" Hey, brothers." "Don't sit there with your head hanging down." "Hey, brothers, I know the ghetto's got you down." "But there's something I want to say to you." "What?" "Hey, you brother over there, get up out of that chair." "Bring that fine sister with you, too." "Get out on the floor and show me what you can do." "My bad, man." "My bad." "It's all good." "It's all good." "Oh, shit." "What happened?" "What's going on?" "No, girl, don't do that." "Oh, shit." "Walk, motherfucker." "Get to walking." "Baby girl, stay out of this." "I won't have to carry your ass to OPP." "Get your friend and get out of here." "Baby girl, what got into you?" "It wasn't like I had a plan." "Say, brah, who the fuck is that?" "His name's Wilson." "Real bad news, man." "That's the crime problem right there." "Stepping out like that, this ain't your business." "Come on, baby girl, liable to get my ass kicked behind you." "Man, fuck the police, yo." "She taking us to school every day?" "Your mother wants to." "Mom drives like a mess." " For how long?" " What do you mean?" "When we moved back from Baton Rouge, I thought we were gonna be together." "There's..." "Well, there's just too many personalities in this house for it to work." "We were supposed to get our own house." "Yeah, I'm working on that." "That's a promise." "Huh?" "Come on, let's go." "Get in, fellas." "I want to speak to your mother for a minute." "Come on, I don't want the boys to be late." "Hold up." "When do I see you?" "Come past Gigi's if you want." "That's not what I had in mind." "Well, I'm working late the next two nights." "What about the night after?" "You know where I stay." "You almost finished, amigo?" "I'll be finished when it's right." "Don't have to do it again." "Hey, they cutting on me?" "Your mask." "Why are you wearing it?" "You never wear it before." "I'm just looking after myself, is all." "I plan to outlive all you taco benders." "He's got something for you to bend." "I'll bend it around his neck." "But, girl, now I've cried and cried for you" "Yes, no matter what you do" "The tears I shed were tears in vain" "I want my baby back again" "You gave me love when there was none" "You know you're the only one" "Tears that's in my heart will stay" "I want my baby back again" "For once, words fail me, sir." "What is it?" "You wanted that for your opera?" "No." "For that, I'm gonna come up with something original." "But you do Mathilda proud, man." " Cookie and the Cupcakes, 1959." " Yeah, yeah." " Cookie sung the hell out of that thing." "They recorded that with George Khoury, right?" "Well, yes." "Khoury claimed that he co-wrote the song, so Cookie didn't receive all the money from his sweat." "Is that what happened to you with Carnival Time?" "Well, yes, I recorded Carnival Time for Joe Ruffino." "And when I got out of the service, Joe Ruffino had passed and my royalties was all tied up." "And they didn't get untied until 1999." "But that's the way it was for all of us back there then." "I'm not gonna cry about it." "Hey, now, stranger." "Neecee, how you been?" "I'm all right." "Ain't you working?" "On my lunch break, just checking on this here." "You still thinking on selling to Road Home?" "My family would if we could prove title, but now..." " What's this?" " I don't know." "But I've been seeing those signs around more and more." "Figured somebody talked to you about it before they put it there." "Ain't nobody contacted me." "You lying" "You see any strangers on my property, hit me on my cell here." " Same number you been at?" " Same." "Say hi to your mom and them." "We could just clean out some of the debris inside." "Put some boards in the windows, maybe." "No, I want it completely gutted." "Full remediation." "That's what we do." "Shotgun's on the wrong side of the I-10." "Why we trying to make it pretty?" "Danny, can you get a cup of coffee?" "Okay, what's the problem?" "NOAH giving us what, 2,000, 3,000 a house?" "After we pay the overhead on this office, after we pay our crew, gas for the trucks, shit, man, ain't no reason for us to even get up out of bed in the morning." "Short con and long con." "You know the difference?" "Excuse me?" "Short con people like Mortensen, they grab a few thousand a unit on work they never do or on houses that don't even exist, right?" "End of the day, she's clearing, what, 50 grand if she's lucky?" "That means she's risking her ass for pocket change." "And when this whole NOAH fraud comes to light, she's trashed her name for next to nothing." "Who said it'll ever come to light?" "Let me tell you something." "People are already complaining to the city about demolitions of people's houses." "Already people are paying attention." "So why get involved at all?" "Right now this is money on the table." "So we'll take what we can get, clean up some vacants, and we keep our name intact for..." "The long con." "We're not running a con." "But the principle is the same." "When the serious federal money comes in, not this bullshit loose change stuff, when the spigot opens full on, we'll be back at the front of the line." "Boy, you could sell a sandbox to Saddém." " Don't I know it." " Hi." " Hello." " Hi." "Excuse me forjust walking in, but I noticed the sign on the window." "You guys must be new to the block, right?" "What can I do for you, darling?" "Well, I'm looking for work, any kind of work." "I can do sales, secretarial, reception." "We're all staffed up at this time." "Yes, we are." "Excuse me." "Hold on." "This lady might have skills." "No doubt, but we ain't adding to our overhead around here." "Maybe I can offer you some direction." "I've got a few contacts around town." "Nelson Hidalgo." "Came in, got a case of beer, didn't look like he paid for it, either." "Well, the first district is his post." "And a case of beer is what he'd call a tribute." "That young dude wasn't bothering anyone." "Wilson beat him with a closed fist and then just threw him out like he was a bag of nothing." "Are you sure it was Wilson?" "'Cause he's still the one I think shot Abreu." "Caught his name on his uniform." "Got his badge number, too." "That's our man." "You know, I've been dancing around this guy when all along I should have gone right at him." "People waiting for their table can have a cocktail at the bar or sit over there." "Not everyone drinks, it's nice to have the choice." "Quite the setting, isn't it?" "It's a big space." "Scary big, you know?" "It'll seat about 80 by my count." "And We'll fill it." "I admire your confidence." "Let's look at the kitchen." "Down in the basement, we have locker rooms, employee restrooms, and delivery bays." "Dumbwaiter on both floors in case we contract with the hotel upstairs." "Service area for the wait staff." "Got enough room to move?" "It'll do." "Whoever built this had big dreams." "What happened?" "They opened it a couple weeks before the flood." "That killed it." "They were undercapitalized, overextended, and they sunk all their money into opening the doors." "Old story." "That slicer came with the place?" "It could." "I brought that over." "Thought it might appeal." "The walk-in's in great shape, too." "Until it isn't." "You know they always go down." "We have refrigeration people on staff." "You wouldn't have to call the usual suspects, wait all night." "Walk-in fails, you call, they come." "Plumbing same." "Call this guy middle of the night, he gets out of bed, comes right over." "It's an advantage of owning a lot of restaurants." "Unless of course you don't like the walk-in or anything else." "I'll buy what you want or need." "If somebody's gonna be cooking in this kitchen, Chef," "I'd greatly prefer it's you." "You say you never had any indication that Mr. Cardella was using drugs?" "He didn't." "I've had the chair beside Jay's for a long time." "There were no secrets between us." "Paraphernalia and drug residue were found in Mr. Cardella's apartment." "Jay had a housemate." "I'm sure they both had visitors." "So he had, like, multiple partners?" "No more than most of us and less than many." "What about this housemate?" "He have many visitors in and out of the place?" "There was this one guy, a hustler." "He'd been staying there lately." "Sort of like an unwanted guest." "You met him?" "He came here once or twice." "Asked Jay for a loan, said he'd pay it back in a few days." "Jay gave him cash just to get rid of him." "So he and Jay..." "No." "No way." "Describe him." "White, 20S, covered in tattoos, always wearing a Hornets ball cap." "He looked like a tweaker." "He had that smell they get, too." "Name?" "Jay called him Bobby." "And I've seen him from time to time in those joints up the street sitting at the bar." "You tell any other detectives about this guy?" "Till y'all, nobody talked to me." "I've got to go." "My client." " Thank you." " Thanks." "When the moon comes up" "The rabbit's running again" "When the night is done" "The turtle always wins" "My baby's got the fire Oh, oh" " And I got the roux" " I got the roux" " My baby's got the fire" " My baby's got the fire" "And I got the roux" "We make a good gumbo Yes, we do" "We make a good gumbo" "On the ol' bayou" " She stirred me up" " She stirred me up" " And I throw her down" " I throw her down" " She stirred me up" " She stirred me up" " And I throw her down" " And I throw her down" " She knocked me out" " She knocked me out" " Way down to the ground" " Way down to the ground" " Then she picked me up" " Then she picked me up" " And turned me around" " Turned me around" " Where I come from" " Where I come from" " There ain't no rush" " There ain't no rush" " Where we come from" " Where we come from" " There ain't no rush" " There ain't no rush" "We make a good gumbo" " With a loving touch" " With a loving touch" " From New Orleans" " From New Orleans" "Way down to the Gulf" "Before this goes to my head, I want to..." "You want to talk business." "I just want to get everything up front from the beginning." "Including the degree of control that I'll have over my music." "Your music, it's yours, Annie." "You come in with 35%, me and my partners, the rest." "We put up what you need, buy whatever you like, whatever you feel you need to make it yours." "What about crew?" "Budget?" "Food cost percent?" "What are you looking for?" "We'll work out a budget." "I like the food," "I'm not gonna be a hard-on about percentages." "I'm prepared to lose money for a year." "You want to run a 40% food cost, fine." "Eventually we'll have to sit down and figure out what works and what doesn't work." "We both want to make money at the end of the day, right?" "But for now, I don't give a shit." "I have a definite direction that I want to take." "Hmm?" "It's, um, a little more electric." "Like the sound on Shannon McNally's live CD." "If we could marry that to something like Wilco's first album, that would be great." "AM." "I love that record." "Yeah?" "I'm tight with their management." "Tweedy loves to introduce up-and-coming artists that he's into." "Maybe we can get you a spot opening for him." "Wow." "I want people to like us." "I want people to love us." "I want them to come in great numbers." "We'll figure out how much to charge for a beer down the road." "Chang would say, "it's too good to be true."" "Chang's not from New Orleans, Chef." "What about our terms?" "Ah." "Industry standard." "Check it against any contract out there." "We can go over it right now if you want to." "Better yet, why don't you take it home?" "Look it over carefully?" "I will, but not tonight." "Well, if we agree on principle, then let's enjoy ourselves." "So, we gonna do something together?" "Hey, that was fun, brah." "Hey, man, yeah." "It's good playing with you." "Been doing a lot of RB gigs lately, ain't you?" "It's more of what I can find down here." "You know, modern jazz, not so much." "Oh, yeah, true." "You know, I had my boys out on Claiborne when your father came through Mardi Gras past." "Guardians were looking real pretty, boy." "Yeah." "Oh, yeah." "Every year." "We a little behind on practice right now, though." "Used to happen over by Poke's bar, but that fell out." "So, now we looking for a new space." "You know, there's this little spot off St. Bernard." "My ex-wife runs it." "And, you know, she's up and down like mercury, but, hey." "Um, maybe you can make an introduction for me." "I'll run it up the flagpole." "See if LaDonna salute." " All right." " You know it." "Jesus, my bladder." "Patience, grasshopper." "So Bobby gets paid for sex, huh?" "That come with dental?" "What you want to bet, we pull him up, he'll claim he's only gay for pay?" "Could be a hate crime." "Or a straight up robbery from rough trade." "Easier for the department to go with the drug rumor." "Takes the heat off for another murder we're in no big hurry to solve." "What if this is our guy?" "Well, shit, he's gonna bounce anyway before it ever goes to trial." "You're like the horse that walks into the bar." "Bartender says..." ""Why the long face?"" "About to start calling you Eeyore." "I'm just sick of the bullshit, is all." "I'm thinking of putting in my papers." "That again?" "It's just that the boys are getting to that age." "Needing a father around." "Indiana." "Shit." "I wouldn't live there if I did live there." "You got any empty pockets?" "I got to piss like a racehorse." "Use the bottle under the seat." "I can't with you watching." "I won't peek." "Promise." "Here we go." "Here's our boy." "Come on, Bobby." "Here we go." "I figured you'd be early for work." "You always were." "I have just done something very foolish." "Yeah, Susan told me." "What?" "I didn't know." "How does she know?" "I just shook hands with the guy last night." "It's a small town, Janette." "You look happy." "I think I'm happy." "I think I'm ecstatic." "I have a partner." "He has a space with super potential." "I mean, it could be a dream restaurant." "And, uh, do you trust this partner?" "Well, I'm not going into this wide-eyed, Jacques." "I mean, I know who this guy is." "He's in business to make money." "But I think it can work." "So you're coming home." "I have to go to Brooklyn to get my stuff, but, yes, I'm home." "I'm very happy" " So, Jacques... " "You think Susan will be pissed when I ask you back as my sous-chef?" " She's already teasing me." "The second she heard you were talking to this man, she said, "I guess you'll be leaving me, Jacques."" "Of course, Chef." "Of course I will come." "I am with you." "Oh, Jacques, this place is gonna be so fucking awesome." "I'll talk to Susan today." "Okay, well, tell her I'll owe her a big one." "You don't have any sharp objects in your pockets, do you, Bobby?" " We didn't hear you." " No." "Oh." "Here we go." "All right." "Bobby, we're gonna take you for a little ride." "You're not doing anything else today, are you?" "They playing, like, a mini Gulf tour and they need a fill-in." "I played with 'em last night." "That don't give you license to leave town with 'em, too." "Besides, you got teaching responsibilities now." "Uh-uh, Darren gave me the rest of the week off." "And I'm gonna drill them kids hard when I get back." "You know, get 'em ready for Mardi Gras." "Besides, it's only gonna be like a few nights." "Well, five nights." "For real." "One or five, it makes no difference." "Dog gets chained in the yard." "You know how he acts soon as he gets loose." "What, you comparing me to a dog now?" "Look, you know these guys." "It's Tab Benoit, Anders, Monk Boudreaux and them." "Some of these guys are, you know, involved with the Voices of the Wetlands thing." "So?" "So that shows you where their hearts are at." "They all about the wetlands, baby." "The wetlands, huh?" "You know I'm talking about the Delta." "So am I." "I want to know where you at the end of every night." "We gonna speak by phone, hear?" "Um, you know, some of the motels, they're kinda sketchy on that cell phone thing." "All right, I promise." "I'll call you." "I'll call you." "Toni, are you sure about this?" "Why wouldn't I be?" "You know if you pull the trigger here, it's gonna make a big noise." "That's the idea." "I know they've come at you before." "For 20 years." "Not just talking about the silent treatment I get or the hard stares." "I've gotten calls in the middle of the night." "Someone screaming on the other line." "Worse yet, laughing like a maniac." "Called me a nigger lover, cunt." "Threatened to cut my throat or worse." "But it don't worry me." "If it did, I'd be in the wrong line of work." "That's my Wilson right there." "Is that who beat the man in the bar?" "It sure is." "You going to The Times Pic?" "Louisiana Weekly." "All these years, black folks have taken the lion's share of the abuse." "I put this ad in the Weekly, more response." "Here you go." " Mr. Keller's office." " Hey, it's Nelson Hidalgo again." "Could I have another quick word with Mr. Keller?" " Can you hold a second?" " Yes, I'll hold." "But tell him I'm also on hold with Mexico City right now." "Future business for us." "They got hammered with floods in Southern Mexico." "20,000 homeless in Tabasco alone." "My man in D.C. will know what their recovery plan is." "Or if the Yankees are gonna get involved." " If the call goes out to contractors..." " Mr. Keller." "Dennis, this won't take a minute." "What I need to know now is how bad is it and is there any kind of American involvement plan?" "Our company is working in New Orleans, but if it's a go in Mexico, we'll be on the first flight down there." "I'm sorry I'm so late." "I was running some errands for my father." "It's okay." "You still want to eat?" "To tell you the truth, I'm kind of pho'd out at this point." "Let's just take a drive." "No American relief package." "All the work's coming out of Mexico City." "And you just know they'll fuck that up." "Shit, 80% of the state is underwater." "Missed opportunity, huh?" "It's a tragedy." "Someone other than us is gonna make a shitload of gelt off demolition and rehab down there." "Ah, to hell." "I didn't want to go to Mexico anyway." "It's not worth it." "You got to be related to El Presidente or Carlos Slim to get a taste." "There's no tit for us." "Plenty of work right here, boss." "Planting some new flags in mid-city tomorrow." "Let's see what you got." "My cousin had his house over there near Lee Playground in the Lower Nine." "Army corp of engineers kicked his door in while he was in Houston saying they had to tear his house down 'cause of the asbestos." "Obviously his home was on a list." "Washington gave the city funds to demolish homes that were irreparable." "My cousin didn't know anything about no list." "I'm concerned that my mother's house is on that same kind of list and when she gets off of work one day, somebody's gonna put a wrecking ball to her home." "As of now, the policy is to notify homeowners in advance." "Wasn't till the Picayune printed those addresses that I seen my own house was gonna get tore down." "That's how I got notified." "Then I met this lady right here at one of these meetings." "She told me what was going on." "Why does she know more than you?" "Excuse me." "I've been seeing these signs in yards." "Matter of fact, there was one in front of my family home." "Is there a question?" "For starters, what the hell is NOAH?" "But, darling, the very people who did the screwin' are, in the words of the immortal Chuck Berry," ""Gone like a cool breeze."" "Yeah, but there's plenty of musicians still around." "So, here's what I'm thinking." "I already have the artists lined up for the opera." "Oh, God." "That again." "So, we go in, record some tracks for the opera, put out an advance CD containing those same tracks as a tribute piece." "It'll whet the public's appetite for the opera." "And it'll put some walking-around money in the pockets of these guys who never saw a royalty check." "It's noble." "Very noble, Davis." "But after our expenses and royalties, they wouldn't see a dime." "Again." "Okay, well, I would ask, respectfully, that you forgo your percentage on this particular project." "And the label's expenses." "Really?" "Of course I'd be willing to sacrifice as well." "Well, do tell." "I'll sign over to you my percentage on two other projects." "For starters, my points on the Goatwhore release." "Which one is Goatwhore?" " Metal band." "New Orleans' answer to Slayer. " "Well, whatever was the question?" "And you can have my percentage of, uh, Morning 40 Federation." "Oh, honey, they're just a bunch of drunks." " Yes, ma'am." " It's punk-funk." "I mean..." "Look, the point is..." "I really think we can pull this thing off." "Davis, darling, when do you think you would find the time?" "Honey, do you even realize how thin you've got yourself spread already?" "Davis, please, God." "Mimi, dearest..." "This has now become a passion project for me." "I am..." "I'm fully committed." "As I shall be as well, no doubt." "I'm so happy you came and for standing up." "I'm proud of you." "You, too." "Bye-bye." "Pamela, right?" "Yes." "You look like you know what's going on around here." "Girl, you got me confused with someone else, 'cause I definitely do not understand this shit." "No one from NOAH asked my family if they could remediate my mama's house." "At least it's an actual house." "What's that mean?" "Some money's been going to houses that don't even exist." "You wanna get a cup of coffee?" "Can't tonight." "We could talk on the way to my car." " Let's talk." " Okay." " Hold 'em, Joe" " Me donkey want water" " Hold 'em, Joe" " That coconut water" " Hold 'em, Joe" " But he don't want it now" " Hold 'em, Joe -it was early that morning" " Hold 'em, Joe" " Me flag went to howlin'" " Hold 'em, Joe" " Said my boy" " My boy" " What you howling' about?" " Hold 'em, Joe" " Me donkey want water" " Hold 'em, Joe" " That coconut water" " Hold 'em, Joe" " But he don't want it now" " Hold 'em, Joe -it was early that morning" " Hold 'em, Joe" " Me flag went to wailin'" " Hold 'em, Joe" " Said flag boy" " Flag boy" " What you wailing' about?" " Hold 'em, Joe" " Me donkey want water" "You like that, huh?" "You're hard at it." "Trying to get a jump this year." "What's going on, George?" "Holding it down." "That's our man there." "I'm gonna put some brooches around him, pretty him up." " Tried and true." " Uh-huh." "Nice." "Ronnie." "Del." "What you working on over there?" "It's one of the ideas I'm tossing for a patch." "When I'm satisfied, I'll put bead to canvas." "They gonna win a war with two men?" "It ain't about that war." "It's about how you stand." "Thank you, guys." "I don't know what I'm gonna do without y'all." "You sure about this?" "We can hold your room for a week or two if you're not sure." "I feel like if I'm gonna do this, I have to burn the bridge behind me." "What was the first rule of the restaurant business?" "Don't fuck the floor." "The other first rule." "Oh, don't open a restaurant." "It's the surest way to go bankrupt." "It's a terrible habit, isn't it?" "Yeah, heroin would be cheaper." "This time it's gonna work." "This time I'm not flying solo." "Well, if you do find yourself needing some motherfucking professional line dogs..." " Oh, wouldn't that be something?" "The two of you down in the city that care forgot." "This isn't right." "We should have done something last night." "Had an epic last meal or something." "Really expensive sushi." "Endless sea of beer and sake." " Bye." " Bye." "Dude." "Oh, really?" "This is the epic last meal?" " Street meat?" " Yes, yes!" "Just a sec." "What says New York more than a dirty water dog?" "Chef, three of your finest saucissons de Strasbourg, all with mustard and sauerkraut." "" " Is that cool with you?" "What?" "You think I'm gonna put ketchup on my hot dog?" "Get the fuck out of here." "All right, put mustard and kraut on all of them." "We should be high for this." "They cut all these great records and never got paid for it." "Moneymen took it all." "And you're gonna make that right?" "Yeah, I'm gonna make a record that honors and compensates them." "You don't know how lucky you are to be in the game today." "Back then there were no industry standards." "L Got to go." "'Mmgan City again?" "It's a gig." "When are you coming home?" "Tomorrow morning." " Be safe." "I see you've brought it camera-ready." " We really like that." " I laid it out myself." "It's a bit inflammatory." "Perfectly legal." "I'd like to place it right away." "All right." "Want to run it one week?" "Make it two?" "You got it." "Hi." "There's Henry in his evening clothes." "My sympathies, Mrs. Glover." "I really appreciate you seeing me." "Well, Mr. Tanner said you were all right." "Truth is, you're the only one that seems interested." "NOPD never contacted you about Henry's death?" "We never heard anything from them." "Even after you reached out?" "I filed a report at the station, so did Mr. Tanner." "No response." "To your knowledge, have they interviewed anyone else?" "Not my brother Edward." "He was there." "Mr. Tanner neither." "Can't get answers from the police about his car being burned." "My son was not a thug or a criminal." "He went to that Chuck E. Cheese mall to get supplies." "We still don't know who shot him or burned him up." "I'm sorry." "My family needs to get to some kind of peace with this." "Hey, what's going on here?" "Howdy, ma'am." "Nelson Hidalgo." "Are y'all from NOAH?" "We've been contracted by NOAH to clean up these lots, secure these vacant houses." "For real?" "Neighborhood improvement." "Wouldn't you like it if your property value increased?" "I'm in a rental at this time." "Renter's just a name for a future homeowner." "So you have permission from the owners to work on these houses?" "The city gave me permission." "Keep an eye on this space." "I'm going to." "You can believe that." "Whew." "It's like I told you." "People are already asking questions." "This program's so fucked up, it can't last." "I see what you mean, brah." "Make sure we do the work on these." "Goddamn, boy!" "Man, that must have been a skunk back there." "Don't be blaming your stink on roadkill." "You went to Bud's Broiler last night, didn't you?" "I got the two number twos with the onions." " I couldn't resist, D. I couldn't resist." "Let's get checked in." "Come on." "I ain't rooming with him." "Yeah, neither am I." " Hey, Lieutenant Colson, right?" " Mmm." "Sofia Bernette." "Tom's daughter." "Oh, right." "Wow." "Nice to see you again." "Mom told me that you caught the guy that killed Jay Cardella." "Well, we arrested someone." "Yesterday." "Mom said if anyone could catch him, it'd be you." "Well, I had help." "She said that?" "What can I get you two?" "A large regular for me and an Americano for my father here." "Leave a little room in mine, darlin'." "Oh, they're on the house." "We're allowed to do that for police." "Next thing you know, dogs and squirrels will be shaking hands." "Toni Bernette actually said something nice about a police officer." "You'd be Miss LaDonna?" "I am." "I'm Delmond Lambreaux." "Uh," "Antoine Batiste might have told you I'd be stopping by." "My father Albert is a Big Chief." "With the Guardians." "Yeah, I know." "Look, I know you heard some bad things about Indians and practice." "Mmm." "And things do pop off from time to time." "Sometimes things can get a little crazy." "So?" "You all get your drink on, right?" "Yes, we do." "And you pay your tab?" "Well, I'd see to it." "Oh, I would, too." "And if your people busted up some shit in here," "I'd see to it that you'd pay damages as well." "Right." "I'm in business to fill this place." "It sounds like you about to bring me paying customers, so if you don't think I can handle a little Sunday night throwdown, then you don't know who the fuck I am." "Now sit down, son." "I don't want to look up at you while we're working this out." "What are you drinking?" "A Bud is fine, Miss LaDonna." " Did you see the hostess, though?" " Nope." "Hello, where do you even get your hair done like that anymore?" "Do you have to get into a time machine or something?" "Plus, she had on that white dress and Labor Day was like four months ago." "But the service was excellent, didn't you think?" " Yup." " They cooked your steak just right." "They brought it out just how I wanted it." "Bloody." "One of these days I'm gonna get adventurous, though, and try something new." "Have you ever had foie gras?" "I think I'd like to try it." "I think whatever you think." "Nelson, do you mind if we go into Canal Place for a minute?" "There's a pair of shoes I want to try on." "I'm game." "Did you walk" "About as far as you could go?" "Down the Louisiana Highway" "Across Lake Pontchartrain" "Now your soul is in Lake Charles" "No matter what they say" "Did an angel" "Whisper in your ear?" "Hold you close" "And take away your fear" "lnthoselong" "Last moments?" "He had a reason to get back" "To Lake Charles" "He used to talk about it" "He'd just go on and on" "He always said Louisiana" "Was where he felt at home" "Thank you so much." "Thank you." "Let me introduce these guys." "We've got Eric Frey on bass and vocals." "Blake Miller on accordion." "Glenn Fields on drums." "Chas Justus on guitar." " Linzay Young on fiddle and vocals." "And Daniel Coolik on guitar." " Thank you so much, you guys, thank you." "Sofia." "What did I do now?" "Nothing that I'm aware of." "I did something that's gonna stir up the pot." "Some police officers might be..." "Well, they might be a little angry with me." "They're always a little angry with you." "I want you to be extra diligent." "If there is marijuana in the glove box, don't get in the car." "Same if the driver's been drinking." "You are still on probation." " I know." " Don't make yourself a target." "Mom, I know." "Okay." "Actually, I saw Lieutenant Colson today." " He came in for coffee." " Mmm." "He didn't recognize me at first." "But then I told him I'd heard about him arresting the man that killed Jay." "Okay." "He was pretty cool about it, actually." "Didn't brag or anything." "Terry is the quiet type." "Tall, too." "Well, I got no minks and no diamond ring" "My baby finds out I don't have a thing" "But I'm a real good lover" "Yes, I'm a natural born lover" "Well, now tell me, babe" "Which one of us would you rather?" "Dinner was lovely, Larry." "I'm trying to understand what you're doing out here, LaDonna." "Look, just come back till I get us a new house." "It won't be long." "One day in your brother's house is too long for me." "Thanksgiving, then." "Of course I will." "They have a bar inside?" "They got one." "I don't want another drink." "So now I got to ask you in?" "I'm trying to be a gentleman." "All these years and you still can't read my eyes?" "So what do you think?" "He's no B.B. King." "Not Live at the Regal." "You know blues?" "My father has some old records." "Uh, you know Natural Born Lover by Charlie Musselwhite?" "But I don't understand." "He say, "You make me crazy." "Poppin' out my clutch."" ""Poppin' out my clutch."" "What is this clutch?" "Clutch?" " It's a metaphor." " Oh." "It just means something else." " What does it mean?" " Daddy!" "Early day tomorrow." "Don't be too late." "Think I detect some Ron Carter in there." "Listen." "You hear that?" "I don't hear a thing." "Crickets." "And you know what I remember most about right after the storm?" "How quiet it was." "No cars." "No buzz from those power lines." "No birds." "Not even crickets." "I'm telling you, it was quiet." "As death." "So now when I hear them bugs rubbing their legs together like they do," "I feel fortunate, Delmond." "What do you think of these, Nelson?" "Nice." "And these?" "Very nice." "You say there's different kinds." "There's an abnormality in the B cells of your lymph nodes." "You have the variety of lymphoma known as non-Hodgkin, or NHL." "Is that the bad kind?" "Fortunately for you, your lymphoma is localized." "That is, it's in only one part of your body right now." "By lymphoma, you mean cancer." "Let me talk plain to you, doc." "I know I got to die one day, same as you." "Is this what's gonna get me?" "It's very serious." "But you're in good shape relative to your age." "First thing, I'm going to refer you to a good oncologist I know." "With treatment, it's roughly a 50% survival rate, this type of illness." "And here I was stressing over this cough I can't shake." "Your cough is environmental." "It's because of your job." "It's not connected to the lymphoma." "Silver linings." "You live alone now, Albert?" "Since Lorraine passed." " But you..." " Three children, yes." "Mmm." "We're, what, two blocks from the Fourth District Station?" "That's right." " There's my baby, what's left of her." "Thought she was gone for good until the Homeland Security guys told me they found her." "It looks like somebody tried to hide the car after they torched it, you know?" "They didn't do too good a job of it." "Kids be playing down here regular." "They probably the ones who turned it over." "Or the city moved it when they trimmed those trees." "Are there tags?" "I took 'em off and turned 'em in to the DMV." "But you can prove it's your car?" "You can still read the VIN number on the dash." "Matches the number on my title." "You gonna leave it here?" "Can't do nothing with it." "Insurance company thinks I burned the car myself to collect from the loss." "Why would I do that?" "Shoot, I still got a loan out on that car." "Paying a $250-a-month note on a vehicle I ain't never gonna drive." "No good deed, man." "That's what I know."