"I just could not get a cab out in the parish." "No running." "Slow down." "Your wife explained all that when she rescheduled your appointment." "My wife?" "Yeah, I bet she did." "I appreciate you taking the time again out of your busy day, but the thing is, I gig a lot." "And sometimes I'm out on the road." "I'm putting together my own band and, you know..." "So I don't know if I'm exactly what you're looking for." "I mean, my own band, brah." "You know that'll have to take precedence." "I understand." "When y'all start working with the marching?" "No time soon." "No uniforms, no instruments." "Man, see, I had it in mind to be working with a marching band." "That'll come eventually." "To start, there's three band classes a day, with me." "Three?" "That's a lot." "With my schedule, maybe you can make this a part-time gig." "You know..." "You know, you really need somebody full-time." "I can give you some names, yeah." "We can make it work." "Just let me know in advance." "The paperwork says you can start immediately." "Immediately?" "You mean, like today?" "The principal's already signed off on it." "Thanks." "You know about my criminal history, right?" "Misdemeanors or felony?" "Misdemeanors, but, you know, it..." "Class, everybody, settle down!" "Markeas, Markell." "That's our new sousaphone right there, son, ain't no toy." "Chevonne, this is not a beauty parlor." "OK, band, take your seats." "Listen up." "Everybody please welcome our new assistant band director," "Mr. Antoine Batiste." "What's with the..." "Classroom management technique, helps with the talking." "How come most of them don't have no horns?" " The Instruments A Comin Program." " Tipitina Foundation, uh?" "Supposed to be sending us instruments any day, but until then we work on reading rhythms." "Here we go, band." "Ready?" "One, two, three, four." "That's the hook." "Repeat twice, then the bridge." "Then my flow." "Four years at Radcliffe, that's all you know" "A desire to do good and a 4.0" "You're here to save us from our plight" "You got the answer 'cause you're rich and white" "On a two-year sojourn here to stay" "Teach For America all the way" "Got no idea what you're facing" "No clue just who you're displacing" "Old lady taught fathers, old lady taught sons" "Old lady bought books for the little ones" "Old lady put in 30 years" "Sweat and toil, time and tears" "Was that really your sad intention" "Help the State of Louisiana deny her pension?" "Hell to the no." " Turn it off." " What?" "For one thing, it was the State of Louisiana who fired all those teachers," " not Teach For America." " A scab is a scab is a scab, OK?" "Track three of my hip-hop opus addresses the hidden social costs of educational reform." "Davis, we're white guys." "Deal with it." "Dude, work in progress." "Yeah, fucking cops went buck wild for nothing." "I mean, we was in there trying to get food and water to keep from fucking dying out that bitch." "Cops come in hollering about," ""Get out!" "All y'all get your ass out!"" "People are looking like, "Man, we're trying to survive."" "You know what I mean?" "Then they just went to going upside motherfuckers' heads like it wasn't no thing." "Cops went inside the store?" "And they were beating people?" "Man, inside, outside, chasing them down the street." "Did you see this young man that day?" "I mean, it was pandemonium up in there." "You know what I mean?" "No lights, motherfuckers fighting over shit, cops kicking people." "It was crazy." "You recognize any of the officers involved?" "No, man." "Shit." "They look familiar?" "Looked like cops." "Black, white?" "Some of both, OK?" "This is the 1st District." "You can practically see the station house from here." "Were they 1st District?" "If I have some more questions, can I contact you?" "You got a number I can reach you at?" "Look, I'm not testifying about no police." "Nobody's asking you to testify about anything." "You remember that cop that kicked that man to death in Treme in broad daylight about a month before the storm in front of witnesses?" "Yeah, he's still around." "Yeah, well, we're just trying to find out what happened to this young man." "Somebody shot him." "I didn't hear no shots." "This is last year's suit?" "The beadwork is gorgeous." "A lot of them younger Indians, they can't even much make a suit without a hot-glue gun." "I use one myself when I need to for the trim and such, but everything else I sew." "Sylvester at the Backstreet told me you were an old-time Indian." "Feel this." "Feel how hard they are." "That's how you can tell who sews and who don't." "See, that's the kind of insight I need, exactly what I'm looking for." "My film is all about rebuilding, the city and the culture." "And you're doing both." "Now, see, you cannot film me while I'm working on my housewarming new suit." "May I ask why not?" "You're gonna have to wait till I come out on carnival day." "I don't reveal myself no sooner, no later, no nothing." "You come around Mardi Gras, take pictures in the street, get in line." "I'm interested in the process, not the result." "The process don't matter if you don't have no result." "Process?" "Shit." "The process is just a lot of damn hard work." "Don't say no now." "Think it over." "I don't need to." "Now I got some of that hard work to do." "You can find me at the Backstreet if you change your mind." "Man, Tom Cat Blues." "Don't this shit sound like two motherfuckers profiling with their brims and shit on the corner?" "Two old motherfuckers." "I just can't see anybody listening to this, not this century." "See now, that's fucked up." "You take a classical orchestra, anything from Bach to Stravinsky," "300 years of music, it's standard repertoire, right?" "But in jazz, Jelly Roll Morton is considered prehistoric." "Well, he sounds prehistoric to me." "I'm sorry, Del." "I'm just not hearing it." "Listening to this, I just see brothers toting barges and lifting bales." "What?" "No." "Listen, this here was popular music..." "Jelly Roll and King Oliver and Pops." "I'm just trying to figure out what elements made this music so popular back in the day, you know?" "This is what I want to capture." "Davis, I don't know the slightest thing about the music business." "I do." "I'm thinking we start with a sampler, seven or eight artists, two tracks an artist, a couple of local rappers, a couple of bounce artists, a funk band or two, then my thing." "Your thing?" "When worlds collide." "I'm gonna put a straight funk rhythm section together but then drop some brass on top, then throw a little hip-hop flow into it, kinda..." "Galactic has its way with the Hot 8's front line before sleeping around with Lil Wayne." "Trust me, I'm gonna take New Orleans music where it's never gone before." "So we start a record label and we put out a..." "sampler." "Funk, bounce, New Orleans hardcore and nasty, yes, yes." "And you yourself are gonna be one of these hardcore nasties?" "I mean, you, my little uptown, Newman-educated nephew?" "Do not mock the sad circumstances of my birth." "In my soul I'm a 22-year-old thug from the Magnolia, twirling G-packs and cutting motherfuckers with my flow." "I'm pure pale nastiness." "So back up off me, bitch." "How much would I be in for?" "Your stake, 5000." "$5000?" "With your money and my vision we cannot help but become the big, sleazy reincarnation of Def Jam records." "I must be out of my fucking mind." "I gotta go by there tomorrow after work before rehearsal." "I got presents for the boys I need to drop off." ""After work." I like the sound of that." "How's she doing?" "Said she's better." "I don't know." "Didn't sound all that good." "Breaded pork chops and butter beans." "You always know what I need." "Keep that job, Antoine." "That's what I need." "I know this ain't been no easy thing, but it's the only way we're getting out of here." "Gigging just ain't doing it." "And you know something else?" "You can do this." "Crazy ass." "Talk about when it's gonna be over." "Miss Ladee?" "Shit." "I never did lie about..." "Sorry, John." "I... forgot where I was for a minute." "I..." "I was someplace else." "I gotta get out of here, me." "Let me walk you to your car." "Thank you." "Thank you." "It's so good to be here." "Thank you very much." "You know, last night I was on Frenchmen Street and I heard a fiddle player that just totally knocked me out." "And I've asked her to come and give me a hand on this next tune." "So will you please welcome" "New Orleans's own Annie Tee?" "All right, all right." " Not bad." "Nice job." " Thanks." "You're available which nights?" "Well, all of them." "I need steady work." "All right." "I'll get your number." "Give me a minute." "Cool." "He ain't no Freddie Green, but he'll do." " Might be better out there." " True that." "Speaking of which, Cornell, what happened to Raymond?" "You know Ray got a steady gig with Dumpstaphunk, man." "Man, we ain't even popped our cherry and cats already jumping ship." "Say, brah, are you gonna have enough time to learn the arrangements?" "Arrangements?" "You doing a symphony?" "How about I hit on two and four and you shut the fuck up?" "All right, Herman." "I heard you were a contrary motherfucker." "Girl, you killed that tune." "Thank you." "It was such an honor to play with you." "I had a blast." "It was great." "I was happy to have you." "Listen, there's somebody who needs to meet you." "Come here." " Marvin." "Marvin." " Hey." "Hey, I want you to meet Annie." "Annie, this is Marvin Frey." " You were good up there." " Thank you." "You were great." "I see Shannon, so I'm gonna go say hi to her." " It's good to see you." " You too, darling." "So how do you know Shawn?" "She's a friend." "She's my neighbor in Austin." "And what do you do?" "I'm a manager." "I rep a bunch of up-and-coming artists in Austin." "Shit." "This is awkward." "I didn't ask her to do that." "I..." "Don't worry about it." "Shawn's just like that." "She gets excited about new talent." "And you don't?" "Actually, I do." "That's why I'm here scouting." "So who represents you?" "I guess that's the next step." "Well, I'm sure you'll find somebody suitable when the time's right, when you're ready." "Right." "Listen, we're gonna go to Rio's place, One Eyed Jacks." "Why don't you come?" "You would dress the place up." "It's been a long day already." "Thank you, though." "Good luck." "One more time, how many beats does a half note get?" "Two beats." "Mr. Batiste, could you please write two measures in 4/4 time on the board, please?" "Mr. Lecoeur, are we safe?" "Sounded like that was inside." "This isn't Katrina." "It's just a thunderstorm." "Just be calm." "Mr. Batiste." "Aunt Mimi, what..." "What is this?" ""For profit definition, consult rider A in appendix 3."" "Rider A. What?" "Standard boilerplate." "Davis, just sign the damn paper so we can open this bottle already." "Boilerplate?" "Look, Charles just wants to get everything down on paper to protect us both." "Don't you, Charles?" "Very much so." "And away we go." "See, I went to the Mint Museum and they had a little Indian suit way back in the corner with no name on it." "So I said to myself, "If I ever open a museum," ""I'm-a take and put the people's name on it and what tribe the suit come from."" "I'd love to film all the Indian suits you have with you explaining each one" "and what style it is - uptown, downtown." "You know, there's more to Indians than just suits." "Enlighten me." "The work we do in the community " "Chief Howard teaching the kids to sew." "You know, Jerome Smith over at Tambourine and Fan, now he's been running a summer camp going on..." " what, about 40 years now?" " About 40 years." "Forty years, passing on the tradition." "Maybe you could be my liaison, be in the film too." "Sylvester can do that." "You don't need me." "I thought maybe you reconsidered and that's why you came down here." "I felt bad about yesterday." "I don't want you to go away thinking that all New Orleans people was rude." "I am, but I ain't typical." "I know you're not." "I'm from here, you know." "New Orleans east." "See, she's really just learning about Indians." "My family, they didn't approve of the Indians." "I tell you what, you call me after Mardi Gras and then we'll talk." "Can I film you Mardi Gras day?" "Shit, you're gonna have to film me, girl." "I'm gonna be the prettiest." " Sylvester." " All right." "Father said to thank you." "He didn't expect another check." "That's what it's all about - reconstruction, renewal, development." "Exactly right." "That's the task in front of us." "I've got half a million debris and demolition dollars sitting in my brand-new Southeast Louisiana Bank and Trust account." "I'm ready to take it to the next level, Clete, get those cranes on the horizon, make some real money." "Nelson, I tell you what, let's sit down after the holidays." "You understand what I'm saying?" "Sure." "I'm sorry, I'm just anxious to get started." "Merry Christmas." "My grandfather had a pearl rosary." "I'd sit and watch him say his Hail Marys and Our Fathers." "Thank you." "Thank you very much." "What are you doing for Christmas Eve?" "Come over to the house." "I have a dinner date, but thank you." "Come after." "Join us for Midnight Mass, St. Mary's." "As long as we're in church, I got a confession to make." "Well, this is the place to do it." "I haven't been to Midnight Mass since I was 17." " My family." " I thought they were devout." "They are." "My family's been in San Antonio for generations, never gone anywhere, never got anywhere, never done anything." "I'm the first in my family to go to college, the first to vote Republican and the last one up on Sunday morning." "I don't know, I just..." "I'd look at my dad and my abuelo, my grandfather, and their lives..." "It just stopped working for me." "Well, doubt is part of faith too." "You don't have to take communion." "You don't have to make confession." "Just be my guest, meet my family, hm?" "Worship with us." "I'd be honored." "And bring your date." "I know she's not devout." "No fun preaching to the choir." "Damn, LaDonna, they really did a number on you." "It's gone down a lot." "Should have seen me a few days ago." "You hear from the detective?" "Not since I talked to her at the hospital." "I hope you're not planning to be here alone at night no more." "No, I got John working nights now." "That's good." "And I'm thinking about hiring a security guard for New Year's Eve." "So you're going ahead with the live music?" "I am not going to let this stop me, Antoine." "No, baby, but..." "You ever get your shit together," "I'll give your band a tryout, see if you can fill a room." "What are you calling it?" "Antoine Batiste And His Soul Apostles." "Apostles?" "Modest as usual." "Thank you for getting these to the boys for me." " Right away, chef." " Apocalypse now, baby." "Never get off the boat." "Never get off the boat." " I just want to fucking cook, man." " What do you think you're doing?" "No, this ain't cooking." "This is survival." "This is turn and burn." "This is..." "I don't know what this is, but this ain't cooking." "You got my foie for me?" "I'm dying for it." "Foie coming right up, chef." "Ladies and gentlemen, listen up." "We have a critic in the house." "Do not fuck this up." "Amuse for table 23, please, three people, ultra ultra VIP." "Break out the ossetra." "And don't be fucking shy with it." "This is a big tuna." "Man." "It's your friend, that guy who wrote the article, Alan Richman." " No way." " Yes way." "He's sitting right out there at table 23." " God damn." " Motherfucker." "June Yamagishi, motherfucker." "What, you're here just fucking with me, to break my heart?" "No, Batiste." "I want the gig, brah." "Yeah?" "For true?" "Are you gonna be here tomorrow night, our debut?" " I'd be honored." " No, man, I would be honored." "No, I would." " No, I would be honored, brah." " Man, come on." "What's it with these Japanese guys?" "You always gotta have the last word." "Shit." "What else you got, man?" "Well, let's see..." "Remember this one?" "Yeah, that's what I'm talking about." "Watch out, Batiste." "Come on now." "Yeah." "One salmon, one pigeon." "Yes, chef." "He keeps looking at me." "At you or through you?" "There's a difference." "At me." "He's been doing it all night." "He's doing it again." "He's doing it now." "Fuck me." "At me." "Definitely at me." "I don't need this." "I really don't need this, not tonight." "Pick up the foie on the 12-top now, please." "Foie for the 12-top, chef, yes." "Again." "He's doing it again." "Yeah, that's the look." "You're right." "You're right." "That's the one." "Shit." "Here he comes." "This is what the inside of your head looks like right now." " What are you doing?" " Sorry, man." "Sazerac, please, now." "Is this for you or the chef?" "Me." "And do it the right way, absinthe, just coat the glass." "...a tribe to them, they would pitch in and start dancing." "Now, this was one of the biggest feats that ever happened during the Mardi Gras in New Orleans." "Even when the parades that cost millions of dollars would be coming along, if a band of Indians was to come in, why, the parade wouldn't have anybody there, everybody would flock to see the Indians." "They would dance and they would sing." "It's journalism." "It isn't cheerleading." "If we're gonna be true to what we believe..." "Excuse me." "This is how the Creole fairy folk back home cure their three-day stubble." "Sazerac?" "They gotta be kidding." "Nobody throws a sazerac." " Looking good." " Yeah, you're right." "Come back in about six months for the best fried chicken you ever ate." "Deal." "You called me?" "Merry Christmas to you too." "Everything, right?" "Everything?" "That's what they said." "All this stuff flooded." "It's contaminated." "It's on the second damn floor." "Ain't nothing wrong with any of it." "If they said the second floor flooded, the second floor flooded." "Even the books?" "Just want to make sure." "And the books too." "What kind of Spanish is that?" "It's Portuguese." "They're Brazilian." "It's a long way to come for a job." "Not if you ain't got one." "You going home for Christmas?" "Every day's been Christmas since I've been in New Orleans." "Why leave now?" "I'm going up to Baton Rouge for a quick minute, come back, stuff a few more stockings here, and then I'm spending a quiet holiday season in my hotel suite with one of my nearest and dearest." "I've seen your nearest and dearest - just big enough to sit on old Santa's knee." "Naughty and nice." "Here, buy 'em lunch." "I will." "Of course, there's gonna be a horn line where that synth is." "And I'm gonna go out and get somebody that can kill that guitar riff better than I can." "I mean, this is working." " Right?" " Yeah." "Don?" "Funny stuff, man." "It's a relationship track... something from the heart." "This is my slow jam." "If it had been the Cowboys, you'd have to wrestle those tickets from my cold, dead hands." "I thought you had to be a season ticket holder to get playoff tickets this early." "Well, maybe you just need to know one." "I don't see any strings attached." "This is one friend to another." "The only payback I'm looking for is if you see a sweet exacta at the track." "That'll work." "Look, I talked to your man Liguori and he says you're right." "Of course I'm right." "Now, enjoy the game." "That dome will be rocking." "No, I didn't call beforehand, but I'm sure we can just go on the list." "We'll be all right." "Well, well, well." "Sofia, say hello to Officer Cantone." " Hi." " How are you, darlin'?" " Fine." " Won't you go on in, put our name on that list." "I'll be right in." "How's it going, Charlie?" "Good." "Same old, same old." "You?" "About the same." "Still dealing with the fallout from the storm." "It's time to move on." "Like that Danziger crap." "What's done is done." "That was the storm." "Get over it." "Well, I'd like to, if the 1st didn't stir up the shit at Robideaux's." "Robideaux's?" "Yeah, I got a bunch of witnesses say the 1st came in and cleared the place with billy clubs." "Looters." "And we were letting it go, turning a blind eye." "Then they start taking potshots at one of our guys." "They fired at your officers?" "At Robideaux's?" "Even you would agree that's a line you gotta draw." "So we went over, swept out the undesirable element." "Come on, Charlie." "You heard shots." "You wanted an excuse to go over and kick some ass." "Serious shit, Toni." "O'Dell was taking rifle fire." "Shot up his car." "It was out of control." "Governor said, "Take back the city."" "We took back the city." "You sure did." "Enjoy your dinner." "You stay out of the rain." "Ladies and gentlemen, you have been listening to the celestial sounds of Antoine Batiste And The Soul Apostles!" "Please welcome to the stage the man with the plan, the 'bone with the tone that makes it home," "Mr. Antoine Batiste!" "Yeah!" "Yeah!" "Yeah, so what are you gonna play next, Bat?" "Wanda, I don't know." "But whatsoever I play..." " it's got to be funky." " Yeah." "One, two, three." "You gotta work it, girl." "Up and down." " Side to side." " My back." "Rock it side to side." "I can do that." "No, I can't." " Yes, you can." " Ladies, can we please, please, please..." " put down one track before midnight?" " Let me see you now." "Aunt Mimi, it's your nickel." "I'm not complaining." "Mimi, a little help." "Ladies, excuse me." "You wanted this, Nobby?" "Katey, you want to hear that beat again?" "Damn, Davis, I'm-a tell you when I'm ready." "When I'm ready I'm-a tell you." "If you'd stop texting and start writing..." "What about this beat, Katey?" ""You buggin' me and you ugaly."" "I love it." "That's brilliant." "Davis?" "Don?" "Man, that shit sounded good." "Yeah." "Especially when you was in the pocket on that break." "Man, you sounded like Zigaboo Modeliste himself." "Just playing the arrangement, boss." " Boy, that was fun." " Yeah." "This is it." "I mean, this is my main shit now." "We got us a band." "Already there's about, like, five gigs." "Serious?" "Yeah, I got us two nights running down at the Bottom Line on Claiborne," "Christmas night and Christmas Eve." " What?" " That's it." "I'm talking about a holiday extravaganza." "Man." "Hold it, I got a gig with Papa Grows on Christmas Eve." " Shit." " Come on, June." "Come on, man, what happened to that "I would be honored" and all that?" "I'm sorry, but I told you." " You did?" " Yeah." "Fuck!" "The other guitar player." " Sonny?" " Yeah." "I don't know." "He's all right." "Come on, man, short notice." "What choice we got?" " All right, call him tomorrow." " All right." "I'm not gonna let one of these damn guitar players mess up my night tonight." "Yeah, you know, I know one of them lovely young ladies over there." "I bet you do." "I got an idea." "Oh my God." "Good Lord." "Christmas Eve or no Christmas Eve, post office is closed on Sundays." "Thanks." "You're moving better." "Still hurts to bend." "I got here, and right as I drove up and..." "Two in the rear passenger-side door." "Charlie said you were scared." "Yeah, I was freaked." "I mean, holy shit, rifle fire?" "I did not hesitate." "I pulled a u-ee and got the fuck out of there." "Could you tell where the shots came from?" "Sounded like somebody up high, roof or balcony, projects maybe." " The Iberville?" " Could have been." "I don't know." "So you get back to the station and..." "I get back to the house." "The guys see the bullet holes, flip out." "About a half dozen of us posse up, go back to Robideaux's and lay down the law." "And you go in the store?" "No, I stayed outside and chased them off as they were coming out." "But some of y'all went in the store." "Yeah." "And they came out saying they recognized some assholes from the Iberville." "Next thing I know, fuck if they're not headed over there." "You too?" "Nah, we'd been through three days of hell by then." "I didn't need me no more." "So who led the charge over to Iberville?" "You mean, like, names?" "Yeah." "I don't remember." "It was pretty chaotic." "That whole week, it's a blur." "Well, thank you, Officer O'Dell, for meeting me on your day off." "Charlie did say I should talk to you, right?" "He gave me your name." "Shit." "Thank you, thank you, thank you." "I don't know what I'd do without my babies." "Not that I'm likely to need them anytime soon." "Jack on the rocks." "Your name shall live in history." "Infamy, you mean." "I have never ever, ever done anything like that in my life." "Have you seen the website eater." "Com?" "You're fucking famous." "Thanks." "That kind of famous I don't need." "I fucked up big time, biggest ever in, like, the history of the world." "A total disgrace." "I mean, I'll never work again." "I don't know about you opening a restaurant in New York anytime soon, but holy shit, you're a fucking outlaw." "Have you seen the shit they're saying about you on the internet?" "They make you sound like Bonnie and Clyde, but without the Clyde." " You're a fucking hero!" " Oh, my God," "I want to die." "Don't die." "Just change your name." "Bonnie." "Bonnie!" "Can we wrap this bitch up and get out of here, man?" "The game's on." "Go the hell on." "Man, can you get that bell sound out of that synth?" "I got you." "And don't forget the one at the end, you know..." "The sleigh bells." "Yeah, I got it." "I see your boy's shuttle from Amsterdam must have been late." "I thought rehearsal was for noon." "Everybody else knew what time rehearsal was for." "I'm sorry." "But I learned the tunes you told me to learn." "Yeah, we'll see how it goes tonight." "Y'all make sure he knows what time the gig is for." "And wear something red." "God, this actually looks good." "O Tannenbaum like a motherfucker." " Let me see." "Give me a mirror or something." " No, no, no." "Assholes, could you keep it down?" "Some of us are actually trying to do some police work here." "Tell it to Santa." "You, you're right." "It's too noisy in here." "You, turn that radio down." "And you two, a little more tinsel around the ears." "Who dat?" "Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?" "Who dat?" "Who dat?" "Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?" "Who dat?" "Who dat?" "Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?" "You people colonized this bar?" "This is like the Louisiana Purchase in reverse." "Black and gold, baby." "Is this always a New Orleans bar or just Sundays in football season?" "24/7, 365." "It's like New Orleans in exile." "They're playing the Giants in New York." "Yeah?" "It should be illegal." "So Jelly Roll Morton?" "All right, there's just something elemental and soulful about New Orleans music and New Orleans culture." "And we've lost that in contemporary jazz." "You know what I'm saying?" "OK." "I want to do a modern jazz record that'll ring true to New Orleans." "But I want to make a statement." "If Picasso was modern, then Louis Armstrong and Papa Celestin, they modern too." "Papa who?" "Didn't you fire me?" "What?" "Don't even worry about that, man." "Don't trip over that." "And I told you a year ago to make a New Orleans album." "Well, that's why I'm rehiring you, Woodrow, 'cause you're so damn smart, you know?" "Even when we whip your ass today?" "So she's going out with this guy who, like, totally dissed Jane." "So Jane comes to me and asks me to talk to her." "And I'm like, I don't want to get in the middle of it." "What do you mean, going out?" "You know, like, going out." "It's not a big deal or anything." "Sof, you think we can have five minutes of mother-daughter time alone at Christmas without that cell phone?" "Oh my God." "Mr. Weyman committed suicide." "Mr. Weyman at Lusher?" "Honors chemistry." "Jesus, Sof." "That..." "That's terrible." "Did he have family?" "He wasn't one of my teachers, Mom." "They found him yesterday in his house." "He, like, shot himself." "Baby, you want to talk about this?" "If you want." "I didn't really know him." "Reggie!" "Reggie!" "Reggie!" "Yeah!" "JetBlue, MSY to JFK." "That's where I know you from." "6:25am, one eye open." "Yeah, so you're living here now or back down home?" "I moved up here last spring." " OK, how you like it?" " I do like it, actually." "There's a lot to like about New York." "I like not having to think about the federal flood all the time." "True that." "True that." "Delmond, Delmond Lambreaux." "Janette Desautel." "What about you?" "Are you New York or NOLA?" "He's been here for years." "Although I'm taking an early flight tomorrow back down there." "I'm-a take my daddy out for Christmas dinner." " Nice." " Yeah." " What is that?" " That's my knife roll." " Are you a chef?" " Or something." "I walked out of my restaurant last night." "So you're kind of like one of them ronin from medieval Japan." "You wander the earth with your sword but got no master." "Yeah, if that's a nice way of saying that I'm out of work, yeah." "It's a rough town for it." "Yeah, tell me about it." "What about you?" "What do you do?" "He's a great musician." "Invite her to your gig, you dope." "Yeah, invite me to your gig, you dope." "I'm playing at the Blue Note." "I'll put you on the guest list." "That'd be fantastic." "No problem." "You... need a plus-one?" "Sure." "Why not?" "OK." "Hark, what's that sound on my roof fucking up my shingles?" "Well, that must be Santa Claus and his reindeer." "Come on." "Right now." "Merry Christmas." "I know what you're dealing with." "And I know something else." "You ain't in no danger of being like no great musician, man." "No, I know." "So you might not want to blow this here gig." "'Cause how many more are you gonna get?" "It's a small town." "And word gets around, man." "Mama, look what Daddy got me." "Looks like he stepped up his game this year." "Look what he got me - a Fly Wheels XPV." "What's that do, baby?" "Flies around the room." "You make it go with your remote control." "It can come up to 20 stories high." "When you were growing up, did you all open presents on Christmas Eve or did you wait till early Christmas morning?" "Christmas Eve Mom would let us open one present before we went to bed." "That's sweet." "Yeah." "It was always flannel pajamas." "That sucks." "I have something for you." "I thought we said no presents." "I always tried to stay up and wait for Santa on Christmas Eve... but that was the one night of the year when Aunt Mimi would sneak me some of her special eggnog." "You're listening to the Gentilly Junior Christmas show." "And we have plenty of Christmas tunes" " coming your way." " Yeah." "Get your radios turned up good." "Yeah, yeah." "You know you like it." " You like it, huh?" " Shit." "Come here." "Yeah, you like it." "Yeah, all right now, Christmastime." "This is when I miss your mama." "Baked ham and pineapples, cushaw pumpkin, stuffed mirlitons, some of them carrots Aunt Odette taught her how to make." "How's your filet, Pop?" "It's a little pink." "It's supposed to be." "I know how you like it - knock the horns off it, wipe its ass and send it on out." "Not me." "I like mine cooked." " You want to send it back?" " So they can mess it up again?" "What is it with you?" "You know you ain't been yourself lately, right?" " Nothing pleases you." " I'm the same as I always was, nothing pleases me unless it's right." "Food ain't right." "Going to Atlanta by Cheri's ain't right, over to Houston by Davina's ain't right." "I didn't ask you to come all the way down here to take me out to Christmas dinner." "Now, this was your idea." " You know, you might be depressed." " Depressed, hell." "You've been through a lot." "Nothing to be ashamed of." "Ain't no thing." "They got medicine for that now." "That's what you think I need, medicine?" "You know how many applications they got for that Road Home money?" " No." " 90,000." "And mine is one of them." "You know how many they processed so far?" "I read this in the newspaper the other day." " How many?" " 82." "Now, at that rate, when do you think I'm-a get my money to fix up my house?" "Depressed, shit." "I ain't depressed." "I'm just so mad I can't even see straight." " Hey." " Hey." "Yeah, let's go." "I know, yeah." " For real?" " Say, Terrell, time to do this thing." "I know." "You too." "That was Bennie." "How's he doing?" "Dinerral just got shot." "He's dead." "What the fuck?" "Some kid busted his gut at a stop sign." "Wasn't even aiming at Dinerral." "Damn." "Damn it." "Shit." "How's Bennie holding up, man?" "At first he was like," ""Dinerral gone." "He dead."" "Then he got real quiet." "And I'm like, "Bennie, Bennie."" "And then he said we got a gig Thursday." "He wonder who we could use for a snare drummer." "Then he started crying and hang up the phone." "You bring my steak?" "You said you didn't like it." "I said I didn't want them to mess it up again." "Shit, by the time I put that in my black skillet, you're gonna have a piece of meat." "It's a good thing I know your crazy ass like I do." "It's in the car." "There's something I want to tell you." "I was out of line at dinner." "I didn't mean to come at you like that." "I'm glad you realize that." "'Cause I know I ain't crazy." "I got plenty of sense I ain't even used yet." "You a sick man." "Yeah, well, just leave that medicine when you go."