"Hey, my man, T., what's going on, dawg?" " What's up, what's up." " ...how you doing?" " What you need?" " Can you help me out, man?" "No, I can't do it, bro." "You gotta keep it moving, bro." " I can't do it right now, bro." " Come on, man." "What you talkin' 'bout." "Police out here, man." "Keep it movin', bro." " Ey, boy." " Step to the side, man." " How you doing?" " What's good with you?" "I'm all right, man." "I'm out here, handling business as usual." "Look, man, I don't mean no disrespect or nothing to you," "I'm just trying to see if I can get a little" "You can't get nothing, man." "You know what time it is, bruh?" "I keep looking out for you, man." "Just a little something, man?" "All my something cost a little something, man." "If he ain't got it, get to stepping, nigga." "You know what time it is?" "I don't feel like repeating myself." "Hey, you know you my man, right, Juan?" " This nigga..." " Yo." "You trippin', man." "See-- see-- see-- see if you can do something here for me..." "What the fuck I just told you, man?" "Let me get this shit!" "Nigga, get the fuck out of here, man." "Go on!" "Oh, get that nigga, man." " What's up, son?" " What's good, baby." " Yo, I'm just out here, you know." " Yeah." "Regular day." "You know... you know..." "It's in the cut." "Everybody cleaned out if you need anything." " Business good?" " Yeah, it's good." " I got something for you" " No, no, no." "Hold onto that." " Okay, all right." " Empty the register on the weekend." "All right, no problem, son." "How your mom feelin' now?" "Oh, she doing good." "She doing excellent." " Better?" " She doing better." "You know." "She's in my prayers, man." "Most naturally." "Thank you." "Thanks for the opportunity." "I'm out here." " Get him!" " Get your ass right here." " Get him!" " Why you always runnin'?" "Goin' around with that faggot ass, bro!" " Ain't gonna catch him!" " Kick his ass!" " Catch his ass!" " Run, then, nigga!" " Come on, bro." "Get his gay ass!" "Catch that faggot ass nigga." "Come on, bro!" "Catch that nigga!" "Catch that nigga!" "Go around the back." "What you doin' in here, li'l man?" "Huh?" "You don't talk to strangers?" "A'ight." "It's cool." "We cool." "Listen..." "I'm 'bout to go get something to eat." "You're welcome to join me if you want." "It's okay if I take the front door?" "Hmm?" "Come on now." "Can't be no worse out here." "You not gonna tell me what yo' name is?" "Hmm?" "How 'bout where you live?" "I gotta get you home, li'l man." "Can't have you just runnin' around these dope holes." "You understand?" "Hmm?" "Hey, hey, hey, hey, my bad." "Oh, man, you know I ain't gonna do you like that." "Hey, man, I apologize, all right?" "I'm just trying to get you to say something." "Hey..." "I apologize." "Hmm?" "All right." "All right." "You all right now... until my girl come get you, though." "She gon' make you talk." "I'll be right back." " Teresa!" " Hey, baby." " I found this little boy in a dope spot." " Found a little boy in a what?" "Wasn't no crackheads up in there." "He by himself." "He ain't talking though, so why don't you see if you can get him to say something?" "Really?" "Just go talk to him." "Just go talk to him." "I cannot believe you." " Love you." " Why would you do something like this?" "You don't talk much, but you damn sure can eat." "That's all right, baby." "You ain't got to talk 'til you get good and ready." "My name is Chiron." "People call me Little." "All right then, Little." "Well, Imma call you by your name, then." "Where you from, Chiron?" "Liberty City." "You live with your mama?" "Yes." "What about your daddy?" "That's all right." "You want us to take you home, then, after you get finished eating your food?" "Yeah, you gotta tell us where you live, bruh." "No..." "Okay." "You can stay here tonight." "Teresa..." "Would you like that?" "Okay." "What happened?" "Huh?" "What happened, Chiron?" "Why you didn't come home like you supposed to?" "Huh?" "And who is you?" "Nobody." "I found him yesterday." "Found him in a hole on 15th." "Yeah." "That one." "Some boys chased him in the cut." "He's scared more than anything." "He wouldn't tell me where he lived 'til this morning." "Well, thanks for seeing to him." "He usually can take care of hisself." "He good that way, but..." "Little man." "You a real damn prize, Chiron." "You know that?" "You got'sta come home when you meant to come home." "You hear?" "That's all right, baby." "That's all right." "Mama just glad you're home." "Nuh-uh." "TV privileges revoked." "Find something for you to read." " Where the ball at?" " I don't got the ball no more!" "Hey, Little!" "Wassup, man?" "Hey, Kevin." "Why'd you leave?" "I don't know." "Yeah, it get borin' after a while." "What?" "It's bleedin'?" " What?" " You funny, man." "Why you say that?" "Just is, that's all." "Why do you always let people pick on you, man?" "What you mean?" "You always letting them pick on you." "So?" "What I gotta do?" "All you gotta do is show these niggas you ain't soft." " But I ain't soft." " I know, I know." "But it don't mean nothing if they don't know." "Come on." "You want these fools to pick on you every day?" "See, Little?" "I knew you wasn't soft." "Come on, man." "Give me your head." "Here, let your head rest in my hand." "Relax." "I got you, I promise." "I'm not gon' let you go." "Hey, man, I got you." "There you go." "Ten seconds." "Feel that right there?" "You're in the middle of the world, man." "That's good." "Do like this." "Look at you." "More athletic." "There you go..." "there you go." "Yeah." "I think you ready." "I think we got a swimmer." "You wanna try?" "You ready to swim?" "Go." "Yeah, man!" "Yeah!" "Let me tell you something, man." "There are black people everywhere." "Remember that, okay?" "No place you can go in the world ain't got no black people." "We's the first on this planet." "I been here a long time." "But I'm from Cuba." "Lot a black folks in Cuba, you wouldn't know that from being here, though." "I was a wild li'l shorty, man, just like you." "Runnin' around with no shoes on when the moon was out." "This one time..." "I run by this old..." "this old lady." "I was runnin', hollerin'..." "cutting' a fool, boy." "This old lady, she stopped me." "She said..." ""Running around, catching up all that light." "In moonlight..." "black boys look blue." "You blue." "That's what I gon' call you." ""Blue."" "So your name Blue?" "Nah." "At some point you gotta decide for yourself who you gon' be." "Can't let nobody make that decision for you." "How you like swimming, man?" "Mm?" "That much, huh?" "Hey, hold up, hold up." "Pick one." "Aah..." "Ha, ha." "Good choice." "Put it in your pocket." "Hey." "Yo, hold up." "Whoa, whoa, hey" "Come on." "What's going on, Little Man?" "Come on!" "Man, y'alls the same as mine." "At least mine don't look like Freddy Krueger." "Yours ugly as hell." "Mine don't look like no peanut." "Telling you, mine does not look like no peanut." "Who let his ass in?" "Somebody with you?" "Man, I swear it was locked." "Man, ain't no foul!" "Ain't no foul!" " S'up?" "!" " Come on, man!" "You're dead, baby!" "Right in your face!" "It's what I paid for." "It ain't what I bought." "Man, that's Grade A quality." "What else you want me to do?" "Nigga, this shit look more like Grade C." "Man, look." "I ain't goin' with that, man!" " I want my money back." " What?" "!" "Ain't no refund, man." "Just stuff it, man." "Keep movin'." "Come on." "Yo, what's up?" "All right." "Thought you was on vacation or some shit." "Come on, man, no vacation out here." "I know the work, you know that." "Going to Switzerland or some shit." "Switzerland, man." "Maybe Brazil, you know, with two bad bitches." "How Peanut working out?" "Peanut good, man." "I got him in check." " He's staying in his place, you know." " Good, man." "They basin'?" "Hell no, you know I ain't gonna let that go down." "Yo, nigga, you lettin' people light up at the spot, now?" " Hell no." " The f" "Come on, you know I ain't gonna let that happen, man." "What the fuck, man?" "Yo, nigga, What's up?" "Hey, hey, hey, it's all good, man." " Fuck you doing?" " It's all good, Juan." "...fuck up." " It's all good" " Get out the fucking car!" " Calm down, man." " You shut the fuck up." "What's wrong with you?" "Who the hell you think you is?" "Huh?" "Bitch, get the fuck out of here." "What, so you gon' raise my son now?" "Huh?" "You gon' raise my son?" " Yeah... that's what I thought." " You gon' raise him?" "!" "You gon' keep selling' me rocks?" "Huh?" "Motherfucker." "Don't give me that "You gotta get it from somewhere" shit, nigga." "I'm gettin' it from you." "But you gon' raise my son, though, right?" "Hmm?" " You ever see the way he walk, Juan?" " You watch your damn mouth." "You gon' tell him why the other boys kick his ass all the time?" "Huh?" "You gon' tell him?" "You ain't shit." "Come on!" "Let's go!" "The fuck y'all lookin' at?" "Hey, Teresa." "Your boyfriend's here." "Boy." "You talking to me today?" "Huh?" "Okay." "That's all right." "I don't wanna talk to you, anyway." "You know she got a crush on you, right?" "You all right?" "Mm?" "You walk all the way here?" "All right." "First things first." "You can't sit at my table like that." "You can't sit with your back to the door, come on." "How you gon' know if somebody creepin' up on you." "All right, see that?" "Now you can see everything." "What's over there?" "Saw your mom last night." "I hate her." "Hmm." "Yeah, I bet you do." "I hated my mom, too." "I miss her like hell now, though." "That's all I'm gon' say about that." "Thank you." "What's a faggot?" "A faggot is... a word used to make gay people feel bad." " Am I a faggot?" " No." "No." "You can be gay, but you gotta let nobody call you no faggot." "I mean, unless..." "How do I know?" "You just do." "I think." "You'll know when you know." "Hey..." "You ain't gotta know right now, all right?" "Not yet." "Do you sell drugs?" "Yeah." "And my mama..." "She do drugs, right?" "Yeah." "Okay, deoxyribonucleic acid." "Long word, right?" "All right, it's basically genes." "I know y'all don't know what that means, but just hang with me for a second." "So it's basically this long" "Chiron, you need something?" "Hey, yo, that nigga forgot to change his tampon." "I'm sorry, Mr. Pierce." "He just having woman problems today." "Ain't that right, Little?" "All right, Terrel, that's enough." "Nah, can't be enough for Little." " How much you need, Little?" " Don't call me that!" "All right, Terrel, that's it." "Hey, what you gonna do, Chiron?" "I fuck you up." "Hey, yo, Terrel!" "Out!" "Come on, man." "What's wrong with you?" "Where were we?" "So DNA, it's basically this long molecule..." "Imma be waitin' for your ass, Little." "Come on, Chiron." "Chiron, what's up, man?" "Damn, nigga." "You straight spaced, dawg." "Yo, school been out." "You ain't going home?" " Uh..." "What you doin' here?" " Detention, man." "Aimes caught me with this trick in the stairway." " Damn." " Yeah." " With who?" " Damn, you nosey, nigga." " My bad" " No, I'm playing, yo." "Look, I wanted some quick head, you know, but this chick all like, "Hit that shit, Kevin." "Hit it with that big dick."" "Why she got to compliment a nigga for?" "So I'm like, "A'ight, like, shit, we can do this", you know?" "So I started banging her back out, dawg." "I'm talking I'm banging her back out." "She went and made all this fucking noise, though." "So Aimes come in, acting like 5-0 and shit, almost had my ass suspended, dawg." "I talked it out, though, you know." "I told him we was like childhood sweethearts and all of that, so I just got detention." "It's cool." " Cool." " That stay between us, a'ight?" " Yeah." " I know you can keep a secret, dawg." "Real talk though, I gotta go, a'ight?" "Before this fool change his mind." "All right, Kev." "See you, Black." " Hey, Mama." " Uh-uh." "You cannot be here tonight." "I got company coming." "Find somewhere for you to be." "Find somewhere for you to be." "All right." "Water for me..." "and a little gin for you." "Boy, please." "I know Juan used to give you that gin." "But we ain't doing that up in here, shorty." "You don't think my joke was funny?" "What's wrong?" "Nothing." "I'm good." "No." "I've seen good and you ain't it." "Stop putting your head down in my house." "You know my rule." "It's all love and all pride in this house." "You feel me?" "I can't hear you." " Do you feel me?" " Yeah." " Okay." " I feel you." "All right." "Thank you for this." "Boy, please, you know you can stay here any time you need to." "Okay?" "Any time." "Yeah." "Thank you, Teresa." "I mean it." "Now, if you gon' stay here, though, you gonna have to learn how to make a bed better than this, boy." " What?" " What you mean, "What"?" "Give me that." "That ain't how you make up no bed." "You think you slick, too." "You know, do it all wrong so Teresa can come over here and do it right." "Mm-hmm." "I know what you doing." "Oof, you and Juan." "Y'all two, thick as thieves." "Give me that." "All right." "Do you need anything else from me, sweetheart?" " Uh, no, I'm good." " Okay." "All right, I'm gonna wake you up in the morning." "You good, Black?" "Chiron!" " Hey!" "Hey, baby!" " Hey, Mama." " Where'd you go last night?" " What?" "Why?" "Well, I'm yo' mama, ain't I?" "Why you ain't just come home later, boy?" "You had me worried about you." "I guess you getting grown." "I can't be keeping up with you all the time." "Anyway, baby, how Teresa doing?" "I ain't seen her since the funeral." "Listen, Mama locked herself out the door, yeah?" "Can you come let her in?" "Come on, baby." "Let me in, baby." "Baby, come on." "I thought you said" "Mama, I thought you" "Wait, Mama" " Mama!" "I need some money." "For what?" "That's my business." "Don't you ask me no shit like that." " I don't have no money" " No, no." "Don't lie to me, boy." "I'm your mama." "That bitch over there ain't no kin of you." "I'm your blood, remember?" "Now I ain't feeling good." "I need something to help me out." "Come on, baby." "Come on, baby." "Where am I supposed to get money from?" "What?" "Teresa ain't give you nothing, huh?" "Your li'l play-play mama ain't put something in your hand?" "Give me that damn money, Chiron." "Give me the damn money!" "Give me the damn money!" "I don't have no money!" " Mama, come on" " Give me the damn money!" " Mama, come on" " Give me the damn money!" "All right!" "All right!" "Give me the damn money." "Here, man." "Yes." "That is what I thought." "I know that bitch like a hooker know her trick." "You my child, okay?" "And tell that bitch she better not forget it." "Go on to school." "Ain't you late?" "So you can see how a lack of white blood cells can be dangerous to the human body, right?" "Okay, can anybody explain what will happen to the body if there's not enough white blood cells?" "Ain't nobody's leaving this classroom until I get a response." "This is more important for you than it is for me, trust me." " Hey, yo, Little!" " Fuck." "Where you going to so fast, huh?" " I'm going home." " Huh?" "Man, I told you." "I'm going home!" "You think we stupid?" "You live over there, nigga." "Oh, no, he going to Teresa house." "Teresa?" "That's Juan lady, ain't it?" "Oh, yeah." "She fine as hell." " Juan been dead a minute, though." " You right." "Hell, she give free head?" "Or does she charge like Paula?" "Hell, Paula getting cheap, though." "Talkin' like a rock can get your rock sucked!" " Nigga, what was that?" "!" " Yo, what you doin', man?" "Get off me, dawg." "Now I ain't with that gay shit, but if you fuck with me, I'll give your ass more than you can handle, have you runnin' to your crackhead-ass mama." "My nigga!" " Fuck y'all niggas!" " What'd you say?" "!" "Huh?" "Say that shit again, dog, I swear." "Whatever, man." "A'ight, you better stay your ass right there if you know what's good for you." "Yo, why your jeans so tight?" "Yo, Pizzo, you see these nigga's jeans be?" "I see them shits." " Nigga nuts must be chokin' in those shits, boy, I swear!" " Real talk!" " A'ight, night, Little." "See your ass later." "Metrorail closing in 15 minutes." "You was waitin' for me?" "Well, nice to see you too." "What you doing out here, man?" "Nigga, what you doing out here?" "This is my smoker habitat, nigga." "Oh, what, you smoke out here too?" "Something like that." "Tsk... nah, you don't smoke." "Why you pretending?" "Trying to put on a show for me, Black?" "Why you always calling me that?" " What, Black?" " Yeah, Black." "That's my nickname for you." "You don't like it?" "No, it's just..." "What kind of dude goes around giving other dudes nicknames?" "The kind of dude what just sat down and is about to put you onto this blunt, nigga." "Yeah." "You like the water?" "Well, I can introduce you to some "fiyah."" "Tsk, come on, nigga." "It ain't gonna bite you." "Oh, man..." "Damn, I didn't know you smoked like that." "My moms leaves all types of shit around." "That breeze feel good as hell man." "Yeah, it do." "Sometimes round the way, where we live, you can catch that same breeze." "It just come through the hood and it's like everything stop for a second... 'cause everyone just wanna feel it." "Everything just gets quiet, you know?" "And it's like all you can hear is your own heartbeat." "Right?" "Yeah..." "Feel so good, man." "So good..." "Hell, shit make you wanna cry, feel so good." "You cry?" "Nah." "Makes me want to." "What you cry about?" "Shit, I cry so much, sometimes I feel like Imma just turn into drops." "You just roll out into the water, right?" "Roll out into the water like all these other motherfuckers around here trying to drown they sorrows." "Why you say that?" "I'm just listening to you, nigga." "Sound like something you wanna do." "I wanna do a lot of things that don't make sense." "I didn't say it don't make sense." "But tell me, like-- like what?" "Like what "lot of things"?" "Damn, dog!" "You nosey." "Chiron cursing now, huh?" " You trying to get smart with me?" " Whatever, man." "Nah, you trying to get smart with me, huh, Chiron?" "Yeah, you trying to get smart with me, huh?" "I'm sorry..." "What you gotta be sorry for?" "You ain't never done nothing like that before, huh?" "Thanks for the ride, man." "No problem, Black." "I'll see you around." "Yeah..." "See you around." "Come here, baby." "Come here." "You don't love me no more..." "Hmm?" "You don't love me no more..." "You're my only." "I'm your only." "You're my only..." " Yo, what's up, Kev?" " Terrel, what's up man?" "Hey, you know a nigga don't see school no more." "Yo, I hear you, man." "Now the lunch used to be the shit, though." "Nah, the food wasn't never good." "Man, I ain't talkin' 'bout the food." "But that Friday pizza was the shit." "Yeah, I feel you, a'ight." "Nah, but you remember in middle school, that game we used to play?" ""Knock down/stay down"?" "Yeah, yo, my crazy ass was the king of that shit." "Yeah, I remember." "Yo!" "You remember that white kid you fucked up?" "Cuban cat, right?" "Mauricio or something?" "Oh, yeah!" "Yo, you fucked that kid's face up!" "We was calling you Tyson after that shit." "Yeah." "Yo, but, uh... niggas don't do that shit no more." "I mean... you know..." "What you sayin'?" "I'm sayin' is, if I point a nigga out... is you gonna knock his ass down?" "That's the game, ain't it?" "You dare me to swing on him and if I do, it's on you." "A'ight." "A'ight, Kev." "Let me see who ass gettin' dropped today." "Don't be drinking none of this gummy juice." "Shit'll kill you." "Yo, Kev." "Hit that nigga." "Hit that nigga, Kev." "Yeah, hit his faggot ass!" " The fuck you waitin' on?" " Do it!" "Come on." "Let's go." "How you like that, Chiron?" "Yo, I think he want another one." " Another one." "Do it." " Give it to him." " Don't you get up, bruh." " You stay down!" "Yeah, if he get up, knock his faggot ass back down." " Chiron, stay down!" " He got up." " Come on, man." " Stay down." "Do it again." " Do it!" " Do it!" "Move!" "Listen, son..." "If you don't press charges," "I can't stop this from happening." "Understand?" "You don't even know." " Oh, I don't?" " Nuh-uh." "You think all this just started, boy?" " I ain't no boy." " The hell you ain't." "If you were a man, there'd be four other knuckleheads sittin' right next to you." "You don't even know." "Listen, son, listen." "Listen." "I'm not blaming you..." "I'm not." "I know it's hard." "Believe me." "I'm not trying to disrespect your struggle." "I just need you to know..." "All right, all right." "Stay focused." "Hey" " Hey, Chiron!" "Get the fuck off me, nigga!" "Get the fuck off me!" "Don't look at me!" " Hello, homie." " Yo, what's good with you, B?" "Vibing, vibing?" " What's good?" " You vibin'?" " I'm trying to." " Trying to?" "So where the hos at?" "Nigga, you smiling and shit like you don't know what the fuck I'm talking about." "Where the hos at, nigga?" "I don't know." "You tell me." "There's this bitch that stay down the corner." "What's her name?" " Afrodesia." " You making it up." " I don't believe you." "I ain't never seen you with no bitch, I don't believe you." " Her name Afrodesia." " Her name Afrodesia?" "Where she at?" " She only come out at night." " Okay." " Yeah." " Okay." "You short, Travis." " Wait, what?" " Where the rest of the roll?" "It's all there." "I mean, you might could think I'm trouble, when I handed it to you it was all there." "It's a'ight." "If it's all there, then count that shit then, Trav." "Count it, if it's all there." "Move, you're in my spot." "Move." "Give me my fucking money, man." "You sayin' I'm a liar?" "All right." "I ain't say that." "I told you to count what's off and you said it wasn't." "That's you calling me a liar." "Nah, all I did was tell you that" "You-- you did what?" "Nah, I'm just fucking with you." "Huh?" "Count good." "Did real good." "Here." "Can't be on the corner if you can't take a nigga just fuckin' with you," " you feel me?" " Yeah." "Chiron, this your mama." "I know it's late, but I..." "I figured you ain't never been one much for sleep." "Atlanta ain't but so big." "It seems to me you come see your mama from time to time." "Hope you gettin' some rest, baby." "Hope you come by soon." "Ma, it's late." "I'll be there tomorrow, I promise." "Hello?" "Hey, Black..." "I mean, uh, Chiron." "What's up, man?" "This, uh... this Kevin." "You there?" "Yeah." "Long time, no see, right?" "Man, I had to ask Teresa for your number, and..." "Hold up, man." "You-- you do remember me, right?" "Yeah, I do." "Been a while." "Yeah." "Yeah, it has, man." "So, uh, where you at now, man?" "Georgia." "Atlanta." " I've been up here ever since..." " Yeah." "Yeah, man, that's what I heard." "Yeah." "Hey, man, I'm sorry about all that..." "All that... shit." "What went down..." "Chiron." "Real shit, dawg, I am." "So, uh... what you doin' up there, man?" "Not much." "Just... just trouble." "Chiron and trouble always found a way." "Yeah... somethin' like that." " What about you?" " Me?" "I'm a cook, man." "Y-- y-- you a cook?" "Yeah, buddy." "Man, I got sent up for some stupid shit, the same stupid shit we always get sent up for." "They put me on the kitchen line, man, and... kinda took to it." "Anyway, man, I just-- I just thought about you, man, I..." "We got this jukebox in here and, uh..." "folks come by and play they songs, that's the music we get in here, and it's..." "This dude, man..." "Just reminded me of you." "So, uh..." "Hey, man, if you ever come to town, man, you come holla at me." "I'll cook you somethin'." "Maybe..." "Maybe play that song for you." "All right, man, um..." "You be easy, all right?" "How you been?" "I'm all right." "I ain't sleeping'." "Why not?" " Right." "If you knew, you'd" " Bad dreamin'." "Still?" "You ever thought about talking about it with somebody?" "Maybe not even a counselor, maybe somebody like your mama?" "Yeah..." "Yeah, it sound funny to me too." "You talk to Teresa?" " Yeah." " Mm." "How she doing?" "Good." ""Good."" "When you go home, Ma?" "Home?" "This is home." "You know..." "I mean, they allowing me to stay and work as long as I like." "I figure..." "Might as well help other folks." "Keep myself out of trouble." " That's good, Mama." " Yeah." "Yeah, I think it is too." "I really do." "So, you still in them streets?" "Didn't come all the way the hell to Georgia to have you fallin' in the same shit, Chiron." " Imma go." "Imma go" " No, no, no, no, you gon' listen!" "To who, Ma?" "Huh?" "To you?" "Really, though?" "Please... please." "I messed up." "I fucked it all the way up." "I know that." "But yo' heart ain't gotta be black like mine, baby." "I love you, Chiron." "I do." "I love you, baby." "I mean, you ain't gotta love me." "Lord knows I did not have love for you when you needed it, I know that." "So you ain't gotta love me." "But you gon' know that I love you." "You hear?" "You hear me, Chiron?" "I hear you, Mama." "Here." "I'm sorry, baby." "I'm so sorry." "Come here, Mama." "Be right with you." "How y'all doin'?" "Good?" "All right." "I'll take these." "I'll be right back with your check." "Be right with you, boss, just let me get this out the way." "All right..." "All right, man, how you doing tonight?" "What can I get you" "Chiron?" "Damn man, why you ain't say nothin'?" "'Sup, Kev?" "Damn, man, what-- What you doing down here?" "I mean" "Hey, hey..." "You here now, man, that's all that matter." "There you go with that damn nodding' again, man." "You ain't-- you ain't changed one damn bit." "You still can't say more than three words at a time, huh?" "Said you was gon' cook for me." "I know how to say that." "Yeah, I did say that, didn't I?" "Don't look like your ass been missing no meals." "Yeah." "But I got you, man." "Sit down." "Sit down, man." "What you want?" "You can order off the menu if you want to, or..." "Hey..." "I could just hit you with that chef's special." "Yeah." "We here, Chiron." "One chef's special..." "coming right up." "Chef's special." "Oh, so you Cuban now?" "Only in the kitchen, papi." "Yo, sit down, man, or are you gon' eat standing' up?" "You want a drink?" "Nah, I don't drink." "Nigga, I ain't seen you in like a decade." "You gon' drink with me." "Boom." "Nah, bruh, nah, bruh-- What you doing, man?" "Welcome back, bruh." "Damn, brother, I thought you said you didn't drink." "Can't really taste it, so I don't mess with it." " I saw that." "I saw that." " What?" "What?" "You don't wanna waste none of that, do you?" "It tastes good." "Chill out, man." "It's straight, bruh." " Say what?" " It's straight." ""It's straight."" "Man, please, it's better than Chef Boyardee, ain't it?" "Chill out, bruh." "My Spaghetti-O's go hard, man." "Hey, eat your dinner, man." "Eat your dinner." "Got it, Mr. George?" "I'll be back." "Hey, man, you..." "you remember Samantha?" "Fine-ass Samantha." "Yeah, I remember her." "Yeah?" "Check this out." "Kevin Jr." "Me and Samantha, man." "We had him young." "Shit, too young." "Man, when I got locked up, man, that shit was hard." "Wasn't no way I could go back the streets, man." "Not after this." " Y'all still down?" " Me and Sam?" "Nah." "I mean, we..." "we cool." "We gotta be, you know, 'cause of li'l man, but..." "Nah, not like that, man." "But what about you, bruh?" "What about me?" "Nigga... tell me somethin'." "I mean, what you doin'?" "Who you doin'?" "Man, come on now." "I've been back there in that kitchen, man, and cooked for your ass and everything, man." "Hey, these grandma rules, man." "You know the deal." "Your ass eat, your ass speak." "All right... straight up?" "Yeah, nigga, straight up." "I'm trapping'." " What?" " Yeah." "When they sent me to Atlanta, put me straight into juvie for beating' the old boy." "Met this dude in there." "When I come out, he put me on the block." "Did good at it and rose up." "It is what it is." "Bullshit, man." "That ain't what it is." "That ain't you, Chiron." "Nigga, you don't know me." "I don't know you?" "There you are." "Twenty-four fifty." "Want the change?" " All right." " Bye." "Why you got them damn fronts, man?" "Why'd you call me?" "What?" "Why did you call me?" "I told you, man." " Dude came in" " Yeah, yeah, yeah..." "He played this song, man..." "This you?" "You wasn't playin' 'bout them traps, huh?" "Ride dirty, huh?" "Something like that." "So, how you be gettin' to work?" "Bus." "Jitney." "Sometimes Samantha shoot me out there when I got Li'l Kev." "I can't picture bein' in Miami with no car." " Man, it's real out here." " Yeah, I bet." "Real hot, real slow, and real busted." "Shot me like a duck out here, man." "This nigga said "a duck."" " Yeah, you on one." "You on one." " You know what I'm doin'." "Nah, I'm just tired, bruh." "Hey, man, bet on the ride, though." " Yeah." " Appreciate it." "Yeah, man." "Can't have yo ass on no Jitney." "So, Chiron..." "What-- what you looking at me like that for?" "What, man?" "Come on, you just drove down here?" "Yeah." "Like you was just-- you was just on one..." "and you hit the highway?" "Yeah." "So where you gon' stay tonight, man?" " Watch that shit." " I got you." " This the spot." " What?" "Come on in." "Get yourself at home." " This is real, man." " I'm just... get out of this real quick." "You a'ight?" "No." "Yeah, no, I just got a little headache." "Man, you a lightweight." "Nah, you was pouring that mug." "You was pouring it." " "I can't taste this"." " Chill out, man." "We had like three bottles." "Yeah, three bottles." "I'll make you some green tea, man, come on." "I won't be drinking that shit either, man." " What do you drink?" " Water." "Who is you, man?" "Who, me?" "Yeah, nigga." "You." "I'm saying, man, them fronts." "That car." "Who is you, Chiron?" "I'm me, man." "I ain't tryin' to be nothin' else." "Oh, okay." "So you hard now?" "I ain't say that." "Well, then what?" "Hey, hey, hey, I ain't tryin' to hem you up, man, it's just..." "I ain't seen you in a minute and..." "It's not what I expected." "Well, what did you expect?" "You remember..." "You remember the last time I saw you?" "For a long time, tried not to remember." "Tried to forget all those times." "Yeah." "When we got to Atlanta..." "I started over." "Built myself from the ground up." "Built myself hard." "What about you?" "You" "Me?" "I wasn't never really worth shit." "Just kept on, man." "Never really did anything I actually wanted to do." "It was all I could do was to do what folks thought I should be doing." "I wasn't never really myself." "And now?" "Now?" "Now, man..." "Now I got li'l Kev." "Got this job." "Another 18 months of probation." "That's some real shit, man." "Nah, man, it's a life." "You know?" "I ain't never had that before." "Like..." "Like, I'm tired as hell right now, man, and I ain't making no more than shoe money, but..." "I ain't got no worries, man." "Not them kind what I had before." "That's that real shit." "That's that Bob Marley shit, nigga." "You the only man that's ever touched me." "You're the only one." "I haven't really touched anyone since."