"Mr. Asby?" "It's me, Jesse." "Just go about what you're doing." "Hello?" "John?" "Can you hear me?" "What's the matter?" "John?" "Answer me, John!" "Can you hear me?" "John, are you there?" "Yeah." "I've got to see you." " Is this Cal?" " It's me." "It's your brother." "Does he know you're here?" "At 2:00 a. m., man?" "I'm at the office." "That's your problem, baby." "Where have you been all day?" "Around." "I've been trying to reach you." "I put $5,000 in your bank account this afternoon." "Payment in advance." "For what?" "Pick me up now." "I'm in deep trouble." "What's up?" "Get here." "Fast." "I'll tell you when I see you." "Yeah, okay." "I've been trying to reach my sister, Arna." "I've got to warn her." "Have you heard from her?" "I think I can put a hand on her." "If you can reach her, tell her to get home and keep the doors locked till we get there." "Yeah, okay." "Check to see if there are any other bodies inside." "Looks like Cal Asby to me." "What's he look like to you?" "What's left of him." "Maybe you two had a little conversation before this happened?" "What did he tell you, Shaft?" "Stay away from black honkies with big flat feet." "Looks like there's only one dead, Captain." "I was hoping maybe you could shed some light on that." "He never hurt anyone in his life." "He loved this community and everybody here loved him." "He was planning to break ground for that Child Care Clinic over in Harlem sometime next month." "But now..." "How did you feel about that?" "With him." "All the way." "Don't shit me, Kelly!" "You fought him tooth and nail about laying bread on that ghetto clinic!" "Fellas help me move this next door." "After all, I can't leave it here." "Right there is fine." "Thanks a lot." "Would you close the door on your way out, please?" "Listen, before I forget have Jack check those two front doors on the chopper." "I don't know what the hell you got the idiot there for anyway." "Because he's the best." "What do you think I got him there for?" "Sorry, Gus." "I'll go use the phone in the bedroom." "Kelly says the safe's empty." "Gus, do you hear me?" "Kelly said the safe's empty!" "Pour." "I don't understand how Kelly says the safe is empty." "Did you ask Mr. Kelly to pop by?" "Yes." "I told him if he didn't have the $250,000, I'd personally have his ass." "Possibly Mr. Kelly needs a little more time." "You shouldn't crowd people, Andy." "It's not cool." "You've got to give a man a little elbow room." "I'll give him elbow room, black son of a bitch!" "You have a tendency to overreact, Andrew." "You see Mr. Kelly means not only the $250,000 he owes me but, remember, he's got the key to Queens." "Relax." "Relax." "I don't want too many boys hanging around." " They won't be there." " Make sure they're not there." "What're you buzzards doing here?" "You go to a lot of funerals, Shaft." "Willy and me, one day we'll drop in on yours." "Real soon!" "You're not invited." "In that case, we'll send you a wreath with love." "What about Asby and his numbers?" "What will we do about that business?" "Ain't our war, Willy." "Kelly's in charge now." "We got enough troubles of our own." "Oh, my God!" "Oh, my God!" "What happened?" "Keep an eye on her." "Right on time, Mr. Kelly." "Just trying to help, man." "Yeah, right." "Look, do me a favor." "When you got a moment, let me take a look at the partnership papers." "Okay." "I want to thank you for being so helpful." "At a time like this, John, it's the least I can do." "Arna tells me you'll be handling her end of the business." "You don't have any objections to that, do you?" "No, no." "Since you are in such a bereaved state, I might hang around and help you out." "Who knows, between both of us maybe we can figure out who knocked off Cal." "Lately we seem to be traveling in the same circles:" "Bombings, funerals houses of the deceased." "Sad circles." "Let's go to the precinct and talk about it." "Okay, baby." "Get in the vehicle." "I got my own short." "I'll follow you." "Okay." "Come on!" "Come on!" "What's going on here?" "Chief, get this bastard off my back." "You little son of a bitch!" "Tell him I got rights!" "Tell him!" "What did he do?" "Deli on Northern Boulevard for $300, gas station for $27 then he run a stolen Chevy into a squad car!" "I got rights!" "Fuck your rights!" "Go sue the city." "Come on." "Come on, kid." "Relax." "Don't you know they're trying to rehabilitate you here?" "You try any of that shit on me and none of us will walk out of this room!" "Come on, Shaft." "Sit down, Shaft." "I'll sit when I'm sure that ape will stay in his cage." "What the hell do you want with me?" "What are you into with Cal Asby and Johnny Kelly?" "I was into a funeral for an old friend." "Now, how's that any business of yours?" "It's been the business of every man in this building ever since Asby and Kelly set up a numbers racket in Queens." " What's your connection with it?" " What's wrong with numbers?" "A man needs a little action." "You've got off-track betting here in New York." "You've got a lottery system all over the world." "Everybody needs a long shot." "Now, ain't that right, Captain?" "I'll throw up if you keep lecturing me on the psychodynamics of what people need." "It's against the law, that's what's wrong with it." "Well, I'm glad you clued me in, Captain." "Get us some coffee, Cooper." "You talking to me, Captain?" "What do you want me to do, sing?" "Get the coffee, man!" "Make mine black." "You didn't have to say that to Cooper." "Something just came over me, Captain." "I'm really ashamed." "I'll tell you what I got, Shaft." "You jiving Asby's sister he catches a bomb and Kelly takes over." "Maybe you two got it bracketed and now you figure to run the numbers in Queens." "Like that so far?" "Rap on." "And at the funeral, who do I see you with?" "Bumpy." "And you figure I'm bringing Bumpy in?" "Why not?" "You finger Asby and bring in Bumpy." "You know, you private shits will do anything for a buck." "You pull Harlem and Queens together, and hell, man, you're fat." "Do you just sit around and think these things up or do they just come to you in a flash?" "How come we never hassled Cal Asby?" "Go ahead, ask me." "'Cause he was probably laying heavy bread on you guys every month at the precinct." "He ran a wheel, okay." "Poor man's racetrack." "But man, you can't cut that out." "But he didn't deal in shit, whores or loan-sharking." "Everything was cool." "And now, with Asby dead and Kelly running things, who knows?" "Anybody can move into the vacuum." "Maybe your pal, Bumpy." "Or Mascola from downtown." "You've heard of Mascola?" "Does a lot of TV work every time a Senate Crime Committee's in town." "Three sugars." "With cream." "So what do you want from me?" "Put the word out." "Nobody better try and come in here and mess up the status quo." "And nobody's coming in here to sell shit to our kids or put whores on our streets." "Is this program being recorded, or we going out live?" "Look, man, I can cool you off the old-fashioned way." "We have a nice steel pad back there." "Okay, let's go." "But I can't be any help to anyone in a steel pad." "Okay, Shaft." "On the street." "But if you're smart you'll keep in touch." "Asby-Kelly man." "Santa Claus." "You have hit the number, brother." "Count it." "Thank you, brother." "Same thing tomorrow, right?" "Asby-Kelly man." "How are you, brother?" "802 is the figure for today, brother." "That's $3 on your wife's burial policy $1.50 on yours and..." "She says she wants 717." "717." "Fifty cents." "Thank you, brother." "Hey, man, please, don't shoot!" "Take the money." "I've got a wife and six kids and an old Buick to support." "You won't get hurt as long as you keep talking." "Where's Kelly operating out of?" "." "Man, I can't." "Please, brother." "Take the money." "I'm just the runner, man." "Where?" " Brother, I can't!" "Kelly will kill me, man!" " I said, "Where?"" ""Every night when moon come up" ""Big Bamboo he fill my cup" ""Round 'bout six when moon come down" ""Big bamboo nowhere around"" "Shut up!" "You used to say I had an operatic voice." "You were gonna give me voice lessons." "Just knock it off!" "No damn fluid!" "Maybe it's the wick." "It's the wicks that always go first." "Bitch!" "Are you going to hang around here all day and shake?" "Here, I pay the rent." "If I want to hang around all day that's my business!" "You think I need you?" "I don't see you packing." "Just watch!" " What the hell are you doing?" " You better not!" "That's just for openers." "Bitch!" "Yeah?" "So?" "So, it's you." "Another day's gone by and we're getting nothing but weather reports." "Easy on Mr. Kelly, now." "Look, man, I need more time." "You have a friend in court." "The man says to go easy on you." "You might suggest if he's in the neighborhood, he stop by and we have a little chat." "The boss says if you wouldn't mind get your ass over here right now!" "No class." "Simply no class." "I'll see you in a couple of hours." "Rita, I said I'll see you in a couple of hours." "Make it a couple of years!" "Yes?" "Kelly there?" "We don't give out that kind of information." "Tell Kelly that John Shaft wants him." "If he's not in my office by 5:00, I'll take this door off the hinges." "Why wait till 5:00?" "Obviously you're not a friend of the family." "Not anymore, I'm not." "Not after a nasty slap in the face." "Best thing for that is an ice pack." "Why, thank you, Mr. Shaft." "Why don't you come in and show me how to apply it?" "On second thought no ice." "You might catch cold." "I suppose it's immodest of me to walk around like this in front of a stranger." "But any enemy of John Kelly's is an old friend of mine." "Funny..." "I used to love the guy." "When do you expect him back?" "I hope never." "So, what am I doing in a place like this?" "Why don't you tell me?" "Why don't you take your things off?" "." "Wait a minute." "I didn't mean all that!" "Baby, look, it's hot in here." "Besides, I don't want you to feel overdressed." "You'll never guess where we found it." "How many times have I told you not to frisk our guests?" "Mr. Kelly is no hoodlum." "You're sitting on my table, Mr. Kelly." "That's better." "I thought this was going to be a friendly conversation, Mr. Kelly." "I've been carrying that piece since I was 10 years old." "A lousy. 25 caliber." "I always figured he was a faggot." "Watch it!" "Bring me up to the moment on our situation." "It's not good, Gus." "It's not good at all." "How so, Mr. Kelly, how so?" "Pascal, give me the parsley." "He had the money in the safe." "You're sure about that?" "We signed the papers." "He was buying me out." "In cash." "I had a couple of my boys outside." "They saw him take a shopping bag and something out of the safe and go into the funeral home." "The money must've been in that bag." "Has it occurred to you, Mr. Kelly, that when you blew up your partner that you may have also blown up my money?" "Yeah, I had nightmares about that, too." "But then I've got a Photostat copy of the bomb squad report." "There was no money in the debris, so it's got to be somewhere in that funeral home." " Nice." " Thank you." "I'd invite you to dinner, but I suggest you have more pressing engagements." "Like getting up $250,000 by tonight." "There you go again, creating pressures and posing deadlines." "No, Mr. Kelly." "What I had in mind was something altogether different." "Not only do I want the money you've gambled away on my crap tables..." " ... but I want half of your action in Queens." " Come on, man!" ""Come on, man! "" "We should make superb partners, Mr. Kelly." "After all, we're both creative men." "Who else plays the clarinet better than I do?" " Or makes a better Shrimp Newburg?" " No way!" "It's all tied in to the insurance and the funeral operation out front." "And besides, Cal's sister owns his share." "If you want your half, you get it from her." "You can hardly expect me to give up my half." "Hey, look, man." "She's got a guy." "His name is John Shaft, and he's a bad dude." "I can't mess with her half." "Ever hear of John Shaft?" "You see, Mr. Kelly, nothing to worry about." "Pascal hasn't ever even heard of him." "He's already into it." "He's sitting on my shoulders, Gus." "I can't make a move!" "Could we be of assistance with the problem?" "Assuming, of course, that we're partners 50-50 in your wheel." "Try to think fast, Mr. Kelly." " You'll take care of Shaft?" " Depend on it." "Where the hell have you been with the goddamned elevator?" "You ought not talk to a lady that way." "Where's your fucking manners anyway?" "Do you have to go?" "I've got to split, baby." "Rita?" "Still want to see him?" "Drive that cat crazy?" "Rita!" "Open the door!" "Rita, open the damn door!" "Got a back entrance?" "Rita, open the door!" "Goddamn it, open the fucking door!" "What's the matter with you?" "Rita, open this goddamn door!" "What the fuck!" "Kick the son of a bitch in!" "I said, "open the door! "" "Rita, open the damn door!" "What's the matter with you?" "You mean this door?" "Ciao, baby!" "Open the damn door, Rita!" "What's wrong with you, woman?" "Open the door!" "Will you open the goddamn door?" "What the hell's the matter with you?" "Open this damn door!" "I'll kick the son of a bitch in, in a minute!" "I can't believe it!" "But there it is, in writing." "Sorry, baby." "I wanted to open your eyes earlier." "Let you know what Kelly's scene was." "But to do that, I had to let you know what your brother was into." "Unbelievable, especially when you think about the child care center he was going to build." "Your brother was a good man." "At least he put the money back where it came from." "That's more than I can say for Kelly." "Exactly what do these papers mean?" "It's simple." "Kelly was borrowing money from your brother for years to pay off his gambling debts." "Your brother finally drew the line." "That paper is an agreement from Kelly for his interest in the business in return for $250,000." "If your brother was alive, Kelly would be broke and out on his ass." "The rest of it is obvious." "Come on, come on." " What is it?" " Upstairs." "Move it." "Flowers." " Leave them at the door." " Sorry, you've got to sign." "Just a minute." "Who put the contract out on me?" "Get some things together and let's get out of here!" " I want to see your boss." " What about?" "Insurance." "Only insurance he needs is me, sweet pea." "I'm not here selling insurance, and you know it." "Where's Bumpy?" "He ain't buying no coffins either, unless he's buying yours." "Bring him in." "He's clean, Boss." "Clean as Mr. Clean himself." "Clean Kelly, pristine and clean." "Have a drink." "Thanks, Bumpy." "Take a seat." "No, man, I'm on the move." "Ain't a damn thing wrong with standing." "I've been expecting you, Kelly." " What kind of help do you need?" " What makes you think I need help?" "Man don't come calling on his competitors unless he needs help." "We're not competitors, Bumpy." "Anybody in my business is a competitor." "A man who knows my game can always..." "So, what do you want?" "I'm shopping for a new partner." "Kind of dangerous being your partner." "How much is it gonna cost me?" "$250,000 up front." "What does that buy me?" "25 percent of the action." "Gus Mascola would ask you for a hell of a lot more than that, baby." "How about 50?" "No." "Why don't we make it 60 percent of the action?" "What's that extra 10 percent?" "Just in case we need a contract on Mascola." "You're really putting the screws to me!" "He might not like the idea of this new arrangement between brothers." " He might want to take counteraction." " I can handle that." "But there is one more little problem." "Nothing we can't handle together, brother." "If Cal's little sister owns half the business and you own 60 that don't leave nothing for me." "Now look, baby boo there's troubles and troubles." "This one is yours." "Yeah, Boss?" "Willy will show you out." "See that he gets the money first thing in the morning." "Yeah, okay." "Boss, you trust this Negro here?" "Hold it, Willy!" "You don't have to worry about trusting a dead man." "Cigarettes?" "No, thank you, baby." "What else can you offer me?" "Well, I'm off at 4:00." "Hey, baby, where's your woman?" "Traveling kind of light tonight." "$100 says that back door doesn't lead to the parking lot." "I'm not a gambling woman." "I'm a gambling man." "I thought it was my action you were digging here." "Never took you for a gambler but if that's your meat, that's the door." "You're pushing mighty hard, my man." "Maybe I ought to push the boys in the back who've been taking all your money." "Extend him for another $5,000 and not one cent more, do you understand?" "Listen, Gus..." "You told me you would take care of Shaft." "That's what I told you." "Well, he's right out there at a ringside table." "He's not here to see the floorshow." "There's gonna be trouble." "That's fine with me." "We made a deal!" "And I just called it off." "You see, I made a test run, a sort of a "house call" on Mr. Shaft." "It didn't work out so well." "It cost me a dead second cousin and a friend's kid brother with two hits in the chest." "Aren't you gonna settle the score?" "Who's he here to settle with, me or you?" "You're a gambler." "So am I." "Now, I'm betting that you're Shaft's target for tonight." "Suppose I just let him do his thing, say, knock you off." "You're the one who totaled his girlfriend's big brother." "Come to think of it, why should I do anything to keep you alive?" "You haven't even come up with the money you owe me yet." "Tomorrow, I told you!" "You got it?" "Have you considered renewing your partnership with Cal Asby?" "Come on, man, he's dead!" "Precisely!" "You don't know what that dude is into." "He's Bumpy's boy." "You understand that?" "They're looking to take over my wheel in Queens." "Shaft's working for Bumpy?" "Now you're getting smart." "We'll send Mr. Shaft back to Bumpy with a message they understand uptown." "Let's go." "It's in there." "Let him in." "Are you looking for me?" "I've been hearing quite a bit about you, Mr. Shaft." "You're quite a boy." "I prefer "man. "" "All right." ""Man. "" "What brings you around here?" "Forgot to tip your boys when they delivered the flowers." "The only reason I don't spill your guts out right here and now, "man" is that it's easier for me to send you back to Bumpy with my message than to call Western Union." "And the message is:" ""You keep the hell out of Queens! "" "What round did you go out in, man?" "You ain't pretty as you used to be." "You better see a plastic surgeon about your condition." " What condition?" " Your mouth is too close to your asshole!" "Sit down, Shaft." "Save your energy." "That's real professional work." "Who did the job?" "He was talking when he should've been listening." "Dude named Mascola." "Figured I was working with you." ""Stay out of Queens. " That's what the man said." "What business have I got in Queens?" "Has Kelly been here to see you?" "Lots of cats come and go around here." "Figured you ought to know, Kelly's been hanging around with Mascola." "Yeah, that Kelly." "He's a busy boy." "Deal here, deal there." "Undesirable character." "Wait outside, Willy." "What do you want from me, Shaft?" "I didn't ask you for anything." "Just delivered Mascola's message." "I'll see him tomorrow." "That damn Italian is serious!" "Willy!" "Get your ass in here!" "I'm coming, Bumpy!" "Used to be cowboys and Indians, now it's us and them!" "You call Kelly." "You tell him his loan's been canceled." "And tomorrow you'll go along with Shaft and get that Mascola 'cause I want him bad, real bad." "Now, get to it, baby!" "You sure were right about that waterbed!" "I thought you'd dig that, baby." "$10,000 for this thing!" "You have to be kidding!" "You want me to look nice, don't you?" "What do I care what you look like with your clothes on?" "Service." "Haven't you had enough service?" "Zip my dress, please." "I have a tendency to spoil you, baby." "Do it, do it, do it." "Is this trip absolutely necessary?" "Just wash the window, man." "Again?" "You love it." "I love it." "What are they doing in there?" "They've already done it." "Now it's our turn." "I've got to go." "You're looking good, baby." "Do your number." " Are you ready?" " Yeah, I'm ready." "I'll take the white boy and give anybody 6-to-5 it don't go another two rounds." "You got trouble with him, Junior!" "Come on, man!" "Come on!" "What the hell did you come along for, the ride?" "I heard you was good." "I want to see how good you can do your thing." "Come on!" "Cook, Junior!" "That's how it's done, Junior." "I ought to step on your damn throat but I'd rather see you and Kelly fry for killing Cal Asby." "And he's my next visit." "I owe it to him!" "And he owes me!" "Like what, $250,000?" "I see you've done your homework, boy." "Let's get out of here!" "You gonna leave him like that?" "A man can fall out the window, you know." "And him, too." "Don't you know we already got enough shit on the sidewalk?" "I'm sorry, Gus." "Where the hell were you?" "You sent me out to get the peppers." "Did you get the real hot ones?" "Yeah, I got the real hot ones." "Good." "I'll tell you what you do." "Take them one at a time and you shove them up your ass!" "Have you been keeping this room clean back here?" "Tell me, Jesse did you see Mr. Asby the night he was killed?" "Yeah, I was straightening up in the chapel." "I heard somebody in here." "I came in to see." "It was Mr. Asby, all right." "What was he doing?" "Just standing." "And did he have anything with him?" "I don't" "Yeah!" "I think he did have something with him." "Yeah, I remember." "A shopping bag." "Like he had gone to the store and was taking groceries." "Groceries?" "That couldn't be, though." " Why not?" " He didn't have it when he left." "I came out to say goodnight but he had already gone next door to the insurance office." "And he didn't have it with him then." "That's funny." "Nothing in there, Mr. Kelly." "I dust and vacuum these boxes twice every week." "And they're all still here except the one over there that poor Mr. Asby was buried in." "Thank you, Jesse." "Thank you very much." "Stay on their tail." "What the hell do you want?" "I thought we was gonna keep in touch." "Didn't you get my message?" "I left it on Cal's doorstep." "Yeah." "Where's Arna Asby?" "You should've asked that yesterday before Mascola sent her flowers." "I'm asking you now." "Are you gonna protect her or are you gonna hassle her?" "You leave that to me." "Now, I know she's here in your pad, and I'm gonna see her." "Open it up." "Be my guest." "Son of a bitch!" "She'll go to jail for that!" "I told you she didn't want to talk." "Wait a minute, wait a minute." "That's a very important black lady in there." "You wouldn't want her death on your record." "Especially after protecting her so." "Open this door, Miss Asby!" "It's Captain Bollin!" "You get away from there!" "I don't know who you are!" "I'll be back with a warrant and witnesses." "You two better be here!" "It's me, baby." "You almost shot a captain." "The man's gonna be back here with a warrant as soon as he can find a judge to sign it." "For me?" "No sweat." "Gun's registered." "You thought someone was breaking in." "To protect yourself, you picked up the gun and fired a few shots." "But why are they after me?" "Nothing personal." "They're after Cal's money and his operation in Queens and anybody who gets in his way including his kid sister and me." "But can't we just let them have it?" "You're forgetting the clinic that Cal wanted to build for the kids in Harlem." "The funeral home, the insurance company, it's all good business." "You don't just want to give it away." "When Bollin gets here, that's the captain's name let him in, talk to him, tell him anything you want, but keep him here." "As long as he's here, no one can get to you." "Not now, baby, not now." "Bollin has left his baby-sitters." "What the hell is she doing here?" "You sure are a hard man to find!" "Too many people looking for me, baby." "Can you drive that thing?" "Anything with a stick shift is my meat!" "Is that right?" "How about driving it up a one-way street for me?" "All right." "Here's the keys." "Just jump in and start it up." "You left them at the post." "You do that good." "I've been racing since I was 14." "Men or cars?" "Baby, keep both hands on the wheel." "Is that snow?" "It sure ain't cotton." "What's he doing?" "He's digging a grave, Gus." " Hell of a time!" "Where've you been?" " Mother Ike's." "Mother Ike's, my ass!" " Mother Ike's, my ass!" " Come on!" "Come on, I said!" "Shithead!" "I'll give you "shithead"!" "I'm sorry." "Go ahead." "Stick with him, do you understand?" "We'll be right there." "Get Jack and Al right away." "Jack, get up!" "Al!" "Come on, get your ass up!" "Good morning, Mr. Kelly." "What have you got there?" "Money." "The money's right there in the box." "I just have to get it out." "Then what, Mr. Kelly?" "You'll get what I owe you." "Then it's me and you running the wheel together and everything else." "Go ahead, get it." "Go ahead." "Find it, Mr. Kelly?" "Maybe it's in his wallet." "I can't." "Give him a hand." " Roll it in." " Come on now!" "Roll it in!" "Looks like it's payday, Mr. Kelly." "Toss it into the bag." "I'll count it later." "That's all of it." "Okay, Kelly." "Come on, Gus." "Now wait a minute." "Drop the guns and freeze!" "When this starts kicking it won't stop, so nobody get cute!" "Who's next?" "Move!" "Move over there!" "Come on, get down here!" "All right, let's go!" "Get down!" "2-4 Whiskey, where the hell are you?" "Come in, 2-4 Whiskey, come in!" "Careful, Al, the boss is in there!" "Harass him, but don't hit him!" "I've got to pull out!" "Too damn many wires ahead!" "Rita, get out!" "Get out!" "Get out!" "Move it!" "Move it!" "Move!" "Come on!" "We've lost him in the boatyard." "Move!" "Move it!" "Get out of there!" "Get out!" "Get in!" "Get up there!" "What happened?" "The bastard got a boat!" "Let's go!" "Come on!" "Come on!" "We've hit him!" "What happened here, Shaft?" "Mascola's over there." "Kelly's already at Oakland Cemetery right next to Cal Asby." "And you still got a lot of burying to do." "That's all well and good, but where's the damn money, man?" "I don't know." "But I have a feeling it's on it's way back to where it came from." "Back to Harlem." "Okay." "Adios." "Adios, mother" "Ripped by thewildbunch22"