Original Gangstas (1996) Movie Script
You're looking at Gary, Indiana, USA,
a city with the highest murder rate
in America, maybe the world.
A factory town that
somehow became a gang town.
Back in the '50s, the community
was supported by the US steel mill.
It was damn hard work,
but people raised their families well.
Then just 20 years later, without warning,
US steel shut down 70% of the mill.
At first, the workers thought
it was temporary, but it wasn't.
Their savings went,
unemployment ran out,
and slowly the former steel workers
lost the last two things they had left,
their pride.
And their hope.
And that has been the inheritance
of the children of Gary.
This was the Palace Movie Theater.
The last movie that played here
was star wars.
That's the bakery.
It used to make the best,
damn glazed and chocolate donuts in town.
That's where Hanes Restaurant once stood.
They had the best barbecued ribs.
This is the memorial auditorium,
home of two state basketball championships.
More than 350,000 back then.
Now there's only 150,000 left
that still call Gary their home.
This abandoned steel mill
is now headquarters,
to a gang called the Diablos,
and the old train depot
is a hangout for their rivals,
the Rebels.
Hey, punk!
Fuck him, man!
What's up, punk?
You ready for the ball?
- Shut up!
- You so goddamn weak!
- I should knock your ass out!
- What's up now?
Shoot!
Fuck that shit!
I don't know where he's from,
but that shit is not right.
Rebs!
- Come here, man.
- Nice game, man.
Get the fuck out of my face.
What's up? How you doin'?
- You did good out there.
- Thanks, man. I appreciate it.
Where you learn to play like that?
Just a little something
I picked up on the street.
You wanna come back again, give us
a chance to win some of that paper back?
I got a little trip
to take out of town,
but when I come back, I'll stop through
and holler at everybody.
Kayo.
- Give the man his due.
- Thanks, man.
If it was up to me,
you wouldn't get shit.
I'm just here to play, that's all.
Excuse me.
You gonna take care
of that punk hustler, right?
Yeah, you know I am.
If you're through bullshittin',
we got a lot of real business to take care of.
All that money? For basketball?
Ain't bad for a little hustle, huh, Marc?
But you didn't tell 'em you got
a basketball scholarship to UCLA, did you?
Wham am I gonna tell 'em for?
It's a one-time deal.
I don't get you.
You're crazy.
Man, what don't you get?
It's easy money.
Me and Brenda wanna chill in style.
Whatever. All that money, I bet
you were dunkin' on him like Jordan!
Did you stick your tongue out'?
No, I didn't stick my tongue out,
but I was breakin' 'em off proper.
- You know what I'm sayin'?
- Man!
You know why I'm so good, though?
No, Kenny, tell us.
Why are you so good?
Well, it's genetics, Marcus.
And if you're not born with it,
you don't get it.
Ladies and gentlemen, Kenny doesn't
know where he got his genes from.
- Back to you, Brad.
- I know where they came from.
Do you know where they came from?
The store closes about 7:00,
so meet me there. Don't be late.
I'm just gonna run down and make a phone
call to my lady. I'll be right back.
Why don't you just use the phone in the store?
The Bookmans will let you.
No, man, I need my privacy
in a phone booth.
The lovebirds need their privacy.
Oh, how cute...
You just want to come
so you can take notes.
You lookin' mighty well, Mrs. Johnson.
How's everybody at home?
I got it. I got it.
Take a break.
How are you doin'?
Did you bring your coupons with you?
But... but... don't worry about that.
After the dance,
I got plans you won't believe.
I told you, the Bookman market!
I just sent for the police.
Oh, my god!
- Oh. My god!
- Kenny, get up!
Get up, Kenny! Get up!
Goddamn!
Don't you die on me, man!
Please, someone, call an ambulance!
Don't leave me!
Please, don't leave me.
It's unreal. We practically
raised that boy's mother.
These are good people.
It's a damn tragedy.
- Do you know if he was in a gang?
- Not Kenny Thompson!
Marcus, was Kenny in some kind
of trouble with the gangs?
I don't know.
I guess it'd be a waste of time
to ask if you saw anything.
- Why do you say that?
- Nobody ever sees anything around here.
They bury their dead,
and nobody ever sees anything.
- Is that so?
- Marvin.
- I'm talkin' to this detective.
- So, talk to me.
Anything you say is between us.
Nobody else has to know.
Suppose I didn't see the gunmen,
but I did get the license number of the car.
Blue Cougar.
Broken right taillight.
Looks to me like
you had in mind to give me this.
These are good people. The boy's mother,
she's never been in trouble.
She runs the beauty parlor across the street.
Was that the smart thing to do, Mr. Bookman?
Probably not, Mrs. Bookman.
You think I was wrong?
It's got to be you, doesn't it, Marvin?
Finally, it's got to be me.
And you know something?
I feel damn good about it.
Now, son, don't go trying
to get your own justice.
- It just ain't right.
- Yeah, we'll see.
Aren't you going after him?
And do what, honey?
Lock him up till he cools down'?
He's a good kid. He'll come to his
senses. He just needs a little time.
This is detective waits.
On that 28-29,
the blue Cougar with the broken
right taillight, anything new?
This is dispatcher.
Negative on the blue Cougar.
We're still checking.
Spy, you want me to show this
punk nigga to the door?
-It's cool, doc.
- You better recognize, boy.
- I know you, don't I?
- Yeah, I'm the word man.
I know what's happenin' on the streets.
- The word man, huh'?
- Yeah.
- So what's the word on the streets?
- Lose the Cougar.
They're lookin' for it. The old man
from the store, he gave y'all up.
- Not Mr. Bookman?
- Thought you'd wanna know.
That's my favorite fuckin' store.
Why'd he do that shit, man?
'Cause he's fucked up like that.
- What's your angle?
- I live on the streets, you know?
Sometimes I get messed with.
Well, son, we don't want you
to worry about that anymore.
Ain't nobody ever gonna
mess with you again.
You're one of us now.
- Boy, you better watch how...
- Kayo.
- Burn the Cougar.
- No problem. I got that.
Go check out that Bookman store.
If the old man says he didn't
rat us out, you let him alone.
If he owns up to that shit,
you take his ass out.
I believe in the honor system.
Oh, yeah, that honor system.
I like that... take his ass out.
Yeah.
Is this the car you're lookin' for?
Yes, it is.
If they know we made the car,
they know where we got the information.
The money's still in the till.
Go on and get it.
Oh see, it ain't about the money.
Hell no!
You see, I can make more money in a day
than you can in a lifetime, old man!
By the way, what's this old punk shit I'm hearin'
you done talked to the police about?
I just told them
where that boy's mother lived.
He's lying. He gave us up.
Why would you do some shit like that?
We ain't never done nothin' to
your store! We left your ass alone!
We paid for everything we took!
You see what I'm sayin'?
You shouldn't even get involved
in this type of shit here.
Not much here, old man.
Every other store around here
get hit but you.
We respected you, and look
what the fuck you do to us!
Did to you? Why is it always
what somebody's doing to you?
It don't matter no more,
'cause you done fucked up!
You see?
That's what America's missin' today...
Balls.
It takes a lot to shoot a boy down
in a phone booth, doesn't it?
This man right here,
he got big, humongous balls!
Say you fuckin' sorry, man.
Fuckin' customer's always right.
Ah, shit, man!
How does your ass feel now?
You feelin' any pain?
Big pain, huh? Take some aspirin.
Some pain relievers.
Feel the pain?
Fuck this old motherfucker!
Better yet, Bobby!
Bring your motherfuckin' ass over here!
Man, it ain't even goin' on like that!
You want to be a Rebel or not,
motherfucker? Come on over here, man!
- You gonna bust caps up in his ass!
- Look at his ass!
You wanna get your stripes
for a Rebel or what?
- Fuck it, man.
- Kill that motherfucker.
It's initiation day.
You an old man.
You gonna die soon anyway.
Quit all that bullshit over there
and just pop his old ass!
- I'm god!
- You're nothing!
- It's time to cross the line, baby.
- Didn't I tell you about that?
If you don't do that shit, we'll
take that gun back and pop your ass!
You hear me?
I said pop his ass!
Bring your ass on so we can
get the fuck up out of here.
Marvin Bookman, you're a damn fool.
You just lie still, pop,
and don't pay any attention to her.
Hello, moms. How is he?
He was shot in the shoulder,
but the doctors said he'd live.
- How are you holding up?
- I'm doing fine now.
Sis.
Come here, John.
- How you doin', pops?
- Well,
not goin' into the store again.
I should've made you leave here
a long time ago.
Made him? When's the last time
anybody made him do anything?
- Pops, this place is just not...
- This place was a good place.
I come here with nothin',
got a job at US steel.
Yeah, yeah, I remember.
The day the war ended you quit the mill
with $9,500 in the bank.
Married your mother, bought the store.
If I'd stayed in the mill,
I might've made foreman.
But I'd be out of work by now,
maybe livin' on the street,
like some of my friends.
People work all their lives and wind up,
sleepin' in a cardboard box in a doorway.
Is it any wonder these kids today
don't want to work?
They don't even want to live to grow old.
I'm gonna get you out of here,
so this can never happen to you again.
You should come back more.
Your mother misses you.
Yeah. Get some rest, okay?
I've got a friend in la. She's lookin'
for an apartment close to me.
What are you talking about?
You and pops,
you can't stay here anymore.
You're just like them,
always trying to tell us what to do.
But there ain't nothing here.
You're living in the past.
My Johnny wouldn't talk like that.
Mom, let's talk about this
over a cup of coffee, okay?
- All right.
- Good. Let me borrow your car.
- Mrs. Bookman...
- Stay the hell away from me.
My husband had to go and do
the right thing. Where were you?
You knew what those animals could do.
Mistakes were made.
We got there too late.
Marvin made the mistake,
trusting you people.
You won't believe this, but I'm gonna
find the one that did this to him.
You're just a waste of time.
What the fuck?
What's up, old man? Store's closed.
We run this motherfucker now.
You better get out of here
before you get hurt.
- Put it back!
- Don't put shit back!
We staked claim
on this motherfuckin' place, man.
I'm only gonna say it once!
Get the fuck out of here!
Come on! Get up!
Get out of here!
Look at that.
- Drop your gun! Get back!
- Drop your gun!
- Back up!
- Oh, shit!
Get back! Get back!
- What you doin', man?
- Do it! Put the gun down!
- Man, fuck you!
- We're doin' it, man!
One leg, get your ass out!
Man, bring your ass on!
Laurie!
That's for Kenny, you son of a bitch!
Run! Get up! Run!
Nice to have you back home.
Thanks. Sorry to hear about your son.
Well, well. Look at that.
Somebody famous.
Can I have your autograph,
Mr. Bookman?
Please? This market is
confiscated property. It's ours now.
You know, this used to be
my favorite grocery store.
When I was a kid,
I would come in here,
and your father would give me
a fresh slice of bologna.
I really liked your dad,
so I stayed off his ass.
I protected him.
And how does he show his appreciation?
This is a very sad day, John Bookman.
Well, I just canceled
your charge account.
You don't want to be like your papa,
startin' something you can't finish.
That ain't never been my style, brother.
Police comin', man.
Let's get up out of here, man.
We'll see you later, star.
That's the problem, they got the money,
they got the power,
and they run these streets.
And that's not even what it's about.
I remember when it used to be
about getting out.
Not this bunch. They don't want to get
out. There's no place for them to go.
There's nothin' out there for them.
They are more scared
of livin' than dyin'.
They don't cry, they don't mourn.
They just kill each other.
But that's the destiny
of young people here.
I just didn't think
it would happen to Kenny.
What's happening to our city?
It's been a long time
since we owned the streets.
Fuck that, Kayo.
Talkin' all that goofy shit.
Let me see what you got.
Hey, step on out, man.
All right, base?
What's up, delivery boy?
What the fuck you doin' here?
Did somebody place an order
around this motherfucker?
Huh? Hell no!
Nigga, give me this motherfuckin' ball!
See you later, sucker!
What the fuck you want, man?
- What the fuck you want?
- I was just watchin'.
Then take your ass
on over there and watch.
Hey, Johnny.
I don't want your damn autograph.
It's me, man...
You come back here lookin' for
a fresh mark to hustle or what?
Hey, bubba. is that you, man?
It's me. Still here.
I've aged a little bit, but so have you.
You better suck that gut in.
Tell me something, man.
How is uncle Benny?
Well, he closed his candy store
down a while back,
and then died a few weeks later.
- I guess of nothin' to do.
- I'm sorry.
Didn't your folks write you about it?
I don't know, man.
They could have.
I just don't remember, that's all.
Oh, I see.
I haven't seen you
back here at all, man.
No, I've been back.
Quickly, to see your parents,
or fly in in the morning
and leave right back out at night.
That way you don't have to
run into us, right?
Come on. What's the big deal?
I mean, I'm here, all right?
Yeah, you here.
Well, look, did you think
it was gonna be like it was?
I mean, you and us Rebels runnin' around,
drinkin', screwin' all around the place.
You thought it was gonna be
like that, huh?
Well, it ain't gonna be like it was,
'cause all you all left.
We ain't got enough people left here
to take care of this place. Not even.
You should've come back once in a while.
Come on, man. I don't get it.
What's here for you?
If you had any sense, you'd get out too.
Oh, man!
You goin' back again tomorrow. Frankly,
I don't give a fuck what you think.
Fuck you, motherfucker.
Our guest today is Johnny Bookman,
local star at Northwestern,
all-American and NFL star.
- John, thanks for being with us today.
- Thanks for allowing me the time.
- Spy, get the hell over here!
- Be cool, babe.
John, everyone at the station
was sorry to hear about,
the assault and robbery on your father.
First of all,
let me set the record straight.
There was a gang shooting
in front of my father's store.
He ain't bad-looking for an old man.
The police failed
to give him proper protection.
All the reports were he was robbed.
There was no robbery. They came in
the store just to kill him.
- But they underestimated his spirit.
- "Underestimated his spirit."
I thought John Bookman's father was dead
Bobby was supposed to kill this motherfucker.
You should've let me have him.
I could have done a better job.
He reported what he saw.
Isn't that what we're supposed to do?
Now, that's snitchin' right there.
- Whole family's gone.
- They deserve that shit, man.
I'm pissed off at Mayor Ridder,
who ran on the law and order ticket.
Now he's turning his back on
the very people he promised to serve.
- Crooked-ass mouth.
- Damn.
I wanna say this to those punks
who did this to my father.
You're gonna have to
meet up with me real soon.
We're gonna get that ass, John Bookman.
Thanks for comin' down today.
Thanks for being on the show, John.
There's a phone call for you.
The Mayor's office.
No shit? What took him so long?
What are you gonna do
about these gangs?
From what I understand,
you used to be a gang member yourself,
a founding member of the Rebs.
Yeah, that's true.
But we didn't kill people.
Yes, but you started something,
and it's out of control now.
- Because you let it!
- Don't lay this shit on me!
You are pissed off because you've become
a victim of something you started!
You see, Mr. Bookman, I'm afraid
that is your legacy to Gary.
So don't be comin' in here
wavin' that little cigar around,
blamin' us and tellin' us it's our fault.
My own father worked in the steel mills,
and he got himself killed on the job.
The company settlement
put me through law school.
And I came back.
Where were you all these years?
Let's not talk about me.
Let's talk about
the lousy job you've done.
All right, so you think if we go out
and we focus on this area,
crime is just going to dry up?
The gangs are gonna come in
and stop killin' each other?
- Calm down.
- All right.
Our main concern here
is the safety of your family.
Therefore, I suggest
we set up a meeting,
with Reverend Dorsey
at the Christian chapel.
What's Reverend Dorsey gonna do?
The Reverend serves as
an intermediary between the gangs.
What are you trying to tell me?
You're gonna negotiate with these punks?
That can be arranged, unless, of course,
you have a better suggestion.
- Michael, it's a hell of an idea.
- Thank you, sir.
Yeah. Right, okay.
Set it up.
And if it doesn't work...
Like you said, Mr. Mayor,
I started the Rebels,
I can terminate them.
I wanna thank all of you for coming.
I know you're concerned about
the violence in our city.
I just had a long talk with the Mayor.
We had some discussions about
what he has to do.
If he doesn't do them,
we'll find a new Mayor.
When I die
hallelujah, by and by
I'll fly away
when I die
hallelujah, by and by
Fly
away
the choir can take a ten minute break.
- Reverend, are you gonna be all right?
- I'll be fine.
You all just get some air.
You requested our presence?
Yes, the Mayor called me today.
And how is our friend, the Mayor?
He's very upset, especially
over this grocery store business.
Oh, yeah.
I heard something about that.
I heard the old man had a "chattery" side.
Now, Marvin Bookman is an old man.
Sometimes, old men make mistakes.
Old men better learn, Reverend.
Well, sometimes we have to reach
deep within ourselves,
to find forgiveness.
Perhaps I should also mention
that Johnny Bookman,
is a very high-profile person.
I met the great man.
I wasn't impressed.
The media, brothers.
Now, it's gonna be very hard
to do business in a goldfish bowl.
The Mayor can't keep lookin'
the other way forever.
So, shine him on, and get Bookman
on a plane outta here.
Is that your sermon of the day?
I'm just trying to keep peace
in the community.
As always, you make good sense.
The Rebs will talk to the family.
What else you get out of this?
Well, I am negotiating for
an expansion of my homeless shelter.
Perhaps a gesture of brotherly love
certainly wouldn't hurt my efforts, huh?
So, we'll call a truce.
Don't worry about Johnny Bookman.
He understands the streets.
Sure.
Brotherly love, Reverend.
Don't forget to put us up
for that Nobel Prize.
Brotherly love, huh?
I heard that, brother.
You have a nice day, Rev, okay?
We saw you on the TV.
- Mrs. Jones, how are you?
- Still goin' strong.
If I do it like this,
I fly better than Jordan.
Maybe I should play for the bulls,
huh, Mr. Bookman?
Maybe you should try out
for the toilets.
We're not playin' no riddles here, man.
Matter of fact, check this out.
I got a message for you. At 10:00
tomorrow morning at Christian chapel,
Spyro got something on
at noon for you, baby.
- For sure.
- You tell him I got the message.
But I'm a little busy right now.
Maybe around 2:00, 2:30.
You seem like you got a motherfuckin'
attitude or somethin', brother.
Get out of my face, man.
What the fuck you laughin' at, old man?
Get this motherfucker up outta here!
What are you lookin' at?
Get this motherfucker out of here!
Look at your motherfuckin' self now!
You done fucked up!
Nigga, how would you like
a nice motherfuckin' scar on your face?
That's always been your problem, partner.
You pick a fight with too many people,
then you just fall apart.
- Jake, don't bring that shit now.
- Let me give you a hand.
- How you been, partner?
- Oh, man.
Problem here?
- You see a problem?
- I don't see no problem.
You punks get your ass outta here now!
Brew'?
There's something I got to tell you, man.
I was at home watching TV one night.
I was watching pay-per-view.
I saw your boy fight.
This guy went...
Oh, man, don't go there.
I gave the kid a shot.
He got knocked down in two rounds.
So what?
Yeah, right. Tell me something,
you still in Cleveland?
Yeah, I'm in Cleveland
trainin' some new talent.
These kids are not like us. They don't
want to work. All they want is money.
I got 20 years on most of these suckers,
and I can still kick their butts.
Chill out, brother.
I know where you comin' from, but I know
you didn't come all the way to Gary,
to help me out in some street fight.
No, man, I came back to bury Kenny.
- Laurie's son?
- Our son.
A son.
Damn, I'm sorry, Jake.
You know, I never knew him.
Heard he was a great athlete, man.
So what happened between you and Laurie?
It was over between us
when she found out she was pregnant.
You know Laurie... strong black woman.
She made it clear that she wanted
the baby but wanted no part of me.
So did this kid know
that you were the father?
Yeah, she told him
when he was nine years old.
But I sent money, I did everything.
She never cashed my checks.
I did the best I could do.
I guess she just wanted me to know
they didn't need me.
I guess there are a lot of things both
of us would like to leave in the past.
- Hey, Red.
- Glad to see you in here.
Thank you.
The fellas tell me
you gave them hell on television.
Jake Trevor.
What's going on, champ?
Hey, slick.
It's been a while, my man.
You mean since you left the Rebels?
You're damn right.
It's been a long while.
Yeah, I see you still here, huh?
Got a little hardware store on Grant,
but I'm doin' okay.
- A lot of shit's changed in this town.
- Yeah, shit changes.
But I wanna know what's happenin'
out in the street, man.
Well, if you remember back in the days,
we were a protection gang.
- You remember that?
- Yeah.
Those days are gone. Now it's all about
drive-by shootings and all that shit.
It isn't about rocks and bottles anymore.
-It's about automatic weapons.
- I can understand all that, my man.
But I wanna know what you know
about Kenny's death.
I don't shoot rumors, man.
Hey, slick, I said I want to know
what you heard, man.
- All right, you wanna know?
- Yeah.
My boy saw Kenny hustling one of
the Rebels over a basketball game.
- Your boy saw what?
- You wanted to know, I just told you.
- What did he get 'em for?
- Three hundred bucks.
You're tellin' me my boy got killed
for three hundred bills, man?
No, what I'm trying to tell you is
they didn't kill him over the money.
They killed him because
he was hustlin' them.
It ain't about breakin' fingers anymore.
Who's runnin' the show?
Just like the old days
with you and John.
Only now it's Spyro and Damien.
Nothin' goes down in this town
that they don't know about.
- Then I'll take care of this.
- Wait a minute.
I'm glad to see you and John
back in the hood.
I don't know what you guys are up to,
but I'm willing to bet my last dollar,
there's gonna be some changes
in this town.
I just want to be a part of it.
How'd you find out?
Johnny went on some TV shows,
and some newspapers picked up the story.
I read it somewhere.
You know, you should have called me.
I just didn't want any more killing.
You think I'm gonna forget
about what they did to Kenny?
Whatever you do,
it won't be for Kenny.
It'll be for Jake Trevor,
who's always lookin' for a fight,
who's always gotta hit somebody
because that's his way,
even if it means making everything worse.
Give me that.
What's up, Jake?
Oh, man.
I found out why they killed Kenny, man.
The Rebels had a b-ball racket going.
Kenny made a slick move on 'em.
Does Laurie know about this?
No, she don't know about it yet,
and that's the way
I wanna keep it, man.
- You ready to make this hit with me?
- Hey, man, slow down.
I got a meeting tomorrow with the Rebels
at the church on 35th street.
What for?
Set up a truce, start some kind of dialog.
You must be out of your mind!
Damn, Johnny,
I never thought you would sell out!
This is me you talkin' to, man!
It ain't gonna come down that way!
Bullshit! You know as well as I know
you gotta have power to make a truce!
- And where's your power?
- What is it with you?
- All you want is revenge?
- You're damn right I want revenge!
What I want here is a little respect!
You take this out to the street!
Have you heard?
Our good friend Johnny
wants to make a truce,
with the people that killed our son!
And let them off the hook?
I want them arrested and put on trial.
It's not gonna happen that fast.
They got a lock on the politicians.
We gotta negotiate. If we don't like
what they say, we go another way.
Well, I wanna be there.
I was kinda hoping
both of you would be there.
You was hopin' I'd be there, huh?
Well, you can count me out.
And let me tell both of you something.
I know what I have to do.
Oh, Jake, man, come on!
Where's Spyro, my man?
Right there.
You want something, brother?
- Your name Spyro?
- Yeah. Why?
I just wanted to see
what you look like.
Right now, I'm just lookin'
for names and faces.
You're Jake Trevor.
My old man told me
how great of a fighter you was.
- Your old man was right.
- I heard of you.
Heard you were back in town.
What for?
Kenny Thompson.
- Never heard of him.
- That kid who was at the basketball...
- What's your interest?
- He was my son, man.
Where does that leave you, Spyro?
You're a dead man.
You're a dead man!
Fuck you, old man.
"You a dead man."
Oh, you see me, man?
Fuckin' threats and shit.
Fuck him.
On behalf of the Mayor and myself,
I'd like to thank each and every
one of you for comin' here,
to this house of worship,
to try and settle matters regarding,
this serious and tragic situation.
I will be leaving you in the privacy
of the good Reverend Dorsey,
who will mediate all sides.
And if I can be of any help,
I'll be right outside.
- Thank you, Mr. Casey.
- You're welcome.
You know, I've known the Bookmans
for as long as I've been here.
I've known Laurie Thompson here
since she was, what, this high?
Spy, Damien...
See, I know your folks.
The rest of you, I know your cousins,
your aunts, your brothers and sisters.
So I'm standing in the middle here.
I am the mediator, so let's talk.
Let's see if we can't stop this thing.
If the old man keeps his mouth shut,
we'll call it done.
Short, sweet, simple.
Done is done, fact is fact,
and god's truth is the truth.
That's why we're here. I wanna
know the truth. Who shot my father?
I thought we're bein' serious, Reverend.
I don't want no jokes!
Damage was done on both sides.
Marvin Bookman did the wrong thing,
but the retaliation was wrong too.
Just a minute.
My husband didn't do anything wrong.
These animals killed her son
in front of our store.
Hold up. You don't know nothin'
about that shit, bitch.
That's pretty tough talk
comin' from a faggot like you,
who don't even know what sex his mother is.
John, please.
Reverend, this wasn't our deal.
But I'm gonna throw this in the pot,
and that's gonna be it.
Our boy, he missed his shot,
and we don't miss many.
Now, if that old man
can keep his fuckin' mouth shut,
then maybe, just maybe,
you'll be able to survive on our streets.
Burn in hell!
Who do you think you are?
You are nothing more than the dog shit,
we wash up from our sidewalks
in the morning.
- Gracie, please.
- Oh, quit this, Reverend.
What kind of a deal is this?
We spend our lifetime
workin' and strivin' for goodness.
And you sell us out to him'?
And here's our deal.
I want everyone involved
to turn themselves into the police.
And I want the boy
who shot my husband to confess.
And maybe, just maybe,
we'll let you survive.
I'm out of here.
You can't just walk out.
What the hell happened here?
I think World War III was declared.
Haven't seen you in a while, Bobby.
- Where you been?
- I've been around.
You know me.
I'm always takin' care of business.
Bobby, explain something to me.
How in the fuck can you miss
hittin' a man in the head,
at point-blank range?
I thought I hit him.
I don't know what all this
punk shit about anyway!
Since when did we change
how the fuck we do things?
Carrie, you get a message
over to Reverend Dorsey.
You let him know nothin's gonna happen
to the Bookman family. That's my word.
What about all the other
suckers in the community?
Only the Bookmans.
I say we bust out the steel,
we take out
the whole motherfuckin' family!
We take away our problems.
We wait, we lose.
Chill, my brother.
Word on the street that Diablos and the
Rangers say we can't control our hood.
You wanna be in the middle of a war
with this punk shit?
What's up with the gun?
What's up with the gun, man?
I can't go out like that, man!
- You don't need to do this!
- Fuck yeah!
Punk-ass nigga!
Well, hello, to you
soon to be sick ass people.
The name's Kayo with the ya-yo.
I'm here to tell you,
I'm from your health department,
and we are now officially closed.
What, y'all didn't hear me in here?
I said we officially closed!
Whup their ass!
Get them the fuck up out of here!
Turn that punk-ass shit off!
Weak-ass shit!
- Why are you doin' this?
- Why? Why I'm doin' this?
Matter of fact, why don't you ask
the Bookmans why I'm doin' this shit!
- The Bookmans?
- Yeah, the Bookmans.
The Bookmans are nice folks.
They're good peoples.
Man, this nigga trippin', man.
What you niggas talkin' about?
Those Bookmans. You fuck with them?
I don't fuck with them.
I don't fuck with them.
I wanna burn their shit down, man.
-It's all good.
- They don't even accept food stamps.
- They don't accept what?
- Come on, man.
Why we need all this?
It ain't cool like that, man.
- Fuck the Bookmans!
- Get up out of here, nigga.
Is this the man that shot you?
We found him today.
That's him.
He said he was god, but he couldn't
bring himself to kill me.
And the gun checks out.
Looks like you win this one, coach.
No, not yet.
You got what you negotiated for.
They gave you this kid, Bobby.
Law of the jungle.
Life for a life.
Suppose I want more?
Suppose I want all of them,
Damien and Spyro included?
I'd walk away a winner
if I were you, coach.
They made the gesture.
I say accept it and walk away.
A kid was murdered. Executed.
Doesn't that bother you?
We couldn't do better than that.
Bookman, you got a conviction,
a sentence and an execution.
What is your problem?
My problem is you're in my father's room.
You wanna get out?
Hold it!
We're still in the house of god.
I want you to remember that.
Now, I talked to Johnny and Gracie.
You know them.
They're just as upset
about this business as you are.
- They brought it on themselves.
- No!
No, don't say that.
They didn't bring it on themselves.
They don't go, we gotta make 'em go
for our own sake.
How could you,
of anybody in this room, say that?
You lost two sons to drive-bys.
My family regrets the problems
that you're having.
But the big question is, to survive.
Is that all you want?
You want everything to be all right.
Everything is not going to be all right,
because once the gangs find out
that they can run us out,
your life is going to be a living hell.
You sure can talk the talk, Johnny.
You mean you want us
to shoot it out with the Rebs?
Well, Mrs. Jones,
I'm probably a very lucky person,
because I can afford
to take my family out of here.
If that's what you want,
that's what I'll do.
But for the rest of you,
it's up to you to decide,
whether or not your neighborhood
is worth fighting for.
- How are we gonna do that?
- Yeah, tell us something.
Look,
their power lies in their unity.
A gang works together as a team.
That's what we have to do.
We have to work together, like a team.
If they fight one of us,
they've gotta fight all of us.
Every now and then,
god tests us.
Not in our faith in him,
but in our inner courage,
whether we're willing
to put our bodies on the line.
Now, I think Mr. Bookman is right.
So I'm willing to follow him,
and I pray that you will too.
Let's see what these bitches
and hoes got to say.
The Diablos and the Rangers at our house?
- We can handle this.
- You see what I'm sayin'?
- Spyro.
- Blood.
- How you doin', brother?
- All right, brother.
Big brother.
All right.
- What up, dog?
- What's happenin'?
Heard you got trouble.
Everything's cool.
What's your problem?
Shootin' a kid in a phone booth,
for a fuckin'
three-hundred-dollar hustle?
Is that good for business?
The media coverage
is scaring our major suppliers.
They're cutting back on
the high-grade shit our customers want.
You let 'em know
everything's under control.
The bottom line is this, your actions
are scaring people on my streets.
We have people with families there.
We're not behind you on this.
You cross over onto Broadway with this
shit, and your ass will pay.
Ain't nobody payin' a damn thing.
We know what's goin' down.
Yeah, well I hope you do, little brother.
Our organizations
have enjoyed great prosperity,
and only through peace can this continue.
You better watch yourself.
- Okay, Reverend, lay it out for us.
- The red is the El Diablos.
The Rebs are gray, and the yellow
is the Rangers' territory.
What's to stop them from joining forces?
The Rangers and the Diablos
teaming up? I don't think so.
What if the Rebs think they are?
We gotta figure out a way to pit
all three gangs against each other.
Break the truce. Then they'll
knock each other off for us.
What if they catch on'? Are we gonna
fight all three gangs together, alone?
Come on, Reverend.
Just wait a minute.
That's a good idea.
What we gotta do is get somebody
on the inside that can set them up.
That'll work.
And, Reverend,
we need somebody
that the gangs trust.
- Who is he?
- I didn't see.
- You better take the back way out.
- Yeah, I think I better.
- Where do you think you're goin'?
- Get off me!
Sit down. What are we gonna do
with this little punk?
Since he heard our plans,
maybe we oughta kill him.
I was thinkin'
about shootin' him myself.
We can't shoot him
in a community rec center.
Besides, we gotta make it look
like it's an accident.
Y'all don't scare me.
I'm a Reb.
Oh, man, you ain't no Reb.
They wouldn't let a squirt like you
in the Rebs. We know. We started 'em.
Yeah, when there was still dinosaurs.
- You got a big mouth.
- You don't know nothin', man.
- And you know everything?
- I know you gonna die with that plan.
Don't you be talkin' about nobody dyin'.
You just take it easy.
So a little war wouldn't bother you?
I ain't got no love for anyone.
I'm a businessman, my brothers
and sister. It's all fair.
Yeah, well, why don't you
come help us be more fair?
I might be interested, for a price.
Okay, how about some guns, ammunition,
explosives, that kind of thing?
Coach, a man who earns what you do
can afford the best,
and I know where to get you the best.
- Man, you can't trust him.
- Yes, you can.
- Sure you can.
- He's gonna sell you out.
Just hear me out.
I gotta tell you somethin'.
I did somethin' I wish I hadn't have.
I heard that cop say he had a
license number he got from your father.
I was the one who ratted him out to Spyro.
About a minute after I opened my mouth,
I wish I hadn't have.
I'm sorry, man.
I wanna make it up.
- All right, chill.
- It's still gonna cost you, though.
Yeah, well, like you said,
I can afford it.
It'll only take a few hours to set up
this buy, but I'm talkin' 15 g's now,
cash, all in hundreds.
Ten percent of that sticks to me.
My commission.
All right, you got a contract,
an enforceable one.
- It's as good as done.
- Yeah.
Hey, wait a minute.
I hope you know what you're doin'.
He's gonna go straight to Spyro.
No, no, that ten percent commission...
I don't think so.
All right?
See where I hit the chest area?
I don't want you to hit the stomach area.
I want you hit something that breaks,
like the face or the ribs or the kneecaps.
This is just like a gun.
Don't pull it unless you're
gonna use it. All right? Got that?
We're not buntin',
we're following all the way through.
- Kim, come up here and try somethin'.
- Go, Kim!
Where'd you learn all this, honey?
I used to be one of the original Rebels.
And I like baseball. Now, come on.
- Atta girl!
- All right, Kim.
Mrs. Heywood, come over here now.
All right.
I thought you told me
we wouldn't have to do anything.
The Reverend told me that god said
it's okay to be prepared. Didn't he?
- Yes.
- Then I'm gonna prepare you.
All right, come on.
Let me prepare you.
Hold it up.
That a girl.
All right! One more.
Yeah, you got it!
All right, Mrs. Heywood!
Give me five!
I did not know what Spyro wanted,
so I brought a taste of everything.
Looks good to me.
We'll take it all.
Spyro and Damien, they gonna love this shit.
There's a lot of merchandise there.
But because it is for the Rebs I will
give it to you for a very special price.
Only $18,000.
Fuck that. Spyro said 15 for everything,
and that's it.
Get in.
Fifteen thousand's what we got.
That's real cheap for top-of-the-line
merchandise like this.
You can keep the bag too.
It's all there.
So,
are the Rebs having a war or something?
Classified information, ese.
Sounds like one hell of a fuckin' party,
if you ask me.
All right.
We paid for it, you load it up.
That was some pretty good negotiating
we just did.
Shit, we'd have got it cheaper
if you had let me do all the talkin'.
Yeah, yeah, right.
You done good, little brother.
Nobody's gonna know
who's buyin' those guns.
Ain't nobody gonna know it's you
kickin' their ass.
- Yeah? You think they bought that?
- No doubt.
- I'm glad I didn't snitch to the Rebs.
- I didn't figure you would.
- You too good of a businessman for that.
- Yeah, but this is my last deal.
- I'm out of here forever.
- Where you goin'?
Seattle.
That's where Raymond wanted to go.
- He said it was nice up there.
- Who's Raymond?
He was my brother.
He was a banger. He got killed.
I meant what I said about your father.
He always treated me decent.
Yeah, but I'm treatin' you better.
Here's your ten percent commission,
1,500.
- Thanks. I'm outta here.
- See you, brother.
- Stay up, my brother.
- Stay cool, little man.
All right, Clyde, come up here.
You'd be surprised what you can do
when you're up close to somebody.
You can step on a foot.
I mean, step on it, just grind it.
You can gouge an eye.
Just go for it.
Don't pull back. He's gonna hurt ya.
Or go for the testicles and squeeze...
Oh, Clyde, I'm sorry.
You know what I'm talkin' about.
I'm sorry, baby.
I didn't mean to hurt you.
We're gonna do this all over tomorrow.
Everybody go home, relax.
See you later, okay?
All right.
Hello, Laurie.
Jake.
- You looked pretty good over there.
- Thanks.
It's everything you taught me.
Got a little time for some conversation?
Yeah.
It's long overdue.
Come on.
It's a little awkward for me,
me comin' back this way and all,
under these conditions.
Yeah, well, you missed a lot
not knowing Kenny.
He was a lot like you, headstrong,
full of his own ways about things.
Basketball was his life.
He was gonna be a big star.
He had a plan, just like you.
Yeah, and I was gonna be
heavyweight champ of the world.
- And I knew you could do it.
- Did you?
No doubt in my mind.
You never let me know.
That's why I had to let you go.
Let me go?
Laurie!
You let me go?
Come on, Laurie.
Jake, I didn't want to
get in the way of your dreams.
You would've never, never forgiven me for it.
- It would've killed whatever we had.
- That's just like me, killin' things, huh?
I read all about that in the paper.
It wasn't your fault.
Those things happen to boxers.
You took a chance.
It could've been you.
You know, it was never the same after that.
I thought about a comeback.
But comeback from what?
I was a failure, an all-around failure.
I failed myself, I failed you.
I couldn't even face up to you.
Especially,
after how you sent me away.
Kenny knew all about you.
He had an album of all your fights.
He knew you hadn't forgotten us and
that you tried to send us some money.
And he loved you.
He loved you.
I made sure of that.
But I never heard from him.
He wanted to,
wait until he was all grown up.
He wanted you to know him,
as a man,
and as a friend.
I don't know what to say.
You don't have to say anything.
Come here.
Look at that.
The kid came through.
I checked 'em out.
They work.
Well, looks like you were right this time, man.
What do you mean, "this time"?
And I carried these up all by myself
while you guys were out there holding hands.
How you like my party?
Open up. Open up!
Whose is it, baby?
Whose is it, huh?
Hey, motherfucker,
I see what you doin' in there!
Get out! Come on!
This is my grandmother's car, man.
In my grandmother's car with that shit?
Get out of my motherfuckin' car.
So what's the deal man? In the old days, it
never took you this long to hot-wire a car.
What you mean, "old days" man?
You gotta get rid of that.
If they smell that cheap-ass cigar smoke,
they're gonna know you been in the car.
It ain't no cheap cigar.
It cost $1.25.
I do the smokin', you load the weapons.
Yeah, now that I done stashed the shit,
I gotta load the weapons, drive the car,
Laurie comes up with all the plans...
What you gonna do, boss?
I'm the executive in charge, brother.
Now you're an executive, brother.
Shit.
I don't know about you, man.
Here you go, man. Don't lose
this motherfucker, all right'?
- I'm not bullshittin' you.
- Okay, Blood.
Give me the money, boy.
The Rebels don't know it, but they're
declaring war on the Diablos tonight.
Yeah. Right.
Get the fuck up outta here.
Go! Go!
- You want one more?
- Why the hell not?
What the hell is this, man?
- That was Damien's car!
- I know that was Damien's car!
That's your ass, bitch,
you big cue ball-head motherfucker!
And Spyro, you high-yellow bitch!
Come up in here fuckin' with my people.
What the fuck y'all standin' around for? Huh?
What the fuck is your problem?
Yeah, this means war, motherfucker!
- Looks like a damn good party.
- Sure does, baby.
The Rebs hit the Diablos,
and they're getting ready to retaliate.
Right. We're looking
at all-out war here.
Listen, I don't want any of our
police officers caught in a cross fire.
No, Mike.
No, no, no, no, no.
You are going to be here.
I'm going to be in a Mayors' convention
in New Orleans for the next five days.
- What's up? Good to see y'all.
- My favorite customers.
- What can I do for you today?
- We need some of that hardware.
I can get you anything you want
in four to five days.
We gonna be hit.
We need it now.
I'm not the fucking Pentagon, man.
The shipment I sold you the other day,
that was it.
- Who?
- Some old man.
And this kid.
He usually rides on a scooter.
Dressed clean square?
With a mustache?
That's him.
That's your man.
It's that fuckin' John Bookman, man,
that ex-football player.
Oh, shit! That's where I know him from!
Hey, guys, that's John Bookman!
Motherfuckers.
Spy. Stop it, man!
Huh? Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
Now I know who hit the Diablos.
What the fuck good does that do us, man?
Blood ain't gonna believe this shit, and you just
killed the only fuckin' witness that could tell him!
What's the matter with you, d-man?
You goin' soft?
Fuck no! I ain't goin' crazy, though!
You're goin' fuckin' nuts!
No, I'm not, man.
We just got to prove to Blood,
that fuckin' grocery boy and his friends
have got those weapons, man!
We gotta take them out, even if it means
we gotta level the whole fuckin' hood!
Yo, Damien, here's this kid
you was lookin' for.
And his ass had $1,500 on him.
Man, that money don't mean shit.
I can always get cream.
I'm a businessman, man.
For real, Damien.
I tell you anything you want to know
about Spyro, Kayo, that bitch Princess.
Anybody, man!
We can work as a team, for real.
We can get money, man.
That's what I'm talkin' about.
This is very disappointing.
We've shown you nothin'
but love, Dink, and respect,
because we care about you.
- We've always cared about you.
- What is this comin' to'?
This is what this is comin' to.
Sleep well,
little word man.
John Bookman thought that he
could take this town back from us.
He was wrong.
John Bookman tried to cross us
with the Diablos.
- He was wrong again.
- Yeah, he was!
Now we will burn
this whole fuckin' block to the ground.
- Burn it!
- Burn it all.
Help me, somebody!
Help me!
Jesus. Dink.
This is a real tragedy here, Reverend.
All these people, losing their homes.
- I sure hope they got insurance.
- Why would you do this?
Fuck that. You and your bullshit friends,
you brought this down.
And this is just the beginning.
- What do you want me to do?
- Yeah I'll tell you.
Bookman bought a bunch of automatic weapons,
hit the Diablos, made it look like it was us.
What we need to know
is where these weapons are.
I don't know, they move them
around from place to place.
Well the next time they do,
we gonna be there.
Now, you see to it,
or more plagues will descend.
Listen, they just torched Grant street.
They killed the kid, Dink.
He was only 14 years old.
Well, that's their way
of delivering a message to us.
Come on, man! Keep up partna! You know what
I'm sayin'? I'm tryin' to get to my guns, man!
Here they come! Here they come!
After this shit,
Danny boy's the next Kayo! Huh?
What we got here,
all types of army ware?
Look at them geezers run!
Old coward-asses!
Yeah, that's right!
Thanks for the tip, Rev.
We won't never forget this here.
You got all their hardware. They're not a threat
to you anymore. Why don't you just let 'em go.
No, I tell you what, why don't you
just run home and pray for their asses!
You did good, okay?
Looks like the Reverend did his job, huh?
Right.
Well, I guess we'd better do ours.
- You take care of yourself.
- Baby, you're comin' back.
You know I'm comin' back.
I'm home now.
What the fuck y'all think y'all doin'?
Who doin' this shit?
Me!
Who the one that's supposed
to get the first gun? Me!
Y'all niggas must be goin' crazy.
Man, where the guns at?
Man, I don't want that shit! Give me this
motherfuckin' chopper, man! Let's move!
They oughta have 'em loaded by now.
They're in for a big surprise.
Give 'em a target.
- All right, Drop 'em!
- Shoot him!
Good job, Jake!
We're kickin' their ass!
Little somethin' for you, Marcus.
Hope you liked it.
We gonna burn this sucker right.
Burn this sucker down.
Flame on, baby, flame on!
Fuck that!
Damn!
Holy shit.
Look out! Look out! Get down! Get down!
Don't try it!
I am holding a 12-gauge semiautomatic
shotgun loaded with double-ought.
That makes an awful, big, mess.
So y'all had better drop 'em
right now, fellas. Put 'em down!
- Now, back off.
- You'd better listen to him.
Take a look up that alley at your
friends. They're lyin' there, dead!
I said look, goddamn it!
Pretty, ain't they?
And who you think put 'em there?
Spyro and Damien put 'em there.
Well, where the fuck are they now?
They're supposed to be standin' strong.
Hey, you. You through
with the Rebels tonight, ain't you?
Don't nobody want to hurt y'all.
But you gon' get hurt.
You will get hurt.
If I don't hurt you, my friends will.
Get the fuck outta here,
everybody except that guy in the red.
Move!
Pick up all them guns
and put 'em in the garbage can.
Hurry up! Move!
Get them last two.
Come here!
Goddamn it.
Get your ass outta here!
Where'd you learn to wolf like that?
All that shotgun shit.
Man, you scared me too.
Like to scared myself to death.
Man, that hand looks bad.
No, no, it's all right, man. It's been
better. Bullet went straight through.
You oughta get it taken care of.
I sure am glad I didn't
have to kill none of them kids.
I thought I'd feel better going after
them for Kenny's sake, but I don't.
- They're the same age as he is.
- Yeah, but they came here to kill us.
- And they would have too.
- You got that right.
Damn.
These little brothers
tried to burn down my hardware store.
- You could be layin' out there too.
- I was just doing what I was told to do.
Well, look, you got
a new set of rules.
You just resigned from the gang.
You got that?
We can't be out here alone.
Who gon' protect us?
We will.
You heard the man.
Us.
The original Rebels.
Rebels.
It's all good.
- Look here, boy. You got a home?
- Yeah I got a home.
Then get in it!
Get your fake-ass Rebel ass home.
Move!
Get up!
It's a damn shame
it had to come to this, isn't it?
- Sure your hand's gonna be okay?
- Yeah, it's cool.
Damn, it's about time.
Bubba, you're looking good, my man.
- Never felt better.
- All right.
It feels good, all us Rebels back together
again. But who's gonna go first?
We all are.
All right, let's go.
I'll be back!
I promise you, I'm not done yet!
Get to the old steel mill,
as fast as you can!
You know, the fact that John Bookman
used all those heavy weapons on us,
is proof in itself that he was the
one that raided the Diablos.
Yeah, well let's hope Blood sees it that way.
Hey, kid, what are you doin' out here?
Nobody had room for me in the car.
Where the hell are Spyro and Damien?
I don't know.
They yelled somethin' about goin' to the
old steel mill before they took off.
- Hey John, you remember the shortcut, man?
- Yeah man, I should.
I worked at the goddamn place five years.
If the cops ever show up,
have them meet us at the mill.
I guess we'd better mop up.
- You gonna be all right, Laurie?
- Yeah. I'm gonna go find Marcus.
You got it. Let's go.
I've known Blood all of his life.
There should've never been
any trouble between him and us.
Things ain't gonna be
the way they were before.
- We gotta get to Blood first.
- Get some speed out of this car!
- This is not the shortcut I was thinkin' about.
- No, no, no, you done forgot.
Oh, man.
Marcus. Marcus.
Don't move, baby.
I'll get you some help.
Don't move.
Just stay there.
All right?
Get your bitch-ass up.
Get the fuck up.
You must ain't talked to your
family about me yet, huh?.
I'm the one who offed your punk-ass son!
Now I gotta do your bitch-ass too?
You did it?
- What the fuck you gon' do with that?
- Get up.
How you know that motherfucker
ain't gon' blow up in your face?
Well, let's find out.
Woman's intuition.
You piece of shit.
You're dead now.
Get your fuckin' ass up, punk!
Bring your ass back.
Let's see what you got, motherfucker!
You ain't shit!
You son of a bitch!
You killed your son, man.
You killed my son, motherfucker!
You care about him now, huh?
You didn't even know him, man.
I know about you.
You remind me of my old man.
I didn't know him, but...
You see, I'm your son. You see, you
made me what I am, huh?.
You created me,
and now you want to kill me?
Jesus.
You son of a bitch.
This is it.
They set us up, man!
You gotta believe me!
Chill.
Mr. Bookman. Mr. Trevor.
It's time we neighbors met.
Let me explain something
to you, my brother.
Just because Damien is dead
doesn't mean you can move in.
I won't be that far away.
I'm back home, Blood.
And I'm workin' with him.
Just so you know.
Well, there goes the neighborhood.
Well well, here they are, late as usual.
Yep.
I know what you mean.
a city with the highest murder rate
in America, maybe the world.
A factory town that
somehow became a gang town.
Back in the '50s, the community
was supported by the US steel mill.
It was damn hard work,
but people raised their families well.
Then just 20 years later, without warning,
US steel shut down 70% of the mill.
At first, the workers thought
it was temporary, but it wasn't.
Their savings went,
unemployment ran out,
and slowly the former steel workers
lost the last two things they had left,
their pride.
And their hope.
And that has been the inheritance
of the children of Gary.
This was the Palace Movie Theater.
The last movie that played here
was star wars.
That's the bakery.
It used to make the best,
damn glazed and chocolate donuts in town.
That's where Hanes Restaurant once stood.
They had the best barbecued ribs.
This is the memorial auditorium,
home of two state basketball championships.
More than 350,000 back then.
Now there's only 150,000 left
that still call Gary their home.
This abandoned steel mill
is now headquarters,
to a gang called the Diablos,
and the old train depot
is a hangout for their rivals,
the Rebels.
Hey, punk!
Fuck him, man!
What's up, punk?
You ready for the ball?
- Shut up!
- You so goddamn weak!
- I should knock your ass out!
- What's up now?
Shoot!
Fuck that shit!
I don't know where he's from,
but that shit is not right.
Rebs!
- Come here, man.
- Nice game, man.
Get the fuck out of my face.
What's up? How you doin'?
- You did good out there.
- Thanks, man. I appreciate it.
Where you learn to play like that?
Just a little something
I picked up on the street.
You wanna come back again, give us
a chance to win some of that paper back?
I got a little trip
to take out of town,
but when I come back, I'll stop through
and holler at everybody.
Kayo.
- Give the man his due.
- Thanks, man.
If it was up to me,
you wouldn't get shit.
I'm just here to play, that's all.
Excuse me.
You gonna take care
of that punk hustler, right?
Yeah, you know I am.
If you're through bullshittin',
we got a lot of real business to take care of.
All that money? For basketball?
Ain't bad for a little hustle, huh, Marc?
But you didn't tell 'em you got
a basketball scholarship to UCLA, did you?
Wham am I gonna tell 'em for?
It's a one-time deal.
I don't get you.
You're crazy.
Man, what don't you get?
It's easy money.
Me and Brenda wanna chill in style.
Whatever. All that money, I bet
you were dunkin' on him like Jordan!
Did you stick your tongue out'?
No, I didn't stick my tongue out,
but I was breakin' 'em off proper.
- You know what I'm sayin'?
- Man!
You know why I'm so good, though?
No, Kenny, tell us.
Why are you so good?
Well, it's genetics, Marcus.
And if you're not born with it,
you don't get it.
Ladies and gentlemen, Kenny doesn't
know where he got his genes from.
- Back to you, Brad.
- I know where they came from.
Do you know where they came from?
The store closes about 7:00,
so meet me there. Don't be late.
I'm just gonna run down and make a phone
call to my lady. I'll be right back.
Why don't you just use the phone in the store?
The Bookmans will let you.
No, man, I need my privacy
in a phone booth.
The lovebirds need their privacy.
Oh, how cute...
You just want to come
so you can take notes.
You lookin' mighty well, Mrs. Johnson.
How's everybody at home?
I got it. I got it.
Take a break.
How are you doin'?
Did you bring your coupons with you?
But... but... don't worry about that.
After the dance,
I got plans you won't believe.
I told you, the Bookman market!
I just sent for the police.
Oh, my god!
- Oh. My god!
- Kenny, get up!
Get up, Kenny! Get up!
Goddamn!
Don't you die on me, man!
Please, someone, call an ambulance!
Don't leave me!
Please, don't leave me.
It's unreal. We practically
raised that boy's mother.
These are good people.
It's a damn tragedy.
- Do you know if he was in a gang?
- Not Kenny Thompson!
Marcus, was Kenny in some kind
of trouble with the gangs?
I don't know.
I guess it'd be a waste of time
to ask if you saw anything.
- Why do you say that?
- Nobody ever sees anything around here.
They bury their dead,
and nobody ever sees anything.
- Is that so?
- Marvin.
- I'm talkin' to this detective.
- So, talk to me.
Anything you say is between us.
Nobody else has to know.
Suppose I didn't see the gunmen,
but I did get the license number of the car.
Blue Cougar.
Broken right taillight.
Looks to me like
you had in mind to give me this.
These are good people. The boy's mother,
she's never been in trouble.
She runs the beauty parlor across the street.
Was that the smart thing to do, Mr. Bookman?
Probably not, Mrs. Bookman.
You think I was wrong?
It's got to be you, doesn't it, Marvin?
Finally, it's got to be me.
And you know something?
I feel damn good about it.
Now, son, don't go trying
to get your own justice.
- It just ain't right.
- Yeah, we'll see.
Aren't you going after him?
And do what, honey?
Lock him up till he cools down'?
He's a good kid. He'll come to his
senses. He just needs a little time.
This is detective waits.
On that 28-29,
the blue Cougar with the broken
right taillight, anything new?
This is dispatcher.
Negative on the blue Cougar.
We're still checking.
Spy, you want me to show this
punk nigga to the door?
-It's cool, doc.
- You better recognize, boy.
- I know you, don't I?
- Yeah, I'm the word man.
I know what's happenin' on the streets.
- The word man, huh'?
- Yeah.
- So what's the word on the streets?
- Lose the Cougar.
They're lookin' for it. The old man
from the store, he gave y'all up.
- Not Mr. Bookman?
- Thought you'd wanna know.
That's my favorite fuckin' store.
Why'd he do that shit, man?
'Cause he's fucked up like that.
- What's your angle?
- I live on the streets, you know?
Sometimes I get messed with.
Well, son, we don't want you
to worry about that anymore.
Ain't nobody ever gonna
mess with you again.
You're one of us now.
- Boy, you better watch how...
- Kayo.
- Burn the Cougar.
- No problem. I got that.
Go check out that Bookman store.
If the old man says he didn't
rat us out, you let him alone.
If he owns up to that shit,
you take his ass out.
I believe in the honor system.
Oh, yeah, that honor system.
I like that... take his ass out.
Yeah.
Is this the car you're lookin' for?
Yes, it is.
If they know we made the car,
they know where we got the information.
The money's still in the till.
Go on and get it.
Oh see, it ain't about the money.
Hell no!
You see, I can make more money in a day
than you can in a lifetime, old man!
By the way, what's this old punk shit I'm hearin'
you done talked to the police about?
I just told them
where that boy's mother lived.
He's lying. He gave us up.
Why would you do some shit like that?
We ain't never done nothin' to
your store! We left your ass alone!
We paid for everything we took!
You see what I'm sayin'?
You shouldn't even get involved
in this type of shit here.
Not much here, old man.
Every other store around here
get hit but you.
We respected you, and look
what the fuck you do to us!
Did to you? Why is it always
what somebody's doing to you?
It don't matter no more,
'cause you done fucked up!
You see?
That's what America's missin' today...
Balls.
It takes a lot to shoot a boy down
in a phone booth, doesn't it?
This man right here,
he got big, humongous balls!
Say you fuckin' sorry, man.
Fuckin' customer's always right.
Ah, shit, man!
How does your ass feel now?
You feelin' any pain?
Big pain, huh? Take some aspirin.
Some pain relievers.
Feel the pain?
Fuck this old motherfucker!
Better yet, Bobby!
Bring your motherfuckin' ass over here!
Man, it ain't even goin' on like that!
You want to be a Rebel or not,
motherfucker? Come on over here, man!
- You gonna bust caps up in his ass!
- Look at his ass!
You wanna get your stripes
for a Rebel or what?
- Fuck it, man.
- Kill that motherfucker.
It's initiation day.
You an old man.
You gonna die soon anyway.
Quit all that bullshit over there
and just pop his old ass!
- I'm god!
- You're nothing!
- It's time to cross the line, baby.
- Didn't I tell you about that?
If you don't do that shit, we'll
take that gun back and pop your ass!
You hear me?
I said pop his ass!
Bring your ass on so we can
get the fuck up out of here.
Marvin Bookman, you're a damn fool.
You just lie still, pop,
and don't pay any attention to her.
Hello, moms. How is he?
He was shot in the shoulder,
but the doctors said he'd live.
- How are you holding up?
- I'm doing fine now.
Sis.
Come here, John.
- How you doin', pops?
- Well,
not goin' into the store again.
I should've made you leave here
a long time ago.
Made him? When's the last time
anybody made him do anything?
- Pops, this place is just not...
- This place was a good place.
I come here with nothin',
got a job at US steel.
Yeah, yeah, I remember.
The day the war ended you quit the mill
with $9,500 in the bank.
Married your mother, bought the store.
If I'd stayed in the mill,
I might've made foreman.
But I'd be out of work by now,
maybe livin' on the street,
like some of my friends.
People work all their lives and wind up,
sleepin' in a cardboard box in a doorway.
Is it any wonder these kids today
don't want to work?
They don't even want to live to grow old.
I'm gonna get you out of here,
so this can never happen to you again.
You should come back more.
Your mother misses you.
Yeah. Get some rest, okay?
I've got a friend in la. She's lookin'
for an apartment close to me.
What are you talking about?
You and pops,
you can't stay here anymore.
You're just like them,
always trying to tell us what to do.
But there ain't nothing here.
You're living in the past.
My Johnny wouldn't talk like that.
Mom, let's talk about this
over a cup of coffee, okay?
- All right.
- Good. Let me borrow your car.
- Mrs. Bookman...
- Stay the hell away from me.
My husband had to go and do
the right thing. Where were you?
You knew what those animals could do.
Mistakes were made.
We got there too late.
Marvin made the mistake,
trusting you people.
You won't believe this, but I'm gonna
find the one that did this to him.
You're just a waste of time.
What the fuck?
What's up, old man? Store's closed.
We run this motherfucker now.
You better get out of here
before you get hurt.
- Put it back!
- Don't put shit back!
We staked claim
on this motherfuckin' place, man.
I'm only gonna say it once!
Get the fuck out of here!
Come on! Get up!
Get out of here!
Look at that.
- Drop your gun! Get back!
- Drop your gun!
- Back up!
- Oh, shit!
Get back! Get back!
- What you doin', man?
- Do it! Put the gun down!
- Man, fuck you!
- We're doin' it, man!
One leg, get your ass out!
Man, bring your ass on!
Laurie!
That's for Kenny, you son of a bitch!
Run! Get up! Run!
Nice to have you back home.
Thanks. Sorry to hear about your son.
Well, well. Look at that.
Somebody famous.
Can I have your autograph,
Mr. Bookman?
Please? This market is
confiscated property. It's ours now.
You know, this used to be
my favorite grocery store.
When I was a kid,
I would come in here,
and your father would give me
a fresh slice of bologna.
I really liked your dad,
so I stayed off his ass.
I protected him.
And how does he show his appreciation?
This is a very sad day, John Bookman.
Well, I just canceled
your charge account.
You don't want to be like your papa,
startin' something you can't finish.
That ain't never been my style, brother.
Police comin', man.
Let's get up out of here, man.
We'll see you later, star.
That's the problem, they got the money,
they got the power,
and they run these streets.
And that's not even what it's about.
I remember when it used to be
about getting out.
Not this bunch. They don't want to get
out. There's no place for them to go.
There's nothin' out there for them.
They are more scared
of livin' than dyin'.
They don't cry, they don't mourn.
They just kill each other.
But that's the destiny
of young people here.
I just didn't think
it would happen to Kenny.
What's happening to our city?
It's been a long time
since we owned the streets.
Fuck that, Kayo.
Talkin' all that goofy shit.
Let me see what you got.
Hey, step on out, man.
All right, base?
What's up, delivery boy?
What the fuck you doin' here?
Did somebody place an order
around this motherfucker?
Huh? Hell no!
Nigga, give me this motherfuckin' ball!
See you later, sucker!
What the fuck you want, man?
- What the fuck you want?
- I was just watchin'.
Then take your ass
on over there and watch.
Hey, Johnny.
I don't want your damn autograph.
It's me, man...
You come back here lookin' for
a fresh mark to hustle or what?
Hey, bubba. is that you, man?
It's me. Still here.
I've aged a little bit, but so have you.
You better suck that gut in.
Tell me something, man.
How is uncle Benny?
Well, he closed his candy store
down a while back,
and then died a few weeks later.
- I guess of nothin' to do.
- I'm sorry.
Didn't your folks write you about it?
I don't know, man.
They could have.
I just don't remember, that's all.
Oh, I see.
I haven't seen you
back here at all, man.
No, I've been back.
Quickly, to see your parents,
or fly in in the morning
and leave right back out at night.
That way you don't have to
run into us, right?
Come on. What's the big deal?
I mean, I'm here, all right?
Yeah, you here.
Well, look, did you think
it was gonna be like it was?
I mean, you and us Rebels runnin' around,
drinkin', screwin' all around the place.
You thought it was gonna be
like that, huh?
Well, it ain't gonna be like it was,
'cause all you all left.
We ain't got enough people left here
to take care of this place. Not even.
You should've come back once in a while.
Come on, man. I don't get it.
What's here for you?
If you had any sense, you'd get out too.
Oh, man!
You goin' back again tomorrow. Frankly,
I don't give a fuck what you think.
Fuck you, motherfucker.
Our guest today is Johnny Bookman,
local star at Northwestern,
all-American and NFL star.
- John, thanks for being with us today.
- Thanks for allowing me the time.
- Spy, get the hell over here!
- Be cool, babe.
John, everyone at the station
was sorry to hear about,
the assault and robbery on your father.
First of all,
let me set the record straight.
There was a gang shooting
in front of my father's store.
He ain't bad-looking for an old man.
The police failed
to give him proper protection.
All the reports were he was robbed.
There was no robbery. They came in
the store just to kill him.
- But they underestimated his spirit.
- "Underestimated his spirit."
I thought John Bookman's father was dead
Bobby was supposed to kill this motherfucker.
You should've let me have him.
I could have done a better job.
He reported what he saw.
Isn't that what we're supposed to do?
Now, that's snitchin' right there.
- Whole family's gone.
- They deserve that shit, man.
I'm pissed off at Mayor Ridder,
who ran on the law and order ticket.
Now he's turning his back on
the very people he promised to serve.
- Crooked-ass mouth.
- Damn.
I wanna say this to those punks
who did this to my father.
You're gonna have to
meet up with me real soon.
We're gonna get that ass, John Bookman.
Thanks for comin' down today.
Thanks for being on the show, John.
There's a phone call for you.
The Mayor's office.
No shit? What took him so long?
What are you gonna do
about these gangs?
From what I understand,
you used to be a gang member yourself,
a founding member of the Rebs.
Yeah, that's true.
But we didn't kill people.
Yes, but you started something,
and it's out of control now.
- Because you let it!
- Don't lay this shit on me!
You are pissed off because you've become
a victim of something you started!
You see, Mr. Bookman, I'm afraid
that is your legacy to Gary.
So don't be comin' in here
wavin' that little cigar around,
blamin' us and tellin' us it's our fault.
My own father worked in the steel mills,
and he got himself killed on the job.
The company settlement
put me through law school.
And I came back.
Where were you all these years?
Let's not talk about me.
Let's talk about
the lousy job you've done.
All right, so you think if we go out
and we focus on this area,
crime is just going to dry up?
The gangs are gonna come in
and stop killin' each other?
- Calm down.
- All right.
Our main concern here
is the safety of your family.
Therefore, I suggest
we set up a meeting,
with Reverend Dorsey
at the Christian chapel.
What's Reverend Dorsey gonna do?
The Reverend serves as
an intermediary between the gangs.
What are you trying to tell me?
You're gonna negotiate with these punks?
That can be arranged, unless, of course,
you have a better suggestion.
- Michael, it's a hell of an idea.
- Thank you, sir.
Yeah. Right, okay.
Set it up.
And if it doesn't work...
Like you said, Mr. Mayor,
I started the Rebels,
I can terminate them.
I wanna thank all of you for coming.
I know you're concerned about
the violence in our city.
I just had a long talk with the Mayor.
We had some discussions about
what he has to do.
If he doesn't do them,
we'll find a new Mayor.
When I die
hallelujah, by and by
I'll fly away
when I die
hallelujah, by and by
Fly
away
the choir can take a ten minute break.
- Reverend, are you gonna be all right?
- I'll be fine.
You all just get some air.
You requested our presence?
Yes, the Mayor called me today.
And how is our friend, the Mayor?
He's very upset, especially
over this grocery store business.
Oh, yeah.
I heard something about that.
I heard the old man had a "chattery" side.
Now, Marvin Bookman is an old man.
Sometimes, old men make mistakes.
Old men better learn, Reverend.
Well, sometimes we have to reach
deep within ourselves,
to find forgiveness.
Perhaps I should also mention
that Johnny Bookman,
is a very high-profile person.
I met the great man.
I wasn't impressed.
The media, brothers.
Now, it's gonna be very hard
to do business in a goldfish bowl.
The Mayor can't keep lookin'
the other way forever.
So, shine him on, and get Bookman
on a plane outta here.
Is that your sermon of the day?
I'm just trying to keep peace
in the community.
As always, you make good sense.
The Rebs will talk to the family.
What else you get out of this?
Well, I am negotiating for
an expansion of my homeless shelter.
Perhaps a gesture of brotherly love
certainly wouldn't hurt my efforts, huh?
So, we'll call a truce.
Don't worry about Johnny Bookman.
He understands the streets.
Sure.
Brotherly love, Reverend.
Don't forget to put us up
for that Nobel Prize.
Brotherly love, huh?
I heard that, brother.
You have a nice day, Rev, okay?
We saw you on the TV.
- Mrs. Jones, how are you?
- Still goin' strong.
If I do it like this,
I fly better than Jordan.
Maybe I should play for the bulls,
huh, Mr. Bookman?
Maybe you should try out
for the toilets.
We're not playin' no riddles here, man.
Matter of fact, check this out.
I got a message for you. At 10:00
tomorrow morning at Christian chapel,
Spyro got something on
at noon for you, baby.
- For sure.
- You tell him I got the message.
But I'm a little busy right now.
Maybe around 2:00, 2:30.
You seem like you got a motherfuckin'
attitude or somethin', brother.
Get out of my face, man.
What the fuck you laughin' at, old man?
Get this motherfucker up outta here!
What are you lookin' at?
Get this motherfucker out of here!
Look at your motherfuckin' self now!
You done fucked up!
Nigga, how would you like
a nice motherfuckin' scar on your face?
That's always been your problem, partner.
You pick a fight with too many people,
then you just fall apart.
- Jake, don't bring that shit now.
- Let me give you a hand.
- How you been, partner?
- Oh, man.
Problem here?
- You see a problem?
- I don't see no problem.
You punks get your ass outta here now!
Brew'?
There's something I got to tell you, man.
I was at home watching TV one night.
I was watching pay-per-view.
I saw your boy fight.
This guy went...
Oh, man, don't go there.
I gave the kid a shot.
He got knocked down in two rounds.
So what?
Yeah, right. Tell me something,
you still in Cleveland?
Yeah, I'm in Cleveland
trainin' some new talent.
These kids are not like us. They don't
want to work. All they want is money.
I got 20 years on most of these suckers,
and I can still kick their butts.
Chill out, brother.
I know where you comin' from, but I know
you didn't come all the way to Gary,
to help me out in some street fight.
No, man, I came back to bury Kenny.
- Laurie's son?
- Our son.
A son.
Damn, I'm sorry, Jake.
You know, I never knew him.
Heard he was a great athlete, man.
So what happened between you and Laurie?
It was over between us
when she found out she was pregnant.
You know Laurie... strong black woman.
She made it clear that she wanted
the baby but wanted no part of me.
So did this kid know
that you were the father?
Yeah, she told him
when he was nine years old.
But I sent money, I did everything.
She never cashed my checks.
I did the best I could do.
I guess she just wanted me to know
they didn't need me.
I guess there are a lot of things both
of us would like to leave in the past.
- Hey, Red.
- Glad to see you in here.
Thank you.
The fellas tell me
you gave them hell on television.
Jake Trevor.
What's going on, champ?
Hey, slick.
It's been a while, my man.
You mean since you left the Rebels?
You're damn right.
It's been a long while.
Yeah, I see you still here, huh?
Got a little hardware store on Grant,
but I'm doin' okay.
- A lot of shit's changed in this town.
- Yeah, shit changes.
But I wanna know what's happenin'
out in the street, man.
Well, if you remember back in the days,
we were a protection gang.
- You remember that?
- Yeah.
Those days are gone. Now it's all about
drive-by shootings and all that shit.
It isn't about rocks and bottles anymore.
-It's about automatic weapons.
- I can understand all that, my man.
But I wanna know what you know
about Kenny's death.
I don't shoot rumors, man.
Hey, slick, I said I want to know
what you heard, man.
- All right, you wanna know?
- Yeah.
My boy saw Kenny hustling one of
the Rebels over a basketball game.
- Your boy saw what?
- You wanted to know, I just told you.
- What did he get 'em for?
- Three hundred bucks.
You're tellin' me my boy got killed
for three hundred bills, man?
No, what I'm trying to tell you is
they didn't kill him over the money.
They killed him because
he was hustlin' them.
It ain't about breakin' fingers anymore.
Who's runnin' the show?
Just like the old days
with you and John.
Only now it's Spyro and Damien.
Nothin' goes down in this town
that they don't know about.
- Then I'll take care of this.
- Wait a minute.
I'm glad to see you and John
back in the hood.
I don't know what you guys are up to,
but I'm willing to bet my last dollar,
there's gonna be some changes
in this town.
I just want to be a part of it.
How'd you find out?
Johnny went on some TV shows,
and some newspapers picked up the story.
I read it somewhere.
You know, you should have called me.
I just didn't want any more killing.
You think I'm gonna forget
about what they did to Kenny?
Whatever you do,
it won't be for Kenny.
It'll be for Jake Trevor,
who's always lookin' for a fight,
who's always gotta hit somebody
because that's his way,
even if it means making everything worse.
Give me that.
What's up, Jake?
Oh, man.
I found out why they killed Kenny, man.
The Rebels had a b-ball racket going.
Kenny made a slick move on 'em.
Does Laurie know about this?
No, she don't know about it yet,
and that's the way
I wanna keep it, man.
- You ready to make this hit with me?
- Hey, man, slow down.
I got a meeting tomorrow with the Rebels
at the church on 35th street.
What for?
Set up a truce, start some kind of dialog.
You must be out of your mind!
Damn, Johnny,
I never thought you would sell out!
This is me you talkin' to, man!
It ain't gonna come down that way!
Bullshit! You know as well as I know
you gotta have power to make a truce!
- And where's your power?
- What is it with you?
- All you want is revenge?
- You're damn right I want revenge!
What I want here is a little respect!
You take this out to the street!
Have you heard?
Our good friend Johnny
wants to make a truce,
with the people that killed our son!
And let them off the hook?
I want them arrested and put on trial.
It's not gonna happen that fast.
They got a lock on the politicians.
We gotta negotiate. If we don't like
what they say, we go another way.
Well, I wanna be there.
I was kinda hoping
both of you would be there.
You was hopin' I'd be there, huh?
Well, you can count me out.
And let me tell both of you something.
I know what I have to do.
Oh, Jake, man, come on!
Where's Spyro, my man?
Right there.
You want something, brother?
- Your name Spyro?
- Yeah. Why?
I just wanted to see
what you look like.
Right now, I'm just lookin'
for names and faces.
You're Jake Trevor.
My old man told me
how great of a fighter you was.
- Your old man was right.
- I heard of you.
Heard you were back in town.
What for?
Kenny Thompson.
- Never heard of him.
- That kid who was at the basketball...
- What's your interest?
- He was my son, man.
Where does that leave you, Spyro?
You're a dead man.
You're a dead man!
Fuck you, old man.
"You a dead man."
Oh, you see me, man?
Fuckin' threats and shit.
Fuck him.
On behalf of the Mayor and myself,
I'd like to thank each and every
one of you for comin' here,
to this house of worship,
to try and settle matters regarding,
this serious and tragic situation.
I will be leaving you in the privacy
of the good Reverend Dorsey,
who will mediate all sides.
And if I can be of any help,
I'll be right outside.
- Thank you, Mr. Casey.
- You're welcome.
You know, I've known the Bookmans
for as long as I've been here.
I've known Laurie Thompson here
since she was, what, this high?
Spy, Damien...
See, I know your folks.
The rest of you, I know your cousins,
your aunts, your brothers and sisters.
So I'm standing in the middle here.
I am the mediator, so let's talk.
Let's see if we can't stop this thing.
If the old man keeps his mouth shut,
we'll call it done.
Short, sweet, simple.
Done is done, fact is fact,
and god's truth is the truth.
That's why we're here. I wanna
know the truth. Who shot my father?
I thought we're bein' serious, Reverend.
I don't want no jokes!
Damage was done on both sides.
Marvin Bookman did the wrong thing,
but the retaliation was wrong too.
Just a minute.
My husband didn't do anything wrong.
These animals killed her son
in front of our store.
Hold up. You don't know nothin'
about that shit, bitch.
That's pretty tough talk
comin' from a faggot like you,
who don't even know what sex his mother is.
John, please.
Reverend, this wasn't our deal.
But I'm gonna throw this in the pot,
and that's gonna be it.
Our boy, he missed his shot,
and we don't miss many.
Now, if that old man
can keep his fuckin' mouth shut,
then maybe, just maybe,
you'll be able to survive on our streets.
Burn in hell!
Who do you think you are?
You are nothing more than the dog shit,
we wash up from our sidewalks
in the morning.
- Gracie, please.
- Oh, quit this, Reverend.
What kind of a deal is this?
We spend our lifetime
workin' and strivin' for goodness.
And you sell us out to him'?
And here's our deal.
I want everyone involved
to turn themselves into the police.
And I want the boy
who shot my husband to confess.
And maybe, just maybe,
we'll let you survive.
I'm out of here.
You can't just walk out.
What the hell happened here?
I think World War III was declared.
Haven't seen you in a while, Bobby.
- Where you been?
- I've been around.
You know me.
I'm always takin' care of business.
Bobby, explain something to me.
How in the fuck can you miss
hittin' a man in the head,
at point-blank range?
I thought I hit him.
I don't know what all this
punk shit about anyway!
Since when did we change
how the fuck we do things?
Carrie, you get a message
over to Reverend Dorsey.
You let him know nothin's gonna happen
to the Bookman family. That's my word.
What about all the other
suckers in the community?
Only the Bookmans.
I say we bust out the steel,
we take out
the whole motherfuckin' family!
We take away our problems.
We wait, we lose.
Chill, my brother.
Word on the street that Diablos and the
Rangers say we can't control our hood.
You wanna be in the middle of a war
with this punk shit?
What's up with the gun?
What's up with the gun, man?
I can't go out like that, man!
- You don't need to do this!
- Fuck yeah!
Punk-ass nigga!
Well, hello, to you
soon to be sick ass people.
The name's Kayo with the ya-yo.
I'm here to tell you,
I'm from your health department,
and we are now officially closed.
What, y'all didn't hear me in here?
I said we officially closed!
Whup their ass!
Get them the fuck up out of here!
Turn that punk-ass shit off!
Weak-ass shit!
- Why are you doin' this?
- Why? Why I'm doin' this?
Matter of fact, why don't you ask
the Bookmans why I'm doin' this shit!
- The Bookmans?
- Yeah, the Bookmans.
The Bookmans are nice folks.
They're good peoples.
Man, this nigga trippin', man.
What you niggas talkin' about?
Those Bookmans. You fuck with them?
I don't fuck with them.
I don't fuck with them.
I wanna burn their shit down, man.
-It's all good.
- They don't even accept food stamps.
- They don't accept what?
- Come on, man.
Why we need all this?
It ain't cool like that, man.
- Fuck the Bookmans!
- Get up out of here, nigga.
Is this the man that shot you?
We found him today.
That's him.
He said he was god, but he couldn't
bring himself to kill me.
And the gun checks out.
Looks like you win this one, coach.
No, not yet.
You got what you negotiated for.
They gave you this kid, Bobby.
Law of the jungle.
Life for a life.
Suppose I want more?
Suppose I want all of them,
Damien and Spyro included?
I'd walk away a winner
if I were you, coach.
They made the gesture.
I say accept it and walk away.
A kid was murdered. Executed.
Doesn't that bother you?
We couldn't do better than that.
Bookman, you got a conviction,
a sentence and an execution.
What is your problem?
My problem is you're in my father's room.
You wanna get out?
Hold it!
We're still in the house of god.
I want you to remember that.
Now, I talked to Johnny and Gracie.
You know them.
They're just as upset
about this business as you are.
- They brought it on themselves.
- No!
No, don't say that.
They didn't bring it on themselves.
They don't go, we gotta make 'em go
for our own sake.
How could you,
of anybody in this room, say that?
You lost two sons to drive-bys.
My family regrets the problems
that you're having.
But the big question is, to survive.
Is that all you want?
You want everything to be all right.
Everything is not going to be all right,
because once the gangs find out
that they can run us out,
your life is going to be a living hell.
You sure can talk the talk, Johnny.
You mean you want us
to shoot it out with the Rebs?
Well, Mrs. Jones,
I'm probably a very lucky person,
because I can afford
to take my family out of here.
If that's what you want,
that's what I'll do.
But for the rest of you,
it's up to you to decide,
whether or not your neighborhood
is worth fighting for.
- How are we gonna do that?
- Yeah, tell us something.
Look,
their power lies in their unity.
A gang works together as a team.
That's what we have to do.
We have to work together, like a team.
If they fight one of us,
they've gotta fight all of us.
Every now and then,
god tests us.
Not in our faith in him,
but in our inner courage,
whether we're willing
to put our bodies on the line.
Now, I think Mr. Bookman is right.
So I'm willing to follow him,
and I pray that you will too.
Let's see what these bitches
and hoes got to say.
The Diablos and the Rangers at our house?
- We can handle this.
- You see what I'm sayin'?
- Spyro.
- Blood.
- How you doin', brother?
- All right, brother.
Big brother.
All right.
- What up, dog?
- What's happenin'?
Heard you got trouble.
Everything's cool.
What's your problem?
Shootin' a kid in a phone booth,
for a fuckin'
three-hundred-dollar hustle?
Is that good for business?
The media coverage
is scaring our major suppliers.
They're cutting back on
the high-grade shit our customers want.
You let 'em know
everything's under control.
The bottom line is this, your actions
are scaring people on my streets.
We have people with families there.
We're not behind you on this.
You cross over onto Broadway with this
shit, and your ass will pay.
Ain't nobody payin' a damn thing.
We know what's goin' down.
Yeah, well I hope you do, little brother.
Our organizations
have enjoyed great prosperity,
and only through peace can this continue.
You better watch yourself.
- Okay, Reverend, lay it out for us.
- The red is the El Diablos.
The Rebs are gray, and the yellow
is the Rangers' territory.
What's to stop them from joining forces?
The Rangers and the Diablos
teaming up? I don't think so.
What if the Rebs think they are?
We gotta figure out a way to pit
all three gangs against each other.
Break the truce. Then they'll
knock each other off for us.
What if they catch on'? Are we gonna
fight all three gangs together, alone?
Come on, Reverend.
Just wait a minute.
That's a good idea.
What we gotta do is get somebody
on the inside that can set them up.
That'll work.
And, Reverend,
we need somebody
that the gangs trust.
- Who is he?
- I didn't see.
- You better take the back way out.
- Yeah, I think I better.
- Where do you think you're goin'?
- Get off me!
Sit down. What are we gonna do
with this little punk?
Since he heard our plans,
maybe we oughta kill him.
I was thinkin'
about shootin' him myself.
We can't shoot him
in a community rec center.
Besides, we gotta make it look
like it's an accident.
Y'all don't scare me.
I'm a Reb.
Oh, man, you ain't no Reb.
They wouldn't let a squirt like you
in the Rebs. We know. We started 'em.
Yeah, when there was still dinosaurs.
- You got a big mouth.
- You don't know nothin', man.
- And you know everything?
- I know you gonna die with that plan.
Don't you be talkin' about nobody dyin'.
You just take it easy.
So a little war wouldn't bother you?
I ain't got no love for anyone.
I'm a businessman, my brothers
and sister. It's all fair.
Yeah, well, why don't you
come help us be more fair?
I might be interested, for a price.
Okay, how about some guns, ammunition,
explosives, that kind of thing?
Coach, a man who earns what you do
can afford the best,
and I know where to get you the best.
- Man, you can't trust him.
- Yes, you can.
- Sure you can.
- He's gonna sell you out.
Just hear me out.
I gotta tell you somethin'.
I did somethin' I wish I hadn't have.
I heard that cop say he had a
license number he got from your father.
I was the one who ratted him out to Spyro.
About a minute after I opened my mouth,
I wish I hadn't have.
I'm sorry, man.
I wanna make it up.
- All right, chill.
- It's still gonna cost you, though.
Yeah, well, like you said,
I can afford it.
It'll only take a few hours to set up
this buy, but I'm talkin' 15 g's now,
cash, all in hundreds.
Ten percent of that sticks to me.
My commission.
All right, you got a contract,
an enforceable one.
- It's as good as done.
- Yeah.
Hey, wait a minute.
I hope you know what you're doin'.
He's gonna go straight to Spyro.
No, no, that ten percent commission...
I don't think so.
All right?
See where I hit the chest area?
I don't want you to hit the stomach area.
I want you hit something that breaks,
like the face or the ribs or the kneecaps.
This is just like a gun.
Don't pull it unless you're
gonna use it. All right? Got that?
We're not buntin',
we're following all the way through.
- Kim, come up here and try somethin'.
- Go, Kim!
Where'd you learn all this, honey?
I used to be one of the original Rebels.
And I like baseball. Now, come on.
- Atta girl!
- All right, Kim.
Mrs. Heywood, come over here now.
All right.
I thought you told me
we wouldn't have to do anything.
The Reverend told me that god said
it's okay to be prepared. Didn't he?
- Yes.
- Then I'm gonna prepare you.
All right, come on.
Let me prepare you.
Hold it up.
That a girl.
All right! One more.
Yeah, you got it!
All right, Mrs. Heywood!
Give me five!
I did not know what Spyro wanted,
so I brought a taste of everything.
Looks good to me.
We'll take it all.
Spyro and Damien, they gonna love this shit.
There's a lot of merchandise there.
But because it is for the Rebs I will
give it to you for a very special price.
Only $18,000.
Fuck that. Spyro said 15 for everything,
and that's it.
Get in.
Fifteen thousand's what we got.
That's real cheap for top-of-the-line
merchandise like this.
You can keep the bag too.
It's all there.
So,
are the Rebs having a war or something?
Classified information, ese.
Sounds like one hell of a fuckin' party,
if you ask me.
All right.
We paid for it, you load it up.
That was some pretty good negotiating
we just did.
Shit, we'd have got it cheaper
if you had let me do all the talkin'.
Yeah, yeah, right.
You done good, little brother.
Nobody's gonna know
who's buyin' those guns.
Ain't nobody gonna know it's you
kickin' their ass.
- Yeah? You think they bought that?
- No doubt.
- I'm glad I didn't snitch to the Rebs.
- I didn't figure you would.
- You too good of a businessman for that.
- Yeah, but this is my last deal.
- I'm out of here forever.
- Where you goin'?
Seattle.
That's where Raymond wanted to go.
- He said it was nice up there.
- Who's Raymond?
He was my brother.
He was a banger. He got killed.
I meant what I said about your father.
He always treated me decent.
Yeah, but I'm treatin' you better.
Here's your ten percent commission,
1,500.
- Thanks. I'm outta here.
- See you, brother.
- Stay up, my brother.
- Stay cool, little man.
All right, Clyde, come up here.
You'd be surprised what you can do
when you're up close to somebody.
You can step on a foot.
I mean, step on it, just grind it.
You can gouge an eye.
Just go for it.
Don't pull back. He's gonna hurt ya.
Or go for the testicles and squeeze...
Oh, Clyde, I'm sorry.
You know what I'm talkin' about.
I'm sorry, baby.
I didn't mean to hurt you.
We're gonna do this all over tomorrow.
Everybody go home, relax.
See you later, okay?
All right.
Hello, Laurie.
Jake.
- You looked pretty good over there.
- Thanks.
It's everything you taught me.
Got a little time for some conversation?
Yeah.
It's long overdue.
Come on.
It's a little awkward for me,
me comin' back this way and all,
under these conditions.
Yeah, well, you missed a lot
not knowing Kenny.
He was a lot like you, headstrong,
full of his own ways about things.
Basketball was his life.
He was gonna be a big star.
He had a plan, just like you.
Yeah, and I was gonna be
heavyweight champ of the world.
- And I knew you could do it.
- Did you?
No doubt in my mind.
You never let me know.
That's why I had to let you go.
Let me go?
Laurie!
You let me go?
Come on, Laurie.
Jake, I didn't want to
get in the way of your dreams.
You would've never, never forgiven me for it.
- It would've killed whatever we had.
- That's just like me, killin' things, huh?
I read all about that in the paper.
It wasn't your fault.
Those things happen to boxers.
You took a chance.
It could've been you.
You know, it was never the same after that.
I thought about a comeback.
But comeback from what?
I was a failure, an all-around failure.
I failed myself, I failed you.
I couldn't even face up to you.
Especially,
after how you sent me away.
Kenny knew all about you.
He had an album of all your fights.
He knew you hadn't forgotten us and
that you tried to send us some money.
And he loved you.
He loved you.
I made sure of that.
But I never heard from him.
He wanted to,
wait until he was all grown up.
He wanted you to know him,
as a man,
and as a friend.
I don't know what to say.
You don't have to say anything.
Come here.
Look at that.
The kid came through.
I checked 'em out.
They work.
Well, looks like you were right this time, man.
What do you mean, "this time"?
And I carried these up all by myself
while you guys were out there holding hands.
How you like my party?
Open up. Open up!
Whose is it, baby?
Whose is it, huh?
Hey, motherfucker,
I see what you doin' in there!
Get out! Come on!
This is my grandmother's car, man.
In my grandmother's car with that shit?
Get out of my motherfuckin' car.
So what's the deal man? In the old days, it
never took you this long to hot-wire a car.
What you mean, "old days" man?
You gotta get rid of that.
If they smell that cheap-ass cigar smoke,
they're gonna know you been in the car.
It ain't no cheap cigar.
It cost $1.25.
I do the smokin', you load the weapons.
Yeah, now that I done stashed the shit,
I gotta load the weapons, drive the car,
Laurie comes up with all the plans...
What you gonna do, boss?
I'm the executive in charge, brother.
Now you're an executive, brother.
Shit.
I don't know about you, man.
Here you go, man. Don't lose
this motherfucker, all right'?
- I'm not bullshittin' you.
- Okay, Blood.
Give me the money, boy.
The Rebels don't know it, but they're
declaring war on the Diablos tonight.
Yeah. Right.
Get the fuck up outta here.
Go! Go!
- You want one more?
- Why the hell not?
What the hell is this, man?
- That was Damien's car!
- I know that was Damien's car!
That's your ass, bitch,
you big cue ball-head motherfucker!
And Spyro, you high-yellow bitch!
Come up in here fuckin' with my people.
What the fuck y'all standin' around for? Huh?
What the fuck is your problem?
Yeah, this means war, motherfucker!
- Looks like a damn good party.
- Sure does, baby.
The Rebs hit the Diablos,
and they're getting ready to retaliate.
Right. We're looking
at all-out war here.
Listen, I don't want any of our
police officers caught in a cross fire.
No, Mike.
No, no, no, no, no.
You are going to be here.
I'm going to be in a Mayors' convention
in New Orleans for the next five days.
- What's up? Good to see y'all.
- My favorite customers.
- What can I do for you today?
- We need some of that hardware.
I can get you anything you want
in four to five days.
We gonna be hit.
We need it now.
I'm not the fucking Pentagon, man.
The shipment I sold you the other day,
that was it.
- Who?
- Some old man.
And this kid.
He usually rides on a scooter.
Dressed clean square?
With a mustache?
That's him.
That's your man.
It's that fuckin' John Bookman, man,
that ex-football player.
Oh, shit! That's where I know him from!
Hey, guys, that's John Bookman!
Motherfuckers.
Spy. Stop it, man!
Huh? Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
Now I know who hit the Diablos.
What the fuck good does that do us, man?
Blood ain't gonna believe this shit, and you just
killed the only fuckin' witness that could tell him!
What's the matter with you, d-man?
You goin' soft?
Fuck no! I ain't goin' crazy, though!
You're goin' fuckin' nuts!
No, I'm not, man.
We just got to prove to Blood,
that fuckin' grocery boy and his friends
have got those weapons, man!
We gotta take them out, even if it means
we gotta level the whole fuckin' hood!
Yo, Damien, here's this kid
you was lookin' for.
And his ass had $1,500 on him.
Man, that money don't mean shit.
I can always get cream.
I'm a businessman, man.
For real, Damien.
I tell you anything you want to know
about Spyro, Kayo, that bitch Princess.
Anybody, man!
We can work as a team, for real.
We can get money, man.
That's what I'm talkin' about.
This is very disappointing.
We've shown you nothin'
but love, Dink, and respect,
because we care about you.
- We've always cared about you.
- What is this comin' to'?
This is what this is comin' to.
Sleep well,
little word man.
John Bookman thought that he
could take this town back from us.
He was wrong.
John Bookman tried to cross us
with the Diablos.
- He was wrong again.
- Yeah, he was!
Now we will burn
this whole fuckin' block to the ground.
- Burn it!
- Burn it all.
Help me, somebody!
Help me!
Jesus. Dink.
This is a real tragedy here, Reverend.
All these people, losing their homes.
- I sure hope they got insurance.
- Why would you do this?
Fuck that. You and your bullshit friends,
you brought this down.
And this is just the beginning.
- What do you want me to do?
- Yeah I'll tell you.
Bookman bought a bunch of automatic weapons,
hit the Diablos, made it look like it was us.
What we need to know
is where these weapons are.
I don't know, they move them
around from place to place.
Well the next time they do,
we gonna be there.
Now, you see to it,
or more plagues will descend.
Listen, they just torched Grant street.
They killed the kid, Dink.
He was only 14 years old.
Well, that's their way
of delivering a message to us.
Come on, man! Keep up partna! You know what
I'm sayin'? I'm tryin' to get to my guns, man!
Here they come! Here they come!
After this shit,
Danny boy's the next Kayo! Huh?
What we got here,
all types of army ware?
Look at them geezers run!
Old coward-asses!
Yeah, that's right!
Thanks for the tip, Rev.
We won't never forget this here.
You got all their hardware. They're not a threat
to you anymore. Why don't you just let 'em go.
No, I tell you what, why don't you
just run home and pray for their asses!
You did good, okay?
Looks like the Reverend did his job, huh?
Right.
Well, I guess we'd better do ours.
- You take care of yourself.
- Baby, you're comin' back.
You know I'm comin' back.
I'm home now.
What the fuck y'all think y'all doin'?
Who doin' this shit?
Me!
Who the one that's supposed
to get the first gun? Me!
Y'all niggas must be goin' crazy.
Man, where the guns at?
Man, I don't want that shit! Give me this
motherfuckin' chopper, man! Let's move!
They oughta have 'em loaded by now.
They're in for a big surprise.
Give 'em a target.
- All right, Drop 'em!
- Shoot him!
Good job, Jake!
We're kickin' their ass!
Little somethin' for you, Marcus.
Hope you liked it.
We gonna burn this sucker right.
Burn this sucker down.
Flame on, baby, flame on!
Fuck that!
Damn!
Holy shit.
Look out! Look out! Get down! Get down!
Don't try it!
I am holding a 12-gauge semiautomatic
shotgun loaded with double-ought.
That makes an awful, big, mess.
So y'all had better drop 'em
right now, fellas. Put 'em down!
- Now, back off.
- You'd better listen to him.
Take a look up that alley at your
friends. They're lyin' there, dead!
I said look, goddamn it!
Pretty, ain't they?
And who you think put 'em there?
Spyro and Damien put 'em there.
Well, where the fuck are they now?
They're supposed to be standin' strong.
Hey, you. You through
with the Rebels tonight, ain't you?
Don't nobody want to hurt y'all.
But you gon' get hurt.
You will get hurt.
If I don't hurt you, my friends will.
Get the fuck outta here,
everybody except that guy in the red.
Move!
Pick up all them guns
and put 'em in the garbage can.
Hurry up! Move!
Get them last two.
Come here!
Goddamn it.
Get your ass outta here!
Where'd you learn to wolf like that?
All that shotgun shit.
Man, you scared me too.
Like to scared myself to death.
Man, that hand looks bad.
No, no, it's all right, man. It's been
better. Bullet went straight through.
You oughta get it taken care of.
I sure am glad I didn't
have to kill none of them kids.
I thought I'd feel better going after
them for Kenny's sake, but I don't.
- They're the same age as he is.
- Yeah, but they came here to kill us.
- And they would have too.
- You got that right.
Damn.
These little brothers
tried to burn down my hardware store.
- You could be layin' out there too.
- I was just doing what I was told to do.
Well, look, you got
a new set of rules.
You just resigned from the gang.
You got that?
We can't be out here alone.
Who gon' protect us?
We will.
You heard the man.
Us.
The original Rebels.
Rebels.
It's all good.
- Look here, boy. You got a home?
- Yeah I got a home.
Then get in it!
Get your fake-ass Rebel ass home.
Move!
Get up!
It's a damn shame
it had to come to this, isn't it?
- Sure your hand's gonna be okay?
- Yeah, it's cool.
Damn, it's about time.
Bubba, you're looking good, my man.
- Never felt better.
- All right.
It feels good, all us Rebels back together
again. But who's gonna go first?
We all are.
All right, let's go.
I'll be back!
I promise you, I'm not done yet!
Get to the old steel mill,
as fast as you can!
You know, the fact that John Bookman
used all those heavy weapons on us,
is proof in itself that he was the
one that raided the Diablos.
Yeah, well let's hope Blood sees it that way.
Hey, kid, what are you doin' out here?
Nobody had room for me in the car.
Where the hell are Spyro and Damien?
I don't know.
They yelled somethin' about goin' to the
old steel mill before they took off.
- Hey John, you remember the shortcut, man?
- Yeah man, I should.
I worked at the goddamn place five years.
If the cops ever show up,
have them meet us at the mill.
I guess we'd better mop up.
- You gonna be all right, Laurie?
- Yeah. I'm gonna go find Marcus.
You got it. Let's go.
I've known Blood all of his life.
There should've never been
any trouble between him and us.
Things ain't gonna be
the way they were before.
- We gotta get to Blood first.
- Get some speed out of this car!
- This is not the shortcut I was thinkin' about.
- No, no, no, you done forgot.
Oh, man.
Marcus. Marcus.
Don't move, baby.
I'll get you some help.
Don't move.
Just stay there.
All right?
Get your bitch-ass up.
Get the fuck up.
You must ain't talked to your
family about me yet, huh?.
I'm the one who offed your punk-ass son!
Now I gotta do your bitch-ass too?
You did it?
- What the fuck you gon' do with that?
- Get up.
How you know that motherfucker
ain't gon' blow up in your face?
Well, let's find out.
Woman's intuition.
You piece of shit.
You're dead now.
Get your fuckin' ass up, punk!
Bring your ass back.
Let's see what you got, motherfucker!
You ain't shit!
You son of a bitch!
You killed your son, man.
You killed my son, motherfucker!
You care about him now, huh?
You didn't even know him, man.
I know about you.
You remind me of my old man.
I didn't know him, but...
You see, I'm your son. You see, you
made me what I am, huh?.
You created me,
and now you want to kill me?
Jesus.
You son of a bitch.
This is it.
They set us up, man!
You gotta believe me!
Chill.
Mr. Bookman. Mr. Trevor.
It's time we neighbors met.
Let me explain something
to you, my brother.
Just because Damien is dead
doesn't mean you can move in.
I won't be that far away.
I'm back home, Blood.
And I'm workin' with him.
Just so you know.
Well, there goes the neighborhood.
Well well, here they are, late as usual.
Yep.
I know what you mean.