The Wire s03e11 Episode Script
Middle Ground
That's far enough.
Drop your laundry and turn slowly.
So you gonna rob me now? I need to remind you who I am? Omar, isn't it? Pull it slowly.
Then toss it.
Oh, I will move slow.
I ain't tossing nothing, Bow Tie.
So whatever you gonna do, you might as well go ahead and make it quick.
- I knew you'd come back.
- I trust you didn't lose sleep over it.
Worrying about you would be like wondering if the sun gonna come up.
I ain't about to wild out over it.
What I want to know is how you find me.
Your boy, he didn't give you up easy.
Ain't no sugar-water run through them veins.
- You kill him? - He's resting.
- I see you favor a.
45.
- Tonight I do.
And I keeps one in the chamber, in case you pondering.
Nice showpiece you got there.
Walther PPK.
380, double action.
- Hear them Walthers like to jump some.
- As will you, with one in your elbow.
That gun ain't got enough firepower to make my joint useless.
It definitely won't stop me from emptying out half my mag.
- You might not hit me.
- This range? And this caliber? - Even if I miss, I can't miss.
- I admire a man with confidence.
I don't see no sweat on your brow neither, bro.
I suppose we could stand here all night.
Suppose we could.
Or settle this once and forever.
I want to ask you something, brother.
Omar listening.
When you walk through the garden You gotta watch your back Well, I beg your pardon Walk the straight and narrow track Walk the straight and narrow track If you walk with Jesus He's gonna save your soul You gotta keep the devil Way down in the hole He got fire and the fury Fire and fury At his command Well, you don't have to worry Hold on to Jesus' hands Oh, we'll be safe from Satan When the thunder rolls Oh You gotta keep the devil Way down in the hole You gotta keep the devil Way down in the hole Way down Way down in the hole - I'm going to the West.
- All right.
- Peace out.
- All right.
Here we go.
- Yo, I need some face time with the man.
- Hold on, I'll holler back at you, man.
That'd be Shamrock.
Assuming Stringer Bell is the man, now we wait for the return call.
This is beautiful.
Lester, can you actually believe we fucking sold the wiretaps to the targets? For a week at least.
Maybe we ducked a bullet.
Maybe we clean this mess quietly, throw some horseshit at whatever reporter shows up and the mayor forgives and forgets.
We're ready to move on this, right? As soon as we get the word, we shut down all three zones.
There'll be nothing left before midnight shift.
So what the fuck are we waiting on for a day and half? Why isn't the Hall calling us? - Mayor's Office.
- Commissioner Burrell for Mayor Royce.
- I've heard enough.
- Hold on, Coleman.
- Let the man talk.
- Excuse me, Mayor.
I have Commissioner Burrell on the line.
- He says it's urgent.
- I'll bet it is.
He wants to move, Clarence.
He wants to clean this shit up yesterday, and so do we.
Tell him to hold.
Go ahead, Gene.
Look, I'm not a politician, I'm an academic.
From a public health perspective there are remarkable things happening in the free zones.
Needle exchanges, on-site blood testing, condom distribution.
We're interacting with an at-risk community that is largely elusive.
We're even talking some of them into drug treatment.
That's just what UM and Bon Secours have brought to the table.
If this were sanctioned, my department could put public resources into play.
- You people can't see the forest here.
- Odell? When the story breaks, the ministers will surely be against you.
And most of the City Council will be walking sideways away from your administration.
And my guess is the governor and the legislature will use this opportunity to piss on the city from a great height.
And Washington? Oooh.
Can you imagine how far the United States Department of Justice is gonna crawl up your ass behind this? Crime is down, Odell.
Medical people are telling me this could work.
I mean, a 14% decline in felonies citywide, I might be untouchable on this.
Look, we need to think.
See if we can keep this going without calling it what it really is.
- Jesus.
- Now, there's got to be a way.
I want you to talk this thing out.
Erv, thanks for holding.
Yes, but Yes, I understand.
Then I'll wait to hear from you.
We're to hold off on any action in Hamsterdam.
No arrests, no movement until further notice.
He says he wants to regroup, determine the most effective course of action.
Translate that for me, will you, Erv? I don't speak his fucked-up lingo.
Royce is figuring a way to put all of us in the guillotine and keep the blood from spraying anywhere near the Hall.
Shit, I'll be goddamned if I'm gonna go out like that.
Bent over in public.
I can spin the story just as well as that motherfucker.
- You're gonna go to the press? - Not me.
But I know a slick little bastard who will happily put His Honor's shit in the street.
Something funny about that? I look in the paper, and I see all these Federal grants, but nothing for B&B.
- You're expecting what? - Payout.
A big payout for what we put in, man.
Federal dollars on them Howard Street rehabs.
- You gave money up front? - $250,000, yeah.
To Clay Davis.
How you know? What you saying? He's running game? - No, hell, no, he ain't that brazen.
- Mm-mm.
Let me guess.
He's told you about the faucet.
Or was it the goose that laid the golden egg? You ever actually meet the man? Did you see any of your cash reach anyone in authority? I met the guy at the Federal Building.
Yeah? What office? He came down to the lobby.
He rainmade you.
A guy says if you pay him, he can make it rain.
You pay him.
If and when it rains, he takes the credit.
If and when it doesn't, he finds reasons for you to pay him more.
- Clay Davis rainmade you.
- No, man.
He got them building permits in no time at all, man.
We bribing these motherfuckers.
He got the city contractor's money back.
- How much? - $35,000 so far.
- On the quarter-million? - It's for bribing the motherfuckers.
There are no bribes! You really think a State Senator is going to risk his salary and his position by walking into a Federal office with a briefcase full of drug money? I seen Chunky, Chunky Coates.
He gets his money same way everyone does.
He fills out applications, checks the plans, then prays like hell.
This is an old game in this town.
And Clay Davis? That ganef was born with his hand in someone's pocket.
I just wish you'd run it by me sooner.
Now here's Shamrock returning Bodie's call.
Talk about it.
The man said he'd see you same time as always.
During the first call, Sydnor had eyes on Shamrock over in West Baltimore.
All right? Now look at this.
At the time, Stringer Bell was at the print shop.
So it couldn't be a face-to-face meet.
We didn't catch a call between Stringer and Shamrock.
How can that be? Stringer's phone isn't on the same network as everyone below him.
- Right you are, ma'am.
- Bell's not using Bernard's burners.
And Shamrock has a separate phone for calling Bell.
We can't hear those calls because the system's compartmentalised.
Some tricky motherfuckers.
A week or so up on Bernard's phones and we'll have everybody, up to and including Shamrock, tangled up in conspiracy counts.
But Bell or Barksdale? Not unless we can pluck their cell numbers out of the air.
- Where you headed? - Toy store.
- He legalised drugs in special zones? - It's more than that.
Major Colvin lost the necessary perspective that is required for command.
Now, we were all under pressure to reduce crime before year-end, and he responded poorly to that pressure.
Pressure by who? Mayor? I'm just explaining to you that the pressure was applied all down the line, from Headquarters to the district commanders, to the shift and sector supervisors.
So Colvin's 14% decline was bullshit.
And they're selling drugs with police permission in Western? The Department is ready to shut that mess down with mass arrests.
- I'm on top of it.
- Why don't you move? The mayor says wait.
Why? I think he's gonna make some kind of show, spin it so that I take the weight for something that has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with the pressure that my commanders were getting from City Hall.
Going public and putting the responsibility for this back at City Hall is the only move I have left, right? I mean, I spin Royce before he spins me.
- And you want me to - No, not you.
Your pal, Tony Gray.
If he's gonna take a run at Royce, he's gonna need ammunition, right? I don't have a relationship with Gray.
I do have one with you.
And, Councilman, you owe me.
- What's up, hotshot? - I got a technical question.
Remember those units we used to use to get cell numbers? CF-something-something.
Cell frequency identification device.
- The Triggerfish.
- That one.
It could flag a number.
Right.
With the old machines, we had to follow the guy while he used the phone.
New digitals? Bing.
You just pull the number right off the cell tower.
You got any that Daddy can borrow? - What about yours? - What? City has three of them, I remember right.
Homeland Security sent them to you, every big county department.
No fucking way.
Thanks.
- I doubted you.
- I told you it was big.
If we play it right.
He wants me to turn the information over to Tony Gray.
He figures if Tony's running against the mayor, he'll aim at Royce, not the Department.
You may want to bring Tony in on it, keep him viable against the mayor.
But you need to find out what this is all about.
First-hand.
- Do you know this Major Colvin? - To shake hands, maybe.
If Burrell's painting him the villain, Colvin might be anxious to tell his side of the story.
McNulty, Major Crimes.
Sullivan, minor irritations.
You got anything that's like a CFID, but digital? For catching cell numbers.
- Catching who? - A Triggerfish machine.
Triggerfish.
For cell numbers.
How about I look around there on my own? This is Councilman Carcetti at the Hall.
- I'm trying to reach Major Colvin.
- He's on vacation.
I'm trying to reach him on municipal business.
I can put you through to his voicemail.
No, I said I have to reach him immediately.
- Immediately? - Right.
- How about his cell phone? - His cell? Yeah, that would be fine.
All right, that's enough.
Yeah, I know, it hurts.
But your fists gonna be like rocks after a while.
Justin, come here.
All right, I want you to push me in my chest.
You ain't got to do it hard.
- That's how you were standing.
- No weight on your back foot.
That's right.
No center of gravity.
Plus, if you get your stance right, then you got the means to put your hip into the punch.
Bah-bah.
Right? Bah-bah.
- That's where your power'll come from.
- Yeah.
What happen when we get hit? - Say what? - We get hit, even with this pad, you gonna get trucked.
- All this stuff falling apart.
- Yeah, the heavy bag too.
Yeah, where you get this stuff at? The town of Bedrock? Nah, he say nobody.
So you gonna have to wait.
What you mean, wait? You know who I am, boy? - Man say he want to see Avon.
- Making me wait to see my partner.
- He new, String.
- Fuck that.
Lot of new faces round here, man.
Way too many, you ask me.
Get the fuck out of here.
- Where Avon at? - He'll be along shortly.
That's good, 'cause I came to see you, anyway.
What you need? I need you to hit somebody.
Who we hitting? - Clay Davis.
- The Clay Davis? Downtown Clay Davis? Is that suppose to mean something to me, man? - That nigger need to be got.
- Shit, String, murder ain't no thing.
But this here is some assassination shit.
I tell you you getting somebody, you getting him.
Damn, String, I don't know I got to remind you who the fuck you work for? Hey, yo.
I think Slim gonna have to sit this one out, boss.
So you finna go hit a State senator now? Dawg, you kill a downtown nigger like that, the whole world gonna stand up and take notice.
I'm talking about the state police, federals, all of that.
You need a Day Of The Jackal type motherfucker for that shit, - not a rumble-tumble nigger like Slim.
- That nigger took our money, man.
- I seen it coming.
- Well, he got to go.
You a fucking businessman.
Handle it like that.
You don't wanna get all gangster wild with it and shit, right? What I tell you about playing them fucking away games? Yeah.
They saw your ghetto ass coming from miles away, nigger.
You got a fucking beef with them? That shit is on you.
So, we aim this at the nearest cell tower, the one that would be the conduit for calls coming to and from our boy, Bell andwe let rip.
Fucking hell.
Looks like Baltimore White Pages without any names.
But the pattern tracer'll pull that down.
If we know the approximate time of Bell's call, we could start by pulling calls off that tower at that time.
That could be thousands.
Yeah, but we get a second hit and that list comes down to dozens.
- And after a third or fourth - We've got his number.
I can't believe that this was just sitting over at ISD, gathering dust.
We're going to be on them for real now.
Well, they don't know about this technology yet.
- For once they can't change and adjust.
- It's genius.
Oh happy day Oh happy day When Jesus washed When Jesus washed He washed my sins away Need something? - How much you make, man? - What? On them Ts? How much you make? Fair profit.
No more than that.
You should sell sweats with hoodies.
Since the season's changing and all.
Where you live at? - Bodie Broadus.
- The man with the hands.
I heard you was opening up a gym or something.
Yeah, trying to.
- I'm looking to get up with Avon.
- Thought you was out.
Hey, man, that's why I came to you.
I mean, I feel like the way we left it, I can't just roll up on the man, you know? Hey, yo, it's me.
Yo, I got that hitter here with me.
Yeah, the soldier that walked in and out.
He want to see the top man.
You slam shit like that, you gonna fall out one day.
I'm good.
I'm trying to school you, boy, and you just don't wanna know.
I'm cool.
I'm good.
Whitey sale, whitey sale.
One for three, three for five.
Whitey sale.
Whitey sale, whitey sale, whitey sale, here.
One for three, three for five.
So what you want me to tell the man? Yo, I'll give word up, then I'll hit you back.
Shamrock.
- B&B Enterprises.
- We need to have lunch.
All right, hold on.
I'll call you back.
- Yo.
- Hey, it's me.
What's good? Yeah, it's me.
Yo, tell the hitter, tell him the tall man will pick him up.
- Right.
- 4:47.
Seven-minute window.
There's 892 phone numbers.
- That's our base line.
We're on our way.
- Yeah.
Stay the fuck there, man.
Yo.
Jimmy! On the clean phone.
He just hit your friend's number.
The one off the business card you gave me.
- The Western? - His cell.
Should we be worried about this? No.
- A boxing gym, huh? - Ain't a proper one yet.
That's why I asked to see you.
What you know about taking care of something like that? Not a damn thing.
But I know that sweet science.
And I got some kids who are interested.
But what I got a need for, bro, is equipment.
Man, these kids gonna get rained on.
They need headgear, they need guards, cups, so they can take the hit.
You know what I'm saying, man.
I seen you on them Globe posters back in the day.
- Little undercard shit.
- Yeah, but still, you was Golden Gloves.
For a minute, but I had a physical defect.
- What, you got a glass jaw? - Nah, forehead, nigger.
- Cranium shot'll do you wrong.
- Yo, look here, man.
You see the new heavy bags? Look, freestanding, man.
All you gotta do is add water.
Then you got speed bags, right there, right? You got this headgear right here.
It's new.
Look, protect the cheek and the chin, you know? And I know I can go around and collect a dollar here and a dollar there.
But I'm trying to put together a select group of people.
I call them my Gold Circle Club, and they gonna make a substantial contribution and just get this thing rolling right.
I mean, I'm gonna put their name and picture up on the wall in the gym.
- You trying to get me to join a club? - No, man, I'm just saying.
There's all sorts of levels.
We got the Silver Club, we got the Bronze Club.
Man, for motherfuckers who really don't want to dig that deep.
- Come on, man, check it out.
- No, man.
I ain't got no time for this bullshit, man.
I don't want my fucking name and face on no damn wall.
You crazy, nigger? How much money you talking about? See him go through all that for 10,000? Man, Slim, go get him 15,000 cash, man.
Yo! Shit.
All right.
Later, man.
You take care of them little niggers.
No doubt, bro.
- Yeah.
- Yo, you talk to him? Fat man wanna parlay.
- All right, you good.
Hook me up.
- Yeah, all right.
You check out what I sent you? Yeah, your information's good.
So, we can talk on the real side now, huh? - Tell your man I'm good for tomorrow.
- Yo, I'll hit you back.
- Now we're cooking.
- Cutting butter with a hot knife.
Next time Stringer Bell takes a call off the base line, he's ours.
- Game over.
- Mm-hm.
So, it ain't what it might seem to you.
That man there is my brother.
But if it keep on like it been, then Fuck.
You got problems? I stirred up some shit with this Hamsterdam mess.
That's 'cause you was behind that that made me come to you with this.
Look like you and me both trying to make sense of this game.
Speak your mind, Russell.
You two good? Yeah.
We got y'all out front.
Let's go, P-Square.
- You look healthy.
- For a man who was gut-shot.
You reached out to a third party who engaged me in the purpose of holding your Towers.
That third person's word was your word, as he represented you.
That's right.
And I ran those East Baltimore gentlemen off.
I held up my end of the agreement, at least for as long as I was physically able.
You did.
Your man then set up a meet at Butchie's bar.
Your man told Omar Little that I was responsible for the torture of a young boy who was close to Mr.
Little's heart.
Your man, in effect, sought to have me hit.
Omar told you that and you believe that motherfucker? He doesn't strike me as a man who would tell stories.
Even at the point of dying.
Shit.
Proposition Joe package.
The inner workings of your organization don't concern me.
If there's a way, I mean, if my man If he made a mistake here, then I'm willing to pay the cost.
How can we fix it? You want money? - Money? - Yeah, this is business.
Business is where you are now.
But what got you here is your word and your reputation.
With that alone, you've still got an open line to New York.
Without it, you're done.
My man's still on paper.
I can put him in a spot that got heavy artillery.
I ain't talking about pistols.
I'm talking about mini TEC-9s, shotguns, they even got grenades in that motherfucker.
That's an automatic fall.
So, I'm hoping you could keep that shit to five.
If you hit the joint, his people will try and take the rap for it, say all that firepower is theirs.
So all you gotta do is just hit him with the parole backup.
Look, I can't make no promises.
- It's gonna be a nickel at least.
- Come on, man.
- Him and me - I'm gonna do my best, all right? He's always at this place? No, he come and go.
But it's the spot since the war started.
He must have done something to you.
No, it's just business.
Almost forgot.
This came in for you last night.
Said she called your cell phone but no answer.
Had a nice voice.
Like a kitty cat.
We're on.
- He said for you to be there, half-pint.
- Yeah, OK.
- Stringer Bell, that's him.
- There it is.
Yeah, but for how long? He could toss that burner at any moment.
- I got Rhonda, you raise Daniels.
- OK.
- Ronnie? We're on Stringer's phone.
- Lieutenant.
Go to the judge.
I'll meet you there with an affidavit.
- Lester's raising Daniels.
- McNulty's calling Pearlman.
Watch that footwork, baby.
All right.
Take it to him, now.
Yeah.
Take it to him, now.
- I'm a beast, coach.
- All right, boy, don't be gloating on it.
When we gonna have some real fights, one of them tournament things? - Yeah, we gladiators, son.
- Y'all got more fire than skills.
You ain't ready for no full-blown thing just yet.
But I don't know, maybe it'd be good for y'all to spar with some boys you don't know.
A nigger step in my house, he getting dropped.
I met these fellas at that gym over on Pennsylvania Avenue.
I'll see if they wanna roll through, all right? All right? You don't return a Councilman's calls? I'm off this week.
Taking a little accrued vacation.
Yeah.
And I heard why.
I'm here for your side of this story.
If I can't get that, then whatever comes out of Burrell's mouth is gonna stand.
You good with that? What did you do, Major? And why the fuck haven't they shut it down? We've seen that law enforcement's steamroller approach is just spitting in the wind! I really think that you're onto something here, but if you keep it up, they'll be calling you the most dangerous man in America.
I know it may appear that we're vulnerable here, huh? But if we enforce the drug laws everywhere else in the city aggressively, how can they say we're not a law and order administration? Now there's got to be a middle ground here that we have yet to find.
There's got to be some way to accomplish this without turning everything upside down.
This used to be one of my worst corners.
This is where a cop got shot last summer, right? - Dozerman.
- Looks quiet now.
So do most all my corners.
G- man.
- So, what's up? - Shut the door.
In ten minutes we're gonna have an affidavit for a City judge to sign.
- It's for Russell Bell's dirty cell.
- It's a good pull.
It is if Bay Wireless doesn't take five days to process it.
You owe me, Fitz.
That whole port case came down early behind some ugly shit in your house.
Now, I don't care how you do it, but I need my wire today.
These guys were in radio cars two months ago, chasing calls, clearing corners.
I pulled them to do felony follow-up.
More police work, less bullshit, and that's why my crime is down.
The numbers are true.
- What did he do? - Church burglaries, 14 of them.
Let's go.
Mademoiselle.
Is it "aff-e-ant" or affiant? I've never been clear on that.
You been hunting this guy Bell for a long time, haven't you, Jimmy? A while, yeah.
Name's familiar to me.
That thing that we did a few years back, was he the Yeah.
What's done is done, Jimmy.
Now, for your own fucking sake, just let it go.
Come on.
As the affiant, do you solemnly swear that the information contained in this document That's the most significant drop in crime in this district in recent history.
We still got hard-looking boys out on them streets.
And, Sergeant, you know them little mini-motorcycles? - They keeping me up at night.
- We're working on that.
I have been living in this part of the city my whole life.
I can tell you something.
We weren't any angels when we were kids.
And those hard boys you talking about, half of them, they's just playing gangster.
They ain't no different from what we were.
Shirts and drawers a little longer, is all.
The one thing I do miss about my neighborhood, the neighborhood I came up in See, we knew the police.
See? We had a white police officer.
Our house was on his beat, on his foot beat.
He would be sitting out talking to my mother damn near every night, just sitting out on her stoop, just talking.
And I'm telling you, this man, his name was Frazier O'Leary.
- He even knew my grandmother by name.
- Yes, ma'am.
Let's move on to the tip-line information I'm so sorry, baby, but I was not finished.
You see, let me tell you something.
I have not seen that face-to-face policing in a long while.
In a very long while.
Until last week.
A young officer, black officer, came by my stoop, gave me his card.
His name is Reggie Ballard, is his name, right? And he sat, and he talked to me.
We just talked.
And, see, now I know his name and face and he knows my name and face.
You see? And I'm going to tell you something.
That is how it should be.
My son wanna open up a snowball stand on the street.
Do we need a permit for this? You ever seen a West Side community meeting like this one? The folks downtown tell me that stands aren't allowed in the city right-of-way at all.
Now they do say it's possible to have a snowball stand behind the sidewalk.
Why are you really down here, Councilman? - I mean, this ain't even your district.
- I'm interested.
And I have the public safety subcommittee.
You see that building there? It was the old Stryker building, it was a funeral parlor.
The last stop before the cemetery for West Side white folk back when there were still some around.
Right about the time that Jim Crow was breaking up back in the early '60s, somebody asked old man Stryker, they said, "Stryker, "you gonna change your policy and start burying black folk?" And Stryker said, "Yeah, on one condition.
"That I can do them all at once.
" That's sick.
But you know something? I had a lot of respect for that man.
'Cause, unlike most folks, I always knew where he stood.
I'm doing my job.
Look, I done showed you the good.
Come on, let me show you the ugly.
Hey.
- How come so quick? - Stringer Bell's given name.
Russell.
For now, Ahmed.
We're on the top of the mountain.
Red tops over here.
Come get them, come get them.
- This is it? - One of three.
How did you make this happen? I just did it.
I got tired of hearing folks talk about what needed to be done or what they would do if it was up to them.
So, this is about you making a mark? No, I ain't analyzed it all that deep.
I ain't claiming no kind of victory, neither.
I will say I'm glad I tried.
Go on, Councilman.
I'll wait for you down here.
You're not coming? Now, what you gonna see ain't pretty.
But it's safe.
I think you need to take this journey your own self.
Yeah.
Better deal on those yellow tops.
Yellow tops right here.
- I ordered one for you.
- Thanks.
- Surprised I called? - A little.
After the way we left it.
I'm a type A, Jimmy.
People like me break things.
When I slow down, or when I take a minute to think about it, I Is that your idea of an apology? I didn't drive an hour up 95 to apologize.
I missed you.
I missed you too, I guess.
Seems a long way to come just to tell me that, then turn around and drive back down to DC.
I'm not driving back tonight.
So what's going on? Are you working on a case? Mm-hm.
It's a good one.
How about you? Anything interesting? I did hear a crazy Baltimore story, you know, through the rumor mill of Washington.
- Really? - Some renegade police commander takes it on himself to I don't know, legalise drugs in the precinct? Mayor doesn't even know about it? - Can you believe that? - Crazy story.
Someone I think it's Colvin.
You know him? No, I can't say that I do.
Still, I think it's funny that some water-cooler talker down in DC knows any Baltimore cop's name.
I was just wondering.
Listen, I'm - You're leaving? - Yeah, I think so.
Good night.
Damn, man, I miss this crib already.
Well, you spending a lot of time at the other spot doing what you gotta do, huh? Yeah.
Man, it's a shame we got to deal with this Marlo bullshit, man.
- If I had taken care of that earlier, man - There's always gonna be a Marlo, man.
No Marlo, no game.
But you could've dealt with that shit a little sooner, yeah, but don't let it lay on you like that.
Tonight, I mean, I'm gonna kick back and just enjoy this view.
I mean, look at this shit.
Can you fucking believe this? I got a crib that's overlooking the harbor.
We used to run through this motherfucker, we had every security guard in there following us.
- As they should have.
- True, true.
- And then there was that one time - Toy store? I told your ass not to steal the badminton set.
What you gonna do with a fucking net and a racket and we ain't got no yard.
You like, "Yo, that white boy ain't gonna chase after me.
" - He sure did, though.
- Then he's there.
- I said, "What the fuck?" - He was like Carl Lewis.
Fists was balled up.
Your ass was running too, fast as you could.
Punching yourself in the chest looking all mad and shit.
Argh! That shit was crazy, man.
Right here too, man, right there.
Goddamn.
Imagine, if I had the money that I have now, I could have bought half this waterfront property.
God damn it.
Forget about that for a while, man.
You know, just dream with me.
We ain't gotta dream no more, man.
We got real shit, real estate, that we can touch.
I can't get too fucked up tonight, man.
I got some shit I gotta do on the site tomorrow.
Plus, the fucking Polack we got working for us, man, I gotta pull his coat.
If he had anything to do with that Clay Davis bullshit, I'm gonna have to cut his money, little faggot.
What time y'all meeting? Er What time? 12, I think.
Why? You need me to do something for you? No, I'm just seeing where you going to be at.
You need to relax more, man.
Well, when the time is right, I will.
You know, I don't take my work too seriously.
That's right.
It's just business.
Us, motherfucker.
Us, man.
Get him, Andre, go get him.
Come on, Spider, you gotta swing on him.
Easy, easy, easy.
- All right? - I'm good, I'm good.
- Ditty, you up.
- Why didn't you hit him back? You, Justin.
Come on, boy, I'm calling your name.
Listen up.
We gonna have three two-minute rounds.
Watch the low blows.
Touch gloves.
And Let's go, Justin.
Justin, come on.
That's good, that's good.
Straight shot, come on.
Keep your hands up, Justin.
- Come on, man.
Come on.
- You gotta block that.
He leading left and punching right, Justin.
Move towards his weak side.
- He only come up to your waist.
- Man, bell.
- That was a quick two minutes.
- Yeah, I know.
Get you some water, boy, and spit it out.
- You all right? - Dizzy.
That's why the hell I keep telling you you got to breathe, boy.
So, what? You had enough? - No, I'm good.
- All right, all right.
- Let's go, Justin.
- Let's go, Justin! Jab, Justin.
Gotta jab.
Hm.
Hey, we're up.
Here it is.
- It's me, man.
- You heard from the fat man? - Yeah.
- We low, right? - One mark shy of the mark.
- Yeah, it's light.
- Cherry say it's light.
- Tell the man I'm doing what needs doing.
All right, I'll tell him.
Oh, and that other thing? - What? - Them two hitters you asked after.
- They good with it.
- Not on the phone.
- That's it.
- We got it! Good work.
I guess this is pertinent.
Ain't no need to go back out.
You ain't got to prove nothing.
Shoot, my momma hit me harder than that.
I still got a chance, he getting tired.
Drink and spit.
- Ready.
- You more than ready, boy.
You game, rooster.
Let's go, Justin! - Is there an alley entrance? - Boarded up on both sides.
So we gonna have to go through the front.
That's a change for you, isn't it? You just be ready, Bow Tie.
You know what I'm talking about? Breathe, boy.
Breathe.
Touch gloves.
- How'd I do? - You still got plenty to learn.
But on the heart side? You did good.
Go on home, soldier.
You done for the day.
I can see it all clearly now.
Between you and them subcontractors and that motherfucking politician, y'all had me in a spin, right? - Mr.
Bell, I don't know - Little man! We gonna get all this shit sorted out.
And if the shit don't come up right, one way or another you gonna pay for this shit.
I understand you're angry but we've made progress in here.
I don't know what passed between you and Senator Davis, but if you're unhappy with Clayton's performance - Shit.
- Oh, God.
Oh, God, no.
God, no.
I ain't strapped.
Look, man, I ain't involved.
I ain't involved in that gangster bullshit no more.
What y'all niggers want, man? Huh? Money? Is that it? 'Cause if it is, man, I can be a better friend to y'all alive.
You still don't get it, do you? Huh? This ain't about your money, bro.
Your boy gave you up.
That's right.
And we ain't had to torture his ass, neither.
It seem like I can't say nothing to change y'all minds.
Well, get on with it, mother
Drop your laundry and turn slowly.
So you gonna rob me now? I need to remind you who I am? Omar, isn't it? Pull it slowly.
Then toss it.
Oh, I will move slow.
I ain't tossing nothing, Bow Tie.
So whatever you gonna do, you might as well go ahead and make it quick.
- I knew you'd come back.
- I trust you didn't lose sleep over it.
Worrying about you would be like wondering if the sun gonna come up.
I ain't about to wild out over it.
What I want to know is how you find me.
Your boy, he didn't give you up easy.
Ain't no sugar-water run through them veins.
- You kill him? - He's resting.
- I see you favor a.
45.
- Tonight I do.
And I keeps one in the chamber, in case you pondering.
Nice showpiece you got there.
Walther PPK.
380, double action.
- Hear them Walthers like to jump some.
- As will you, with one in your elbow.
That gun ain't got enough firepower to make my joint useless.
It definitely won't stop me from emptying out half my mag.
- You might not hit me.
- This range? And this caliber? - Even if I miss, I can't miss.
- I admire a man with confidence.
I don't see no sweat on your brow neither, bro.
I suppose we could stand here all night.
Suppose we could.
Or settle this once and forever.
I want to ask you something, brother.
Omar listening.
When you walk through the garden You gotta watch your back Well, I beg your pardon Walk the straight and narrow track Walk the straight and narrow track If you walk with Jesus He's gonna save your soul You gotta keep the devil Way down in the hole He got fire and the fury Fire and fury At his command Well, you don't have to worry Hold on to Jesus' hands Oh, we'll be safe from Satan When the thunder rolls Oh You gotta keep the devil Way down in the hole You gotta keep the devil Way down in the hole Way down Way down in the hole - I'm going to the West.
- All right.
- Peace out.
- All right.
Here we go.
- Yo, I need some face time with the man.
- Hold on, I'll holler back at you, man.
That'd be Shamrock.
Assuming Stringer Bell is the man, now we wait for the return call.
This is beautiful.
Lester, can you actually believe we fucking sold the wiretaps to the targets? For a week at least.
Maybe we ducked a bullet.
Maybe we clean this mess quietly, throw some horseshit at whatever reporter shows up and the mayor forgives and forgets.
We're ready to move on this, right? As soon as we get the word, we shut down all three zones.
There'll be nothing left before midnight shift.
So what the fuck are we waiting on for a day and half? Why isn't the Hall calling us? - Mayor's Office.
- Commissioner Burrell for Mayor Royce.
- I've heard enough.
- Hold on, Coleman.
- Let the man talk.
- Excuse me, Mayor.
I have Commissioner Burrell on the line.
- He says it's urgent.
- I'll bet it is.
He wants to move, Clarence.
He wants to clean this shit up yesterday, and so do we.
Tell him to hold.
Go ahead, Gene.
Look, I'm not a politician, I'm an academic.
From a public health perspective there are remarkable things happening in the free zones.
Needle exchanges, on-site blood testing, condom distribution.
We're interacting with an at-risk community that is largely elusive.
We're even talking some of them into drug treatment.
That's just what UM and Bon Secours have brought to the table.
If this were sanctioned, my department could put public resources into play.
- You people can't see the forest here.
- Odell? When the story breaks, the ministers will surely be against you.
And most of the City Council will be walking sideways away from your administration.
And my guess is the governor and the legislature will use this opportunity to piss on the city from a great height.
And Washington? Oooh.
Can you imagine how far the United States Department of Justice is gonna crawl up your ass behind this? Crime is down, Odell.
Medical people are telling me this could work.
I mean, a 14% decline in felonies citywide, I might be untouchable on this.
Look, we need to think.
See if we can keep this going without calling it what it really is.
- Jesus.
- Now, there's got to be a way.
I want you to talk this thing out.
Erv, thanks for holding.
Yes, but Yes, I understand.
Then I'll wait to hear from you.
We're to hold off on any action in Hamsterdam.
No arrests, no movement until further notice.
He says he wants to regroup, determine the most effective course of action.
Translate that for me, will you, Erv? I don't speak his fucked-up lingo.
Royce is figuring a way to put all of us in the guillotine and keep the blood from spraying anywhere near the Hall.
Shit, I'll be goddamned if I'm gonna go out like that.
Bent over in public.
I can spin the story just as well as that motherfucker.
- You're gonna go to the press? - Not me.
But I know a slick little bastard who will happily put His Honor's shit in the street.
Something funny about that? I look in the paper, and I see all these Federal grants, but nothing for B&B.
- You're expecting what? - Payout.
A big payout for what we put in, man.
Federal dollars on them Howard Street rehabs.
- You gave money up front? - $250,000, yeah.
To Clay Davis.
How you know? What you saying? He's running game? - No, hell, no, he ain't that brazen.
- Mm-mm.
Let me guess.
He's told you about the faucet.
Or was it the goose that laid the golden egg? You ever actually meet the man? Did you see any of your cash reach anyone in authority? I met the guy at the Federal Building.
Yeah? What office? He came down to the lobby.
He rainmade you.
A guy says if you pay him, he can make it rain.
You pay him.
If and when it rains, he takes the credit.
If and when it doesn't, he finds reasons for you to pay him more.
- Clay Davis rainmade you.
- No, man.
He got them building permits in no time at all, man.
We bribing these motherfuckers.
He got the city contractor's money back.
- How much? - $35,000 so far.
- On the quarter-million? - It's for bribing the motherfuckers.
There are no bribes! You really think a State Senator is going to risk his salary and his position by walking into a Federal office with a briefcase full of drug money? I seen Chunky, Chunky Coates.
He gets his money same way everyone does.
He fills out applications, checks the plans, then prays like hell.
This is an old game in this town.
And Clay Davis? That ganef was born with his hand in someone's pocket.
I just wish you'd run it by me sooner.
Now here's Shamrock returning Bodie's call.
Talk about it.
The man said he'd see you same time as always.
During the first call, Sydnor had eyes on Shamrock over in West Baltimore.
All right? Now look at this.
At the time, Stringer Bell was at the print shop.
So it couldn't be a face-to-face meet.
We didn't catch a call between Stringer and Shamrock.
How can that be? Stringer's phone isn't on the same network as everyone below him.
- Right you are, ma'am.
- Bell's not using Bernard's burners.
And Shamrock has a separate phone for calling Bell.
We can't hear those calls because the system's compartmentalised.
Some tricky motherfuckers.
A week or so up on Bernard's phones and we'll have everybody, up to and including Shamrock, tangled up in conspiracy counts.
But Bell or Barksdale? Not unless we can pluck their cell numbers out of the air.
- Where you headed? - Toy store.
- He legalised drugs in special zones? - It's more than that.
Major Colvin lost the necessary perspective that is required for command.
Now, we were all under pressure to reduce crime before year-end, and he responded poorly to that pressure.
Pressure by who? Mayor? I'm just explaining to you that the pressure was applied all down the line, from Headquarters to the district commanders, to the shift and sector supervisors.
So Colvin's 14% decline was bullshit.
And they're selling drugs with police permission in Western? The Department is ready to shut that mess down with mass arrests.
- I'm on top of it.
- Why don't you move? The mayor says wait.
Why? I think he's gonna make some kind of show, spin it so that I take the weight for something that has nothing to do with me, and everything to do with the pressure that my commanders were getting from City Hall.
Going public and putting the responsibility for this back at City Hall is the only move I have left, right? I mean, I spin Royce before he spins me.
- And you want me to - No, not you.
Your pal, Tony Gray.
If he's gonna take a run at Royce, he's gonna need ammunition, right? I don't have a relationship with Gray.
I do have one with you.
And, Councilman, you owe me.
- What's up, hotshot? - I got a technical question.
Remember those units we used to use to get cell numbers? CF-something-something.
Cell frequency identification device.
- The Triggerfish.
- That one.
It could flag a number.
Right.
With the old machines, we had to follow the guy while he used the phone.
New digitals? Bing.
You just pull the number right off the cell tower.
You got any that Daddy can borrow? - What about yours? - What? City has three of them, I remember right.
Homeland Security sent them to you, every big county department.
No fucking way.
Thanks.
- I doubted you.
- I told you it was big.
If we play it right.
He wants me to turn the information over to Tony Gray.
He figures if Tony's running against the mayor, he'll aim at Royce, not the Department.
You may want to bring Tony in on it, keep him viable against the mayor.
But you need to find out what this is all about.
First-hand.
- Do you know this Major Colvin? - To shake hands, maybe.
If Burrell's painting him the villain, Colvin might be anxious to tell his side of the story.
McNulty, Major Crimes.
Sullivan, minor irritations.
You got anything that's like a CFID, but digital? For catching cell numbers.
- Catching who? - A Triggerfish machine.
Triggerfish.
For cell numbers.
How about I look around there on my own? This is Councilman Carcetti at the Hall.
- I'm trying to reach Major Colvin.
- He's on vacation.
I'm trying to reach him on municipal business.
I can put you through to his voicemail.
No, I said I have to reach him immediately.
- Immediately? - Right.
- How about his cell phone? - His cell? Yeah, that would be fine.
All right, that's enough.
Yeah, I know, it hurts.
But your fists gonna be like rocks after a while.
Justin, come here.
All right, I want you to push me in my chest.
You ain't got to do it hard.
- That's how you were standing.
- No weight on your back foot.
That's right.
No center of gravity.
Plus, if you get your stance right, then you got the means to put your hip into the punch.
Bah-bah.
Right? Bah-bah.
- That's where your power'll come from.
- Yeah.
What happen when we get hit? - Say what? - We get hit, even with this pad, you gonna get trucked.
- All this stuff falling apart.
- Yeah, the heavy bag too.
Yeah, where you get this stuff at? The town of Bedrock? Nah, he say nobody.
So you gonna have to wait.
What you mean, wait? You know who I am, boy? - Man say he want to see Avon.
- Making me wait to see my partner.
- He new, String.
- Fuck that.
Lot of new faces round here, man.
Way too many, you ask me.
Get the fuck out of here.
- Where Avon at? - He'll be along shortly.
That's good, 'cause I came to see you, anyway.
What you need? I need you to hit somebody.
Who we hitting? - Clay Davis.
- The Clay Davis? Downtown Clay Davis? Is that suppose to mean something to me, man? - That nigger need to be got.
- Shit, String, murder ain't no thing.
But this here is some assassination shit.
I tell you you getting somebody, you getting him.
Damn, String, I don't know I got to remind you who the fuck you work for? Hey, yo.
I think Slim gonna have to sit this one out, boss.
So you finna go hit a State senator now? Dawg, you kill a downtown nigger like that, the whole world gonna stand up and take notice.
I'm talking about the state police, federals, all of that.
You need a Day Of The Jackal type motherfucker for that shit, - not a rumble-tumble nigger like Slim.
- That nigger took our money, man.
- I seen it coming.
- Well, he got to go.
You a fucking businessman.
Handle it like that.
You don't wanna get all gangster wild with it and shit, right? What I tell you about playing them fucking away games? Yeah.
They saw your ghetto ass coming from miles away, nigger.
You got a fucking beef with them? That shit is on you.
So, we aim this at the nearest cell tower, the one that would be the conduit for calls coming to and from our boy, Bell andwe let rip.
Fucking hell.
Looks like Baltimore White Pages without any names.
But the pattern tracer'll pull that down.
If we know the approximate time of Bell's call, we could start by pulling calls off that tower at that time.
That could be thousands.
Yeah, but we get a second hit and that list comes down to dozens.
- And after a third or fourth - We've got his number.
I can't believe that this was just sitting over at ISD, gathering dust.
We're going to be on them for real now.
Well, they don't know about this technology yet.
- For once they can't change and adjust.
- It's genius.
Oh happy day Oh happy day When Jesus washed When Jesus washed He washed my sins away Need something? - How much you make, man? - What? On them Ts? How much you make? Fair profit.
No more than that.
You should sell sweats with hoodies.
Since the season's changing and all.
Where you live at? - Bodie Broadus.
- The man with the hands.
I heard you was opening up a gym or something.
Yeah, trying to.
- I'm looking to get up with Avon.
- Thought you was out.
Hey, man, that's why I came to you.
I mean, I feel like the way we left it, I can't just roll up on the man, you know? Hey, yo, it's me.
Yo, I got that hitter here with me.
Yeah, the soldier that walked in and out.
He want to see the top man.
You slam shit like that, you gonna fall out one day.
I'm good.
I'm trying to school you, boy, and you just don't wanna know.
I'm cool.
I'm good.
Whitey sale, whitey sale.
One for three, three for five.
Whitey sale.
Whitey sale, whitey sale, whitey sale, here.
One for three, three for five.
So what you want me to tell the man? Yo, I'll give word up, then I'll hit you back.
Shamrock.
- B&B Enterprises.
- We need to have lunch.
All right, hold on.
I'll call you back.
- Yo.
- Hey, it's me.
What's good? Yeah, it's me.
Yo, tell the hitter, tell him the tall man will pick him up.
- Right.
- 4:47.
Seven-minute window.
There's 892 phone numbers.
- That's our base line.
We're on our way.
- Yeah.
Stay the fuck there, man.
Yo.
Jimmy! On the clean phone.
He just hit your friend's number.
The one off the business card you gave me.
- The Western? - His cell.
Should we be worried about this? No.
- A boxing gym, huh? - Ain't a proper one yet.
That's why I asked to see you.
What you know about taking care of something like that? Not a damn thing.
But I know that sweet science.
And I got some kids who are interested.
But what I got a need for, bro, is equipment.
Man, these kids gonna get rained on.
They need headgear, they need guards, cups, so they can take the hit.
You know what I'm saying, man.
I seen you on them Globe posters back in the day.
- Little undercard shit.
- Yeah, but still, you was Golden Gloves.
For a minute, but I had a physical defect.
- What, you got a glass jaw? - Nah, forehead, nigger.
- Cranium shot'll do you wrong.
- Yo, look here, man.
You see the new heavy bags? Look, freestanding, man.
All you gotta do is add water.
Then you got speed bags, right there, right? You got this headgear right here.
It's new.
Look, protect the cheek and the chin, you know? And I know I can go around and collect a dollar here and a dollar there.
But I'm trying to put together a select group of people.
I call them my Gold Circle Club, and they gonna make a substantial contribution and just get this thing rolling right.
I mean, I'm gonna put their name and picture up on the wall in the gym.
- You trying to get me to join a club? - No, man, I'm just saying.
There's all sorts of levels.
We got the Silver Club, we got the Bronze Club.
Man, for motherfuckers who really don't want to dig that deep.
- Come on, man, check it out.
- No, man.
I ain't got no time for this bullshit, man.
I don't want my fucking name and face on no damn wall.
You crazy, nigger? How much money you talking about? See him go through all that for 10,000? Man, Slim, go get him 15,000 cash, man.
Yo! Shit.
All right.
Later, man.
You take care of them little niggers.
No doubt, bro.
- Yeah.
- Yo, you talk to him? Fat man wanna parlay.
- All right, you good.
Hook me up.
- Yeah, all right.
You check out what I sent you? Yeah, your information's good.
So, we can talk on the real side now, huh? - Tell your man I'm good for tomorrow.
- Yo, I'll hit you back.
- Now we're cooking.
- Cutting butter with a hot knife.
Next time Stringer Bell takes a call off the base line, he's ours.
- Game over.
- Mm-hm.
So, it ain't what it might seem to you.
That man there is my brother.
But if it keep on like it been, then Fuck.
You got problems? I stirred up some shit with this Hamsterdam mess.
That's 'cause you was behind that that made me come to you with this.
Look like you and me both trying to make sense of this game.
Speak your mind, Russell.
You two good? Yeah.
We got y'all out front.
Let's go, P-Square.
- You look healthy.
- For a man who was gut-shot.
You reached out to a third party who engaged me in the purpose of holding your Towers.
That third person's word was your word, as he represented you.
That's right.
And I ran those East Baltimore gentlemen off.
I held up my end of the agreement, at least for as long as I was physically able.
You did.
Your man then set up a meet at Butchie's bar.
Your man told Omar Little that I was responsible for the torture of a young boy who was close to Mr.
Little's heart.
Your man, in effect, sought to have me hit.
Omar told you that and you believe that motherfucker? He doesn't strike me as a man who would tell stories.
Even at the point of dying.
Shit.
Proposition Joe package.
The inner workings of your organization don't concern me.
If there's a way, I mean, if my man If he made a mistake here, then I'm willing to pay the cost.
How can we fix it? You want money? - Money? - Yeah, this is business.
Business is where you are now.
But what got you here is your word and your reputation.
With that alone, you've still got an open line to New York.
Without it, you're done.
My man's still on paper.
I can put him in a spot that got heavy artillery.
I ain't talking about pistols.
I'm talking about mini TEC-9s, shotguns, they even got grenades in that motherfucker.
That's an automatic fall.
So, I'm hoping you could keep that shit to five.
If you hit the joint, his people will try and take the rap for it, say all that firepower is theirs.
So all you gotta do is just hit him with the parole backup.
Look, I can't make no promises.
- It's gonna be a nickel at least.
- Come on, man.
- Him and me - I'm gonna do my best, all right? He's always at this place? No, he come and go.
But it's the spot since the war started.
He must have done something to you.
No, it's just business.
Almost forgot.
This came in for you last night.
Said she called your cell phone but no answer.
Had a nice voice.
Like a kitty cat.
We're on.
- He said for you to be there, half-pint.
- Yeah, OK.
- Stringer Bell, that's him.
- There it is.
Yeah, but for how long? He could toss that burner at any moment.
- I got Rhonda, you raise Daniels.
- OK.
- Ronnie? We're on Stringer's phone.
- Lieutenant.
Go to the judge.
I'll meet you there with an affidavit.
- Lester's raising Daniels.
- McNulty's calling Pearlman.
Watch that footwork, baby.
All right.
Take it to him, now.
Yeah.
Take it to him, now.
- I'm a beast, coach.
- All right, boy, don't be gloating on it.
When we gonna have some real fights, one of them tournament things? - Yeah, we gladiators, son.
- Y'all got more fire than skills.
You ain't ready for no full-blown thing just yet.
But I don't know, maybe it'd be good for y'all to spar with some boys you don't know.
A nigger step in my house, he getting dropped.
I met these fellas at that gym over on Pennsylvania Avenue.
I'll see if they wanna roll through, all right? All right? You don't return a Councilman's calls? I'm off this week.
Taking a little accrued vacation.
Yeah.
And I heard why.
I'm here for your side of this story.
If I can't get that, then whatever comes out of Burrell's mouth is gonna stand.
You good with that? What did you do, Major? And why the fuck haven't they shut it down? We've seen that law enforcement's steamroller approach is just spitting in the wind! I really think that you're onto something here, but if you keep it up, they'll be calling you the most dangerous man in America.
I know it may appear that we're vulnerable here, huh? But if we enforce the drug laws everywhere else in the city aggressively, how can they say we're not a law and order administration? Now there's got to be a middle ground here that we have yet to find.
There's got to be some way to accomplish this without turning everything upside down.
This used to be one of my worst corners.
This is where a cop got shot last summer, right? - Dozerman.
- Looks quiet now.
So do most all my corners.
G- man.
- So, what's up? - Shut the door.
In ten minutes we're gonna have an affidavit for a City judge to sign.
- It's for Russell Bell's dirty cell.
- It's a good pull.
It is if Bay Wireless doesn't take five days to process it.
You owe me, Fitz.
That whole port case came down early behind some ugly shit in your house.
Now, I don't care how you do it, but I need my wire today.
These guys were in radio cars two months ago, chasing calls, clearing corners.
I pulled them to do felony follow-up.
More police work, less bullshit, and that's why my crime is down.
The numbers are true.
- What did he do? - Church burglaries, 14 of them.
Let's go.
Mademoiselle.
Is it "aff-e-ant" or affiant? I've never been clear on that.
You been hunting this guy Bell for a long time, haven't you, Jimmy? A while, yeah.
Name's familiar to me.
That thing that we did a few years back, was he the Yeah.
What's done is done, Jimmy.
Now, for your own fucking sake, just let it go.
Come on.
As the affiant, do you solemnly swear that the information contained in this document That's the most significant drop in crime in this district in recent history.
We still got hard-looking boys out on them streets.
And, Sergeant, you know them little mini-motorcycles? - They keeping me up at night.
- We're working on that.
I have been living in this part of the city my whole life.
I can tell you something.
We weren't any angels when we were kids.
And those hard boys you talking about, half of them, they's just playing gangster.
They ain't no different from what we were.
Shirts and drawers a little longer, is all.
The one thing I do miss about my neighborhood, the neighborhood I came up in See, we knew the police.
See? We had a white police officer.
Our house was on his beat, on his foot beat.
He would be sitting out talking to my mother damn near every night, just sitting out on her stoop, just talking.
And I'm telling you, this man, his name was Frazier O'Leary.
- He even knew my grandmother by name.
- Yes, ma'am.
Let's move on to the tip-line information I'm so sorry, baby, but I was not finished.
You see, let me tell you something.
I have not seen that face-to-face policing in a long while.
In a very long while.
Until last week.
A young officer, black officer, came by my stoop, gave me his card.
His name is Reggie Ballard, is his name, right? And he sat, and he talked to me.
We just talked.
And, see, now I know his name and face and he knows my name and face.
You see? And I'm going to tell you something.
That is how it should be.
My son wanna open up a snowball stand on the street.
Do we need a permit for this? You ever seen a West Side community meeting like this one? The folks downtown tell me that stands aren't allowed in the city right-of-way at all.
Now they do say it's possible to have a snowball stand behind the sidewalk.
Why are you really down here, Councilman? - I mean, this ain't even your district.
- I'm interested.
And I have the public safety subcommittee.
You see that building there? It was the old Stryker building, it was a funeral parlor.
The last stop before the cemetery for West Side white folk back when there were still some around.
Right about the time that Jim Crow was breaking up back in the early '60s, somebody asked old man Stryker, they said, "Stryker, "you gonna change your policy and start burying black folk?" And Stryker said, "Yeah, on one condition.
"That I can do them all at once.
" That's sick.
But you know something? I had a lot of respect for that man.
'Cause, unlike most folks, I always knew where he stood.
I'm doing my job.
Look, I done showed you the good.
Come on, let me show you the ugly.
Hey.
- How come so quick? - Stringer Bell's given name.
Russell.
For now, Ahmed.
We're on the top of the mountain.
Red tops over here.
Come get them, come get them.
- This is it? - One of three.
How did you make this happen? I just did it.
I got tired of hearing folks talk about what needed to be done or what they would do if it was up to them.
So, this is about you making a mark? No, I ain't analyzed it all that deep.
I ain't claiming no kind of victory, neither.
I will say I'm glad I tried.
Go on, Councilman.
I'll wait for you down here.
You're not coming? Now, what you gonna see ain't pretty.
But it's safe.
I think you need to take this journey your own self.
Yeah.
Better deal on those yellow tops.
Yellow tops right here.
- I ordered one for you.
- Thanks.
- Surprised I called? - A little.
After the way we left it.
I'm a type A, Jimmy.
People like me break things.
When I slow down, or when I take a minute to think about it, I Is that your idea of an apology? I didn't drive an hour up 95 to apologize.
I missed you.
I missed you too, I guess.
Seems a long way to come just to tell me that, then turn around and drive back down to DC.
I'm not driving back tonight.
So what's going on? Are you working on a case? Mm-hm.
It's a good one.
How about you? Anything interesting? I did hear a crazy Baltimore story, you know, through the rumor mill of Washington.
- Really? - Some renegade police commander takes it on himself to I don't know, legalise drugs in the precinct? Mayor doesn't even know about it? - Can you believe that? - Crazy story.
Someone I think it's Colvin.
You know him? No, I can't say that I do.
Still, I think it's funny that some water-cooler talker down in DC knows any Baltimore cop's name.
I was just wondering.
Listen, I'm - You're leaving? - Yeah, I think so.
Good night.
Damn, man, I miss this crib already.
Well, you spending a lot of time at the other spot doing what you gotta do, huh? Yeah.
Man, it's a shame we got to deal with this Marlo bullshit, man.
- If I had taken care of that earlier, man - There's always gonna be a Marlo, man.
No Marlo, no game.
But you could've dealt with that shit a little sooner, yeah, but don't let it lay on you like that.
Tonight, I mean, I'm gonna kick back and just enjoy this view.
I mean, look at this shit.
Can you fucking believe this? I got a crib that's overlooking the harbor.
We used to run through this motherfucker, we had every security guard in there following us.
- As they should have.
- True, true.
- And then there was that one time - Toy store? I told your ass not to steal the badminton set.
What you gonna do with a fucking net and a racket and we ain't got no yard.
You like, "Yo, that white boy ain't gonna chase after me.
" - He sure did, though.
- Then he's there.
- I said, "What the fuck?" - He was like Carl Lewis.
Fists was balled up.
Your ass was running too, fast as you could.
Punching yourself in the chest looking all mad and shit.
Argh! That shit was crazy, man.
Right here too, man, right there.
Goddamn.
Imagine, if I had the money that I have now, I could have bought half this waterfront property.
God damn it.
Forget about that for a while, man.
You know, just dream with me.
We ain't gotta dream no more, man.
We got real shit, real estate, that we can touch.
I can't get too fucked up tonight, man.
I got some shit I gotta do on the site tomorrow.
Plus, the fucking Polack we got working for us, man, I gotta pull his coat.
If he had anything to do with that Clay Davis bullshit, I'm gonna have to cut his money, little faggot.
What time y'all meeting? Er What time? 12, I think.
Why? You need me to do something for you? No, I'm just seeing where you going to be at.
You need to relax more, man.
Well, when the time is right, I will.
You know, I don't take my work too seriously.
That's right.
It's just business.
Us, motherfucker.
Us, man.
Get him, Andre, go get him.
Come on, Spider, you gotta swing on him.
Easy, easy, easy.
- All right? - I'm good, I'm good.
- Ditty, you up.
- Why didn't you hit him back? You, Justin.
Come on, boy, I'm calling your name.
Listen up.
We gonna have three two-minute rounds.
Watch the low blows.
Touch gloves.
And Let's go, Justin.
Justin, come on.
That's good, that's good.
Straight shot, come on.
Keep your hands up, Justin.
- Come on, man.
Come on.
- You gotta block that.
He leading left and punching right, Justin.
Move towards his weak side.
- He only come up to your waist.
- Man, bell.
- That was a quick two minutes.
- Yeah, I know.
Get you some water, boy, and spit it out.
- You all right? - Dizzy.
That's why the hell I keep telling you you got to breathe, boy.
So, what? You had enough? - No, I'm good.
- All right, all right.
- Let's go, Justin.
- Let's go, Justin! Jab, Justin.
Gotta jab.
Hm.
Hey, we're up.
Here it is.
- It's me, man.
- You heard from the fat man? - Yeah.
- We low, right? - One mark shy of the mark.
- Yeah, it's light.
- Cherry say it's light.
- Tell the man I'm doing what needs doing.
All right, I'll tell him.
Oh, and that other thing? - What? - Them two hitters you asked after.
- They good with it.
- Not on the phone.
- That's it.
- We got it! Good work.
I guess this is pertinent.
Ain't no need to go back out.
You ain't got to prove nothing.
Shoot, my momma hit me harder than that.
I still got a chance, he getting tired.
Drink and spit.
- Ready.
- You more than ready, boy.
You game, rooster.
Let's go, Justin! - Is there an alley entrance? - Boarded up on both sides.
So we gonna have to go through the front.
That's a change for you, isn't it? You just be ready, Bow Tie.
You know what I'm talking about? Breathe, boy.
Breathe.
Touch gloves.
- How'd I do? - You still got plenty to learn.
But on the heart side? You did good.
Go on home, soldier.
You done for the day.
I can see it all clearly now.
Between you and them subcontractors and that motherfucking politician, y'all had me in a spin, right? - Mr.
Bell, I don't know - Little man! We gonna get all this shit sorted out.
And if the shit don't come up right, one way or another you gonna pay for this shit.
I understand you're angry but we've made progress in here.
I don't know what passed between you and Senator Davis, but if you're unhappy with Clayton's performance - Shit.
- Oh, God.
Oh, God, no.
God, no.
I ain't strapped.
Look, man, I ain't involved.
I ain't involved in that gangster bullshit no more.
What y'all niggers want, man? Huh? Money? Is that it? 'Cause if it is, man, I can be a better friend to y'all alive.
You still don't get it, do you? Huh? This ain't about your money, bro.
Your boy gave you up.
That's right.
And we ain't had to torture his ass, neither.
It seem like I can't say nothing to change y'all minds.
Well, get on with it, mother