"I don't know, man." "I mean, I'm kind of sad." "Them Towers be home to me." "You gonna cry over a housing project now?" "Man, they should have blew the motherfuckers up a long time ago..." " you ask me." " Man, it ain't all been bad." "I mean, I done seen some shit happen up in them Towers... that still make me smile, yo." "A few moments from now, the Franklin Terrace Towers behind me... which, sadly, came to represent some of this city's most entrenched problems... will be gone." "Y'all talking about steel and concrete, man." "Steel and fucking concrete." "Man, I'm talking about people, memories and shit." "That ain't the same." "Look, they gonna tear this building down." "They gonna build some new shit." "But people?" "They don't give a fuck about people." "You are very soon going to see... low and moderately priced houses..." " built in their place." " Yeah!" "My cousin used to live in 221." "I used to be up in there all the time." "Man, who you be telling?" "I caught my first pussy up in there." "The girl, Chantay." "Man, why didn't you say something before?" "They probably wouldn't be tearing this tower down now." "They could put a big-ass sign in the front... that says, "Here's where Malik Carr first got his dick wet."" "You know what I'm saying, too?" "We could be taking pictures." "Tourists be taking pictures and shit." " Souvenirs of your dick about this size." " He ain't funny, yo." "He just jealous." "What?" "Jealous of that?" "You crazy?" "Chantay?" "Man, the mention of that bitch make my dick burn." "Yo, ain't no bad pussy, fool." "Yeah, that's what they keep telling your ass down at the clinic, man." "Keep that shit up." "You ever see this motherfucker... when he walking down to the clinic burnt?" "Poot be like this." "He looks like a backwards-ass cowboy and shit." "Instead of like this, homie, here, walking like this." "Dick looking like a fried chicken wing." "Now, mistakes have been made." "And we will learn from those mistakes." "Reform is not just a watchword with my administration." " No, it's a philosophy." " Yeah!" "Shit, man, no matter how many times you get burnt, man... you just keep on doing the same." "Nigga do not learn." "Now, what do you say, huh?" "Are you ready for a new Baltimore?" "Shit gonna be off the hook, yo." "Man, my whole life been around them Towers, you know?" "I mean, I feel..." "Shit, I feel like I don't got no home no more." "Housing just moved your mama up to Poplar Grove, didn't it?" "You ain't homeless, nigga, you got a home." "Shit, you just damn near out of work is all." " What you mean?" " I mean, look." "All over the city... even out in the county, you had people, coke or dope, 24l7." "Where was it they go?" "Man, look, you live in the projects." "You ain't shit." "But you sling product here?" "You got the game by the ass, man." "Shit, now these downtown suit-wearing-ass bitches... done snatched up the best territory in the city from y'all." "You wanna cry over some shit, cry over that." "All right, everyone." "Count with me." "Ten, nine... eight, seven... six, five... four, three, two, one!" "Oh, shit." "Fuck!" "I just stepped in dog shit." "You hope." "Fuck." "It's Cheese?" "Can you see him?" " Yo, where he at?" " Who you mean?" "Cheese, man." "I'm looking for Cheese, man." "Nigga, you ain't supposed to be dropping names and shit." "Ain't you got no sense?" "I ain't said shit about shit, man." "I'm just looking to get together with the man, man." " To see him about nothing at all." " So he be where he be, fool." "Is he at the place that we was at?" "'Cause I'm looking to, you know, saddle up... and then put another bat on this motherfucker." "He need to deal with me today or I'm gonna take it to someone who can handle it, man." " It's nothing." "We let him know." " All right." ""Saddle up and put another bat on the motherfucker"?" "Settle up and put another bet." "But what was that last part?" "Man said, "He need to deal with me today..." ""or I'm gonna take it to someone who can handle it."" "Girl, you do have an ear." "He's looking to get with him." " All right." " Same thing as before?" " Same thing I told him." " All right." "What are you seeing?" "Call comes in to Cheese's number two." "He whispers in the man's ear and off they go." " Yeah." "Nothing to the call here." " I figured that." "These guys come correct." "The phones only go so far." "Above that, it's all done as a face-to-face meet." "Three months and we've yet to hear his voice." "And Herc takes the alley to cut that off from Calhoun." "So, me and Truck go up the wrong way on Stricker Street?" "You got a badge, remember?" "And we're doing the same one block over... so they can't come to ground that block neither." "Now, the thing is, when we jump out on these little cocksuckers... there'll be a designated runner." "Who's gonna sky up, just so we get to chase his ass." "But fuck him." "We let him go and jack every other motherfucker who stays." "Let's mount up." "Carv." "What's up?" "He's a complicated man." "And the only one that understands him is his woman." "Seek therapy." "Narcos." "Narcos!" "Let's see your hands!" "See your hands!" "See your hands, up against the wall!" " Put your hands up." "Put your hands up." " Put your hands up against the wall." " You ain't gotta push me." " Hands upstairs." "Keep your hands up." " Anything on you?" " Here he goes." "Later, son." "Step light." "Yo, was that the stash?" "Fuck!" "Let's go, let's go!" "Cut him off on Stricker." "I've got Calhoun." "Where you at?" "Lost him." "Rear of Stricker, 800 block." "Clear on Riggs." "He just went across Stricker in an alley headed for Gilmor." "Fuck." "We got rabbit in the alleys near Gilmor and Riggs." " How about some backup?" " Roger that." "Dozerman, what's your 20?" "Hey, Doze, where you at, man?" " Did he cross Stricker?" " Definitely." "Everybody..." "Who is the man that would risk his neck for his brother man?" "He went to ground in this block, man." "Hey, listen to me, you little fucking piece of shit!" "I'm gonna tell you one thing, and one thing only... about the Western boys you are playing with!" "We do not lose!" "And we do not forget!" "And we do not give up!" "Ever!" "So I'm only gonna say this one time." "If you march your ass out here right now and put the bracelets on... we will not kick the living shit out of you!" "But if you make us go into them weeds for you... or if you make us come back down here tomorrow night... catch you on a corner, I swear to fucking Christ... we will beat you longer and harder than you beat your own dick!" "'Cause you do not get to win, shitbird." "We do!" "With these Towers down, we need to take the rest of them low-rises... and all them Fayette Street corners." "Take them?" "Take them how, Mr. Bodie?" " You say "fuck it" and take them." " Nigga, you ain't got the floor." "Chair don't recognize your ass." "Take them how?" "I don't know." "Just let them Fayette niggas know, you know, we serious, right?" "You know, get or get got." "Yeah, like you did on McCulloh Street last year?" "Snatch the real estate, load up... and just wait for some shit to happen, right?" "No, man, we done worrying about territory, man... what corner we got, what project." "Game ain't about that no more." "It's about product." "Yeah." "We got the best goddamn product... so we gonna sell no matter where we are, right?" "Product, motherfuckers." "Product." "Chair recognize Slim Charles." "Chair, our people got to stand somewhere, don't they?" "I mean, all the product in the world don't mean nothing... if you constantly getting your ass whupped for standing on another fool's corner, man." "All right." "We had six of the Towers on the Terrace, right?" "All running 24l7." "But three of those we had to give to Prop Joe's people... to upgrade the package that we was putting out there, right?" "Now, how much you think we lost in the deal?" "All right, the answer is, we made more." "Half the real estate, twice the product." "And our profit went up, like, eight or nine percent." "Yo, get it straight." "Your territory ain't gonna mean shit if your product is weak." "Go ahead and ask them motherfuckers trying to sell them Ford Tempos... and you got niggas riding around in Japanese and German cars... in America all day." "Territory ain't shit." "Especially when you consider it's the fight for the territory... that be bringing the bodies and the bodies that bring the... police." " Yeah, but how we gonna stand..." " Yo." "Chair ain't recognize your ass, man." " How we gonna stand on some..." " Come on, man." "How we gonna stand on some corner that's not ours?" "Well, we got the best product, right?" "So the chances are, we gonna be able to bring in the competition... by offering to re-up with us from our package." "Feel me?" "Everybody making money, sharing the real estate." "Slim Charles." "But what if they don't cop our re-up, though?" "Well, I'm gonna worry about that when it happen." "Until then, Mr. Charles, we gonna handle this shit like businessmen." "Sell the shit, make the profit, and later for that gangster bullshit." "Yeah." "Do the chair know we gonna look like some punk-ass bitches out there?" "Motherfucker, I will punk your ass for saying such shit!" " Yo, yo, String." " What?" " Poot did have the floor, man." " Shut the fuck up, man." "This nigga too ignorant to have the fucking floor." "Y'all niggers need to start looking at the world in a new fucking light." "Start thinking about this shit like some grown fucking men." "Not some niggas off the fucking corner." "You heard me?" "Adjourn your asses." "Y'all look like shit." "Well, we been stuck in that vacant since before dawn." " How should we look?" " Proud to know you, Detective." " Nice look on you." " Dress for success." "I watched that motherfucker Cheese take re-ups... move weight all day, and not once did he go near a fucking telephone." "Closest it comes is a call to a hanger-on's cell phone ten feet away." "Which brings me back to what I was just discussing with the Lieutenant." "So far, we've been up on some of these cell phones for nearly six months." "The only drug talk we have is from street-level small fry." "So, the feeling is that maybe two weeks from now... we don't go back to the court for another extension." "We charge what we have... we try to roll someone up at Cheese or one of Joe's other lieutenants." "What, are you kidding?" "We don't have a case worth making yet." "And at this rate, we never will." " For Christ's sake." " As a plan on paper, it was a good one." "We came out of the port investigation with good phone numbers... for some of Prop Joe's people, and the PC to get up on those phones." "I guarantee if we can push this thing a level or two above the street... we're gonna start seeing Prop Joe himself." "We start seeing Joe, we're gonna see Stringer." "I can't ask for more time on a wire that's going nowhere." "Either we figure a way to punch through the wall or we let it go." " Baker?" " Yes, sir." " So you must be Castor." " Yes, sir." " Officer Aaron Castor." " You any kin to Lloyd Castor?" " Yes, sir, that's my uncle." " Good police." "Do you know where you are?" " You, too." "Where are you?" " The Western, Major." "Right this very goddamn second, you getting your hind parts kicked... and you on the horn screaming for help." "And you got your backup looking all over the place... 'cause he don't know where the fuck you are." "And that means I gotta explain to your next of kin... how you went and got yourselves killed on my watch?" "Sir, we're at 1034 North Mount, first floor rear." "Good." "Now, which way is north?" "Point." "That's east." "Now, don't you think if you're in a foot pursuit... it might help your backup to know what direction you're running?" "Even numbers tell you north and west." "Odds, south and east." "Compasses." "Until you learn that much, you carry one." "Welcome to the Western." "Gentlemen, scuff yourself up a little." "And learn the stare." "Hey, Carv, where you at?" "I'm at a desk outside the roll call room on the first floor of 1034 North Mount." "My feet are facing west and my dick is pointing south-southwest." "Bunny Colvin's been giving that speech as long as you guys been sucking air." "Where you at, shitbird?" "You're in handcuffs, in my house, looking stupid, ain't you?" "Fleeing and eluding?" "Do we have a drug charge here?" "Loitering in a designated drug-free zone." "Let me rephrase." "Do we have drugs?" "He raised up when we hit his corner and he grabbed this bag." "We pursued and recovered the bag." "But no drugs." " And they whupped my ass." " Western District way." "So, what did we learn?" "Using half my district K-9 and the copter to bring a 14-year-old to bay." "What did we learn?" "That you can't raise up and run from a drug corner in Sector One... without my boot finding your ass." "Right?" "I got it, I got it, I got it." "Got it." "Cast iron. $20 at least." "It'd be better if it was copper." "Be better if it was copper." "Yeah, be better if it was gold." "But you know, you gotta take life as it goes along, you know." "Oh, shit, oh, shit." " What's wrong with you?" " Sorry." " We're past sorry." " Oh, fuck, man, chill." "Chill, chill!" " We definitely don't need this, man." " You think you fucked up now?" " What's up?" " Look what they did to my ride." "Well, do it or don't." "But I got someplace to be." "Thank you for your kindness." "You all got to pay something, anything." " There be a principle here." " Lf we had a dime, you'd have a dime." "We're a little insufficient right now, okay?" "We're on our way to the metal man." "We'll come back and pay for everything." "I promise you." "Hey, hey, after the junk man, we gotta roll past K-Mart." "Definitely." "One last question, Commissioner." "Looking back over the past couple months, if I read the felony breakdowns correctly... you've been seeing an up-tick in shootings and serious assaults... in the Eastern District especially." "Can we assume that you're already addressing this?" "Let me throw that over to Bill." "As Deputy for Operations, I'm sure he's got a handle on our response." "I do indeed." "In answer to your question, Councilman..." "I can assure you that we've put additional tactical teams... on a 7:00-to-3:00 shift in every Eastern sector." "Additionally, we've put the district flex squad... on a 7:00-to-3:00 shift... being as those are the hours... when we're seeing a spike in aggravated assaults." "Thank you, Deputy." "Anything else for these esteemed constables?" "No?" "Okay, then, I guess I'll see you all tomorrow night... for the quarterly budget review." "Erv, hey... if you don't mind, I'd like to get with you about a couple things." "Can we get lunch?" "Glad to, Mr. Chairman." " How about Werner's in a half-hour?" " Half-hour, good." " You see Watkins in the back?" " Yeah." "Who was that skirt with him?" "That's him there in the orange?" " That's Drac." " Our last best hope." "Talkingest motherfucker I ever heard on a wiretap." " Here, listen." " No, no, no, the other thing." "The good..." "The other thing, my nigga." " You talking him?" " No, her." "I mean her!" "Cocaine, nigga, you feel me now?" "Goddamn, you ignorant..." "When was the last time you heard that on a wire?" "Shame he doesn't report to anyone that matters." "Right now, Drac's re-ups are with Lavell Manns." "He's got those corners over on Preston and Bond." "He was pretty close to selling us weight." "No shit." "Sydnor's been working toward him for a couple of months now." "Lavell's a soldier." "He's not gonna roll up on Prop Joe." "That's true." "But if we take him off with a hand-to-hand... they gotta promote someone to replace him." "Yeah, why Drac?" " One thing about our boy?" " That's Prop Joe's nephew." "On his mama's side." "$20 and $2." "Y'all know you ain't got pants?" "And there's Dominic standing in line." "And when he finally gets up to meet the President... who's looking the other way, Dominic reaches around behind Carter..." " grabs his belt, yanks it up..." " Secret Service must've shit." "He says, "Hey, Mr. President, remember me?"" "And Carter actually remembers." "Says, "Sure, Dominic DiPietro from Baltimore, on the campaign trail."" "And Dominic doesn't miss a beat." "He puts his finger in Jimmy Carter's face... and says, "So where's that money you promised me three years ago..." ""to fix up my streets and alleys?"" " Unbelievable." " That's nothing." "After losing to Reagan, Carter comes back here to speak... at a Jefferson-Jackson dinner or something... and Dominic is ushered up to him." "Carter asks about his health, and Dominic says..." ""You son of a bitch, I'm still waiting on that money for my streets and alleys."" "Come on!" "No shit." "Carter's just grinning through those big teeth." "Some guy grabs Dominic's arm, and off he goes." "Guy says, "Christ, Dominic..." ""you just called the President of the United States an SOB."" "He shrugs, he says, "Fuck him." "I don't need him." "He lost."" "No, that's good." "That is good." "And that is from whence I come." "Proud son of the fighting First District." "But the truth is..." "I don't wanna be just another muldoon like Dominic DiPietro... warming the backbench." "Not with the way things are right now in the city." "We're losing 10,000, 12,000 residents a year." "And when you ask them why they're moving to the county... you know what they say?" " Schools." " And crime." "Schools and crime." "And there goes our tax base right across the line... and the Mayor's acting like a 10% bump in the murder rate is business as usual." " Check, please." " And you know what?" "If you were smart, you'd come to me when the Mayor shorts you... on hiring, on equipment, on overtime, on cars." "You get the shit end of the stick, you come to me." "Not publicly." "I know you can't cross the Mayor publicly." "But backdoor, you come to me... and I can use that subcommittee to give you what you need." "Thanks." " Kind offer." " Erv, I can help you." "And we can turn this damn city around..." "But long ago, when I was just starting out in the Department..." "I had the good fortune to be taught a little something about chain of command." "And right now, in my capacity as Acting Commissioner..." "I report to Mayor Royce." "I got your coffee." "Leave a tip if you want." "So what do you need to see me for?" " You're getting out tomorrow, right?" " Yeah." "Probably trying to reach out." " What you gonna do first?" " Huh?" "Tomorrow." "What you gonna do?" "I don't know." "I know what be first." "You don't know?" "I know what be first." "I'm going home." "Time out!" "Back in!" "Watch the hole." "Watch the hole." "Short-timer." "You know you got the one day left, huh?" " You done the one, just gotta do that other." " All right." "Like they say." "You only do two day." " There's the day you go in..." " The day you come out." "I don't know." "I did 14 years." "Well, yeah, you know." "You did you a little stretch, true." "But you still a soldier, right?" "You know them Towers done came down now, huh?" "The Terrace?" "The Murphy Homes?" "All that shit gone, man." "A lot of things is different now since you been up in here." "You'll see." " Lot of changes." " Yeah, no doubt." "But, I mean, you know, shit." "Some things, they stay the same, man." "I mean, the game's the game." "And the thing is, since the Towers is gone..." "I'm gonna need to take my thing up to some new places." "You feel me?" "You know I'm gonna be home soon enough, right?" "Yeah, first parole hearing, I'm out." "For real." "Shit is fixed right." "I come home..." "Shit!" "There's gonna be a little hell to be paid." "You know what I mean?" "A good soldier ain't gonna lack for work." "Take that number, man." "When you out, you call." "We'll hook you up, man, no problem." "You know, it's like a coming-home gift." "All right?" "Call it." "The joint might have broke him." "Boss, you talking about a homie walked up and shot Elijah Davis." "Broad daylight, at Pennsie and Gold." "Then picked up the phone, dialed 911... told the police, "I just shot a nigga, come get him."" "That dude ain't breaking." "Look, we had the $20, you know." "But we had to go buy some pants." "So if you just take this short money... we get back at you tomorrow, man." "We get you on the comeback." "Yo, he want two for $16." "Trying to get two, man." "I'm trying to get two." "From this young motherfucker." "No." "Come on, man, see, you see, we a little short now... but tomorrow, I'll be right back here with the $4..." "Joey said no." "Fucking guy, man." "At these prices, I can't afford more phone surveillance." "I'm aware of that." "And right now, the plan is to go for a hand-to-hand on one lieutenant... a couple rungs down from Proposition Joe." "And then roll the lieutenant up?" "We don't think he'll have much roll to him." "Joe's people are pretty schooled." "The hope is that they promote this mid-level dealer, who's a fool... to replace him." "Name of Drac." "And we're on his cell phone." "If he gets promoted, maybe he talks to Joe or Joe's top people." "We get that far, maybe we start to see Stringer Bell." "What makes you think they'll promote the wrong man?" "We do it all the time." "Look, speaking of promotions, I sent yours over to the Hall, as promised." " And?" " And the Mayor's holding it up." "My understanding is he wants to know what your wife is doing." " My wife?" " Yeah." "There's a rumor that she's gonna take a run at a Council seat." "Maybe try to knock off Eunetta Perkins." " That's my wife's business." " Yes, it is." "But the Mayor counts Eunetta as an ally." "Our deal was for a permanent unit and the next vacancy for major." "You got your unit." "And I sent your name over to the Hall." "I kept my word." "But the Mayor... he may wanna know who his friends are before he makes a new commander." "Where'd she say she was gonna be at?" "Near the dugout, first-base side." "She'll turn up." "When is she supposed to bring them over to you?" "Middle of the fourth." "Dad, can I have a hot dog?" "Yeah, as soon as the guy comes around." "Speaking of which, where's the beer man?" "There they are." "Damn." "They got great seats." "Hell." " What?" " Who's that on her left?" "The suit." " Just a friend?" " No, he's in the cake." "Who comes to an Orioles game in a suit, spends half the time on a cell phone?" "Downtown lawyer." "Something wealthy like that." " Wish we had more of it." " Long way to go for half a shot." "It'll be better tomorrow, Bubs." "What kind of dope fiend be talking about tomorrow?" "Tomorrow ain't shit." "Today, Johnny." "Today." "I hunted down all that metal." "Lugged it around like a dog." "I nearly get killed over a scratch of metal, so that I gotta beg for my life." "Lost my trousers, man, my fucking trousers." "And then I'm begging again for half a shot?" "I swear to God, man, I'm not even high." " We just missed a foul, Pa." " Yeah?" "Our seats are great." "We're practically on the field." "Yeah, my friend, Dennis, he gets company seats every now and then." " Where are you sitting?" " Mezzanine." "Come on." "No, no, you guys go." "Your dad hasn't seen you all week." "Now, don't take their jackets off, 'cause Sean's just getting over a cold." "Okay?" "Jimmy, right?" "Dennis Kerpelman." "Great kids." "Anyway, nice meeting you." " Do you want anything from the stand?" " No, thank you." "Don't stay till the last inning, 'cause it's a school night." "Bye." "You got spatter going in two different directions, just off the curb." " Yeah." " Shooting on the west side." "Another one?" "Christ, where?" "North and Pulaski, Cole's up." "Cole's working a cutting off Belvedere." "Call Crutchfield." "See if he's back from the Westport scene." " Crutchfield?" " Lf not, call Bunk at home." " Bunk's off day." " Well, fuck his off day." "I love this town." "Perlozzo's pretty quick to yank a pitcher, ain't he?" "I'm thinking of becoming a woman." "Red-hot peanuts!" "Office." "Yeah." "I'm at the ballgame." "The ballgame." "Yeah, what about Cole?" "Call him." "Oh, shit." "All right." "Can you believe this?" "They caught five tonight." "They're telling me I gotta come in on my day off." "Five?" "City's jumping bad, man." "Okay, listen." " I gotta go to work, all right?" " All right." "Mr. Jimmy's gonna..." "He's gonna take you home." "You're on your own, partner." "Hey, Ma." " And Erdman Avenue?" " No ballistic information." "Are you sure?" "Take your time, Major." "Can you believe that cocksucker Carcetti?" "Thinking I'm gonna talk out of school." "Any day now, Marvin." "What can a white councilman give me that a black mayor can't?" "No, you played it right." "It was a .38" "recorded on Erdman Avenue, sir." "So what you are, in effect, saying, Major, is rather than looking... at this cluster of robberies you had along Monument Street... you chose to investigate each using separate personnel." "No, sir, three of those cases were commercial robberies... so we sent those downtown to CID." " My people had responsibility..." " God damn it, Marvin!" "Did you just invoke the word "responsibility"... to explain why you didn't get on top of this shit?" "Did you just do that?" "I don't think you know what the word means." "When I look at the 24's and plainly see... that some .38-caliber asshole is raping your entire district... all the way from Greenmount to fucking Edison Highway." "It's policing like that that makes it possible for us to get hit... with five fucking homicides in a single fucking night, people!" " Poor fucking Marvin." " Better him than us, right?" "Based on your testimony, the buy itself will be enough to charge... but you get him saying something on tape, it's even better." "Are you sure this guy wants to be selling you weight?" "'Cause we don't wanna be forcing this." "I been stroking this guy for two months, man." "That's not what he asked you." "This guy is ripe and ready, Kima." "It ain't no thing." "They're about ready." "You living out of the office, Cedric?" "All right, Drac is depending on you people." "Mount up." "And find your way home." "Look a little light to be an ounce, don't you think?" "No, man." "Ain't nothing light, it's just settled, is all." "All right, man, if it does what it should..." "I'm gonna come back to you for three, maybe four a week." " Yeah, that could work." " We good, then?" "We good." " That's it." " Take him down." " Somebody snitching!" " Shut the fuck up!" "Let's go, Lavell." "It's Cutty." "Was told I could call for help." "What about the Oxbow?" "The Oxbow on Laurens, at Fulton." "All right." "Damn." "I'm saying, they caught Lavell with, like, a whole ounce." "Might not be no bail for that much weight." "They might just take it federal, run wild on they ass." "And you know Joey gotta give Lavell's corner to someone, right?" " Might be my turn." " Our boy won't shut up." "Caroline, you say that like it's a bad thing." "Let's just hope we're listening to a candidate for elevation." "Oh, I heard about you, man." "I hear your name used to ring out." "You got something for me?" "You see where shorty's sitting at right there?" "You'll find a little help." "But when you ready, we got some real work for you, all right?" "Jesus." "Hey." "How you doing?" "Okay." " We were just talking about you." " Really?" " You know Denise, from the sorority." " Hi." "Charles, of course." " Always a pleasure, Lieutenant." " Good to see you." "And I don't think you've met Delegate Watkins." " How do you do?" " Nice to meet you." "We were saying you fill out a lieutenant's uniform nicely." " Makes an impression on the campaign lit." " That matters?" "Well, Marla's a new face taking on a longtime incumbent." " Everything matters, I'm afraid." " Well, anything I can do to help." "I'll get out of the way and leave you all to it." "Marla, I have to tell you that your photo with Cedric works really well... on the mailer." "Yeah." "I sure hope he knows what he's in for... because it's gonna be a long race for the both of you." "And that is not going to go easy." "Speaking of which, you've got to make some..." "Jesus." "Who called the media?" "No, you think the man might respect my shit enough to let me step up." " But it ain't even go like that." " Why not?" "He gonna give Lavell's corner to that off-brand nigger, Cheese." "And you know what?" "Joe's my uncle and shit." "I mean, I'm kin to the fat motherfucker." "That idiot works for us, he'd be a deputy commissioner by now." "Ain't no luck at all to this case." "And how, in all good conscience, can I, as chairman of this subcommittee... authorize any more above-the-line overtime... when it's clear enough from the data in front of me... that that money is not gonna go to line officers, or working detectives... but is being used to pay for drivers and clerical and..." "And Jesus, look at this, so that two colonels... and three majors can attend a community policing seminar in Miami, Florida." "Mr. Chairman..." "What does South Beach have to teach this department... about making Baltimore a safer place, Commissioner?" "I have no idea and you have no idea, and it is an embarrassment." "Cedric, they're gone." "I wanna thank you for this." "No problem." "It's not easy, I know." "But they seem to think it matters that I present myself as..." "I'm fine with it." "All those years you were all about my career." "Well, it's the least I can do, right?" "Good night." "We're not holding anything up in his district." "Repaving, foot patrols, streetlights..." "He's getting his share." "Unless it's not about his district... it's about him." "Maybe he's got big eyes for something." "For what?" "Not me, not my chair, not in this town." "Oh, no." "If that guy came off any whiter, he'd be see-through." "But if that's it, come on with it." " In fact, please, Jesus." " Or maybe John the Baptist." "Soften you up for someone else." " Lf he's gonna bang us on crime..." " Bang me on crime." "Look, is there any way for you to talk to this guy?" " Keep him from crawling up my ass?" " He's old First District." "Not a lot of favors we can call in over that side of town." "Well, we've got to show him something, right?" " Four to five percent drop in felonies." " And murders." "Get the murders down to under 250 for the year." "All due respect, Mr. Mayor, we're at 232 now." "What can you realistically do?" "Our best case scenario, if we bump overtime, is... 275, maybe." " 275, Christ." " That's a promise, right?" "275... and this asshole Carcetti has no issue." "Gentlemen, the word from on high is that felony rates district by district... will decline by five percent before the end of the year." "We are dealing in certainties." "You will reduce the UCR felonies... by five percent or more, or..." "I've always wanted to say this... let no man come back alive." "In addition, we will hold this year's murders to 275 or less." "Christ." "Feeling a little fazed, Colonel Foerster?" "A little dyspeptic?" "Dis-who?" "No, sir." "I'm good to go." "Here's a fun fact for you people." "If Baltimore had New York's population... we'd be clocking 4,000 murders a year at this rate." "There is no excuse I will accept." "I don't care how you do it." " Just fucking do it." " Deputy... as familiar as we all are with the urban crime environment..." "I think we all understand there are certain processes... by which you can reduce the number of overall felonies." "You can reclassify an agg assault... or you can unfound a robbery... but how do you make a body disappear?" "There isn't one of you in this room who isn't here by appointment." "If you want to continue wearing those oak clusters... you will shut up and step up." "Any of you who can't bring in the numbers we need... will be replaced by someone who can." "That is all." "Jesus, Bunny... what got into you?" "Another six months to my 30." "I'm out the door on a major's pension." "The hell they could do to me." "Spider bags, red tops." " Any other bright ideas?" " How about a bug?" "A bug?" "Yeah, bug one or two of the big corners where these mopes hang." "Watching those corners over on Ashland yesterday, I'm seeing dumpsters, weeds... maybe a utility pole." "You hide a bug in the right corner at the right moment, you make this case." "We don't have the manpower." "Not to mention the money." "And for what?" "We're still a long way from a quality target." "I say we come down off the wire, charge what we can, and move on." "We come down early two years ago and we left a real bastard on the street." "You're telling me we're gonna let that same son of a bitch beat me again?" "How many times do you let a cocksucker like Stringer Bell go around the board?" "Collect another fucking $200 million." " There's other fish in the barrel, McNulty." " Stringer's the target." "There isn't a better fucker out there." "You know it, Lieutenant." "Don't you let him go soft on this." "It's you against the world, is it?" "What the fuck did I do?" "Red tops, spider bags!" "You up?" "Step the fuck off, motherfucker." "You got a need, you talk to one of the young 'uns." "I ain't in the market." "I'm selling." "You look like the right person to be talking to, chief." "You seem like you steady running this shit here." "What, are you some kind of police or something?" "I'm a long motherfucking way from the police." "I just finished a 14-year bit in Jessup." "Got a package as a coming-home present." "G-pack." "Well, why not sell that shit your own self?" "I just came home." "I ain't trying to get my ass violated." " Even split." " Shit." " It's all profit to you." " Risk mine, too." "What make you think I ain't on paper or some shit?" "Sixty-forty." "Cool." "Give your shit to my boy." " He good with it." "Then come past tonight." " All right." "And one last item for you gents." "It seems that Foxtrot was hovering over the stationhouse a few days ago... and caught a lovely view of about 700 or 800 discarded beer cans on the garage roof." "Seriously, no off-duty drinking on the station lot." "And if you do find yourself holding a beer can... don't throw it on the roof, take it home with you." "Come on, guys, the memo came down from our beloved Deputy of Operations." "All right, get out of here." "Don't get captured." "At ease." " Anything from day shift?" " Nothing that'll make the papers." "All right, then, I'm gonna ride the district until the Deputy Major gets in." "If you need me, hit the radio." "Distribution?" "Possession." " And some loitering." " Loitering?" "And behaving like assholes in the presence of sworn officers, boss." "Five-o creeping." "It's midnight relief coming in." "What the hell is all this?" "You don't look at what you did before, you do the same shit all over." "I'm out of here." "Spiders with a red top!" "One and one!" "Where he at?" "Spider bags!" "Got those spider bags!" "The fuck you looking at?" " What, do you want a go?" " Just my split." "Some bad luck there." "The police came through, snatched up a ground stash or two." "Shit happened to be yours." "Fuck, right?" " You got a number?" " A number?" "Back in the day, when a player tried to say he lost a package to the police... he had to give up a number for the report." "Well, we ain't back in the day." "I'm getting fucking tired of your ass." "Yeah, walk it off, motherfucker." "Fucking old-school-ass bitch." "Got them spider bags." "Two'll get you three." " What?" " You up?" "Spider bags, two gets three." "You up or you not?" "What you doing, boy?" "Oh, man!" "Dumb rookie." "Don't you know five-o?"