American Me (1992) - full transcript
This epic depiction of thirty years of Chicano gang life in Los Angeles focuses on a teen named Santana who, with his friends Mundo and the Caucasian-but-acting-Hispanic J.D., form their own gang and are soon arrested for a break-in. Santana gets into trouble again and goes straight from reform school to prison, spending eighteen years there, and becoming leader of a powerful gang, both inside and outside the prison, while there. When he is finally released, he tries to make sense of the violence in his life, in a world much changed from when last he was in it.
Ain't nobody talking when I'm talking,
fellows, so shut the fuck up!
The following items you place in
the envelope as I call them off.
An empty wallet.
Legal paperwork.
First three out of the tank.
Line up single file
along the bench. Let"s go.
Open your mouth.
Stick out your tongue.
All right. Do your ears.
One at a time.
Okay, bend your heads over,
shake them out with your fingers.
Put your hands
above your head.
Hands out in front of you.
Over. Move those fingers.
Reach down
and lift up your nut sack.
Drop your nut sacks,
and skin back your dick.
Turn around.
One foot at a time,
pick it up and wiggle the toes.
Other foot.
Bend over,
grab your ass,
spread your cheeks
and give me two good coughs.
Stand right there.
J ULIE:
You"re like two people.
Inmate Montoya Santana?
One is like a kid.
Doesn't know
how to dance.
Step this way.
Doesn't know
how to make love.
That's the one
I cared about.
Step inside.
But the other one...
The other one I hate.
The one who knows,
the one who has his rap down,
who knows how to run drugs.
Who kills people!
Until now,
I would"ve thought it a sign of weakness
to even listen to what you
said to me that night.
But I see that you were right.
I am two people.
One was born
when I met you.
The other one began in a
downtown L.A. tattoo parlor.
My father, Pedro,
was showing his love for my mother,
Esperanza. Por Vida.
For life.
My mother was
a beautiful woman.
They were pachucos,
zoot-suiters, and proud of it.
In June of 1943
America was at war.
Not only overseas,
but with itself.
The racial tension was running high
against anyone that was different.
Excuse me!
Esperanza!
Is it new?
For me, esa,
put together with a lot of love!
Y eah, esa. Vamonos.
MAN ON RADIO: Take note congressmen and
senators, we don't need a third front.
Read all about it!
Get your paper.
Come on. Come on,
let's get out of here.
Let"s bring our boys home to
fight those zoot-suited dandies
that are making it unsafe
to walk our streets today.
Last night in Detroit six people
were killed and many injured
when army, navy and marines
clashed with zoot-suited thugs.
Stores and property
were destroyed.
Riots have been reported
throughout our country.
Come on, guys,
you don't want to start any trouble.
Get your late Times.
Hey, it's time
to be moving, ladies.
Let's get Pedro and get over to the
dance and off of these streets.
De volada.
On the night
of the Zoot Suit Riots,
Pedro and Esperanza
had a date.
Hey, let's see the finished product, hombre.
You're gonna like it, esa.
Now you'll always be
a part of me.
Chingao!
Este vato's
a fine artist, ese.
It's beautiful!
Órale.
And so is the price.
Hey, we better be hatting,
ese.
The streets are hot, hombre.
If you got a problem being on the
streets wearing your colors...
Oh yeah, between the Hearst newspapers
and Walter Winchell on the radio,
you'd think the pinche war was
right here in L.A., hombre.
It's getting hot
all over America, carnal.
I'm grooving with my woman
down the boulevard.
She's so fine.
My ruca's all mine.
No telling what time I may get home
'cause I'm here.
Say that fast
three times, ese.
Let him go.
Leave him alone!
Leave him alone! No!
Leave him alone!
Esperanza!
No! No!
Don't let go!
God damn, no! Stop!
Esperanza, Esperanza!
No!
Pedro! Pedro!
Esperanza!
Come on over here.
No!
Come on, get out of here!
Let's give him a haircut.
Esperanza!
Don't touch me!
Break it up!
No!
Esperanza!
Esperanza!
Esperanza! Esperanza!
Esperanza!
Zoot suit, new suit.
It sounded all the same.
I had no clue
what they"d been through.
It was a mystery.
But to be 16 in '59,
staying away from home
even if I didn't have a dime,
'cause the old man
was just waiting
to give me
his piece of time,
drove me to the street
just to save my mind.
What's happening?
Don't forget the spark plug, homes.
I'll see you guys later.
What's up? Hey, chico?
Santana.
Hey, chico, I'm not gonna make it,
all right, homes? I'm gonna go eat.
Later.
All right, man, later.
¿Abuelito, què hubo?
į La puerta, la puerta!
You got it. Puerta, la puerta.
You're always nagging.
There. You happy?
You get your coffee?
Yes.
Good, good. Hey, Mom.
You're home, huh?
You should respect your grandfather, huh?
I didn't say anything mean.
¿Y tú, què? How you doing?
Okay.
How was your day?
Good.
J ust go sit down.
I'm hungry.
Paulito, how're you doing?
Turn that thing off.
You know what "off" means?
It was easy to blame my father
for everything I did.
Isn't that the life
of every kid?
Shit. Took me a long time
to understand that rhyme.
J. D.
Hey, come on, J. D.
What are we gonna do
about Mundo?
He's young, he's weak.
But I think we ought to let him in,
show him the way, you know?
Órale.
Come here.
Give me your hand.
You know what, ese?
White Fence,
Maravilla, Lomita,
they've been around a lot longer than us,
you know?
It's cool.
We're finally getting
into our own, you know.
Gaining respect.
Our families,
that's all we got, ese.
When we were kids,
belonging felt good.
But having respect,
that feels even better.
You know, La Primera
lives through us, ese.
It gives to us.
It is us.
We make it, carnal.
We don't fake you,
we just take you.
'Cause La Primera's ese.
Always has been,
always will be.
Órale.
Órale.
Welcome to the clica,
carnal.
Coming to terms
with the lessons one learns
through the choices
one makes is not easy.
Mundo, me and J. D.
Boy, were we crazy!
Oye. I gotta be making it back to my
pad or my mother's gonna whip my ass.
Wait up, okay?
We'll be hatting
with you.
Let's take
the short cut.
Hey, no need to, man.
We don't need to nothing.
We do what we do, ese.
¿Entiendes, Mendes?
Hey, fuck it, ese.
Get on down the road, ese.
Órale.
Órale!
Shit!
Órale. Where you vatos from?
Bullshit.
Fuck you!
Primera lives!
Órale, ese.
There they are!
Oh, shit!
Come on, let's go!
Putos!
Shit!
Fuck!
Órale! Åndale!
Get those guys!
Shit!
We're surrounded!
Come on, down the alley.
To the left, homes.
We'll meet at the boulevard.
H urry up, J. D.
H urry up, ese.
You all right?
Come on, J. D. Go!
Come on, Mundo,
let's go! H urry up.
Go, go, go!
Open that door, homes.
Come on, carnal. Here they come!
Got it. Come on!
Come on. Come on.
They're coming! Close the door.
Here they come.
Órale!
Órale.
iOye! Where're you
vatos going? Shit!
Santana, please, man.
What are you laughing at?
We gotta get out of here, man!
God damn it,
turn that fuck...
Órale.
Oh shit!
Don't move!
No, Mundo,
don't, man! Don't!
This is the last time you will
steal and destroy my property!
You hear?
I said, don't move!
J. D., stop, man, stop!
My leg!
I can't feel my leg!
J. D., come on!
Go call an ambulance, man.
Go call a fucking ambulance!
I told him not to move.
H urry up!
Thought I knew it all.
Ended up in juvie hall.
And the shit
got even deeper.
To the right.
Open up your mouth.
Okay, pick your clothes up.
Take it on down
to the property room
to exchange your clothing.
Don't fucking move,
you fuck!
Don't make a fucking sound.
Hear me?
Does it feel good?
Fuck, yeah.
You say one word
about this,
there'll be shit
on my knife,
not on my dick!
Fucker.
Damn you,
you fucking asshole!
Kill him! Kill him.
Killing that first night got me
the worst that juvie had to offer.
An extended sentence
with a guaranteed bus ride
to the big time
as soon as I turned 18.
But the respect I earned made
me think I'd found the answer.
When J. D. showed up
a year later,
I knew we"d get
even stronger.
Hey, man,
what's your name?
Hey! Where you from?
La Primera. East Los.
You talk like
a fucking chicon, man.
I'll check you out later.
Órale, I see they finally let your
white ass out of the hospital, carnal.
Santana!
How you doing, man?
Cool, ese.
Mundo!
You guys,
check it out, man.
This right here's J. D.,
my best crime partner.
This is Chuy, Casper, Chucko,
Raymond and Big Happy.
Órale.
Can I talk to you, ese?
Yeah, come here.
You thinking of
letting him in, ese?
I told you he was
my best crime partner.
He ain't Mexican, ese.
Órale.
So, homes, how's that leg?
Check it out,
hard as a rock, ese.
Shit, homes,
throw some shellac on it!
Shit! I'll still run
your ass to the ground, ese.
I seen that dude
before.
Ese vato sitting
on the bench.
I think
he's with 18th Street.
Chale, ain't no barrios
in here, man.
No La Primera,
18th, Hazard. Nada.
They stick together
playing ball.
See those white boys
on the steps?
Be happy don't you
belong to them, ese.
Over here, we gotta
stick together, homes.
One big clica.
And bless my soul He out-bopped
the buzzard and the oriole
He rocks in the treetop
all the day long
Hoppin" and a-boppin"
and a-singin" his song
All the little birds
on Jaybird Street
Love to hear the Robin
go tweet tweet tweet
Rockin' Robin
Tweet tweet
Rock, rockin' Robin
Tweet tweedle-dee-dee
Go, Rockin' Robin,
"cause we"re really gonna rock tonight
Tweet tweedle-dee-dee
Tweedle-dee-deedle-dee
tweedle-dee-deedle-dee
Tweet tweet
Órale, homes.
Let's go.
Choices we made
to survive
got Mundo, J. D.
and me 10 to 25.
Give me a year, J. D.
Fuck the year, homes.
I'm gonna go make my collections.
Órale.
What's up,
peckerwood?
Power became our game.
Make sure the meeting's set for tonight
with the Black Guerrilla Family.
Power to provide
everything you find outside.
Make sure the Aryan
Brotherhood's behind us.
Make sure they're part
of the whole thing.
I'll be over
with the carnales.
You got your people,
Big J im?
BIG J IM:
Be straight with me, man.
Hey, Santana.
Extortion.
They wanna do it.
What should we do? Go ahead.
Gambling.
You just give it
a little bit of time.
Prostitution.
All right.
It's done, man.
We give you three packas.
Make sure it's done right.
We got it together because we had to,
didn't have a choice.
The eMe is here because
before there was nothing.
You all right, Santana?
This is your home, too, ese.
Power to make
every inmate pay rent.
And the biggest
money-maker, drugs.
Oye, loco.
No, I need to clean up my tab, man.
You know, pick up
some more shit.
The thing is,
I gotta get it right away 'cause I'm out.
The Aryan Brotherhood
and the Black Guerrilla Family
shared the yard.
But Folsom belonged to us,
the oldest clica, La eMe.
The Mexican mafia.
Hey, Montoya.
Homes, I got you
at table eight over there.
Órale, carnal.
Órale.
Órale, carnal!
How you doing, Paulito?
Fine.
H i, Mama. How are you?
I'm okay.
How you doing, little one?
Fine.
Doing good?
Yeah.
Drawing the pumpkin man, huh?
Yeah.
Bus ride is hard
for you, isn't it?
It's okay, Santana.
You know, your father
wanted to come see you,
but something came up.
He couldn't make it.
Whatever, Mama.
Santana,
I brought you something.
You know, when Jesus was
crucified on the cross,
there was a thief named Dismas
on the cross next to him.
He believed in Jesus and asked him
not to forget him when he died.
When Jesus died,
he took Dismas to heaven
and Dismas became a saint.
I want you to wear it.
Let me see it, Mama.
Mi hijo, let's put it
on your brother.
Okay.
Santana.
Excuse me, ma'am.
You're not supposed to
pass items to convicts.
But you see what it is.
Sorry. That's policy.
He can pick this up with the rest of
his property you brought for him.
You'll wear it, huh?
I'll wear it.
Don't worry.
They'll give it to me later.
I'm okay.
Slippin' into darkness
Takes my mind beyond the trees
I was slippin" into darkness
Yeah
Takes my mind
Beyond the trees
Where I talk to my brothers
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Who never said their names
Slippin' into darkness
Yeah
When I heard
my mother say
I was slippin" into darkness
Órale.
When I heard my mother say
Hey, what"d she say?
What"d she say?
You"ve been slippin"
into darkness
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Pretty soon you"re gonna pay
Yeah
Cheetah?
Pie Face.
Slippin' into darkness
Japo.
Órale.
Takes my mind
beyond the trees
Hey, homes, you got a visitor.
I ain't seeing nobody.
Have it your way.
Órale, pass it on, ese.
Pass it on.
Hey, vato, pass that wire.
J ust a minute.
Pinche mayate.
What the fuck's going on, ese?
Pass that wire.
Órale, pass the wire!
Here you go, man.
Here you go.
Fuck!
Chow release!
Let's go.
Let's go, gentlemen.
Chow release.
Okay, gentlemen, let's go.
Come on, move it.
Give him the uppercut.
He's going down.
That shit wasn't
even clean, man.
What's your problem?
I paid for a full load.
Don't worry.
We'll take care of business.
Don't worry?
I'm sick, motherfucker!
Make sure he gets
what he ordered right now.
Simòn.
Thank you.
I fucking appreciate that.
Who copped his wire?
Some fucking mayate.
He's dead.
Make sure nothing happens
to these guards.
Órale.
Steve!
Órale.
They haven't started to kill each other yet.
They're still throwing shit.
Come on,
motherfucker!
That's right,
you fucking son of a bitch!
Bring it on, then!
Fuck you, you motherfucker!
You motherfucker!
Fuck him up!
Come on, kick his ass!
Watch your
motherfucking ass!
Talk to me, baby.
Talk to me!
Dead dude burned somebody
for their stash.
Color wasn't involved.
You sent the wrong message.
We can do this
any way you want, Doc.
One to one from the chest...
Or we can all get down!
Yeah, we can all
really fuck this place up!
I'm not going
against the guns.
You're gonna lose, Doc.
Any move you make,
we're on you.
You fucked up!
You're staying in the hole
for as long as it takes
to break up your little gang,
Santana.
There was nothing the
system could do to stop me.
I could run this show
from solitary.
Gracias, carnal.
J. D. taking care of business?
Simón, ese, but the heat's on.
They're trying to break us up.
Danny's down in Soledad.
Stevie's down in Chino
and Willie boy's in Vacaville.
We need a meeting,
keep ourselves together.
Any of our people on the
outside coming up for trial?
Puppet's little brother
got busted.
Tell our lawyer to subpoena us,
get us together in one place.
The brothers send their love, carnal.
Gracias.
The state is so lame,
they paid for the game.
There were a couple of things from some
of our people who've already gotten out
that weren't in sync with instructions
I've been getting from inside.
Inside runs the show. If there's any
problems with that, let us know.
I'd like to interview
each of you individually.
Who wants to go first?
Corky.
Corky.
Santana, how was
the bus ride home?
Sunshine felt good.
This is my brother, ese.
They call him "Little Puppet."
He's a genius, homes.
Don't get carried away, ese.
He does the best placas
in East L.A. Check it out!
N ice tits!
He had a lightweight jones
going and got popped.
He's coming up to Folsom.
I want him in with us.
Can he take care
of himself?
He don't know nothing,
but I'll be responsible for him.
You know what you're doing?
How you doing
on the tecato side?
I'm clean now, ese.
Thank you for helping us
get this meeting together.
Yeah, I'd do anything
for my carnal.
When you come up,
if you need anything, let us know.
You run into problems, we'll take care of it.
Gracias.
Oye. Órale.
Sparky, how're we doing
in Vacaville?
Going slow, homes.
Trying to get it together,
but we got a little problem.
We spent all of our time
trying to get it together.
Dealing with whites and the mayates,
only to be dealing with our own.
Órale, carnal.
These aren't our own people.
They're nothing but lame
farmers from up north.
They're chicanos.
It's too late, homes.
They're already too big
in Vacaville.
And now they're making a play
on our shit in Folsom.
They gotta pay
the bill, ese.
Who's carrying all the weight
for them?
Dude named El Chucko Peña.
I know that vato.
I know him real well.
That should make it easier
to get next to him, ese.
He used to be
my crime partner!
What the fuck is
wrong with you, ese?
It's cool.
Pie Face had left me
only one choice.
The strength of a gesture,
a thought but no voice.
Baby, do you
understand me now?
Sometimes I feel a little mad
Don"t you know that no one
alive can always be an angel
When things go wrong
I"m just a soul
whose intentions are good
Please don't let me
be misunderstood
Baby, sometimes
I'm so carefree
Órale.
With a joy that"s hard to hide
And sometimes it seems that
all I have to do is worry
¿Sabes què? Little Puppet.
Her tits and her ass are too big, ese.
Chale, loco. ¿Sabes què?
It looks unnatural, ese.
I never mean
to take it out on you
Life has its problems
and I get my share
And that"s one thing
I never mean to do
Open your eyes, vato.
Oh, oh-oh, baby,
don"t you know I"m human?
Have thoughts
like any other one
Sometimes I find myself
alone and regretting
Some foolish thing,
some sinful thing I"ve done
I"m just a soul
whose intentions are good
Oh, Lord,
please don"t let me be misunderstood
Yes, I"m just a soul
whose intentions are good
Oh, Lord,
please don"t let me be misunderstood
I was proud I didn't
let my feelings get in the way
of doing what we had to do
to Pie Face that day.
Killing one of our own
had earned us a new respect.
But none of us
knew the price.
Little Puppet.
Órale, homes.
How you doing?
All right.
That's good, ese.
Got a little favor to ask you.
All right?
Simòn.
You know that dude,
El Chucko?
I want you to handle that
for us, all right?
I'll take care of it, ese.
Was I talking to you, ese?
Santana?
Let me do it.
Mi carnalito,
that's not his thing.
He's not no punk
or nothing, but...
He's not talking to you.
There's something I want you to understand,
Little Puppet.
What happened to Pie Face,
I didn't like it, but it was necessary.
Especially right now.
Take a look over there, ese.
El Chucko and La N uestra Familia's
making their play to get respect, ese.
La eMe took a long time earning
their respect in this place.
And if we want
to keep it,
we gotta show
some class.
Now I know
Pie Face wasn't weak, ese.
And you know
he wasn't weak, either.
But how about other people?
How about El Chucko,
what'd he think, ese?
"Cause that"s what it"s about.
It"s not just about being weak
that we can"t accept.
It"s about other people even beginning
to think we"re showing weakness.
It"s up to you, you know?
Don"t try to serve
a summons on me!
I'll do it.
Get down!
Get down!
I said get down!
Wipe your face.
I got him, ese.
I got the vato.
You're bleeding, carnal.
Hey, the dude had a filero.
He cut me, man.
I got him in the neck.
You did good, Little Puppet.
Take it easy, J. D.
T. C. B., J. D.
Órale, carnales.
We'll be riding right alongside
of you out there on Broadway.
Feels good, ese.
Órale. T. C. B. out there.
You know I will, ese.
You keep taking care of it
in here, homes.
Órale.
Life was changing
for J. D., Mundo and me.
But I didn"t know how much.
Órale.
Want some grilled cheese, ese?
Simòn.
Paulito, you grew up
on me, man.
Did you get my letters?
Where's Mama?
Did you come here by yourself?
She's sick?
She's dead.
I love you, carnal.
You never stop to think
of what life has meant
till reality hits hard.
You ride behind pride,
thinking you can hide
feelings deep within you.
I had years on the tier
to think about how my life
had affected my mother.
All these years,
nothing's changed.
A lot has changed,
homes.
Took me a while to see it.
I can see where we can
move out here, man.
Check that shit out.
It's nothing new.
It's the numbers
that are different, brother.
We're talking about 200, 000 tecatos
doing their thing every day, brother.
The Italians are still running the show,
but they're getting sloppy.
It's a move
with a heavy upside.
Running that show
on the inside's one thing.
Running it out here
is a different trip.
Inside and outside
go together, brother.
You're the one who pulled
our coats to that.
Control the inside,
you own the outside.
Welcome to Broadway, homes.
Yeah.
Shit takes a while, ese.
Heard that.
It's good
to see you, ese.
I'm gonna get a drink.
Pedro.
Santana.
I got home
a couple hours ago.
I know.
If it bothers you,
I won't stay.
I remember when I was
a little chavalito.
I used to sit by the window
waiting for you to come home.
I would get so anxious, I'd pinch myself
on the hand until it would bleed.
Then when you came... There you are, man!
I was looking for you!
I want to show you
something.
Hey, Papa.
Check it out.
It's the letters
you wrote me.
From the time
I was a little vato.
I used to read them
to my homeboys.
They listened, too.
Said it was like poetry
the way you wrote them.
Check it out.
This is the homeboys.
Heard a lot about you, homes.
Homes, Paulito talk
about you.
Good to meet you guys.
Lighten up, ese.
You know Puppet
and Little Puppet?
They're good people.
Simòn.
Hey, Chuy.
That's Neto.
He's our neighbor.
He lives in 116 with his mom and sister.
See that fine-looking one over
there in the white blouse?
No, you're not
going over...
MICO: I'm gonna go hang out
with the guys over there.
What guys?
Them there.
Are you okay, man?
Yeah, just not used
to socializing, you know?
You want a beer?
J. D., want a beer?
Hey, little vato,
hiding the tequila?
Tequila.
Go get him some.
Feeling"s gettin" stronger
Beat is gettin" longer, too
You"II be somethin" good to me
You live with your sister
and her husband?
Her husband?
The guy with the suit.
That's my prlmo Eddie.
He's Puppet and
Little Puppet's brother.
He thinks his shit don't stink
because he's going to college.
Hey, J ulie!
Come over here.
Santana wants to meet you.
J ulie, this is Santana.
This is my brother, man.
Only dude around who'll walk
the main yard alone, eh?
Hey, relax.
Oldies rule forever.
Let's move over here,
all right?
Hey, homes.
Simòn.
Yeah.
So, how long's it been
since you've been home?
About 18 summers,
you know?
H mm, since you were a kid.
J U LI E: You like to dance?
Come on.
That"s for lovin" you
Darling I
Oh, when I
When was the last time
you danced?
I never really tried it,
you know?
Shit! I don't know
how to dance.
I guess this is
your first time, huh?
Sorry.
It's all right.
Watch.
J ust relax, okay?
Yeah.
J ust, you know,
just move.
There you go.
That's good.
You're doing really good.
Afraid I'm gonna
step on you again?
No, no, I was...
I was checking out
your shoes.
I haven't seen any like that
in a long time.
They're nice, though.
I like them.
Mom!
This your boy?
Yeah.
Oh, you're tired, Son.
Yes.
Mico, say hi to Santana.
It's all right.
I better get him home.
It's... It's late.
Thanks. Come on.
I keep wonderin"
I should have thought with
my heart instead of my head.
But I didn"t know about that.
Órale.
How long's he been in?
Six months.
Gentlemen, Mr. Scagnelli
would like to see you.
We appreciate your taking
time to talk to us.
What can I do for you?
There's gonna be some changes in the
way business is done in East L.A.
From now on our people are gonna be
responsible for the East L.A. exchange.
All deliveries between Mexico and the
exchange are gonna be done through us.
All collections are
gonna be done by us.
Is that what you came here
for, to tell me my business?
From now on, your business in the
barrio is gonna be our business, too.
Let me explain
something.
For you, for us,
for anybody who does business, things happen.
And you or your family or
friend can end up doing time.
Somewhere along the line
we have to deal with that.
You run the distribution on the outside,
we run the inside.
Our offer is this.
We guarantee your people
no problems on the inside.
You listen to me.
I don't know who you think you are,
but if anything, and I mean anything,
happens to make my son's stay any more
uncomfortable than it already is,
you'll regret the day
you make that choice.
Ese, Tony, got some
new trays for you, bro.
Hey, wait a minute,
what's happening, man?
Good news, carnal.
Hey, man, I got word
from my old lady, ese.
She said the meeting with your
father went real well, bro.
Yeah, man?
Simòn.
Glad to hear it,
I wasn't sure how it was gonna work out.
They say your father
was a real trip, ese.
Yeah, man,
he can get kind of crazy sometimes.
Some of the carnales just finished
cooking up a batch of pruno.
Oh, yeah? Good stuff?
Simòn.
We're gonna have a taste tonight
after dinner. Catch you later, bro.
Hey, hey, hey, man.
Uno mà s. Órale.
Hey, I'm into it, man, I'm into it.
Órale.
Shit, yeah.
I'll see you at the party.
All right, man, party.
Okay.
That was funny, man.
PAU LITO: Yeah, chale, homes.
That chick ugly, homes.
Hey, homes, fucking...
Check it out, Neto,
she ugly, homes.
Órale, carnalito.
Hey, what's happening, homes?
Listen, I was just over at your house.
Your sister home?
No, she's at work
at the bakery store, homes.
Right there
on Soto and...
On Soto and Brooklyn.
You guys are
flying high, huh?
Chale, dude.
J ust some lightweight shit.
You only live once.
J ust don't live it too fast.
You might burn out.
Take it day by day.
Simòn.
It's not for me to say,
but you're gonna have to learn the hard way.
I'll be watching you later,
right, carnal? CuÃdate.
Take it easy.
Later, carnal.
What's wrong with him?
I don't know, eh.
He think he your dad
or someone?
H i.
H i.
So this is where
you work, huh?
I mean, I know this is where you work,
your brother told me.
Yeah,
were you just in the neighborhood or what?
I was thinking about my shoes,
you know?
Your shoes?
What you said the other night made me
think maybe they're old-fashioned.
Hey, it's...
It's okay. I was just...
I was thinking
maybe if you could,
if you would wanna help me
buy another pair of shoes.
You don't have to, if you don't want to.
Everything's okay, you know.
If you got things to do
and everything, you know.
These are pretty good.
I'd like to buy these...
I'll be with you in a minute.
Hey.
Look at me when you talk to me,
all right?
I have a customer waiting.
I'll be right with you.
What's wrong?
Nothing.
What, you thought he wasn't
showing you respect or what?
I didn't think nothing.
Hey, ese, the vato was
just doing his pinche job.
Órale.
Taste this, this is really good.
These are chinchalunes.
SÃ. SÃ. Gracias.
Watch, this is really good.
Why don't you taste this?
It's not too hot,
is it?
H uh?
Get me some water!
Por favor.
Un agua, por favor.
When I got off at Folsom first time,
I took a look around,
smiled and said,
"I finally made it to the big time."
Mmm, how did
you survive there?
Got the clica going.
Had anything I wanted.
Before, you know, before if somebody
wanted something from you like
cigarettes or your manhood and
they were stronger than you,
they just took it.
We changed all that.
We made it better
for our people in the joint.
But you never
finished school.
But I fed myself.
H istory, politics, biography.
Anything I could
get a hold of.
To help me forget about myself,
think about something else.
I loved it in there.
Had whatever I wanted.
Yeah? How about
walking outside
or going out with a girl?
H mm?
I didn't know about that.
Didn't care about it either.
Salud.
Friends!
Friends, yeah!
Forever, eh?
Oh, man.
Hijo de la chingada madre.
Tè aventaste, Puppet man.
Chingao.
Good, man. It's good shit.
Okay, now, just let...
Ease the clutch out and push on the gas.
Okay, good, are you sure
you've never driven before?
J U LI E:
Good.
Why does it do that?
You got to let
the clutch out
and push the gas in
at the same time.
'Cause... Watch.
Okay, step on the brake...
You did real good.
To the greatest fighter
pound for pound,
vato, see, without a doubt,
con los left jab, los hooks,
los uppercuts, hands down,
Mando Ramos.
Mando Ramos.
Simòn.
Vete, hombre. Mando Ramos.
Who the hell is Mando Ramos?
All right,
a toast to Mando Ramos.
Do you like what you do?
It's nothing special.
What do you wanna do?
I don't know.
I used to want to
go to school, you know?
Really learn something.
Why don't you do it?
Oh, man,
wouldn't be that easy now.
I got a kid.
I got to work.
I'd be older
than everybody else.
Read. Go to school
once a week.
Educate your mind.
It'll be good
for you and Mico.
Or is it
that all you want is
for things to be easy?
I don't know.
You wanna know something?
What?
I never been
at the beach before.
For reals?
Yeah, for real.
You like it?
Yeah.
I like it.
Oh, man, I'm getting dizzy.
This pruno goes
right to your head.
Hey, man, come on, drink up.
It's good for you.
Great party, man.
This is a great party.
Hey, wait till
the broad gets here.
Oh, yeah, who's the broad?
You are, baby.
Don't even
think about it.
Your father didn't think much
of our business offer,
or you.
Relax, you might enjoy it.
You've never been
with a woman before.
I told you
you'd like it, huh?
It's okay. It's...
Wait. No.
Wait. Wait!
No. No! Stop it!
No! Stop it!
No!
We always have beans every single night!
No, we don't.
We're gonna put some salsa
in it so it'll taste better.
Okay, Grandma.
J U LI E: Why does he listen to you?
He never listens to me.
Neto! Neto,
come and eat, please.
Neto, come and eat.
The food's getting cold, hurry.
What are you doing?
I'm making a burrito.
Come on, Neto.
Look at the mess!
MICO: That's why you're here,
to clean it up.
Neto?
You're dropping it
all in the plate.
I'll scoop it back up.
Neto.
Neto? Mama! Mama! Mama!
Mama! Mama!
Call an ambulance!
Get Mico out of here!
Come on, Neto, wake up!
MICO: Neto!
Damn you!
What did you do, you stupid shit!
Wake up!
Neto!
You better wake up,
God damn you!
Wake up! Wake up!
Wake up!
Damn you! Wake up!
Let me see!
No, Mico, no!
Let me just see.
He's my uncle.
No!
It started happening around 7: 00 tonight
as soon as the new stuff hit town.
How many O. D.s?
Thirty, 40, maybe more.
That's just the first ones
we know about.
It's all over town, ese.
Scagnelli let the shit
run through uncut.
H undred percent pure.
Every tecato's dream
come true.
Don't make no sense, carnal.
It makes a lot of sense.
He must have known
what would happen.
He's killing off
his own customers.
How many Italians O. D. 'd?
Italians?
There ain't no fucking Italians in East L.A.
What are you doing?
Those are Paulito's things.
Where is he?
I don't know.
What kind of shit is he on?
I don't know.
Where is he?
He don't listen to me, just like you.
Where is he?
Get your hands off me.
Listen to me, where is he?
Don't touch me.
I said, where is he?
Let me go!
Where is he?
Where is he?
Talk to me, where is he?
What are you guys doing?
Let go!
What kind of shit
are you on?
What you talking about?
I'm clean, man.
Paulito told me you've been
coming here every day.
About the other night, I...
Forget it.
Whatever I did to you
or to Mama
to make you hate me,
I'm sorry.
Your mother
was a beautiful woman.
She made me feel proud.
She was 19 years old.
Raped by sailors.
After it happened
we never talked about it.
Then we got married
and we tried to forget.
When you were born
I tried to love you.
But every time
I looked at you
I wondered
who your real father was.
I wondered which sailor's
blood you carried inside you.
Stop.
Hey, what"re they,
football uniforms?
Certainly not,
they"re space suits.
Hey, Les,
don't I look like a piece of bubble-gum?
Step on it again, homes.
J. D. wants a good count.
It's gotta be right.
Our name's going out behind this.
Makes me nervous
looking at all this shit
and not being able to chip a little taste,
brother.
Business, Tin Man, then we'll think
about taking a little off the top.
Now we're talking,
brother.
Watch out, homes.
Órale, homes!
Relax, homes.
He's gonna get fired.
I'm just watching the tube.
What happened to
Abbott and Costello?
They're on their way to Mars.
They ain't the only ones.
Drop the gun! Now!
Back up against the wall!
Who the fuck are you?
Down on your knees,
put your hands behind your back.
Now!
Bow your heads! Do it!
You know who we are?
You know who we are?
Yeah, I know who you are.
Now breathe! Deep!
Breathe!
Breathe, real deep.
The word is, it was
the Black Guerrilla Family.
Scagnelli had his people check
out how things work in here.
Farmed it out to the B. G. F.
What the hell are the mayates
doing with the Italians?
Scagnelli hooked up with
the Compton dope exchange.
B. G. F. runs muscle
for Compton.
I hear our lawyers are getting
some of our people dates, huh?
Yeah, Puppet and Little Puppet
gonna see daylight real soon.
Little Puppet in
about three weeks,
Puppet in about seven.
Little Puppet wants to get married
on the day he gets out, eh?
He wants me to be best man.
Què vato.
Santana, watch your back.
If we show weakness now, homes,
everybody's gonna see it.
Not just the mayates
and wops,
but the N uestra Familia
as well.
They're just waiting
to make their fucking move.
There's a way
we can do it clean.
Do what Scagnelli did.
Farm the shit out.
To who? Aryan Brotherhood.
They hate the mayates.
Mayates hate them.
Ain't no big fucking thing.
Let the A. B. give
the blacks the message.
That way we don't
have to risk anything.
We're spending all of our time
dealing with the Italians
and now with the Black Guerrilla Family,
ese,
instead of getting our people
out and keeping them out.
You know what?
If we don't
fight for this shit now,
we're gonna
lose it all now, homes.
I also want to take a minute to thank
the owner of the club, Maynard.
Let"s have a good time.
Let"s party!
Get down!
Back, motherfucker.
We don't need no trouble.
J ust take the money...
Everybody, shut up!
Get down!
What is your name?
Arthur J.
Now it's Mrs. J.
For weeks I wanted
to tell you how I felt.
But when I was finally with you,
I couldn"t find the courage.
This is how
I always imagined it.
The only thing, I wish
my brother was here.
When he comes out,
let's have a party for him.
I want to have a party,
a big party.
Órale.
Lourdes, this dude
and my brother, man,
are the only reasons
I made it.
You know, without them...
I can't believe
we're out here, ese.
We made it, que no?
Yeah, we made it.
Let's get a drink, que no?
Yeah.
LITTLE PU PPET:
Day in, day out.
Same fucking thing.
You know what it was
in there, homes?
Dead time,
wasting my fucking life away, ese.
And for what?
So I could look in the fucking mirror
and say, "You're bad, ese. You're bad."
Shit, homes,
the best tattoos in East L.A.
Now I can't draw shit, ese.
Fuck it, homes.
It's okay.
I'm lucky, huh?
I can still do something.
Go sit him down.
Hey, you know,
I'm here, ese.
Órale.
You know what?
I don't need to be bad anymore.
What you laughing at, punk?
Wipe that fucking smile
off your face, asshole.
Hey, carnal.
Wedding present, man.
Chale, ese.
Be cool, man.
Be cool? Órale, I don't need to be cool.
¿Sabes què? I'm married now.
Órale. You're cool.
What went down in Compton
was wrong, ese.
It was supposed to be business.
It came out racial.
We wanted to send a message to the B. G.
F. about staying away from our business
and we send a bunch of fucking cowboys
into other people's home turf,
talking trash and shooting
some guy in the dick.
I don't know
what's wrong with you.
I don't know
if it's that woman or what.
But you're starting
to show weakness
and we both know
that you can't do that.
Get away, damn it,
your breath smells like goat shit.
J U LI E: Oh, shit,
come on, Little Puppet.
Come on, prlmo, get up.
You all right?
Come on, guy.
Time for you to take a walk.
Come on.
You okay?
My cousin, man,
she a fox or what?
Hey, Santana, I don't want to
be in the La eMe anymore, ese.
I wanna be a John Doe,
tú sabes, you know?
Sears and Roebuck
all the way, homes.
Work for a living.
Move to Bakersfield.
Have some fucking kids, ese.
Excuse me.
Oh, man.
Oh, I feel better now,
except I'm fucking hot.
Take it easy,
nobody wants to see you naked, all right?
Okay, homes.
I'm gonna go wash up a little,
all right?
Wait up,
I'll go with you.
Oh, no, that's okay.
J ulie, I'm sorry, huh?
It's okay.
You're my cousin,
remember?
Fox is my cousin,
que no, ese?
I'm sorry to hear about Neto.
I don't know
what to say to you.
Whatever, you know.
You're like two people.
One is like a kid.
Doesn't know
how to dance.
Doesn't know
how to make love.
That's the one
I cared about.
But the other one...
The other one I hate.
The one who knows,
the one who has his rap down,
who knows how to run drugs.
Who kills people!
I don't have to listen
to this shit, all right?
If you were a man, I'd...
You'd kill me.
Oh, no.
No, you'd fuck me
in the ass, right?
Right?
I guess we got nothing
to say to each other.
You know, when I met you,
I was impressed.
Yeah, you talked about la raza
and education and the revolution,
but you know what, man?
You really don't care about any revolution,
do you?
You're nothing
but a fucking dope dealer.
J ust a road to where we're going, esa.
Bullshit!
¿Sabes què?
I don't do drugs.
I don't even like them, but they're there.
It's a reality.
If I don't take care of that business,
somebody else will.
Yeah? Well, your business
kills kids, man.
It kills kids!
Like Neto and Paulito and Mico,
my son, who look up to you.
They idolize the ground
you walk on.
What the fuck
do you want from me?
Do you want me
to start over?
Get a job?
How about become a citizen?
There's no fucking hope
for our kids,
for our barrios,
with people
like you around.
Good evening,
buses stopped running at midnight.
Is everything okay?
Yeah, what's the problem?
You ever been in the joint?
Yeah.
What about you, miss?
No.
We weren't doing
anything wrong.
Can I see some I. D.?
This your jacket?
Any weapons?
Okay, step to the car.
Put your hands on the hood.
Now!
He wasn't doing...
Stay out of this, ma'am.
She's just a chick
I picked up at a party.
Come on, he wasn't...
Stay back!
Step away from the car and put
your hands on top of your head.
Hands out in front.
Over. Wiggle the fingers.
Reach down
and lift up your nut sack.
Can I talk to you a minute?
Simòn, ese.
I heard about
what happened.
I'm sorry, Santana.
Mi carnalito,
he messed up.
It wasn't his fault, ese.
It was an all-American beef.
When they wanna pop you,
they're gonna pop you.
Want some
grilled cheese, ese?
No, thanks.
You sure, ese?
People are saying
it's Little Puppet's fault.
It wasn't his fault, ese.
You know me, carnal.
I'll do anything for La eMe,
anything!
But I'm asking you, please,
take my brother's name off.
Your brother's name's on
a piece of paper, ese.
They want me to kill him.
It's a mistake, ese.
Don't worry about it.
I'll take care of it.
Nothing's gonna happen
to your brother.
That's good to hear, ese.
That's good to hear.
I hear Little Puppet's name's
on a piece of paper, ese.
I want you to co-sign it.
I'm taking it off, ese.
That punk got you
kicked back in the hole.
Set us all back.
Now he's running around talking
about how he wants out of La eMe.
H is number's up, homes.
I said I'm taking it off, ese.
What's gonna happen
is gonna happen.
Don't try to stop it.
You understand me?
I'm asking you, carnal.
Is that where
it's gotten to, ese?
The brothers are
talking about you.
What are they saying, ese?
They're saying that you're
not showing them anything.
You know, a long time ago,
two best homeboys,
two kids were
thrown into juvie.
They were scared,
and they thought they had to do
something to prove themselves.
And they did
what they had to do.
They thought they were doing it
to gain respect for their people,
to show the world that no one
could take their class from them.
No one had to take it
from us, ese.
Whatever we had,
we gave it away.
Take care of yourself,
carnal.
But it's looking good as far
as the appeal is concerned.
I'd say maybe in the next six months,
but it's gonna be tough.
Puppet.
Órale, Mundo.
What's the word,
mockingbird?
Gonna fly the coop
on us?
Simòn.
You gonna take care of that business for us,
right?
You brought your brother in.
You gotta take him out.
Santana was gonna
talk to J. D.
Come on, don't punk out
on us, ese.
If you can't take care
of it, we will.
Anybody that happens to be with
him gets to go along for the ride.
One-two-three, five!
One-two-three, six!
One-two-three, seven!
Dear Julie,
maybe the reason I learned
how to read and write
was so that I could
write you this letter.
Here in this cage,
behind these bars,
I can read, I can learn.
I can even make love,
but it's distorted.
I thought that what I had
learned on the inside
was everything
I needed to know,
even on the outside.
Like they say,
things don"t always turn out
the way one feels they should.
Till now, all the books
I've ever read
have been to try to get power.
J U LI E: Let's see.
Mico, help me find my shoe.
MICO: Yeah?
You'd lose your head
if it wasn't fastened on.
You were the door
to another life,
where my seed
might have been affirmed.
Ta-da! I found your shoe!
I"ve brought back
to this hole
a breath of life,
which I am trying to use.
We make it, carnal.
We don"t fake you,
we just take you.
"Cause La Primera"s ese.
Always has been,
always will be.
Órale.
Órale.
Welcome to the clica,
carnal.
Por vida, ese.
Por vida.
Are you coming out, ese?
Staying in.
Are you sure you know
what you're doing, ese?
Simòn.
You scared me by showing me a glimpse
of what my life might have been.
That's Lourdes.
Órale.
Hey, be careful!
Don't worry, homes,
I ain't gonna crash.
Check that one out.
See all the people?
They were throwing
rice and shit.
Look at Mama.
Pull over up here.
I gotta take a leak.
This medal
I send to you as a gift
for helping me
find my voice,
a key to my soul
which I will use.
St. Dismas is the patron saint
of all those in prison.
He has protected me.
May he do the same for you.
Have hope.
You deserve it.
PAULITO:
La Primera lives, ese.
It lives through us.
It gives to us.
It is us.
Simòn, ese,
it's all we got.
It's all we've ever had.
Carnal, remember that time we
went down to the L.A. River?
We drank that funky,
funky wine, ese.
Man, I was sick
for a week.
You wanna know
what Lourdes asked me?
I'm telling you this
'cause you're my carnal.
She wanted to know if the reason why
they call me "Little Puppet" was...
You know.
Made me real angry.
I think she's pregnant now.
I guess I showed her, huh?
Don't look at me!
Don't look at me.
Don't fight.
Please, don't fight!
J ust die!
J ust die.
Mi carnalito.
God damn me.
Coming out?
Paulito.
Can I talk to you
for a minute?
Your brother sent this
for you.
He wants you to have it.
You know what it is, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, I went with my mom
to give it to him, years ago.
Thanks.
Órale.
Hey, check it out!
Look at what my carnal sent me.
Mommy, where're you going?
To school, Mico.
To school?
Give me a kiss.
I love you.
Is it okay if I go with the guys?
No, it's not okay.
MICO: Why not?
J U LI E: Because I said so.
Please?
No, you can't.
PAU LITO:
Looks good, don't it?
You're a man now, ese.
PAU LITO: Let's go
cruise the boulevard.
Paulito.
Be right back!
Paulito!
Paulito!
Papa, I'll be right back.
You coming out, ese?
Yeah.
You got a lot of heart,
carnal.
Maybe too much.
You've always gotta give it your best shot,
you know?
Which one, ese?
Don't matter.
Fuck it, homes.
La Primera lives!
What is time?
Time is when a man is tryin"
to make time with your woman,
but you doin" time behind bars
and your time is standin' still.
Yo, Frost, kick it
to these people for real.
Kl D FROST: Time slips through the
hourglass Through night and day
And I watch as the games
people play
It's like do unto others,
then split
And if you can"t back up what
you say then you ain"t shit
I"ve seen the manifestations
of the street
So I can manifest
what I see on a drumbeat
Like just last night
What happened, man?
I watched these two vatos
get in a crazy fight
One of them was quick
to pull a knife
He stabbed him in the heart
And now he's doin' life
in prison at the age of 21
Livin' on death row
"cause he couldn"t let go
Caught in the web of violence
Row deep when they creep
And move in
silence of the lambs
Yo.
A tattooed teardrop
as the iron gates slam
Ain't no sunshine
Any time, hey
Ain't no sunshine
Damn, damn,
ain't that a shame?
You"re lost so pay the cost
Shouldn't have played the game
Should've listened
to the Frost
When I was tryin"
to come across to ya
But no, you didn"t think
Sucker.
You just keep gettin"
yourself more deep
Until you sink
So there's no one else
to thank but yourself
So go ahead and take a bow
for a job well done
But you"II never see
the day of the sunshine
Or the fun times
Just the old days
and your old ways
True.
Corrupt and wicked
Out there doin' dirt
instead of just kickin" it
Pow-pow bang-bang
and all that noise
Yeah, you
and all your homeboys
You take time to read
between the lines
'Cause ain't no sunshine
Ain't no sunshine
Any time, hey
Ain't no sunshine
Yo, kick it.
I know about bein" macho
Callin' the shots,
the big time head honcho
But here's somethin'
even more gacho
One of my homeboys
is your old lady Sancha
Yo, shit happens
Her number lights up
on his beeper
Right as I"m rappin"
While you sit in your cell
writin' a letter
Sayin' when you get out
Yo, things"II be better
But, man, she couldn't wait
So she's goin' out on dates
with every Tom, Dick and Harry
And if you ask me,
yo, shit"s gettin" scary
So how you gonna handle this
When your ho"s in Los Angeles
actin' so scandalous
Yo, you can"t blame her
you didn"t take the time
And now ain"t no sunshine
Ain't no sunshine
Just for you in "92.
You know what I"m sayin"?
Ain't no sunshine
So if you don't want
to do no time,
you better take time
and try to draw the line.
Or you're gonna be the next
fool in line doin' time.
You know what I"m sayin"?
Like my man said.
Ain't no sunshine, fool.
Ain"t nothin" happenin" up there.
You know what I"m sayin"?
Yo, me and Frost
is outta here.
fellows, so shut the fuck up!
The following items you place in
the envelope as I call them off.
An empty wallet.
Legal paperwork.
First three out of the tank.
Line up single file
along the bench. Let"s go.
Open your mouth.
Stick out your tongue.
All right. Do your ears.
One at a time.
Okay, bend your heads over,
shake them out with your fingers.
Put your hands
above your head.
Hands out in front of you.
Over. Move those fingers.
Reach down
and lift up your nut sack.
Drop your nut sacks,
and skin back your dick.
Turn around.
One foot at a time,
pick it up and wiggle the toes.
Other foot.
Bend over,
grab your ass,
spread your cheeks
and give me two good coughs.
Stand right there.
J ULIE:
You"re like two people.
Inmate Montoya Santana?
One is like a kid.
Doesn't know
how to dance.
Step this way.
Doesn't know
how to make love.
That's the one
I cared about.
Step inside.
But the other one...
The other one I hate.
The one who knows,
the one who has his rap down,
who knows how to run drugs.
Who kills people!
Until now,
I would"ve thought it a sign of weakness
to even listen to what you
said to me that night.
But I see that you were right.
I am two people.
One was born
when I met you.
The other one began in a
downtown L.A. tattoo parlor.
My father, Pedro,
was showing his love for my mother,
Esperanza. Por Vida.
For life.
My mother was
a beautiful woman.
They were pachucos,
zoot-suiters, and proud of it.
In June of 1943
America was at war.
Not only overseas,
but with itself.
The racial tension was running high
against anyone that was different.
Excuse me!
Esperanza!
Is it new?
For me, esa,
put together with a lot of love!
Y eah, esa. Vamonos.
MAN ON RADIO: Take note congressmen and
senators, we don't need a third front.
Read all about it!
Get your paper.
Come on. Come on,
let's get out of here.
Let"s bring our boys home to
fight those zoot-suited dandies
that are making it unsafe
to walk our streets today.
Last night in Detroit six people
were killed and many injured
when army, navy and marines
clashed with zoot-suited thugs.
Stores and property
were destroyed.
Riots have been reported
throughout our country.
Come on, guys,
you don't want to start any trouble.
Get your late Times.
Hey, it's time
to be moving, ladies.
Let's get Pedro and get over to the
dance and off of these streets.
De volada.
On the night
of the Zoot Suit Riots,
Pedro and Esperanza
had a date.
Hey, let's see the finished product, hombre.
You're gonna like it, esa.
Now you'll always be
a part of me.
Chingao!
Este vato's
a fine artist, ese.
It's beautiful!
Órale.
And so is the price.
Hey, we better be hatting,
ese.
The streets are hot, hombre.
If you got a problem being on the
streets wearing your colors...
Oh yeah, between the Hearst newspapers
and Walter Winchell on the radio,
you'd think the pinche war was
right here in L.A., hombre.
It's getting hot
all over America, carnal.
I'm grooving with my woman
down the boulevard.
She's so fine.
My ruca's all mine.
No telling what time I may get home
'cause I'm here.
Say that fast
three times, ese.
Let him go.
Leave him alone!
Leave him alone! No!
Leave him alone!
Esperanza!
No! No!
Don't let go!
God damn, no! Stop!
Esperanza, Esperanza!
No!
Pedro! Pedro!
Esperanza!
Come on over here.
No!
Come on, get out of here!
Let's give him a haircut.
Esperanza!
Don't touch me!
Break it up!
No!
Esperanza!
Esperanza!
Esperanza! Esperanza!
Esperanza!
Zoot suit, new suit.
It sounded all the same.
I had no clue
what they"d been through.
It was a mystery.
But to be 16 in '59,
staying away from home
even if I didn't have a dime,
'cause the old man
was just waiting
to give me
his piece of time,
drove me to the street
just to save my mind.
What's happening?
Don't forget the spark plug, homes.
I'll see you guys later.
What's up? Hey, chico?
Santana.
Hey, chico, I'm not gonna make it,
all right, homes? I'm gonna go eat.
Later.
All right, man, later.
¿Abuelito, què hubo?
į La puerta, la puerta!
You got it. Puerta, la puerta.
You're always nagging.
There. You happy?
You get your coffee?
Yes.
Good, good. Hey, Mom.
You're home, huh?
You should respect your grandfather, huh?
I didn't say anything mean.
¿Y tú, què? How you doing?
Okay.
How was your day?
Good.
J ust go sit down.
I'm hungry.
Paulito, how're you doing?
Turn that thing off.
You know what "off" means?
It was easy to blame my father
for everything I did.
Isn't that the life
of every kid?
Shit. Took me a long time
to understand that rhyme.
J. D.
Hey, come on, J. D.
What are we gonna do
about Mundo?
He's young, he's weak.
But I think we ought to let him in,
show him the way, you know?
Órale.
Come here.
Give me your hand.
You know what, ese?
White Fence,
Maravilla, Lomita,
they've been around a lot longer than us,
you know?
It's cool.
We're finally getting
into our own, you know.
Gaining respect.
Our families,
that's all we got, ese.
When we were kids,
belonging felt good.
But having respect,
that feels even better.
You know, La Primera
lives through us, ese.
It gives to us.
It is us.
We make it, carnal.
We don't fake you,
we just take you.
'Cause La Primera's ese.
Always has been,
always will be.
Órale.
Órale.
Welcome to the clica,
carnal.
Coming to terms
with the lessons one learns
through the choices
one makes is not easy.
Mundo, me and J. D.
Boy, were we crazy!
Oye. I gotta be making it back to my
pad or my mother's gonna whip my ass.
Wait up, okay?
We'll be hatting
with you.
Let's take
the short cut.
Hey, no need to, man.
We don't need to nothing.
We do what we do, ese.
¿Entiendes, Mendes?
Hey, fuck it, ese.
Get on down the road, ese.
Órale.
Órale!
Shit!
Órale. Where you vatos from?
Bullshit.
Fuck you!
Primera lives!
Órale, ese.
There they are!
Oh, shit!
Come on, let's go!
Putos!
Shit!
Fuck!
Órale! Åndale!
Get those guys!
Shit!
We're surrounded!
Come on, down the alley.
To the left, homes.
We'll meet at the boulevard.
H urry up, J. D.
H urry up, ese.
You all right?
Come on, J. D. Go!
Come on, Mundo,
let's go! H urry up.
Go, go, go!
Open that door, homes.
Come on, carnal. Here they come!
Got it. Come on!
Come on. Come on.
They're coming! Close the door.
Here they come.
Órale!
Órale.
iOye! Where're you
vatos going? Shit!
Santana, please, man.
What are you laughing at?
We gotta get out of here, man!
God damn it,
turn that fuck...
Órale.
Oh shit!
Don't move!
No, Mundo,
don't, man! Don't!
This is the last time you will
steal and destroy my property!
You hear?
I said, don't move!
J. D., stop, man, stop!
My leg!
I can't feel my leg!
J. D., come on!
Go call an ambulance, man.
Go call a fucking ambulance!
I told him not to move.
H urry up!
Thought I knew it all.
Ended up in juvie hall.
And the shit
got even deeper.
To the right.
Open up your mouth.
Okay, pick your clothes up.
Take it on down
to the property room
to exchange your clothing.
Don't fucking move,
you fuck!
Don't make a fucking sound.
Hear me?
Does it feel good?
Fuck, yeah.
You say one word
about this,
there'll be shit
on my knife,
not on my dick!
Fucker.
Damn you,
you fucking asshole!
Kill him! Kill him.
Killing that first night got me
the worst that juvie had to offer.
An extended sentence
with a guaranteed bus ride
to the big time
as soon as I turned 18.
But the respect I earned made
me think I'd found the answer.
When J. D. showed up
a year later,
I knew we"d get
even stronger.
Hey, man,
what's your name?
Hey! Where you from?
La Primera. East Los.
You talk like
a fucking chicon, man.
I'll check you out later.
Órale, I see they finally let your
white ass out of the hospital, carnal.
Santana!
How you doing, man?
Cool, ese.
Mundo!
You guys,
check it out, man.
This right here's J. D.,
my best crime partner.
This is Chuy, Casper, Chucko,
Raymond and Big Happy.
Órale.
Can I talk to you, ese?
Yeah, come here.
You thinking of
letting him in, ese?
I told you he was
my best crime partner.
He ain't Mexican, ese.
Órale.
So, homes, how's that leg?
Check it out,
hard as a rock, ese.
Shit, homes,
throw some shellac on it!
Shit! I'll still run
your ass to the ground, ese.
I seen that dude
before.
Ese vato sitting
on the bench.
I think
he's with 18th Street.
Chale, ain't no barrios
in here, man.
No La Primera,
18th, Hazard. Nada.
They stick together
playing ball.
See those white boys
on the steps?
Be happy don't you
belong to them, ese.
Over here, we gotta
stick together, homes.
One big clica.
And bless my soul He out-bopped
the buzzard and the oriole
He rocks in the treetop
all the day long
Hoppin" and a-boppin"
and a-singin" his song
All the little birds
on Jaybird Street
Love to hear the Robin
go tweet tweet tweet
Rockin' Robin
Tweet tweet
Rock, rockin' Robin
Tweet tweedle-dee-dee
Go, Rockin' Robin,
"cause we"re really gonna rock tonight
Tweet tweedle-dee-dee
Tweedle-dee-deedle-dee
tweedle-dee-deedle-dee
Tweet tweet
Órale, homes.
Let's go.
Choices we made
to survive
got Mundo, J. D.
and me 10 to 25.
Give me a year, J. D.
Fuck the year, homes.
I'm gonna go make my collections.
Órale.
What's up,
peckerwood?
Power became our game.
Make sure the meeting's set for tonight
with the Black Guerrilla Family.
Power to provide
everything you find outside.
Make sure the Aryan
Brotherhood's behind us.
Make sure they're part
of the whole thing.
I'll be over
with the carnales.
You got your people,
Big J im?
BIG J IM:
Be straight with me, man.
Hey, Santana.
Extortion.
They wanna do it.
What should we do? Go ahead.
Gambling.
You just give it
a little bit of time.
Prostitution.
All right.
It's done, man.
We give you three packas.
Make sure it's done right.
We got it together because we had to,
didn't have a choice.
The eMe is here because
before there was nothing.
You all right, Santana?
This is your home, too, ese.
Power to make
every inmate pay rent.
And the biggest
money-maker, drugs.
Oye, loco.
No, I need to clean up my tab, man.
You know, pick up
some more shit.
The thing is,
I gotta get it right away 'cause I'm out.
The Aryan Brotherhood
and the Black Guerrilla Family
shared the yard.
But Folsom belonged to us,
the oldest clica, La eMe.
The Mexican mafia.
Hey, Montoya.
Homes, I got you
at table eight over there.
Órale, carnal.
Órale.
Órale, carnal!
How you doing, Paulito?
Fine.
H i, Mama. How are you?
I'm okay.
How you doing, little one?
Fine.
Doing good?
Yeah.
Drawing the pumpkin man, huh?
Yeah.
Bus ride is hard
for you, isn't it?
It's okay, Santana.
You know, your father
wanted to come see you,
but something came up.
He couldn't make it.
Whatever, Mama.
Santana,
I brought you something.
You know, when Jesus was
crucified on the cross,
there was a thief named Dismas
on the cross next to him.
He believed in Jesus and asked him
not to forget him when he died.
When Jesus died,
he took Dismas to heaven
and Dismas became a saint.
I want you to wear it.
Let me see it, Mama.
Mi hijo, let's put it
on your brother.
Okay.
Santana.
Excuse me, ma'am.
You're not supposed to
pass items to convicts.
But you see what it is.
Sorry. That's policy.
He can pick this up with the rest of
his property you brought for him.
You'll wear it, huh?
I'll wear it.
Don't worry.
They'll give it to me later.
I'm okay.
Slippin' into darkness
Takes my mind beyond the trees
I was slippin" into darkness
Yeah
Takes my mind
Beyond the trees
Where I talk to my brothers
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Who never said their names
Slippin' into darkness
Yeah
When I heard
my mother say
I was slippin" into darkness
Órale.
When I heard my mother say
Hey, what"d she say?
What"d she say?
You"ve been slippin"
into darkness
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Pretty soon you"re gonna pay
Yeah
Cheetah?
Pie Face.
Slippin' into darkness
Japo.
Órale.
Takes my mind
beyond the trees
Hey, homes, you got a visitor.
I ain't seeing nobody.
Have it your way.
Órale, pass it on, ese.
Pass it on.
Hey, vato, pass that wire.
J ust a minute.
Pinche mayate.
What the fuck's going on, ese?
Pass that wire.
Órale, pass the wire!
Here you go, man.
Here you go.
Fuck!
Chow release!
Let's go.
Let's go, gentlemen.
Chow release.
Okay, gentlemen, let's go.
Come on, move it.
Give him the uppercut.
He's going down.
That shit wasn't
even clean, man.
What's your problem?
I paid for a full load.
Don't worry.
We'll take care of business.
Don't worry?
I'm sick, motherfucker!
Make sure he gets
what he ordered right now.
Simòn.
Thank you.
I fucking appreciate that.
Who copped his wire?
Some fucking mayate.
He's dead.
Make sure nothing happens
to these guards.
Órale.
Steve!
Órale.
They haven't started to kill each other yet.
They're still throwing shit.
Come on,
motherfucker!
That's right,
you fucking son of a bitch!
Bring it on, then!
Fuck you, you motherfucker!
You motherfucker!
Fuck him up!
Come on, kick his ass!
Watch your
motherfucking ass!
Talk to me, baby.
Talk to me!
Dead dude burned somebody
for their stash.
Color wasn't involved.
You sent the wrong message.
We can do this
any way you want, Doc.
One to one from the chest...
Or we can all get down!
Yeah, we can all
really fuck this place up!
I'm not going
against the guns.
You're gonna lose, Doc.
Any move you make,
we're on you.
You fucked up!
You're staying in the hole
for as long as it takes
to break up your little gang,
Santana.
There was nothing the
system could do to stop me.
I could run this show
from solitary.
Gracias, carnal.
J. D. taking care of business?
Simón, ese, but the heat's on.
They're trying to break us up.
Danny's down in Soledad.
Stevie's down in Chino
and Willie boy's in Vacaville.
We need a meeting,
keep ourselves together.
Any of our people on the
outside coming up for trial?
Puppet's little brother
got busted.
Tell our lawyer to subpoena us,
get us together in one place.
The brothers send their love, carnal.
Gracias.
The state is so lame,
they paid for the game.
There were a couple of things from some
of our people who've already gotten out
that weren't in sync with instructions
I've been getting from inside.
Inside runs the show. If there's any
problems with that, let us know.
I'd like to interview
each of you individually.
Who wants to go first?
Corky.
Corky.
Santana, how was
the bus ride home?
Sunshine felt good.
This is my brother, ese.
They call him "Little Puppet."
He's a genius, homes.
Don't get carried away, ese.
He does the best placas
in East L.A. Check it out!
N ice tits!
He had a lightweight jones
going and got popped.
He's coming up to Folsom.
I want him in with us.
Can he take care
of himself?
He don't know nothing,
but I'll be responsible for him.
You know what you're doing?
How you doing
on the tecato side?
I'm clean now, ese.
Thank you for helping us
get this meeting together.
Yeah, I'd do anything
for my carnal.
When you come up,
if you need anything, let us know.
You run into problems, we'll take care of it.
Gracias.
Oye. Órale.
Sparky, how're we doing
in Vacaville?
Going slow, homes.
Trying to get it together,
but we got a little problem.
We spent all of our time
trying to get it together.
Dealing with whites and the mayates,
only to be dealing with our own.
Órale, carnal.
These aren't our own people.
They're nothing but lame
farmers from up north.
They're chicanos.
It's too late, homes.
They're already too big
in Vacaville.
And now they're making a play
on our shit in Folsom.
They gotta pay
the bill, ese.
Who's carrying all the weight
for them?
Dude named El Chucko Peña.
I know that vato.
I know him real well.
That should make it easier
to get next to him, ese.
He used to be
my crime partner!
What the fuck is
wrong with you, ese?
It's cool.
Pie Face had left me
only one choice.
The strength of a gesture,
a thought but no voice.
Baby, do you
understand me now?
Sometimes I feel a little mad
Don"t you know that no one
alive can always be an angel
When things go wrong
I"m just a soul
whose intentions are good
Please don't let me
be misunderstood
Baby, sometimes
I'm so carefree
Órale.
With a joy that"s hard to hide
And sometimes it seems that
all I have to do is worry
¿Sabes què? Little Puppet.
Her tits and her ass are too big, ese.
Chale, loco. ¿Sabes què?
It looks unnatural, ese.
I never mean
to take it out on you
Life has its problems
and I get my share
And that"s one thing
I never mean to do
Open your eyes, vato.
Oh, oh-oh, baby,
don"t you know I"m human?
Have thoughts
like any other one
Sometimes I find myself
alone and regretting
Some foolish thing,
some sinful thing I"ve done
I"m just a soul
whose intentions are good
Oh, Lord,
please don"t let me be misunderstood
Yes, I"m just a soul
whose intentions are good
Oh, Lord,
please don"t let me be misunderstood
I was proud I didn't
let my feelings get in the way
of doing what we had to do
to Pie Face that day.
Killing one of our own
had earned us a new respect.
But none of us
knew the price.
Little Puppet.
Órale, homes.
How you doing?
All right.
That's good, ese.
Got a little favor to ask you.
All right?
Simòn.
You know that dude,
El Chucko?
I want you to handle that
for us, all right?
I'll take care of it, ese.
Was I talking to you, ese?
Santana?
Let me do it.
Mi carnalito,
that's not his thing.
He's not no punk
or nothing, but...
He's not talking to you.
There's something I want you to understand,
Little Puppet.
What happened to Pie Face,
I didn't like it, but it was necessary.
Especially right now.
Take a look over there, ese.
El Chucko and La N uestra Familia's
making their play to get respect, ese.
La eMe took a long time earning
their respect in this place.
And if we want
to keep it,
we gotta show
some class.
Now I know
Pie Face wasn't weak, ese.
And you know
he wasn't weak, either.
But how about other people?
How about El Chucko,
what'd he think, ese?
"Cause that"s what it"s about.
It"s not just about being weak
that we can"t accept.
It"s about other people even beginning
to think we"re showing weakness.
It"s up to you, you know?
Don"t try to serve
a summons on me!
I'll do it.
Get down!
Get down!
I said get down!
Wipe your face.
I got him, ese.
I got the vato.
You're bleeding, carnal.
Hey, the dude had a filero.
He cut me, man.
I got him in the neck.
You did good, Little Puppet.
Take it easy, J. D.
T. C. B., J. D.
Órale, carnales.
We'll be riding right alongside
of you out there on Broadway.
Feels good, ese.
Órale. T. C. B. out there.
You know I will, ese.
You keep taking care of it
in here, homes.
Órale.
Life was changing
for J. D., Mundo and me.
But I didn"t know how much.
Órale.
Want some grilled cheese, ese?
Simòn.
Paulito, you grew up
on me, man.
Did you get my letters?
Where's Mama?
Did you come here by yourself?
She's sick?
She's dead.
I love you, carnal.
You never stop to think
of what life has meant
till reality hits hard.
You ride behind pride,
thinking you can hide
feelings deep within you.
I had years on the tier
to think about how my life
had affected my mother.
All these years,
nothing's changed.
A lot has changed,
homes.
Took me a while to see it.
I can see where we can
move out here, man.
Check that shit out.
It's nothing new.
It's the numbers
that are different, brother.
We're talking about 200, 000 tecatos
doing their thing every day, brother.
The Italians are still running the show,
but they're getting sloppy.
It's a move
with a heavy upside.
Running that show
on the inside's one thing.
Running it out here
is a different trip.
Inside and outside
go together, brother.
You're the one who pulled
our coats to that.
Control the inside,
you own the outside.
Welcome to Broadway, homes.
Yeah.
Shit takes a while, ese.
Heard that.
It's good
to see you, ese.
I'm gonna get a drink.
Pedro.
Santana.
I got home
a couple hours ago.
I know.
If it bothers you,
I won't stay.
I remember when I was
a little chavalito.
I used to sit by the window
waiting for you to come home.
I would get so anxious, I'd pinch myself
on the hand until it would bleed.
Then when you came... There you are, man!
I was looking for you!
I want to show you
something.
Hey, Papa.
Check it out.
It's the letters
you wrote me.
From the time
I was a little vato.
I used to read them
to my homeboys.
They listened, too.
Said it was like poetry
the way you wrote them.
Check it out.
This is the homeboys.
Heard a lot about you, homes.
Homes, Paulito talk
about you.
Good to meet you guys.
Lighten up, ese.
You know Puppet
and Little Puppet?
They're good people.
Simòn.
Hey, Chuy.
That's Neto.
He's our neighbor.
He lives in 116 with his mom and sister.
See that fine-looking one over
there in the white blouse?
No, you're not
going over...
MICO: I'm gonna go hang out
with the guys over there.
What guys?
Them there.
Are you okay, man?
Yeah, just not used
to socializing, you know?
You want a beer?
J. D., want a beer?
Hey, little vato,
hiding the tequila?
Tequila.
Go get him some.
Feeling"s gettin" stronger
Beat is gettin" longer, too
You"II be somethin" good to me
You live with your sister
and her husband?
Her husband?
The guy with the suit.
That's my prlmo Eddie.
He's Puppet and
Little Puppet's brother.
He thinks his shit don't stink
because he's going to college.
Hey, J ulie!
Come over here.
Santana wants to meet you.
J ulie, this is Santana.
This is my brother, man.
Only dude around who'll walk
the main yard alone, eh?
Hey, relax.
Oldies rule forever.
Let's move over here,
all right?
Hey, homes.
Simòn.
Yeah.
So, how long's it been
since you've been home?
About 18 summers,
you know?
H mm, since you were a kid.
J U LI E: You like to dance?
Come on.
That"s for lovin" you
Darling I
Oh, when I
When was the last time
you danced?
I never really tried it,
you know?
Shit! I don't know
how to dance.
I guess this is
your first time, huh?
Sorry.
It's all right.
Watch.
J ust relax, okay?
Yeah.
J ust, you know,
just move.
There you go.
That's good.
You're doing really good.
Afraid I'm gonna
step on you again?
No, no, I was...
I was checking out
your shoes.
I haven't seen any like that
in a long time.
They're nice, though.
I like them.
Mom!
This your boy?
Yeah.
Oh, you're tired, Son.
Yes.
Mico, say hi to Santana.
It's all right.
I better get him home.
It's... It's late.
Thanks. Come on.
I keep wonderin"
I should have thought with
my heart instead of my head.
But I didn"t know about that.
Órale.
How long's he been in?
Six months.
Gentlemen, Mr. Scagnelli
would like to see you.
We appreciate your taking
time to talk to us.
What can I do for you?
There's gonna be some changes in the
way business is done in East L.A.
From now on our people are gonna be
responsible for the East L.A. exchange.
All deliveries between Mexico and the
exchange are gonna be done through us.
All collections are
gonna be done by us.
Is that what you came here
for, to tell me my business?
From now on, your business in the
barrio is gonna be our business, too.
Let me explain
something.
For you, for us,
for anybody who does business, things happen.
And you or your family or
friend can end up doing time.
Somewhere along the line
we have to deal with that.
You run the distribution on the outside,
we run the inside.
Our offer is this.
We guarantee your people
no problems on the inside.
You listen to me.
I don't know who you think you are,
but if anything, and I mean anything,
happens to make my son's stay any more
uncomfortable than it already is,
you'll regret the day
you make that choice.
Ese, Tony, got some
new trays for you, bro.
Hey, wait a minute,
what's happening, man?
Good news, carnal.
Hey, man, I got word
from my old lady, ese.
She said the meeting with your
father went real well, bro.
Yeah, man?
Simòn.
Glad to hear it,
I wasn't sure how it was gonna work out.
They say your father
was a real trip, ese.
Yeah, man,
he can get kind of crazy sometimes.
Some of the carnales just finished
cooking up a batch of pruno.
Oh, yeah? Good stuff?
Simòn.
We're gonna have a taste tonight
after dinner. Catch you later, bro.
Hey, hey, hey, man.
Uno mà s. Órale.
Hey, I'm into it, man, I'm into it.
Órale.
Shit, yeah.
I'll see you at the party.
All right, man, party.
Okay.
That was funny, man.
PAU LITO: Yeah, chale, homes.
That chick ugly, homes.
Hey, homes, fucking...
Check it out, Neto,
she ugly, homes.
Órale, carnalito.
Hey, what's happening, homes?
Listen, I was just over at your house.
Your sister home?
No, she's at work
at the bakery store, homes.
Right there
on Soto and...
On Soto and Brooklyn.
You guys are
flying high, huh?
Chale, dude.
J ust some lightweight shit.
You only live once.
J ust don't live it too fast.
You might burn out.
Take it day by day.
Simòn.
It's not for me to say,
but you're gonna have to learn the hard way.
I'll be watching you later,
right, carnal? CuÃdate.
Take it easy.
Later, carnal.
What's wrong with him?
I don't know, eh.
He think he your dad
or someone?
H i.
H i.
So this is where
you work, huh?
I mean, I know this is where you work,
your brother told me.
Yeah,
were you just in the neighborhood or what?
I was thinking about my shoes,
you know?
Your shoes?
What you said the other night made me
think maybe they're old-fashioned.
Hey, it's...
It's okay. I was just...
I was thinking
maybe if you could,
if you would wanna help me
buy another pair of shoes.
You don't have to, if you don't want to.
Everything's okay, you know.
If you got things to do
and everything, you know.
These are pretty good.
I'd like to buy these...
I'll be with you in a minute.
Hey.
Look at me when you talk to me,
all right?
I have a customer waiting.
I'll be right with you.
What's wrong?
Nothing.
What, you thought he wasn't
showing you respect or what?
I didn't think nothing.
Hey, ese, the vato was
just doing his pinche job.
Órale.
Taste this, this is really good.
These are chinchalunes.
SÃ. SÃ. Gracias.
Watch, this is really good.
Why don't you taste this?
It's not too hot,
is it?
H uh?
Get me some water!
Por favor.
Un agua, por favor.
When I got off at Folsom first time,
I took a look around,
smiled and said,
"I finally made it to the big time."
Mmm, how did
you survive there?
Got the clica going.
Had anything I wanted.
Before, you know, before if somebody
wanted something from you like
cigarettes or your manhood and
they were stronger than you,
they just took it.
We changed all that.
We made it better
for our people in the joint.
But you never
finished school.
But I fed myself.
H istory, politics, biography.
Anything I could
get a hold of.
To help me forget about myself,
think about something else.
I loved it in there.
Had whatever I wanted.
Yeah? How about
walking outside
or going out with a girl?
H mm?
I didn't know about that.
Didn't care about it either.
Salud.
Friends!
Friends, yeah!
Forever, eh?
Oh, man.
Hijo de la chingada madre.
Tè aventaste, Puppet man.
Chingao.
Good, man. It's good shit.
Okay, now, just let...
Ease the clutch out and push on the gas.
Okay, good, are you sure
you've never driven before?
J U LI E:
Good.
Why does it do that?
You got to let
the clutch out
and push the gas in
at the same time.
'Cause... Watch.
Okay, step on the brake...
You did real good.
To the greatest fighter
pound for pound,
vato, see, without a doubt,
con los left jab, los hooks,
los uppercuts, hands down,
Mando Ramos.
Mando Ramos.
Simòn.
Vete, hombre. Mando Ramos.
Who the hell is Mando Ramos?
All right,
a toast to Mando Ramos.
Do you like what you do?
It's nothing special.
What do you wanna do?
I don't know.
I used to want to
go to school, you know?
Really learn something.
Why don't you do it?
Oh, man,
wouldn't be that easy now.
I got a kid.
I got to work.
I'd be older
than everybody else.
Read. Go to school
once a week.
Educate your mind.
It'll be good
for you and Mico.
Or is it
that all you want is
for things to be easy?
I don't know.
You wanna know something?
What?
I never been
at the beach before.
For reals?
Yeah, for real.
You like it?
Yeah.
I like it.
Oh, man, I'm getting dizzy.
This pruno goes
right to your head.
Hey, man, come on, drink up.
It's good for you.
Great party, man.
This is a great party.
Hey, wait till
the broad gets here.
Oh, yeah, who's the broad?
You are, baby.
Don't even
think about it.
Your father didn't think much
of our business offer,
or you.
Relax, you might enjoy it.
You've never been
with a woman before.
I told you
you'd like it, huh?
It's okay. It's...
Wait. No.
Wait. Wait!
No. No! Stop it!
No! Stop it!
No!
We always have beans every single night!
No, we don't.
We're gonna put some salsa
in it so it'll taste better.
Okay, Grandma.
J U LI E: Why does he listen to you?
He never listens to me.
Neto! Neto,
come and eat, please.
Neto, come and eat.
The food's getting cold, hurry.
What are you doing?
I'm making a burrito.
Come on, Neto.
Look at the mess!
MICO: That's why you're here,
to clean it up.
Neto?
You're dropping it
all in the plate.
I'll scoop it back up.
Neto.
Neto? Mama! Mama! Mama!
Mama! Mama!
Call an ambulance!
Get Mico out of here!
Come on, Neto, wake up!
MICO: Neto!
Damn you!
What did you do, you stupid shit!
Wake up!
Neto!
You better wake up,
God damn you!
Wake up! Wake up!
Wake up!
Damn you! Wake up!
Let me see!
No, Mico, no!
Let me just see.
He's my uncle.
No!
It started happening around 7: 00 tonight
as soon as the new stuff hit town.
How many O. D.s?
Thirty, 40, maybe more.
That's just the first ones
we know about.
It's all over town, ese.
Scagnelli let the shit
run through uncut.
H undred percent pure.
Every tecato's dream
come true.
Don't make no sense, carnal.
It makes a lot of sense.
He must have known
what would happen.
He's killing off
his own customers.
How many Italians O. D. 'd?
Italians?
There ain't no fucking Italians in East L.A.
What are you doing?
Those are Paulito's things.
Where is he?
I don't know.
What kind of shit is he on?
I don't know.
Where is he?
He don't listen to me, just like you.
Where is he?
Get your hands off me.
Listen to me, where is he?
Don't touch me.
I said, where is he?
Let me go!
Where is he?
Where is he?
Talk to me, where is he?
What are you guys doing?
Let go!
What kind of shit
are you on?
What you talking about?
I'm clean, man.
Paulito told me you've been
coming here every day.
About the other night, I...
Forget it.
Whatever I did to you
or to Mama
to make you hate me,
I'm sorry.
Your mother
was a beautiful woman.
She made me feel proud.
She was 19 years old.
Raped by sailors.
After it happened
we never talked about it.
Then we got married
and we tried to forget.
When you were born
I tried to love you.
But every time
I looked at you
I wondered
who your real father was.
I wondered which sailor's
blood you carried inside you.
Stop.
Hey, what"re they,
football uniforms?
Certainly not,
they"re space suits.
Hey, Les,
don't I look like a piece of bubble-gum?
Step on it again, homes.
J. D. wants a good count.
It's gotta be right.
Our name's going out behind this.
Makes me nervous
looking at all this shit
and not being able to chip a little taste,
brother.
Business, Tin Man, then we'll think
about taking a little off the top.
Now we're talking,
brother.
Watch out, homes.
Órale, homes!
Relax, homes.
He's gonna get fired.
I'm just watching the tube.
What happened to
Abbott and Costello?
They're on their way to Mars.
They ain't the only ones.
Drop the gun! Now!
Back up against the wall!
Who the fuck are you?
Down on your knees,
put your hands behind your back.
Now!
Bow your heads! Do it!
You know who we are?
You know who we are?
Yeah, I know who you are.
Now breathe! Deep!
Breathe!
Breathe, real deep.
The word is, it was
the Black Guerrilla Family.
Scagnelli had his people check
out how things work in here.
Farmed it out to the B. G. F.
What the hell are the mayates
doing with the Italians?
Scagnelli hooked up with
the Compton dope exchange.
B. G. F. runs muscle
for Compton.
I hear our lawyers are getting
some of our people dates, huh?
Yeah, Puppet and Little Puppet
gonna see daylight real soon.
Little Puppet in
about three weeks,
Puppet in about seven.
Little Puppet wants to get married
on the day he gets out, eh?
He wants me to be best man.
Què vato.
Santana, watch your back.
If we show weakness now, homes,
everybody's gonna see it.
Not just the mayates
and wops,
but the N uestra Familia
as well.
They're just waiting
to make their fucking move.
There's a way
we can do it clean.
Do what Scagnelli did.
Farm the shit out.
To who? Aryan Brotherhood.
They hate the mayates.
Mayates hate them.
Ain't no big fucking thing.
Let the A. B. give
the blacks the message.
That way we don't
have to risk anything.
We're spending all of our time
dealing with the Italians
and now with the Black Guerrilla Family,
ese,
instead of getting our people
out and keeping them out.
You know what?
If we don't
fight for this shit now,
we're gonna
lose it all now, homes.
I also want to take a minute to thank
the owner of the club, Maynard.
Let"s have a good time.
Let"s party!
Get down!
Back, motherfucker.
We don't need no trouble.
J ust take the money...
Everybody, shut up!
Get down!
What is your name?
Arthur J.
Now it's Mrs. J.
For weeks I wanted
to tell you how I felt.
But when I was finally with you,
I couldn"t find the courage.
This is how
I always imagined it.
The only thing, I wish
my brother was here.
When he comes out,
let's have a party for him.
I want to have a party,
a big party.
Órale.
Lourdes, this dude
and my brother, man,
are the only reasons
I made it.
You know, without them...
I can't believe
we're out here, ese.
We made it, que no?
Yeah, we made it.
Let's get a drink, que no?
Yeah.
LITTLE PU PPET:
Day in, day out.
Same fucking thing.
You know what it was
in there, homes?
Dead time,
wasting my fucking life away, ese.
And for what?
So I could look in the fucking mirror
and say, "You're bad, ese. You're bad."
Shit, homes,
the best tattoos in East L.A.
Now I can't draw shit, ese.
Fuck it, homes.
It's okay.
I'm lucky, huh?
I can still do something.
Go sit him down.
Hey, you know,
I'm here, ese.
Órale.
You know what?
I don't need to be bad anymore.
What you laughing at, punk?
Wipe that fucking smile
off your face, asshole.
Hey, carnal.
Wedding present, man.
Chale, ese.
Be cool, man.
Be cool? Órale, I don't need to be cool.
¿Sabes què? I'm married now.
Órale. You're cool.
What went down in Compton
was wrong, ese.
It was supposed to be business.
It came out racial.
We wanted to send a message to the B. G.
F. about staying away from our business
and we send a bunch of fucking cowboys
into other people's home turf,
talking trash and shooting
some guy in the dick.
I don't know
what's wrong with you.
I don't know
if it's that woman or what.
But you're starting
to show weakness
and we both know
that you can't do that.
Get away, damn it,
your breath smells like goat shit.
J U LI E: Oh, shit,
come on, Little Puppet.
Come on, prlmo, get up.
You all right?
Come on, guy.
Time for you to take a walk.
Come on.
You okay?
My cousin, man,
she a fox or what?
Hey, Santana, I don't want to
be in the La eMe anymore, ese.
I wanna be a John Doe,
tú sabes, you know?
Sears and Roebuck
all the way, homes.
Work for a living.
Move to Bakersfield.
Have some fucking kids, ese.
Excuse me.
Oh, man.
Oh, I feel better now,
except I'm fucking hot.
Take it easy,
nobody wants to see you naked, all right?
Okay, homes.
I'm gonna go wash up a little,
all right?
Wait up,
I'll go with you.
Oh, no, that's okay.
J ulie, I'm sorry, huh?
It's okay.
You're my cousin,
remember?
Fox is my cousin,
que no, ese?
I'm sorry to hear about Neto.
I don't know
what to say to you.
Whatever, you know.
You're like two people.
One is like a kid.
Doesn't know
how to dance.
Doesn't know
how to make love.
That's the one
I cared about.
But the other one...
The other one I hate.
The one who knows,
the one who has his rap down,
who knows how to run drugs.
Who kills people!
I don't have to listen
to this shit, all right?
If you were a man, I'd...
You'd kill me.
Oh, no.
No, you'd fuck me
in the ass, right?
Right?
I guess we got nothing
to say to each other.
You know, when I met you,
I was impressed.
Yeah, you talked about la raza
and education and the revolution,
but you know what, man?
You really don't care about any revolution,
do you?
You're nothing
but a fucking dope dealer.
J ust a road to where we're going, esa.
Bullshit!
¿Sabes què?
I don't do drugs.
I don't even like them, but they're there.
It's a reality.
If I don't take care of that business,
somebody else will.
Yeah? Well, your business
kills kids, man.
It kills kids!
Like Neto and Paulito and Mico,
my son, who look up to you.
They idolize the ground
you walk on.
What the fuck
do you want from me?
Do you want me
to start over?
Get a job?
How about become a citizen?
There's no fucking hope
for our kids,
for our barrios,
with people
like you around.
Good evening,
buses stopped running at midnight.
Is everything okay?
Yeah, what's the problem?
You ever been in the joint?
Yeah.
What about you, miss?
No.
We weren't doing
anything wrong.
Can I see some I. D.?
This your jacket?
Any weapons?
Okay, step to the car.
Put your hands on the hood.
Now!
He wasn't doing...
Stay out of this, ma'am.
She's just a chick
I picked up at a party.
Come on, he wasn't...
Stay back!
Step away from the car and put
your hands on top of your head.
Hands out in front.
Over. Wiggle the fingers.
Reach down
and lift up your nut sack.
Can I talk to you a minute?
Simòn, ese.
I heard about
what happened.
I'm sorry, Santana.
Mi carnalito,
he messed up.
It wasn't his fault, ese.
It was an all-American beef.
When they wanna pop you,
they're gonna pop you.
Want some
grilled cheese, ese?
No, thanks.
You sure, ese?
People are saying
it's Little Puppet's fault.
It wasn't his fault, ese.
You know me, carnal.
I'll do anything for La eMe,
anything!
But I'm asking you, please,
take my brother's name off.
Your brother's name's on
a piece of paper, ese.
They want me to kill him.
It's a mistake, ese.
Don't worry about it.
I'll take care of it.
Nothing's gonna happen
to your brother.
That's good to hear, ese.
That's good to hear.
I hear Little Puppet's name's
on a piece of paper, ese.
I want you to co-sign it.
I'm taking it off, ese.
That punk got you
kicked back in the hole.
Set us all back.
Now he's running around talking
about how he wants out of La eMe.
H is number's up, homes.
I said I'm taking it off, ese.
What's gonna happen
is gonna happen.
Don't try to stop it.
You understand me?
I'm asking you, carnal.
Is that where
it's gotten to, ese?
The brothers are
talking about you.
What are they saying, ese?
They're saying that you're
not showing them anything.
You know, a long time ago,
two best homeboys,
two kids were
thrown into juvie.
They were scared,
and they thought they had to do
something to prove themselves.
And they did
what they had to do.
They thought they were doing it
to gain respect for their people,
to show the world that no one
could take their class from them.
No one had to take it
from us, ese.
Whatever we had,
we gave it away.
Take care of yourself,
carnal.
But it's looking good as far
as the appeal is concerned.
I'd say maybe in the next six months,
but it's gonna be tough.
Puppet.
Órale, Mundo.
What's the word,
mockingbird?
Gonna fly the coop
on us?
Simòn.
You gonna take care of that business for us,
right?
You brought your brother in.
You gotta take him out.
Santana was gonna
talk to J. D.
Come on, don't punk out
on us, ese.
If you can't take care
of it, we will.
Anybody that happens to be with
him gets to go along for the ride.
One-two-three, five!
One-two-three, six!
One-two-three, seven!
Dear Julie,
maybe the reason I learned
how to read and write
was so that I could
write you this letter.
Here in this cage,
behind these bars,
I can read, I can learn.
I can even make love,
but it's distorted.
I thought that what I had
learned on the inside
was everything
I needed to know,
even on the outside.
Like they say,
things don"t always turn out
the way one feels they should.
Till now, all the books
I've ever read
have been to try to get power.
J U LI E: Let's see.
Mico, help me find my shoe.
MICO: Yeah?
You'd lose your head
if it wasn't fastened on.
You were the door
to another life,
where my seed
might have been affirmed.
Ta-da! I found your shoe!
I"ve brought back
to this hole
a breath of life,
which I am trying to use.
We make it, carnal.
We don"t fake you,
we just take you.
"Cause La Primera"s ese.
Always has been,
always will be.
Órale.
Órale.
Welcome to the clica,
carnal.
Por vida, ese.
Por vida.
Are you coming out, ese?
Staying in.
Are you sure you know
what you're doing, ese?
Simòn.
You scared me by showing me a glimpse
of what my life might have been.
That's Lourdes.
Órale.
Hey, be careful!
Don't worry, homes,
I ain't gonna crash.
Check that one out.
See all the people?
They were throwing
rice and shit.
Look at Mama.
Pull over up here.
I gotta take a leak.
This medal
I send to you as a gift
for helping me
find my voice,
a key to my soul
which I will use.
St. Dismas is the patron saint
of all those in prison.
He has protected me.
May he do the same for you.
Have hope.
You deserve it.
PAULITO:
La Primera lives, ese.
It lives through us.
It gives to us.
It is us.
Simòn, ese,
it's all we got.
It's all we've ever had.
Carnal, remember that time we
went down to the L.A. River?
We drank that funky,
funky wine, ese.
Man, I was sick
for a week.
You wanna know
what Lourdes asked me?
I'm telling you this
'cause you're my carnal.
She wanted to know if the reason why
they call me "Little Puppet" was...
You know.
Made me real angry.
I think she's pregnant now.
I guess I showed her, huh?
Don't look at me!
Don't look at me.
Don't fight.
Please, don't fight!
J ust die!
J ust die.
Mi carnalito.
God damn me.
Coming out?
Paulito.
Can I talk to you
for a minute?
Your brother sent this
for you.
He wants you to have it.
You know what it is, right?
Yeah.
Yeah, I went with my mom
to give it to him, years ago.
Thanks.
Órale.
Hey, check it out!
Look at what my carnal sent me.
Mommy, where're you going?
To school, Mico.
To school?
Give me a kiss.
I love you.
Is it okay if I go with the guys?
No, it's not okay.
MICO: Why not?
J U LI E: Because I said so.
Please?
No, you can't.
PAU LITO:
Looks good, don't it?
You're a man now, ese.
PAU LITO: Let's go
cruise the boulevard.
Paulito.
Be right back!
Paulito!
Paulito!
Papa, I'll be right back.
You coming out, ese?
Yeah.
You got a lot of heart,
carnal.
Maybe too much.
You've always gotta give it your best shot,
you know?
Which one, ese?
Don't matter.
Fuck it, homes.
La Primera lives!
What is time?
Time is when a man is tryin"
to make time with your woman,
but you doin" time behind bars
and your time is standin' still.
Yo, Frost, kick it
to these people for real.
Kl D FROST: Time slips through the
hourglass Through night and day
And I watch as the games
people play
It's like do unto others,
then split
And if you can"t back up what
you say then you ain"t shit
I"ve seen the manifestations
of the street
So I can manifest
what I see on a drumbeat
Like just last night
What happened, man?
I watched these two vatos
get in a crazy fight
One of them was quick
to pull a knife
He stabbed him in the heart
And now he's doin' life
in prison at the age of 21
Livin' on death row
"cause he couldn"t let go
Caught in the web of violence
Row deep when they creep
And move in
silence of the lambs
Yo.
A tattooed teardrop
as the iron gates slam
Ain't no sunshine
Any time, hey
Ain't no sunshine
Damn, damn,
ain't that a shame?
You"re lost so pay the cost
Shouldn't have played the game
Should've listened
to the Frost
When I was tryin"
to come across to ya
But no, you didn"t think
Sucker.
You just keep gettin"
yourself more deep
Until you sink
So there's no one else
to thank but yourself
So go ahead and take a bow
for a job well done
But you"II never see
the day of the sunshine
Or the fun times
Just the old days
and your old ways
True.
Corrupt and wicked
Out there doin' dirt
instead of just kickin" it
Pow-pow bang-bang
and all that noise
Yeah, you
and all your homeboys
You take time to read
between the lines
'Cause ain't no sunshine
Ain't no sunshine
Any time, hey
Ain't no sunshine
Yo, kick it.
I know about bein" macho
Callin' the shots,
the big time head honcho
But here's somethin'
even more gacho
One of my homeboys
is your old lady Sancha
Yo, shit happens
Her number lights up
on his beeper
Right as I"m rappin"
While you sit in your cell
writin' a letter
Sayin' when you get out
Yo, things"II be better
But, man, she couldn't wait
So she's goin' out on dates
with every Tom, Dick and Harry
And if you ask me,
yo, shit"s gettin" scary
So how you gonna handle this
When your ho"s in Los Angeles
actin' so scandalous
Yo, you can"t blame her
you didn"t take the time
And now ain"t no sunshine
Ain't no sunshine
Just for you in "92.
You know what I"m sayin"?
Ain't no sunshine
So if you don't want
to do no time,
you better take time
and try to draw the line.
Or you're gonna be the next
fool in line doin' time.
You know what I"m sayin"?
Like my man said.
Ain't no sunshine, fool.
Ain"t nothin" happenin" up there.
You know what I"m sayin"?
Yo, me and Frost
is outta here.