Treme s02e02 Episode Script
Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky
Y'all have really made a lot of progress.
And I appreciate you working nights and weekends to get this done before the holidays.
Well, that was our promised date.
Can you get to the outbuildings? No reason not to.
We haven't done anything in the back for, I don't know, 10 years.
That's good stuff, really.
I mean, it reminds me of Woody Shaw a bit, you know, "escape velocity," that kind of stuff.
Yeah, well, Woody's bringing his head to Coltrane on "velocity.
" Us modern jazz cats gotta come to 'Trane eventually.
Yeah, no doubt, no doubt.
I'm in the studio with New Orleans's own Delmond Lambreaux.
We're playing tracks from his new CD "Walk-up" from Quartal records.
Uh, any sense of how it's selling? Selling? It's jazz, man.
Yeah, true that, but I'm hoping it's finding an audience.
I know a couple of smart, beautiful women who got a copy.
And I sent one to my father.
So that's, like, three or four copies I know about.
Yeah, man, modern jazz is a lonely road.
Speaking of your dad, who is of course big chief Lambreaux of the guardians, I know he made it back for the last Saint Joseph's night, made that walk, but is he home to stay? How's he doing? He's hanging in there.
Hopefully I'll get to see him tomorrow morning.
I came straight from the airport to catch the show, man.
So your father's back in his house? Well, like most folks he's still waiting on the insurance check.
And now, I suppose, he's gonna be waiting on the road home money too.
Yeah, I heard that.
Well, we got time for one more track.
Anything you want to send out to anyone before you roll? Well, since you brought him up, I wouldn't mind blowing a few notes for my father on the off chance he might be catching this.
All right, all day long, pop, ya heard? Yeah, brah.
From the tradition, you know.
This here is the first thing my daddy taught me to play.
hanging in the Treme watching people sashay past my steps by my porch in front of my door church bells are ringing choirs are singing while the preachers groan and the sisters moan in a blessed tone - mm-hmm - Yeah down in the Treme just me and my baby we're all going crazy while jamming and having fun trumpet bells ringing bass drum is swinging as the trombone groans and the big horn moans and there's a saxophone down in the Treme it's me and my baby we're all going crazy while jamming and having fun down in the Treme it's me and my baby we're all going crazy - while jamming and having fun.
- Whoo! Lastly, I want to refresh your memory as to what it is - that New Orleans police are justifiably famous for.
- Uh-oh.
I said famous, not infamous.
This is a good thing.
This is something that we do right.
Cool.
Bring it, boss.
Every day, every night, every minute in the life of this city some asshat undergraduate from shitforbrains state college or some polyblend-wearing conventioneer from Des Moines staggers out into the French quarter looking for rum and happiness.
Three hours later they're wearing their own puke on bourbon street and waving beads at some topless progeny from an Arkansas trailer park.
Let bourbon street be bourbon street, ladies and gentlemen.
Because there is nothing there that requires our reform, short of, say, actual sex or human sacrifice in the street.
His pants were at his fucking ankles.
Understood, officer Landry.
And while the general rule of thumb is that topless walks and bottomless gets the cuffs, I note from the incident report that the arrestee was still wearing undershorts.
You could see the crack of his ass though.
They were slipping.
Yes, and yet that tells me that our suspect, while he may have lost his pants amid his misadventure, was not truly attempting an act of fornication or self-pleasure on the street.
In any other city of christendom this man was indecently exposed, but in our bailiwick he was, I will argue, momentarily underdressed.
I say again, let bourbon street be bourbon street.
And by all means avoid taking yourself off the street with an arrest that you can possibly duck.
Got it, boss.
Anything else, sergeant? You about covered it, sir.
Have a safe shift.
All right.
You hear about Mike hunter? Headquarters' rumor mill has a grand jury going after him and the others like he's lying about Danziger.
Pshh.
Yeah, Eddie Jordan's on the hunt, ain't he? Can't bring a damn murder case to court, but on this Danziger mess he's right up our ass.
Well, it's either him or a runaway grand jury.
For christ sakes, I was right there when the shoot-to-kill-looters order came down to district commanders.
"If you can sleep on it, you can do it"-- That's what they told us.
I know they put that out there even if they won't admit it now.
If it was a bad shoot, then why lie? All those guys have to do is tell the grand jury we received that order and they followed that order.
Anything happened after that-- It might be bad police work, but it ain't illegal.
The storm was a mess, you know? And I don't doubt that some bad shit happened.
I just-- But was there bad intent? We can't look back.
We need to deal with the here and now.
We have dupes-- "The Wild Tchoupitoulas.
" Mine's newer.
We ditch yours.
Negative.
We ditch neither.
See, this is you not believing in the relationship.
It's a telltale, Davis.
If you don't get rid of dupes, it means you're worried we're gonna split.
See, this is where you are exactly wrong.
Every household in New Orleans should have two copies of "the wild Tchoupitoulas.
" - What if one gets scratched up? - We buy another.
And go without it for how long? What if it's the middle of the night? What if we're having a party, it's 2:00 AM and we need to hear "meet de boys"? Are you willing to take that risk? Didn't think so.
Why is Kermit Ruffins in the R&B pile? Shouldn't it be with the jazz stuff? That's not the R&B pile.
That is musicians who I don't like or don't get along with.
You love Kermit.
Derrick Freeman has been a dick to me.
So 'cause you don't get along with Kermit's drummer you're gonna file Kermit's stuff under musicians you don't like? Okay.
So if I want to find your advanced copy of Kermit Ruffins and the barbeque swingers, "live at Vaughan's," I have to first remember that you and Derrick are pissy with each other? Yeah.
You-- What? You are such a freak.
You are.
You are.
Who's out there? A walk-in.
A man had your name.
I told you no new clients.
It's not like he asked for an appointment or anything.
It looks worse.
It is worse.
I've been working for three days, and now this place is officially unusable.
I need a new office to get away from my new office.
Hi.
I'm Toni Bernette.
Vincent Abreu.
Look, I'm not sure what I can do for you right now, given that we're just getting situated and I'm really in no position to take on new clients right now.
I saw your name in the paper-- The shootings on the bridge.
The Danziger bridge, right.
You're the lawyer in that? I represent one of the victims' families, yes.
Did you have something to do with the Danziger case? No no, my son.
Your son? Joseph.
Joey.
He's dead-- In the storm.
I'm very sorry to hear that.
Everybody says something different, which is the reason I came down here.
And now that I'm here everyone wants to send me somewhere else.
Give me a few minutes to clear off my desk and we'll go back in the office.
Hey Delmond.
Poke.
Taxi! Shit.
Damn.
Well, first we got a call from Louisiana Police saying that he was dead.
Nothing el really, just they found Joey dead after the storm.
And they told you when? September last year.
I call the number they gave me for the mortuary people.
They tell me how to handle Joey-- What's left of him-- Because turns out he was kind of left on the ground for a while.
Um, so we do what we have to do, bring him home-- Massachusetts.
When did your son come down here? He came down here with friends four years ago for a festival or something.
They came back.
He stayed-- A shame.
You know, Mr.
Abreu, there was so much not accounted for after the storm.
It's entirely possible, even understandable, that no one knows what happened to your son.
Mm-hmm, well, so they tell me a year ago.
But that didn't sit right with us-- Well, my wife really.
She wanted to know more.
So a month ago I call back the mortuary, get his name as the cop to talk to.
Detective Dennis Prioleau.
Yeah, or however you pronounce it.
I call him five, six times.
He don't call back.
Finally a sergeant calls-- I forgot the name.
He says, "we don't know anything.
" Joey's body was found on the street and that's it.
" Detective Prioleau's one of the better guys in homicide, as far as I know.
I call the sergeant and I-- I say, "what's the street that Joey died on?" And he can't even give-- He won't even give me it.
I mean, come on, you can't tell me where my son died, for Christ sake? I keep calling.
I ask to speak to the supervisor.
Then this Prioleau guy-- He calls.
He says Marais or Moreau street was where Joey was found.
Oh, and hey, your son was killed by the other looters.
Law office.
How may I help you? That's what he says to me.
I'll need to check on that.
"Killed by other looters"? He said that? "Mr.
Abreu, your son was killed by other looters and we're never gonna find out who did it.
" Look, if Joey was doing stuff that he wasn't supposed to and something happened that shouldn't've, it is what it is.
Just give me the whole story.
Now when were you thinking you were gonna tell me poke came back and put y'all out the bar? Nice to see you too.
You staying here? Nowhere else to hang my hat.
We got the house pretty well cleaned out, tarp over the bad part of the roof.
This is crazy.
The bar was one thing, but this went from bad to worse.
Oh, don't fret none.
Now that the insurance money's landed we'll have this place fixed in no time.
You got the insurance check? $495.
And no cents.
Even after you wrote that appeal? Even after you took it to the insurance commissioner? They're paying for the carport only-- Wind damage.
Are you gonna cash that? I feel like if I do, I'm saying it's all right what they're doing.
- Linda.
- Desiree.
Girl, you working here? Since August.
You back in Fortier? Girl, please.
You know they let everybody go.
They didn't even try to sort the good from the bad, - just put us all on the street.
- I know it.
Every damn public school teacher in Orleans parish.
- Uh-huh.
- I'll tell you something though-- They ain't chasing me away.
I came back to vote, made sure of that.
- Amen.
- Wasn't teachers taking that money.
- School board.
- Then bust the damn school board.
That's what the f.
B.
I.
'S looking at, not the teachers' union.
But why hire one of me when you get two of them for the same price? Are they any good? Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
Are you coming back to teach here? Gotta take a test.
Can you believe that? teacher of the year twice, and I gotta take a goddamn test to come back and start over.
Tell me about it.
Lt all my seniority too.
Gotta scoot, girl, go take this damn thing.
How's your baby? Good when I see her.
She's with my mom all day while I'm here.
At least you got that.
Bye.
Bye, Linda.
Hope you end up here.
Hey, you were in New Orleans, right? New Orleans, yeah.
Right, well, you're gonna read this and go batshit.
This guy leveled your town.
He's ripping the chefs, the food-- Everything.
Alan Richman? He ripped us? He's like the Dean of food writing.
The fucker's got, like, six million beard awards.
Holy shit.
I can't believe it.
He's not just ripping the food.
Check it out.
"New Orleans was always a three-day stubble of a city.
I'm not certain the cuisine was ever as good as its reputation in part because the people who consumed, evaluated and admired it likely weren't sober enough at the time of ingestion "to know what they were eating.
" - Whoa.
- Fuck me.
"Supposedly creoles can be found" in and around New Orleans.
I have never met one "and suspect they're a fairy folk like leprechauns.
" - Fairy folk-- That's some funny shit.
- That's kind of harsh.
Richman is a serious guy.
That's gonna get a lot of play.
Oh great.
Now he goes on to trash Susan Spicer and Donald link? Donald link is a fucking hero.
Donald link was, like, one of the first guys back standing there serving free food in the street.
I mean, holy shit.
The town's just barely on its feet and this son of a bitch has got to come down and reevaluate whether we were ever any good, make fucking batter-as-entree jokes? Yeah, we heard 'em.
The guy's got a point about the cooking down there.
I mean, last time I was in New Orleans, it was like-- Fine, fine.
He doesn't like the food.
He thinks it's heavy or he thinks it's shit.
I don't care.
But for fuck's sake, it's a service economy.
They're fucking hurting.
He's got to write this now, tell people to stay away from New Orleans, don't come down, don't spend your money in restaurants? Do not cry.
We're gonna be together for Thanksgiving dinner.
I miss you too, jelly roll.
Okay okay, you stop crying-- I'll stop calling you jelly roll.
I'ma see you soon.
Thank you.
Gonna be a dead night again.
Too many dead nights in here.
Not enough people home.
Barbecue on Thursday is bringing in some folks.
Turkey necks on Tuesday sure ain't.
I'm thinking maybe live music.
Upside and a downside to it though.
What's the downside? Musicians.
Well, I saw my baby walking with another man today yeah, I saw my baby walking with another man today when I asked her, "what's the matter, baby?" this is what she got to say see you later, alligator after a while, crocodile see you later, alligator, yeah Hey, brah, put it back.
Put it back.
Hey.
Hey! After a while, crocodile! Hey! Gotta get off the fucking streets, man.
How did you hear about him? I asked where to hear some good music-- A simple question.
He's fucking great.
When he does that thing with that one eye-- Man, that kiss me.
All this time you've been here, coz, and you ain't never been here? I'm working.
You'd better second line second line you'd better strike up the band every day of the week parade my soul up and down these streets when I die you'd better second line - you'd better second line - You'd better second line you'd better second line you'd better second line - you'd better second line - You'd better second line you'd better second line.
Thank you, music lovers.
Thank you.
Now we've got a brief message from one of our elected officials-- Congressman Jefferson in the house! Thank you, Kermit.
Thank you, Kermit.
I'll just be a moment to thank you for your support in the general election and to remind all of you we have a runoff coming up next month.
And what's at stake is whether we get to come home to our New Orleans.
You know, my opponent supports the green-dot plan to get rid of some of our communities.
You know where I stand.
- So I need you all to come out to the polls-- I'm not going anywhere.
On December 9th and make Orleans parish heard.
Thank you.
- You think Jefferson gonna win? - Oh yeah, brah.
I don't know, brah.
What, because of the feds? Please.
Like you never forgot about $90,000 in your fucking freezer.
Can I do this one right here, brah? Yeah, you want to do it? Go ahead.
- I got a woman - Oh! Way across town that's good to me oh yeah I got a woman way across town that's good to me oh yeah 9th street station, the final stop for the g train.
Transfer available for the coney island's final f train.
- This is the last station stop.
- Fuck fuck fuck.
I got a woman way across town that's good to me You blaspheming ray Charles now? Oh, baby, you should have seen me last night.
I killed them dead.
I fronted that one and a couple of others-- Lee Dorsey, James Brown even.
You doing James Brown? I'm actually sorry I missed that.
Last night it really started getting good to me.
I got enough flex I can start my own band, you know.
You? Antoine Batiste and his soul apostles.
- Soul apostles? - Mm-hmm.
I'm out.
I got groceries to make.
I might meet you downtown with the baby.
Gonna go see some people.
You ain't meeting me.
Why not? You ain't got school today.
No school, but tonight is parents' night, remember? Aw hell, desiree.
I don't like it any more than you-- A bunch of bake sales and teacher conferences for a bunch of parents who never bother to show up.
Bye-bye, Pookie.
And later for the not-so-hardest-working man in show business.
That's sex machine to you, girl.
- I'm sure.
- Mm-hmm.
I'm told it's not even a homicide.
D-mort pended it.
Fine if they did, but here's the problem.
This guy is sitting up in Massachusetts getting different information from different people who probably don't know what they're talking about.
The guy's bouncing off the walls.
So he drives down here just looking for someone to talk to him.
So talk to him, okay? Who was the detective on it? Prioleau.
I'll give him a call.
I appreciate it.
You know, the horn section is gonna be moving together.
And they're gonna be in powder-blue tuxes, you know, shawl collar, like this-- Yeah.
I like that shit right there.
I'm talking old school, man, - the kind of shit that'd make Johnnie Taylor proud - Yeah.
- Make Solomon Burke give praise.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, you feel me? - I feel you.
Music that don't get played no more, but people wish they did, because you can shake your ass to it.
Yeah.
Ow! Girl! With a band like this I think we can hold down a couple of weeklies.
That many? Yeah, that many.
Oh, I don't know, Batiste.
You know I got my own gigs now.
And you can keep those.
But I can't do a gig like this without a woman's voice.
I mean, you can't do a full-out revue and fill it with just Otis and pickett.
Gotta have Carla Thomas too, right? Gotta get a woman's voice up in there for balance.
How much? Oh, Wanda, come on.
I don't get it.
What's in Baton Rouge? A joint field office for f.
E.
M.
A.
- Who do you know at f.
E.
M.
A.
? - A friend of a friend.
I should be out on a job with my crew on a roof somewhere.
That's why I called you.
I thought you were gonna come here and back me on my roofing gig.
Big picture, coz, big picture.
I don't take no money from my children.
You know this.
It's a loan, daddy.
You'll pay me back.
I got money coming in from the new c.
D.
I got tour dates lined up.
You selling jazz now, huh? All right, so between my sisters and me-- No, I'm doing this right here so that we can have dinner like you want.
Like I want? If it was like I want, we'd be in Houston at Davina's or in Atlanta with cheri and the kids.
You think I want to be having Thanksgiving out in the damn driveway? You ever meet a man so stubborn? We'll get his water turned back up, providing we can ass-kiss some inspector to give the okay.
I know you're tired of me coming over to your house to clean up.
Turn my soap all grey, ue up all my damn towels-- Why would I be tired of that? Acting all sweetness and light now that you're with your mother but they fought like cats and dogs in the back seat the whole way down.
I thought about leaving one of them at a gas station in laplace.
Couldn't decide which though.
Alcide, don't be hiding them Greens under the rice.
I know that trick.
Ma, is this gonna be the last Thanksgiving at grandma's for real? I can't imagine grandma in any other house.
Not a lot of traffic.
I'm thinking about getting some live music up in here, bring out more folks on the weekdays.
As I said, New Orleans kicked it back to us, we kicked it to the corps of engineers and they kicked on to the contractors.
What you need comes directly from the contractors or one of their subs.
The money is the lowest at this point.
Understood, but I was told to introduce myself he and that a call might be made on my behalf to one of the contractors.
A phone call's no problem.
That's good.
I suppose it is.
Look, give me a day or two on my end, call this fellow in Florida.
There shouldn't be any issue going forward.
It'll all flow through them.
And Give my best wishes to your friend.
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
We're subcontractors.
Under Riley's license, we're already that.
Oh, would you fuck the nickel-and-dime roofing jobs already? I just pulled a $200,000 contract for demolition and debris removal.
We're gonna need four crews with trucks to do three, maybe three-and-a-half city blocks a week.
Fuck you know about demolition and debris removal? I know p&j incorporated out of Florida.
I call this number, tell them we got the trucks-- We're ready to roll.
They're my hookup.
We don't got trucks, crews either.
Rocky, do you believe America is a land of opportunity? Yeah.
That we're still having trouble with our bus routes is frustrating, I know.
In September it was frustrating, but now it's just ridiculous.
And are you gonna tell us that this school is having a hard time securing hand soap and toilet paper in November? It has not been perfect-- Not at this school or any of the other charters, and certainly not in the recovery school district.
Everyone is dealing with the same issues.
Yes, ma'am.
My concern is the classroom.
It's my understanding that your geometry classes still are not giving out any homework 'cause there aren't enough take-home textbooks.
Thank you, baby, thank you.
They thought it was gonna be cake when they laid off the whole damn school system? Look at them now, wondering why everything is messed up.
Yeah, there's one thing different though.
You ever seen this many parents at a parents' night-- I mean ever? Sof? Sweetie? Sofia? I want to do it.
You know I love that muscle shoals-stax stuff, man.
I'd love to be a part of it.
Well, cool then.
When I told bennie, he bucked on me, you know.
Got mad having someone to fill for me while I'm gigging with y'all.
It's been hard on bennie trying to hold the band together.
And I'd hate to add to that.
You feel me? - Okay, well, I'll talk to bennie.
- Cool.
Ladies and gentlemen, Mem Shannon.
- You gonna sit in? - No, I just come to hear Mem do his set.
- You know I love his stuff.
- All right, well, I'm gonna roll home, me.
- Be cool.
- Be safe.
They say if I eat right, ride my bike I'll be just the right size for my height They say, "get yourself an education that will help improve your situation" Table 7, chef-- They're getting up to leave.
Let them go.
I'm thinking.
You got duck for me, right? Yeah, I have two.
Please, not me, not me.
All right, I need more rectangle plates.
Rectangle plates going out.
You know, the salmon can be a beautiful animal, wild, free.
Honor his death.
Listen to him.
You rush him to the pan-- You're destroying him.
You're squeezing out proteins, flavor-- Everything, the vital substance that makes him what he is.
You don't want to do that, do you? Of course not.
Of course not.
Slow down.
Listen to your fish.
Coming down the line.
Pick up table 12.
They're gone, chef.
I'll bet I could get cheeky.
Cheeky Blakk? Is this for the latest incarnation? D.
J.
Davis and his bounce brass funkateers.
No boundaries, no limits, no quarter given.
Are you on guitar or keyboards? A little of both-- An all-purpose svengali, if you will.
He was evil, you know.
- Who? - Svengali.
In the novel he was evil.
He manipulated trilby.
There is a novel? Who's trilby? For Thanksgiving tonight we should go to Popeye's, get the deep-fried turkey.
I can't help it.
I gotta know if it's as good as people say.
What do you mean? I'm due at my parents' house.
It's a yearly ritual.
So I'm on my own for Thanksgiving.
No, it's not like that.
You don't want me at your folks' house, just say so.
Annie, my family is dystopic-- That's the word.
They-- They're-- They can't be that bad.
I introduced a girl to them once and only once.
How'd that go? She now resides out of state.
How far out of state? Good morning.
Ohh, I gotta pull it together.
I gotta get to work.
There's probably coffee set up.
Just push the button.
Bullwinkle! Bullwinkle.
Bullwinkle! Hey, he's a pilot.
Look at his hat.
Hey, I'm Rick-- Rick the pilot.
I ride on a giant moose.
- Hey, check it out.
- Because he floats.
I'm like Amelia earhart on this moose with my weird fucking goggles and You gotta go? Yeah, got something I gotta do.
- I love a parade.
- I know.
Look at his teeth.
He still looks stupid.
I know, man.
It's 'cause he's a beaver.
How can you not be happy if you're a fucking beaver? Out of papers? Yeah.
But it's good this way.
Do you know what's cool about this dish? It's interactive.
Like when you're really stoned, is that light pink color in the milk from food coloring on the crunchberries or is it your own blood from the crunch itself cutting the shit out of the roof of your mouth? What's cool about that though is that your blood is like a basic component of this dish, part of the basic flavor, like Ortolan-- You know, when the tiny bones prick your gums.
In that way, one would say that the cap'n falls into a classic tradition going back to the romans.
Toni, it's not like I won't help you out when I can, but when did I become the go-to guy whenever you can't pry a report out of an n.
O.
P.
D.
Unit? I don't even need a report.
I don't need anything from anybody but to call this guy and tell him where his son was found dead and what's known.
That's all he wants.
And you went to the p.
I.
O.
, right? Yeah, and they came back with a no-comment, saying the case is still pending.
But that's bullshit.
No one's working this.
If prioleau finds out that I asked into this case, he gonna know I'm your bitch.
I'll be damned.
I saw that same guy play trumpet the other night at this little club way out from the French quarter.
You're learning the town, I see.
Oh, I'm loving the town, what's left of it anyway.
A lot needs to be done still.
Your man in Baton Rouge made it easy.
I'm hooked into one of the big contractors-- The one in Florida.
Well, thank your right back for sponsoring the stained-glass repairs at Saint Alphonsus.
And thank you, I assume, for banking whatever comes to you at southeast Louisiana bank and trust.
You don't even need to bring it up.
I was putting a good work for someone on a gaming license and the son of a bitch set up his corporate accounts at chase.
Well, ingratitude is not among my faults.
So second race-- Who do you like? - Oh, I never gamble.
- No? - Huh-uh.
- I imagine you don't.
What's next? I raised as much as I could in Dallas for your girl Carter, though I'm not sure it's gonna do much good.
What do you mean? In that club the other night listening to Kermit-- Bill Jefferson came in and worked the crowd, tarred your girl with supporting Greendot.
Yeah, even with a federal investigation dollar bill might pull it out remarkable.
Yeah.
So looking ahead, what else might I do to bring us some good? Well, statewide everybody could see Blanco's numbers have tumbled since the storm.
And the guy who might be our best option is Bobby Jindal-- Indian fellow.
Indian like Indian like the country.
He's Indian-American.
You got an Indian-American congressman in Louisiana? First Cubans, then the Mexicans, now Indians.
Who says we're the party of white folk? Jindal reps the first congressional district.
He is really young.
But he jumped into the governor's race three years ago and he showed pretty well.
He got a committee up? Not yet.
He's gonna announce in January.
Well, you know I'm in.
Better than that, I can make me calls in Dallas, bring some real rain.
Bless you, my son.
Hey, you show me a ring and I'll kiss it.
No problem.
Cheeky Blakk, cheeky Blakk and rebirth, and rebirth cheeky Blakk, cheeky Blakk Hey, what are you doing here this early? I switched shifts with David.
He hates Thanksgiving as a concept.
So do I actually, but I need to post at my parents' for turkey.
No more bounce, Davis, not this early.
Go somewhere else with it.
I'm fucking serious.
Okay.
Pop goes da pussy, pussy goes pop yeah, pop da pussy somebody say pop da pop da pop, pop dat pussy pop da pop da pop, pop dat pussy pop da pop da pop, pop dat pussy - What's your system? - Oh, no system.
I just try to wheel the favorite for an exacta.
Well, at least you know what you don't know.
Some people have a certain misplaced faith.
You see that fellow down by the rail-- Black fellow, glasses, purple shirt, dark jacket? Oliver Thomas, president of the city council, probably the next mayor if he wants it.
Yeah? Oliver loves the ponies.
He's a decent guy, certainly an improvement over nagin for sure.
A democrat, I'm guessing? Well, somebody's got to be.
Hey, this is a purple state.
Orleans parish is blue.
Makes sense to work both sides of the aisle.
Go ahead, make a new friend.
Acting like I'm really hard, don't make me bite you 'cause I would invite you I'm a chief, boy, I ain't scared to fight you come on now, baby, you ain't getting in for free you know the routine Turn around.
Bounce your ass.
Do it, come on.
No no.
This is d.
J.
Davis.
I'm out.
Gentilly junior is right behind me.
Happy Thanksgiving y'all.
This next one is for my station manager.
- Later, gent.
- Okay, I'll see you later, baby.
Everything I do gonh be funky from now on I said everything I do gonh be funky from now on everything I do gonh be funky from now on I have to be myself and do my thing a little soul can't do no harm everything I do gonh be funky from now on everything I do gonh be funky everything I do gonh be funky some may say that I got no class but I'm doing what I wanna do so groove with me if you can just do what you wanna do aw shucks, why you whining? I'm on fire Never before have I felt so good just being natural me minor hang-ups and minor times but deep inside I'm free let your hair down, get down with it who's to say what's right or wrong? 'cause everything I do gonh be funky from now on So, Brandy, you guys met when? Last Mardi Gras at a party.
Oh, are you from down here? Born and raised.
Oh, I guess I musta got confused.
Ain't no oven, but warming up on the grill.
Ooh, I'm on it.
So that's your down-here girlfriend? Be nice.
Be quiet.
I'm just trying to keep proper score.
Speaking of which, whatever happened to daddy's thing-- Lula, was it? My guess-- She had an opinion.
I don't know if he put her down or if it's part of something bigger.
He seems tired.
He seems more than tired.
He call a practice yet? I don't think so.
All right, call George, tell him to ask big chief if we can call practice on Sunday.
Then let slip I'ma stay down here for it.
Let my daddy hear I'm thinking about masking Indian this year.
Boy, you're devious.
Yeah.
- Look at this haircut-- The bowl cut.
- Look at the ears.
- What's wrong with his ears? They're beautiful.
- No, they're beautiful.
- Oh good.
I'm teasing, darling.
- What's that? Oh, that-- That was a musical.
Yeah, look at him.
Davis, did I ever tell you how I could drive my 1958 Mercury Monterey from the l.
S.
U.
Campus to the corner of Dumaine and Dauphine in 42 minutes flat on a Saturday night? Oh, I surely could.
I'll bet you were a hellion in college, as cruel as you were beautiful.
Listen, the song had it right about those LSU boys-- Go in dumb, come out dumb too.
Now an Auburn man-- Stop it, Mimi.
You're just saying that to make Roger angry.
I believe my father has passed the possibility of anger.
He had fun.
Leave him alone.
How did you get him to wear that? You know, with a little bribery.
Not to eat and flee, but Annie and I want to catch this bounce show on the west bank, so we gotta go.
No, Davis, this is so great.
- Yeah, we're having fun.
- Can we stay a minute? Well, I could just take a cab then.
While I go to the club alone, you're gonna stay here with my mother? This is the plan? Well, Davis, if you really require an escort for this affair, I am more than game.
Mimi, act your age.
Well, why in God's name would I ever want to do anything of that sort? You and me at a bounce show? Everybody everybody I got that gin in my system somebody gon' be my victim do it for ya, third ward, shake it for ya, fourth ward work it for ya, fifth ward, clap it for the sixth ward bounce it for the seventh ward, clap it for that eighth ward and if you bounce uptown and bounce like this 'cause I ain't never seen a shaker shake like this and if you bounce uptown and bounce like this 'cause I ain't never seen a shaker shake like this gimme extra gimme extra-tra gimme extra, gimme extra again get on it, back on it, get on it, there you go D.
J.
Davis.
Not for long, I fear.
What? Oh hey, aunt Mimi-- Katey Red.
- Hi.
- Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you.
You too.
My God, I would kill for those shoes.
Oh, you like? Oh, darling, they are to die for.
I tell you what-- I'ma take you to meet Charles.
He owns this shop uptown.
And he has a pair of blue pumps on tonight that put my shit to shame.
You just lead on, girlfriend.
- Come on, girl.
- Bye.
Bye.
Slide over, baby.
It was a good Thanksgiving, ma.
That's 25 thou each per 7500 cubic yards cleared.
But you gotta make that number in three weeks.
Questions? Yeah, why us four and not some of the other haulers? I don't even know you, brah.
Well, to tell you the truth, I asked the sub they put me under for licensed guys that were already getting f.
E.
M.
A.
Money and had five or six trucks working.
He gave me you.
Now if he's wrong, I'll ask for other names.
Is he wrong? Call when you've made the number, and by then I might have another piece of the pie.
Anyone has a problem-- I do not fucking care.
Just get it done in three weeks and we're good.
Now make the holiday and be thankful.
If we're pulling 25 for the work, what do you think he's pulling? Motherfucker.
Don't even think about it, brah.
Man, I don't believe this shit.
What's up, brah? - Man, I just got robbed.
- What? Yeah yeah, man.
A boy-- He had a gun, aimed it right at my face.
Any other town but every time I see, every time I see no place but the n.
O.
That I'd rather be said the city still rebuilding but there's food to eat 'cause ain't no place up in this world like New Orleans we've been down by the river and under the lake below sea level, that's where I stay, hey hey even though we're always gone there's no place like home - now we up in New Orleans - New Orleans - is where I want to be - Is where I want to be - still up in New Orleans - New Orleans - that's the place to be - That's the place to be - rebirth in New Orleans - New Orleans - it's where I want to be - It's where I want to be - still up in New Orleans - New Orleans talkin' post-Katrina hey hey hey hey hey hey.
don't you feel like crying? Here I am, honey come on, come on, cry to me This is New Orleans! Don't fucking tell me what New Orleans-- Don't talk about New Orleans.
This is New Orleans.
And there's nothing but Don't you feel like crying? don't you feel like crying? What's going on, y'all? Come on, come on, cry to me He knew, right? I asked him if we could have practice, he said yeah.
Told him you was coming too, so he knows.
Loneliness loneliness is just a waste of time baby, you don't have to walk walk all alone if your lover is gone take my hand, won't you, honey? and come on and walk with me oh yeah.
Man, I don't know why the hell I blew off on you like that, man.
You need to use him for your gigs, you can use him.
Nah, don't carry it like that, bennie.
If you can't spare him then that's all she wrote.
Man, to tell you the truth, I'm about sick and tired of this whole brass band thing, man.
- I think I've had enough.
- Bennie.
Police killed Joe like they did, plus they lied on him.
That's the third guy we lost.
Then the storm hit.
We all scattered all over this place.
Then the accident in Atlanta with terrell losing both his legs, man.
I'm just tired.
Water.
- You heard about Jamal? - No no.
What happened? - He got jacked.
- Oh man.
For real.
Parked around the corner and this boy puts a gun in his face before he gets halfway to the club.
That's crazy.
I saw him rig after.
Yeah, man, happened on Gravier.
Hurricane ain't enough to wake these knuckleheads up, I don't know what is.
I mean, live your life, man.
Have fun.
But if you're from New Orleans, then act like you're from New Orleans.
Shit's bad, man, real bad.
Your man on the snare-- He's tight.
Dinerral? Yeah, he rock.
Look, y'all have come too far to quit now, bennie.
I can find another trumpet if it don't work, for real.
Nah nah nah, man.
You can use him.
It's all good, man.
Shit's never easy around here though.
You know that.
Sofia.
Are you asleep, sweetie? ain't got no home and no place to roam ain't got no home and no place to roam I'm a lonely boy I ain't got a home I got a voice I love to sing I sing like a girl and I sing like a frog I'm a lonely boy I ain't got a home ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh I ain't got a man I ain't got a son I ain't got a daughter I ain't got
And I appreciate you working nights and weekends to get this done before the holidays.
Well, that was our promised date.
Can you get to the outbuildings? No reason not to.
We haven't done anything in the back for, I don't know, 10 years.
That's good stuff, really.
I mean, it reminds me of Woody Shaw a bit, you know, "escape velocity," that kind of stuff.
Yeah, well, Woody's bringing his head to Coltrane on "velocity.
" Us modern jazz cats gotta come to 'Trane eventually.
Yeah, no doubt, no doubt.
I'm in the studio with New Orleans's own Delmond Lambreaux.
We're playing tracks from his new CD "Walk-up" from Quartal records.
Uh, any sense of how it's selling? Selling? It's jazz, man.
Yeah, true that, but I'm hoping it's finding an audience.
I know a couple of smart, beautiful women who got a copy.
And I sent one to my father.
So that's, like, three or four copies I know about.
Yeah, man, modern jazz is a lonely road.
Speaking of your dad, who is of course big chief Lambreaux of the guardians, I know he made it back for the last Saint Joseph's night, made that walk, but is he home to stay? How's he doing? He's hanging in there.
Hopefully I'll get to see him tomorrow morning.
I came straight from the airport to catch the show, man.
So your father's back in his house? Well, like most folks he's still waiting on the insurance check.
And now, I suppose, he's gonna be waiting on the road home money too.
Yeah, I heard that.
Well, we got time for one more track.
Anything you want to send out to anyone before you roll? Well, since you brought him up, I wouldn't mind blowing a few notes for my father on the off chance he might be catching this.
All right, all day long, pop, ya heard? Yeah, brah.
From the tradition, you know.
This here is the first thing my daddy taught me to play.
hanging in the Treme watching people sashay past my steps by my porch in front of my door church bells are ringing choirs are singing while the preachers groan and the sisters moan in a blessed tone - mm-hmm - Yeah down in the Treme just me and my baby we're all going crazy while jamming and having fun trumpet bells ringing bass drum is swinging as the trombone groans and the big horn moans and there's a saxophone down in the Treme it's me and my baby we're all going crazy while jamming and having fun down in the Treme it's me and my baby we're all going crazy - while jamming and having fun.
- Whoo! Lastly, I want to refresh your memory as to what it is - that New Orleans police are justifiably famous for.
- Uh-oh.
I said famous, not infamous.
This is a good thing.
This is something that we do right.
Cool.
Bring it, boss.
Every day, every night, every minute in the life of this city some asshat undergraduate from shitforbrains state college or some polyblend-wearing conventioneer from Des Moines staggers out into the French quarter looking for rum and happiness.
Three hours later they're wearing their own puke on bourbon street and waving beads at some topless progeny from an Arkansas trailer park.
Let bourbon street be bourbon street, ladies and gentlemen.
Because there is nothing there that requires our reform, short of, say, actual sex or human sacrifice in the street.
His pants were at his fucking ankles.
Understood, officer Landry.
And while the general rule of thumb is that topless walks and bottomless gets the cuffs, I note from the incident report that the arrestee was still wearing undershorts.
You could see the crack of his ass though.
They were slipping.
Yes, and yet that tells me that our suspect, while he may have lost his pants amid his misadventure, was not truly attempting an act of fornication or self-pleasure on the street.
In any other city of christendom this man was indecently exposed, but in our bailiwick he was, I will argue, momentarily underdressed.
I say again, let bourbon street be bourbon street.
And by all means avoid taking yourself off the street with an arrest that you can possibly duck.
Got it, boss.
Anything else, sergeant? You about covered it, sir.
Have a safe shift.
All right.
You hear about Mike hunter? Headquarters' rumor mill has a grand jury going after him and the others like he's lying about Danziger.
Pshh.
Yeah, Eddie Jordan's on the hunt, ain't he? Can't bring a damn murder case to court, but on this Danziger mess he's right up our ass.
Well, it's either him or a runaway grand jury.
For christ sakes, I was right there when the shoot-to-kill-looters order came down to district commanders.
"If you can sleep on it, you can do it"-- That's what they told us.
I know they put that out there even if they won't admit it now.
If it was a bad shoot, then why lie? All those guys have to do is tell the grand jury we received that order and they followed that order.
Anything happened after that-- It might be bad police work, but it ain't illegal.
The storm was a mess, you know? And I don't doubt that some bad shit happened.
I just-- But was there bad intent? We can't look back.
We need to deal with the here and now.
We have dupes-- "The Wild Tchoupitoulas.
" Mine's newer.
We ditch yours.
Negative.
We ditch neither.
See, this is you not believing in the relationship.
It's a telltale, Davis.
If you don't get rid of dupes, it means you're worried we're gonna split.
See, this is where you are exactly wrong.
Every household in New Orleans should have two copies of "the wild Tchoupitoulas.
" - What if one gets scratched up? - We buy another.
And go without it for how long? What if it's the middle of the night? What if we're having a party, it's 2:00 AM and we need to hear "meet de boys"? Are you willing to take that risk? Didn't think so.
Why is Kermit Ruffins in the R&B pile? Shouldn't it be with the jazz stuff? That's not the R&B pile.
That is musicians who I don't like or don't get along with.
You love Kermit.
Derrick Freeman has been a dick to me.
So 'cause you don't get along with Kermit's drummer you're gonna file Kermit's stuff under musicians you don't like? Okay.
So if I want to find your advanced copy of Kermit Ruffins and the barbeque swingers, "live at Vaughan's," I have to first remember that you and Derrick are pissy with each other? Yeah.
You-- What? You are such a freak.
You are.
You are.
Who's out there? A walk-in.
A man had your name.
I told you no new clients.
It's not like he asked for an appointment or anything.
It looks worse.
It is worse.
I've been working for three days, and now this place is officially unusable.
I need a new office to get away from my new office.
Hi.
I'm Toni Bernette.
Vincent Abreu.
Look, I'm not sure what I can do for you right now, given that we're just getting situated and I'm really in no position to take on new clients right now.
I saw your name in the paper-- The shootings on the bridge.
The Danziger bridge, right.
You're the lawyer in that? I represent one of the victims' families, yes.
Did you have something to do with the Danziger case? No no, my son.
Your son? Joseph.
Joey.
He's dead-- In the storm.
I'm very sorry to hear that.
Everybody says something different, which is the reason I came down here.
And now that I'm here everyone wants to send me somewhere else.
Give me a few minutes to clear off my desk and we'll go back in the office.
Hey Delmond.
Poke.
Taxi! Shit.
Damn.
Well, first we got a call from Louisiana Police saying that he was dead.
Nothing el really, just they found Joey dead after the storm.
And they told you when? September last year.
I call the number they gave me for the mortuary people.
They tell me how to handle Joey-- What's left of him-- Because turns out he was kind of left on the ground for a while.
Um, so we do what we have to do, bring him home-- Massachusetts.
When did your son come down here? He came down here with friends four years ago for a festival or something.
They came back.
He stayed-- A shame.
You know, Mr.
Abreu, there was so much not accounted for after the storm.
It's entirely possible, even understandable, that no one knows what happened to your son.
Mm-hmm, well, so they tell me a year ago.
But that didn't sit right with us-- Well, my wife really.
She wanted to know more.
So a month ago I call back the mortuary, get his name as the cop to talk to.
Detective Dennis Prioleau.
Yeah, or however you pronounce it.
I call him five, six times.
He don't call back.
Finally a sergeant calls-- I forgot the name.
He says, "we don't know anything.
" Joey's body was found on the street and that's it.
" Detective Prioleau's one of the better guys in homicide, as far as I know.
I call the sergeant and I-- I say, "what's the street that Joey died on?" And he can't even give-- He won't even give me it.
I mean, come on, you can't tell me where my son died, for Christ sake? I keep calling.
I ask to speak to the supervisor.
Then this Prioleau guy-- He calls.
He says Marais or Moreau street was where Joey was found.
Oh, and hey, your son was killed by the other looters.
Law office.
How may I help you? That's what he says to me.
I'll need to check on that.
"Killed by other looters"? He said that? "Mr.
Abreu, your son was killed by other looters and we're never gonna find out who did it.
" Look, if Joey was doing stuff that he wasn't supposed to and something happened that shouldn't've, it is what it is.
Just give me the whole story.
Now when were you thinking you were gonna tell me poke came back and put y'all out the bar? Nice to see you too.
You staying here? Nowhere else to hang my hat.
We got the house pretty well cleaned out, tarp over the bad part of the roof.
This is crazy.
The bar was one thing, but this went from bad to worse.
Oh, don't fret none.
Now that the insurance money's landed we'll have this place fixed in no time.
You got the insurance check? $495.
And no cents.
Even after you wrote that appeal? Even after you took it to the insurance commissioner? They're paying for the carport only-- Wind damage.
Are you gonna cash that? I feel like if I do, I'm saying it's all right what they're doing.
- Linda.
- Desiree.
Girl, you working here? Since August.
You back in Fortier? Girl, please.
You know they let everybody go.
They didn't even try to sort the good from the bad, - just put us all on the street.
- I know it.
Every damn public school teacher in Orleans parish.
- Uh-huh.
- I'll tell you something though-- They ain't chasing me away.
I came back to vote, made sure of that.
- Amen.
- Wasn't teachers taking that money.
- School board.
- Then bust the damn school board.
That's what the f.
B.
I.
'S looking at, not the teachers' union.
But why hire one of me when you get two of them for the same price? Are they any good? Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
Are you coming back to teach here? Gotta take a test.
Can you believe that? teacher of the year twice, and I gotta take a goddamn test to come back and start over.
Tell me about it.
Lt all my seniority too.
Gotta scoot, girl, go take this damn thing.
How's your baby? Good when I see her.
She's with my mom all day while I'm here.
At least you got that.
Bye.
Bye, Linda.
Hope you end up here.
Hey, you were in New Orleans, right? New Orleans, yeah.
Right, well, you're gonna read this and go batshit.
This guy leveled your town.
He's ripping the chefs, the food-- Everything.
Alan Richman? He ripped us? He's like the Dean of food writing.
The fucker's got, like, six million beard awards.
Holy shit.
I can't believe it.
He's not just ripping the food.
Check it out.
"New Orleans was always a three-day stubble of a city.
I'm not certain the cuisine was ever as good as its reputation in part because the people who consumed, evaluated and admired it likely weren't sober enough at the time of ingestion "to know what they were eating.
" - Whoa.
- Fuck me.
"Supposedly creoles can be found" in and around New Orleans.
I have never met one "and suspect they're a fairy folk like leprechauns.
" - Fairy folk-- That's some funny shit.
- That's kind of harsh.
Richman is a serious guy.
That's gonna get a lot of play.
Oh great.
Now he goes on to trash Susan Spicer and Donald link? Donald link is a fucking hero.
Donald link was, like, one of the first guys back standing there serving free food in the street.
I mean, holy shit.
The town's just barely on its feet and this son of a bitch has got to come down and reevaluate whether we were ever any good, make fucking batter-as-entree jokes? Yeah, we heard 'em.
The guy's got a point about the cooking down there.
I mean, last time I was in New Orleans, it was like-- Fine, fine.
He doesn't like the food.
He thinks it's heavy or he thinks it's shit.
I don't care.
But for fuck's sake, it's a service economy.
They're fucking hurting.
He's got to write this now, tell people to stay away from New Orleans, don't come down, don't spend your money in restaurants? Do not cry.
We're gonna be together for Thanksgiving dinner.
I miss you too, jelly roll.
Okay okay, you stop crying-- I'll stop calling you jelly roll.
I'ma see you soon.
Thank you.
Gonna be a dead night again.
Too many dead nights in here.
Not enough people home.
Barbecue on Thursday is bringing in some folks.
Turkey necks on Tuesday sure ain't.
I'm thinking maybe live music.
Upside and a downside to it though.
What's the downside? Musicians.
Well, I saw my baby walking with another man today yeah, I saw my baby walking with another man today when I asked her, "what's the matter, baby?" this is what she got to say see you later, alligator after a while, crocodile see you later, alligator, yeah Hey, brah, put it back.
Put it back.
Hey.
Hey! After a while, crocodile! Hey! Gotta get off the fucking streets, man.
How did you hear about him? I asked where to hear some good music-- A simple question.
He's fucking great.
When he does that thing with that one eye-- Man, that kiss me.
All this time you've been here, coz, and you ain't never been here? I'm working.
You'd better second line second line you'd better strike up the band every day of the week parade my soul up and down these streets when I die you'd better second line - you'd better second line - You'd better second line you'd better second line you'd better second line - you'd better second line - You'd better second line you'd better second line.
Thank you, music lovers.
Thank you.
Now we've got a brief message from one of our elected officials-- Congressman Jefferson in the house! Thank you, Kermit.
Thank you, Kermit.
I'll just be a moment to thank you for your support in the general election and to remind all of you we have a runoff coming up next month.
And what's at stake is whether we get to come home to our New Orleans.
You know, my opponent supports the green-dot plan to get rid of some of our communities.
You know where I stand.
- So I need you all to come out to the polls-- I'm not going anywhere.
On December 9th and make Orleans parish heard.
Thank you.
- You think Jefferson gonna win? - Oh yeah, brah.
I don't know, brah.
What, because of the feds? Please.
Like you never forgot about $90,000 in your fucking freezer.
Can I do this one right here, brah? Yeah, you want to do it? Go ahead.
- I got a woman - Oh! Way across town that's good to me oh yeah I got a woman way across town that's good to me oh yeah 9th street station, the final stop for the g train.
Transfer available for the coney island's final f train.
- This is the last station stop.
- Fuck fuck fuck.
I got a woman way across town that's good to me You blaspheming ray Charles now? Oh, baby, you should have seen me last night.
I killed them dead.
I fronted that one and a couple of others-- Lee Dorsey, James Brown even.
You doing James Brown? I'm actually sorry I missed that.
Last night it really started getting good to me.
I got enough flex I can start my own band, you know.
You? Antoine Batiste and his soul apostles.
- Soul apostles? - Mm-hmm.
I'm out.
I got groceries to make.
I might meet you downtown with the baby.
Gonna go see some people.
You ain't meeting me.
Why not? You ain't got school today.
No school, but tonight is parents' night, remember? Aw hell, desiree.
I don't like it any more than you-- A bunch of bake sales and teacher conferences for a bunch of parents who never bother to show up.
Bye-bye, Pookie.
And later for the not-so-hardest-working man in show business.
That's sex machine to you, girl.
- I'm sure.
- Mm-hmm.
I'm told it's not even a homicide.
D-mort pended it.
Fine if they did, but here's the problem.
This guy is sitting up in Massachusetts getting different information from different people who probably don't know what they're talking about.
The guy's bouncing off the walls.
So he drives down here just looking for someone to talk to him.
So talk to him, okay? Who was the detective on it? Prioleau.
I'll give him a call.
I appreciate it.
You know, the horn section is gonna be moving together.
And they're gonna be in powder-blue tuxes, you know, shawl collar, like this-- Yeah.
I like that shit right there.
I'm talking old school, man, - the kind of shit that'd make Johnnie Taylor proud - Yeah.
- Make Solomon Burke give praise.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, you feel me? - I feel you.
Music that don't get played no more, but people wish they did, because you can shake your ass to it.
Yeah.
Ow! Girl! With a band like this I think we can hold down a couple of weeklies.
That many? Yeah, that many.
Oh, I don't know, Batiste.
You know I got my own gigs now.
And you can keep those.
But I can't do a gig like this without a woman's voice.
I mean, you can't do a full-out revue and fill it with just Otis and pickett.
Gotta have Carla Thomas too, right? Gotta get a woman's voice up in there for balance.
How much? Oh, Wanda, come on.
I don't get it.
What's in Baton Rouge? A joint field office for f.
E.
M.
A.
- Who do you know at f.
E.
M.
A.
? - A friend of a friend.
I should be out on a job with my crew on a roof somewhere.
That's why I called you.
I thought you were gonna come here and back me on my roofing gig.
Big picture, coz, big picture.
I don't take no money from my children.
You know this.
It's a loan, daddy.
You'll pay me back.
I got money coming in from the new c.
D.
I got tour dates lined up.
You selling jazz now, huh? All right, so between my sisters and me-- No, I'm doing this right here so that we can have dinner like you want.
Like I want? If it was like I want, we'd be in Houston at Davina's or in Atlanta with cheri and the kids.
You think I want to be having Thanksgiving out in the damn driveway? You ever meet a man so stubborn? We'll get his water turned back up, providing we can ass-kiss some inspector to give the okay.
I know you're tired of me coming over to your house to clean up.
Turn my soap all grey, ue up all my damn towels-- Why would I be tired of that? Acting all sweetness and light now that you're with your mother but they fought like cats and dogs in the back seat the whole way down.
I thought about leaving one of them at a gas station in laplace.
Couldn't decide which though.
Alcide, don't be hiding them Greens under the rice.
I know that trick.
Ma, is this gonna be the last Thanksgiving at grandma's for real? I can't imagine grandma in any other house.
Not a lot of traffic.
I'm thinking about getting some live music up in here, bring out more folks on the weekdays.
As I said, New Orleans kicked it back to us, we kicked it to the corps of engineers and they kicked on to the contractors.
What you need comes directly from the contractors or one of their subs.
The money is the lowest at this point.
Understood, but I was told to introduce myself he and that a call might be made on my behalf to one of the contractors.
A phone call's no problem.
That's good.
I suppose it is.
Look, give me a day or two on my end, call this fellow in Florida.
There shouldn't be any issue going forward.
It'll all flow through them.
And Give my best wishes to your friend.
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
We're subcontractors.
Under Riley's license, we're already that.
Oh, would you fuck the nickel-and-dime roofing jobs already? I just pulled a $200,000 contract for demolition and debris removal.
We're gonna need four crews with trucks to do three, maybe three-and-a-half city blocks a week.
Fuck you know about demolition and debris removal? I know p&j incorporated out of Florida.
I call this number, tell them we got the trucks-- We're ready to roll.
They're my hookup.
We don't got trucks, crews either.
Rocky, do you believe America is a land of opportunity? Yeah.
That we're still having trouble with our bus routes is frustrating, I know.
In September it was frustrating, but now it's just ridiculous.
And are you gonna tell us that this school is having a hard time securing hand soap and toilet paper in November? It has not been perfect-- Not at this school or any of the other charters, and certainly not in the recovery school district.
Everyone is dealing with the same issues.
Yes, ma'am.
My concern is the classroom.
It's my understanding that your geometry classes still are not giving out any homework 'cause there aren't enough take-home textbooks.
Thank you, baby, thank you.
They thought it was gonna be cake when they laid off the whole damn school system? Look at them now, wondering why everything is messed up.
Yeah, there's one thing different though.
You ever seen this many parents at a parents' night-- I mean ever? Sof? Sweetie? Sofia? I want to do it.
You know I love that muscle shoals-stax stuff, man.
I'd love to be a part of it.
Well, cool then.
When I told bennie, he bucked on me, you know.
Got mad having someone to fill for me while I'm gigging with y'all.
It's been hard on bennie trying to hold the band together.
And I'd hate to add to that.
You feel me? - Okay, well, I'll talk to bennie.
- Cool.
Ladies and gentlemen, Mem Shannon.
- You gonna sit in? - No, I just come to hear Mem do his set.
- You know I love his stuff.
- All right, well, I'm gonna roll home, me.
- Be cool.
- Be safe.
They say if I eat right, ride my bike I'll be just the right size for my height They say, "get yourself an education that will help improve your situation" Table 7, chef-- They're getting up to leave.
Let them go.
I'm thinking.
You got duck for me, right? Yeah, I have two.
Please, not me, not me.
All right, I need more rectangle plates.
Rectangle plates going out.
You know, the salmon can be a beautiful animal, wild, free.
Honor his death.
Listen to him.
You rush him to the pan-- You're destroying him.
You're squeezing out proteins, flavor-- Everything, the vital substance that makes him what he is.
You don't want to do that, do you? Of course not.
Of course not.
Slow down.
Listen to your fish.
Coming down the line.
Pick up table 12.
They're gone, chef.
I'll bet I could get cheeky.
Cheeky Blakk? Is this for the latest incarnation? D.
J.
Davis and his bounce brass funkateers.
No boundaries, no limits, no quarter given.
Are you on guitar or keyboards? A little of both-- An all-purpose svengali, if you will.
He was evil, you know.
- Who? - Svengali.
In the novel he was evil.
He manipulated trilby.
There is a novel? Who's trilby? For Thanksgiving tonight we should go to Popeye's, get the deep-fried turkey.
I can't help it.
I gotta know if it's as good as people say.
What do you mean? I'm due at my parents' house.
It's a yearly ritual.
So I'm on my own for Thanksgiving.
No, it's not like that.
You don't want me at your folks' house, just say so.
Annie, my family is dystopic-- That's the word.
They-- They're-- They can't be that bad.
I introduced a girl to them once and only once.
How'd that go? She now resides out of state.
How far out of state? Good morning.
Ohh, I gotta pull it together.
I gotta get to work.
There's probably coffee set up.
Just push the button.
Bullwinkle! Bullwinkle.
Bullwinkle! Hey, he's a pilot.
Look at his hat.
Hey, I'm Rick-- Rick the pilot.
I ride on a giant moose.
- Hey, check it out.
- Because he floats.
I'm like Amelia earhart on this moose with my weird fucking goggles and You gotta go? Yeah, got something I gotta do.
- I love a parade.
- I know.
Look at his teeth.
He still looks stupid.
I know, man.
It's 'cause he's a beaver.
How can you not be happy if you're a fucking beaver? Out of papers? Yeah.
But it's good this way.
Do you know what's cool about this dish? It's interactive.
Like when you're really stoned, is that light pink color in the milk from food coloring on the crunchberries or is it your own blood from the crunch itself cutting the shit out of the roof of your mouth? What's cool about that though is that your blood is like a basic component of this dish, part of the basic flavor, like Ortolan-- You know, when the tiny bones prick your gums.
In that way, one would say that the cap'n falls into a classic tradition going back to the romans.
Toni, it's not like I won't help you out when I can, but when did I become the go-to guy whenever you can't pry a report out of an n.
O.
P.
D.
Unit? I don't even need a report.
I don't need anything from anybody but to call this guy and tell him where his son was found dead and what's known.
That's all he wants.
And you went to the p.
I.
O.
, right? Yeah, and they came back with a no-comment, saying the case is still pending.
But that's bullshit.
No one's working this.
If prioleau finds out that I asked into this case, he gonna know I'm your bitch.
I'll be damned.
I saw that same guy play trumpet the other night at this little club way out from the French quarter.
You're learning the town, I see.
Oh, I'm loving the town, what's left of it anyway.
A lot needs to be done still.
Your man in Baton Rouge made it easy.
I'm hooked into one of the big contractors-- The one in Florida.
Well, thank your right back for sponsoring the stained-glass repairs at Saint Alphonsus.
And thank you, I assume, for banking whatever comes to you at southeast Louisiana bank and trust.
You don't even need to bring it up.
I was putting a good work for someone on a gaming license and the son of a bitch set up his corporate accounts at chase.
Well, ingratitude is not among my faults.
So second race-- Who do you like? - Oh, I never gamble.
- No? - Huh-uh.
- I imagine you don't.
What's next? I raised as much as I could in Dallas for your girl Carter, though I'm not sure it's gonna do much good.
What do you mean? In that club the other night listening to Kermit-- Bill Jefferson came in and worked the crowd, tarred your girl with supporting Greendot.
Yeah, even with a federal investigation dollar bill might pull it out remarkable.
Yeah.
So looking ahead, what else might I do to bring us some good? Well, statewide everybody could see Blanco's numbers have tumbled since the storm.
And the guy who might be our best option is Bobby Jindal-- Indian fellow.
Indian like Indian like the country.
He's Indian-American.
You got an Indian-American congressman in Louisiana? First Cubans, then the Mexicans, now Indians.
Who says we're the party of white folk? Jindal reps the first congressional district.
He is really young.
But he jumped into the governor's race three years ago and he showed pretty well.
He got a committee up? Not yet.
He's gonna announce in January.
Well, you know I'm in.
Better than that, I can make me calls in Dallas, bring some real rain.
Bless you, my son.
Hey, you show me a ring and I'll kiss it.
No problem.
Cheeky Blakk, cheeky Blakk and rebirth, and rebirth cheeky Blakk, cheeky Blakk Hey, what are you doing here this early? I switched shifts with David.
He hates Thanksgiving as a concept.
So do I actually, but I need to post at my parents' for turkey.
No more bounce, Davis, not this early.
Go somewhere else with it.
I'm fucking serious.
Okay.
Pop goes da pussy, pussy goes pop yeah, pop da pussy somebody say pop da pop da pop, pop dat pussy pop da pop da pop, pop dat pussy pop da pop da pop, pop dat pussy - What's your system? - Oh, no system.
I just try to wheel the favorite for an exacta.
Well, at least you know what you don't know.
Some people have a certain misplaced faith.
You see that fellow down by the rail-- Black fellow, glasses, purple shirt, dark jacket? Oliver Thomas, president of the city council, probably the next mayor if he wants it.
Yeah? Oliver loves the ponies.
He's a decent guy, certainly an improvement over nagin for sure.
A democrat, I'm guessing? Well, somebody's got to be.
Hey, this is a purple state.
Orleans parish is blue.
Makes sense to work both sides of the aisle.
Go ahead, make a new friend.
Acting like I'm really hard, don't make me bite you 'cause I would invite you I'm a chief, boy, I ain't scared to fight you come on now, baby, you ain't getting in for free you know the routine Turn around.
Bounce your ass.
Do it, come on.
No no.
This is d.
J.
Davis.
I'm out.
Gentilly junior is right behind me.
Happy Thanksgiving y'all.
This next one is for my station manager.
- Later, gent.
- Okay, I'll see you later, baby.
Everything I do gonh be funky from now on I said everything I do gonh be funky from now on everything I do gonh be funky from now on I have to be myself and do my thing a little soul can't do no harm everything I do gonh be funky from now on everything I do gonh be funky everything I do gonh be funky some may say that I got no class but I'm doing what I wanna do so groove with me if you can just do what you wanna do aw shucks, why you whining? I'm on fire Never before have I felt so good just being natural me minor hang-ups and minor times but deep inside I'm free let your hair down, get down with it who's to say what's right or wrong? 'cause everything I do gonh be funky from now on So, Brandy, you guys met when? Last Mardi Gras at a party.
Oh, are you from down here? Born and raised.
Oh, I guess I musta got confused.
Ain't no oven, but warming up on the grill.
Ooh, I'm on it.
So that's your down-here girlfriend? Be nice.
Be quiet.
I'm just trying to keep proper score.
Speaking of which, whatever happened to daddy's thing-- Lula, was it? My guess-- She had an opinion.
I don't know if he put her down or if it's part of something bigger.
He seems tired.
He seems more than tired.
He call a practice yet? I don't think so.
All right, call George, tell him to ask big chief if we can call practice on Sunday.
Then let slip I'ma stay down here for it.
Let my daddy hear I'm thinking about masking Indian this year.
Boy, you're devious.
Yeah.
- Look at this haircut-- The bowl cut.
- Look at the ears.
- What's wrong with his ears? They're beautiful.
- No, they're beautiful.
- Oh good.
I'm teasing, darling.
- What's that? Oh, that-- That was a musical.
Yeah, look at him.
Davis, did I ever tell you how I could drive my 1958 Mercury Monterey from the l.
S.
U.
Campus to the corner of Dumaine and Dauphine in 42 minutes flat on a Saturday night? Oh, I surely could.
I'll bet you were a hellion in college, as cruel as you were beautiful.
Listen, the song had it right about those LSU boys-- Go in dumb, come out dumb too.
Now an Auburn man-- Stop it, Mimi.
You're just saying that to make Roger angry.
I believe my father has passed the possibility of anger.
He had fun.
Leave him alone.
How did you get him to wear that? You know, with a little bribery.
Not to eat and flee, but Annie and I want to catch this bounce show on the west bank, so we gotta go.
No, Davis, this is so great.
- Yeah, we're having fun.
- Can we stay a minute? Well, I could just take a cab then.
While I go to the club alone, you're gonna stay here with my mother? This is the plan? Well, Davis, if you really require an escort for this affair, I am more than game.
Mimi, act your age.
Well, why in God's name would I ever want to do anything of that sort? You and me at a bounce show? Everybody everybody I got that gin in my system somebody gon' be my victim do it for ya, third ward, shake it for ya, fourth ward work it for ya, fifth ward, clap it for the sixth ward bounce it for the seventh ward, clap it for that eighth ward and if you bounce uptown and bounce like this 'cause I ain't never seen a shaker shake like this and if you bounce uptown and bounce like this 'cause I ain't never seen a shaker shake like this gimme extra gimme extra-tra gimme extra, gimme extra again get on it, back on it, get on it, there you go D.
J.
Davis.
Not for long, I fear.
What? Oh hey, aunt Mimi-- Katey Red.
- Hi.
- Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you.
You too.
My God, I would kill for those shoes.
Oh, you like? Oh, darling, they are to die for.
I tell you what-- I'ma take you to meet Charles.
He owns this shop uptown.
And he has a pair of blue pumps on tonight that put my shit to shame.
You just lead on, girlfriend.
- Come on, girl.
- Bye.
Bye.
Slide over, baby.
It was a good Thanksgiving, ma.
That's 25 thou each per 7500 cubic yards cleared.
But you gotta make that number in three weeks.
Questions? Yeah, why us four and not some of the other haulers? I don't even know you, brah.
Well, to tell you the truth, I asked the sub they put me under for licensed guys that were already getting f.
E.
M.
A.
Money and had five or six trucks working.
He gave me you.
Now if he's wrong, I'll ask for other names.
Is he wrong? Call when you've made the number, and by then I might have another piece of the pie.
Anyone has a problem-- I do not fucking care.
Just get it done in three weeks and we're good.
Now make the holiday and be thankful.
If we're pulling 25 for the work, what do you think he's pulling? Motherfucker.
Don't even think about it, brah.
Man, I don't believe this shit.
What's up, brah? - Man, I just got robbed.
- What? Yeah yeah, man.
A boy-- He had a gun, aimed it right at my face.
Any other town but every time I see, every time I see no place but the n.
O.
That I'd rather be said the city still rebuilding but there's food to eat 'cause ain't no place up in this world like New Orleans we've been down by the river and under the lake below sea level, that's where I stay, hey hey even though we're always gone there's no place like home - now we up in New Orleans - New Orleans - is where I want to be - Is where I want to be - still up in New Orleans - New Orleans - that's the place to be - That's the place to be - rebirth in New Orleans - New Orleans - it's where I want to be - It's where I want to be - still up in New Orleans - New Orleans talkin' post-Katrina hey hey hey hey hey hey.
don't you feel like crying? Here I am, honey come on, come on, cry to me This is New Orleans! Don't fucking tell me what New Orleans-- Don't talk about New Orleans.
This is New Orleans.
And there's nothing but Don't you feel like crying? don't you feel like crying? What's going on, y'all? Come on, come on, cry to me He knew, right? I asked him if we could have practice, he said yeah.
Told him you was coming too, so he knows.
Loneliness loneliness is just a waste of time baby, you don't have to walk walk all alone if your lover is gone take my hand, won't you, honey? and come on and walk with me oh yeah.
Man, I don't know why the hell I blew off on you like that, man.
You need to use him for your gigs, you can use him.
Nah, don't carry it like that, bennie.
If you can't spare him then that's all she wrote.
Man, to tell you the truth, I'm about sick and tired of this whole brass band thing, man.
- I think I've had enough.
- Bennie.
Police killed Joe like they did, plus they lied on him.
That's the third guy we lost.
Then the storm hit.
We all scattered all over this place.
Then the accident in Atlanta with terrell losing both his legs, man.
I'm just tired.
Water.
- You heard about Jamal? - No no.
What happened? - He got jacked.
- Oh man.
For real.
Parked around the corner and this boy puts a gun in his face before he gets halfway to the club.
That's crazy.
I saw him rig after.
Yeah, man, happened on Gravier.
Hurricane ain't enough to wake these knuckleheads up, I don't know what is.
I mean, live your life, man.
Have fun.
But if you're from New Orleans, then act like you're from New Orleans.
Shit's bad, man, real bad.
Your man on the snare-- He's tight.
Dinerral? Yeah, he rock.
Look, y'all have come too far to quit now, bennie.
I can find another trumpet if it don't work, for real.
Nah nah nah, man.
You can use him.
It's all good, man.
Shit's never easy around here though.
You know that.
Sofia.
Are you asleep, sweetie? ain't got no home and no place to roam ain't got no home and no place to roam I'm a lonely boy I ain't got a home I got a voice I love to sing I sing like a girl and I sing like a frog I'm a lonely boy I ain't got a home ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh I ain't got a man I ain't got a son I ain't got a daughter I ain't got