" Hello." " Hey, what're you doing?" "Oh, hi." " Are you sleeping?" " No." " Oh, you're not happy to hear from me." " No, I'm glad you called." "I wanna see you." " What, now?" " Yes, now." " Where are you?" " Same place as before." "Peabody." " Are you sure you're not sleeping?" " No, no, I was up." "You liar." "Come on, get your ass over here." "Yeah, okay." "I mean, yeah, what the hell." " Room 210." " Fine." " Sean, Seanie." " What?" "I have to go out and see a friend for a little bit." "I'll be gone for an hour or two, okay?" "I put my cell phone on this slip of paper." "I'll put it on that top shelf, okay?" "What did I just say?" "You're going out to see a friend and your number's on the top shelf." "Attaboy." "The Kerry camp had an early opportunity to capitalize on jobs and the economy... as an issue, and tag the President with it." "The pre-election polls show that a significant number... of undecided and persuadable voters... thought Kerry over Bush offered a better chance for jobs." "Jobs may have been a marginal issue, Kate... in some of the Rust Belt battleground states." "But, ultimately, this was a referendum on the leadership of George W. Bush... on the war against terror and the war in Iraq." "You're so full of shit." "Nothing mattered in the red states but the economy." "I've been saying that for months." "Hey, I'm not tossing you so quick tonight." "I got nothing to do tomorrow." "Well, I'm tossing myself." "I gotta get home." "You know what, not that this wasn't fun... but it might be nice to have dinner first." "Dinner and a movie." " I got to Baltimore late." " No, I'm saying next time." "We talk some, then we fuck our brains out." "It's different for girls like me." "You need to be cuddled, McNulty?" "No, but we make a date, I don't feel like I have to charge by the hour." "A date, huh?" "I'll call you." "In the daytime." "I think we can all agree that foreign policy and while the United States was reeling from the attack on Pearl Harbor wonders of wood carving..." "He wrapped himself in the American flag at the convention and never looked back." "Come on, Kate, that's a little harsh, don't you think?" "No, I don't, I'm serious." "And I think it was great strategy by his handlers, too." "You don't think that when John Kerry kicked off..." "In his acceptance speech... at the Democratic National Convention he said, "I'm here under Old Glory"... that he wasn't trying to wrap himself in the flag, too?" "No, I don't think he was trying to wrap himself in the flag." "I think he was trying to defend the people in the battleground states." "The ones who 1942, the US 1st Marine Division stormed the shore at Guadalcanal... seizing a nearly complete airfield at Lunga Point... which was renamed Henderson Field... and an anchorage at nearby Tulagi... that would later be known as Iron Bottom Sound... because of the number of ships sunk there in battle." "The landings of the first day put nearly 11,000 Marines... on the island." "Minimal resistance..." " Deep into it, I see." " Yeah, we getting there." "You looking correct." "Sunday morning." "I'm on my way to hear the Word, you know?" "You paying those guys out of pocket?" "Boiler in there's working and the pipes are okay." "I should have it all cleaned out by tomorrow, I think." "All you gonna need is the permits." " Permits?" " Yeah." "Permits." " Yo, was that him?" " Shit." "If it ain't, we'd only be wasting a bullet." "Only problem is it being Sunday morning and all, you know?" " Who you calling?" " Slim Charles, man." "You told me we supposed to bring our beefing before the group, right?" "Here it is you warring with the young boy, Marlo, over corners." "Marlo ain't in the group." "Be that as it may, all this shoot-em-up shit is bad for business." "We got cops on half the West Side corners." "And what corner they ain't holding, I can't have my people standing on for fear... they gonna be mistaken as one of Barksdale people and catch a bullet." "Look, man, I tried to talk to the young buck myself, but..." "You try talking to Avon." "Because that's half the problem right there." "No doubt, exactly." " Yeah." " That's it." "That's what I'm saying, man." "Nigga probably sleeping in." "Fact is, Stringer, your man needs to reconcile himself... to this new way of thinking." "Now, you could remind him that, like everyone else in this room... he benefiting from my connect and from the wholesale price..." " we got by throwing in together." " I mean, he know that, come on, Joe." "Well, so, now we coming to him for help with a little something." "He need to just back the fuck off and let the young gun keep his corners." "Now, you said yourself it can't be about territory no more." " Old habits die hard." " Who this?" "Yeah, it's me." "Yeah, we on the house where the dude is, you know..." " Talk, nigga." " Shit, man, I'm trying not to use names." "Look, this Gerard, man." "And we're on Omar, he gonna come out the house." "As you know, I ain't trying to lose no niggas on them corners, either... but it's a two-way street, you know?" "Go ahead, man." "Gerard and Sapper got their sights on Omar." "Tried to reach Slim and he ain't answering." " So?" " It's church day, String." "Sunday morning, you know?" " They sure it's him?" " Omar, yeah." "All right, do it." "Do it." "Gerard." "They right there, come on." "All right, here you go." "Oh, my goodness!" "Oh, my goodness!" "This time, I definitely hit him." "District-wide, it's 14%." "A drop like that in the Western felony rate, that's unheard of." "But God knows what happens when you let go of your secret." "Hey, what happens, happens." "I mean, if they want to keep my little experiment going... or they want to go back to business as usual." "That's on them." "But me?" "I'm out of here, D, I'm gone." "And Hopkins came through." "I got a contract offer on that security job yesterday." " You really gonna retire?" " Always planned to." "What?" "You started something." "You ain't gonna finish it?" " What do you mean?" " On a battlefield you can't do much... to help anybody with anything." "But you managed a truce, Bunny." "And making the game street legal takes the heart out of it." "Keep it going, we gonna reach some of those people... chasing dope and coke, and maybe even some hoppers, too." "You might at that." "But what happens when you turn your district over to the next man?" "Or people get wind of this thing and there's no one to defend it?" "What then?" " How's the contrast on that?" " Good for daylight." "Yeah?" "On a Sunday?" "What the fuck, Lester?" "Could say the same of you." "Elena's taking the kids to her mother's, what the fuck else am I gonna do?" "No life, no marriage, no kids." "No problem." "What's with the video?" "Gonna put it up in one of the windows across from Stringer's print shop." "Catch him coming and going." " Hey, you need help?" " You're a known face." "I figure me and Prez do it on a Sunday, shop is closed... you know, looking like working men." "You know something, Lester?" "I do believe there aren't five swinging dicks... in this entire department who can do what we do." "I'm not saying, like, all chest-out and shit." "It's just, I mean, you think about it... there's maybe, what, 3,000 sworn, right?" "Hundred or so are bosses, so there's not a fucking clue there." "Few more hundred is sergeants and lieutenants." "Most of them wanna be bosses one day, so they're just as fucked." "Then there's 600 or 700 fucking housecats, you know?" "Deskmen." "And the patrol division?" "There's probably a little bit of talent there, but the way the city is right now... that's 1,500 guys chasing calls and clearing corners." "I mean, nobody's knowing his post, nobody's building nothing, right?" "And CID's the same." "Catching calls, chasing quick clearances, keeping everything in the shallow end." "I mean, who is there out there, can do what we can do with a case?" "How many are there really?" "Don Worden, Ed Burns, Gary Childs out in the county..." "John O'Neil and Steve Cleary over at Woodlawn." "Oh, they bring it in, but there's not many." "There's not many." "We're good at this, Lester." "In this town, we're as good as it gets." " Natural police." " Fuck, yes, natural police." "Tell me something, Jimmy." "How exactly do you think it all ends?" " What do you mean?" " A parade?" "A golden watch?" "A shining Jimmy-McNulty-Day moment when you bring in a case... so sweet everybody gets together and says..." ""Oh, shit, he was right all along." "We should've listened to the man. "" "The job will not save you, Jimmy." "It won't make you whole, it won't fill your ass up." " I don't know." "A good case..." " Ends." "They all end." "The handcuffs go click and it's over... and the next morning it's just you in your room with yourself." "Until the next case." "Boy, you need something outside of this here." "Like what?" "Dollhouse miniatures?" "Hey, hey, hey." "A life." "A life, Jimmy, you know what that is?" "It's the shit that happens while you're waiting for moments that never come." " On a Sunday morning?" " We called to ask." "And Shamrock said to go." "On a Sunday morning, y'all try to hit a nigga... when he taking his wrinkle-ass grandmas to pray." "And y'all don't hit the nigga, neither." "All y'all kill is grandma's crown?" "And by the time Sham say go, Omar damn near in the cab." "Ain't enough y'all done violated the Sunday morning truce." "No!" "I'm standing here holding a torn-up church crown... of a bona fide colored lady." "Do you know what a colored lady is?" "Not your moms, for sure." "'Cause if they was that... y'all would've known better than that bullshit." "Y'all trifling with Avon Barksdale reputation here." "You know that?" "Is she all right, though?" "She got cut on her face from the glass and she sore from where I fell on her." "But other than that, though." "You saved her ass, huh?" "I damn near got that woman killed, yo." "Y'all should've seen me in Sinai Hospital while they stitching her up... lying about why somebody wanna shoot me down in the street." "That woman think I work in a cafeteria." " Cafeteria?" " At the airport, yeah." "The airport?" "Why the airport?" "'Cause I know she ain't never gonna go down there to go dining, that's why." "Hey, yo, Kimmy, this ain't funny, yo." "That woman raised me!" "And, for as long as I been grown, once a month I been with her on a church Sunday." "Telling myself ain't no need to worry 'cause there ain't nobody... in this city that low-down to disrespect a Sunday morning." "Y'all know I was gonna walk away, right?" "Y'all know that, right?" "I mean, after Tosha, I was gonna leave them people be, yo." " Avon home now." " Oh, Barksdale got to go." "Stringer, too." "This thing got to end, man!" "I swear to God, yo, on a Sunday morning, they near shot her best crown off, yo." "I mean, no shame, them niggas!" "Man, y'all feel me?" "I'm out." "If you back to dealing with Barksdale people, I'm out, yo." "I'm in it for the money." "It's easier out there than that." "Just you and me then." "Like it was." "No, yo." "This one about me." " And nobody else." " Hey, I'm with you." "Not on this one, you ain't." "Okay, guys." "We are maybe a step and a half away from being up on a wire on these people." "All we need is to firm up the PC... showing the disposable phones are being used in a drug conspiracy." "McNulty and Greggs, you're on that angle." "You need to walk either an undercover or a wired CI... up to one of the Barksdale crews." "Lester, you and Prez start typing affidavits... because when the probable cause comes in... we're gonna want to get the application in fast." "Detective, you're the chaser on our boy Bernard." "When he goes out for cell phones, we're right behind." "The faster we get ahold of the new numbers... the faster we're up on those phones." "Now, when Caroline comes back off vacation... she's gonna be on the mini-cam." "From here on out we keep a log on any movement by Stringer... and we keep an eye out for Mr. Barksdale as well." "Try to get a line on where he spends his days." "As for me, I'm off to do battle with the wireless company." "They a problem?" "Have been since the damn things were invented." "Okay, then." "Remember that with this wire, everything is a race against the clock." "Anything we get up on is only temporary." " You reach Bubbles?" " Yeah." "He'll be waiting at Mount Clare." " Lee, where's the DNR log?" " What?" "The log." "Never mind, I got it right here." "All Stringer, all the time." "Theresa D'Agostino, please." " Can you hold, please?" " Yeah, I'll hold." "I'm sorry, she's not in the office now." "You wanna leave a message?" "No, I left one already." " A boxing gym?" " For kids and all." "An athletic club." ""Gyms, reducing salons, public baths are permitted only in properties zoned..." ""B2, B3, B4 or B5."" "All signed and sealed by a registered architect and engineer..." "Floor framing plan, including the load criteria..." "Hydronic piping and equipment layouts." "Six copies of your fire protection plan... with emergency exits and sprinkler system noted." "Health Department since it's a physical culture and health service." "A license from the State Athletic Commission up on Calvert Street." " Mid-size or full?" " Mid-size." "You should upgrade and get one of them Escalades." "They got that XM radio and all." "I'm saying if we gonna be in that damn car all damn day, it's worth it, Bernard." " You ticklish, Bubs?" " The chills, Kima." "You do that to me." "Here's the buy money, Bubs." "Remember, this is all on tape." "I hear you." "So, down there on Vincent Street, they don't even hide the ground stash anymore." "You watch and wait, see when they're running low... and ask for 30 or so." "Enough so that they have to call for a quick re-up." "That's the important thing." "We want him to use his burner." " All right." "I get to keep the 30." " Thirty'd kill you, Bubs." "You get to keep the money we hand you... once you come back here with all of that product." " I was just asking." " Just telling." " It can't be done." " Excuse me?" "The activation information you're gonna want?" "That stuff's not accessible from the business office until it goes to billing... and that takes a few days, sometimes a week or more." "But, more than that, we have dozens of law enforcement inquiries every month." "We get to them in the order received and currently the turnaround's 30 days." "Thirty days?" "Let me understand something." "Your company is in business selling disposable cell phones... to people who don't have to give any subscriber information..." " at the time of purchase, correct?" " Correct." "They buy these phones and as far as you're concerned... they use them anonymously, pre-paying for their minutes..." "From the retailers, yes." "And while they're using these phones anonymously, for whatever purpose... they can't be monitored by law enforcement because your company... can't react within a month to a court order for a wiretap?" " We do the best we can." " This is bullshit." "You're selling a phone that you know is effective for drug trafficking." "Lieutenant, our prepaid inventory is there for young people... college students and such, people who can't afford a permanent cell phone plan." "What college student can't afford a cell phone?" "They can afford the fucking college, they can afford the phone that goes with it." "I resent the suggestion." "Just so I'm clear, you're telling me that even if by some miracle we are able... to get up on a drug dealer's disposable cell phone in time to catch him talking... you're gonna take as much as a month to activate our tap." "Well, if you have a problem with that, your office can contact our general counsel." "That's all I can say." "How about this?" "How about the State's Attorney for Baltimore City... calls a press conference on the courthouse steps to declare that..." "Bay Wireless is in league with the most violent drug traffickers in the city... preventing their apprehension and arrest by law enforcement." "Four to five days turnaround." "Best we can do." "I swear, I felt like a damn balloon with air rushing out my ass... going from desk to desk." "This is our new man, huh?" " Frank Reid." " Dennis Wise." "Reverend, our man Dennis spent all day... down at the Benton Building, trying for permits." " On the new gym?" " Yeah." "You use my name?" "You use anybody's name?" "Hell, man." "There was a time I'd have used Smith and Wesson." "No, look, man, I'm just saying, how y'all regular folk get it done in this town?" "Doreen, ring Delegate Watkins, please." " Yellow tops, yellow tops." " Obliged, man, obliged." "Keeping it close, you know?" "You tell a friend, okay?" "Too hot for them black tees, right?" " What's up, papa, what you hawking?" " Body bags." "All right, let me get 30." "Thirty pills." "Thirty?" "Where the fuck your raggedy-ass... come up with $300 in motherfucking cash, man?" "Well, I've been selling these T- shirts for weeks now, you know." "I mean, I might be raggedy, but I'm in a cash business." "You want my money or no?" "Yeah, we out." "All right." "Shouldn't be long." "A bulk purchase justify a discount, right?" " $250 or so?" " $275." " And a couple of them whiteys." " Yeah, that'll work." " That'll work." " Bubs just made another $25." " Theresa D'Agostino, please." " I'm sorry, but she's not in." " Can I take a message?" " No, I'll call back." " So, how's that working?" " What?" " Your new ho." " So far, so good." " You got the receipts, man?" " Yeah, most of them." "A few blew out the damn window on the interstate." "What, y'all waiting to see Avon?" "Man, I hear y'all shot the crown off an old lady's head yesterday." "Good, y'all made it." "Yeah, we putting in some work." "Come on upstairs so we can talk." "Back with numbers." " How many?" " Twenty-four Trac phones." "Two each from Mondo Marts in Catonsville and Sykesville and four from Frederick... and then eight each from two stops over the river in West Virginia." "Those bumper beepers?" "They work great, man." " He went out I-70 this time." " Can you blame him?" "The scenery's better." "Twenty-four, huh?" "We're gonna have a lot of DNRs up." "But with any luck... one of these phones leads to young Mr. Bodie Broadus." " You wanna call Pearlman?" " All right." "Who's hungry?" " How about Chinese?" " Sounds good to me." " You guys call it in and I'll go." " Let me have some of that lo mein." "You take a turn typing this shit and I'll go with him." " Make mine sweet and sour." " Lo mein for me." "Get rolling?" "So y'all get with Charles, he gonna give you all the details on it." " Who that?" " East Side niggas." "Be willing to soldier up for us on retainer." "Milton put me up on them." "Man, we gonna be back where we was, String." "You know, I can smell it." "We just got to get this boy Marlo and then we spread out like we do." "Them co-op boys, man, they ain't too happy about this situation, man." "Yeah." "They say they got cops on corners where they wouldn't have otherwise." " Everybody nervous." " Man, fuck them niggas." "I mean, Prop Joe said he'd mediate." "You know what I mean?" "Go to Marlo, talk on it." "Yeah, well, if he take a gun with him, maybe it could work." "Let me ask you something, though." "Did you tell them discount-ass niggas that they could pop off at Omar grandma?" "Oh, man." "Sham come to me in the middle of the meeting... and talk about they got their sights on Omar." "They say nothing about no grandma." "No church hat, nothing like that." "I hear the cocksucker's name, I say, "go. "" " On a Sunday morning?" " Yo, I don't give a fuck, man." "I hear that cocksucker's name, man, I ain't thinking about a church day." "The Sunday truce been around long as the game itself, man." "I mean, you know what I'm saying, you can do some shit... and be like "what the fuck," but, hey, just never on no Sunday, man." "I mean, it's just like people was talking on us and all... and the stories are getting bigger and bigger." "Like, I swear to God, Fatface Rick heard that our people went and shot..." "Omar granny in the ass on purpose, and all that." "And that pulled their dicks out, pissed on her crown and shit." "No, I mean, I heard the same bullshit." "Prop Joe gave me an earful." "But, yo, what can I say, man?" "Good help is hard to find." "If it wasn't, you think I'd be paying East Side niggas for shit?" "Yeah." "Yo, we still off them corners?" "Yeah, got to be." "We gonna be off them corners till we take care of Marlo." "Yeah, maybe we should put a couple more crews... on them free zones them cops got." "You know what I mean?" "Take the profit where we can." " You trust that shit?" " I mean, so far." "And if they running game, man, they ain't gonna get... nobody higher than a crew chief to take a charge, right?" "What you gonna do with them two niggas you got waiting downstairs?" "I gonna make them buy the lady a new hat." "What're we waiting for?" "Sweet and sour?" "You do the cookie first?" "What's the difference?" ""A new friend makes himself known. "" "Himself?" "If it was "herself," then you'd have a fortune." "Shit, I'm married with lawn furniture, man." "The technology's out of control, no question." "But that's nothing new." "The way these guys are using disposables nowadays... we cannot get a working wire up in time." "By the time we get subscriber information and papers served..." "They're dumping phones." "Cellular carriers tell them they need nearly a week to process the paperwork." "They're only half-scared of us, but a visit from the Feds?" " You all have profile enough to push them." " I don't know." "If you've got them down to five days, you're doing about as well as we can." "Once again, guys, the Bureau's a little busy with counter-terrorism." "And our US Attorney here... he only touches himself at the mention of political corruption." "Ghetto drug stuff just doesn't rate." "I'm sorry to say." "Shit always smells best in the car, going home." "Unit 13." "In the alley in the rear, East Side, 800 North Montford." " That's five blocks, up and over." " Go." "What's the cross street?" "What's the cross street?" "Shots fired." "Sounded like it was west of Milton." "I'm police!" "He's 10-7, call it in." "A Glock." "I saw the gun as he turned." "It's Derrick." "Jesus Christ." "You killed Derrick." "It's Waggoner." "You fucking killed Waggoner!" " Greggs." " Prez shot another cop." "What?" "It was an accident in an alley, a little while ago." " No." " I'll call you back." " You here for Barksdale?" " I'm here for peace, man." " There's some senseless shit going on." " But Barksdale ain't sent you?" "No, Stringer knows I'm here, man." "If I can bring something respectful back, they most likely to show the same." "Tell the boy he can come in with the co-op." "If he takes our package, which by the way... is better than the best he putting out there now... he'll keep his corners." "Guaranteed." "He might listen." "But the boy got ideas." "And he's thinking Avon weak right now." "You ever know Avon Barksdale to back down from anything?" "A plainclothesman in a dark alley, with his gun out and shots fired." "Look, no one wants to burn anybody... but the fact is there's a racial component to consider." " The appearance of it..." " Has he seen a lawyer?" " Lieutenant." " What?" "He's in a situation where you can't compel a statement... out of him until you read him his rights, and we haven't done that yet, so..." "I'm his commanding officer." "I just want to know if he's all right." "Okay, okay, there's just..." "It's a legal question at this point." "Can I get you anything?" "You should call the union, Roland." "Talk to a lawyer before you say anything further." "I'm not saying anyone's gonna charge anything criminally." "Everyone knows you had no intention of..." "But administratively... you need to be careful because of the racial thing." "You see that, right?" "There's gonna be people in the Department who see this that way." " You see that, right?" " I wasn't scared, I wasn't angry." "I didn't give a shit he was black or whatever..." "Or maybe I did." "How the fuck do you know if that's in your head or if it's not?" " But you saw the gun." " Yeah." "Yeah, he turned toward me and..." "'Cause you shouted, right?" "You shouted, "police" and he turned, right?" "No, I don't think so." "I don't think I said anything." "I don't think he did." "I was a couple steps in the alley and he turned and I saw the gun." "That's all." " Did he have kids?" "A wife?" " I don't know." "They won't say." "They won't talk to me about him." "Call the FOP." "Get a lawyer, Roland." "No, sir." "I'm done." "Let the lawyer talk for you." "Lieutenant... tell Lester I'm sorry." "Call the union." "He wants a lawyer in there with him." "Whenever he's done here, you need to send someone home with him." "For tonight at least, he's a suicide watch." "Lieutenant." "You'll back him?" "What I mean is, if this thing should turn... into some kind of a black-white thing, you're his unit commander... he can count on you, right?" "You all right?" "Lo mein." "What a clusterfuck." " How many years on for Waggoner?" " Six and a half." "Two commendations, 16th on the current sergeants list." "Pretty much the exact opposite of that goof in there." "You know what's in that guy's jacket?" "Motherfucker flaked out, shot up his own radio car." "They were gonna charge him with false report until Valchek weighed in." "You know he married Valchek's daughter, right?" "Fucking goof had nine lives behind that shit." "Eight up, and the rest still to be activated... whenever the cellular company gets to our subpoenas." "You did good, detective." "So we're looking for what?" "Looking for one of these phones to give us a signature on our man Bodie." "Calls to his girlfriend, his grandmother." "The numbers we pulled off the burners." "We see that, we know it's his phone." "We know it's his phone, we know he use it to sell drugs." "We know all that." "Then we get a tap up and pray like hell he doesn't throw it away anytime soon." "Prez would love this." "I ain't gonna lie to you all." "I don't know about nothing except the boxing part." "That's all I was thinking." " Were you a pug?" " Yeah, I was." "But I got sidetracked, though." "Well, Reverend Reid seems to think you'd be quite a draw... for some of these corner kids that we got." "They didn't think so downtown?" "Well, the fact is you're looking to put your gym in the Fourth District." "So your councilperson would be Eunetta Perkins." "Do you know Miss Perkins?" "Well, few of us do anymore." "Few of us do." "Well, since we can't really rely on Miss Perkins..." "Miss Daniels here will go with you." "She's here because constituent service is the life of a city councilperson." " She needs to get a taste of that." " At least I hope I do." "If you don't mind me asking, Mr. Watkins." "Why are you doing this?" "Do you know who Reverend Reid is?" "Well, the voters in my district do." "This came today?" "Well, now, see, this is fucked up." "Oh, I give you $250,000 to have them tell me my paperwork... is insufficient enough to certify me as a developer in the empowerment zone?" " Yeah, yeah, you could call it fucked up." " Look, I know we touched the right people." "Just let me get with them, clear this mess right up." " Get with them." " Hey, I'm on it, String." "You got the light bulb franchise, right?" "That came through." "Now..." "You talking about $30,000 coming back." "I'm talking about the $250,000 that you took." "Now, you need to call Mr. Goose, Mr. Faucet... whoever the fuck you gotta call because I gave you money to run, remember that?" "It ain't like no drug deal, String." "Hell, man, you don't put your money... on the street and have it come right back." "It don't work like that." " Oh, it don't, huh?" " Patience, my man." "Sometimes with the bureaucracy... the one hand don't know what the other is all about." "Yeah, well, you know what I see?" "I see one hand in my pocket... while the other hand seem to have grabbed your dick." "Fucking Prez." "I don't even feel like working." " Sanny, baby." " Welcome to the Western, guys." "That thing with Pryzbylewski?" "Jesus Christ." "So fucking sad, man." " So you humping a wagon, huh?" " Fuck, yes." " How's that working out for you?" " Jimmy, I love this fucking gig." "The best thing Rawls ever did for me was to knock me back to a district." "No stress, no struggle." "I work eight-hour shifts." "I take nothing home with me." "No, really, I couldn't be happier." "All those years knocking my head against a wall on homicide and for what?" "The same fucking pension with twice the heartburn." "Well, I'm glad you landed on your feet, Mike." " Hello." " You called my office?" " Yeah, I did, several times." " Really, why?" " Why do you think?" " A sleepover." "You wanna get dinner first?" " How about tonight?" " Georgia Brown's down near 15th Street." "That'll work." "You want me to make a reservation?" " No, I can always get a table there." " All right, whatever." " Let's shoot for 7:30." " I'll see you then." " Bye." " Bye." "You in?" " What do you think?" " Nice colors." " You got a platform?" " Schools." " Thought I'd be the education mayor." " Well, good luck, Tony." " I mean it." " Thanks, man." " When do you announce?" " Next month, I think." "You know, get out there early, start raising money." "In fact, I thought I'd make the rounds of some people... before then, you know?" "Feel them out." " What, Watkins?" " Hey, he seems to like me." "What, you really think Odell Watkins is gonna split from the Mayor's camp?" "What you could do is, you know, feel him out on an issue or two." "You go in that way, it's more subtle." "You know, you gotta charm the guy first." "Talk to him about the issues and then down the road... see if he's willing to throw sunshine on your ass." " I like that." "We should do that." " We?" "I was thinking maybe you would ticket your white ass up with me." "Make a run for council president." "Me at the top of the ticket... an emerging black leader, handsome, well-spoken." "You, the great white hope, the new voice of civic reform." "We could give Royce a run, man." "And what makes you think I'm interested in council president?" "What the hell else you got going?" "Think about it." "Look at them." "Like roaches when you turn the lights on." " What's it look like?" " Head and torso." " You got two casings over here." " Hold the call." "So much for the no-violence-in-Hampsterdam theory, huh?" "Herc..." " help them move the body." " What?" "Just up the block, just out of the free zone." "Carv, you lost your fucking mind?" "Before the ambo gets here to pronounce him, we can do it." " Why?" " Because if homicide gets here... if they do any kind of canvass... they're gonna get wind of this shit on the sixth floor downtown." " Good." " Herc, come on." "No way, man." "No way." "Fuck those stripes." "Fuck them." "Hey, Toke, Gil, help me move this guy out of Hamsterdam." "I'll be first officer at the scene." "It's my responsibility." "Don't forget the casings." "Make sure that you call me." " I will." "Thank you." " Let me know, okay?" " Take care." " All right." "Yes!" "7-60 to KGA." "Go ahead, 7-60." "Have 700, 10-11 me on Vincent Street, below Fayette." "10-4, Vincent south of Fayette." "Hey." "You say you worked with this guy?" "Three shots, no warnings." "He scared of black people or something?" "Shit." " The shit's gone too far, man." " Hey, you're telling me." "Yeah, I need the number to the newspaper, The Sun." "Yeah, the number for the reporters." "The newsroom, yeah." " So, you ain't gonna say nothing on it?" " What is there to say?" " Avon, this is blood." "Family." " I know it." "And I'm telling you that someone may have done this to us, Avon." " To our family." " The cop's just saying that shit." " To mess with your head." " Exactly." "Why?" "That cop don't know me for shit." "What the hell am I to him?" "He know you're gonna wanna think this thing... that D, you know, he wouldn't do what he did." "I do think it!" "Was it some beef he had?" "Someone on the inside?" "That cop said it was someone who didn't want you to know... and so they made it look like it did." "Nobody did nothing." " But the cop said..." " He's lying." "He paid to lie." "Avon, you are my brother." "I need to know this more than anything." "D did not roll on us." "He came to the edge, but he turned around and walked away." "And I know he was willing to do what he had to for his family." "For us." "But I need to know that you know that." "That you saw him that way." "What?" "What you trying to say?" " Lf something happened..." " The fuck are you even thinking?" "That I had something to do with it?" "I could do that to my own kin?" "Is that what you fucking think?" "The fuck is in your head?" "I ain't do nothing to D. I ain't had shit to do with it." "To do with what?" " To do with what?" " Whatever happened." "Whatever it is that happened, Brianna." "You think I don't know my business?" "Is that what you think?" "Look I understand." "I can see the body was moved from the block." "I can get him to you tomorrow morning." "Just let me see if I can find him." "Look, I'll make good on this." "Take care of this." "What'd he say?" "They found a blood trail going back up the block." " So maybe..." " Smeared, with drag marks." "And they also found a third casing at the other end." "Shit." "So what's the deal?" "The deal is, we turn this into a dunker by tomorrow morning... or he starts typing a report for ISD and the Deputy Ops." " Fuck me." " No, fuck me!" "Look, you didn't move that body, Sergeant." "I moved the body." "You understand?" "Look, I respect that you did what you did on behalf... of what I'm trying to do down here, but the responsibility is mine." "Well, so what do we do?" "He basically said he wasn't gonna commit any new resources... though he has placed it on the agenda... of the Coordinating Council on Criminal Justice, for what that's worth." "Poor Clarence." "He's looking tired." "So we're looking for help from the State House." "If the city could get a couple hundred thousand... we could afford an overtime detail to protect these folks." "I know this is an easier sell with the Mayor involved, but..." " Could you convince him?" " Clarence?" " He barely listens anymore." " Jesus, tell me about it." "I mean, I been a councilman for three years now... that's a long fucking time to be ignored." "I'm saying the rules got broke." "My people kept their promises... they did what they said and they were as good as their word." "Y'all, y'all ain't keep up your end of it." "Wasn't my people." "Look, I ain't making those distinctions right now." "The fact is, somebody brought a gun up in the free zone and used it." "And both those things against the promises made." "Now, I can't justify this shit if I got dead bodies up in there." "So, what I'm saying is this, come tomorrow... if I don't have a shooter in bracelets... this whole Hamsterdam affair is over, it's finished." "I'm gonna take my people back up on the corners... and we gonna fuck y'all every way we can." "You hear me?" "Yeah, it was good while it lasted, huh?" "You had cash on the barrel and you ain't never need no bail money." "And hell, I had clean corners everywhere I looked." "But all that gonna be gone tomorrow, unless y'all bring me my shooter." "You think that'll work?" "Do you?" "That's good food." " How'd you know about this place?" " It was big when Clinton was in." "This and the Red Sage." "Now it's all steakhouses and cigar bars." "So you live here, but you spend a lot of time in Baltimore, right?" "I have work up there." "And the alumni stuff with St. Mary's on the Hill." "I went to UM Law, so I still have connections there, too." " Actually, I grew up in Homeland." " Yeah?" "Lauraville for me." " Where'd you go to college?" " Loyola." "Only one year." "My girlfriend got pregnant, so..." " So?" " So..." "So you became a cop in Baltimore." " How's that working for you?" " It's pretty good." "You know." "I do a lot of high-end drug stuff." "Wiretaps." "Prolonged investigations of violent offenders, that kind of stuff." "Fact is, there's not a lot of guys in the department... who can do that kind of thing." "You know, it takes a certain..." "I don't know, you gotta love it." "Thrill of the chase and all that." " So, you do what in politics?" " I do political campaigns." " You mean like a campaign manager?" " More of a strategist really." "Not so much the day-to-day stuff... but the strategy of how a candidate can win." "A consultant of sorts." " You strategizing for anyone in Baltimore?" " I shouldn't say." "I mean, he hasn't officially announced anything yet." "He any good?" "Hey, if you're for him, I'll throw the guy a vote." "What the hell." "Who'd you vote for this time?" "What?" "You mean Bush and what's-his-name?" "Kerry." "You didn't vote for president?" "I thought about it, yeah, and, you know..." "Bush seemed way over his head, I know... but he wasn't gonna win in Maryland, anyhow." "Besides, these guys, it doesn't matter who you got." "None of them has a clue what's really going on." "I mean, where I'm working every day... the only way any of these guys is even gonna find West Baltimore is if..." "I dunno, Air Force One crash-lands into Monroe Street... on its way back to Andrews." "It just never connects." "Not to what I see, anyway." "Hey, that's just me, though." "The man Colvin say he want the boy locked up... or the free zone shuts down tomorrow." "All she wrote for Hamsterdam." " Colvin?" " From the Western." " Sham, who is this kid, man?" " Some young boy from Tuckie's crew." "He connected?" "Kin to anybody?" "No, he only been on for a couple months or so." "What he use the whistle for?" "Some nigga in one of Ghost Kane crews laughed at his shoes." "Do it." "I'll be out in a minute." "No, he needs to put those in the departmental mail." "Yeah." "What do you need?" " To turn myself in." " For what?" " I shot a boy." " Oh, yeah?"