"But it's a snail, you see, and it go, it go, "Meow."" " It's a what, now?" "What?" " It meows." "Then it ooze all up SpongeBob's belly like it's his pet and shit." "Yo, y'all niggers watch too many cartoons, I swear." "Hey!" "This is what's wrong with the justice system." "Niggers get locked up and don't stay that way." " They make it hard to take this shit serious." " Mm!" " What, you snitchin' or something?" " Shit, no, man." "They only gave me, like, four, right?" "I done 15 months." "So with good time, I'm like, "Man, what the fuck?"" " Shit." " Yeah, man." "So..." "Yeah, man, it ain't..." "It ain't like it was, but it'll do." "So who we slinging for?" "Marlo Stanfield." " Come on, man!" " Yo, man, yeah." "I was getting this nice package from Slim Charles, but Marlo got the muscle to hold us down, so that's where we at." "Shit, one boss same as the next, man." "Hey, yo, Little Kev." "I told you about the boy Poot, right?" "Yeah." "Pussy hound." "You just home?" " How long in?" " 15 months." " You got laid yet?" " Shit, I think I already been burnt." "Shit, I might need a ride to the clinic today." "I see ain't shit changed around this joint." "On the wall, gents." "Make this easy on all of us." "Which one of yous is Little Kevin?" "Come on, fellas." "It ain't no big deal." "We just need some face time with the motherfucker." "Your name Kevin?" " No, this is, uh..." " Poot." "I'm Poot, yo." "Poot." "Didn't you get locked up or shot or something?" "Society say I deserve another chance." "Let's see." "Which one of these dickheads is Little Kevin?" " I don't know no Kevin." " Society can bite my dick." "Bodie, I know this kid works up here with you." " What's your name?" " Do I look little to you?" "Fuck this." "Everyone under 150 lbs or 5'6" is in the cab." "You, you, and you." "And unless I see birth certificates saying otherwise, you're my Little Kevins." "And if that don't get it, we're coming the fuck back." "All right?" "That's fucked up, yo." " You got any paper on you?" " Man, fuck if I know." "These police out here knew how to flip it even just a little, my shit would be in handcuffs." "You know?" "They don't know shit." "Damn!" "When you walk through the garden" "Watch your back" "Well I beg your pardon" "Walk the straight and narrow track" "If you walk with Jesus" "He'll save your soul" "Gotta keep the devil down in the hole" "He's got fire and the fury" "At his command" "Well, you don't got to worry" "Hold on to Jesus' hand" "We'll be safe from Satan" "When the thunder rolls" "But you gotta keep the devil" "Down in the hole" "Oh yeah, mm" "We'll be safe from Satan" "Gotta keep the devil" "Down in the hole" "Keep him in the hole In the hole" "Down in the hole Down in the hole" "Keep him in the hole Keep him in the..." "Down in the hole Down in the hole" "Keep him in the hole Keep him in the..." "Down in the hole Down in the hole" "You my ride?" "I'm your motherfucking savior, is what I am." "Told y'all Andre was lying on me, yo." "I didn't do it for you." "Fact is... if I could work back on whatever cases I already caught, you might be going right back inside." "I know." " So who did kill that delivery girl?" " I don't know." "Know it wasn't Andre." "His blood don't run that kind of cold." "Who he getting his package from?" "Saying I could go back to the crib and bear up, find some things out if you want me to." " You owe me, motherfucker." " I'm saying I know I do, man." "And if you want to pay down any part of this debt, you know what you gotta do for me?" "No more bodies." "No more fucking bodies from you." "No more comebacks or get-evens on this." "No more killing." "You owe me your word." "All right, man." "No bodies on me." "You really want to ease my mind, you'll let me drive you down to Aberdeen rail station, put you on a northbound train." "Naw, man." "Baltimore's all I know." "You know what it is like, homey." "Man gotta live what he know, right?" "You're absolutely right." "There are significant factors to consider, but getting crime under control is key to sparking investment here," " jump-starting growth." " If you make it safe, they will come." "I hate to begin our beautiful relationship with my hand out, but I'm told that two federal grants to my office dry up this year." "Come the first of the year, those DOJ grants evaporate and you're out 12 prosecutors." "I was hoping you'd be able to absorb that in the general fund, maybe throw in a bit more, make it competitive with the PD and Attorney General's jobs, staunch the turnover - it's killing us." "This would be the time to do it." "We're over the revenue expected for this point in the fiscal year next to the real estate market." "How much past?" "'Cause I want to come out with a big bump in police salaries, in particular the commissioner's salary, which needs to jump, like, 50 grand." "A good guess would be a one-shot surplus of about 20 million." "But that's rainy-day money for more than crime." "Word is that the schools are running a deficit." "Excuse me." "Did you say a 50,000 bump for Ervin Burrell?" " Not for Burrell per se." " For the next police commissioner, then?" " That's what you mean?" " Looking ahead, it makes sense." "Firing Burrell would upset a good-sized block of my constituency, not to mention the ministers." "And the budget chair might have a difficult time allowing a higher salary to be approved." "In fact, I can guarantee if that proposal's in the budget - your first, for the record - the bill won't come out of committee intact." "I'm just saying that in the event Commissioner Burrell were to leave, we'd want to bump that salary to attract the best candidates, in particular the best African-American candidates across the nation." "With three years left in his term, why would he leave?" "Councilman, what may not have been obvious to you on the Public Safety Subcommittee is that the budget process is a carefully orchestrated ballet, a cooperative effort between the branches of government." "Madam President, the nuances of that cooperative effort are beginning to come into focus for me." "Thank you, Madam President." "Come on in, everyone." "Don't wait by the door." "Duquan, you're here." "Randy, you're here." "No, you two switch." "Calvin, you're here in the front." "Quanice, you're here." "Michael, you're here." "Destiny, here." "Myesha, here." "Dashonda, here." "Come on, keep moving." "Don't stop at the door." "Come in." "Let's get started." "Could be a problem." "How so?" "Your boy been assigned to what they call the Major Crimes Unit." "Meaning what?" "They the motherfuckers that did the last three city wiretaps - one where they bugged Barksdale's office, another where they hit Kentel up in Park Heights." "And the last one, shit, they was all up on Stringer Bell's cellphones." " You ain't still using burners, is you?" " I'm dumping them every two weeks." "Not good enough." "You read that." "You'll see that Stringer was changing his number every damn day and they still pulled the motherfucker's voice off a goddamn cellphone tower." "City police did that?" " Where'd you get this?" " Courthouse, clerk's office." "Hey, this shit's open to the public after they finish prosecuting your ass." "You need to lose them cellphones, son." "Me, I ain't as so much as touched a burner in a year." "5'9" and three eighths?" "You got it." "Now hold the measure and spread your arms out to the side." "What you got?" " I want one." " So, your cat can eat 'em?" "So, how'd you find them?" "I'm going to the calculators." "Give me that." "Give it here." "The same." "Your height and your arm span - identical." " Quanice?" " You about to get me in trouble." "So, you say you like to box, right?" "You must have some kind of reach." "Everything cheap on computers if you know where to look." "Yo, this mean the price I'm getting from the Koreans, they still marking it up some." "They gotta be." "I can make twice as much using this here." "Uh-uh." "Can't." "All this along the lower Patapsco-Westport area is ready for a turn." "The proximity to downtown and the B-W Parkway make it ideal for Washington commuters." "That's a given." " Anything to speed it up?" " A harbor promenade going west from both sides of the bridge." "The South Harbor Promenade, brought to you by..." "Mayor Thomas Carcetti." "And the citizens of Baltimore." "Doesn't quite have the same ring as a stadium or an aquarium expansion, does it?" " It's a start." " Further east, you've got the Locust Point Marine Terminal, which is still a working enterprise, and the further you go into Brooklyn-Curtis Bay, the more the skyline disappears." "We lose the Washington crowd." "For that part of the waterfront, you need a different draw." " Casinos?" " The urban planning default?" "I don't want the crime that comes with casinos." " Tax base is tax base." " This is where I get off the boat." "It's one thing to sell waterfront for tax base, but now you're just sucking paychecks out of my community." "It was just a thought." "And, anyway, we're getting ahead of ourselves." "This is just the first long meeting of many." "So, thanks to everyone, and we'll continue this later." "Madam President, a word with you?" "Do you have a minute?" "You and me, we got a problem already?" "Just trying to help guide you through the process, Mr. Mayor... ..Elect." "Felt more like you were dragging me across a minefield, Nerese." " Why you so pissed off at me?" " Look." "Clarence shouldn't have run again for any number of reasons." "I was ready to step up, and the deal was cut long ago that he'd back me." "You and Tony, you guys jumped the line." " It wasn't your turn." " Whoa, whoa." "Whoa." "I'm sorry if Tony and I ruined your party plans, but I wasn't privy to whatever you and Clarence cooked up." "That aside, I was kind of looking forward to working closely together." "I think that we could make things happen." "You're only getting the one term, Tommy." "I'm not gonna stand down next time." "What makes you think I'll be around that long?" "Governor's race is in two years, and plans can change." "You might find yourself mayor in 2008 without so much as a campaign speech." "Wasn't easy tracking you down." "The numbers I got for you don't work no more." "I see you got a problem." "Looking rough, Bubs." "I been keeping it clean, you know, pushing my carts and all." "But this one young man, every time I cross him, I get tossed for what I got on me." "Cash, pills." "He look on me like an ATM or some shit, I swear." "I'm ready to work, Kima." "Get this motherfucker off me, I'll do what you need." "Look at me, Bubs." "I ain't in Narco." "Yeah, I see." "You look nice." "I'm working homicides." "So, if the bad boy happen to kill me, you can help me out then, right?" "If we drive around, you think you can put eyes on this motherfucker?" " I can try." " Get in." "So, Nerese is bucking already." "Feels like if the mayor's chair ain't gonna go to Royce, it should be hers." "Problem is, she'll see any proposal to raise the commissioner's salary" " as a move against Burrell." " Which it is." "We can't raise the salary, we can't attract strong minority candidates." "No strong candidates, we can't get rid of the guy we got." "Fuck if I'm gonna live with Burrell as my commissioner." " What if he quits?" " Quits?" "Maybe the man can be shamed." "If he leaves on his own account, that takes us off the hook with Nerese and the ministers, right?" "No." "We don't want your credit card number." "We won't even know the number." "We just need you to order the candy." "And you have cash up front?" "He pay you back, Mr. P." "When he sell off, man, he gonna pay you back." "Yeah." "Points on the package, huh?" "No way." "Come on, Mr. Prezbo." "Doesn't it teach us math?" "Addition, subtraction, a quarter, a quarter of a dollar, a dime, a tenth, you know?" "No cash, no card." "All right." "Fine." "Cash up front." "No problem." "And if you come in with a wad of bills tomorrow, Randy," "I want to know where they came from." "I don't want either of you out on the corner." "All right." "Ms. Thiessen, you OK?" "I, uh..." "I think my car's been stolen." "Yeah, man." "All right." "So what I'm saying is that you got from Bentlow down there to Rosewood right here." "All right?" "Now, I got the block from Monroe all the way down to Pacer, so I got you covered from that side, but put lookouts in Franklintown to catch anybody" " coming from the other way." " All right, I got you." " Are you ready to work?" " Yeah, just get my re-up." "We'll go on about the shit for real." " No, are you ready to work?" " Yeah." "Ready to work." " Donut, go talk to Little Kevin for me." " All right." "Watch the ride." "Look, man, please do not be having your mama come talk for you." "Man, I ain't have her do nothing." "She just get on her horse and come with it." "Look." "I done did everything I can for you and yours, but... from here on, your moms can't do nothing to help." "All right?" "Him?" "From Wee-Bey?" "Your moms?" "No sign of the motherfucker Andre." "Store been padlocked a week." "Ain't even calling for his re-up." "Check the man at the jail?" "Yeah." "People say Omar ain't even been on the tier for two weeks, so he either staying someplace or they got him at county lockup." "Or the charges been dropped." "If this cocksucker's sprung, my man is backing up on his story." "Mean he could back up on y'all." "I'm on it." "How about the New York boys?" "We dropped five of them." "The rest went to ground." "Drive through East Baltimore, you don't even see a Baltimore nigger with a Yankee cap." "Want us to stay on that too?" "I talked to the fat man, but I think we're done there." "This shit with Andre?" "Job one." "We could try the avenue again." "He be behind the market sometimes." "Bubs, I ain't got all fucking day." "I'm on shift work now." "I'm working murders." "He banked me four times this week, Kima." "I'm having dreams about this motherfucker." "All right." "I tell you what - you want to work?" "I'll call Sydnor or Herc down at Major Crimes, put you with someone doing drug work." "You work for them, they'll help you with your problem." "All right?" " I need this now, Kima." " I'll tell them that." " Woman..." " So show me where you're living, and I'll tell them where they can find you." "Take the left." "I don't understand." "You told the man you not gonna kill no one." "I gave my word on that." "Fuck we doing back here then, Papa?" "I can still put a gun in Andre's face, right?" "That man got some explaining to do." "It's dead out here, yo." "Tip on out." "I don't know why he don't trust us with it, yo." "I mean, we trustworthy, ain't we?" "Just gotta get enough for the first order." "Then we're good." "All right." "Hard six." "Come on, Trey!" " I'm in." " Go away, boy." " Oh, you in?" " Yeah." "Pass line for me, yo." "Oh, shit!" "Yeah." "Get that money." "Get that money, shorty." "Get that money." "I heard tell of it, but I didn't believe it." "All this overtime, all for two cases as a secondary." "First the names are red, then they're green, then they're black." "And that doesn't even include the court pay you make if the soft case goes to trial." "Sweet." "So, what you gonna do with yours, Detective Greggs, huh?" "Pay down some debt." " Why you leaving?" " Your luck ain't gonna change." " Don't worry about it." " Yo, thanks for walking us off." "I thought we was gonna get banked." " You ain't gonna bank us, is you?" " Shit, boy." "You think I'm that ungrateful?" "I followed you through ten shooters and made more money than I have in a month." "Nah." "I ain't gonna rob you." "I just need to know next time you fade a dice game." "You feel?" "I mean, it's all about the math, you know, the probabilities and all." "I ain't never seen you in a game before." "Where you learn your game?" "Edward Tilghman Middle." "Shit." "All we got is Little Kevin." "Bodie's boy, huh?" "What'd I tell you?" "Bubs gets it the first time." "Here." "Y'all meet up with me in the afternoon tomorrow after school lets out and I'll give Kevin a new hat." "A hat trick?" "Cool." " Yo, Herc, man?" " What's up?" "It's not about the money this time." "He breaking me every day unless I give him something." "I can't take it any more, man." "Once we're done with Kevin, you go find this asshole, hit my cellphone." "I'll be on him five minutes later." "I promise." "Then you add this, yo, and watch it fizzle." "Whoa, whoa, whoa." "Not so much." "Not so much." "You gonna make it spill everywhere, you see?" "What are you still doing here?" "Ain't nobody want you here." " Your mama want me." " Yeah." "You and the pipe." "Shouldn't talk about your mama like that, Michael." " Hey, Daddy, see my volcano?" " Bug, go upstairs." "Bug need me too." "Saturday, right?" "Bug need me." "My teachers say I gotta need glasses." "I gotta have an adult with me." "Pick 'em up." "Sign for 'em." "Bug, go upstairs to your room." "Ice cold, boy." "Way you be?" "Ain't got a forgiveness to your soul." " Man, fuck you." " Watch your mouth." "You're big, but not big enough." "Now...where's that DSS card?" "Your mama said that come to me." "Ain't nothing left on this month's check anyway." "Before the first of the month, then." "Hey." "Hey." "Come on in." "I see the little man done took over the living room." " Good for him." " You know how it goes." "Well, I'm just messing with you." "Place looks great." "Even the toys look like they belong." " This is..." " This month and two going back." "I'm just trying to catch up." "I appreciate you not coming after me for it." "Knocking over liquor stores now?" "Overtime from Homicide." "It stays like this, and I won't have a problem coming up with my share." " Kima..." " This ain't, "Please take me back,"" "but a deal's a deal, right?" "Hey, I'm home." "Hey, Elijah." " Hey." " Um..." "Kima, this is Nancine Owens." "Sorry." "The place is a mess." "You could stay for dinner, but tonight we have people coming over." "It's a kind of a celebration, actually." " Yeah?" " I passed the bar this week." "Congratulations." "Most of the gals I work with have a problem with that." " With what?" " Passing the bar." " Guess I better be going." " Thanks for coming past." " Let's make a bed..." " Yeah." "Nice meeting you." " Elijah?" " Uh?" " Say bye to Aunt Kima." " Bye." " Where's Dre?" " I don't know!" " You believe her?" " No." "One last time." "Where's Andre?" "He said if he told me where he was going," "I'd have to tell you." "I don't know." "I don't know." "You believe her now?" "Yeah." "Dang." "Sure is quiet this early." "Yo, you gonna come with me to see Mr. P?" "No, go on up." "I'll see you in homeroom." "Mr. P." "Randy." " Randy, how did you..." " Six beats four or five." "And most times eight is better than ten." "Right?" "You schooled me good." " You gambled?" " I didn't even pick up the dice." "I was all, "Pass, no pass."" "Got to the point where some of them was following me in there." " You shouldn't gamble." " I know, but the math be right, Mr. P." "But I'm gonna come back at lunch, and we can computer up that candy, all right?" "Peace." "Resign?" "Either that or the day-to-day running of the department falls to the Deputy Commissioner for Operations." "Erv, I have made no secret of wanting to make changes." "So Bill Rawls is now the voice of reform, is he?" "This isn't about Rawls." "I have no faith in you, given recent events." "I know you remember the two of us sitting in this same booth a year ago, you telling me about how you respect the chain of command." "Well, respect it now." "Every department head serves at the pleasure of the mayor." "So, if you're firing me, Mr. Mayor," "I want you to know I will go quietly." "You'll tender your letter of resignation?" "No." "I'm not offering to resign." "If you want me to go, you're gonna have to shitcan me." "A small distinction, I know, but... in the meantime, since you have Bill Rawls doing my job for me, and it's such a nice day out," "I think I'll go to Forest Park and shoot nine." "The check is yours, I think." "Pick a table, any table." "Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, Empire State Building." "Your table is your team." "The team that puts its model together first wins." "Now, you say y'all can work together out on the corner." " Let's see how you do on this." " Wins what?" "Big fat gold star and some shit." "Dinner downtown." "Any restaurant you can agree on." "Since y'all only seem willing to be interested in stuff you know, we looked for things like Baltimore." "The scale model of the Fayette Street stash house was all sold out." "So, y'all just gonna have to make do." "Mr. Colvin, the box say there's supposed to be instructions." "We took those out." "Makes it more interesting, don't you think?" "It ain't like we follow instructions anywhere else, right?" "I ain't even want to put no charges on Omar." "But see, they made me do that, and now they're gonna be mad at me 'cause it ain't stick." " Who be "they"?" " People I'm getting the package from." "I'm asking who." "Boy named Marlo." "He's big on the West Side." "You heard of him?" "Vaguely recall the name." "So, I just need to chill for a while till they remember how to forget." "So, now you come over East Side and expect me to hide you." "Why does every Baltimore nigger think that running away means crossing downtown?" "Shit, you ought to be in New York or Philly or some shit." "No, see, I know that." "It's just that I don't know no one outside of B'more." "I was just hoping, let's say, trade on my store, you could maybe front me some cash, get me out of town with people you know." "I mean, I'd come to the East Side to you, too many West Side motherfuckers are with Marlo." "You know what the problem with these here machines?" "They too cheap to begin with." "Some people would think for what it's worth to fix it and make the shit work right, you might as well dump them and get another." "2,000 and a free ride north for the store and its contents." "Store worth way more, Joe." "It depends, don't it?" "No, it goes on the other side and shit." "Stop fronting me." "I want to do something." "You gonna curse at me again, I'm gonna cut you." "Get that shit out my face." "I don't even want to do this shit no more." "That's how you always do it." "What are you doing?" "Look at the box." "Do that look like that's on the box?" "Nigger, come on, now." "I'm trying to eat." " Give me that piece, yo." " Fuck you, yo." "You don't even know what you're doing." "Just sit there and shut up." "Come over here and make me shut up, then." "You piss me off 'cause you don't know what you're doing." "You're too stupid." "Hey, Z, you do the top while I do the middle." "Darnell, you got the leg parts, all right?" "Yeah, like that, like that." "Shit!" "Done." "Aw, that's bullshit." "He's cheating, yo." "Go ahead and touch it, baby." "That shit built to last." "What about the extra pieces?" "What extra pieces?" "What's in your pocket?" "Ain't nothing in my pocket." "So, who cook a good steak around here?" "I got a T-bone right here." "OK." "One." "From the day of my inauguration," "Commissioner Burrell is to undertake no initiative without clearing it with you." "Administrative responsibilities are to reside with the deputy office if they don't already." "I like that." "No problem." " Two." "I need to elevate Stan Valchek." " Good man, Valchek." "He's a hack." "But he's my hack, and I owe him." "If I make him deputy for admin, can he cause any real damage?" " I'll watch over him." "No problem." " Three." "I'm bumping Daniels from Western Command to colonel, giving him CID and carte blanche to fix the investigative units." " Cedric Daniels?" " Problem?" "No, he's good police." "He's just got a little independent streak." "Independent from who?" "I got no problem making Daniels." "What else do you need?" "That's it for now." "Mr. Mayor, about Ervin." "If you don't mind my asking, why keep him as a puppet commissioner when you can just fire the guy?" "We mind you asking." "I'm partial to them cherries." "Yo, Dukie." "You ever call Social Services on your mother?" "What?" "I just want to know what happens if you call Social Services on somebody." "You want to report your mother?" "She brung someone home and he won't leave." "You don't want to call Social Services." "They gets to looking into things, they could put y'all in a group home, split you and Bug up, even." "But I don't want us to leave." "I just want him to leave." "Talking about Bug's daddy, ain't you?" "Maybe you ought to talk to a teacher about this." "Mr. Prezbo is real good about stuff." "Mr. P did say I could go talk to the school social worker." "Mr. Robinette?" "He an alcoholic." "What about that boxing guy, Mr. Cutty?" "What's wrong with Cutty?" "I don't know." "Like, he just too friendly, you know?" "That shit creep me out, man." "Like, he some type of faggot or something." "Not Cutty, man." "He be all up in the women." " Yo, don't you see how he be doing?" " That don't mean shit." "Them faggots will be just like that too." "I don't know." "He just too friendly, you know?" "Everybody just too motherfucking friendly." "No fucking way." "So, his name is..." "What'd you call him?" " It's like a joke." " Yeah." "They flipped it." "Bunch of fucking clowns." "Last year we had MSAs in the 22 percentile." "And don't think they haven't noticed it down at the Puzzle Palace." "The word is they're looking for at least a ten-point increase from all city middle schools this time around." "We're still six weeks away from the MSAs and you want us to start teaching the test now?" "This year, the preferred term is curriculum alignment." "There's nothing wrong with emphasizing the skills necessary for the MSA." "If we can get them to write a paragraph without a four-letter word in it, it'll have to have better command of English." "Marcia, skill sets are one thing, but this has us teaching test questions direct." "Questions that involve skills." "I don't see your point." "You don't want to see the point." "Were you expecting something different than last year?" "I don't see the math section." "These are language arts questions." "Our greatest failing on standardized tests last year." "So, for the time being, all teachers will devote class time to teaching language arts sample questions." "Now, if you turn to page 11, please, I have some things I want to go over with you." "I don't get it." "All this so we score higher on the state tests?" "If we're teaching the kids the test questions, what is it assessing in them?" "Nothing." "It assesses us." "The test scores go up, they can say the schools are improving." "The scores stay down, they can't." " Juking the stats." " Excuse me?" "Making robberies into larcenies, making rapes disappear - you juke the stats and majors become colonels." "I've been here before." "Wherever you go, there you are." "Ravens got that dude Mike Anderson." "He and Jamal gonna be running..." "Look at these runts." "We're gonna go when that football's in the air on a long pass." " Slow?" " Yeah." " Big yellow right here." " Yellows, yellows!" " Go long." "Go, go." " Throw it high." "Big yellow." "Go." " Knocko!" " Oh, shit!" "Po-po, yo!" "Po-po!" " Where you going?" " Put me down!" "They're in the alleys." "We get back in there, we can hunt them up." "No need." "I know 'em all." " Let me go, motherfucker!" " What about this one?" "He isn't even bait." "We toss him back - unless you want to spend half the shift down at baby booking." " Me?" " I ain't afraid, motherfucker!" "I don't want to spend this shift down at Evidence Control." " Then why the fuck even do this?" " So's I can talk to them." "I like to think that until the handcuffs actually fit, there's still talking to be done." "Come here, man." "Let's take a walk." "Shut the fuck up." "Yo, who we listening to?" "Miss Lady Day, Billie Holiday." "She sound good." "You know, real sad, kind of." "Yeah." "I'm like that." "You be thinking I'm all ghetto, and then I flip it and mess your mind all up." "The next time we do this, Mr. Colvin, could you please make it on the weekend?" "I only had, like, three hours between school and now to get ready." " You look fine, Zenobia." " I could look better." "How long you think it take to do hair like this?" "I'm ordering the biggest quarter-pounder." "Fries too." "Nigger, this ain't Mickey D's." "You better be thinking T-bone steak, medium rare." " The blood all squirting out?" " Nah, ain't no blood." "What you think rare is?" "It mean rarely cooked, hardly cooked." " Rare." "Get the blood out, stupid." " See?" "And medium rare, keep the blood in." "All right." "Look." "All I want to know which is which before I order some undone meat." "Hey, Mr. Colvin." "How it work?" "Look, we're just gonna ask the waiter." "All right?" "Oh, shit." "There's a waiter?" "Just right down the block." " Where she at, dawg?" " Ain't seen her." "She owe me." "All that shit I gave her." "I don't know." " How you not know?" " I don't know." "She let me find her, I'm gonna cut her titty off." "Watch." " You got something to say, nigger?" " No, no." "Yo, where Herc at?" "I got the asshole, OK?" "Tell him Riggs and Calhoun." "He knows." "He knows." "OK." "Get the fuck back here." "Nigger, I will fuck you up." "You don't know Lex?" "I knew the Bull." "I mean, I know him." "But he ain't been around, though." "You see?" "Right there." "You just fucked up." "You said you knew him, like you knew he was dead." "No." "Now you putting words in my mouth." "I meant, knew him." "When he was around, I knew him." "But he left." "Herc." "Bubbles called." "He sees the guy, the asshole." "He's on Riggs and Calhoun." "Says he'll hold him there five minutes for you to get across town." "I'm in the middle of an interview here." "What the fuck?" "Tell him we'll fix his problem tomorrow." "All right?" "Motherfucker." "He ain't got a phone." "You lied to me out on the street." "Why should I believe you now?" "You was there when Lex got killed." "You were part of the fucking setup." "We know 'cause we have a witness who puts you right in there." "Yeah, we do." "You know right where that body is." "You were there with Snoop, Chris, whoever else." "Know how to make an interrogation work?" " Leverage." " We don't have leverage?" "Motherfucker, you don't even got a body." "Lex is nothing but a name in there." "Where the fuck you think you're going?" "You ain't going nowhere." "Hey, you." "Hello!" "Bubbles' Depot here!" "Bubbles' Depot!" "What you got for me tonight?" "I've been missing you all day long, dawg." "We done with this right here." "We done with this." "I ain't got time for your shit." "My shit's all you're gonna get, all right?" "You can kiss my ass, all the fucking trouble you given me." "What you looking for?" "It's not there." "It's on me." " It's on you?" " Yeah." " It's on you?" " Wait, wait, wait!" "No, no, no!" "Get off me!" "Get off me!" "Get off!" "Wait, wait, wait!" "Take it!" "Take it!" " I got you now!" " No, no, no!" "You like that?" "Fuck!" " I don't like the orange ones." " Listen to me, fuckhead." "We know you were there, we know you set him up, and we know you didn't do it alone." " Say what?" " You weren't alone in this." "We know that." "You mean Randy?" "I'm asking you questions, remember?" "If you don't give us this murder, Kevin, somebody else will." "And when they do, they'll be putting you in." "You hear me?" " Colvin, party of four." " I'll make sure your table's ready." ""Colvin, party of four," huh?" "Hi." "May I take your coat?" "Sure." " You, sir?" " Oh, no." "I'm good." "Yeah, me too." "OK, your table's ready." "Follow me, please." " Sir?" " That's your chair, right?" "No." "You sit there." "The waitress will be here soon to detail the specials of the day." " Enjoy." " Thank you." "Waitress?" "Who was that?" " That's the hostess." " You ain't gotta worry, Mr. C." "I ain't gonna run up your bill." "I'll get whatever's on special." "It ain't no Kmart Blue Light Special, dumb-ass." "Special just mean they cook something different." "Yo, what about you, drinking without a straw, all ghetto and shit?" "You don't drink water with a straw." "And put that on your lap, fool." "You see anybody else up in here looking all Fred Flintstone and shit?" "Sh." "Shut it down." "Other people be looking at us." "Hello." "My name is Pam." "I'd like to tell you about our specials for the day." "We have king salmon with sweetcorn, chanterelles and basil aïoli, sautéed free-range chicken served with mashed potatoes, fresh Chesapeake Bay blue crab, roasted garlic, shallot cream and hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, and wood-oven-roasted quail" " with grilled bread salad." " Dang." "I thought y'all had steak." "Oh, we do, on the second page of your menus." "May I get your drink orders?" "Yeah." "Uh, we'll take four cokes, please." " Right away." " Thank you." "Do you mind if I come tomorrow?" "Mind?" "I..." "Ahem." " You wouldn't be embarrassed?" " No, not at all." "I mean..." "I'll be proud if you're there." "It's funny how it works out." "All those years I'm trying to climb the ladder, kissing ass, covering ass, doing what I'm told." "I finally let some of it out, tell 'em what I really think, and I'm going from lieutenant to colonel in a little more than a year." "And, you, you're worried sick about those subpoenas and worried that Lester's killing you with your boss..." "But the subpoenas get me promoted." "I know." "You know, Marla once said to me, "You cannot lose if you do not play."" "But here we are, right?" "Maybe it's changing." "What is?" "The city, the way things work or don't." "Maybe we're turning a corner here and it's not gonna be so unbelievably fucked up any more." "To Carcetti." "And us." "Zenobia, you want to take a picture of the restaurant, right?" " That's OK." "It's late." " No, no." "That's fine." " Come on." "Give me the camera." " I'm OK." "Come on, give me the camera." "OK." "Y'all want to be in the picture, right?" "Yo, Mr. C, can we stop at McDonald's?" " Fuck wrong with you, boy?" " Food wasn't right." " Don't like fish." " Why'd you order it, then?" "Yo, shut the fuck up." " Turn it down, man." " What?" "Turn it down, Namond." "Turn it up?" "All right, you got it." "Seriously, can I get some fries at least?" "Boy, you is pathetic." "Just 'cause you a girl do not mean I won't fuck you all up." "You hear me?" "Nigger, please." " You keep talking all of that shit." " No, you keep talking shit." " Must have forgot." " No, I ain't forget shit." " What I forget anyway?" " That I'm the man." "OK." "So, what's the first thing we do when we respond to a prompt?" "Randy?" ""According to the text..."?" ""According to the text."" "That's good." "And how do we end the answer?" "Quanice?" "Come on." "I know you know this." ""The above-stated facts have led me to conclude that..."" "Right?" "OK." "So, let's try to read the third paragraph." "I'll start it. "Pythias makes a final plea to the tyrant Dionysius" ""to return to his home one last..." Calvin, pick it up." ""To return to his home one last time before his punishment." ""He denies the request until Damon inter..."" "Intercedes." ""..and offers his own life until Pythias returns."" "Good." "Who wants to guess what "intercedes" means?" "What about "plea"?" "OK." "What about the story, then?" "How would you summarize it?" "Duquan, give it a shot." "According to the text..." "Everybody's safe in the end, right?" "OK." "Let's think this through." ""According to the text," ""Damon offers his own life on behalf of Pythias" ""so that he can return home one last time." ""The above-stated facts have led me to conclude" ""that Damon values Pythias's friendship and loyalty."" "Any questions?" "We want four of the raw." "275 large right there." "For four it should be three." "I'm charging five a head on them New York boys." "That about the going rate." " Still want us on that?" " Nah." "Seems like they got the message and went the fuck on." "True that." "Delroy has all of the Monument Street corners back." "All right, then." "Holler at us when the next package in." "Uh-uh." "You remember when I told you about the co-op meant we all stand together, doing for each other when we can?" "You remember that?" "Well, the price of four raw is 300." "And your work on them New York boys already been factored into the price, you see?" "On the other hand, we got something that you want, and it's coming back to you free of charge." "Someone you looking for." "Co-op mean what it sound like, dawg." "You happy to do for me, I'm happy to do for you." "Congratulations, Colonel." "Congratulations, Deputy Commissioner." "Congratulations to all those who were promoted, their families and friends." "It's a proud day for them and a proud day for the Baltimore Police Department." " I am so proud of you." " Thank you." "You know, Valchek we could have guessed." "I mean, he's Carcetti's man, but..." "Daniels?" "Long time for you to make major, but this was quick enough." "Yeah, who's your new rabbi, huh?" "Colonel." "So, they didn't know the salad fork from whatever the other fork is for." "So what?" "I knew they'd be at a loss, but the extent of it..." "I'm talking about feelings - why they feeling this... this plummet from masters of the universe to abject fear to humiliated fury and no awareness of it." "Who says they're not aware?" "Maybe they just didn't acknowledge." "My point is, where do you start with them if they can't even admit their feelings about who they are and what they doing in this world?" "They're not fools." "They know exactly what we expect them to be." "Y'all missed some meal for real, though." " Take your seats." " It was hot, yo." " "Party of four, Mr. Colvin." - "May I take your coat, Mr. Brice?"" "That shit was tight." "I'm dreaming about that chocolate cake." "Oh, my God." "Shit had, like, 56 layers, yo!" ""..in the checkroom, Mr. Colvin..."" ""D Money saves Pitman"?" "It's bullshit!" "Before, at least they were getting something out of it." "To hell with my evaluation, Donnelly, the state-wide test scores." "I came here to teach." "Right?" "Yo, Coach, seen Michael?" " Nah." " All right." "That wasn't you and your runts I saw down on Bentlow yesterday slinging?" "Right." "'Cause a gangster like yourself wouldn't set up such a weak-ass shop with no real lookouts, ground stash in plain view." "This is me telling y'all as plain as I can." "You guys had your one chance." "I see you out there a second time, everyone takes a beating and goes to Cheltenham." "Fair warning you just got." "Cheltenham for some drug charges?" "Please, man." "I'll write you up as a special." "Don't think I won't do it." "Jab, jab!" "Good." "He don't think I can jail?" "Shit!" "I can jail." " What's up?" " Namond's banging, huh?" "Yeah." "He's one of yours, right?" "He hang around the gym, mostly waiting on his boy Michael." "He don't box or nothing." "He ain't that kind, really." "Not like his father." " Who was his father?" " Dude named Wee-Bey." "Stone-headed." "Used to run with them Barksdales." "I know him." "Shit, I locked him up in Philadelphia." "Yeah?" "Bey was my cut buddy." "We jailed down Jessup." "Anyway, Namond's from him." "Same blood, but not the same heart." " I've done my warm-ups, Coach." " Yeah, we ready for the ring." "Take care, man." "Why we stopping here?" "I thought we was going straight out." "Gotta get with your escort out." "Prop Joe said you was my escort out." "Manner of speaking, that be true." "Come on over here, man." "Come on." "Chris, no." "You know I keep it quick, Dre." " Here?" " Here's good." " Not in a vacant." " What's the difference?" "The difference is my people." "They won't know." " They'll know." " But the rats." " I'll be alone with the rats." " You're all right." " I got your back." " Come on, Chris." "Let me do it in my house so my people can give me a home-go." "I'll be damned." "Hey, yo, that got to be Marlo, man." "You see?" "That's the man we robbed, yo, from the poker game." "Ah." "Sí." "Sí, sí." "No wonder the boy don't like me." "Thought maybe I could catch up with Chris." "I got a problem I can't bring to no one else." "He just a kid."