♪ We are driven ♪
♪ By the pain ♪
Trying to deal with this Manboy-Skully shit.
Ain't no dealing with those motherfuckers.
Only thing you can do is stay out the way and be glad
- they ain't coming at us. - I need you with me, Lee.
I'm good.
I want to see Franklin Saint in prison.
Whatever this is, good people are dying over it.
- Can you give me anything? - Tony Marino.
He was Lorena's handler. Start there.
You had something you wanted to discuss.
You've been hemorrhaging cash to the tune of about 13%.
What is it you want?
I think I may be able to help you.
Hey, Avi. It's Reed Thompson.
Listen, my contact in Costa Rica
said that the cargo never even showed up.
I need to know where my guns are and I want you to find out.
And you'll let me know as soon as you do.
You heard anything about Skully?
Whether he survived it?
How the fuck am I supposed to know?
Told that nigga not to get mixed up in that shit.
Skully was shot, but he ain't dead.
Just real, real mad.
Find Franklin Saint!
Got to bounce, homey.
I'll holler at you tomorrow.
Want to buy a tooth?
What?
It's got a... it's got a silver filling.
Nah, go on with that shit.
Well, fuck you then!
Fuck you!
Hey, Lee.
I got a tooth for sale.
Here.
There he go. Told y'all.
That is that nigga.
Let me get a burger with some raw onions.
-Pull up on him. Hurry up.
Hey, Fatback.
- What you want? - Let me get a two.
- With, uh, onion rings. - Oh, yeah,
add a fry to mine.
Keep the tomatoes and, uh, lettuce.
Leon!
Shit!
Hold up, hold up.
Let's go, let's go!
Nigga, are you hit?
Oh, damn!
Shit.
Hey, somebody call the ambulance!
Goddamn!
Wanda. Fuck.
Call the ambulance!
-Hurry the fuck up! Call 911, man!
All right, y'all good? Just breathe.
Get on the phone! Okay, okay.
Get 911 down here!
Shit, no, don't close your eyes.
Just breathe.
Fuck.
♪ 'Cause I'm the one that performs ♪
♪ Who get the pussy slick... ♪
♪ With the good and the bad ♪
♪ I go and press my luck, I try to get it all night ♪
♪ But it's a girl that's ugly and she look like a dog ♪
♪ I started running like a coward ♪
♪ She leaped like a frog ♪
♪ I'm not conceited, baby ♪
♪ Please don't take me for a toy... ♪
♪ The rhyme sayer, girl player ♪
♪ Drink a lot of juice, and what God gave me, babe ♪
♪ I'm gonna give it to you ♪
♪ You go fee fee fi, f-fo fo fum ♪
♪ I smell the blood... ♪
Hey, it's Tanosse.
-You know what to do.
Girl, you don't even want to know
the shit that just went down.
They shot up Hawkins, and Tisha's baby cousin
work the night shift over there.
He out mopping blood still.
Girl, call me.
- Ah! Fu... - Sorry.
- Are you okay? - Uh-huh.
I just forgot how good you feel.
How's Wanda?
She in surgery.
I ain't no surgeon, so I don't know.
I told you to lay low, man.
Nigga got to eat, don't he? What you want, Saint?
Hey.
Look.
Skully... he both our problem now.
Huh?
And I know you gonna want to hit back.
Better we do it together.
'Cause shit went so well last time you went after Skully.
You're the reason why he coming after me and mine
- in the first place. - I hear that.
But I've been to the Bottoms.
Can't just go over there,
you know, spraying and shit, like...
Anything else?
Nah.
Good luck.
Hey, what he say?
I want that nigga found.
Who? Franklin?
No, you dumb motherfucker.
Skully. I want to know where we can get at him.
Shit ain't gonna be easy.
Yeah, I know.
Hire someone.
Get 'em to follow him, see where we can hit him.
Like who? Like Little H?
No, nigga.
A goddamn professional.
A private fucking investigator.
Yeah, all right, yeah, a private investigator
like, um, like Magnum, P.I.
Yeah, nigga. A Black Magnum, P.I.
That's actually a good-ass idea.
Look who's here.
Now who's not returning calls?
What do you have for me?
I know the shipment never left Beirut.
And who do we have to thank for that?
Hezbollah.
Oh, good, you know them.
You two look like shit, you know that?
Here, Ariel's daughter is getting married,
we're having a little champagne tasting.
Try the '71, it's euphoric.
Sorry, did you say you lost $15 million to Hezbollah?
- Not according to them. - What do they say?
That it was never transferred to the escrow account.
What does Banco de Panama say?
That it was transferred and withdrawn.
Jesus... Ah, take it easy, man.
I'm just trying to explain to you.
- Well, you're doing a really lousy job. - I told you
I'll get it right, and I will.
And even if that means going to Beirut
to get my money back from terrorists?
Beirut? What the... You're insane.
You know what, next time I call,
I'd like a straight fucking answer.
Huh.
Y'all really have these, huh?
I-It's, uh, symbolic of the profession.
Now put that down before you break it. Tell me more about
- this man you want tailed. - Like what?
His name would be good, for starters.
Well, I already told you, his name's Skully.
-His Christian name. Nah.
I think he Catholic.
Reggie, I'm going to lunch.
It's 10:00 a.m., Mama.
You work with your mama?
My mother works with me.
So, you don't know his name.
Do you at least know where he, where he stays?
The Bottoms.
So, you don't have a real name or even a picture,
tell me he lives in the Bottoms?
Sounds like this is more than I'm equipped to...
You gonna figure it out, or no?
I'll give it a shot.
Where he hang outside the Bottoms.
Mind your business after that.
Of course, young man.
Discretion is my business.
Just get that shit done. Let's go.
I like this.
How's the food? Mmm. Exceptional.
Thank you for this invitation,
and for your assistance in our issue.
Well, actually, I should be thanking you,
for the bookstore.
Light touch.
Were you expecting something different?
Well, in truth, I wasn't sure what to expect.
Well, that's who we are.
Innovative. Deliberate.
Resourceful.
You're making your sales pitch now?
Hey, Clifton, how are you?
How's school, son?
Like trying to baptize a cat, sir.
Well, don't have a stroke over it.
I am going to be at your graduation.
Yes, sir, Mr. Davis.
Something for you.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
Now what were we saying?
Uh, we have the means, you have the connections.
Match made in heaven.
Connections that I have developed
the hard way, over time.
My reputation such that you
contacted me on the strength of it.
And if we're talking plainly, some might say that your money
came to you rather quickly. Suspiciously, even.
What is it you'd like to hear from us, Paul?
Let's just say you show up
and you offer me a Rolls-Royce for a thousand dollars.
Now, despite knowing that it's a deal
too good to be true, I buy it.
And then one day while I'm driving around,
I get stopped.
And we discover that the car is stolen.
And they want me to explain where I got it.
I'm either going to give them your name
or I'm going to spend
what few years I have left behind bars.
Either way, I'm damn sure gonna lose that Rolls-Royce.
Hmm.
Our cash starts in the streets,
then it finds its way to places outside BSA reporting standards.
Once there, it gets layered to a number of LLCs
until the paper trail dead-ends
behind loans that default,
sometimes in Aruba, sometimes in Europe.
By the time we're sitting here talking with you about it,
the money's origin is as invisible
as this tangerine.
Okay.
We start small.
Pet project of mine could use a shot in the arm,
get it across the finish line.
You provide a simple bridge loan,
paid out at six percent,
capital returned in 18 months.
Sounds interesting.
What's the project?
Hey, what room she in?
You can't see her yet.
Motherfucker, you paged us.
To tell y'all that she out of surgery.
Can't nobody visit.
I didn't know y'all was gonna show up.
Look, man, the doc said she need to rest, a'ight?
You got a plan for police?
They be checking on gunshots, right?
Nigga, police don't give two fucks about this hospital.
Why you think we brought her here?
What else the doctor say?
I don't know, doctor shit.
You know, she all messed up on drugs,
recovery this, her system that.
Oh, yeah, she gonna be crazy detoxing.
No, that part I do remember.
Oh, yeah, and they finna to kick her ass out.
Nigga, when?
Soon as she can go to the bathroom by herself, seem like.
Fuck.
Hey, nurse.
Hey, uh, my friend Wanda, she out of surgery.
How long the hospital gonna keep her?
Depends on the procedure, recovery time, insurance...
I mean, she a smoker with bullet holes.
She can't exactly go back on the street,
but I can pay y'all to keep her until she clean.
What the fuck was that?
Yeah, nurse can't take no cash.
Let's go mess with them fools in Billing.
They ass will take fucking rubles.
Yeah.
Mm, damn, she was fine.
This is a surprise.
Yeah, in town for a wedding, thought I'd say hi.
- Want to tell me about Tijuana? - It was a little touristy
for me, but people seem to like it, so...
DFS is inconsolable,
and you can fry huevos rancheros
on the heads of the DEA down there.
Hate to think about the DEA being upset with me.
There's going to be internal investigations.
Which I reckon you'll take care of for me.
You seem pretty confident.
Yeah, well...
unless you got somebody else who's moving eight million
a month into the jungle, I suppose you probably
want me free and clear to do what it is I do.
You've been on assignment how long, McDonald?
Is that what you came here for?
Find out if I'm taking my vitamins?
Everybody needs a breather
from time to time.
Yeah. I'll keep you posted.
Hey, while you're here,
you could actually do something for me.
I need a fresh financial write-up on Avi Drexler.
Specifically, any large cash deposits he's made
into personal accounts.
Is this about your missing guns?
Sooner the better, please.
Enjoy the wedding.
Man, that shit ain't never gonna work.
How you know? You try it?
Ain't nobody ever stuck no banana in no exhaust pipe.
That's the goofiest shit I ever heard.
Hey, Rows, you cool we go get some bananas, try that shit out?
You try sticking anything up my motherfucking tailpipe,
that'd be the last motherfucking thing you do.
Best movie of all time. All right?
Soundtrack is hot. Eddie Murphy hilarious.
Shit cool as hell.
Man, that shit bunk.
Y'all crazy. Don't know shit about no good movie.
Hey!
Hey, hold up!
Hey, hold... Look at this shit.
Mm!
Damn, girl!
Whoo!
Angels must be real.
I see you, girl. Hey, that shit hurt?
- What up, baby? - When you fell from heaven?
Nigga, get your ass back over here.
It's not exactly the brass ring, is it? Hmm.
It's like the man said, it's a start, right?
I mean, think about it, Mama.
You there, on opening Sunday,
new hat, new suit.
Your name up there on the wall of benefactors
- for everybody to see. - They don't put people
who provide loans on that wall, Franklin.
Well, then we'll make a donation, too.
I mean, pretty soon you gonna be lunchin' at Wilfandel.
Ain't that what you wanted?
Just don't forget why we're doing this in the first place.
Well, we're doing everything we wanted to do.
We're providing safe, affordable housing.
We're extending loans to people in our neighborhoods,
bringing ownership back to Black homes
and businesses back into our neighborhoods.
And not to mention single-handedly
putting a stop to decades,
if not fucking centuries, of systematic racism.
- Calm down, Franklin. - I'm-I'm...
I'm calm, but damn, Mama, why has it
always got to be a problem? Why is nothing ever good enough?
Because the one promise you made me,
the promise I actually need you to keep,
you're completely ignoring.
I didn't bring Paul Davis into our lives to improve my station.
I did it to get you off the street
and into legitimate business deals.
"Legitimate business deals."
Ma, where were we today? Please, tell me, where were we?
In a rock house?
No, we was at a country club eating lobster salad,
and now we're investing in a church.
- What more do you want? - I want to know how long.
How long before it's all we're doing?
Before we can truly trade men like Reed Thompson for men
like Paul Davis... the clean exit that you promised me.
Oh, what-what do you want? What, you want an exact date?
Considering the circumstances,
I don't think it's too much to ask.
You want to make me happy?
Get me off your back?
Give me some reason to believe that we can...
actually make it out of this intact.
Until then, none of this means anything.
With their grandparents, while I get the house ready.
Every day my mother prays to Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe
so that they don't die of a broken heart.
Did you get them?
The people who did this?
They'll be back here tomorrow, by dinnertime.
They ask about you.
Cedro, especially.
Toma.
Whatever you need.
No mames, cabrón.
It's mejor if I stay away.
For who?
For them.
You-you think I want this?
Put my life on hold to raise my sister's kids?
Hi, is Tony Marino around?
My name's Irene Abe, I'm a reporter
- with The Herald Examiner. - Well, could you
tell me who Mr. Marino's direct supervisor is?
Mrs. Marino, Irene Abe, Herald Examiner.
Did Agent Marino keep an office here in town?
Is your, uh, mommy around, sweetie?
Uh, Herald Examiner. Yes, we are still a newspaper.
- Um, I've been holding. - I just,
- I just need a contact, um, any name. - What can you answer?
Marino.
M-A-R-I-N-O.
How is that a subject you're not allowed
- to broach? - When was the last time he showed up?
You can't answer that either?
"Fuck off"?
Can I quote you on that?
Be honest, you sleep in here sometimes?
No.
Let's hear it.
Got this DEA agent I can't find.
Handler of the other missing agent I told you about.
Tried his office, home, his parents, his sister...
I reached out to an undercover once,
didn't get back to me for weeks.
You eventually get the story out?
After the Post ran it.
I wish I had better words of wisdom for you,
but it's late, and "Keep pushing your story"
and something's gonna pop" is the best I have.
Unless...
What about that man at the shelter?
Saint's father?
Former Panther, drug dealer for a son...
That is a guilt shelter.
Keep working that angle, follow the money.
At least it'll keep you busy.
Oh, boy.
- What's all this? - Oh, bookkeeping.
Moving some things around
now that we're in business with Davis.
Oh. Well, guess that luncheon went pretty well.
You guys toast to the Mosleys?
Paul Davis is a snake.
Came up in the jungle.
He might've been that way, but he's a businessman now.
Different kind of snake, but it still slithers.
You know, I just want you to know who you're cozying up to.
If cozying up to a snake helps make sure I never get thrown
into the back of a police car or watch my son being driven
off in one, then that's exactly what I will do.
And what you gonna do when that snake tries to bite you?
Then I will chop his goddamn head off
and move on to the next one.
All right. God.
I'm sorry.
I know you're just doing what you can.
Come on, eat with me.
Whiskey, neat, please.
This is an interesting choice for someone who doesn't drink.
Yeah, figured seeing as there's no product
being exchanged, might be nice to meet somewhere
without graffiti and rats, right?
So here we are.
We about to have a talk?
It's not you, it's me?
I've got, um, a question.
It's a little delicate.
Conflict in Nicaragua.
How much longer you think the good ol' USA stays involved?
Why, I wonder, would you be asking me that?
Seems my fate's tied to your covert war, right?
I mean, the war ends...
your need for my services suddenly goes away.
So, you want to know how much longer
we're gonna be in business.
Shelf life in my line of work's pretty limited.
I need to plan ahead.
If there was an operation like the one you're talking about,
what I would tell you is that trying to win a guerrilla war
in a third world country is a little bit like trying
to catch a fastball with your teeth.
Thank you.
You, um, you been aiding the Contras
for about five years now, as far as I can tell, right?
Sure, but it could go on another four, six, easy.
If I was being honest with you...
any date that I give you right now is either a bad guess
or it's complete bullshit.
You just have to keep doing what you're doing,
solving problems.
If I catch a glimpse of anything that looks like a finish line,
I promise you'll be the first one to know.
What if I doubled my footprint?
More money for you, more money for Nicaragua.
Time frame go down then?
More money means more resources, resources win wars.
To winning wars.
Fuck off me, bitch!
-Lee, they trying to kill me.
Ain't nobody trying to kill you.
Then why is the machine beeping?
- Hey, I'm-a wait downstairs. - All right.
Oh, shit. What's in that needle?
This trick ain't even no doctor.
Wanda, these people are trying to help you, all right?
And you just talking shit to get yourself thrown out
so you can be back on the street smoking.
Thank you.
What's in that needle gonna help you
push that shit out your body.
I paid the hospital to let you stay longer, all right?
Give you a second chance.
You get yourself bounced,
that's it, I don't want nothing to do with you.
You hear me?
Stay with me, Lee.
I don't know, I got shit to do.
Please.
Nobody else coming.
Just... just stay for tonight.
We expanding. It's time we grew past L.A.,
start spreading this business.
The question is, where do we start first?
Rock already found its way to New York.
Cubans and Colombians, they running shit out there
and into D.C.
It's gonna make it hard to get a foothold.
Italians, they runnin' Chicago.
Don't shit happen without their say-so.
We can start by targeting mid-level cities.
Less problems. Build out from there.
One in particular you got in mind?
Girl I grew up with, her and her man.
They in Little Rock. We can start there.
You sure the best time for this is right now?
When we still got problems in L.A.?
That's exactly why we need to expand.
Yeah, more fucking headaches.
Why you can't just tell the white boy
that we gonna decrease the buy
until we get Manboy and Skully straight?
That way I can get back to my shop.
We're not telling Reed we're buying less.
Why not?
What, y'all scared to tell the hee-haw white boy?
We're not doing that, Unc, okay? We're not moving backwards.
Louie, make them calls.
If Little Rock interested, y'all two go out there.
Take a bird. Teach 'em how to rock it up.
Give 'em that first taste for free.
Same shit we did here.
Take Peaches with you, if he's up for it.
This how we stay safe, stay out of trouble.
Grow without exposure.
It'll work, Unc. It'll work.
Um, I meant to tell you,
she came by yesterday and asked for a job.
A job? What, here at the club?
Yeah. She got experience.
Figure she can hold it down when I'm gone.
- Mm. - That a problem?
Nah. Just surprised, that's all.
Figure you sleep with her, I can trust her.
Was I wrong?
Three addresses?
That's it?
You asked where he goes outside of Inglewood.
That's your answer.
What's this spot in Gardena?
Terrence's grandmother's house.
Skully's real name is Terrence?
That nigga look like a Terrence.
Grandma's house is the only place he visited more than once.
Was there maybe five minutes each time.
Took a bag in, brought no bag out.
That's probably where he keeping all his money.
- It'd be smart. - Yeah.
Outside his turf, so people don't fuck with it.
Ooh, gentlemen, this feels like a private exchange.
You're gonna need to...
take it outside.
Unless there's something else I can do for you.
It's all good.
Where you been, man?
And where's the diapers?
- Let me just sit down for a second. - You smoked the money?
- She's sleeping in her own piss, man. - You in my business?
- How could you do that? - Hey, hey, hey.
- Wait a minute. Wait a minute! - You so smart?!
Hey, what's-what's going on, Dwayne?
He's supposed to be getting diapers.
- Dwayne... - Out smoking instead.
I know you better watch your mouth.
- That's your daughter, man. - John, wait.
Dwayne, listen.
I'll go get you some diapers.
In the meantime, why don't you go get you
some of that orange chicken.
That's one of your favorites, huh?
Yeah, have Ms. Leonard... Hey, Ms. Leonard,
make this young man a plate of that orange chicken
that he loves so much.
You can't come in here like this, John.
I'm not gonna raise my voice at you,
but this is the last time.
You do it again and you're out.
I'm sorry. I just, I...
Listen to me, John. Listen to me.
You need to get yourself together.
You gonna mess around and lose your kids, man.
And you will regret that forever.
- Mm-hmm. - Go and get you something to eat.
And hey,
maybe don't sit next to Dwayne, okay?
All right.
What can Edgewood Shelters do for you?
I was in the neighborhood.
Thought we'd talk a little more...
About you, the shelter,
things you and your wife do for the community.
I never mentioned a wife.
And I haven't worn my wedding band since I sobered up.
I looked you up, okay?
- Hmm. - You're fascinating.
I think you'd make an amazing profile...
Black Panther, the streets, a shelter...
Yeah, yeah, yeah. How do you know a reporter's lying?
'Cause her lips are moving.
Don't come back here looking to chitchat or for any more stories
'cause you'll find neither.
Thanks, Lurp.
See you in the morning. Say around 9:00?
Can't, sir.
All right. Just the morning or you need the whole day?
This is as far as I go.
I'm done.
What?
What the fuck you mean, "done"?
I thought I could handle this.
Told myself the money was worth it, but...
I wasn't prepared for all the bloodshed.
I mean, war overseas is one thing.
But our people killing each other in our streets...
Hey, you got to draw a line somewhere.
This is mine.
Okay.
I hear that.
I do.
I mean, shit,
it's not what I wanted either, you know?
But now is not the time to walk.
So here's what we gonna do. I'm-a double your pay,
you gonna gut up, we gonna get through this rough patch,
and then you have my permission to go off
and join the motherfucking Peace Corps for all I care.
But you will not abandon me right now.
Not right now.
I'm sorry, sir.
Don't scream. Don't run.
My name is Tony Marino. You're looking for me.
Took the liberty of looking through your notes.
You should really be keeping these in
a secure off-site location.
In case some asshole breaks into my house?
You think you know the story you're telling.
You don't have a clue.
It isn't Franklin Saint.
And it also isn't Lorena Cardenas, who,
as much as it pains me to say, I'm sure is dead.
The real story is who's protecting Saint and why.
If I have to guess, we might be here awhile.
I did some looking into you.
What little I could find, anyway.
Your family put into the internment camp
at Manzanar when you were little.
College at Berkeley.
Then back to L.A., the Times...
That piece you wrote on the second Owens Valley aqueduct
that got you fired.
Your estranged husband Henry Nelson,
daughter Jane...
All right. What the fuck? What are you doing?
Trying to figure out if I give this to you, if you're capable
of following it through to the end.
If it's true and it matters, I'll get it in print.
Getting it to print is only the beginning, Irene.
Ask yourself, who has the power to derail
a DEA investigation, then dissolve the murder charges
when the key witness is a federal agent?
Ronald Reagan.
Getting warmer.
Motherfucker.
- Is this real? - Yes.
Now all you need to do is prove it.
No. No. No, no, no.
I need to hear this from you, all of it, right now...
I'll stay for an hour, walk you through everything,
but we never met.
That's my deal.
Our own CIA is bringing cocaine into the U.S.
It's a story of a lifetime, Irene.
You want it or not?
Man, let's get out of here.
Hell no.
Nigga, you heard the man.
This the only place Skully been seen at multiple times.
Yeah, but my sciatica, nigga.
Why don't we just get my big cuz and them over here
to watch this shit? They ain't doing nothing
but sitting up in the projects any damn way.
Hell no.
♪ Your love is like a merry-go-round... ♪
Hey, hey, is that fucking Leon in there?
That's Skully's people right there, nigga.
♪ Your love is like a merry-go-round... ♪
No.
No, no, no, no! No, no!
I see you, motherfucker!
Oh, my God!
My baby! No! No!
Shit.
No! Please, God, no!
Somebody help! My baby!
Somebody help me, please!
My baby! My baby!
♪ Your love is like a merry-go-round... ♪
-No! Let's fucking go, Lee!
Help me, somebody, please!
Hey, come on, man.
No!
-Oh, my baby!
-Please help! My baby! Fuck!
No!
Fuck!
♪ Hey, girl ♪
♪ I can't go on this way ♪
♪ Putting up with this game that you play ♪
♪ You're denying your love ♪
♪ Day by day ♪
♪ Your love ♪
♪ Is like a merry-go-round ♪
♪ Fooling around ♪
♪ With me all the time ♪
♪ Your love ♪
♪ Is like a merry-go-round ♪
♪ Fooling around ♪
♪ With me all the time ♪
♪ Your love ♪
♪ Is like a merry-go-round ♪
♪ Fooling around... ♪
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH.
- I heard some things. - Like what?
-Like the kid who was prep school bound
took three bullets.
Gangs at war gettin' uglier by the day.
You supply both sides, right?
We end this as quick and as quiet as possible.
You talking about a massacre.
- This is about business. - It's about what's right.
Definitely locked all the
windows and doors when I went out.
Before you accuse me of having "demen-tia."
- Sorry. Having what? - "Demen-tia."
It's a hard "T." Everyone gets it wrong.