The Wire (2002–2008): Season 1, Episode 5 - The Pager - full transcript
Avon Barksdale is becoming paranoid and thinks he's being watched. He's also worried his phone is being tapped. He also thinks there's a snitch in D'Angelo's crew and he's told not to pay anyone until it's sorted. D'Angelo isn't too pleased when he hears Avon has given Stinkum a new territory. Judge Phelan visits the squad to sign the warrants to clone D'Angelo Barksdale's pager. The numbers they're collecting are coded and don't make much sense. Det. Prez Pryzbylewski figures it out however. McNulty and Greggs try to get information from Omar.
'We gonna play the brand-new
big, bad game. Call us now...'
Hello? Hello?
Who was that?
- They hung up without saying.
- They hung up without saying?
What you care? You never use
the damn phone in here no how.
Na-na-na
And we say, na-na na na-nah...
Politicians got lipstick on the collar...
What's up, baby?
I need you to get
them phone lines up out that house.
Out of the apartment? Why?
What Chansay gonna say
about not having a line in her own place?
All right. Got you.
- What's up, baby, you got a problem? Good.
- I'm just sayin'.
It seem we goin' past careful
with all of this, man.
Like we buggin' out or something.
You know, like we paranoid and shit.
No, not this phone.
We used this phone yesterday.
What you blowing out your mouth for?
Ain't nobody out to get me?
I got no enemies?
No, man.
We all right.
If you walk through the garden
You better watch your back
Well, I beg your pardon
Walk the straight and narrow track
If you walk with Jesus
He'll save your soul
You gotta keep the devil
Down in the hole
All the angels sing
About Jesus' mighty sword
And they shield you with their wings
Keep you close to the Lord
Don't pay heed to temptation
For his hands are so cold
You gotta keep the devil
Way down in the hole
Way down in the hole
Way down in the hole
Way down in the hole
Way down in the hole
This gonna be so easy.
Eastside chumps,
ain't nothing like Avon's people.
Watch. Y'all gonna see.
All right. Y'all gonna be here, right?
Hold up. Hold up. Yo, Boo!
I'm gonna slide up through here.
Bailey, you gonna cover the alley.
Yo!
Yo, Maurice short, man.
- How short?
- Three.
Tell him to grow a couple of inches.
Where you gonna be at?
That be the trap right there.
You figure they roll through the alley?
Rats run to holes in times of danger.
And you him, ain't you?
- Who?
- Danger.
No, man. I'm just a nigger with a plan, that all.
- And a shotgun.
- For sure.
Sorry I'm late.
Got myself lost down the other hallway.
- That leads to the loading dock.
- Yeah, and deep storage.
So this is where they put you?
Quite a message they're sending.
- And that message is...
- Out of sight, out of mind.
Spoken like a true troglodyte.
Whole lot of dead trees behind this nonsense.
The foundation of your case.
You lay it in right, you can build on it.
You lay it in wrong, everything on top falls.
- We ready?
- Mmm-hmm.
Do you swear and affirm that the affidavit
is true to the best of your knowledge?
I do.
Then by the power vested in me,
I now declare you man and wife.
- Did he swear already?
- The state's attorney?
Yeah. I see it.
Second copy is sealed for the court
and the police get the others.
How's this work?
Same frequency as the one
carried by D'Angelo Barksdale.
He gets a page, we get a page.
- So, we up now?
- It's official. You're up.
Then let the game begin.
Celebrities always seem smaller
when you meet them in person.
Yo! Yo!
Hey, yo!
Check it out, here he come.
- Somethin' ain't right, yo.
- Watch out, man, he got that boom.
- He's packing.
- Here he come.
Yo, come on, Omar's coming, man!
Shit!
Mm. Yeah.
The cheese stands alone.
- How you know?
- 'Cause if you could, I'd have been had.
Yo, he saying you can't catch the bug
just by getting your dick sucked.
Dumb-ass. You gotta be
in some pussy to get it, all right?
Man, wear a coat if you want,
don't nobody like suckin' on a rubber.
How would you know?
Who you trying to fuck anyway?
Arletta Mouzone. Treenee's cousin.
Damn, man. In that case
use a big-ass condom, all right?
You need a trash bag. Fuck that.
I wouldn't run up in that bitch
with D'Angelo's dick. It's triflin'.
Easy to see why niggers come
around here stealing our shit!
Yo, you know what, nigger?
What?
Forget it.
142 isn't a working
telephone exchange.
Six intercepts so far,
and five aren't working numbers?
Something wrong with the recorder?
We're getting what you'd expect,
seven digits of a number
and a two-digit add-on
to identify the caller, like here, 13.
McNulty, line one.
- Yeah.
- 'Did you just get a 142 exchange?'
Yeah.
- 'That's fucked up.'
- All right, later.
He's got the same numbers
on the readout of the cloned pagers.
So it's not the recorder.
They're using a code to cover their calls?
Uh-huh.
- That's pretty damn sophisticated.
- What is?
They've coded numbers
in their pager messages.
How do you know?
Every time the Barksdale kid's pager goes off,
this machine gives a message and time.
McNulty has a cloned pager
but we use this in court.
Same with those pen registers.
Every time a pay phone
in the low-rise court is used,
we get the telephone number,
the time and the duration of the call.
- Incoming calls, too.
- Spy shit. Very cool.
You say they're using some kind of code?
They got to be.
These numbers don't make no fuckin' sense.
- You rang?
- Omar's ride. Bubbles spotted it.
Different tags, no stolen report,
these come back right for the van
but Bubs makes it by the cargo rack.
Good scope. You wanna take him?
Can't hurt to try. We pop Omar, get a gun,
he might let us work him.
Anything coming through on the pager?
Eight hits so far,
most of them in some kind of code.
These ain't Baltimore exchanges,
that's for sure.
Three weeks to get Daniels to agree, a week
to write the affidavit and then this bullshit.
How complex a code can it be
if these knuckleheads are using it?
Then again, what does it say
about us if we can't break it?
You wanna run Bubs back downtown,
I'll sit here and wait for you.
All right.
- What'd I miss, girlfriend?
- Not a goddamn thing.
Boring, ain't we?
How y'all do what you do every day
and not wanna get high?
That's what I be asking.
It's been a little hectic down here, right, cuz?
String, man, I can't lie.
Them stick-up boys, they caught us dead up.
And the Narcos, shit,
I don't know what the fuck that was.
Five-0. Comin' up!
- Five-0 comin' up, y'all.
- Time out.
- What is that?
- What?
Get your crew to understand it's the stick-up
crews and creepers that give us trouble.
When they start thinking like that,
you're not gonna have any more surprises.
'Cause you know, your uncle and me,
we think you got a snitch up in the shop.
- What?
- Someone who tips off the stick-up crew.
And you gotta be on that, right?
You gotta be on that.
I'm gonna tell you what you do.
What day is it today, Friday?
What happen on Friday?
- Payday.
- Not this Friday.
Why not?
You gonna call 'em like you gonna pay 'em
and then you crack 'em.
You tell 'em you're not happy with
what they fuckin' pass as work down here.
When you're not happy,
they ain't gettin' paid. Feel me?
But you don't pay a nigger,
he ain't gonna work for you.
You think a nigger's
gonna get a job?
These niggers gonna be like, "Fuck it,
let me quit this game here and go to college"?
They gonna buck a little,
but they not gonna walk.
- And in the end, you gonna get respect.
- Yeah.
And when that money run out,
they'll come up to you and roll on you
and ask you for an advance and shit,
when they flat-ass broke.
Them the niggers that you strike off your list.
But that nigger that stay eatin', the nigger
that steady rollin', ain't askin' you for shit,
that's the nigger I want
to hear about. Understand?
Yeah, man. Shit, you know
how to play a nigger into a corner, String.
- Take care of this right here.
- You my favorite girl.
Shit, let me handle this, man.
Hey, Poot.
- Come here, man.
- What's happening?
What the fuck is that? What the fuck is that?!
You know the fuckin' rules.
- What the fuck are you doing?
- Copying.
A telephone.
This fucking detail...
It's after three.
So where are the boys at?
Maybe they only come out at night.
I used to have a guy like Omar working for me.
Guy named Reuben Terry.
- Is he good?
- Saw the street like we wish we could.
Ain't nothing like a good CI.
School's out.
Can I use your cellphone?
I got that. I did.
Mm-hm.
- I know.
- 'I don't know about this.'
What do you mean, you don't know?
For Christ's sakes, I'm their father.
You think I'd let 'em sleep on the floor?
Yes, I got them.
Sheets, pillows, comforters, pillowcases.
I fuckin' got them.
'What color are they?'
What the fuck do you care what color? Hello?
- Lost her.
- I bet.
You know something?
My ex-wife, the way she acts sometimes,
the way she deals with shit...
You would think a less...enlightened man
than myself, cruder man than myself,
a man less sensitized to the qualities
and charms and value of women,
not me, but a man like that,
he just might call her a cunt.
You just called the mother
of your children a cunt.
No, I did not.
- Yes, you fuckin' did.
- No, I did not.
Let's just leave this, OK?
I got some stuff to do.
Five-0, gotta go. Man, get out the way!
Shit.
Not much fighting this time.
Getting tired, asshole?
Still dragging from Kima's whupping.
Fucked you up like a cop should.
That's one thing about Kima,
she put a hurtin' on you like a man.
Get your monkey ass up.
You're gonna want
your business card back, right?
Come on.
From Bantry Bay to the Derry Quay
And from Galway to Dublin Town
Well, I never seen my brown colleen
That I met in the County Down
That I met in the County Down...
That I met in the County Down
First, I go in, play nice.
- Then you come in, play bad.
- I ain't playin'.
Bracelet too tight?
You rackin' up all kinds of points, ain't you?
First, you put a cop in the hospital,
damn near kill his ass with that punch.
Now, you on the wing from Boy's Village.
Man, I'm 16, all right?
What the fuck they gonna do to me?
That's the least of your worries, my friend.
I got a partner outside who can't wait
to get in here and fuck you up.
Cop you banged was Herc's uncle.
Herc wants off the leash on this one.
And I suppose you
at the other end of that leash?
See, I don't want to play it that way.
I know about comin' up hard and all.
Why, you...you came up hard?
Flag House projects. Eastside.
Yeah, Flag House?
You know, you remind me of me.
I'm thinking we should work something out.
What do I get?
What you want?
I...I want...
for you to suck my dick.
- I'll beat your fuckin' ass.
- Take it easy.
- You're the good cop!
- Dumb motherfucker!
- What? What?
- Ow!
- Hello, may I help you?
- We'd like a table.
And you have reservations?
I thought, you know, we could just walk in...
Let me see what I got.
That's two?
Ah.
Follow me, please.
Your coat, ma'am?
- Can we get that one, over there?
- It's Friday night.
Those are for reservations.
Let me get your chair for you, ma'am.
- It's OK, man, all right.
- Here you are.
Here you are, sir.
Your waiter will be with you shortly.
You shoulda pushed him, D.
Oh, bastards.
Sarge, nobody answers at Juvenile Intake
and we been calling.
Clearly, they're not
as dedicated as you two detectives.
What time does the duty consultant get here?
You missed the 8:00.
You got another one around midnight.
- Midnight?
- You think if we left you the paperwork,
you could put him
in the box until Intake gets here?
Hemorrhoid.
For the crumbs.
Yeah, right.
- You like your dinner?
- Yeah.
- That shrimp was right.
- Yeah, it was good, right?
Mm-hm.
Think they know?
Do they know what?
You know. What I'm about.
What you mean, D?
Come on. You know. It's like...
We get all dressed up, right?
Come all the way across town.
Fancy place like this.
Then we go down to the harbor, walk around
a bit, act like we belong down here.
So? Your money good, right?
D, we ain't the only black people in here.
It ain't what I'm talking about.
It's about where we... Come on, you know.
I'm just saying, you know,
I feel like some shit just stays with you.
You know what I'm saying,
like, hard as you try,
you still can't go nowhere.
- Can I interest you in dessert?
- Yes, thank you.
- Can I have some chocolate cake?
- I'll bring the cart.
Boy, don't nobody give a damn
about you or your story.
You got money,
you get to be whatever you say you are.
That's the way it is.
Oh. Sir, I'm sorry. These are the samples.
And for you, sir? Very good.
Don't be a bitch. Admit it.
Go ahead.
- Admit you're wrong. Be a man.
- I gotta confess.
This sub beats chink-ass Bob's by a mile.
You might be all that
when it comes to thumpin' on niggers
but you can't do shit with that stick.
- You'd do better.
- I play.
Says he plays.
- He might.
- I'm even better with two hands.
I checked it out, man.
Stinkum true on this one.
Except for that nigger, Scar, from New York.
- Edmondson gully is wide open.
- What about Tee-Tee's crew?
They dried up when they took that federal
charge. Most of 'em are gettin' high.
I'll tell you what. You holler at the boy Scar.
Let him know it's time for him to take a stroll.
If he give you any beef at all,
we'll put Wee-Bey and Bird on it.
Then once we got him out,
we'll send in the smokers to run out
all the little poop-butt locals and shit.
If some cats got game,
we put 'em on our team.
Who do you want to run it?
- Send Stinkum up here.
- All right.
He saw the shot. So, he gets a shot.
OK.
Not bad.
Can't let the duty officer see that.
You wanna give it a rest, man? You down 60.
That might be your salary
but I clock that in minutes.
- Rack 'em and break 'em.
- You waiting for Juvenile Intake?
He's in the squad room.
If I had more time, I'd run you.
Mm-hm.
Give you a tip, Preston.
You gonna run a hustle,
you best stay with what you know.
Man, fuck you and
your tired-ass advice, all right?
But...that sandwich was good.
You gonna move our little thing
down to Edmondson Avenue.
Take the gully.
What about, er, Scar?
Who?
Listen, I'm giving you points on the package,
so you make a go of it, you hear me?
You working for yourself too,
so you gonna put out the strong product
and get the locals behind it.
It's as simple as that.
You get your team together, you feel me?
Go and wait for me downstairs.
I'll be down in a minute, man.
- We gonna make this money run in a few.
- Smile or something, nigger.
- Made that nigger's night.
- He deserved it, though.
It's Wee-Bey. We got one.
- You think it's Omar?
- Nah.
- It's one of the young 'uns, I think.
- One down, two to go, right?
Motherfuckers. Trying to rob me, baby.
One, two, three.
- A winner.
- Ah. A match? Which case?
The one you brought me.
Casing in that girl shot up in Northeast.
- Kresson?
- Right, yeah.
She matches up with two other cases
from last year.
- Which ones?
- Toreen, er... Boyle.
- Ligget. It's in the report.
- It's Toreen Boyd, Roland Leggett.
Yeah, them. Casings from all three killings
go to a .45, probably Colt Classic.
- That fucker Landsman. How's he do it?
- You like Landsman for these three?
I don't know. As sergeants go, Jay's a
sociopath, but I'd go with an actual gangster.
Jimmy, you sitting down?
'I said it was hot,
but if you got these barbecue gloves...'
You got a Johnny Weeks up in here?
- Who?
- Johnny Weeks.
- Over in the game room.
- Obliged.
- Any smokes?
- I'm out.
You gotta give the medication a chance
to work in your system, man.
'Isn't that great?'
Brought you something.
Some chicken pieces and some fries.
I bought a shake, but I dropped it on the bus.
It comes in a bag, goes out in a bag.
How long you have that for?
- I fucked up, man.
- Yeah, I saw.
There was nothing I could do, you know?
It's like first I got beat, right, then I get this.
What are these for?
They say I got the bug.
The bug?
- They checked me when I was in hospital.
- Are they sure?
Where you been at?
Here and there, I'm at it.
I'd have come past sooner,
but I been on a mission.
- A mission?
- Them hoppers that beat you down,
they got problems now.
- Them and the people they sling for, even.
- What?
I put the police on their ass.
Police? What, you get locked up
or something?
I'm not working for them.
I'm working with them.
They don't give me the badge soon enough,
I keep doing like I do.
Why?
What do you mean why?
How can you ask me why?
Why the fuck are you in here,
with all these falling-down motherfuckers?
Why you passing shit through a bag?
Why do they beat you down?
Why I couldn't do nothing about it?
It's all part of the game, right?
I mean, you taught me that.
What you up to in here, man?
- Doing the meetings.
- NA?
Yeah. Twice a day.
That's good, man. It's good,
you give the body comfort, you know.
Yeah.
- No, you needed a change.
- Guess so.
I'll be out at the end of the month.
They got meetings everywhere.
You ain't gotta worry about that.
Bubs.
Who's got the best package now?
- Get the fuck out of here, man.
- I'm coming home, right?
Shit is weak all over, you know?
Got some boys up in Baker
and Calhoun, though.
They had a smoker out the other day though.
- Yeah?
- Knocked a couple of niggers out.
Ain't you a trip?
Beat down, bagged up,
still ready to rip and run, huh?
I'm a Viking, homes.
"I'm a Viking, homes."
Hey! McNulty!
There's something here that needs kissing.
Speak again, oh, toothless one.
I guess you know now why I wear
the stripes in the family.
Good call, Jay.
If Keeley hadn't fucked the scene up,
you'd have had that casing months ago.
Let Keeley be Keeley.
We all can't be princes of the city,
now, can we? Speaking of which.
Sit down.
May I ask you a question
essential to your career?
- What?
- Who do you serve?
I am asking you to identify for the record
your commanding officer.
- Major Rawls.
- Excellent.
And with that thought in mind, I advise you
to go immediately into the Major's office,
carrying the break I gave you
in the Kresson case and kiss his ring.
Because I have talked you
right out of the shithouse.
Here's the deal. You wrap up this thing
with Narcotics in two weeks.
You put yourself back in rotation
when we go to night work.
You do that and you're back in the fold.
- Thanks, Jay.
- No problem.
- Shit ain't right.
- You work, you get paid.
- That's what I'm saying.
- I'm gonna say something to him.
- You should.
- Truth.
- What's up, D?
- What's up, shorty?
530. The count is right, man.
OK, re-ups on the way down.
Go tell Sterling to be ready for it.
All right. Yo, D, man.
You know, me and Poot,
we been steady working it, you know?
Nothing sloppy, no troubles, right?
No.
And we was wondering if, maybe you could
let a little something go until payday,
'cause you know, right now,
we some broke-ass niggers, man.
Right now, whoever did our girl also did
Boyd and Le-ggett a month earlier.
"Leggett."
Those two are definitely
straight-up drug executions.
No mention of D in either file.
- But I did get a fresh number on Tywanda.
- Who?
The girl who called in on Kresson.
- She put D in for that.
- Have you seen this?
Jaybird.
And the bear said, "You didn't
really come here to hunt now, did you?"
- You see Saturday's 24s?
- Sunday morning.
Did you see Worden's on the Westside?
John Bailey in a Kevlar vest,
lit up by three separate shooters.
Carey Street.
You made the connection. You didn't think
Bailey might tie in with Barksdale?
Worden's on the other shift.
I'm trying to work my murders. Jesus Christ.
Tony, Line three.
- What took you so long?
- We get a few murders here in Baltimore.
We get backed up.
- You weren't followed here?
- Why would we be followed?
Diedre was playing with scary people.
Who might that be?
You called this in after the murder
and you told the detective
you talked to her the night she was killed.
She called. It was late.
She didn't talk long. She said she had to go.
D was at the door.
That was the last time you spoke?
- Yeah, she was killed that night.
- D was her boyfriend?
No, D was his nephew or something.
- D would be D'Angelo Barksdale.
- And the boyfriend, Avon Barksdale?
- You know Avon?
- How do you know him?
You running the street with the players?
I used to be...but not after
this thing with Diedre. I mean, damn.
We used to go to Odell's for ladies' nights
and one time he was there with
all his people in one of the big booths,
ordering drinks,
acting like he was king of everything.
And Diedre ate that shit up.
- And you?
- I ain't gonna lie.
I did the club thing for a while, but...
Some of those places,
everybody there's on some kind of game.
But Diedre went with Avon?
She was with Avon for like a year
and something happened.
She started getting possessive.
That didn't sit with Avon,
'cause he has other girls, too.
She was bitching on him one minute,
crying the next,
threatening to do all kinds of things.
- She threatened Avon Barksdale?
- The girl was off the hook.
One time, she threatened
to write a letter on him.
- A letter.
- A letter to the state's attorney.
Supposed to be some sort of kin to her.
She said that if he dumped her,
she was gonna tell about the drugs.
- Did she write this letter?
- I don't know.
I tried talking about the way
she was acting, but she wouldn't let it go.
She had it out with him in his club
in front of all the people.
Avon has a club?
Orlando's, titty bar.
- Does he own it?
- That's what Diedre said.
She said he owned a whole mess of stuff.
- Tell me something, man.
- What's that?
How can you run this place
and not just OD on pussy?
Shit. You try dealing with all these bitches
and their problems for a few days.
Get so you'd rather be running
a damn laundromat out this fucker.
Heard you're doing OK in the Pit.
- Yeah, well...
- What, you ain't getting it like that?
My uncle got me working on salary.
Damn, boy. You ain't the only one
your uncle keeps close.
- What?
- Come on, man, you ain't making no ends?
I know you getting something on this.
No, man. I'm just the front,
clean name for the liquor board.
- I'm saying...
- Fuck!
Is there a problem?
That was for the drink before.
It ain't like I'm calling your uncle out
or nothing but give a nigger a chance.
- Plenty of pie for everybody.
- Believe.
You heard Stinkum
gonna be getting a percentage.
- What?
- Open up fresh territory.
Take over the corners
down near Edmondson and Brice.
So, my uncle gave that to Stink?
- Orlando!
- Figured you knew.
Orlando!
Can you help me down here?
- I already paid for that last drink.
- That was for the drink before.
- That was for this one.
- What's up?
Look, he ain't paid for that drink
and I took $20 off the bar.
- Look she took 20, then 20 more.
- Hell I did.
Why you gonna do me like this?
I been with you for an hour buying drinks.
Look, man, this ain't right.
I just spent $120 in drinks, $40 in tips.
You gonna take all that
and try to sneak into my pocket?
- Shit, girl!
- You got to go, get him the fuck outta here.
I ain't done so much as touch your kneecap.
Trying to treat her with respect,
and this is the way you do me?
Wait.
OK, man, I'm goin', I'm out of here.
Why you do that?
- Did you take his money?
- No, I didn't take his money.
You buying me a drink?
Can I see you sometime?
Like, you know, not in here.
Um...
I don't usually see men that I meet in here.
Usually.
What kind of strip joint
has a video camera looking out?
More to it than the girls, maybe.
So, he's got the club, he's got the warehouse,
he's got the apartment by Druid Hill Lake,
he's got the tow truck company,
and that's just what she knew from
what he bragged about to the dead girl.
- Major likes assets.
- The deputy, too, I imagine.
Nothing like property forfeitures
to swell the departmental budget.
Check city assessments to see
who owns the club.
Run the company name
through the charter office.
Also, Homicide picked up one Saturday night.
Might be one of ours.
John Bailey, he's a stick-up artist
I used to know from the Murphy homes.
He was wearing Kevlar. 39 casings
on the scene, from three different guns.
Overkill for a burn bag
but about right if he was running with Omar.
Look. Our buddy.
Just once, I wish they'd use the right number.
Ain't like him to be late.
Bailey, you fucking dope fiend.
I'm telling you.
Them fucking people ain't to be relied on.
- Why you always talk like that, man?
- What?
"F" this and "f" that.
If I give it up, I lose half of what I mean to say.
Don't nobody wanna
hear them dirty words, man.
Especially coming
from such a beautiful mouth.
Wait for Bailey?
Early bird catches the worm, dog.
- I beeped you.
- I didn't get it.
- Let me see.
- You want to see my pager?
Yeah.
Sure, Prez, you want to see my pager?
- I beeped you too.
- You all right, Prez?
714-3432?
I got that. That was you?
You try it?
I tried it. Twice. Non-working number.
It would've worked if you knew the code.
- Shit.
- I'm as surprised as you.
I like word-search puzzles.
You know, where you gotta
find the hidden words?
So I thought
I could do the same thing with the numbers.
Take the number I sent you.
Now take the seven and jump it over the five.
You get three.
Jump the one over the five, you get nine.
With four you get six.
Three, that's seven, four is six.
A three again...
and two is eight.
Zero switches with the five.
So 714-3432 is...
396-7678.
Our number.
- And that's the code?
- Yeah.
And it works because it's all about
where the buttons are on a phone.
If it was a code that involved math
or algebra or whatever,
these little yos in the projects
wouldn't be able to follow along.
But with this, all you gotta do
is jump the five button.
Ain't no math to it. It's just how a phone looks
when you look at it.
Prez, you little genius!
- Jesus.
- I could kill you, that's so good.
Your mother keep ragging at me to take him
outta here and put him in a nursing home.
Yeah, bro. She ain't never gonna let that go.
I keep telling her, man,
we can't show this legit money yet,
since he ain't got no insurance.
Soon, though, soon.
So, you ain't big on coming here, right?
No.
Tell you something. You about to see
your uncle, you understand me?
- This is family.
- I know.
Family is what counts,
family is what it's about.
Family gonna always be there
'cause it's blood.
Man.
'Dr. Galls, please.'
You never figured on this, did you?
Live the life, lead the life. Ain't no big thing.
He used to talk that shit all the time
and he believed it, you know what I'm saying?
What's up, baby? Talk that shit now.
You know, you're right.
It's kind of hard to be in here right now.
He scare you, don't he?
- You know, I'm just saying.
- He scares me.
Yeah.
See, if he dead, I could carry it better.
Coming up the way we did,
you kind of expect that.
Waiting on it.
See, the thing is,
you only got to fuck up once.
Be a little slow, be a little late. Just once.
And how you ain't gonna never be slow,
never be late?
You can't plan for no shit like this, man.
It's life.
Yeah.
It scares me.
They're still using it.
I was by on Saturday night and it was gone.
On your own time?
- You still getting your boys?
- Yeah, tonight for a sleep-over.
Omar's rolling.
What the hell?
Call for backup?
Not yet.
Let's see how it plays out.
An invitation.
- Feel a little lonesome for backup.
- Me, too.
- That's nice. I'll check the rear.
- I'll watch the boys.
Afternoon, gentlemen.
Saying, if you were gonna use that
you would've used it by now.
It's clean.
Got to keep it clean.
We having one of our little parlays like this,
got to keep it clean, right?
Omar with no gun on the street?
Must be a first.
Sometimes who you are is enough.
But being as y'all sitting on my ride so long,
I thought I'd save y'all some time.
I ain't taking no charge.
You ain't putting me back in a cage.
We're not here to bury you. We're pulling
you up 'cause we got a problem in common.
- Problem?
- Barksdale.
- No, he ain't no problem.
- I don't know.
Avon's been chalking up a lot of bodies.
And you being you...
Put it that way,
I guess he could be a little problem...
but I can't come out and help you.
You know what I mean?
Snitchin' just rubs me wrong.
Personally, I don't think
the game is played like that.
We respect that.
If you do happen to take a charge though,
I'm McNulty, that's Greggs.
You give us a call, we'll sort something out.
Fair enough.
You know, I used to work the homes,
back when your brother was up there.
You get a chance, let him know
they blew up John Bailey last night.
- Good man. Lot of enemies.
- Mm-hm.
Are you trying to catch up with Bird?
Word is he dropped a workin' man.
Wait, hold up. Come on, don't play me.
What working man? What Bird?
Come on, now.
Ain't but one working man, is there?
And Bird? I think your snitch can handle that.
Shit, Bubbles know Bird.
- You working late?
- A little.
Got a minute?
Sure, have a seat.
No, this is better said standing up.
You know, I've been 13 years on the shelf.
I ain't bitched.
It was me that put me there.
But I'm here now, and I gotta say a piece.
We should've had a tap
on the project pay phones by now.
A wire there will get us the drugs.
Keep pushing,
we'll get a whiff of the money, too.
I know you're serious
about climbing that career ladder
and I know how slippery it gets
the higher you go, but for me,
I don't want to go to no dance
unless I can rub some tit.
I appreciate your honesty.
Good night, Lieutenant.
What did you say to make D pay out?
I told him to give it up
or I'm taking him out of the count.
- Shit.
- Look. I'll pump niggers when I got to.
- That's him.
- That's who?
One of the ones that robbed us.
That light-skinned boy.
That's him? All right, come on.
I'm the king of this shit.
- 'So, you want us to wait?'
- Yeah.
- 'All right. We on it, man.'
- All right.
Hey, dog. Hey, yo, hey, yo.
There goes Scar right there.
- Right there in the blue? Number 80?
- Yeah, I'm on him.
All right, you got him?
Find a phone real quick. It looks like
my man D got himself an emergency.
What, he been stuck up again?
'What's up, what do you need?'
My people are onto one of Omar's
boys down at Greek's.
- 'All right, sit tight. I'll take care of it.'
- All right.
Ain't nobody coming.
Yeah. D said wait. D said wait.
Told you.
- Yo, he still in there?
- Yeah, he's playing the games.
All right. You sharp, son. What's your name?
- Wallace.
- Wallace, all right.
This nigger's gonna
point him out to us, all right?
- Yeah.
- 'Yo, it's done. Nice work, cuz.'
All right.
big, bad game. Call us now...'
Hello? Hello?
Who was that?
- They hung up without saying.
- They hung up without saying?
What you care? You never use
the damn phone in here no how.
Na-na-na
And we say, na-na na na-nah...
Politicians got lipstick on the collar...
What's up, baby?
I need you to get
them phone lines up out that house.
Out of the apartment? Why?
What Chansay gonna say
about not having a line in her own place?
All right. Got you.
- What's up, baby, you got a problem? Good.
- I'm just sayin'.
It seem we goin' past careful
with all of this, man.
Like we buggin' out or something.
You know, like we paranoid and shit.
No, not this phone.
We used this phone yesterday.
What you blowing out your mouth for?
Ain't nobody out to get me?
I got no enemies?
No, man.
We all right.
If you walk through the garden
You better watch your back
Well, I beg your pardon
Walk the straight and narrow track
If you walk with Jesus
He'll save your soul
You gotta keep the devil
Down in the hole
All the angels sing
About Jesus' mighty sword
And they shield you with their wings
Keep you close to the Lord
Don't pay heed to temptation
For his hands are so cold
You gotta keep the devil
Way down in the hole
Way down in the hole
Way down in the hole
Way down in the hole
Way down in the hole
This gonna be so easy.
Eastside chumps,
ain't nothing like Avon's people.
Watch. Y'all gonna see.
All right. Y'all gonna be here, right?
Hold up. Hold up. Yo, Boo!
I'm gonna slide up through here.
Bailey, you gonna cover the alley.
Yo!
Yo, Maurice short, man.
- How short?
- Three.
Tell him to grow a couple of inches.
Where you gonna be at?
That be the trap right there.
You figure they roll through the alley?
Rats run to holes in times of danger.
And you him, ain't you?
- Who?
- Danger.
No, man. I'm just a nigger with a plan, that all.
- And a shotgun.
- For sure.
Sorry I'm late.
Got myself lost down the other hallway.
- That leads to the loading dock.
- Yeah, and deep storage.
So this is where they put you?
Quite a message they're sending.
- And that message is...
- Out of sight, out of mind.
Spoken like a true troglodyte.
Whole lot of dead trees behind this nonsense.
The foundation of your case.
You lay it in right, you can build on it.
You lay it in wrong, everything on top falls.
- We ready?
- Mmm-hmm.
Do you swear and affirm that the affidavit
is true to the best of your knowledge?
I do.
Then by the power vested in me,
I now declare you man and wife.
- Did he swear already?
- The state's attorney?
Yeah. I see it.
Second copy is sealed for the court
and the police get the others.
How's this work?
Same frequency as the one
carried by D'Angelo Barksdale.
He gets a page, we get a page.
- So, we up now?
- It's official. You're up.
Then let the game begin.
Celebrities always seem smaller
when you meet them in person.
Yo! Yo!
Hey, yo!
Check it out, here he come.
- Somethin' ain't right, yo.
- Watch out, man, he got that boom.
- He's packing.
- Here he come.
Yo, come on, Omar's coming, man!
Shit!
Mm. Yeah.
The cheese stands alone.
- How you know?
- 'Cause if you could, I'd have been had.
Yo, he saying you can't catch the bug
just by getting your dick sucked.
Dumb-ass. You gotta be
in some pussy to get it, all right?
Man, wear a coat if you want,
don't nobody like suckin' on a rubber.
How would you know?
Who you trying to fuck anyway?
Arletta Mouzone. Treenee's cousin.
Damn, man. In that case
use a big-ass condom, all right?
You need a trash bag. Fuck that.
I wouldn't run up in that bitch
with D'Angelo's dick. It's triflin'.
Easy to see why niggers come
around here stealing our shit!
Yo, you know what, nigger?
What?
Forget it.
142 isn't a working
telephone exchange.
Six intercepts so far,
and five aren't working numbers?
Something wrong with the recorder?
We're getting what you'd expect,
seven digits of a number
and a two-digit add-on
to identify the caller, like here, 13.
McNulty, line one.
- Yeah.
- 'Did you just get a 142 exchange?'
Yeah.
- 'That's fucked up.'
- All right, later.
He's got the same numbers
on the readout of the cloned pagers.
So it's not the recorder.
They're using a code to cover their calls?
Uh-huh.
- That's pretty damn sophisticated.
- What is?
They've coded numbers
in their pager messages.
How do you know?
Every time the Barksdale kid's pager goes off,
this machine gives a message and time.
McNulty has a cloned pager
but we use this in court.
Same with those pen registers.
Every time a pay phone
in the low-rise court is used,
we get the telephone number,
the time and the duration of the call.
- Incoming calls, too.
- Spy shit. Very cool.
You say they're using some kind of code?
They got to be.
These numbers don't make no fuckin' sense.
- You rang?
- Omar's ride. Bubbles spotted it.
Different tags, no stolen report,
these come back right for the van
but Bubs makes it by the cargo rack.
Good scope. You wanna take him?
Can't hurt to try. We pop Omar, get a gun,
he might let us work him.
Anything coming through on the pager?
Eight hits so far,
most of them in some kind of code.
These ain't Baltimore exchanges,
that's for sure.
Three weeks to get Daniels to agree, a week
to write the affidavit and then this bullshit.
How complex a code can it be
if these knuckleheads are using it?
Then again, what does it say
about us if we can't break it?
You wanna run Bubs back downtown,
I'll sit here and wait for you.
All right.
- What'd I miss, girlfriend?
- Not a goddamn thing.
Boring, ain't we?
How y'all do what you do every day
and not wanna get high?
That's what I be asking.
It's been a little hectic down here, right, cuz?
String, man, I can't lie.
Them stick-up boys, they caught us dead up.
And the Narcos, shit,
I don't know what the fuck that was.
Five-0. Comin' up!
- Five-0 comin' up, y'all.
- Time out.
- What is that?
- What?
Get your crew to understand it's the stick-up
crews and creepers that give us trouble.
When they start thinking like that,
you're not gonna have any more surprises.
'Cause you know, your uncle and me,
we think you got a snitch up in the shop.
- What?
- Someone who tips off the stick-up crew.
And you gotta be on that, right?
You gotta be on that.
I'm gonna tell you what you do.
What day is it today, Friday?
What happen on Friday?
- Payday.
- Not this Friday.
Why not?
You gonna call 'em like you gonna pay 'em
and then you crack 'em.
You tell 'em you're not happy with
what they fuckin' pass as work down here.
When you're not happy,
they ain't gettin' paid. Feel me?
But you don't pay a nigger,
he ain't gonna work for you.
You think a nigger's
gonna get a job?
These niggers gonna be like, "Fuck it,
let me quit this game here and go to college"?
They gonna buck a little,
but they not gonna walk.
- And in the end, you gonna get respect.
- Yeah.
And when that money run out,
they'll come up to you and roll on you
and ask you for an advance and shit,
when they flat-ass broke.
Them the niggers that you strike off your list.
But that nigger that stay eatin', the nigger
that steady rollin', ain't askin' you for shit,
that's the nigger I want
to hear about. Understand?
Yeah, man. Shit, you know
how to play a nigger into a corner, String.
- Take care of this right here.
- You my favorite girl.
Shit, let me handle this, man.
Hey, Poot.
- Come here, man.
- What's happening?
What the fuck is that? What the fuck is that?!
You know the fuckin' rules.
- What the fuck are you doing?
- Copying.
A telephone.
This fucking detail...
It's after three.
So where are the boys at?
Maybe they only come out at night.
I used to have a guy like Omar working for me.
Guy named Reuben Terry.
- Is he good?
- Saw the street like we wish we could.
Ain't nothing like a good CI.
School's out.
Can I use your cellphone?
I got that. I did.
Mm-hm.
- I know.
- 'I don't know about this.'
What do you mean, you don't know?
For Christ's sakes, I'm their father.
You think I'd let 'em sleep on the floor?
Yes, I got them.
Sheets, pillows, comforters, pillowcases.
I fuckin' got them.
'What color are they?'
What the fuck do you care what color? Hello?
- Lost her.
- I bet.
You know something?
My ex-wife, the way she acts sometimes,
the way she deals with shit...
You would think a less...enlightened man
than myself, cruder man than myself,
a man less sensitized to the qualities
and charms and value of women,
not me, but a man like that,
he just might call her a cunt.
You just called the mother
of your children a cunt.
No, I did not.
- Yes, you fuckin' did.
- No, I did not.
Let's just leave this, OK?
I got some stuff to do.
Five-0, gotta go. Man, get out the way!
Shit.
Not much fighting this time.
Getting tired, asshole?
Still dragging from Kima's whupping.
Fucked you up like a cop should.
That's one thing about Kima,
she put a hurtin' on you like a man.
Get your monkey ass up.
You're gonna want
your business card back, right?
Come on.
From Bantry Bay to the Derry Quay
And from Galway to Dublin Town
Well, I never seen my brown colleen
That I met in the County Down
That I met in the County Down...
That I met in the County Down
First, I go in, play nice.
- Then you come in, play bad.
- I ain't playin'.
Bracelet too tight?
You rackin' up all kinds of points, ain't you?
First, you put a cop in the hospital,
damn near kill his ass with that punch.
Now, you on the wing from Boy's Village.
Man, I'm 16, all right?
What the fuck they gonna do to me?
That's the least of your worries, my friend.
I got a partner outside who can't wait
to get in here and fuck you up.
Cop you banged was Herc's uncle.
Herc wants off the leash on this one.
And I suppose you
at the other end of that leash?
See, I don't want to play it that way.
I know about comin' up hard and all.
Why, you...you came up hard?
Flag House projects. Eastside.
Yeah, Flag House?
You know, you remind me of me.
I'm thinking we should work something out.
What do I get?
What you want?
I...I want...
for you to suck my dick.
- I'll beat your fuckin' ass.
- Take it easy.
- You're the good cop!
- Dumb motherfucker!
- What? What?
- Ow!
- Hello, may I help you?
- We'd like a table.
And you have reservations?
I thought, you know, we could just walk in...
Let me see what I got.
That's two?
Ah.
Follow me, please.
Your coat, ma'am?
- Can we get that one, over there?
- It's Friday night.
Those are for reservations.
Let me get your chair for you, ma'am.
- It's OK, man, all right.
- Here you are.
Here you are, sir.
Your waiter will be with you shortly.
You shoulda pushed him, D.
Oh, bastards.
Sarge, nobody answers at Juvenile Intake
and we been calling.
Clearly, they're not
as dedicated as you two detectives.
What time does the duty consultant get here?
You missed the 8:00.
You got another one around midnight.
- Midnight?
- You think if we left you the paperwork,
you could put him
in the box until Intake gets here?
Hemorrhoid.
For the crumbs.
Yeah, right.
- You like your dinner?
- Yeah.
- That shrimp was right.
- Yeah, it was good, right?
Mm-hm.
Think they know?
Do they know what?
You know. What I'm about.
What you mean, D?
Come on. You know. It's like...
We get all dressed up, right?
Come all the way across town.
Fancy place like this.
Then we go down to the harbor, walk around
a bit, act like we belong down here.
So? Your money good, right?
D, we ain't the only black people in here.
It ain't what I'm talking about.
It's about where we... Come on, you know.
I'm just saying, you know,
I feel like some shit just stays with you.
You know what I'm saying,
like, hard as you try,
you still can't go nowhere.
- Can I interest you in dessert?
- Yes, thank you.
- Can I have some chocolate cake?
- I'll bring the cart.
Boy, don't nobody give a damn
about you or your story.
You got money,
you get to be whatever you say you are.
That's the way it is.
Oh. Sir, I'm sorry. These are the samples.
And for you, sir? Very good.
Don't be a bitch. Admit it.
Go ahead.
- Admit you're wrong. Be a man.
- I gotta confess.
This sub beats chink-ass Bob's by a mile.
You might be all that
when it comes to thumpin' on niggers
but you can't do shit with that stick.
- You'd do better.
- I play.
Says he plays.
- He might.
- I'm even better with two hands.
I checked it out, man.
Stinkum true on this one.
Except for that nigger, Scar, from New York.
- Edmondson gully is wide open.
- What about Tee-Tee's crew?
They dried up when they took that federal
charge. Most of 'em are gettin' high.
I'll tell you what. You holler at the boy Scar.
Let him know it's time for him to take a stroll.
If he give you any beef at all,
we'll put Wee-Bey and Bird on it.
Then once we got him out,
we'll send in the smokers to run out
all the little poop-butt locals and shit.
If some cats got game,
we put 'em on our team.
Who do you want to run it?
- Send Stinkum up here.
- All right.
He saw the shot. So, he gets a shot.
OK.
Not bad.
Can't let the duty officer see that.
You wanna give it a rest, man? You down 60.
That might be your salary
but I clock that in minutes.
- Rack 'em and break 'em.
- You waiting for Juvenile Intake?
He's in the squad room.
If I had more time, I'd run you.
Mm-hm.
Give you a tip, Preston.
You gonna run a hustle,
you best stay with what you know.
Man, fuck you and
your tired-ass advice, all right?
But...that sandwich was good.
You gonna move our little thing
down to Edmondson Avenue.
Take the gully.
What about, er, Scar?
Who?
Listen, I'm giving you points on the package,
so you make a go of it, you hear me?
You working for yourself too,
so you gonna put out the strong product
and get the locals behind it.
It's as simple as that.
You get your team together, you feel me?
Go and wait for me downstairs.
I'll be down in a minute, man.
- We gonna make this money run in a few.
- Smile or something, nigger.
- Made that nigger's night.
- He deserved it, though.
It's Wee-Bey. We got one.
- You think it's Omar?
- Nah.
- It's one of the young 'uns, I think.
- One down, two to go, right?
Motherfuckers. Trying to rob me, baby.
One, two, three.
- A winner.
- Ah. A match? Which case?
The one you brought me.
Casing in that girl shot up in Northeast.
- Kresson?
- Right, yeah.
She matches up with two other cases
from last year.
- Which ones?
- Toreen, er... Boyle.
- Ligget. It's in the report.
- It's Toreen Boyd, Roland Leggett.
Yeah, them. Casings from all three killings
go to a .45, probably Colt Classic.
- That fucker Landsman. How's he do it?
- You like Landsman for these three?
I don't know. As sergeants go, Jay's a
sociopath, but I'd go with an actual gangster.
Jimmy, you sitting down?
'I said it was hot,
but if you got these barbecue gloves...'
You got a Johnny Weeks up in here?
- Who?
- Johnny Weeks.
- Over in the game room.
- Obliged.
- Any smokes?
- I'm out.
You gotta give the medication a chance
to work in your system, man.
'Isn't that great?'
Brought you something.
Some chicken pieces and some fries.
I bought a shake, but I dropped it on the bus.
It comes in a bag, goes out in a bag.
How long you have that for?
- I fucked up, man.
- Yeah, I saw.
There was nothing I could do, you know?
It's like first I got beat, right, then I get this.
What are these for?
They say I got the bug.
The bug?
- They checked me when I was in hospital.
- Are they sure?
Where you been at?
Here and there, I'm at it.
I'd have come past sooner,
but I been on a mission.
- A mission?
- Them hoppers that beat you down,
they got problems now.
- Them and the people they sling for, even.
- What?
I put the police on their ass.
Police? What, you get locked up
or something?
I'm not working for them.
I'm working with them.
They don't give me the badge soon enough,
I keep doing like I do.
Why?
What do you mean why?
How can you ask me why?
Why the fuck are you in here,
with all these falling-down motherfuckers?
Why you passing shit through a bag?
Why do they beat you down?
Why I couldn't do nothing about it?
It's all part of the game, right?
I mean, you taught me that.
What you up to in here, man?
- Doing the meetings.
- NA?
Yeah. Twice a day.
That's good, man. It's good,
you give the body comfort, you know.
Yeah.
- No, you needed a change.
- Guess so.
I'll be out at the end of the month.
They got meetings everywhere.
You ain't gotta worry about that.
Bubs.
Who's got the best package now?
- Get the fuck out of here, man.
- I'm coming home, right?
Shit is weak all over, you know?
Got some boys up in Baker
and Calhoun, though.
They had a smoker out the other day though.
- Yeah?
- Knocked a couple of niggers out.
Ain't you a trip?
Beat down, bagged up,
still ready to rip and run, huh?
I'm a Viking, homes.
"I'm a Viking, homes."
Hey! McNulty!
There's something here that needs kissing.
Speak again, oh, toothless one.
I guess you know now why I wear
the stripes in the family.
Good call, Jay.
If Keeley hadn't fucked the scene up,
you'd have had that casing months ago.
Let Keeley be Keeley.
We all can't be princes of the city,
now, can we? Speaking of which.
Sit down.
May I ask you a question
essential to your career?
- What?
- Who do you serve?
I am asking you to identify for the record
your commanding officer.
- Major Rawls.
- Excellent.
And with that thought in mind, I advise you
to go immediately into the Major's office,
carrying the break I gave you
in the Kresson case and kiss his ring.
Because I have talked you
right out of the shithouse.
Here's the deal. You wrap up this thing
with Narcotics in two weeks.
You put yourself back in rotation
when we go to night work.
You do that and you're back in the fold.
- Thanks, Jay.
- No problem.
- Shit ain't right.
- You work, you get paid.
- That's what I'm saying.
- I'm gonna say something to him.
- You should.
- Truth.
- What's up, D?
- What's up, shorty?
530. The count is right, man.
OK, re-ups on the way down.
Go tell Sterling to be ready for it.
All right. Yo, D, man.
You know, me and Poot,
we been steady working it, you know?
Nothing sloppy, no troubles, right?
No.
And we was wondering if, maybe you could
let a little something go until payday,
'cause you know, right now,
we some broke-ass niggers, man.
Right now, whoever did our girl also did
Boyd and Le-ggett a month earlier.
"Leggett."
Those two are definitely
straight-up drug executions.
No mention of D in either file.
- But I did get a fresh number on Tywanda.
- Who?
The girl who called in on Kresson.
- She put D in for that.
- Have you seen this?
Jaybird.
And the bear said, "You didn't
really come here to hunt now, did you?"
- You see Saturday's 24s?
- Sunday morning.
Did you see Worden's on the Westside?
John Bailey in a Kevlar vest,
lit up by three separate shooters.
Carey Street.
You made the connection. You didn't think
Bailey might tie in with Barksdale?
Worden's on the other shift.
I'm trying to work my murders. Jesus Christ.
Tony, Line three.
- What took you so long?
- We get a few murders here in Baltimore.
We get backed up.
- You weren't followed here?
- Why would we be followed?
Diedre was playing with scary people.
Who might that be?
You called this in after the murder
and you told the detective
you talked to her the night she was killed.
She called. It was late.
She didn't talk long. She said she had to go.
D was at the door.
That was the last time you spoke?
- Yeah, she was killed that night.
- D was her boyfriend?
No, D was his nephew or something.
- D would be D'Angelo Barksdale.
- And the boyfriend, Avon Barksdale?
- You know Avon?
- How do you know him?
You running the street with the players?
I used to be...but not after
this thing with Diedre. I mean, damn.
We used to go to Odell's for ladies' nights
and one time he was there with
all his people in one of the big booths,
ordering drinks,
acting like he was king of everything.
And Diedre ate that shit up.
- And you?
- I ain't gonna lie.
I did the club thing for a while, but...
Some of those places,
everybody there's on some kind of game.
But Diedre went with Avon?
She was with Avon for like a year
and something happened.
She started getting possessive.
That didn't sit with Avon,
'cause he has other girls, too.
She was bitching on him one minute,
crying the next,
threatening to do all kinds of things.
- She threatened Avon Barksdale?
- The girl was off the hook.
One time, she threatened
to write a letter on him.
- A letter.
- A letter to the state's attorney.
Supposed to be some sort of kin to her.
She said that if he dumped her,
she was gonna tell about the drugs.
- Did she write this letter?
- I don't know.
I tried talking about the way
she was acting, but she wouldn't let it go.
She had it out with him in his club
in front of all the people.
Avon has a club?
Orlando's, titty bar.
- Does he own it?
- That's what Diedre said.
She said he owned a whole mess of stuff.
- Tell me something, man.
- What's that?
How can you run this place
and not just OD on pussy?
Shit. You try dealing with all these bitches
and their problems for a few days.
Get so you'd rather be running
a damn laundromat out this fucker.
Heard you're doing OK in the Pit.
- Yeah, well...
- What, you ain't getting it like that?
My uncle got me working on salary.
Damn, boy. You ain't the only one
your uncle keeps close.
- What?
- Come on, man, you ain't making no ends?
I know you getting something on this.
No, man. I'm just the front,
clean name for the liquor board.
- I'm saying...
- Fuck!
Is there a problem?
That was for the drink before.
It ain't like I'm calling your uncle out
or nothing but give a nigger a chance.
- Plenty of pie for everybody.
- Believe.
You heard Stinkum
gonna be getting a percentage.
- What?
- Open up fresh territory.
Take over the corners
down near Edmondson and Brice.
So, my uncle gave that to Stink?
- Orlando!
- Figured you knew.
Orlando!
Can you help me down here?
- I already paid for that last drink.
- That was for the drink before.
- That was for this one.
- What's up?
Look, he ain't paid for that drink
and I took $20 off the bar.
- Look she took 20, then 20 more.
- Hell I did.
Why you gonna do me like this?
I been with you for an hour buying drinks.
Look, man, this ain't right.
I just spent $120 in drinks, $40 in tips.
You gonna take all that
and try to sneak into my pocket?
- Shit, girl!
- You got to go, get him the fuck outta here.
I ain't done so much as touch your kneecap.
Trying to treat her with respect,
and this is the way you do me?
Wait.
OK, man, I'm goin', I'm out of here.
Why you do that?
- Did you take his money?
- No, I didn't take his money.
You buying me a drink?
Can I see you sometime?
Like, you know, not in here.
Um...
I don't usually see men that I meet in here.
Usually.
What kind of strip joint
has a video camera looking out?
More to it than the girls, maybe.
So, he's got the club, he's got the warehouse,
he's got the apartment by Druid Hill Lake,
he's got the tow truck company,
and that's just what she knew from
what he bragged about to the dead girl.
- Major likes assets.
- The deputy, too, I imagine.
Nothing like property forfeitures
to swell the departmental budget.
Check city assessments to see
who owns the club.
Run the company name
through the charter office.
Also, Homicide picked up one Saturday night.
Might be one of ours.
John Bailey, he's a stick-up artist
I used to know from the Murphy homes.
He was wearing Kevlar. 39 casings
on the scene, from three different guns.
Overkill for a burn bag
but about right if he was running with Omar.
Look. Our buddy.
Just once, I wish they'd use the right number.
Ain't like him to be late.
Bailey, you fucking dope fiend.
I'm telling you.
Them fucking people ain't to be relied on.
- Why you always talk like that, man?
- What?
"F" this and "f" that.
If I give it up, I lose half of what I mean to say.
Don't nobody wanna
hear them dirty words, man.
Especially coming
from such a beautiful mouth.
Wait for Bailey?
Early bird catches the worm, dog.
- I beeped you.
- I didn't get it.
- Let me see.
- You want to see my pager?
Yeah.
Sure, Prez, you want to see my pager?
- I beeped you too.
- You all right, Prez?
714-3432?
I got that. That was you?
You try it?
I tried it. Twice. Non-working number.
It would've worked if you knew the code.
- Shit.
- I'm as surprised as you.
I like word-search puzzles.
You know, where you gotta
find the hidden words?
So I thought
I could do the same thing with the numbers.
Take the number I sent you.
Now take the seven and jump it over the five.
You get three.
Jump the one over the five, you get nine.
With four you get six.
Three, that's seven, four is six.
A three again...
and two is eight.
Zero switches with the five.
So 714-3432 is...
396-7678.
Our number.
- And that's the code?
- Yeah.
And it works because it's all about
where the buttons are on a phone.
If it was a code that involved math
or algebra or whatever,
these little yos in the projects
wouldn't be able to follow along.
But with this, all you gotta do
is jump the five button.
Ain't no math to it. It's just how a phone looks
when you look at it.
Prez, you little genius!
- Jesus.
- I could kill you, that's so good.
Your mother keep ragging at me to take him
outta here and put him in a nursing home.
Yeah, bro. She ain't never gonna let that go.
I keep telling her, man,
we can't show this legit money yet,
since he ain't got no insurance.
Soon, though, soon.
So, you ain't big on coming here, right?
No.
Tell you something. You about to see
your uncle, you understand me?
- This is family.
- I know.
Family is what counts,
family is what it's about.
Family gonna always be there
'cause it's blood.
Man.
'Dr. Galls, please.'
You never figured on this, did you?
Live the life, lead the life. Ain't no big thing.
He used to talk that shit all the time
and he believed it, you know what I'm saying?
What's up, baby? Talk that shit now.
You know, you're right.
It's kind of hard to be in here right now.
He scare you, don't he?
- You know, I'm just saying.
- He scares me.
Yeah.
See, if he dead, I could carry it better.
Coming up the way we did,
you kind of expect that.
Waiting on it.
See, the thing is,
you only got to fuck up once.
Be a little slow, be a little late. Just once.
And how you ain't gonna never be slow,
never be late?
You can't plan for no shit like this, man.
It's life.
Yeah.
It scares me.
They're still using it.
I was by on Saturday night and it was gone.
On your own time?
- You still getting your boys?
- Yeah, tonight for a sleep-over.
Omar's rolling.
What the hell?
Call for backup?
Not yet.
Let's see how it plays out.
An invitation.
- Feel a little lonesome for backup.
- Me, too.
- That's nice. I'll check the rear.
- I'll watch the boys.
Afternoon, gentlemen.
Saying, if you were gonna use that
you would've used it by now.
It's clean.
Got to keep it clean.
We having one of our little parlays like this,
got to keep it clean, right?
Omar with no gun on the street?
Must be a first.
Sometimes who you are is enough.
But being as y'all sitting on my ride so long,
I thought I'd save y'all some time.
I ain't taking no charge.
You ain't putting me back in a cage.
We're not here to bury you. We're pulling
you up 'cause we got a problem in common.
- Problem?
- Barksdale.
- No, he ain't no problem.
- I don't know.
Avon's been chalking up a lot of bodies.
And you being you...
Put it that way,
I guess he could be a little problem...
but I can't come out and help you.
You know what I mean?
Snitchin' just rubs me wrong.
Personally, I don't think
the game is played like that.
We respect that.
If you do happen to take a charge though,
I'm McNulty, that's Greggs.
You give us a call, we'll sort something out.
Fair enough.
You know, I used to work the homes,
back when your brother was up there.
You get a chance, let him know
they blew up John Bailey last night.
- Good man. Lot of enemies.
- Mm-hm.
Are you trying to catch up with Bird?
Word is he dropped a workin' man.
Wait, hold up. Come on, don't play me.
What working man? What Bird?
Come on, now.
Ain't but one working man, is there?
And Bird? I think your snitch can handle that.
Shit, Bubbles know Bird.
- You working late?
- A little.
Got a minute?
Sure, have a seat.
No, this is better said standing up.
You know, I've been 13 years on the shelf.
I ain't bitched.
It was me that put me there.
But I'm here now, and I gotta say a piece.
We should've had a tap
on the project pay phones by now.
A wire there will get us the drugs.
Keep pushing,
we'll get a whiff of the money, too.
I know you're serious
about climbing that career ladder
and I know how slippery it gets
the higher you go, but for me,
I don't want to go to no dance
unless I can rub some tit.
I appreciate your honesty.
Good night, Lieutenant.
What did you say to make D pay out?
I told him to give it up
or I'm taking him out of the count.
- Shit.
- Look. I'll pump niggers when I got to.
- That's him.
- That's who?
One of the ones that robbed us.
That light-skinned boy.
That's him? All right, come on.
I'm the king of this shit.
- 'So, you want us to wait?'
- Yeah.
- 'All right. We on it, man.'
- All right.
Hey, dog. Hey, yo, hey, yo.
There goes Scar right there.
- Right there in the blue? Number 80?
- Yeah, I'm on him.
All right, you got him?
Find a phone real quick. It looks like
my man D got himself an emergency.
What, he been stuck up again?
'What's up, what do you need?'
My people are onto one of Omar's
boys down at Greek's.
- 'All right, sit tight. I'll take care of it.'
- All right.
Ain't nobody coming.
Yeah. D said wait. D said wait.
Told you.
- Yo, he still in there?
- Yeah, he's playing the games.
All right. You sharp, son. What's your name?
- Wallace.
- Wallace, all right.
This nigger's gonna
point him out to us, all right?
- Yeah.
- 'Yo, it's done. Nice work, cuz.'
All right.