"The 130th Spirit House gives the neighborhood youth an education in history and a background in Islam culture." "The Spirit House is funded totally through private donations." "May Allah guide you, brother." "Police!" "Police!" "Police!" "Damn, Odell!" "Yo, man, this machine is fucked." "If it is, you fucked it." "Zapped my spaceship right off the screen." "Wasn't nothing even close to it." "Maybe it was internal malfunctions." "What do you mean, "internal malfunctions"?" "A spaceship doesn't have to get hit to crash." "Some get internal malfunctions like when the astronauts cash in their tickets." "Can I help you, brother?" "That's the seat McVeigh was sitting on the night Percy Williams shot him." "Don't nobody like to sit on that seat." "Something the matter, brother?" "There's a power in that seat." " Machine is fucked." " Internal malfunctions." "Damn, did it again." "They say it won't be long before all those satellites they sent up there years back gonna be crashing back down to Earth." "Insides wear out up there." "Things go haywire." "Oh, man, they just get tired." "You know, start out with this orbit that's real high and wide." "Next time around, it get a little closer to Earth." "Next time, a little closer and so on until gravity hook into it, and it come crashing down." "You hear some noise on your roof, and you got a sputnik sizzling in the living room." "Get you something to drink?" "Maybe he don't drink." " Man don't drink, why'd he come in a bar?" " Man is a fugitive from a chain gang." "He got a hunted look on him." "The man's a wino, who should be out on the street." "Damn, Odell getting hardhearted since he owned this bar." "Yeah, Odell, ain't nobody after the chair he's on." "Let the man sit." "Got bloodhounds at his heels." "He's got internal malfunctions if you ask me." "Damn, Odell!" "Look at it now." "Look what it's doing." "Looks like that thing they hook up to the dude's heart for surgery on TV." " You broke it?" " I didn't break nothing." "Damn machine up and quit on me." " Sure you don't want nothing to drink?" " I want my quarter." "You know what's on them satellites come crashing down?" "Diseases." "Diseases we ain't even got a name for." "Space germs." "Can't nothing live out in space." "Not even germs." "No atmosphere." " Odell, give me my quarter back." " These ones can." "Man sat on the death seat and he felt it." "The seat's got a power to it." "Sit down, Smokey." "You'll get dizzy again." "This machine has had it." "Give me my quarter back, Odell." "I loaned you that quarter in the first place." "Hey, brother do you speak English?" "You'll get everything eventually." "Every time I come in here, I bring that whole damn folder." "Birth certificate, death certificate doctor's certificate, job certificate landlord certificate, tax form receipts, bills." "And every time I come in the one little piece of paper I ain't got is the one they want." "Mrs. Brown, I think..." "If I was 10 years younger I'd take another job and be shed of the whole lot of you." " Mrs. Brown, the only way..." " Man tell me I got to be recertified because the regulations is changing." "Ain't nothing changing." "He just lost the damn form." "You look at that pile on his desk." "He can't even find the telephone under that pile on his desk." "No way he gonna find my ADC form." "Mrs. Brown, I think..." "He got egg salad all down his front every time he talks to me, and it ain't even lunchtime yet." "Mrs. Brown, I'll take over your recertification if you want me to." "Man wanted my folder, but I wouldn't give it to him." "He done lost my whole life under that pile on that desk." "Do he wash?" "Mrs. Brown, I'm out of here in half an hour." "Let's get this thing done." "They never should have let him pass the civil-service test." "Man don't wash." "The man is deaf, the man is crazy or the man is a wino." "Takes one to know one, Smoke." "Odell?" "When did we have that new sign put up?" "Let me see..." "That was the day Mookie Wilson stole home." " Late August." " Yeah." "I can't find the bill." "That's because your cousin put it up, and he can't write." "Don't be smart." "What you want for dinner?" "You mean, what do I want or what do I want that you can cook?" "Well, in that case, where are you taking me for dinner?" "What do you wanna have?" "You mean, what do I want or what do I want that you can afford?" "Smokey!" "What is he doing?" "Diagnosis." "Diagnosis." "Pour me a drink, Odell." "Scotch." "Maybe it's rested up now." "Give me another quarter, Odell." "Here." "Just gonna bust it up some more." "How about Chinese food?" "Think you can handle that?" "Long as the menu's in English." " I don't eat anything I can't pronounce." " Oh, this man." "What are you doing with that drink, Smokey?" "Diagnosis." "Crazy." "The man is definitely crazy." "How about Szechuan West?" " I don't go down there." " Come on." "Don't be that way." "Baby, you name me one thing, one thing they got below 110th Street that we ain't got up here." " You name it, I'll stock it in the bar." " What's cooking?" " Hey, Sam." " Hey." " What it is, brother?" " All right." "Touchdown." " My man." " Man's still got them soft hands." "Hey, Bernice." "Smokey." "Hi, Sam." "Try not to break anything valuable." "Just in time." "We got a client for you." "I'm off duty." "Check out the guy in the corner." "Who's his tailor?" "Man's crazy." "I gave him a test." "He don't talk, neither." " What am I supposed to do?" " You the city, Sam." "Figure out where to put him." " Men's shelter?" " Too smelly." "Okay, the Hilton." "You got the tab?" " What they pay you for?" " I just make phone calls." " You want him out, you could call the cops." " Cops?" "Oh, man." "He knew the death seat when he sat down on it." "It's not like I got to drum up more business for the city, you know?" "Hi." " What's your name?" " Man don't talk, Sam." " What's that he talking?" " Man might be Haitian." "Damn Haitians got diseases, man." "Voodoo germs." "You drank out of that glass he touched." "He ain't no Haitian." "Can you talk?" "Nod your head yes or no." "Only people got worse diseases than the Haitians is the Polynesians." " This is yes." " Them poor suckers got leprosy." "This is no." "Can you talk?" "You got leprosy, first thing happens, your penis drops off." "You can't talk, but you can understand." "Damn, damn, damn!" "Bust again." "Get this thing fixed, Odell." "Only you play here." "You don't even use your own quarters." "Who wants to waste quarters on a machine that always busts?" "He got up on his feet." "After it drop off they just don't seem to care no more." "He's messing with the space shooter." "You go to them Polynesian islands, you see some long faces, man." "Don't never go drinking out of somebody else's glass, Smokey." "He fixed it!" "The brother fixed it." "How you do that, man?" "Say, brother how did you fix that machine?" "You don't send somebody who can fix a machine to no damn shelter." "The brother got talent." "Sam, Bobby's wife been taking in boarders now and then." " Bobby Carter's wife?" " Yeah." "Big white girl." " She's in ADC." "She better watch her ass." " You a cop or something?" " Hey, the thing work, Odell." " I just don't want her to lose her benefits." "Another thing you don't wanna do is sit on no Polynesian toilet, neither." "Walter, you a space shot." "You know that?" "You cruising the stratosphere." "You know how to fix things?" " Man's got talent." " Where you from, bro?" "Up." " Uptown?" " South Bronx." " They all crazy up there." " What if he's dangerous?" " It's just her, the kid and Bobby's mother." " Dangerous?" "You're a real pussy since you moved downtown." " Come back home, it's all dangerous." " I never lived here." " Sam's from Englewood." " What's that?" "It's in New Jersey." "You let people know that?" "I hear playing those machines too much does something to your brain cells." "Look here, Sam." "I think she's charging $50 a week, room and board." "You got any money?" "You the city, Sam." "You pay for him." "Every man's got a talent." "Yep." "Yours is drinking." "Yeah, and I'm the best too." "Hey, Sam." " Don't tell Bernice." " Make some calls, Sam." "Get the man a job." " While you're at it, get me one too." " Ten to 6, Walter." "Thank you, sir." "If my wife calls, I have not been here." "In this bar or on this planet?" "I'll walk him over." "It's on my way to the subway." "Come on." " Come on, brother." " Sam, you got a quarter I could borrow?" "Say hi to Snow White." "David's cookies." "Come on." "See you later, guys." "If I was you I'd throw that glass away." "I can't promise you anything, but I'll make some phone calls." "I'm afraid you'll have to go through some paperwork." "I hate to do this to you, but I got to cover my ass on this one." "We'll get you set up somewheres, but it takes a little time." "Hey, brother." "Come on, man." "It's been a long day." "I got a few ideas on jobs if you can really fix things." "If this doesn't pan out, I'll take you to the men's shelter." "Nice pants, man!" "Pajamas and shit, man!" "Change that shit, man!" "You don't talk, huh?" "Well, that's good." "You don't talk, you don't talk people into things." "You don't talk, you don't lie." "My Bobby, he's living with this other girl." "He's always talking people into things." "He's great at that." "If they had it in the Olympics, he'd win a gold medal." "Bobby, Bobby." "I met him at this place." "He comes up and starts talking." "Next thing you know, I'm big as a house with Little Earl." "Bobby's sweet if he doesn't get bored with you or see something better across the street." "You eat pork?" "You're out of luck tonight, because that's what we're having." "Of course, you don't talk, so you can't complain, right?" "Mother's going to complain." "Like she's some gourmet cook." "I cut my knee." "My philosophy is, you got complaints, you go eat somewheres else." "My mama made us clean our plates every night and she couldn't cook worth shit." "She couldn't even cook pudding." "She'd cook chocolate pudding, and there'd be these lumps like tumors." "Like what people with breast cancer have cut out." "Look here, muscle-brain, you pour the water down  and mop head will stand under and see if it leaks." "Watch out!" "There were six of us." "I'm from Alabama." "Can you handle that?" "Pidcock, Alabama." "I'm taking care of the old lady and Little Earl and he's off making time with some girl." "Doesn't have any more sense than I did when I was her age." "If they could see me now." "Where you from?" "You look like you might be from the South." "No way I'm going back there." "Not with Little Earl, I'm not." "I burned my bridges." "Here." "You look like you might be about Bobby's size." "Serves him right." "He didn't even come by to pick up his stuff." "You know, this stuff is going to rot your brain." "Sometimes I feel like I've been taken for a slave." "They have them, white slaves." "The Arabs keep them." "It's like a whole other world up here." "A whole other planet." "With all the talking he did, Bobby never told me how I couldn't go back." "Not unless I give up Little Earl." "And that's one thing I'm not ever gonna do." "That's the one thing Bobby gave me that he didn't take back later." "I gotta stay and keep Little Earl safe from all that mess outside." "Shoes are almost new." "He didn't wear them but once or twice." "His mother's okay, you know." "She's got a good heart." "But she resents it because she thinks I drove Bobby away from her." "He couldn't wait to get out." "He said it was like being in jail." "And now he says he's really in love and all this stuff." "Like he doesn't remember that he said the same things to me when we first met." "Like I got no memory." "Like I got no feelings." "The worst is being alone here all day." "Little Earl." "Yeah, but he talks just about as much as you do." "And when he does, he's 5 years old." "Sometimes, I just think I am gonna go crazy living up here like this." "You eat pork?" "Three-toe." " Boy didn't marry her for her cooking." " He didn't marry me, period." "You're lucky you missed the rain." "Who's that?" "Boarder." " What's his name?" " I don't know." "He doesn't talk." "They brung him over from Odell's." "He's nice." "What's he wearing Robert's clothes for?" "They fit." "What's Robert gonna say, he sees somebody walking around in his clothes?" "Bobby's got himself a new wardrobe." "He don't care, Mama." "You gonna work this weekend?" " Looks like it." " Well, sit down and put your feet up." "I'll bring you some dinner." " Bright, white lights streaking over the Statue of Liberty." "Government officials attribute the UFO sightings to commercial air traffic  and clear atmospheric conditions." "If Big Earl was still living, he'd straighten that boy out fast." " See you got the TV fixed." " No, it just fixed itself." "Girl, nothing in this world fix itself." "Little Earl, take your nose away from that machine." "Come give your Grandma some sugar." " Where's his tools?" " You need tools?" " Everybody needs tools." " Look, just let him try it." " Lf he doesn't fix anything, it won't cost you." " He doesn't have parts." "You need parts." "Come on." "What's it gonna hurt?" "You might even get some cheap repairs out of it." "Hector!" "We're in the Job Corps." "Come and get this guy." "Here it is, brother." "Pinball graveyard." "I've been bugging Mr. Lowe to unload these turkeys for months." "Mr. Lowe says you don't talk." "Hey, you looking for the outlet, brother?" "There it is right here." "You gonna fix these machines, brother, or what?" "There she go again." "That's the reason why these suckers are all on the blink." "That girl." "She can play all day on a quarter if she don't get bored." "Wears the machines down." "I mean, she's in here todo los dias like a fucking zombie." "Hey, you must be from Carolina, Puerto Rico." "That's where all the brothers come from." "You know?" "Like Clemente." "He was out of this world, man." "He made it to the top without a knife or a gun." "He used a baseball bat." "Yeah." "Anyway, Mr. Lowe is a weasel-dick motherfucker." "So you watch your ass with him, okay?" "And if you need anything llama Hector." "It's a whole new breed coming up." "They don't know." "Young bloods got no sense of history, coming up." "They give themselves some African-sounding name." "Jamocha Ali, Rashid Quadruple X." " They think they're in touch with the past." " Don't start up with that again, Walter." "It messes with my game." "I remember when there was history here." "Go light on them cookies, Smoke." " Suckers cost a fortune." " They're good, though." "Yeah, this was where it was, Fly." " Harlem was the place." " Still is, Walter." " Not like it was." " Ain't nothing like it was." "That's history, man." "Don't stand still for nobody." "Yeah, this is where it was, Fly." "Harlem was the end of the line." "I don't see nobody here going nowheres." "Yeah." "You hit Harlem, you had made it." "Smokey remembers." "Don't you, Smoke?" "Some days I do." "Some days I don't." "I'd rather be a cockroach on a baseboard up here than the emperor of Mississippi." "I remember certain Saturday nights." "I was a little boy peeking around my mama's legs." "What it was?" "It was elegant." " Harlem was the place." " Yeah." "End of the line." "Beer." "What kind?" "Draft." "On the rocks." "Have you seen this man?" "We have reason to believe he's been in here." "Lots of people been in here." " What's his name?" " Didn't he tell you?" "How a man gonna tell you his name when he can't talk?" "Where is he?" "Look, y'all got any kind of ID?" " ID?" " Your badges, man." " Badges?" " What badges?" "We don't have to show you any badges." " Look, if you're dicks, you got badges." " What makes you think we're dicks?" "I could answer that." "If you ain't dicks, why am I talking to you?" " Government." " Whose government?" " Immigration." " We have reason to believe this man is an illegal alien." " So is half the fucking city." "So what?" "Could we see your green card, mister?" "Green card?" "Man, what you talking, green card?" "Green card, my black ass!" "My people built this country, sucker!" "You ever been to South Carolina, huh?" " My people built that." " Can't build a state, man." "When they got off the boat, nothing was there." "Now there's shopping malls and what's that shit?" "Miniature golf." "From nothing!" "Ask me for a green card." "My people was in the Revolution, Jim!" "How long you been here?" "Keep the change, sport." "That's $2, man." "We'll be back." "White folks get stranger all the time." "Hey, taking lunch now, okay?" " How's the colored fella doing in the back?" " Haven't heard a peep out of him." "The colored are clever with their hands, but they forget things." "This one forgot his tools." "No management skills." "English, Hector." "Se habla English here!" "How's it going in here, brother?" "You've been a busy man!" "Since you're all finished, how's about you keep a lid on the kids while I get a bite?" "All you gotta do is make change." "You know how to make change, don't you?" "Hector will be back 10 minutes late, as usual." "The Spanish give you a good day's work, but they got no sense of time." "Are you the new fix-it man?" "Fast as you can fix these things, I can wear them down." "They don't make them fast enough." "I'm playing, like, warp 10 on everything in here." "Playing max on the difficulty scale, and still, I'm totally inside their time, you know?" "Know what that's like?" "It's like everything in the world is going slow-motion." "Except you." "Boring, right?" "Can't do nothing about it." "You know everything that's gonna happen before it does." "You can't change it." "Just shoot it down when it comes." "Bad enough in here." "You should see what it's like at home." "Do you know what I'm talking about?" "Just once." "Just once, I wish it could be me going slow-motion." "Everything else zipping past." "Hey, what are you doing?" "Hey, all right." "No way you beat me, though." "I'll wear you down." "That was fantastic." "Excuse me." "You wanna see a card trick?" " Uptown A Express. 59th Street next." " No, really." "It's a story." " 59th Street next." " Move over." "Go ahead, move over." "I'm gonna tell you a story about Joe and the bartender." "Bartender says:" ""You know, business has been slow, Joe." "I was wondering if you could get four buddies to drink at my bar." "I'll give you $2." Joe goes, "I could use money."" "So Joe goes out." "Cut the cards." "Cut the cards." "I'll cut them for you." "So Joe goes out." "And Joe's gone five." "He's gone 10." "He's gone 15." "He's gone 20." "He's gone 26 minutes." "And he comes back huffing and puffing and says:" ""Here's your four guys to drink at your bar."" "Bartender goes, "There's $2."" "They're sitting there talking." "Bartender goes, "These four guys are lonely." "Go get four girls to drink with the four guys." "I'll give you $2."" "Joe goes, "That's easy." "I got lots of girlfriends."" "So Joe goes out." "Cut the cards." "Go ahead." "That's right." "Okay." "I'll do it." "So Joe goes out." "And Joe's gone five." "He's gone 10." "He's gone 15." "He's gone 17 minutes and comes back huffing and puffing." "He says, "There's your four girls to drink with the four guys."" "Bartender says, "There's $2." "It took you so long to get the girls, the guys left." "So do me one last favor." "Go get four more guys, two cases of whiskey change for two 20s." "I'll give you $2." "Last time I send you out."" "Joe goes, "Sure, but I don't wanna go out anymore."" "So cut the cards." "Go ahead." "Okay." "I'll cut them again." "So Joe goes out, and this time, Joe hurries back." "He's gone five." "He's gone 10." "He's gone 15 minutes." "And he comes back and says:" ""There's your four drinking buddies, your two cases of whiskey and your change."" "Bartender goes, "There's $2." "Thanks."" "They're talking." "Bartender goes, "Are you a family man?"" "Joe goes, "Sure am." "I've got seven kids."" "Bartender goes, "I got seven kids." "That's great, Joe." "How old are you?"" ""Well, I'm 67." "My wife, she says she's 55." "She's really 65."" ""That's great." "Joe, are you a gambling man?"" ""I sure am." "I play at the 96 Club on 42nd Street." "The other night I won $499." "My partner had a full house." "Which usually wins, but I said, 'Not this time, sucker." "I got a straight flush."'" "I have another magic trick for you." "Wanna see me make all the white people disappear?" "59th Street, Columbus Circle." "125th Street next." "This is the Uptown A Express." "Change for the double A local across the platform." "The D." " On upper level, change for Broadway train." " See?" "What'd I tell you?" "Uptown A. 125th Street next." "No, no." "We're not late." "It says here:" ""Professor Maxwell, seminar participants only, wine and cheese."" " Oh, good." "I'm starving." " "Four o'clock." There we are." "Now we just gotta find the..." "Ed, do you recognize any of this?" "What do you mean, the architecture?" "No, no." "The neighborhood, actually." "I don't seem to remember seeing quite so many..." "Maybe it's the back way in." "I remember there was a gate, and you could see the library." " Yeah." "I don't see the library, Ed." " Well, it's behind a wall." "I think we're in Harlem, Ed." " That's not where we wanna be." " No, it isn't." "You..." "You haven't been paying attention, have you, after we got out of the subway?" "Well, I couldn't tell you where the subway entrance is or how to find it." "Is that what you mean?" "We're lost." "We're lost in Harlem." " I don't think we'll make that reception." " No, no." "Couple of beers, please." "You have Bud?" "Hi." "How's it going?" "We're in for the self-actualization conference." "At the university." "You know where the subway is?" "Good." "He knows." "We're from Indiana." "That's right next to Illinois." " Where Chicago is." " He knows that, Ed." "Well, a lot of folks around here don't have a very clear picture of the Midwest." "Can you, like, point in the direction of the subway?" "He's right." "That's where it is." "So, where are you from?" "I mean I didn't want to be like Ernie Banks." "I wanted to be Ernie Banks." "Mr. Cub." "And it never really dawned on me that he was black." "You know." "Wrist hitter." "I was, you know, what?" "Seven years old." "And he was just Ernie Banks." "He was my hero." "All in the wrists." "There weren't any black people in my town." "At least, I don't think there were." "Mr. Cub." "It's 8:00?" "Jeez, will you look at that?" "This is really something, huh?" "Wander in here off the street." "I mean if people would sit down and talk like this more often..." "Communication." "That's what it's all about." "Three blocks south." "One block east." "Subway entrance." "You want the A train." "Downtown." "Okay, right." "Thanks." "Yeah." "That's quite a grip you got there." "Give me five, brother." "Thanks a million, folks!" "You a popular man today, brother." " There were two others here looking for you." " Men in black." "No, man." "White skin, black clothes." "And they were stranger than these two." "Motherfucker, hand it over!" " I'll cut your fucking face!" "Put it out here!" " He's retarded, man." " Don't know what you're saying." " He's holding out." " The money, mister." "Give him your money!" " Hurry up, punk!" "That's for holding out, motherfuck!" " Pick it up, Willis." " You got blood all over it, Rickey!" "Man, hustle your butt or I'll cut your ass too!" "Let me go, mister!" "Let me go!" "There was blood on the floor, at the bottom of the stairs tonight." "I hope one of them poor boys hangs out there didn't get hurt." "They're not poor boys, Mama." "They're junkies." " They bust that light down there again?" " Light was out." "If the super doesn't put a lock on that front door, I'm gonna wring his neck." "Where are you from?" "Noreen, did a client come in while I was out?" "Black man around 30-something, kind of strange, doesn't talk?" "No." "No-show?" "Third interview he's crapped out on this week." "More power to him if he can do it without us." "The girls and I had our first hit with this one." "Hope you like it." "That's how it is, brother." "Cover charge is $15." "All you got is 5 and some change here." "The boss wasn't around, I'd slip you by, but he's been on my ass all night." "Some other time, all right?" "Yo, brother!" "You forgot your money!" "Welcome to Babylon, brother." "You've got that faraway look in your eye." "Come out here with things upon realizing the truth, I think." "There's many a peril out there for you, brother." "Don't want to lose your way." "Let Virgil guide you, man, and inform you on the ways of the night." "Children withering away up here, brother." "Worshipping the idol of capital." "Lusting after the false salvation of here and now." "Black brother and sister perishing up here, man." "Waiting for scrap from oppressor table." "Oppressor got us for a house pet." "Doing tricks to get reward." "Oppressor need a slave and find it here." "Oppressor need a harlot and find it here." "Oppressor don't need you at all." "Why get away from the mob?" "You fellows wanna party?" " All people on the street at nighttime." " I'll give you a blowjob if you fix my shoe." "Look at what we own." "You think you can fix it?" "Everything Babylon make, everything it take in, it shit out here." "Hey, listen." "Listen, it's a bargain." "Hey, mop head, bring your handsome friend back here." "Nighttime is promise, brother." "You make deals in the night." "Pay all you got for what you can't see." "And when sun come up, illuminate, we been cheated again." "All the people desire walking the streets at nighttime, brother." "All the people feeling." "People dream, people fear, people hatred." "All that eating your heart in the day." "All them feeling too dangerous to show the oppressor..." "We're killing each other on these streets, brother." "This place not your home, brother." "Virgil don't have to inform you this." "Here, brother." "Take the ship back." "Just for a night, take the ship back." "Just for a night, take the ship home to the promised land." "You seen this man?" "Could you say that in English?" "I think we'll have to speak with your supervisor." "Harriet Tubman made over 30 trips back South after she escaped that first time." "Every time, she was in danger of being captured and sent back to the people who had owned her." "Men and women who had been slaves made their way with Harriet's guidance through hostile country." "Going from station to station on the Underground Railroad until they reached New York." "Now, New York was the promised land." "New York was the end of the line." "Sometimes, bounty hunters would trap them up North and kidnap them back into slavery." "Randy Sue Carter?" "We would like to ask you some questions." "If you're looking for Bobby, I have no idea where he is." "We have reason to believe that this man has been living with you." "He comes and goes." "Right now he's gone." "Where does he work?" "Here and there." "He fixes things." "What do you want with him?" "Immigration." "Immigration?" "Give me a break." "We had a kid overdose downstairs last night, and you're pestering people about having some piece of paper that says they're legal?" "Will he be coming back tonight?" " You wanna know my opinion?" " Just the facts, ma'am." "My opinion is that you people just made up this immigration scam just to keep people under your thumb." " Is he coming back tonight?" " What am I, his mother?" "Wait for him." "See if I care." "Just don't do it in my kitchen." "Ma'am?" "Have you ever looked at his feet?" "What are you, sick?" "You gonna sit on that all night?" "Very funny." "Look, can I get you another drink?" "I don't care, but the boss has been on my ass all night." "Good." "I'll get you another one." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Listen, I'm gonna sit here for a minute, but don't get any ideas, all right?" "The man that owns this club has been on my ass since I opened here and I'm trying to keep him off of it." "So if he comes by, you are my gentleman friend from Philadelphia." "Okay?" "What's your name, honey?" "You can't talk?" "Some alibi you're gonna be!" "You can hear, can't you?" "You like my singing?" "Oh, well." "My voice isn't what it used to be when I was with the girls but it's got character." "There you are, precious." "How's my girl tonight?" "Mr. Price, this is Louis." "Louis is from Philadelphia." "Pleased to meet you, Louis." "Louis doesn't talk." "Oh, is that so?" "Well, that's awful." "That's just terrible." "Must leave you out of the conversation." "Hey, look here, precious." "What I found digging through the office." "Must have been taken 15 years ago." "Oh, look at this, Louis." "This is me and the girls." "We were just kids." "You were flying high in them days." "Must have felt like it would last forever." "I remember when you were working the Apollo." "I had to stand in line to get a ticket." "That'll happen." "Standing out in the rain a whole hour just to see my favorite singer." "And now here you are working my club." "Here I am." "You know, it's funny how when one is shooting up, the other is tumbling down." " Must be a law of nature." " That's real funny." "But there's always some point when the one shooting up and the one tumbling down is on the same level." "Even if it's just for one little second." "I was wondering after your last set tonight maybe you and I could...?" " Oh, Mr. Price, I'm so sorry." "Louis and I have made other plans." "Well..." "That's just too bad, isn't it?" "Nice talking to you, Louis." "Flying high in them days." "I will never tumble down that low." "Another drink." "Thank you." "Now, do you really like my singing?" "Really?" "As long as I have been wearing these things, I still haven't gotten used to them." "Likely to go blind, flapping them around in bed." "I'll only be a second, honey." "You haven't gone to sleep on me, now, have you?" "Look, make a noise if you're still awake, okay?" "I have been out with some guys who were quiet, but this really takes it." "You know, I don't do this a lot." "People think because you're on tour, you're always sleeping around, but it's not true." "Well, most tours it's not." "When we were young and foolish and still singing in bowling alleys..." "Of course, that all changed when I hooked up with Rodney." "Boy, you know, I hardly even think about Rodney anymore." "But as bad as things got, I sure missed the girls." "Well, you didn't waste any time getting comfortable, did you?" "Well, here I am." "Still interested?" "How come I like you so much?" "You could be anybody." "Louis." "Hey, try and stay with me, okay?" "I mean, let's forget about that woman that you saw on-stage." "It's just you and me." "Okay?" "I'm flying at 4, so I've got to be to Kennedy by 3:00." "I remember when Rodney decided to go on the road with me." "As long as he didn't have to carry my bags, he said." "He wouldn't even let me carry them." "Sometimes, we'd wait for half an hour for the porter to come." "Rodney was like that, though." "Real proud about the little things." "I don't know when I'm gonna be back in New York because I don't have any bookings after Atlanta." "You were great in bed last night." "But you're gonna have to do something about them toenails." " How about a little help?" " Come on." "Put it in the hoop, man." "Come on, brother." "Come on." "Come on, shoot it up." "Come on!" "All right!" "Funny-looking motherfucker, but he can shoot." "So what?" "He looked at you." "Nobody looked at me." "He doesn't know anything about what we been doing." "Did you see him go inside?" " No." " All right, man." "Look, let's go." "Come on." "So how long you been up here, pal?" "I mean, you a native, or what?" "It's my first day in this precinct." "My partner upstairs has been handing me all kind of horror stories." "Like how they're gonna cook me and eat me alive up here if I don't look out what I'm doing." "Can't be all that bad, I figure." "It's pretty damn nice to me, Harlem." "I mean, you know, people are people, right?" "I mean, you put on a uniform, it's not like you hand in your status as a human being." "I mean, we're here to protect and serve, right?" "Like it says on the L.A. Cruisers on Adam-12." "They never should have taken that show off the air." "So, what do you think?" "Yeah, well, take it easy, pal." "Is Sam Prescott in?" "Are you clients of his?" " We're looking for this man." " Ever see him?" "Are you gentlemen with an agency?" " FBI." " Immigration." "We're working together on this one." "I see." "Okay." "This is an interagency request-for-information form." "Complete this and take it to the Applications receptionist." "Line 7 in the central office." "I'm going to need documentation for you both." "Birth certificate alien naturalization papers, draft registration, military ID military discharge papers." "I'll need a letter from your departments on official stationery verifying employment and something with a picture on it." "No student IDs allowed." "This is form 107G." "Fill this out and have it notarized..." " We'll come back later." " When Mr. Prescott is in." "And I'll need social security numbers on both of you." "I'm sorry, you just can't stay." "If it was just me, it would be different, but I have Little Earl and Mama to think about." "I have got to take care of them." "I mean, those guys, they just gave me the creeps." "Is there anything that you need?" "Clothes or money or anything?" "Well, I hope you understand." "But whatever it is you're messed up in, I can't take the chance." "It's been nice knowing you." " Hey, man, what's happening?" " Hey, man, how you doing?" "All right." "Great deal." "Casios, $40." "My low overhead ensures you great savings." "Casio 45s, $40." "Forty dollars." "Great deal, sir." "Great deal." "Forty dollars." "Anyone can be a musician." "Just try it." "It's a great gift." "Step right up." "Play your Casio." "So I say to him, "Barry, I wouldn't call what we have a relationship."" "He says, "What would you call it?" I said, "We're seeing each other."" "He says, "To me, that's a relationship." I said, "Call it what you want." "To me, we're just seeing each other." I can't believe this guy." "I've gone out with him five times, and he wants a relationship." "Why?" "I can't believe it." "I don't wanna get that serious." "I mean, I someday wanna get married and have babies." "But five times?" "He's cute and everything." "I mean, I knew he was interested in me." "Believe me, I knew he was interested in me." "Can I help you?" "Do you have an appointment?" "You can't go in if you don't have an appointment." "Do you have something to deliver to Mr. Vance?" "Look, go downstairs, have them call up and we'll get you a floor pass, and we'll start from scratch, okay?" "Number one, he's short." "He can't help that, but I can't help the way I feel." "You know what else?" "He wears those shirts with the epaulets on the shoulders." "Hey, brother." "What's happening?" "I know how the man feels." "My bladder ain't worth beans these days." "I heard Bobby's old lady threw him out on account of them guys looking for him." "I wonder how he's making out." "Oh, the flesh is weak, but the spirit finds a way." " What was that, man?" " I'm open, Dell, hit me." " Hit me." " Flea-flicker." " Buttonhook at 10." " Look at them hands." "Z-out and fly." "Bump and run." "Come on." " Let a man drink in peace, will you?" " Buttonhook." "The bomb." "Where is he?" "Now, Smokey." "You know, I don't know if I like him in bed or not." "The sex is okay, it's not great." "He has fabulous hands." "He's from New Hampshire, though." "I always thought I'd meet the kind of guy..." "Who are you?" "How did you get in?" "Who sent you?" "Gregory send you?" "Do you want some of this, is that what?" "Here." "Take all you want." "Look, whoever is paying you for this isn't paying you what I could." "I've got an organization here." "We're diversifying." "Moving in every direction." "This is nothing." "It solves some cash-flow problems solves some problems on the books." "You tell me who sent you, and I'll cut you in." "That's what you want, isn't it?" "A piece of the action?" "It's stupid to go for just one score." "Oh, I knew it was a mistake getting involved with you people." "You don't see the big picture." "You just don't see..." "What are you?" "Look, whoever you are, we can still talk." "There's still time." "I own real estate." "Three-toe."