The Wire, Seasons 1, 2, & 3, Part 1

THE FIRST PART OF

THE WIRE

SEASONS 1, 2, & 3

"It is really the life of kings."

- H. L. Mencken

CAST
DETECTIVE MCNULTY, of Homicide Division, afterwards Major Crimes Unit.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS, of Narcotics Division, afterwards Major Crimes Unit.
DETECTIVE GREGGS, of Narcotics Division, afterwards Major Crimes Unit.
DETECTIVE HERC, of Narcotics Division, afterwards Major Crimes Unit.
DETECTIVE CARVER, of Narcotics Division, afterwards Major Crimes Unit.
DETECTIVE FREAMON, of Pawn Shop Unit, afterwards of Major Crimes Unit.
DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI, of Casualties Section, afterwards Major Crimes Unit.
DETECTIVE SYDNOR.
DETECTIVE BUNK, Detective McNulty's partner at Homicide Division.
RHONDA PEARLMAN, prosecuting attorney.
MARLA DANIELS.

AVON BARKSDALE, kingpin.
STRINGER BELL, second in command to Avon.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE, Avon's nephew and lieutenant.
WEE BEY, enforcer of Avon Barksdale's.
STINKUM, enforcer of Avon Barksdale's.
BODIE, soldier of Avon Barksdale's.
POOT, runner working The Pit, afterwards a soldier of Avon Barksdale's.
WALLACE, money handler working The Pit.
MAURICE LEARY, criminal defense attorney representing Avon Barksdale.
ORLANDO.
BRIANNA BARKSDALE, D'Angelo's mother.  

BUBBLES, a junkie and snitch.
JOHNNY, a junkie and Bubbles' charge.
OMAR, an infamous stick-up artist.
BRANDON, Omar's partner.
KEVIN, afterwards a soldier of Avon Barksdale's.

HOPPERS, a JUNKIE, SOLDIERS, ENFORCERS, CIVILIANS, JUDGES, LAWYERS, a STATE POLICE OFFICER, a DEA AGENT, & a TEENAGE GIRL.

SCENE---During two parts of the fifth act in NEW JERSERY; during the rest of the play in BALTIMORE.

ACT 1. SCENE 1.
Baltimore. Crime Scene.
Enter a HOPPER and DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
So your boy's name is what?
HOPPER.
Snot...
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
You called a guy Snot?
HOPPER.
Snot Boogie, yeah.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Snot Boogie, he like the name?
HOPPER.
What...?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Snot Boogie, I mean this kid whose momma went through the trouble to christen him Omar Isiah Bets, y'know, he forgets his jacket so his nose starts running and some asshole, instead of giving him a Kleenex, he calls him Snot. So, he's Snot forever, doesn't seem fair.
HOPPER.
Life just be that way I guess.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
So who shot Snot?
HOPPER.
I aint going to no court.
Motherfucker didn't have to pin no cap in him though.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Definitely not...
HOPPER.
He could of just whipped his ass like we always whip his ass. You gonna kill Snot, Snot been doing the same shit since I dunno how long. Kill a man over some bullshit...
Look, I'm saying, I mean, every Friday night we in the alley behind the cut and we rolling bones, y'know? I mean, all those boys from around the way, we roll till late.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Alley crap game, right?
HOPPER.
Like, everytime, Snot, he'll fade a few shooters, play it out till the pots deep, snatch and run.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
What...? Everytime...?
HOPPER.
Couldn't help himself.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Let me understand you, every Friday night you and your boys would shoot crap, right? And, every friday night, your pal Snot Boogie, he'd wait till there was cash on the ground then he would grab the money and run away. You let him do that?
HOPPER.
I mean, we'd catch him and beat his ass but aint nobody never go past that.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
I gotta ask you, if everytime Snot Boogie would grab the money and run away, why'd you even let him in the game?
HOPPER.
What...?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Well Snot Boogie always stole the money, why'd you let him play?
HOPPER.
Got to, this America man.
[Exit HOPPER and DETECTIVE MCNULTY.

SCENE 2.
Orlando's Gentleman's Club.
 Enter AVON BARKSDALE and STRINGER BELL.
STRINGER BELL.
Yo, you remember the cop, tried to pin Gerard and Little Kevin.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Which one...?
STRINGER BELL.
The white detective, black hair, the one that was knocking on all the doors.
AVON BARKSDALE.
What about him?
STRINGER BELL.
He showed up in court to watch.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Word...? He say anything?
STRINGER BELL.
Nah, he just sat in the back:---
Enter D'ANGELO BARKSDALE and  WEE BEY.
[to WEE BEY] Come here, I got something for you man.
WEE BEY [to STRINGER BELL].
Alright...
[Exit STRINGER BELL and WEE BEY.
AVON BARKSDALE.
So, you must feel good.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
You know how that go.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Say what...?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Saying, you know, that jail aint no joke.
AVON BARKSDALE.
I don't know shit about jail, I don't plan on knowing no shit about jail, you feel me? You wanna talk about jail though, you can go sit down next to Marcel, he just got home.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
True, you right.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Sit your ass down.
[D'ANGELO BARKSDALE sits down then AVON BARKSDALE takes a seat beside him.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
I know it aint go so good but, that nigga Pooh, he caught me off-guard. Came at me like he was crazy.
AVON BARKSDALE.
So, you shoot the motherfucker?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
I'm saying it was him or me.
AVON BARKSDALE.
You in our building, you got people on both stairs, you got more motherfucking people out in the court, and you got a gun. So, what I'm trying to figure out is, how the fuck you end up shooting this nigger in front of the security booth with all them people around.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
I'm saying, this nigga was coming at me like he was trying to end me and shit.
AVON BARKSDALE.
This aint about him, it's about you. You can't play him outta that lobby, you can't take a beating neither so the first thing you do, you get all emotional, you pull your gun out, you do some dumb shit that now we gotta work around.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
I know.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Yo, you aint say one motherfucking thing I wanna hear.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
You right, you right. I mean, I gotta start thinking more, you be saying that all the time and you right. I'm saying though, I mean that shit yall pulled with that security lady, it was tight, I mean, that state lawyer, I aint never seen a white woman turn so red. You should of been there.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Yo man, you family, okay? That shit cost money, it cost time and money. You gonna make that right?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Mos def, you gonna see when I get back to the towers, I'm'a push them niggas.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Alright...
Hey, come here, don't walk outta here like that, you family, alright?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Alright...
AVON BARKSDALE.
You know it's always love.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Yeah...
[Exit D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.

SCENE 3.
The Pit.
Enter D'ANGELO BARKSDALE who meets BODIE. Enter BODIE.
BODIE
Yo, you looking for Ronnie Moe? He uptown.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
I know.
Enter WALLACE and POOT.
BODIE [to D'ANGELO BARKSDALE].
You D, right?
WALLACE.
Yo, wasn't you in the towers?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Yeah...
WALLACE.
Why'd they put you down here yo? You mess with the count or something?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
I killed a nigga.
Enter BUBBLES.
BUBBLES [to WALLACE].
You got that one-oh-one?
WALLACE.
Yo Poot!
[WALLACE signs POOT for two. POOT takes two dope vials to BUBBLES and returns to the stash.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE [aside to WALLACE].
Yo Wallace, this the way Ronnie Moe set it up?
WALLACE [aside to D'ANGELO].
Yeah.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE [aside to WALLACE].
Man, this is fucked up.
WALLACE [aside to D'ANGELO].
Yeah man...
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE [aside to WALLACE].
Look, you can't serve your customers straight up after taking their money. Somebody snapping pictures, they got the whole damn thing, see what I'm saying?
WALLACE [aside to D'ANGELO].
Yeah.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE [aside to WALLACE].
Look, you get paid, you send their ass off around the building yo, then you serve:---
[to all.] We gotta start tightening up man, no more shortcuts.
BODIE.
What's your count?
WALLACE.
I'm up two-seventy.
[WALLACE gives D'ANGELO BARKSDALE the count.
BODIE.
You want to count it. I mean, I don't know how yall do shit up in the towers but down here you want to count it.
WALLACE.
Aw, shit...
[D'ANGELO BARKSDALE checks the count then pauses.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE
Hey, yo, yall niggas been burnt.
WALLACE.
Huh...?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
"Huh?" That's what you got to say? "Huh?" This look like money motherfucker? Money be green, money feel like money, that shit look green to you?
BODIE.
Got a dead fucking president on it.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Nigga, I don't give a fuck about the president, that shit aint money.
WALLACE.
He aint no president.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
What you mean?
WALLACE.
Hamilton, he aint no president.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Nigga, is you crazy? Aint no ugly ass white man get his face on no legal motherfucking tender except he president.
This shit happen again, you off the money. You hear me? You aint even gonna be serving no more. Your ass be out the bottom end of Vine Street, sucking on a forty, yelling five-oh. You hear me?
Get the fuck outta here.
[Here WALLACE returns to his spot.
BODIE.
That it?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Yea.
[Exit D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Enter a junkie and JOHNNY following behind him.
JUNKIE [to WALLACE].
Oh, yo, here's a twenty man. Hook it up, I wanna make sure.
JOHNNY [to WALLACE].
Two and two.
WALLACE.
Hold up yo.
JOHNNY.
See, just two and two.
JUNKIE.
Hey come on man, I aint got time for this, I gave you twenty man.
WALLACE.
You gave me twenty?
JUNKIE.
Twenty, one and a short three.
WALLACE.
So you get...
[WALLACE pauses.] Two...
JUNKIE.
Seven...!
WALLACE.
Alright, hold up, hold up...
JUNKIE.
Seven back, come on man, this base. You don't know?
WALLACE.
Calm down, calm down, twenty on how much?
JOHNNY [to WALLACE].
Two and two...
[JOHNNY hands fake  money to WALLACE.
WALLACE.
Hold up man!
[Here WALLACE drops the money that JOHNNY hands him. JOHNNY tries to leave unseen but BODIE notices the exchange.
BODIE [to WALLACE].
The fuck is you doing?
WALLACE.
What, what...?
[Here BODIE picks up JOHNNY'S fake money and shows it to WALLACE.
BODIE.
Look at this shit, look nigga, look! That's the motherfucker right there, little white boy right there. Hey, yo, Poot, grab that motherfucker, the white boy:---
[to WALLACE.] Now, go get D man.
[WALLACE exits. JOHNNY is going when BODIE and POOT take chase and catch him.
JOHNNY.
What are you doing?
BODIE.
Making me run, what the fuck is wrong with you?
JOHNNY.
Why man, why are you fucking with me?
BODIE.
Shit, this the motherfucker right here with the make-believe money. Seen his ass drop it and shit.
JOHNNY [cries].
Wasn't me.
[BODIE strikes him.
 Enter D'ANGELO BARKSDALE and WALLACE.
BODIE.
Motherfucker...
It was this nigga, I saw him.
Get the fuck up...
JOHNNY.
Listen, I'm sorry.
BODIE.
Fuck that, yo, what we need to do is, motherfucker burned us for thirty dollars, we need to take him to Franklin Ave and throw his ass right on to the motherfucking express way.
JOHNNY.
Alright, look, listen, I'm fucking sorry, I fucked up man.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
What you got on you?
JOHNNY.
Just the ten I dropped man, the real one.
[Exit D'ANGELO BARKSDALE and WALLACE. Here BODIE watches them going and the stage until turning to beat JOHNNY within an inch of his life.

SCENE 4.
Office of the Major Crimes Unit.
Enter DETECTIVE CARVER, LIEUTENANT DANIELS, DETECTIVE GREGGS, DETECTIVE HERC, DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI,  and DETECTIVE FREAMON.
DETECTIVE CARVER.
Jesus Christ...
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Who you gotta fuck in this town to get a real office?
[Sound a phone ringing in the office.
DETECTIVE HERC.
Ah, atleast that works...
[Here DETECTIVE HERC picks up the phone and then immediately hangs it up.
Enter DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS [to DETECTIVE MCNULTY].
You found us.
MCNULTY [to LIEUTENANT DANIELS].
It wasn't easy... You ask for these guys?
LIEUTENANT DANIELS [to DETECTIVE MCNULTY].
I asked for more man-power. Have a seat...
[DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI accidently fires his pistol.
What the fuck...?!
DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI [to LIEUTENANT DANIELS].
Sir...
DETECTIVE CARVER [to LIEUTENANT DANIELS].
He was showing me the trigger pull on his glock and he was just...
LIEUTENANT DANIELS [to DETECTIVE GREGGS].
Detective?
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Officer Pryzbylewski shot the wall Lieutenant.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Why...?
DETECTIVE GREGGS [to DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSI].
Why did you shoot the wall, Officer Pryzbylewski?
DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI.
I was just showing Carv how my trigger pull is light, y'know? I got it so it's real light.
DETECTIVE CARVER.
Hey, he took the clip out boss.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
But not the one in the chamber.
DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI.
No, shit, I forgot the one in the chamber and, uh, well, shit, I'm sorry Lieutenant.
DETECTIVE GREGGS [to LIEUTENANT DANIELS].
You want him to write on it?
DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI.
Write on what...?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
You let one go, you gotta write. Gotta justify the use of deadly force.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Against a plaster wall...
DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI.
It's an accident, okay...? Give me a fucking break already.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS [to DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSI].
Your name is what?
DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI.
Pryzbylewski...
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
Some of you I know. Some of you I don't know. If you've ever worked with me before you know I don't want cowboy shit and I don't want surprises.The task is Avon Barksdale and Avon Barksdale only, no side trips, no sprawl. Primary investigators: Greggs from my unit and McNulty from Homicide; they keep the file. On the street we work partners. Greggs and Sydnor, Herc and Carver, McNulty with Santangelo, Pryzbylewski and Freamon. Detective Greggs will start you off.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
To start with we have nine to ten open homicide files to work back through for leads. McNulty and Santangelo, they on that already. Herc, Carver, Sydnor, and me, we'll be targeting street dealers and, uh, rolling them back up to Barksdales people.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
Freamon and Pryzbylewski are gonna start out in office on clerical duty.
You need a prosecutor, Rhonda Pearlman from Narcotics is assigned.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Now we all don't have enough desks yet so, uh, we gotta share. Questions?
DETECTIVE HERC.
Yeah, who signs the overtime slips?
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
You people bring me something that needs O.T. you'll get O.T. Until then, live on your fucking salaries.
[Exit LIEUTENANT DANIELS then the rest severally.

Scene 5.
The Pit.
Enter D'ANGELO BARKSDALE, BODIE, WALLACE, and POOT.
WALLACE.
Man, these shits is right yo. Good with the hot sauce too though.
POOT.
Mos definite.
WALLACE.
Yo D, want some nuggets?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Nah, I'm good.
WALLACE.
Man, whoever invented these, yo, he off the hook.
POOT.
What...?
WALLACE.
Motherfucker got the bone all the way out the damn chicken. 'Til he came along, niggas be chewing on drumsticks and shit, getting they fingers all greasy. He said "Lay off the bone, snuggle that meat up, and make some real money."
POOT.
You think the man got paid?
WALLACE.
Who...?
POOT.
The man who invented these.
WALLACE.
Shit, he richer than a motherfucker.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Why, you think you get a percentage?
WALLACE.
Why not?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Nigga please, the man who invented them things just some sad ass down at the basement of McDonalds, thinking up some shit to make some money for the real players.
POOT.
Nah man, that aint right.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Fuck right. It aint about right, it's about money. Now you think Ronald McDonald gonna go down to that basement and say "Hey Mister Nugget, you the bomb. We selling chicken faster than you can throw the bone out so I'm'a write my clowny ass name on this fat ass check for you." Shit... Man, the nigga who invented them things still working in the basement for regular wage thinking of some shit to make the fries taste better or some shit like that, believe.
WALLACE.
Still had the idea though.
Enter DETECTIVE MCNULTY and BUNK.
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY picks up a dope vial from the ground.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Aint gonna put that one on me. He a witness, you picked that shit up off the ground. So, don't be trying to put shit on me.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
That what you think I'm about? Boy thinks I'm gonna dirty him.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Mm.
BODIE.
Tss, like yall won't do it. Yall Western Narcos come around here picking shit up off the ground putting it on whoever you damn well please man.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY [to BODIE].
Do I know you?
Let's understand each other. I'm not Western District, I'm not a Narco. I don't dirty people because I don't give a shit about a possession charge. I'm a murder police, I'm here about the bodies:---
[to all.] D'Angelo here knows that, he remembers me from the trial, right? Sitting in back there behind Stringer, watching, listening.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Yall hastling me about that shit. I thought you heard what the jury had to say.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Fuck the jury.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Yeah, fuck the jury. This is just us talking, right? It's just you, me, my partner and:---
[to BODIE] What'd you say your name was?
BODIE.
I didn't say shit.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Just you, me, my partner and Mister Shit here. We're just talking about how things go, right? We're just sharing our thoughts here. Hey Bunk, vial for your thoughts.
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY throws the dope vial to DETECTIVE BUNK.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Ah, well, uh, I'm thinking that it's one thing for one of you little terrorist niggas to shoot somebody in the lobby of the two-two-one building, y'know?  Who gives a fuck?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Right, but when you ace a witness...
DETECTIVE BUNK.
A working man...
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Who aint even in the game...
[D'ANGELO BARKSDALE stares them down.] What you gonna act like this is news?
BODIE.
Tell you this, I don't know shit about shit but I do know this: anybody that spend their time witnessing shit, you gonna get got. I know that sounds kinda harsh but, um, that's the way things go around here Officer.
Let's roll.
[Exit BODIE, WALLACE, and POOT. Here D'ANGELO BARKSDALE is going but DETECTIVE MCNULTY and DETECTIVE BUNK block D'ANGELO BARKSDALE from exiting.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
That how you see things D'Angelo, like your friend here?
[D'ANGELO BARKSDALE stares down DETECTIVE MCNULTY. DETECTIVE MCNULTY opens a box of mints and offers them to D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
No? It makes your breath minty fresh.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Look, if yall gonna arrest me then go the fuck and arrest me, if not, shut the fuck up.
DETECTIVE BUNK
Whoa, whoa, you wanna get arrested?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
No.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Then "shut the fuck up" your own self.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Fuck yall man. I'm outta here.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Hey, hey, D'Angelo, you better bend the fuck over. Shit...
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Man, yall aint got nothing else to do today?
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Nah, nah, nothing.
[D'ANGELO BARKSDALE complies and DETECTIVE MCNULTY searches him.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Yall aint got no charge.
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY takes a pager from D'ANGELO BARKSDALE and shows it to DETECTIVE BUNK.
Hey, you getting awfully close man, you new on the force or some shit?
Enter STRINGER BELL, WEE BEY, BODIE, SOLDIERS, and ENFORCERS.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Alright D, let's go.
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY puts his handcuffs on D'ANGELO BARKSDALE. Exit DETECTIVE MCNULTY, D'ANGELO BARKSDALE, and DETECTIVE BUNK. Exit remaining.

Act 2. Scene 1.
Major Crime Division.
[DETECTIVE GREGGS shows a photograph to BUBBLES.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Got a name for that one?
BUBBLES.
No but, uh, he's one of the boys they used in the stairwell.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
What about him?
[DETECTIVE GREGGS shows BUBBLES another photograph.
BUBBLES.
That's Little Man, he's muscle.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
You know his real name?
[Enter DETECTIVE MCNULTY. DETECTIVE GREGGS and BUBBLES pause.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY [aside to DETECTIVE GREGGS.]
C.I.?
DETECTIVE GREGGS
Yeah.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY
You need some privacy?
DETECTIVE GREGGS
No, it's alright, he's cool.
[MCNULTY looks at the photographs.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
What's with the hat?
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Go ahead, tell him Bubbs.
BUBBLES.
I go down the ways with some hats that I'm selling. If, uh, someone is someone you need to know then I put the red hat on them, Kimmy here will take the pictures. If they in the mix, they get another color. If they aint shit, they don't get shit.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Everyone in a hat is part of Barksdale's crew?
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
At the terrace. We haven't hit the low-rises yet.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
That's sharp. I like that.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Bubbs does not forget a face.
BUBBLES.
Yeah, I aint so good with names but, y'know, faces I keep in my head.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
I used to take him down to look through the warm books. He'd call me up that night telling me to go to this corner and that corner.
BUBBLES.
Yeah, paid twenty-five dollars a pop.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
That good money?
BUBBLES.
Yea.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
How much did the hat routine pay?
BUBBLES.
Nothing, we feeling this. Motherfuckers beat my boy down.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Who...?
BUBBLES.
Little hoppers in the low-rises.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Who's your boy?
BUBBLES.
I got a friend, y'know, little white boy, used to come down to the corners, real green. I was schooling him, y'know?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
What happened...?
BUBBLES.
They stomped him.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
You see it?
BUBBLES.
Fuck a man like that up for a couple of dollars, you know? He's still at University, tubes all up in his nose, can't say nothing but a fucking word or two. But, y'know, that's how it goes, right?
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
How you feeling Bubbs?
BUBBLES.
Restless.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Ya, I can tell.
BUBBLES.
Well, what the fuck, maybe hook a nigger up then, with ten dollars until tomorrow? I mean, y'know, just to carry me.
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY takes money from his wallet and gives it to DETECTIVE GREGGS.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Bubbs...
[DETECTIVE GREGGS gives the money to BUBBLES.
BUBBLES.
Obliged...
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Stay out of the projects next couple of days just to be safe.
BUBBLES.
Girl's always fretting over me.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Change it up Bubbs.
BUBBLES.
Yeah, yeah...
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Go Eastside...
BUBBLES.
Yeah, yeah...
[Exit BUBBLES.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Twenty dollars...? You gonna spoil him with that shit.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
I respect the work.
[Exit DETECTIVE GREGGS and DETECTIVE MCNULTY.

Scene 2.
The Franklin Terrace.
Enter DETECTIVE HERC, DETECTIVE CARVER, and DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI all drinking beers.
DETECTIVE HERC.
This case isn't shit Carv.
DETECTIVE CARVER.
I know it.
DETECTIVE HERC.
We're dancing around with this motherfucker, typing shit out, taking pictures of assholes in hats. What the fuck is that? I say we let these motherfuckers know who we are.
DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI.
I'm with you.
DETECTIVE HERC.
Carv...?
DETECTIVE CARVER.
What the hell:--
[DETECTIVE HERC, DETECTIVE CARVER, and DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI pitch their beer cans.]
Enter  CIVILIANS.
Hey, yo, come here man. Come here, where you going? Hey, don't act like you don't know me. Put your hands up.
[CIVILIANS comply.
DETECTIVE HERC.
Put that down man.
DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKY.
Drop it.
DETECTIVE HERC.
Drop that shit.
[DETECTIVE HERC strikes a CIVILIAN'S laundry basket down to the ground.
DETECTIVE CARVER.
Put you hands up.
[DETECTIVE HERC takes the CIVILIAN to the ground and strikes him. DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI kicks his laundry.
DETECTIVE HERC.
Look at me like I aint talking english, motherfucker.
DETECTIVE CARVER.
You got a needle on you? You got anything in here that's gonna stick me? Huh?
[DETECTIVE CARVER pats down another CIVILIAN and turns out his pockets.
Hey, you know what, put your pants down man. Put your pants down and get on the ground. Down on the fucking ground!
[CIVILIAN complies.
Alright, spread your shit out.
[DETECTIVE CARVER puts one foot on the CIVILIAN.
DETECTIVE CARVER.
Alright, think a happy thought.
CIVILIANS [from within].
Dang, why don't you go somewhere else with that bullshit!?
DETECTIVE CARVER.
Stay down man, stay down man, stay down.
DETECTIVE HERC.
Yall don't know who run these towns!
DETECTIVE CARVER.
Cause we coming back!
DETECTIVE HERC.
Cause I'm sick of this shit!
CIVILIANS [from within].
Kiss my ass!
DETECTIVE CARVER [aside to DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI].
We'll roll out, come back in an hour, catch everybody dirty. You'll see how that goes.
Enter KEVIN who blocks DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI.
DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKY.
Move shitbird.
KEVIN.
I aint doing nothing.
[DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI grabs him.
DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKY.
Really, I got nothing for you?
[DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKY strikes him with his pistol.
KEVIN [cries].
My eye.
DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKY.
Who you gonna eye-fuck now? You serious, you gonna bleed on me? Don't you bleed on me, get your shit off me.
[Exit KEVIN.
DETECTIVE CARVER.
 The fuck's the matter with you?
[Sounds of bottles being thrown from above and breaking nearby.
DETECTIVE CARVER.
You got a visual?
DETECTIVE HERC.
Get the radio.
[DETECTIVE CARVER gets on the radio.
DETECTIVE CARVER.
Eleven-thirty five. Signal thirteen. Seven-seven-one Franklin, in the court.
[Sound of gunshots from above. Here DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKY fires his pistol at the terraces above. DETECTIVE HERC is cut by a bullet.
DETECTIVE HERC.
Son of a bitch, I'm hit!
DETECTIVE CARVER.
Shots fired, officer down, officer down!
[Exit DETECTIVE HERC, DETECTIVE CARVER, and DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI

Scene 3.
Dining Room.
Enter MARLA DANIELS and LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
MARLA DANIELS.
You should have hung them.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
I hang them, I hang myself. I'm the man in charge, remember? Beside, you don't give your people up to I.I.D., you don't do that.
MARLA DANIELS.
Even if they put a fourteen-year-old kid into critical care.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
This case is just...
MARLA DANIELS.
Get out of it.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
How do I do that?
MARLA DANIELS.
I don't know but you can't lose if you don't play.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
Always heard it that you can't win if you don't play.
MARLA DANIELS.
The department puts you in a case it doesn't want. You're given people that are useless or untrustworthy...
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
Correct...
MARLA DANIELS.
If you push too hard and then the shit hits the fan, you'll be blamed for it.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
Correct...
MARLA DANIELS.
If you don't push hard enough and there's no arrest, you'll be blamed for that too.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
Correct...
MARLA DANIELS.
The game is rigged but you cannot lose if you do not play.
[LIEUTENANT DANIELS gets a call on his cell phone. He answers.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
Hello...
Yeah...
[LIEUTENANT DANIELS hangs up his cell phone.
MARLA DANIELS.
Who was that?
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
It was the duty officer over at University Hospital.
MARLA DANIELS.
What happened?
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
He's blind in one eye.
MARLA DANIELS.
Who?
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
The kid, the fourteen-year-old.

Scene 4.
Stash House.
Enter a soldier with a large bag, he hides the bag.
OMAR [from within].
Yall got my back, you heard?
Enter OMAR, STINKUM, BODIE, POOT, and  BRANDON from within.
BRANDON.
Get the fuck in here. Get your ass down, sit your stupid ass down.
[Here BODIE and POOT kneel, hands behind their heads. STINKUM pauses and BRANDON strikes him with his pistol. STINKUM falls down.
OMAR [to SOLDIER].
Hey, yo, where it at?
SOLDIER [to OMAR].
Aint nothing here yo.
OMAR [to SOLDIER].
Where it at man?
[SOLDIER pauses. OMAR shoots the him in the knee with his shotgun.] Where it at shorty?
SOLDIER [cries].
In the kitchen, under the sink.
OMAR [to BRANDON].
Hey, yo, go on and get that.
[BRANDON finds a brown paper bag.
BRANDON [to OMAR].
Two g-packs, let's roll.
OMAR [to SOLDIER].
Just two...?
BRANDON [to OMAR].
Yo Omar, c'mon.
OMAR [to BRANDON].
Yo, what the... Stupid...
[Exit OMAR and BRANDON.

Scene 5.
Basketball court.
AVON BARKSDALE.
You know how them cracker motherfuckers do when they kill a dear or, like, when they go out killing animals, what not? Got them on the front of the truck, tied up, stretched out, so everybody can see it, you feel me? I'm serious, that's what I want, I want that motherfucker on display. Gonna send a message to the courtyard about this motherfucker so people know we aint playing.
WEE BEY.
Yeah, we got peoples on it.
AVON BARKSDALE.
You tell them it's a thousand on the buck and it's ten on Omar.
STINKUM.
Yeah, Bird's on it. Y'know Bird jailed with Omar down in the cut, right? He said "He all faggot."
AVON BARKSDALE.
A faggot? Get the fuck outta here.
WEE BEY.
Said he had a whole stable of boys down in Jessup. This punk motherfucker got even less use for pussy now that he home.
STRINGER BELL.
So, he got a lot of heart for a cocksucker, huh?
AVON BARKSDALE.
Hey, yo, yo, yo, yo, yo, we doubling down on sweet lips, alright? You make it four motherfucking thousand dollars on him, six if I get to holler at him before he get got.
WEE BEY.
Say no more.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Take care of all that.
[Exit WEE BEY and STINKUM. Exit AVON BARKSDALE and STRINGER BELL. Here the all goes dark. Sound BRANDON crying and WEE, BEY, STINKUM, and BIRD, laughing within the darkness.

SCENE 6.
Downtown street.
Enter DETECTIVE MCNULTY and DETECTIVE GREGGS.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
So what do you think?
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
What, Title Three?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Right, but it's not for a wire tap, it's to clone a pager. I got it from Pearlman.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Pagers, huh?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Some kinda throwback thing.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
You mean, why not cell phones?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Right, who uses pagers anymore?
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Tell you what, I was checking out a wireless bill last night. Every incoming call was listed.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Right, so we get Barksdale's pager, we might get off the street, maybe even trace some supply.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
So who's No-Heart Anthony?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
No-Heart ran drugs in the homes in the early nineties. So a couple years back, I don't know why, he finds himself, in this town, trying to take off a jewelry store. He fucks it up, half the county chases him back Downtown. I guess No-Heart figures he's not up for doing the time because he puts a four-four against his chest and pulls the trigger.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Forty-four?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Get's a contact wound, wakes up two hours later in the University E.R.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
With a new nickname...
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Right...
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Bubbles says it was Anthony's brother that took all of the Barksdale's stash the other night. Dude named Omar.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
It's not the easiest trade, y'know, robbing dealers.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Man like that is likely to have a weapon on him. We jack him up, it's a charge to work off. And, if he knows where the Barksdale's stash is, he probably knows a whole lot more.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
See, another plan.
[Exit DETECTIVE MCNULTY and DETECTIVE GREGGS.

Act 3. Scene 1.
Office of the Major Crimes Unit.
Enter DETECTIVE MCNULTY, OMAR, DETECTIVE GREGGS, and DETECTIVE FREAMON.
OMAR.
Just saying, why we aint in a real police office?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Oh, we're a little like you Omar, out here on our own, playing the game for ourselves.
OMAR.
Hard way to go sometimes.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Sorry about your friend.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Avon is one sick bastard. Course, he had his reasons.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
For one thing, yall did take his stash.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
For another, he was looking for you Omar. That's what all the cigarette burns were about, broken fingers, cracked forearms.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
He wanted your boy to give you up, an address, a street.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Kid had heart.
OMAR.
Yeah...
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
I know you want to go where ever it is you lay your head and pick up that sawed-off you like so much and go on the hunt. That's how a man like you wants to carry it.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
You wouldn't be wrong.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
No, you wouldn't, but one man with two barrels aint enough Omar. Now, you gonna do what you gonna do but whatever it is you can give us on Barksdale and his people, well, that can go to hurting them too.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Just throw us what you can.
OMAR.
Hey, look, let me tell yall something, aight? What I do, I do, straight like that, so aint no sense in yall even troubling yourselves over that. Because, man, the way I feel right now, today...
Hey, what yall need from me?
 DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
When did you last see Brandon?
OMAR.
Tuesday, around seven, maybe later. Everybody told me he got snatched up there at the Greek's.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
The Greek's on Baltimore Street?
OMAR.
Yeah, he likes to play those pinball games to death.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
He go alone?
OMAR.
Yeah and I didn't like it none either. But, y'know, you can only treat a young man like a boy for so long before they buck, know what I mean?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Who got Brandon?
OMAR.
Heard it might of been Wee Bey, boy Stinkum, and Bird, he was down with the snatch too.
DETECTIVE FREAMON [aside to MCNULTY].
Seven fifty-six, tuesday night, you got an incoming call to D'Angelo Barksdale's pager giving him the number of a payphone, Westside exchange. Now, it was encoded, right? Three minutes later, you got another call from the low-rises to that payphone. Then a half a minute later you get another call from the low-rises to a pager number we know as Stringer Bell's. And finally, you get another call probably from a payphone, probably Stringer Bell calling back to the low rise courts. Forty-five minutes later, another call, this one on the same payphone that went to D'Angelo's pager to start the whole damn thing off, you see that?
Enter LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY [aside to DETECTIVE FREAMON].
This is the murder right here.
[DETECTIVE FREAMON shows DETECTIVE MCNULTY the paperwork.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
This first number, the one they sent to D'Angelo, I'm thinking this comes from a payphone over by the Greek's.
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY takes the paperwork.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY [to LIEUTENANT DANIELS].
He's on you. We're up on those wire taps tuesday night, we catch that murder, shit, we get there before the murder. [He shows LIEUTENANT DANIELS the paperwork.] It's all here on the pen registers, this one calling that one, that one calling back. We're up on those payphones when we should be and we have them cold but we're not up in time, are we?
[Exit DETECTIVE MCNULTY and DETECTIVE FREAMON.
OMAR.
Bad time for yall?
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Come on...
[Exit OMAR and DETECTIVE GREGGS. Exit LIEUTENANT DANIELS.

Scene 2.
The Pit.
WALLACE.
He was all cut up and shit, his insides was hanging out, it was fucked up yo, I mean, damn.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Sometimes you gotta send a message yo. I mean, yo, when you picked up that phone, what you think they was gonna do, huh? Shit, all that shit is in the game man, you know that.
WALLACE.
Yeah, like you and that girl, huh?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
What girl?
WALLACE.
The one in the apartment, the one you told us about, remember? I mean, I like what you said about all that killing, y'know, especially that part about how it aint got to be like that, just sell the shit and move on.
[D'ANGELO BARKSDALE calls over a HOPPER.
Enter a HOPPER.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE [to HOPPER].
Get me a ginger ale and get something for yourself. [D'ANGELO BARKSDALE hands the HOPPER some money. Exit HOPPER.]
Yeah, I know, I remember that but it aint like that is it.
WALLACE
Yeah, I know, I know it aint.
[Sound a page. D'ANGELO BARKSDALE checks his pager.
Thing about it was his eye, his eye was blown out and the other one was open. And, yo D, it fucks me up. It's like he's looking out, like he sees everything, y'know?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Don't think about it.
WALLACE.
I can't, hey yo, fuck...
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Yo, let that shit go, just let it go.
[Exit D'ANGELO BARKSDALE. Exit WALLACE shortly after.
Scene 3.
Office of the Major Crimes Unit.
Enter DETECTIVE MCNULTY, DETECTIVE GREGGS, a judge and RHONDA PEARLMAN.
JUDGE.
So, this is where they put you?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Mmhm.
JUDGE.
Quite a message they're sending.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Yeah... And, that message is...
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Out of sight, out of mind.
RHONDA PEARLMAN.
Spoken like a true troglodyte.
[Here they all go over paperwork, signing and initialing.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
A whole lot of dead trees behind this nonsense.
RHONDA PEARLMAN.
It's the foundation of your case detective. You lay it in right, you can build on it. You lay it in wrong, everything on top falls.
JUDGE.
We ready?
RHONDA PEARLMAN.
Mmhm.
JUDGE.
You solemnly swear and affirm that the affidavit is accurate to the best of your knowledge.
[Both DETECTIVE MCNULTY and DETECTIVE GREGGS raise their right hands then simualtaneously both say I do.
JUDGE.
Then by the power vested in me I now declare you man and wife.
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY and DETECTIVE GREGGS return their hands.
So how does this work?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Same frequency as the pay phones. They get a call, we get a call.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
So, we up now?
RHONDA PEARLMAN.
It's official, you're up.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Then let the game begin.
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY turns on a laptop and they all pause.
JUDGE.
Celebrities always seem much smaller when you meet them in person.

Scene 4.
The Pit.
Enter hoppers.
[Sound police car sirens.
HOPPER 1.
Five-oh, five-oh, police...!
Enter BODIE and D'ANGELO BARKSDALE, then enter KEVIN, running with a large bag.
BODIE.
Oh, shit...
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Step shorty, step.
[Enter DETECTIVE HERC who chases KEVIN.
HOPPER 2.
He aint man enough for you!
[BODIE blocks DETECTIVE HERC.
BODIE.
Hello officer.
[DETECTIVE HERC runs into BODIE, both fall down. DETECTIVE HERC gets up and continues pursuit then BODIE stands up.
White man walking!
HOPPER 1.
Yo, move shorty, that's the re-up yo!
Enter DETECTIVE GREGGS, DETECTIVE SYDNOR, and DETECTIVE CARVER who join the chase for KEVIN. Together they encircle and apprehend him.
HOPPER 2.
Bet yall don't do that shit in a white neighborhood!
[DETECTIVE GREGGS inspects the contents of KEVIN'S bag.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Four packs, street ready...
[DETECTIVE SYDNOR gets on his radio.
DETECTIVE SYDNOR.
Twelve-oh-eight, we need a wagon inside the eight-hundred block of Lex, inside the court.
DETECTIVE HERC.
Anyone got a smoke?

Scene 5.
Office of the Major Crimes Unit.
 Enter DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI. KEVIN stares down DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI while he goes about his business unwittingly.
DETECTIVE CARVER.
What's your address?
KEVIN.
Seven-thirty-four Fayette.
DETECTIVE CARVER.
What's the apartment?
[DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI recognizes KEVIN.
Hey kid, what apartment? Come on kid, what's the apartment?
KEVIN.
Eleven-M.
DETECTIVE CARVER.
Okay, Eleven-M, was that so hard? What's your D.O.B.
[DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI blocks LIEUTENANT DANIELS and pauses.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
What?
DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSKI [aside to LIEUTENANT DANIELS].
It's him.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS [to DETECTIVE PRYZBYLEWSI].
Who?
[LIEUTENANT DANIELS recognizes KEVIN.
Kevin Johnson, you hungry? Ham and cheese, tuna...?
KEVIN.
I want a Reese's yo. Peanut butter cup...
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
Drink...?
KEVIN.
Tea in a can.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
You got it.
[LIEUTENANT DANIELS gives some money to DETECTIVE CARVER.
Go down to the machines, get a peanut butter cup and a can of Lipton's tea.
[Exit DETECTIVE CARVER.
KEVIN.
Motherfucker can't even look at me.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
Why don't we start over on this?
KEVIN.
Start over...? My lawyer said I got a case against yall for this shit.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
Fuck the lawyers, I'm trying to talk about life here Kevin. The game already cost you, right? More than it should have, I know.
KEVIN.
Who's fault is that?
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
His, ours, mine maybe. Thing is, I feel like I owe you something here so I'm asking how you want to carry this. You want to get out? You want to do something else for the rest of your years? You come see me.
[LIEUTENANT DANIELS gives his business card to KEVIN.
Enter DETECTIVE CARVER with soda and candy.
DETECTIVE CARVER.
Tea was sold out.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
Might be tomorrow, might not be for awhile, but when you think you're ready for something different you give me a call, I'll remember.
KEVIN.
Motherfucker thinking he can pimp me over a candy bar.
[Here KEVIN tosses the business card. DETECTIVE CARVER escorts KEVIN, they exit.
Scene 6.
Orlando's Gentleman's Club.
Enter D'ANGELO BARKSDALE. Enter AVON BARKSDALE, STRINGER BELL, ORLANDO, WEE BEY, and STINKUM.
ORLANDO [aside to D'ANGELO BARKSDALE].
Hey D,  when you get a chance man, let me pull your coat to something.
[Exit ORLANDO.
STINKUM.
Yo, the only reason I even called though was because these niggas was...
STRINGER BELL.
You're not supposed to talk on the phone and you know that.
AVON BARKSDALE [to D'ANGELO BARKSDALE].
Whose snitching?
[AVON BARKSDALE stares down D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Nobody.
WEE BEY.
Is you sure on that man? You done had the stick up, now they running up on Stink.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
My crew, we tight, aight? Now, aint nobody holding no extra money, I already checked all that so maybe your ass just ran a stop or had a tail light out or some shit like that.
STINKUM.
Nigga, you think I'd run a stop on forty-thousand? Fuck no...
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Nigga, I don't know.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Well, something is up so go down there today and tell them hoppers you got working for you down there that the shit is about to change, Stringer gonna come down there and he gonna run through the changes. Until this shit is straight, The Pit is dead.
[Exit D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
STRINGER BELL.
Thing is, why they didn't pop Stink. Narcos took the boy and the package and they got Stink by the tags on the truck.
WEE BEY.
You took that down to the police and filed a report, right?
STINKUM.
The truck? I ditched that shit up off Cold Spring Lane, man.
AVON BARKSDALE.
You haven't heard nothing from the Narcos yet, right?
STINKUM.
No.
AVON BARKSDALE.
What the fuck? They catch four packs popping out the truck, they don't even get the plate? Nah, what's all this shit?
Scene 7.
The Pit.
[Enter ORLANDO.
ORLANDO.
Yo D, chilling, huh?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
What's up, what you doing down in the jects?
ORLANDO.
Got something, man:---
[aside to D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.] Something right.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE [aside to ORLANDO].
Come on over.
ORLANDO.
Where the shop at?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Nothing today.
ORLANDO [to D'ANGELO BARKSDALE].
Well, see that's the thing cause if you need more of that, I got this connect.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE [to ORLANDO].
Yeah...?
ORLANDO  [to D'ANGELO BARKSDALE].
Yeah, this guy I know from the club, he from D.C. He got this thing straight through New Orleans, these Jamaicans down there.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE [to ORLANDO].
New Orleans...?
ORLANDO  [to D'ANGELO BARKSDALE].
They offering weight D.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE [to ORLANDO].
My uncle know about it?
ORLANDO  [to D'ANGELO BARKSDALE].
Nah, nah, see, this thing on the side for me. Like, I got enough to turn a New York quarter on it but you know I don't got what you have right here with the distribution, you see what I'm saying?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE [to ORLANDO].
Mm...
ORLANDO [to D'ANGELO BARKSDALE].
I'm saying D, I'd be taking all the risk with them peoples. Once I have the package, I bring it down here to yall and you put it out, we do an even split on what comes back, right?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE [to ORLANDO].
Yeah, let me think on it, aight?
ORLANDO [to D'ANGELO BARKSDALE].
Finally get some things for us, you see what I'm saying?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE [to ORLANDO].
Yeah, yeah mos def.
ORLANDO [to D'ANGELO BARKSDALE].
I'm out.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE [to ORLANDO].
Be good...
ORLANDO [to D'ANGELO BARKSDALE].
Aight...
Think on that.
[Exit ORLANDO.
Enter STRINGER BELL and WEE BEY.
STRINGER BELL.
So...
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
What's the deal String?
STRINGER BELL.
How often yall changing the stash?
BODIE.
Oh, every night since we got jacked.
STRINGER BELL.
Anybody on the team getting high?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Nah man, just the old touts and they aint handling no money, no vials.
WEE BEY.
Yall been going in and out the vacants, right? Making sure them narcos don't set up in there.
POOT.
Yeah, for sure.
STRINGER BELL.
Yall don't got no cell phones, no house phones neither, right?
BODIE.
Nah man, nothing but these pagers and them pay boxes over there, that's it.
STRINGER BELL.
Aight, tear them motherfuckers out.
BODIE.
What?
STRINGER BELL.
Tear out them phones.
From now on, you need a pay phone, you walk a few blocks and you do not use the same phone more than once a day, you hear me? You hear me, right?
BODIE.
Done.
STRINGER BELL.
Okay, Bey, help tear them motherfuckers out.
WEE BEY [to BODIE].
Come on man.
[Exit WEE BEY, BODIE and POOT. Exit STRINGER BELL. Exit D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.

Act 4. Scene 1.
Office of the Major Crimes Unit.
OMAR.
Yo, what do you want me to say? Hey, looky here man, I don't know nothing about Stink getting dropped.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Oh, I don't know, it came back to us quick.
OMAR.
Well, you know how that be. Everybody want to believe the worst about Omar but live and let live, y'know?
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
I don't see you letting them slide on Brandon.
OMAR.
Well, if I was gonna come after certain people I definitely wouldn't want to give yall fine people any cause for concern. I mean, there are some rules here, right?
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
Rules...?
OMAR.
Yeah, no mistakes, no bystanders, no tax-payers getting caught up in the mix. I mean, you just get in close and you hit the right nigger.
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
And, lose the gun afterwards, that'd be a rule too I think.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
One thing Omar, having Stinkum drop kinda fucks us on our thing.
OMAR.
How so...?
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
We had Stink caught up on four g-packs on a re-up and maybe we could of built something on top of that, roll him up and Stringer maybe.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Now he's got no roll to him so the point is Omar, while we all... We're all grateful for the case you gave us on Bird and we all have a certain admiration for your do-it-yourself nature...
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
We need you to hang back.
OMAR.
Hey, look man, it aint all up to me, right? Huh...? I got a bounty on my head. Look man, I do what I can do to help yall but the game is out there and it's either play or get played:--
[They pause.]
What...? That it:--
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY nods.]
Gentlemen, ma'am...
[Exit OMAR.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Lester, are we still cops?
DETECTIVE FREAMON.
Technically, I suppose so.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Okay, I was just checking.

Scene 2.
The Pit.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
So, what you do for money? Can't live without it, right? You still fucked up behind that stick-up man? Shit aint on you, it aint on me neither, motherfucker that robbed the stash shot Sterling he going get got no matter what you or me do.
WALLACE.
I just... I just don't wanna play. I just don't wanna play no more, aight? I was thinking about going to school over at Edmondson ask if they'll let me back in at the end of the semester.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
What grade?
WALLACE.
Ninth.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Ninth, shit, you how old?
WALLACE.
Sixteen.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Sixteen, damn man, you supposed to be a junior by now.
WALLACE.
I head Stinkum got killed.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Yeah...
WALLACE.
Damn...
[D'ANGELO BARKSDALE gives WALLACE some money.
WALLACE.
Yo, I said I don't wanna play.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
I heard you and you don't gotta do nothing.
Look here man, you a smart little motherfucker. You start back up at Edmondson you likely to finish up at Harvard or some shit like that, believe b, and you got a good heart in there too, not like the rest of these niggas.
[Enter BODIE and POOT. Exit WALLACE.
BODIE.
What's up with Wallace?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Nothing.
BODIE.
Nothing?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Nothing, it's all good, just leave him be.
[D'ANGELO BARKSDALE gets a page and checks his pager.
Damn, fuck, hey, I'm tired of not having a phone up in this joint. Be right back.
BODIE.
Yeah, have a nice hike.
[Exit D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Scene 3.
Baltimore Street outside of Orlando's Gentlemen's Club.
Enter AVON BARKSDALE from within. AVON BARKSDALE looks around then exits within. A pause. Enter AVON BARKSDALE again. He heads to a pay phone, pays, dials, and pauses.
AVON BARKSDALE.
Fuck.
[Here AVON BARKSDALE hangs up the phone, picks up, pays and dials again. Enter OMAR. Enter WEE BEY.
WEE BEY.
Hey, they had cheese fries baby, I got you some.
[AVON BARKSDALE dives behind cover. OMAR shoots at AVON BARKSDALE. Sound car alarms. WEE BEY shoots OMAR, OMAR retreats. Exit OMAR.
Avon, stay down man, I got you covered!
Scene 4.
Office of the Major Crimes Unit.
Enter a STATE POLICE OFFICER.
STATE POLICE OFFICER.
Been hella looking for you people. What the hell's the name of this unit anyway?
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Aw, Wig, what up Wig?
State Police, C.I.D. outta Pikesville, name of Troy Wiggins but pay no attention to the man cause he about ninety, ninety-five, percent pure bullshit.
STATE POLICE OFFICER.
Kima, she just talk like that cause I had her back when she was good.
DETECTIVE GREGGS.
Shit, you the ugly ass motherfucker turned me the other way.
STATE POLICE OFFICER.
Oh shit, aight...
Here's the thing boys and girls, I'm doing a reverse buy down in Arundel, right? And I get this Westside asshole nibling on four ounces, right...?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
A whole four-ounces?
STATE POLICE OFFICER.
I know it aint much but I get him in the boat and he starts flopping around saying he can buy weight from some motherfucker, name of Barksdale. I never heard of no Barksdale but I put the name into the computer and it has Avon Barksdale entered as an active Baltimore City target. So, I go down to City Narcotics and they send me down here to see Lieutenant Daniels.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
So, what's the name of your fish?
STATE POLICE OFFICER.
Wendell O., as in "Oh shit, I tried to buy from a State Police," Blocker.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Wendell "Orlando" Blocker?
STATE POLICE OFFICER.
Yea, you on it.
[Enter LIEUTENANT DANIELS, ORLANDO, and a DEA AGENT.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
Listen up people, we got thirty thousand in buy-money courtesy of our friends over at DEA. Detective Greggs, you'll be there for the buy, fronting as our C.I.'s girl. And, we probably can't be close enough for an eyeball on this but the car will be a live wire so you'll be throwing us twenties whenever you can.
DETECTIVE CARVER.
They already know that he got jacked on a reverse buy, right? Why wouldn't they assume he's snitching?
ORLANDO.
I need money for a lawyer, right?
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
That's the story, he got popped and now he needs to get right back into it to pay the bondsman and the lawyer.
Alright, let's make this work.
[Exit all.

Scene 5.
Warwick Avenue.
[All is dark. Sound gunshots. A pause. Sound police sirens and helicopters. ORLANDO lays dead and DETECTIVE GREGGS lays unconcious, both shot.
Enter DETECTIVE MCNULTY and LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Call for a medic!
[LIEUTENANT DANIELS gets on his radio.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
We got an officer down, we need a medic!
[Enter DETECTIVE CARVER.
DETECTIVE CARVER.
Oh fuck, fuck, fuck... Fuck...!
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
Where the fuck is the medic?! Signal thirteen, we got an officer down!
[All is dark again. Exit all.

Act 5. Scene 1.
The Pit.
[Enter WALLACE and POOT.
BODIE.
Oh, look at this nigga.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Damn, Wallace...
WALLACE.
Yo, I just got tired of that same old same old. So, you gonna put me back on the money?
BODIE.
Look, if we do put you back on you going to have to start at look-out man, you lost your spot when you bucked dog. I mean, come on, a real man would stay with his people, he wouldn't run at the first sight of some blood, y'know? Look, yall can still holler five-oh, right?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
If he want back on the money, he back on the money, if he want it. My man might be thinking about going back to Edmondson like we talked about:--
[Here WALLACE pauses. Aside to WALLACE.]
Right...?
Come on nigga, let's walk.
If anybody asks you whether you're in this game you tell them you in it for life, aight?
WALLACE [aside to D'ANGELO BARKSDALE].
Yo D, look, I appreciate what you're trying to say and all but I grew up in the courts, aight? I been with them niggas since... Since, shit, forever... I guess this is home, aight? Cause this shit, this is me yo, right here.
[Exit D'ANGELO BARKSDALE and WALLACE.
POOT.
Wallace aint no snitch.
BODIE.
Man, how you know? How you know where he be running to?
POOT.
He was getting high, I seen him cop. He probably left to clean that shit up.
BODIE.
Man, if he using then you know he aint reliable, look, think. Look, the man gave the word, aight? We either step up or we step the fuck off, that's the game yo, that's the fucking game.

Scene 2.
Wallace's Apartment.
Enter WALLACE.
WALLACE
Better come out now. Sarah, where yall at? Yo, I'm not even playing with yall right about now, you hear me? Game over, where the fuck yall at? Aight, when I find yall I'm beating yalls asses. Now, where yall at? Aight, don't let me find yall.
Enter BODIE and POOT.
Hey, check this Poot, little man left his player and shit.
[BODIE draws his pistol.
BODIE.
Yo man, you... You's a weak ass nigga man. You should of stayed gone man.
WALLACE.
Yo, you are my niggas yo.
BODIE.
You fucking brought this on yourself man.
WALLACE.
We boys.
BODIE.
You brought this on yourself.
WALLACE.
We aint gotta be like this yo, please, we be niggas man. D.C., remember that?
BODIE.
Come on, you're wetting your fucking pants like you a little boy, be a man. Stand up like a motherfucking man!
WALLACE.
Yall my niggas yo!
BODIE.
Yo, you said you was a fucking man, stand up straight!
WALLACE.
It's us man.
POOT.
Do it goddamn it, if you gonna...
[BODIE shoots WALLACE. POOT shoots WALLACE. WALLACE dies. Exit POOT and BODIE.

Scene 3.
Essex, New Jersey. Police Interrogation Room.
LAWYER.
Again, I want to make it clear that all of this cooperation is contingent on a commitment that my client finds acceptable, failing that, everything said in here, stays in here.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Damn straight.
RHONDA PEARLMAN.
I'm sure proffer in Maryland placed much the same in Jersey councilor, and I do agree that with regard to matters involving drug trafficking your client has been helpful. He's indicated a willingness to testify that he was a lieutenant in Avon Barksdale's drug distribution organization, sold large quantities of drugs for his uncle, delivered money, attended organizational meetings, and on one occasion  made a trip to New York on the behest of his uncle, all of which corroborates much of what we already know.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Well, what else is there?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
The murders.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Man why you keep on that, huh? I already told you, I don't know nothing about that witness being killed.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Which witness?
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY places a photo on the table.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Remember her?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Jesus... They did her?
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Yeah, about the same time they did the boy.
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY places another photo on the table.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
All them bodies.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
They covering up man.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Yeah, that's what we think, no loose ends. I can understand the guard, she got paid so she had to go. [DETECTIVE MCNULTY places another photo on the table.] Orlando, he got to snitching so he had to go but then there's the kid, Wallace.
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY plays a tape recording of POOT and a TEENAGE GIRL.
POOT [recording].
Yeah, but I need to go past Argyle street tonight, check in with Wallace.
TEENAGE GIRL [recording].
Wallace...?
POOT [recording].
Man he off the hook since we helped the tower crew hit that stick-up boy. I'm telling you man, Wallace is bugging, don't wanna even come out of that room no more
TEENAGE GIRL [recording].
Why he be like that?
POOT [recording].
I'm thinking he might be getting high.
TEENAGE GIRL [recording].
Wallace...?
POOT [recording].
Boy is scaring me with his shit
TEENAGE GIRL [recording].
Aight, well, you holla at me later.
POOT [recording].
That'll work.

[DETECTIVE MCNULTY stops the tape.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
You got that shit on tape.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Uh-huh.
[DETECTIVE BUNK places a photo on the table.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
His name is Brandon Wright.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
They burned him, broke his fingers, gouged an eye out, all kinds of fun.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Wallace was the one who saw, he saw the boy but he really aint think about what they'd do.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
You must have known. I mean, you were standing there by that payphone, you knew.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
What was I gonna do? Huh...? I don't call String, the word get back uptown, what's gonna happen then?
DETECTIVE BUNK.
So, you told Wallace to wait then you call Stringer and, Stringer, he gathered the troops.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Yeah...
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
And, down at the Greek's they got Wallace to point the finger, right? And they went in like cops with handcuffs so they could take their time on Brandon...
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
They dropped the body where we'd see it. "Send a message to the 'Jects," they said. Wallace, he couldn't handle that, after seeing that he wanted to get out, go back to school, and we even joked about it: him being sixteen and all, needing to go start back over again as a freshman. And, about a week ago my uncle and String they call me down to the club, Stringer, he's all worried about Wallace and I told him, I said, "Wallace aint no snitch plus he's out the fucking game." I told him that but I needed to do more, I should have done more but I didn't and, fuck, that's on me.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Any idea who they sent on Wallace?
[D'ANGELO BARKSDALE pauses.
Oh, come on D, wild guess.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Man, I don't know, could have been anybody. You know, shooters come cheap.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
I don't think so, not in The Pit, not in his crib, I counted seven beds when I was up there, where were the youngins?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Look, if I knew, I would tell you, aight? I swear to God, I would tell you.
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY places two more photos on the table.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
They're charged with Orlando and the undercover cop. We're still hunting.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
[D'ANGELO BARKSDALE picks up a photo.
Him, he in Philly.
[D'ANGELO BARKSDALE tosses the photo.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
How you know?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
I know cause I dropped him there.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Where...?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
I don't know, some corner man, north end, I don't know where he be staying.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Did Wee Bey say anything to you about the shootings?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
We don't talk shop in the car, it's a rule we got.
So, is that it?
RHONDA PEARLMAN.
Your client must realize that any agreement is dependent on his full cooperation.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Whoa, yo, there aint nothing else.
[DETECTIVE BUNK raps the table three times. DETECTIVE MCNULTY places another photo on the table.
Dierdre...
[DETECTIVE BUNK raps the table thrice again.
Tap, tap, tap...
[DETECTIVE BUNK raps the table another three times.
 She was one of my uncle's girls.

Yeah but we got people that put you with her the night she's killed.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Yo, I didn't know they was gonna do her, I swear, they played me.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
How so...?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
My uncle gave me an eight-ball of coke, told me to take it over there to her. I was surprised because, y'know, I thought he dumped her but he said "Naw, it wasn't like that no more." So, he had Wee-Bey take me over there, y'know, I walked up, knocked on the door, she came to the door all... All naked and shit with this little ass robe on...
DETECTIVE BUNK.
So, she's your uncle's girl but she comes to the door for you naked.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
She used to do that shit with me all the time man, teasing, you know how girls do, maybe you don't, I don't know.
Anyway, I'm like "You gonna let me come in?" And, she's like "Naw," because she gotta get ready for my uncle to come by later. So, I give her the coke. She laughs about how she's gonna put that shit on ice for later on.
DETECTIVE BUNK [aside to DETECTIVE MCNULTY].
Refridgerator...
DETECTIVE MCNULTY [aside to DETECTIVE BUNK].
Mmhm.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
I don't know shit about no refridgerator, like I said, I aint go in.
So, I turned around, started walking back to the truck and I heard the shot. Wee Bey he come running back with this big ass forty-five he like to use so much, tells me how he was tapping on the window real soft, how with the lights on she had to walk all the way up cause she couldn't see what was on the outside and when she gets up to the window and looks out...
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
You did good D'Angelo.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Yea, you did.
[They all pause.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Yall don't understand man, yall don't get it. I grew up in this shit. My grandfather was Butch Stamford, you know who Butch Stamford was in this town?
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY nods.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Mmhm.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
All my people man, my father, my uncles, my cousins, it's just what we do. You just live with this shit until you can't breathe no more. I swear to God, I was courtside for eight months and I was freer in jail then I was at home.
RHONDA PEARLMAN.
What are you looking for?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
I want it to go away.
RHONDA PEARLMAN.
I can't...
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
I want what Wallace wanted, I want to start over, that's what I want. I don't care where, anywhere, I don't give a fuck, I just want to go some where where I can breathe like regular folk. You give me that and I give you them.

Scene 4.
Essex, New Jersey. Detention Center.
[Enter BRIANNA BARKSDALE.
BRIANNA BARKSDALE.
So, they got you all the way out here, huh? Started out thinking you was in Jersey, you being in Jersey I figure they still got you down in central booking but all the way out here... You sent a message though.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Yeah, well, message needs sending... How yall even find me?
BRIANNA BARKSDALE.
Aint no one gonna keep a mother from her son, right?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
You know, he's always talking family, "Family is the heart," he'll say, well, I'm family, aint I? Well, what about me for once? It aint right.
BRIANNA BARKSDALE.
What's right, hm? You like for him to step up, take all the weight and let you walk? Cause he will, you know he will. But, if he got to go away, that mean you got to step up and fill his shoes, you ready for that?
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Ma, you know I aint, I aint ever gonna be ready for this game.
BRIANNA BARKSDALE.
D, come on.
D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.
Look, they've given me a chance to walk away, to start again some place else.
BRIANNA BARKSDALE.
And, what you given them...?
[They pause.
He messed up D, he knows it. Now, if you wanna get even with him, you can but you hurt him, you hurt this whole family, all of us: me, and Trina, and the cousins, and Donette too, and your baby... Your own baby boy...
This right here is part of the game D. And, without the game, this whole family would be down in the terrace living off scraps, shit, we probably wouldn't even be a family.
Start over, huh? How the fuck you gonna start over without your peoples, without your own child even? You aint got family in this world, what the hell you got?
[Exit BRIANNA BARKSDALE. Exit D'ANGELO BARKSDALE.

Scene 5.
Baltimore City Courthouse.
MAURICE LEVI.
Now, look, you want to sit around for months on end scratching our way threw a bunch of half-heard half-said telephone conversations and see how well you do, I'll certainly respect the effort.
RHONDA PEARLMAN.
It's not just talk on the wire, we've got seized money and a lot of dope on the table.
FIRST LAWYER.
And, a lot of violence...
MAURICE LEVI.
All of which stops way short of Mister Barksdale, you know this.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
All of it except for the New Jersey bust, that one he eats.
MAURICE LEVI.
Maybe he does, maybe he pleads to one count of attempted possession and takes, I don't know, maybe, three or four. Maybe he can arrange for everyone you have on those tapes to follow suit. Maybe you get five year pleas from those with no prior felony convictions, ten years for those with one prior, fifteen for two or more.
FIRST LAWYER.
What about the murders?
MAURICE LEVI.
Maybe we acknowledge you have Mister Brice cold for the murder of Orlando Blocker and the wounding of the police officer.
FIRST LAWYER.
Who...?
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
Wee Bey.
SECOND LAWYER.
Representing Mister Brice, I'm fairly confident that to avoid the death penalty he'll proffer to atleast a half-dozen of your open murders.
FIRST LAWYER.
Naming coconspirators, for that kind of cooperation I'd be willing to consider straight life.
MAURICE LEVI.
No indeed, I believe Mister Bryce is ready to take sole responsibility for all of his crimes. Still, you walk away with atleast a half-dozen clearances.
RHONDA PEARLMAN.
Assets...?
MAURICE LEVI.
You take the strip club, you take whatever cars and trucks you can link to the drug trafficking, and, of course, whatever cash you've seized.
LIEUTENANT DANIELS.
He's got dozens of other properties: the funeral parlor, the towing company.
MAURICE LEVI.
No, no, no, you get the cars because you can tie them to illegal activity but there's nothing else in his name to take.
RHONDA PEARLMAN.
So, you keep most of the money, most of the real estate, and Stringer Bell stays on the street with his hand on the throttle.
MAURICE LEVI.
If you have a charge against Mister Bell, file it; otherwise, it's my understanding that nothing in all those hours of tape implicates him.
RHONDA PEARLMAN.
Three or four years aint enough Morey, not for Avon Barksdale.
MAURICE LEVI.
No...? Make an offer.
Scene 6.
Baltimore City Courthouse.
Enter DETECTIVE MCNULTY who opens the door within.
[Sound all being called to sit sitting within.
FIRST JUDGE [within].
First up.
RHONDA PEARLMAN [within].
One count of possession with the intent to distribute, to wit, a kilogram of heroin.
FIRST JUDGE [within].
You have a statement of facts...
RHONDA PEARLMAN [within].
Yes your honor, Mister Barksdale is offering plea of guilty in exchange for maximum of seven years in D.O.C. in consideration of the following agreed upon facts: in the jurisdiction of Essex County, New Jersey, trooper Robert Warren of the New York Barracks affected a traffic stop on a rented Ford Taurus travelling Southbound near Exit Thirteen, that traffic stop resulted from information gleaned from electronic surveillance with Mister Barksdale and, his nephew, D'Angelo Barksdale by detectives assigned to a special detail under the command of a City Narcotics supervisor, a search of the vehicle, which was rented from the Avis location at B.W.I. Airport, revealed that a kilogram of nearly pure heroin was concealed beneath the spare tire in the car trunk.
In accepting this plea, Mister Barksdale acknowledges his role in procuring those drugs with the intent to dillute, package, and sell retail amounts of heroin.
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY closes the door within and pauses. He stands in silence for a moment until opening the door again.
RHONDA PEARLMAN [within].
Information gleaned from electronic surveillance would also show that Mister Watkins, A.K.A. Ronnie Moe, was integrally involved in the distribution of heroin and cocaine in the high-rises at Seven-Forty-Four Fayette and Two-Two-One North Freemont. In exchange for his pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy he agrees to a sentence not to exceed fifteen years in D.O.C. Mister Watkins, who is on probation for a drug distribution charge that was adjudicated in Judge Previous' court.
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY closes the door within again and pauses.
Enter BRIANNA BARKSDALE and STRINGER BELL from within.
[STRINGER BELL recognizes DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
STRINGER BELL.
Nicely done.
[Exit BRIANNA BARKSDALE and STRINGER BELL. Enter a JUDGE.
SECOND JUDGE.
Hell of a case, read all about it in the papers, you done good kiddo.
[The JUDGE reaches to shake DETECTIVE MCNULTY'S hand. DETECTIVE MCNULTY stare him down.
I gotta...
[Exit JUDGE. DETECTIVE MCNULTY opens the door within.
RHONDA PEARLMAN [within].
That D'Angelo Barksdale supervised distribution in the low-rise courtyards and was also integrally involved in the violence attributed to the organization; further, he was arrested by authorities in New Jersey in possession of a kilo of raw heroin intended for distribution in Baltimore. He acknowledges his role as leading conspirator and is already on parole for two earlier counts of distribution.
FIRST JUDGE [within].
What are you asking here?
RHONDA PEARLMAN [within].
As D'Angelo Barksdale has two prior convictions and is insisting that the effort to purchase and transport the kilo was undertaken on his own behest, and is refusing to cooperate against others in the conspiracy, the state is allowing only, the maximum allowable, twenty years your honor.
FIRST JUDGE [within].
Mister Levi, this is your understanding of the plea agreement.
MAURICE LEVI [within].
Yes, sir.
FIRST JUDGE [within].
Very well... Mister Barksdale, can you hear me distinctly?
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY closes the door within.
Enter DETECTIVE BUNK.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Wee Bey man...
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
How'd it go?
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Went for: life no parole. He puts himself in for Orlando and the attempt murder on Greggs, then he also takes Nakeesha Lyles, Dierdre Kresson, the two project murders that match that gun, both the stick-up boys and Little Man.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Little Man...?
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Yeah, body found up behind the reptile house in Druid Hill, he gave us that one just for fun I think. He also takes William Gant.
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY stares down DETECTIVE BUNK.
I know, it's bullshit.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Well, how'd he tell it?
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Man...
[DETECTIVE BUNK signs his fingers into a gun and places the killing end against DETECTIVE MCNULTY'S temple.
Boom...
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
What, he said a contact wound?
DETECTIVE BUNK.
Yeah.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
It doesn't play, Gant had no compression, no stipling, wound was to the front, Bey's talking out of his ass.
DETECTIVE BUNK.
I know but this motherfuckers taking murders just to take them.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
He's taking life no parole for shooting a cop, what the fuck? Might aswell try to spring Bird for killing Gant.
[DETECTIVE MCNULTY opens the door within. Sound all within rising rising from their seats.
Enter civilians from within.
[Exit civilians.
DETECTIVE MCNULTY.
Jesus, what the fuck did I do?
DETECTIVE BUNK.
You happy now bitch?
[End.