VEHICLE APPROACHES
ENGINE REVS
POLICE SIREN WAILS
ROCK ON RADIO
Do you know why I pulled you over tonight?
ROCK CONTINUES
You remember the night we stole his car?
It was after junior prom?
Do I... do I remember?
Yeah, do you remember?
I still have a scar on my ass
where my dad lost hold of his belt mid swing.
Caught me with the buckle. - Bullshit.
Which part? - The scar.
I think I would have noticed that.
Well, maybe if, you know
we ever got to be naked with the lights on
or in a bed, even.
Hey, you think that your dad was pissed because you took the car
or pissed because you took it to be with me?
I think he thought I would die in this car.
That or... or kill somebody else.
I don't know, man.
Maybe he just watched too many greaser films.
I wonder what he would say if he knew I got to drive this baby full time
after he and my mum die in a... in a Cutlass Sierra.
I believe they call that irony.
I gotta get home.
You gonna be OK?
I'm always OK.
VACUUM WHIRS
God damn it, Shannon.
MOBILE PHONE RINGS
Grandma, is everything OK?
No, Taylor, it's it's me, Pete.
TAYLOR CHUCKLES - Christ.
Every time I see this number, I think something bad happened.
You know, Grandpa had another stroke or something.
Taylor, look, the reason why I'm calling
is that I... I feel bad about the way we left things
this afternoon, and I was just wondering if buying you a beer would be...
you know, an acceptable apology.
VACUUM WHIZZES
Foreign or domestic?
ROCK MUSIC: "Harder Out Here" by The Bright Light Social Hour
♪ It's getting harder out here ♪
♪ I keep tryin' to just make my way ♪
♪ It's not lyin' ♪
♪ I'm only tryin' ♪
♪ Just trust in me ♪
♪ Trust in me ♪
♪ Just trust in me ♪
♪ Trust in me ♪
♪ Just trust in me. ♪
BUZZER SOUNDS - BACKGROUND MUSIC PLAYS
DOOR BUZZES OPEN
Ah, the ravishing Karolina.
SHE CHUCKLES
Have I told you the palace I would build for us in Mumbai?
SHE CHUCKLES
I saw a show last week - made it seem like Mumbai is all billionaires and trash pickers.
You say that like it's a bad thing. - Well...
I take it you prefer the worker's paradise of your youth?
All I remember of Warsaw is people standing in line.
Ah, Mr Mukherjee.
Nice of you to find the time to return to our tables.
You see, Wali, this country is not yet lost to the Kardashians.
There are still some here who know how to show some respect.
This way.
Where's my main man Eddie?
Family emergency, I'm afraid.
Sorry to hear.
Hope you'll give him my best. - Of course I will.
OK, we'll get you sorted out with chips.
And of course Pappy Van Winkle.
A lovely gesture but I'm afraid my trainer has made me promise to abstain.
You see, if I let myself get fat
then the girls will only want me for my money.
Well, I'll leave you to your game then, huh?
For the whisky.
Don't tell me your margins are such
that you can afford to buy liquor that never gets drunk.
ROCK MUSIC PLAYS - POOL BALLS CLINK
So for the last couple of months, I've just been waiting for the other shoe to drop.
You know, like, "What's he gonna do when he finds out?" Right?
Cut off your dick.
Yeah, and so when you put the hood over my head and I couldn't breathe...
You thought your nightmare was coming true. - Yeah.
Don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't deserve it.
Oh, that's bullshit, man.
You didn't betray anybody.
She's the one who broke her promises, not you.
That's between her and her cuckold husband.
You don't owe him shit. You don't owe him anything.
Well, you ever even met the guy? - Oh, no, no.
I'd feel even more like a shit heel.
Not to mention, what if he reads it on me, right?
No, no.
Way harder to look inside someone else's head than you think.
Anyways, the point is that without being aware of my situation
you couldn't have known how I would have reacted
to being renditioned or whatever, you know?
So I just wanted to apologise for the way I reacted, OK?
Alright. - BOTTLES CLINK
BILLIARD BALLS CLACK
I appreciate it, Pete, I do. Look...
But if...
If anyone should be apologising, it's me. - What?
Yeah. No, I...
Grandma always says I got this problem with impulse control.
Probably what's holding me back from making rank even more than the...
test-taking stuff.
Got these...
Got these strategies I'm supposed to use. Like, stop and think, or, um...
Emotional regulation, like that.
It's way harder in the moment to do it. - That's hard.
TAYLOR LAUGHS You know?
I gotta hit the head.
Never leave your shit in this bar.
MARIUS GROANING - Oh! OK.
Just a little taste of the ear? - I don't like that.
Tongue in the ear? No? - No, I don't like that.
TAYLOR GRUNTS HUMOROUSLY
TAYLOR LAUGHS Fuck you.
THEY BOTH LAUGH
You OK to drive?
TAYLOR: "A-OK".
Hold on just a second. I gotta open your door.
Here. - TAYLOR GRUNTS
MARIUS: Hey, Taylor. - TAYLOR: Uh-huh?
MARIUS: You got a flat tire. - AIR HISSES
What? - You got a flat tire.
Yeah, looks like you ran over a nail or something.
Fuck.
Hey, give me the keys. I'll go in the trunk and get the spare and the jack.
Wait, wait, that's not a nail. The hole's too long and flat.
Fuckin' knife cut. - Yeah, whatever, give me the keys.
Hey! - What are you doing?
Hey, assholes! - Fuck you talking to, man?
I'm talking to the only assholes I see.
We know you're a cop.
That badge you dying to pull out your back pocket right now
don't entitle you to talk which way. - Give us one second, pal.
Taylor. - Get your fuckin' hand off me, Pete.
You wanna come take a look at something for me? Hmm?
You wanna tell me how this got over here?
You seriously threatening to bust us over weed in 20-motherfucking-16?
You'll know when I'm threatening you.
Right now, I'm just asking how your roach came by my car.
And what you might know about how my tire came to be flat.
Guys. - Well, I'm stumped, Officer.
Tell you what. If you Agatha Christie yourself to the bottom of this
you come back here and tell me who done it.
Meanwhile, why don't you take that roach and shove it up your ass?
Shove it up my ass? - Yeah, right up in there.
Just give me a sec to move my dick out the way.
How about instead
I go talk to your foster mum.
See how she feels about buying me a new set of whitewalls?
Fuck makes you think I was in foster care? - Just playing the odds.
Tell you what. I can't help with the tire thing
but I'd be happy to help you solve the case of the busted headlight.
GLASS SHATTERS
No, no, no! Taylor! Taylor! No, no, no!
TAYLOR GRUNTS - Taylor! Stop it!
Taylor! Taylor! Taylor! - MARIUS GRUNTS
IMPACT NOISES
GRUNTING
Fuck you!
You really expect me to believe you stuck it out with eight nine?
Call me on the flop or the turn.
Bullshit. I'm all in.
That is 19,000.
Sir?
Call.
It's a straight, ten high.
Trip sevens. Straight takes it.
First lesson of poker:
unless it's a bluff
never make a bet that can only be called by hands that beat you.
Second lesson:
call on every street-chasin' bullshit
suck out by hitting the nuts on the river.
If you want me to fold, my friend, you'll have to bet more.
Ain't your friend. - And yet, you've just
given me so much money.
You keep him around so you can run your mouth
not have to worry about getting stomped?
Seems to work so far. - Yeah.
Except we all have to check our straps at the door.
So what if something pops off in here?
Cos hand-to-hand
I will put an old-fashioned country ass-whuppin'
on any curry-stinkin' slumdog bitch-boy that ever lived.
Calm down.
Why don't you go for a walk, Hector.
Cool off. Fuck that, I'm fine.
Tweaked my back this morning at the gym.
My preference would be to walk you out, but I don't have to.
Mr Mukherjee, my apologies for his behaviour.
I can promise you it won't happen again. I'll talk to him.
Ladies and gentlemen, I apologise for the disruption.
DOOR CLOSES
What I tell you about bringing that street shit in here?
Motherfucker gets under my skin.
It doesn't give you the right to disrespect my place.
You're right man. That's my bad.
SIGHS
OK, so it's squashed, I got your word?
Squashed?
Ain't shit squashed.
But I promise I'll handle it on the outside.
No.
What you mean, "No"?
I mean, you wanna shoot somebody every time you take a bad beat
then you can go back to throwing bones in the alley with your corner boys.
I'm sorry, Vince, I respect you. I respect your place.
But you hold your stress in too long, it rots out your insides.
So I am gonna get my payback on that red dot motherfucker.
He can't stay in here forever.
What if you stayed in here forever?
What if you never left this room?
Get the fuck outta here.
Some fuckhead busts your headlight don't mean you get to bust his face.
Good news is the guy's an old scumbag.
Thing is, we don't know yet what kind of cell phone video we might be dealing with.
So I want you to listen to your good friend, Bo.
You sustained multiple blows to the head during the altercation.
OK? Your PBA rep advises you not to make any statements
till we can confirm your cognitive functions were operating normally.
I understand you suffered a blow to the head as well.
He tried to pull me off. I caught him with the backswing.
It doesn't make a difference who hit him.
All that matters is he can't be interviewed until we're sure he's compos mentis.
No, look, I don't need a tow.
There is no way you're getting behind the wheel of that car.
Gives someone an excuse to give you breathalyser.
Hey, you know I can change the tire, take the car home. It's OK.
Not only is no one changing that tire
no one's wiping a smudge off the bumper of that precious automobile
until all the damage has been fully documented.
Keys.
Time to go.
Come on.
Kids'll be up soon. I don't want them to be confused.
I don't want them to be confused, either.
So you wouldn't want them to wake up and find you here
when they know you don't live here anymore.
And what if I did?
What if you did what? - Live here still.
Again.
Are you fucking kidding me?
LANCE STAMMERS
I assume last night indicated a softening
about your feeling towards me. - Last night indicated
you came over after I put the kids to bed and got me drunk.
Well, I got us both drunk. - One night
giving in to your debatable charm-- - Hey.
You called me.
A decision of which I grow prouder
with each passing moment. - MOBILE PHONE CHIMES
Hold that thought.
LANCE SIGHS
SIREN IN DISTANCE - INDISTINCT CHATTER ON POLICE RADIO
What the fuck am I gonna tell Grandpa?
Or Grandma? Fuck!
Why do you have to tell them anything
that they don't know, right?
You don't think they're gonna find out?
First question they're gonna ask when you walk through the door is
"Where the fuck you been all night?"
OK, OK, OK. Listen.
We got shitfaced, right?
We decided to crash at my place
and we wake up with these like these Dean Martin hangovers.
They're expecting you at the office today, right?
Uh, yeah. It's Julia's day off.
Yeah. - You take a taxi.
Right, there's a stand across the street.
You just tell them that I'm, I don't know...
I'm sleeping it off.
OK? - OK.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no. I know you said it was the last time, I remember. But look...
There's money in it for you.
I don't know, at least ten grand.
Can I, uh, do the... Hey.
Yeah.
SIZZLING
Morning! - Hey.
Mummy, guess what. Daddy Lance missed us so much
he even made us pancakes on his way to work.
Isn't that nice of him?
I said I came to see you.
The pancakes were Fenna's idea.
Mmm. - Want some, Mum?
How can I say no? - You can't.
You shouldn't.
I helped with the bananas. - You did?
JULIA GRUNTS LIFTING ELLEN - Also I helped with cracking the eggs.
Wow.
Jeez! Where's the fire?
Oh, I'm sorry. I got cab waiting for me.
Yeah, I saw.
Guess you had a hell of a night last night.
Boys back together. - I gotta go. I'm sorry.
So why did you ever leave this place?
I didn't leave, my mum took me away. - Yeah, but why?
Always seemed like all of you guys were so happy here all of you...
together. - I don't know, she didn't tell me.
You never asked?
I just got the feeling that she didn't really wanna talk about it, OK?
I'm sorry, I... - That thing that you did last night.
Picking my pocket. Think you could teach me?
I was teaching you not to fuck with my stuff.
Couldn't you just say it's a fake?
When he asks why a grown man's carrying a fake ID
what do I say, I'm a secret agent?
He's a police officer.
He's a psychopath.
Maybe you used one in your insurance work.
That's actually not bad. Thank you.
But when he runs the name Marius Josipovic through the database...
Yeah, you're right, you're fucked. - MARIUS SIGHS
But that's not your problem.
Your problem is that you didn't tell me that covering for you
with Mr Success was putting my family in the crosshairs of some...
ex-cop gangster and some still-cop psycho
looking to pay you back for taking his eye.
He didn't lose the eye.
They are gonna get to me sooner or later, OK?
Now, you know, no matter how pissed off I am at you, and I fucking am
that I would never wanna see you get hurt-- - Katie, Katie...
No. If they show up, you tell them everything you know about
how to find me you understand?
Vince is a dangerous man, but he's not crazy.
As long as you don't get in his way
he's got no reason to hurt you or your family.
I hope you get in the safe, you are guaranteeing me ten.
Even if it's like Al Capone's vault.
If it's empty, how am I gonna get you 10,000 dollars?
The next safe.
I'm serious. Guarantee me ten, or I am on my way back to White Plains.
Do you not find it odd that you're asking a convicted confidence man
to give you his word of honour? - No, your conviction was for bank robbery.
Promise me.
Alright.
So I wait for Grandma to go out on her daily rounds.
I walk in. I ask Grandpa for a bond for... - For Preston James Collins III.
And he is? - The top name on yesterday's arrest blotter.
OK. I ask Grandpa for a bond for Preston.
My collateral is this bullshit
whose value you confirmed based on your insurance knowledge.
The thing is, this is a treasured family heirloom.
Lots of sentimental value. If I'm gonna let it out of my sight
I need to actually see it get locked in the safe.
Right. - You think that'll, uh...
play better if I remove the tag that says it costs 15 dollars?
Look, cut me some slack here, alright? Jesus Christ.
OK. Say he buys all that
opens the safe to put my precious in
how the fuck are we supposed to empty it with him standing right there?
We don't need to empty it. We just need to switch out the cash box.
But even if he doesn't see you take it, how is he not gonna see that it's gone?
Because I'm gonna switch it out. Look.
He won't notice the difference? - No. He's gonna be too distracted.
By? By the woman having a seizure on the floor.
Shit!
This was always your bread and butter, alright?
Frank Winslow, Manhattan North.
Narcotics and Vice Enforcement.
How exactly can I help you?
Marius Josipovic?
You're gonna have to be more specific than that.
His name's come up in an investigation.
Narcotics or vice?
Oh, don't worry, he's not a suspect.
He's just a former known associate of some of the key people.
Detective, if one of my parolees is connected to a crime
procedure dictates - No, no, no.
I wouldn't say he's connected to it.
Then what would you say?
I think you and I got off on the wrong foot here.
I'm gonna go ahead and call my own number on that one.
I got sent to a department mandated shrink for a while, said I broadcast hostility.
I hear you were a Marine.
Nope. - Sorry?
Oh, yeah. No such thing as a former Marine.
Yeah.
Seems like half the guys in my squad are jarheads.
They join up as soon as they left active duty.
You ever consider going that route?
Thought about it.
Even did a full semester towards an associate degree
in criminal justice at Duchess Community.
Turns out social work was more my speed.
The important thing is we're on the same side.
Oh, yeah? And what side is that?
Law enforcement? - BAGWELL LAUGHS
No, that's where I'm gonna I have to disagree with you.
How's that?
I'm not here to enforce, brother.
I'm here to empower.
You are gonna empower these shit-stain ex-cons to do what exactly?
To be their best selves.
All I need is an address where he's staying.
I'll tell you what, Detective. You have questions for Mr Josie-povich?
Write them down, I'll make sure he gets them.
Anything other than that, come back with a warrant.
Oh, you gotta be fucking kidding.
You meditate?
No.
That's a shame.
Your friend is charged with driving his car over his cousin.
Hope you don't mind me asking, but just out of curiosity
how'd you two meet, you and Mr Collins?
I was working at a gentlemen's club down in Orlando
as a waitress
thank you very much. Anyway, Press was security -
made sure nobody touched the girls, that kind of thing.
He was the only boy there I could ever talk to.
I'm sorry about this. I just...
I just after the stroke, sometimes
it just feels like my fingers belong to someone else.
I will take my business-- - Give us a half hour, maybe.
You know it's not... - This is ridiculous. I have...
I'll get you the ten grand.
I'm sorry about that. There's really no way to get to the car?
It's in the impound lot, Katie, the impound lot.
It's barbed wire. There's security cameras.
It's a houseful of cops. - So you're running?
You've got your bugout bag inside, yeah? Toss it in my trunk.
I will drive you to the train station right now.
What is there to think about?
You said it yourself, you are blown here, so...
So so you can't go to the city. So what? You head west, south.
You always land on your feet. - Where does that leave Eddie?
No worse off than he is now.
You said this Vince guy likes him. - Everybody likes him.
Marius! - Katie!
How many times you figure you started over?
I don't know, five.
Six, if you, uh, count the two weeks I ran away to Tunica when I was 17.
I'm gonna get you the ten grand.
Couldn't get her back, huh? - Sorry.
It's not your fault.
We all forget things sometimes.
No, the combo is a mashup of the girls' birthdays. I remember the day we chose it.
No way I'd forget that.
Well, maybe you just got the sequence wrong. - I did not forget!
Maybe it got reset by accident.
Grandpa, this is a three-wheel dial lock.
In order to reset it, you have to have a rep come out
from the manufacturer with a change key.
You've seen these in your insurance work? - All the time, yeah.
Any chance you could crack one?
Hello? AJ? - Marius?
She told me it was too risky for us to talk directly.
No, I'm not calling about that.
I'm calling about your day job.
How soon can you be in Bridgeport?
This time of day, hour and a quarter, little less if I push it.
Listen, I got a score lined up.
It turns into a pumpkin at 4:30 or 5:00.
The hardware's an Excelsior 500 series.
There's ten grand in it for you.
On top of whatever my cut from "the Turk" turns out to be?
No, I told you, it has nothing to do with that.
Alright, I'm in.
Just like that? - Ten grand.
Why not?
Well, honestly, after what happened with Charlie
I'm surprised that you'd be in on any of it with me...
Charlie's the reason I came in.
You know what I mean. You know what I mean.
I hesitated, I'm not gonna lie.
Ended up deciding if she doesn't blame you, hard to see how I can.
And I appreciate that, AJ. Thank you.
I'm at Bernhardt Bail Bonds on Gold Street.
It's near the courthouse, alright? - Alright.
Anything I need to know?
Yeah, my name's Pete Murphy.
I'm an insurance investigator.
And that's how we met.
I guess that plays.
Anything else?
You ever have to fake a seizure?
"Aunt Carly, naps are for babies." - Thanks for getting her down.
Lance was here last night.
As in, like he stopped by?
As in he slept over.
Jesus.
Julia, we talked about this.
Why don't we just skip the part
where I get sex advice from my 16-year-old little sister?
If you didn't want to talk about it how come you told me?
Ellen saw him leaving this morning, she might mention it.
Did you fuck him? - Carly!
Did you make him wrap it up?
We are not talking about this.
I'm just trying to make sure that you're staying safe.
JULIA GROANS - You know, they show us these
scare photos in health ed... - Lance is fine!
JULIA SIGHS
Jesus, I hope he's fine.
Is he still seeing that lying whore Trisha?
I don't know.
Maybe.
He kept getting these texts, trying to hide them from me.
Pete and Taylor had quite the night last night.
Why? What'd you hear?
Just that Pete didn't sleep at home.
Maybe he went home with a girl.
He's kind of cute. He's our cousin!
Did he turn out like you thought he would?
JULIA CHUCKLES
When I imagined him as a grownup, I, um...
I wasn't assuming he'd spend his teenage years
on his own with our crazy Aunt Maggie.
Aunt Maggie was crazy?
It's hard to tell what I actually remember from what I managed to piece together.
Piece together how? - Huh?
I've spent a lot of time trying to piece stuff together
about mum and dad but since nobody in this family ever actually talks
about anything there's not much to work with.
Right after mum and dad...
I found these letters.
Actually, "found" is wrong.
I rescued them from the trash. Audrey must have found them
when she was going through Mom's things - Julia!
What were the letters?
Turns out, after Aunt Maggie took off
she and mum stayed in touch for a while, a few months.
I cannot believe you are just telling me about this now!
They're really not that big a deal.
Obviously all I have is Maggie's letters to Mum, not the ones Mum sent.
Seems like mostly she's trying to get Maggie to come back
patch things up with Audrey. It's pretty fucking sad, if you ask me.
Whatever. I still wanna read.
SIGHS
JULIA SIGHS
Just do us both a favour.
Make sure Audrey doesn't see them.
Yeah, done.
Hi, it's me again. I need you to call me back.
Now, I completely understand...
that delay is not...
...that it's due to circumstances beyond your...
beyond anyone's control, but there's just so long I can stay on this...
this hamster wheel robbing Peter to pay Paul.
So there's any way to... - PHONE BEEPS
FEMALE VOICE: Sorry. The mailbox is now full.
SHE SCREAMS
SCREAMING CONTINUES
My grandson says this will be child's play for you.
He says you could crack this in your sleep.
Well, sir, although it's against my nature to toot my own horn
OTTO: Bo Lockley?
Otto, it's been a while.
Yeah.
Everything alright?
Everything's fine. I just I need Pete to come with me.
I been around a lot of blocks, Bo.
If something's happened to Taylor, I want you to tell me right now.
No, no, I swear, though. It's nothing like that, Taylor's fine.
He just asked me to come down and grab Pete and run him back to the station house.
Bo, we're kind of in the middle of something here.
Yeah, why don't I run him by when we finish up?
Yeah, you know, I don't think it can wait.
OK.
Fine Keri Russell, keep your secrets. I don't even want to know.
Listen, remember that thing we talked about last night, your... your situation?
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
I'm involved in my own.
And I would have mentioned it last night but, you know
she has so much to lose, and I...
Anyway...
her phone is in my fuckin' car, alright?
And if anyone finds it...
and look, they're fuckin' grilling me back there, right?
And then Bo said if I go anywhere near the impound lot
he will rip out my lungs and shit in the hole.
And I can't ask any of these guys to go get it, cos they know her
and they know her fuckin' husband, and they'll recognise her phone
because it looks like it belongs to fuckin' Liberace.
You want me to go down to your car and get your girlfriend's phone?
You OK with that?
Yeah.
GATE RATTLES SHUT
SIREN SOUNDS
CAR DOOR OPENS
CARLY: "Last night I finally told Pete what happened".
"Why we left".
"Last night I finally told Pete".
DOOR OPENS
Hey. How's it going?
We've hit some snags.
Yeah?
This old sucker's a lot more secure than you thought it was.
Wait, wait.
Maybe. - LOCK CLICKS
Yep! Look at at that.
Ready?
LOCK CLICKS - DOOR CRASHES OPEN
OTTO: What the hell?
What? - Oh, holy shit.
Holy fuckin' shit.
The man tells me to bring you, I bring you. I'm just saying, man.
If I'm walking into something, it just wouldn't hurt to give me a heads up.
BUZZER SOUNDS
Hey, man, hold the door.
Taking the lady someplace?
No, the lady's staying here.
Vince wants me to bring the doc.
Somebody hurt?
DOOR SLAMS - Got this neighbour lady
does work for me from time to time.
Like when your ashes need hauling?
Man, she's 75 years old.
She looks in on Hush Puppy when I gotta be out late.
Anyway...
she told me about your little rooftop phone call you made yesterday
after you Houdini'd out of my zip ties.
She told you, you told Vince.
Great.
Of all the people I thought I could count on not to snitch.
What the fuck are you talking about, stupid? The man pays my bills.
All you do is eat my food, shit up my bathroom. Come on.
RICHARD: Come on, man.
I told you I wasn't bringing Hush Puppy.
You know how long it's been since she's had an accident in here?
But lay down the wee-wee pad, she's liable to think you want her to mark them.
Vince, look, I was just telling Richard-- - Save it.
You know, straight out of the Academy
I was assigned to this neighbourhood stabilisation unit, out in Brownsville.
These are during the Fort Apache days. You remember that?
Nah. None of you do. You're too young.
Anyway, murder rate in the city then was about four times what it is now.
VINCE CHUCKLES
So one night I'm out on patrol with my FTO -
this tough black and blue named Lonnie Churchill.
Lonnie was like, he could have been Marvin Hagler's big brother.
VINCE CHUCKLES Right?
So one night we're out there, we get a call on the radio
that there's a robbery in a Bodega.
So we go screaming up just as the perp comes jamming out of the store.
Right? Before we can even roll to a stop, boom!
He fires off a shot at us.
What the fuck?
You know? Just one. I mean, it didn't come anywhere near us and...
I don't think he intended to, but still.
Anyway, he takes one look at Lonnie and practically shits himself.
I mean, he tosses away the gun like it was on fire.
Turns out this perp was just a kid.
And we caught him a couple times being the lookout on a...
crack corner, and...
we'd slap him around, and we'd let him go with a warning.
"Don't you ever fuckin' let us catch you on this block again".
You know, that kind of shit.
HE CHUCKLES
This was different.
Now, this kid...
Terrence was his name, couldn't be more than 17 years old.
The kind of kid who would smile when he got nervous, you know?
Even when you're smacking him around, he'd smile.
It's the damndest thing.
And he'd look up at you with these big, brown Bambi eyes.
Oh, boy.
Anyway, instead of going to the house and booking the kid
Lonnie has me drive to one of those Grandmaster Flash ghost town streets
you know, with the busted-out windows with the cardboard all over it
newspapers blowing around like tumbleweeds
the stench of piss and pot.
So Lonnie grabs the kid out of the back of the car
puts him down on the ground face-up
pulls out his arm, right, between two cinder blocks
and he tells me
"Jump on it.
Both feet, hard as you can.
Aim for the back of the elbow".
Bam! Right?
Now, you break an elbow like that, and it's just never gonna heal right.
You could even rupture the artery, right, and the kid would lose his arm.
Now, Terrence knows this
and he's scared, smilin' and lookin' at me with those big, sad eyes.
And I know this, right? So I pull Lonnie aside
and I whisper in his ear "Look, Lonnie
he's a kid, OK?
He made a mistake, alright?
I think he's scared enough." And so on and so forth.
Lonnie turns to me and whispers back
"You wanna teach this kid a lesson?
You wanna do him a favour?
Give him something to remember us by".
Well...
I...
I, you know...
Quickly, Lonnie learns that I... I just... I'm not gonna do this.
He can't talk me into it.
Without a word, picks up the kid
puts him back in the back of the car
off we go to the house for the booking, end of story, right?
Seven, eight years later
I hear about this detective who gets blasted at a drug rip
in one of the Brownsville projects, right?
Shooter's in the wind.
Now, any time a cop gets killed, it's gonna move the needle.
But we were losing guys every few weeks back then
so I didn't really pay much mind to it.
Until I heard the shooter's name.
The next morning... VINCE IMITATES KNOCKING AT THE DOOR
I answer my door. Who's there?
Lonnie.
And so I'm thinking, "OK, OK, I know.
I know. We're going over to Queens.
We're going to the dead cop's wake, pay our respects.
He's right. It's the least I can do.
OK. I get it."
Instead of going over to Queens though... HE WHISTLES
Jersey.
He gets on the turnpike and gets off in Secaucus.
Now, at first I'm relieved, because...
you know, I didn't really wanna face this grieving widow
and all the weepy kids
with their snot on their ties and all that shit, so...
But then Lonnie turns off the road
and he starts heading towards the Meadowlands.
Now...
I'm not... I'm not scared
exactly, not yet.
But I know how many bodies are buried out there.
But I'm thinking, I mean, come on.
There's no way that Lonnie is gonna clip me.
No matter how pissed he is.
Just because I gave a little kid some compassion.
No way.
But he turns off the road
gets out, and he leads me into some weeds, alright?
Now, these weeds are taller than the both of us in some spots, right?
So we're working our way through the weeds
and out of nowhere... HE WHISTLES
it opens up, and there we are in this little clearing.
And that's when I see them. There's like...
twelve guys. Now there's no uniforms
but you could tell, they're all on the job
and they all got shovels and quicklime
and they're standing around a big rectangle hole that they just finished digging.
I'm freaking out a little bit.
And then I... I crane my neck and I see.
Right at the edge of the hole is a man kneeling.
I don't know how long they were beating on him
but his head was so swollen it hurt to look at.
And I could still see him looking up at me with his...
sad eyes. Only now...
it's just through a little slit, cos it's so swollen.
And he still had that nervous smile.
Only now, I couldn't see any of his teeth on account of all the blood.
And I could feel those cops looking at me.
VINCE SIGHS
Boring a hole into my head.
I don't know what the fuck Lonnie told them
but... Lonnie
squeezes a burner into my hand.
And I look at this thing, and there's no tape on the grip.
Why? Cos as soon as it's over
this is gonna go in the hole with that motherfucker.
And the quicklime will wipe out any of the prints.
So...
Anyway...
He puts that gun in my hand.
He takes a look at Terrence on his knees, shaking with fear
swollen face looking up at us, hoping he's not gonna be killed.
And Lonnie comes up to me
and he just whispers in my ear
"OK, motherfucker.
You broke it.
You bought it."
Vince, look...
No, listen I wasn't-- - Eddie, Eddie, Eddie.
It's best for you not to say anything right now.
PHONE RINGS
MARIUS: Hello? - OK, by my math
to keep on track to our deadline
you should be sitting on about sixty-thou at this moment.
What are you doing? Are you calling to fuck with me?
You wanna twirl your moustache a little bit?
No, I'm calling you because...
Eddie needs to hear his brother's voice right now.
Get the bolt cutters.
What?
No, no, no! Wait, Vince!
Wait, wait, Vince! Wait, wait, wait!
No, no, no!
EDDIE SCREAMS
No, no, no! No, no, no, Vince!
Vince, I told you I'd take care of this.
Marius can you still hear me?
Vince? Vince, you listen to me.
You've spent years building a reputation as a man of your word.
If it gets around that you started chopping Eddie's fingers
before the fuckin' week is up
all that's out the window!
You hear me?
EDDIE PLEADS INCOHERENTLY - MARIUS: Vince?
MARIUS: Vince, I'm begging you!
Well, I appreciate that, Marius, but...
this is between Eddie and me.
Wait, just take a second. - Hey, hey.
Vince? Vince, you want me?
Here I am!
VINCE: It's too late for that, Marius. - EDDIE CONTINUES PLEADING
If you want to help your brother, help him focus on something far away.
Marius! Make him stop!
I'm scared.
EDDIE SOBS Please, Marius.
EDDIE: Please, no! - You broke it.
Please make him stop! You bought it.
Marius, please! Please!
EDDIE SOBS
Please, Marius!
Please tell them!
Please make them stop! - Eddie, Eddie, Eddie, listen to me.
MARIUS: You remember on your ninth birthday
I took you to ride the Cyclone at Coney Island
and we had to sneak past the ticket taker
because you were too small?
And when we were clicking up the first rise
do you remember what you said to me?
Eddie, what did you say to me?
EDDIE: I said I was scared.
And what did I tell you?
Put my head on your chest.
Close my eyes.
That you would be scared for the both of us.
Marius?
I'm scared.
CUTTING NOISE
EDDIE SCREAMS