The Wire (2002–2008): Season 4, Episode 8 - Corner Boys - full transcript

To monitor the pulse on the street, Carcetti makes the rounds with members of the force. While Proposition Joe shows off his vocal range, Chris shows Snoop how to expose, and dispose of, New York infiltrators. Colvin uses "corner" logic in class. A newly sober McNulty attends an Irish cop wake - with a not-so-sober Bunk. Michael is dismayed by the unexpected return of a missing family member.

So, Rashad has 82 apples...

and 12 friends...

all of whom are hungry.

And so he looks
carefully at his apples

and sees
that seven have worms.

Another 15 have gone rotten.

But he wants to be fair

and distribute all
the good apples equally.

"Distribute"?

Give out.

Well, just say that, yo?

Okay.

Okay, so how many apples
does each of Rashad's friends get:

A, 4; B, 5;

C, 6; or D, 7?

Take your time,
but do it fast.

Hey. Nigger said,
"l got my rights,"

so my boy said,
"Oh, yeah?

Well, he's got a left
to go with your right. "

He was like, pow!

- Calvin, you are done already?
- Uh-huh.

- Yeah?
- B, 5.

How did you work
that out so fast?

Easy.
"B, 5" got the dinks.

- The what?
- If you want, I could show you.

Don't show him,
show me.

All right.

You did this with
the earlier math class, right?

So, you, like,
got 82 apples...

12 niggers...

and then how many
blah, blah, blah--

then you went, like,

dinking all round this one
and no other one.

So, answer is "B, 5."

Everybody get that?

Yeah.

"B, 5,"
it got all the dinks.

"B, 5,"
I'm an Audi 5000.

The priority should
be on making sure

the age files are up to date
with all notes transcribed,

the standard office report.

Uh...

on our day shift today,
you may encounter

Councilman and Democratic
mayoral nominee Thomas Carcetti,

who's been fact-finding
within the department.

So, if you go
leaving your fax

Iying around and he finds them,
that shit's on you.

Lastly...

as most of you
are already aware,

our ClD Commander
Raymond Foerster,

after a long bout
with cancer,

passed away last night
at Johns Hopkins.

Ahem.

Better eulogies are coming.

So, let me just say

that the man
served 39 years--

attaining the rank
of colonel--

without leaving a trail
of bitterness or betrayal.

In this department,
that's not a career, it's a miracle.

There'll be a detective's
wake this evening

followed by viewings
on Wednesday

and a burial mass on Friday.

The family suggests donations

to the colonel's
favorite charities.

The addresses will be posted
in the coffee room.

All told.

And, Bunk, I just got
your overtime for the week.

Get down to my office
and pull your pants down.

Mm-hmm.

No no no!
Fuck that.

You've finished your pot,
you make the next one.

Okay.

I don't see the right
one in here anyway.

- Sergeant Hauk.
- Yes, sir.

I just got off
with Beauford at lAD.

He tells me there's a harassment
complaint been filed.

Some Jamaican woman
says you had her stopped

and searched
by Amtrak police.

Yeah. Well, you see,
in my report,

we had what we thought
was reliable info

that she was a drug courier
for Marlo Stanfield.

I mean, we actually scoped
Stanfield with her.

What was the info?

The Cl's been reliable.

Great track record
with us.

Long history.

Cl 238.
Give me his name.

His name? Sir.

Sir!

I've never been comfortable
with, you know,

tossing around names
of informants in squad rooms.

I feel that it's--

- Name.
- Fuzzy Dunlop, sir.

I might have to set up a meeting
with this character.

He's kind of leery of meets.

He's been reliable,
I promise you.

I mean, this one baffled
the shit out of me, too.

But he's never
been off, never.

You jumped out
on bad information, Sergeant.

You brought in
another agency,

and you brought
discredit to this unit--

my unit.

In good faith though, sir.

Anything comes of this,

I have your report,

and I will bury you with it.

And in case
you haven't been

paying attention
to the election results,

your rabbi has
left the building.

- No tantrums today?
- What's the point?

They're not even gonna
suspend us, right?

Right.
What's the point?

So, we're here,
like it or not.

If it makes you all
feel any better,

the word around school is

you're down here because
you beat the system.

You had no interest
in being in a classroom,

and you made the classroom
impossible for everybody else,

and now you are out.
You won.

- Ha ha. Yeah!
- You feel like winners?

- Always.
- That's how we did.

Who's we?

- Us.
- No, who are you?

- Players.
- Kingpins?

Nah, that comes later.

Right now, we are
just corner boys.

So, how long until
you are kingpins?

I am thinking
two, three years.

Two, three years.

Let me ask, and I want everybody
to write this down--

where do you see
yourself in 10 years?

Come on,
pencil and paper.

This isn't schoolwork,
this is about y'all.

She's young
but she's good.

Yeah, a doctoral candidate
from the psych department

of College Park.

Thesis work is on social
alienation and analysis.

All right, show of hands,

how many wrote "NBA"?

Yeah, but only
for the Lakers though.

I want to be
a pediatric neurosurgeon

Iike that one nigga,
what's his name?

- Ben Carson.
- Yeah, that dude.

He's a black surgeon at Hopkins
with a lot of profile.

You want to be a surgeon,
you need to go to medical school.

Whatever.

How many wrote
down "dead"?

Shit, you saw
that coming, huh?

It's a shame
you all have so little time,

and you're wasting it
here with us.

You know where
you're going.

We can't teach you anything
you don't know about that, right?

That's what
we've been saying.

Namond,
put away the magazine.

I ain't reading
no magazine.

- Namond.
- What?

It ain't even mine.

It was laying here
when I came in.

Y'all little pissers.

You know, we are giving
them a fine education.

"lt ain't even mine.

It was just laying here
when I came in."

You know
this right here--

the whole damn school--

the way they carry themselves,

it's training
for the street.

The building's the system,
we the cops.

Yeah, you are for sure.

I mean, you'll come
in here every day

and practice getting over,

try running all
different kinds of games.

You know, it's practice
for the corner, right?

Ain't no real cops.
Ain't no real danger.

But you'll all getting
something out of this.

Bet you didn't
even know that.

Still I'd rather
be out there.

Can l?
Corner boys, huh?

Let me ask
y'all something.

You know, you help us
hone in on this,

and maybe we do
a little better job with you in here.

- What makes a good corner boy?
- Keep your eyes open.

- Keep the count straight.
- Don't trust nobody.

If you stupid in the hood,
you get killed.

That's the only way.

And I am telling you,

this name in black right
here got stink on it.

Eyeball witness, Bunk.

Vernon, at least go back
to the scene with me

- and take a fresh look.
- You're out of line here, Bunk.

You are.

A lot of names.
Too many.

No, we're good with it.

Listen, you back-seat-
driving motherfucker,

the guy picked him out--
Omar-fucking-Little.

Why he picked him out?
Who the fuck cares?

We got a dead female
taxpayer on our hands,

- and somebody's saying him.
- I don't buy.

And look who you talking about.
This ain't the motherfucker

that came up with
62 ways for the peanut.

His name pops up on five
or six cases I know of--

including two of yours-- and you want
to put him back on the street?

But this ain't him.

That means someone else
is walking on you all.

Let me tell you
something, Bunk:

the next body you catch,

I'm going to be
crawling all over it,

second-guessing
your ass every step,

pulling on every last
motherfucking thread.

Yeah. We going to see
how you like it.

Hey, Vernon.

Vernon, Vernon,
Vernon, Vernon.

- Just go back on it with me.
- What?

Shit doesn't play out
any differently...

I'll give you a back rub that
you ain't never going to forget.

Ahem.

You know, you guys don't
need to do anything

you wouldn't normally do
just 'cause I'm here.

I wouldn't know what we
normally do around here.

I'm new
and inexperienced.

Oh, you're...

Yeah. I am.

Seriously, I'm just
trying to get a feel

for the department's
response to the violence.

I'm not the hall monitor
or anything.

So, this is your day?

We catch a body,
it's different.

Mmm!

I believe
you got my camera?

- I what?
- License and registration.

You do me one,
I'll do you.

You got a card
or something?

City, huh?

Video camera
gotta come back.

Yeah, well, I see what
I can find out about it.

But you know cameras--

kind of like pigeons
in the storm.

You know
what I'm saying?

Sometimes they come back.
Sometimes...

But I keep an ear
out on it.

Hey, Jim,
he just say pigeons?

He's fucking with you.

Look, you just got
to tell Marimow

that you used the camera
for the PC at the train station.

And then just admit
the camera got took.

I already put it
down to the Cl.

I tell dickhead the truth,

- he takes my stripes on it.
- Oh, come on.

Look, I'm just saying
you weren't suspended that long.

Is it because
Tiff dropped it,

or because you had to do
something for Miss Donnelly?

- Do something?
- I don't know,

Iike promise or something.

No, Tiff dropped it,
so it's dropped.

Ain't nothing past that.

That's good. You know,
the thing with the teachers

and cops and whatnot,
they always come at you

Iike think they got you
by the ass.

But you keep
your mouth shut,

ain't nothing
they could do.

So, more times than not,
they go away.

Word on that.

I mean, it don't even matter.
And Miss Anna...

she got me on this
short leash right now.

Can't go out the house unless
she know right where I'm going.

Shit, at least
you've got a leash.

Dewey!

What the fuck is that?

Club soda...

and lime.

Omissive bitch.

Why not just suck a dick
and get it over with?

That will get the bad
taste out of your mouth.

Ah.

Yeah.

Almost new.

Don't wear
no dead man's hat.

I'm just fuckin'
with you.

Here, let's pray.

Here we lay a couple
of New York boys

who came too far south
for their own fuckin' good.

Fucking Yankee proud of it now,
you fuckin' bitches.

Let's get the fuck
out of here.

You hungry?

You want some Chinese?

No talking.

Keep your eyes
on your paper.

Yo, Mr. Prezbo,
this say "cars."

- So?
- All the stuff we did in practice

was about food.

It's okay. It's just
a different object.

Pay attention
to the number.

Numbers are
messed up, too.

We never did one-thirds.

It's the same operation--
1/4, 1/5, 1/3.

Follow the same steps.
It's just a different denominator.

How do you get
1/3 of a car?

It's actually
1/3 of all the cars.

Was I talking to you?!

You get close enough...

you could take
a headshot. Why?

'Cause maybe
he vested up.

Word. A chest shot
maybe won't do it for you.

Then what? You.

- It's his turn.
- Thug, you on it.

You gotta shoot
from a distance,

you can't risk
a headshot.

You go for the belly,
the dick or the ass area.

Because the vest don't
go down that far.

Bam! Take them out.

- Then what?
- Walk up,

- finish them off.
- With a...?

Headshot.

Damn, y'all coming
along full effect.

I hear it--
I hear that.

All right,
now say he in a car.

Sergeant Thomas Hauk,
Baltimore City Police.

Didn't I say City
would come running?

- Did.
- I'll check this joker out for you.

See what's what.

One other thing,

you're are doing
okay running them

New York niggers
of off East Side. I know that.

But this thing you got
with disappearing the bodies...

My man is saying if you just
vanishing the bodies like that,

it do kind of defeats
its own purpose.

Niggers don't know
if they went back

to the Bronx
or whatever.

- You feel me?
- Of course.

I'll tell my people.

Hey, no disrespect to your
professionalism or nothing.

We all impressed how you

Iose the motherfuckers
like that.

We just trying
to send a message

to these New York people
in full effect...

you know
what I'm saying?

I'll get back
to you on this.

So, Councilman,

I understand you were
a ClD yesterday.

See anything big
with those downtown boys?

Well, they messed up
the lunch order.

No, I figured
I needed to get closer

to the street, so that's
why I am out here today.

Rolling with the mighty
is east of the east.

Now, remember, we had
a shooting incident last week.

So, keep those corner fucks
to one window. Don't get surrounded.

Shit, remember we had
a van full of you guys,

- we'd find the fucking chap.
- What the fuck you say?

Dressed like that,
Stevie Wonder make you as police.

Keep your radio out of sight.
Volume up on those boom boxes.

10 bucks say
we collar up first.

20 makes
it worth our while.

Mr. Mayor, you know what's great
about the Easter?

We are hungry motherfuckers--

respectfully, I mean.

So, you're saying,

you don't ever give
anybody a break?

- Anybody?
- Nah nah.

'cause if you let him
slide for a dollar,

it's a sign
that you're weak.

Today's dollar
is tomorrow's two.

Yeah, same with your crew.
Your boy come up short

saying spillage
or police or whatever,

you let him be, and then
he gettin' over on you.

- Then you a chump.
- So, you got to fuck him up.

- Yeah.
- You gotta, ahem, mess him up.

Nah nah. Something for real
happen, you do that.

If you do it over
some bullshit,

then all you did
was lose a good worker.

Oh, no.

Man, you gotta fuck
that nigger up, man.

Whoa whoa whoa whoa!

Whoa!

Stop talking
on top of each other.

This how you communicate
out on them streets?

All right, it's like this:
you boy come back to you,

- say this happened, that happened--
- Then you fuck him up.

In my mind, I'm gonna let him
make it out of his own cut, too.

If he good worker,
he know what he need to do.

Yeah, he got a point.

He got a point.
That's a good one.

If he thinks about it,

says it ain't his fault,

then that nigger
run a game on you.

And then you fuck
that nigger up.

- Yeah.
- All right, yeah.

- But why?
- You know it gotta happen, man.

You know
what I'm saying!

Wait wait wait!
One voice. One voice.

- Y'all, one voice.
- Yo, yo, D, you tell him.

There always
people watching.

Watching... you.

True. Yeah.

What's taking you boys
so long?

There he is now.

Hurry up,
hurry up, this guy.

This guy right here.

Fuck you, guys.
Hey, yo, yo.

Yo, man,
we need some pills.

Yeah, you in
the right place, man.

Get them for us.

Come on, man,
I'm going to work.

Yo, 20 for the pills
and 10 for you.

- Leave the bike.
- What, you want steal my bike?

What the fuck
I want your bike for?

I got a car.

Give me a minute.

$20 might not mean
nothing to you.

But I ain't making
that much money.

It's hard money.

Y'all some
lazy motherfuckers.

This shit is right
around the corner.

You have no idea how much
we appreciate this.

I love it when they come
to work pumped like this.

Shit.

Come on, man.
I'm going to work.

Come on, man.
I'm going to work, man!

It's bullshit, man!

This is some bullshit
right here.

For real! For real! I ain't got
no drugs, no shit on me.

I ain't got nothing on me, man.
And you taking my bike, too?!

I need that.
This is bullshit y'all be using!

- One down.
-...comin' in the hood fuckin' with us.

This is fucked up
right here, man.

Andre, how you doing?

This is a friend of mine--
Detective Moreland.

Hey.

You doing okay there
or what?

So, listen, for my friend here,
tell me one more time

how the thing went down,
will you?

- The boy came in.
- Omar?

- Omar.
- He puts the nine on her.

Says to me,
"Whatever you got."

Mm-hmm.

A nine, huh?

Where were you?

- Where you see me at.
- Mm-hmm.

Nine wouldn't
go through this.

- Why did you come out?
- 'Cause he said to.

Trying to save her life.

Right, I'm saying---

This is like
Bank of England glass.

Fort Knox glass.

And who put that
up there? Huh?

Guy must have had
an elephant gun or some shit.

I don't know.
The boy had a mask on.

A mask, eh?

Like Zorro, huh?

- When did that happen?
- A few weeks back.

- Put in a report?
- It got away from me.

Mm-hmm.

Andre.

We're going to need you
to come down to the office

and straighten out
a couple of things.

I'm running
a business here.

I ain't going nowhere.

Give me a bottle
of Mylanta.

Please.

His whole story is fucked,
and here's why:

First, it don't
make any sense.

The shooter took
out the woman

and left him breathing
to talk to you.

He should be dead, too.

Second, there's
a drug depot in there.

Ah!

The glass,
reinforced steel,

camera, low inventory.

And, third,
he's shining us on

about that
big-ass.50-cal hole

because I know
who put it there,

and he knows
who put it there.

And if he were to say,

"Oh, that?
That's Omar's previous.

Ripping off
a re-up in here--"

which is what happened--
he be fucked.

So what?

A guy comes in
the first time

with a.50 caliber because
he knows the glass is thick,

then comes back
the next week with a nine?

The job isn't about picking
the stories we like best.

Motherfucker. Now you're going to
lecture me about what the job is.

- My apologies.
- Okay. Let's go downtown.

It's a new law, yo--

three pills,
that's felony weight.

And you're on
a pre-indicted corner?

- What?
- You better show some stash.

Oh, it's off
the chart now.

Those DC boys down there,
too, right.

They love fresh Baltimore ass.

- Mm-mmm.
- I ain't know no stash.

They say
it's better than pussy.

- Those my pills.
- Yeah.

Have you ever heard
of federal guidelines?

Pre-indicted corners,
homeboy.

That's three years mandatory.
Unless you mitigate.

- Mit-a-what?
- The stash, front boy.

I don't know no stash.
Those my pills, man.

I'm high
right now, look.

Yeah.

They gonna love him
up in there. Come on.

- I saw him first.
- Yeah?

- Bitch is mine.
- Those are my pills, I swear.

That's two.

Get the fuck in the car.

Damn, fractions?

He's doing fractions.

Shit, you want to know
what we talked about

in my new class today?

- What?
- Slinging.

Yo, I'm not playing.

We talked about business,

about putting shit
on the damn street.

Nigga, please.

It was like
we schooling them.

Yo, my new class
is the shit.

Yo, you going
by the gym today?

No, man.
I gotta go vial up

what's left on this package
so I can re-up.

All right.

- All right, man.
- Peace, man.

That shit is
easy though, right?

I got to leave soon,
Duquan.

Okay.

What level are you on?

12.

Ah, I never
made it past 10.

Want to see me
get to 40?

That's cheating.

Want me
to show you how?

Baltimore City
Police Department.

Yes, ma'am,
this is Sydney Handjerker

with Handjerker,
Cohen & Bromburg.

I'm trying to locate
a Sergeant Thomas Hauk

in regards to a client
I am representing.

Hold, please.

Mayor's office,
Lieutenant Hoskins.

Yes, hello.
This is Ervin Pepper

of Pepper, Pepper
& Bayleaf.

I'm calling in regards to a Sergeant
Thomas Hauk in regards to a--

He's no longer on this detail.
Hold on for a minute.

Major Crimes.
May I help you?

This is Dr. Jay calling with
test results for Thomas Hauk.

He's on the street.

You want to leave
a message?

Hello?

Let's do it.

You've just got to
walk up on him, all right?

Snap one.

We've gotta make sure
he's from New York first, right?

Gotta ask.

Ask what?
"You from New York?"

No, ask a Baltimore question,

something a New York
nigger won't know.

- What's a Baltimore question, yo?
- I don't know,

Iike, maybe something
about club music.

They don't know nothing
about that shit up in New York.

Huh?

Ask him, like,
who Young Leek be.

( quotes lyrics )

Or K-Swift.

Man, I know nothing about
that 92Q shit, man.

Man, who gives
a fuck, yo?

You don't know
Marc Clarke?

"The Big Phat
Morning Show"?

You ain't right, girl.

The average Baltimore nigga is gonna
know all that shit, all right?

They don't listen
to that shit up in New York.

They listen to some bullshit
up in New York.

- Go ahead.
- All right, whatever.

Hey, got a bet
going on, man.

- What's up?
- Who's your favorite one

on "The Big Phat
Morning Show," yo?

What, are you a New York, girl?
Sonjay.

- Who? Who?
- Kill that show any day.

Snoop! Snoop, yo!
Snoop, yo! Yo!

Chill! Sonjay be
on the show too.

So maybe I ask the questions
from now on, all right?

And then they basically entrap
some poor bastard on a bet,

haul in
$20 worth of drugs.

Now they've got to
process him, feed him,

property voucher his bike.

Next thing,
they're working on

some 14-year-old smoke hound
like he's Bin Laden.

The big haul there is
three vials of cocaine.

I mean,
are you with this?

I've been fighting
this bullshit for years.

The only way to go
is high-end enforcement.

You pick the targets
that'll make a dent out there,

reduce the violence.

So what's the problem?

Problem is
I do what I'm told.

Meaning?

Mr. Mayor, I'm no more
a racist than you are.

The thing about
affirmative action--

I'm just talking policy here,
no offense intended--

- None taken.
- --it's a numbers game.

And numbers games
breed more numbers games.

You need a 20% hike
in the hiring of black officers

to keep up with
the city demographic.

But that's also got to be reflected
straight up the chain,

which means fast-tracking
some people past where their--

how do I say this--

there are experienced warrants.

And he who owes his good fortune
to the numbers,

abides in them.

Gotta show arrests
are up 15, 20%.

We'll worry about
the quality later.

So what you saw out there,
it's a con game,

a Band-Aid on cancers.

So no, I'm not with this,
but I do follow orders.

However, if those
orders were to change,

or if I had the opportunity
to change them myself...

Oh no, you not!

What's this shit
doing in my house?

I stretching bottles, Ma.

You ever see your daddy

bring his work home
with him like that?

That's what you got
a lieutenant for.

Police come through this door
instead of your mother,

they will have
this whole damn house.

This has all got to be packed up
and elsewhere right now.

All right, be cool.

Wait till Bey
hears about this.

Did you hear that naked-ass appeal
to racial solidarity?

I'd like to kick his
pale entitled ass.

Were you listening?

He's no more
a racist than I am.

Might have to
kick your ass, too.

What have you heard
about this fellow Daniels?

Major in the Western.

Yeah, he's there,

but not much politically.

I don't think he's got
any suction with anybody.

Where's the Rice-A-Roni?

Ma, where's the Rice-A-Roni?

There was this
boy on the stoop

that looked like
he was starving.

So you cooked it
for him?

Naw, I just gave it
to him.

You just gave it
to him.

Boy ate a raw box
of Rice-A-Roni?

How much did you sell
the groceries for?

Don't look at me
like that.

I gotta go out.

- $10?
- You have your Rice-A-Roni profits.

Michael, come on!

Boy, I ain't gonna let
you hold the DSS card

if you ain't gonna
do right by me.

You're gonna let me
hold that card.

You're a hard child.

Next time, don't go selling
the food out of our mouths!

Yeah, like y'all say--

don't lie, don't bunk,

don't cheat, don't steal,
or whatever.

But what about y'all, huh?

What, the government?

What it-- Enron? Ha!

Steroids, yeah.

Liquor business?

Booze is the real killer
out there.

And cigarettes--
oh, shit.

Hey, you got
some smokes in there?

I'm trying to quit.

And drugs paid
your salary, right?

No, not exactly,
but I get your point.

We do the same thing
as y'all,

except when we do it, it's like,
"Oh my God, these kids is animals."

Like it's the end of
the world coming.

Man, that's bullshit,
all right?

'Cause it's like-- what is it--
hypocrite-- hypocritical.

I mean, yeah,
we got our thing,

but this is just part
of the big thing.

Exactly.

But this corner-boy
thing, right?

All y'all did all this
talking up in here.

You think
you could sit down

and write down
the laws to your thing?

Hell yeah.
I'll do it right now.

Shit.

No, I'm talking about--
can y'all do it together?

I give the test
on fractions,

half the kids
have breakdowns.

I still have a lot of kids who can
barely handle whole numbers.

Well, if it's any comfort,

I have outside
of my advanced class

maybe half a dozen
reading at grade level.

Try having them on
the periodic table of elements.

The thing is,
it's your curriculum,

and you have to
stick to it.

- I can't. It's absurd.
- You have to.

That test in April is
the difference between

the state taking over
the school or not.

Maybe the state should.

Look, you teach math,
you teach the test.

North Avenue
is all about

the leave-no-child-behind stuff
getting spoon-fed.

And what do they learn?

Find some middle ground.

Every day try to do
a little for the statewide,

and keep a unit problem on
the blackboard for Donnelly.

You know,
if she comes to visit,

she thinks
you're on point.

The rest of the time,

do what you feel like
you need to do.

But be careful.

You're are still on the far side
of your evaluation.

The first year
isn't about the kids,

it's about you surviving.

Whoo-hoo!

Get up!

Get up!

Hands on your head.

- I was eating that.
- Fuck you.

- That's my lunch.
- Fuck you.

Find a wall,
motherfuckers. Man.

Get your feet up.

- This is harassment.
- What did I say to you?

"Fuck you."
That's what you said to me.

There's nothing here,
man.

Oops. My bad.

You want to play
games with me?

I'm going to be in your people's shit
like this every day

until my camera
comes home.

You hear me?
Every day.

You and yours.
Let's go.

Ah, that felt good!

The old Western DEU
rides again.

Yes?

Anyone from the ClD
reports at the front desk.

Any ClD reports
to the front desk.

Respectfully, sir,
I would feel better if you cleared this

through the chain of command.

Yes, sir.

I'll think about that.

- Problem with the bosses?
- One in particular.

- That was our mayor-to-be.
- Carcetti?

Seriously?

He wants to meet.

You and him? Alone?

He wants to talk about
the police department--

what works,
what doesn't.

You have
the mayor's ear now.

Look at you.

Here's the thing:
What do I say?

What do you mean
what do you say?

How honest should I be?

I mean, it's one thing
for me to talk technical shit

or enforcement strategies,

but the shit
that actually goes on?

I start talking about that,
I don't know if I can stop.

Cedric, this is
your chance.

This is a career.

What if I take my shots
at Burrell and Rawls

and he decides not
to clean house? What then?

The new mayor
calls you up,

asks you for
your take on things,

and you don't want to be,
what, a politic?

Carcetti-- ugh.
I don't even know the man.

If he is calling you,

it's because guys like
Burrell and Rawls are on the ropes.

- Maybe.
- I know there is a risk,

but maybe I'd fire away...

both barrels.

I'll wait out here, man.
Up top.

I'll wait, I'll wait.

You got that grub,
you got that pot?

Aw, wait.

( quotes lyrics )
Yo.

Who made that track?

Yo, who you talking to,
dawg?

I'm asking
who Young Leek be.

You mean
2 Phat's cousin?

- Who?
- No.

Nigga, then how the fuck
should I know?!

Yo, who the fuck
is you talking--

- Aw, shit.
- Not bad.

Fuck that nigga.

What up, B?

- Where Ma at?
- Upstairs.

Michael, my daddy
came home.

Daddy came home?

- Look who home!
- Michael.

Damn, you grew.

And a pack of Kools
for Macia.

Still tricking
for that clown?

You know, I don't understand
why people talk trash about him.

All I know
is he loves me.

Well, when you
get tired of him

going upside
your head and all,

you'll really know
who loves you.

Whatever.

Whoa.

Motherfucker, what?

He had 12 years.

Parole.

It was only
a drug charge.

You swore he wasn't
coming back.

This is a good thing,
Michael.

It's going to be
back the way it was.

The way it was?

We a family again.

You lied to me.

People change, Michael.

He said you can give him back
the independence card too.

He gonna take care
of all that for us.

Thanks for coming up
from Washington.

The party is happy
for the opportunity.

You've got some heat
behind you at this point.

- But down to business.
- The way we see it,

we've got to cobble together
a citywide turnaround,

call it the "Baltimore Miracle"
or some shit.

Which starts with
a 10% drop in crime.

Since that was
your campaign cry,

- you want the double digits.
- No doubt.

Denny's got to do a bricks-and-mortar
project downtown,

put his name on something.

We're flushed with stadiums,

got hotels out of the ass.

You guys got a good
convention center?

- And a convention center expansion.
- Gotta put something up,

get the sign
on it that says,

"Brought to you
by Tommy Carcetti

and the citizens of Baltimore."

Well, think on it,
but you don't have

- too much time to decide.
- Anything else?

Education always polls good.

Oh no, we've got to
stay away from schools.

Our last
four administrations

Ieft us with an inner-city system
with inner-city problems.

We get involved,
start talking shit,

it becomes our mess.

Gotta respect the depths.

One, you get
the drop in crime;

two, you build
something downtown;

and three, you stay
away from schools;

And, four, you keep
your boyish good looks.

You do all that, you might be running
for governor in 2008,

maybe take back that
statehouse for us, hmm?

- Can you get him a square corner?
- Easy.

You okay?

Yeah.

You sure?

- Is it something at home?
- No.

- Come on.
- I said no.

Okay.

If there's ever anything
you want to talk about...

there's me,
but if you'd rather,

I can write you a pass

to see the social worker.

Just say when.

Michael, do you want
to see the social worker?

No.

I have to say,
I've never seen kids like them

this animated
in a classroom.

Focused-- the corner
culture kids, at least.

The ones with deeper problems,
they opted out of that.

Deeper problems?

We're not just up against
corner logic in there.

I am seeing oppositional
defiant disorders,

clinical depression,
post traumatic stress,

and with the girl Shaundra,
borderline psychoses maybe.

With those
type of problems,

we are gonna have to have
a social worker here full-time.

But the corner kids, yeah,
they really came alive.

Yeah, when they talk
about what they know,

they talk from here,
and they stay on point.

Shit, they have been even
taking turns in there.

Question is:
Can we get them

in that kind of mindset
on stuff they don't know?

Can we have them learn
on faith alone?

In all honesty,
this is uncharted territory.

Where do you go
from here?

How about we just
let this ride,

see where it takes us?

All right, see,
here's the thing:

Once you got it,
it's all you.

Anything happen,
I'm gonna have to fuck you up.

Yeah, but that's nothing.

'Cause the guy trusting me
on this-- Marlo--

he'll kill you
and your whole family.

So don't go
shaking the bottles

'cause Marlo weighs
that shit every time.

- I ain't shaking shit.
- See that you don't,

'cause if you do fuck with it,
I'm gonna know.

All right, that's good.

All right, it's good.

All right, see,
you're under 13 and shit.

So you're safe from everybody
but me and Marlo.

- So I'm a lieutenant now?
- Yeah.

You're my lieutenant.

And all I get is
an extra $10?

Yeah, you do this good,
and we'll talk.

See this guy here?

That's the grand jury
prosecutor.

Now, you lie to us,
it's just good clean fun.

But you tell tales to that
three-piece motherfucker, ooh, shit!

I ain't telling lies.

Hey, Gary, let me ask you this
hypothetically:

How much time does a witness
get for lying to your grand jury?

Are you kidding?
As much as I can get him.

- What's the max?
- 10 years.

Oh, you've got people
going away for 10 years?

Oh, hell yeah,
all the time.

10 years!

I thought he was going to say,
like, two or three.

Hey, look, that motherfucker
went upside my head.

I couldn't even
see straight.

Which motherfucker
are we talking about?

Then they got me
on that medication.

It made me groggy as shit.

Then this man starts
working at me--

- Fuck I did!
- I mean, shit!

I'm still groggy now.
I mean, I got to--

is there a washroom around?

- Lying motherfucker.
- For real.

Pull over, asshole.

Shit.

Step out of the car,
please.

Step out of the car.

Put your hands
on the car.

Got anything on you?

Have a seat on the curb.
Have a seat.

Cross your feet.
Put your hands on your head.

What the fuck
is this powder?

Lime from my mama's garden.

What are you building,
a clubhouse?

Oh, that shoot nails.
Be cool.

Oh, I know what it does.

I want my fucking camera.

I heard what you said
at Comstat the other day.

I also hear you're a commander
who knows police work.

That's what people
are saying.

So, yesterday I did
a ride-along in Eastern,

watched street pops,
undercover rips.

- So what am I thinking?
- My guess:

You witnessed a waste
of time, money, energy,

and, in few cases, talent.

Rawls says it's Burrell
and his numbers game.

He says if I unleash him,
put him in the driver's seat,

then all that
bullshit goes south.

See a return
of high-end police work,

says it'll be the dawning
of a new day.

- Rawls said that?
- Yeah.

Says he's just
following orders,

being a good soldier.

What do you say?

Mr. Mayor, if you
want to talk to me

about what happens
in the street

or what goes on under me
in the Western,

I'll talk your ear off.

But I'm a soldier too.

I don't go up the chain
with my opinions.

I can respect that.

I will say this though:

We did have one unit
doing high-end stuff--

Major Crimes working out
of an offsite

down on Clinton Street.

"Did" is past tense.
What wrecked it?

Good question,
Mr. Mayor.

With Ray Foersters'
passing,

I'm going to need
a new ClD commander right away.

Would you object to being
made colonel working under Rawls?

Under Rawls?

He is deputy ops,
is he not?

Is the mayor going to
make the changes

or just leave it
to the good soldier?

What I'm really asking is:
How for real are you?

Well, I guess we're going to
find that out together, aren't we...

Colonel Daniels?

What the fuck do we do?

I don't know.
These guys don't scare.

If we all kick in--
you, me, Sydnor--

maybe we could afford
a used camera.

I thought of that.

It ain't gonna match
the serial numbers

from the one
for my lSD.

We've gotta get wood
on Marlo.

It's the only way.

This Randy kid,
he can't give us a murder, right?

Shit, he can't even
give us a body.

But he says some
Little Kevin kid

was the one supposed
to tell Lex to go up in that alley.

Plus, what did fuck-nut
say Little Kev said?

"Lex went up the alley,

but he ain't coming back."

Maybe he saw
the whole thing.

Maybe he's
our eyeball witness.

- Little Kevin?
- Little Kevin.

Carry the four.

80, 100, 10, 20.

420.

Where's the rest?

Um... I'm on a hard strip.

It's tricky on Lafayette.

What the fuck are
you doing there?

I've got to build it up.

Nah nah, you ain't got
to build up shit.

Your father built them corners,
and they owe you

'cause they owe him.

Bodie's got
a real short memory

when it comes
to giving props.

Ma.

I going to straighten
this shit out right now.

Ma, let me build.

Ma!

Sir.

Bill...

we need to regroup.

I've come up
with something fresh

for the new administration.

Hmm? I don't mind
telling you,

I'm uncomfortable with the way Carcetti
is running around in our shop.

He's talked to me
several times.

You're making
your move, huh?

We were a good team,
you and me.

We were.

- Miss Ella, where Bug at?
- He went home, Michael.

Nah, he waits for me.

The man who came and picked him up
said he was his father.

And Bug said so, too.

Fuck!

Mmm.

What the fuck
did you do?

And why'd you
let him do it?

- Hey, listen to me--
- No.

That's how you got him
with his head up his ass--

unsolving his own
fucking murders.

Your job is to turn red to black,
not the other way.

And you, stand the fuck up
for yourself.

You don't got to
do the whole thing

on your fingers,
little man.

Look, first count--

six and six is...

12.

Put down the two,
you bring over the one.

- Bug.
- Hey, big man.

Get over to me now.

- We were just going to--
- Now.

Yo, hold on.

Yo, you owe me $800 on that,
bitch. You owe!