..." "What about the fuckin' fire?" "It was you, wasn't it?" "You did it." "Like I said before, Nick ask your daddy" "You fuckin' liar!" "You fuck!" "You finished, Nick?" "'Cause if you're not, I'm gonna blow your fuckin' brains out." "Dum dum dum, da-da-dah..." "If any laws of any state are broken..." "Dum dum dum, da-da-dahhh... a duly-authorized organization springs into action." "Dum dum dum dum dum dum, da-da-dah, Dum dum dum dum dum dum, da-da-dah..." "We may be called the stae police... the state troopers...the militia, the rangers...or the highway patrol." "Dum dum dum dum dum dum, da-da-dah, Dum dum dum dum dum dum, da-da-dah..." "These are stories...of the brave men... whose training, skill and courage have preserved and enforced have enforced and preserved our state laws." "Thank you." "Gentlemen -- brothers of the shield I salute you and I bid you farewell." "You can't walk, kid." "Ehh who needs a wife when you got this fuckin' guy on your case?" "Ten-four, brothers!" "I'll see you tomorrow." "Yeah, yeah, yeah." "Early!" "All right." "Hey, Mikey!" "Hey." "Jerry!" "Stand 'em up!" "A round of drinks for all these olusy beatwalkers here!" "You hit the lottery, O'Brien?" "I'm movin' up into the D.A.'s office." "Special Investigator." "That's great to hear." "All these years, sucking' up to the pols" "I'd hate to think there's no payoff." "Everybody drinks but him." "I don't see why I gotta say all that again." "People have to hear it with their own ears." "I don't like sayin' it." "You ain't got nothin' to ashamed of, do you?" "The part about him tryin' to touch me." "Did he touch you?" "No." "You know, you can tell me." "It don't mean a thing about you if he did." "N-No." "But he did try to?" "No." "I-I-I..." "I mean yes." "Desmond...what's the one thing I tell you the most?" "The one thing." "Be a man." "What?" "Be a man!" "And how you do that?" "Stand up for youself." "No!" "You stand up for what is right." "Baby, I'd dive down into hell to keep you safe, but you gotta be straight with me." "Now I'm gonna ask you one last time, okay?" "Whnn!" "Excuse me." "Hi." "Hi." "You talked to him?" "Uh-huh." "Did you believe him?" "Yes." "What are you gonna do?" "All right then!" "If everybody'll please just grab a chair and sit down we're just waiting on Jeanette..." "Price and her son." "But we can get started now." "It's nice to see all of you concerned people here tonight." "I appreciate your support." "We have a lot to talk about tonight." "Desmond Price!" "Tito Rollins!" "Two of our young men have been accused of a serious crime." "I've had all the charges dropped." "Their names will not appear on any criminal record." "The root of the problem was another overreaction by the police force." "At the next council meeting," "I will present a demand for a Civilian Review Board to investigate the death of Hollis Washington... and several other incidents in the past year." "But more importantly...more importantly we had a fire last night." "Thirteen of our families were left homeless." "And resulted in the death of a young woman and her three-month-old baby." "The city's response to this was pitiful" "Instead of finding temporary shelters and rehabilitating those apartments, the city is pushing through a deal to knock them down and replace them with a high-income condominium and a shopping mall !" "Now when they needed our rent, they jammed us in there, they didn't turn the heat on they didn't collect the garbage they didn't provide street lights or police protection or any of the other services we should have expected as residents of this city" "But now...now..." "now that they can smell a profit... they want to burn us out and plow us under." "They want to drive a wedge through this community, cut us up to pieces..." "until we dry up and blow away." "See, I know what they're thinking." "I know what they're thinking." "See, they're thinking that we are just a bunch of poor people, a bunch of black people and Hispanic people, a bunch of people who just got off the boat  can't get it together down here!" "That's right." "People who don't even know how to work together!" "People who don't care!" "People who don't count!" "And people who don't even vote!" "So I'm gonna ask you right now, are we gonna prove them right?" "Are we gonna lie down and take this?" "Are we gonna allow them to push us around, shut us down and burn us out?" "No-o-o!" "!" "!" "Well, you know just three blocks from here, up the hill... the mayor and four councilmen are attending a dinner to raise funds for next November's campaign." "Now we were not invited." "Now I think we ought to go up there... and let the mayor know just how left out we feel !" "Don't you?" "I think we ought to go up there and tell the mayor that if he don't get his act together real fast, then he is the one who's gonna be left out of the City Hall next election!" "All right, let's do it!" "Are they right behind me?" "They're comin', baby." "All of them." "I hope I got the address right." "What are we going to do?" "We'll figure that out when we get there" "I have fought...at the municipal level to provide corporate tax incentives..." "to lure industry back to our city!" "I have our city!" "I have fought at the stae and federal levels for funding to rebuild our roads to light our streets,to keep the police and firefighting forces up to strength!" "But more importantly..." "and this I take particular pride in" "I have fought against the environmental alarmists and the special interest groups that would block important developments like the Galaxy Tower complex which promise to revitalize our economy and put our city back on the map!" "And I intend to keep up this fight!" "And with your help...we will once more be a city with a future!" "A city on the move!" "Truly...a city of hope!" "I've brought some concerned citizens." "They've been lookin' for you, Mister Mayor." "You got a minute?" "A little help?" "Thanks." "You just gettin' out of work?" "Nah." "Just goin' in." "It's a tough gig the night shift." "Yeah." "Ugh...your hand's messed up." "My life is messed up." "This is nothin'." "You play." "Nah." "I suck." "My brother used to try to teach me." "He was the real thing." "All-State guard." "Big deal." "Play around here?" "Sacred Heart." "Tony Rinaldi." "Ohhh, snap!" "Tony the Tiger!" "Yeah!" "I played against that dude." "Sucker was bad!" "Fire off those Cazzie Russell jumpers, no arc, bam-bam-bam!" "He kill you with that jump shot." "Where'd he play in college?" "Marines got him." "Yeah?" "He go over?" "Uh-huh." "I did that." "Infantry." "He make it back okay?" "Nah." "Nice ball-handler, too." "He was fast for a white guy." "Not fast enough." "Hey, look, I, uh..." "I gotta run." "Take it easy, huh?" "Yeah, you too." "Tony the Tiger." "What a waste." "When you can have it all." "Why settle for less when you can have it all?" "Why settle for less when you can have it all?" "Why...why settle for less when you can have it aaaall?" "You can have it" "Why?" "Why?" "Why settle for less when you can have it all?" "Angela." "Angela Sabino." "Why settle for less when you can have it all?" "You can have it!" "You can have it all !" "Yeah, but...she might be front." "Why settle for less when you can have it all?" "All right,well,just tell her that I got hung up but I'm on my way, all right?" "Thanks." "Rinaldi." "I got a want on you, punk." "Yeah, stick it up your ass." "I'm not playin' around, asshole!" "You do't have your little cop suit on." "I don't think y" "Freeze!" "Lay your head down, pal !" "It's me, you fucks!" "Mike Rizzo!" "You're lettin' that cocksucker get away" "It's all right." "He's one of ours." "What's the fireworks for?" "I had a suspect tryin' to take my head off." "Armed?" "He hit me with a fuckin' garbage pail !" "Assault with a deadly trash receptacle." "Yeah, fuck you." "Come on, let's get him." "It's that punk, Nick Rinaldi." "We're supposed to pick him up." "They called the dogs off on that guy, Mike." "What?" "!" "He got a clean bill this afternoon." "Where were you?" "Hey, that piece of yours, is it private or on loan from the job?" "It's mine!" "You been drinkin', Mike?" "What the fuck--?" "You didn't hit him, did you?" "He resisted arrest!" "He wasn't wanted." "Did you read him the book first?" "He's a piece of shit!" "Did you hit him?" "I don't know!" "I suppose we could say we were there in time to see, and then that he went after you, and then" "Hey, Paddy, I'm not goin' for this!" "If this happened to you" "Then I'd deserve to get my ass kicked off the force." "Accidents happen, kid." "We gotta close ranks here." "Well, I'm not goin' for it, period!" "You mean you're not gonna back me up?" "He's my partner." "What am I gonna do, shoot him?" "Paddy you know me!" "You'd better hand your piece up here, Mike." "Oh, I don't believe this." "I don't believe you fuckin' guys!" "What happens if he dies?" "What happens to me?" "!" "Mike..." "do you believe in a Supreme Being?" "How'd you find me here?" "I saw your address in the police report" "What do you want?" "I want to talk." "Forget it." "Come on, man." "What?" "You won." "Great." "You want to rub it in?" "I'm sorry we fucked you up." "A little late for sorry." "I-I know you're not a faggot." "We've got a long way to go, don't we?" "Look..." "I gotta run." "You mind if I hang with you a minute?" "It's a free country." "Where'd you hear that one?" "You're a teacher, huh?" "Yeah." "What you teach?" "Urban relations." "Yeah, well, what's that?" "Who's that?" "Nick?" "Are you up there?" "Riggs told me I might find you here." "I needed a place to rest." "I've been worried about you." "Worried?" "Worried about what, that the cops would pick me up?" "Make you look bad in the papers?" "I don't know." "You rob a place that belongs to your family friend." "I mean what is that?" "What, you need money?" "You need money, you come to me!" "And how do you make your money?" "I don't steal it!" "No?" "I swore this wasn't gonna happen to you" "Not after Tony." "I was gonna look after you." "How?" "By chasing me into the Marines like you did with him?" "They were drunk and they stole a car!" "And they hit somebody and they left them in the street!" "He wasn't a hero, Nick." "He ran away from it!" "And he came to me and he wanted me to cover for him!" "I took him to the station." "Yeah." "Down to all your pals." "Nick, they would've found out." "They had the woman in the hospital with a, with a broken back... and his pal Carl in the hospital just ready to spill his guts!" "I did the best I could." "I got Tony a choice -- the service or jail !" "Some fuckin' choice." "You think you get through life without making choices like that?" "You told him to go." "All my life..." "I thought that I was the one in control." "I made sure I had the juice." "I had all the angles." "Jesus..." "I'm not in control of a damn thing." "Did you come here to turn me in?" "Nobody's after you, Nick." "I took care of that." "How?" "I talked to some people and" "You did a favor." "Yeah." "I did a favor." "You had Carl burn down L Street!" "Nicky, they were comin' after you." "They weren't gonna give you any choices" "Daddy...those people, they burned up in there!" "I saw when they brought 'em out, a-a girl and a little baby!" "I let 'em do it." "Oh, Jesus Christ!" "I let 'em do it!" "Daddy?" "I'm fucked up over here." "Nick!" "You're bleeding!" "Daddy my life is such a fuckin' mess." "Hold on." "I'll get help." "No, no, no, no!" "What?" "Stay with me, please?" "Stay with me?" "Please?" "Don't leave me here alone." "Oh...okay." "All right." "I'm scared." "All right." "I'm scared." "Oh, God." "Nick" "Oh, Jesus!" "It's bad." "No, no, no!" "Wait, wait, wait, where you goin'?" "Where you goin'?" "I'm-I'm not going anywhere." "Now just...breathe easy, okay?" "Okay." "Huh?" "Take it easy." "Okay." "I'll be right back." "All right." "Stay there." "All right." "Help!" "Help!" "Over here!" "Come on, we need help!" "Over here in the building!" "Hey, we need help over here!" "Hey!" "Hey, you!" "You!" "Help!" "Up here!" "Up here in the building!" "We need help!" "We need help, yes!" "Help!" "Yeah, help!" "Over here!" "Help!" "Help!" "We need help over here!" "Help!" "Help!" "Help!" "Over here!" "Over here!" "In the building!" "In the building!" "Over here!" "Help, help!" "Help!" "Over here!" "Over here in the building!" "Help!" "Help!" "Help, we need help!" "Help!" "Help!" "Help!" "Help!" "Help, we need help over here,over here!" "Over here!" "Over here, over here in the building!" "Help, we need help!" "Help!" "Help, we need help!" "We need help over here!" "Help, we need help over here!" "Help in the building!" "In the building!" "Help, we need help, we need help, we need help,we need help,we need help!" "Help!" "Help!" "Help, we need help!" "Help, we need help!" "Help, we need help!" "Up, up here!" "Help, we need help up!" "Up!" "Help, we need help!" "Help!" "Help, we need help!" "Over here in the building, in the building!" "Help!" "Help, we need help!" "Help, help!" "Help, help!" "Help, help, help!" "Help, help, help!" "Help, help, help!" "Help!" "Help, help!"